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Author Topic: Paths to Glory - Game has started! Check the PbP Forum now!  (Read 15140 times)

Roudi

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« Reply #30 on: March 09, 2006, 01:01:49 AM »
willpax, if you're willing to play your first concept, then I think our backstories could weave together nicely.

Julian Fairhair had only one blessing in his life; his ability to produce stirring, angelic, and lyrical song with his voice.  He and his twin brother were the youngest of seven siblings, who lived with their father and mother deep in an urban slum.  A few years before their birth, their father had lost a successful exchange business.  Their were only four Fairhair children at that time.  The cost of raising a family (a family that gained three more mouths in three short years) brought the moderately wealthy Fairhair family down into the streets.  When Julian had reached seven years of age, the elder Fairhair and his wife decided the best chance for their family was to sell off the youngest five children into servitude.  Julian was sold to a wealthy noble family, where he became a waiting boy to the mistress of the house and a regular source of entertainment.  Julian's singing enchanted the noble family so much that, on his ninth birthday, they had him castrated to preserve his angelic voice.

Julian was well-treated in the noble household, but he yearned for a different life.  The other servants would often catch Julian in the master's study, pouring over tomes containing great tales of valor and epic adventure.  Julian longed to travel the world and witness the kind of adventures he read about, desiring to tell their tales as did the bards who penned the volumes.  Though he probably didn't realize it, deep down he wanted to be a part of a great adventure himself.


This is where you come in, willpax.  If you go with your first concept, then we could easily say that the noble house you seek to avenge is the same that kept a teenage waiting boy with a voice of gold.  We'd probably know of each other, even if the son of a nobleman such as your character didn't associate with the "help".

Ottomsoh the Elderly

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« Reply #31 on: March 09, 2006, 06:50:25 AM »
OK, it seems Willpax will go with concept #1, given the positive responses so far. I think #2 is funnier and easier to integrate with my character, though.
 

el-remmen

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« Reply #32 on: March 09, 2006, 08:48:57 AM »
Yeah,  I was going to suggest #2 because we should probably have a cleric.
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Enkhidu

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« Reply #33 on: March 09, 2006, 09:43:31 AM »
A word or two about money:

Money and Commerce:

Barter: Throughout the Empire and the surrounding states, barter is the most common form of trade. Livestock, produce, and other goods are the most prevalent, though the trading of services through “Task Houses” in the Empire are growing in the south.

Coinage: Merchants, while cursing the Empire for the wars it has caused over the past two generations and the taxes it collects on roads and bridges, love Imperial coin. The coins are standard, accepted almost everywhere (even in areas not controlled by the Empire), and is widely regarded (by men) as the best coins ever made. The different coin types (plus their equivalent worth in standard D&D) are described below.

The “Cheque” is a rectangular coin about the size of a large man’s thumb, scored to be able to be broken into 10 “Bits.” [A Bit equals one copper piece, and a Cheque equals one silver piece]. Both coins are made of SilverSteel (a lightweight and relatively soft metal). The Plaque is made in the same manner as the Cheque, though it is actually made of gold and is half the size (though nearly the same weight). All Plaques are emblazoned with the Imperial seal on one side and the name and image of the emperor on the other. Plaques are not scored as Cheques are. [A Plaque equals on gold piece].

1 Plaque = 10 Cheques = 100 Bits
 

Megamieuwsel

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« Reply #34 on: March 09, 2006, 11:42:07 AM »
Quote from: the ultimate nullifier
Yeah,  I was going to suggest #2 because we should probably have a cleric.

Duh...
Fighter+Cleric...
Knights Templar anyone?
I'd be willing to go that route.
If Will decides on #2 , no problem either ; The I could go Fighter/Rogue. More fitting with the "Resistance-cell"-thingy.

But I'd rather have Will make up his mind soon enough for me to decide my own path.

Mirth

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« Reply #35 on: March 09, 2006, 06:55:26 PM »
I played a Cleric in an all-Goblin PbP campaign on EnWorld that kind of petered out. He was eventually going to be a Cleric/Paladin because the DMG actually had a line in it about Goblin Paladins not being playable characters and I liked the irony. I played him as a civil rights leader for the Goblins who were trying to assimilate into Human society.

I absolutely loved the character and would love to dust him off for this campaign, but I can understand if that steps on other character concepts, especially since I'm delivering him late in the process. Let me know what you all think, one way or the other. Perhaps I can drum up something else that would fit...

Mirth
 

Roudi

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« Reply #36 on: March 09, 2006, 07:31:06 PM »
I rather like the idea of a goblin paladin.  That's the kind of character that someone like Julian would gravitate towards... an underdog hero, playing against the odds, and possibly (maybe, hopefully) destined for greatness!

