"Session 0" thread

We'll use this as our Session 0 thread. Discuss party composition, content vetoes, starting location and whether your characters should all know each other to start with.

First things first, who are we working with? Post your top two stat sets here once you've got them and which classes they'd be best at, that will let the party figure out which roles can be filled. Keep in mind henchman hiring is a perfectly legitimate strategy as well if the party is missing a thief or healer or something.

Pathetic as they are here be the best two

Attributes Set 1
..... Str 13 ... Con 11 ... Dex 15 ... Int 10 ... Wis 07 ... Cha 11


Attributes Set 2
..... Str 11 ... Con 11 ... Dex 08 ... Int 12 ... Wis 10 ... Cha 12

Yeah, the lower scores in old school games definitely make for a struggle. Makes the need for hirelings to soak up damage and fill the skill gaps real.

Name | STR | INT | WIS | DEX | CON | CHA
Martin | 15 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 17
Lawrence | 9 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 5

Set 3 would probably be the other set.
Str 12, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 11

Set 5 can work
Str 11, Dex 10, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 14


Set 3 would be good for:
Mage, Dwarven Machinist, Warlock
It might also work for:
Dwarven Delver, Elven Spellsword, Elven Nightblade, Elven Courtier, Elven Enchanter, Gnomish Trickster

Personally I don't like playing evil characters, so I probably wouldn't play a Warlock.

Set 5 is decent for most of the Wisdom casters.

Oh, decided to throw this quick chart together of all the classes. Their prime attribute is also a perquisite, you need at least a 9 to take the class. More than that gives you an experience bonus. If the class has multiple primary stats, you must have at least a 9 in ALL of them.

Core:
Fighter
Primary -Strength 9

Mage
Primary - Intelligence 9

Cleric
Primary - Wisdom 9

Thief
Primary - Dexterity 9

Core -- Campaign