The kind of stuff bards sing about for ages... or, you know, that get turned into bawdy tavern jokes involving wenches and a pun about lay on hands.

willpax

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« Reply #37 on: March 09, 2006, 08:32:05 PM »
I thought showing some flexibility would make things easier, not harder. :confused:

So, let's see:

Mirth: goblin cleric or paladin
Ottomsoh: goblin druid
u.n.: fighter/wizard
Roudi: bard
Elidia: monk

We seem to have at least three semi-healers already in the band, so how does this sound to round things out:

Megamiewsel and I can be the brothers of the destroyed house (fraternal twins, but not very similar in talents). He can go the charismatic fighter (or fighter/cleric) type, and be a natural leader. I am the somewhat darker, more devious brother whose talents lie in roguery (we will need a sneak of some type to complement the monk).

So: Roudi was integral in getting us out of trouble when the invasion came, so, although we used to treat him like a servant, we both feel that we owe him our lives (mixed with, perhaps, some lingering guilt over that operation). We have sought refuge in a wilderness/borderland area and befriended the rest of the group, at least one or two of whom see this as home (perhaps the druid).

I'm sure we can work on some better integration, but how's that for a start?
Cherish those who seek the truth, but beware of those who find it. (Voltaire)

Mirth

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« Reply #38 on: March 09, 2006, 08:46:39 PM »
Quote from: willpax
I thought showing some flexibility would make things easier, not harder. :confused:


I'm not absolutely tied to the character and I can always come up with something else, so don't feel like you have to change. As I said, I don't want to step on any toes. It's all about love and peace (pax), baby. :D

Mirth
 

Enkhidu

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« Reply #39 on: March 09, 2006, 09:02:57 PM »
Alright - based on the replies I'm seeing, I think I know the answer to my next question for you as players, but I'm going to ask it anyway.

As you might have divined from the tidbits I've posted so far, the Empire is a big place, and one that covers a lot of different cultures, which in turn lend themselves to different styles of play and player preferences.

So here's the question: what sort of game are you - as players - looking for? I know my personal preference is to do whatever makes for a more convincing and three dimensional setting, but some of you might have particular tastes. Are you looking for a game heavy in political intrigue? Then we'll start closer to the Old Empire, where the families are ruthless and the streets run red with tape. Or you looking for an exploration heavy game? That would be a game set almost wholly in the frontier. Or maybe you're looking for a tumultuous atmosphere? Then one of the newly annexed kingdoms north of Faris might do well, as long as you could stay clear of the Marshalls, goblins raiding parties, and the mercenaries used by the Empire during their conquest that liked what they saw and just won't leave.

There's room in this settig for all these and more, so what's you're poison?
 

Roudi

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« Reply #40 on: March 09, 2006, 09:57:33 PM »
Quote from: willpax
So: Roudi was integral in getting us out of trouble when the invasion came, so, although we used to treat him like a servant, we both feel that we owe him our lives (mixed with, perhaps, some lingering guilt over that operation).

I'm sure we can work on some better integration, but how's that for a start?

I like that; we can work with it.

As for the type of game, Enkhidu, I'm game for all three.

Megamieuwsel

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« Reply #41 on: March 10, 2006, 02:19:52 AM »
I'd like somekinda mix of it : Some stiff political infighting in the Borderlands ; Lots of "New Nobillity" , vying for power in the fresh lands and stuff like that.
And yes ; those pesky , sticky mercenaries and their bandit ilk can play their role too.
And then ; It's the fringe , so there'll be plenty of uncharted area to appeal to the "exploration"-lovers.

I'll work out a concept for a backgroud and mail it to Will and Roudi for review and correction/additions ,so we can give it here cut&dried.
It would help greatly , if you guys mailed me the basics of your characters' personalities and chosen names.

Ottomsoh the Elderly

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« Reply #42 on: March 10, 2006, 05:07:53 AM »
I'd say exploration around the Frontier or swashbuckling in troubled kingdoms are my favorite. After all, we're mostly ignorant of the subtleties of the campaign setting, so intrigues would be hard to get into in my opinion. At least in the beginning of the campaign, it can evolve into this direction after a while.

For example we can start in the recently annexed kingdom that once belonged to will's and t.u.n.'s characters, live off adventures for a while, until our exiled nobles decide to try to worm their way back in the political system to get their castle back...
 

willpax

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« Reply #43 on: March 10, 2006, 08:35:13 AM »
Quote
For example we can start in the recently annexed kingdom that once belonged to will's and t.u.n.'s characters, live off adventures for a while, until our exiled nobles decide to try to worm their way back in the political system to get their castle back...


This works for me, and should allow for a good deal of flexibility--some wilderness to start off with, with progressively more intrigue as it progresses.

I'll start working on character details with this group in mind. Enkhidu, are there some naming conventions or styles you would prefer for a former member of the Farisian royalty?
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el-remmen

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« Reply #44 on: March 10, 2006, 09:14:29 AM »
I too vote for starting out in the frontier and then moving in a more civilizied direction over time.

Maybe the noble guys came out to the frontier to escape persecution?  

I kind of see my guy like Caine from Kung-fun traveling the west helping people. ;)
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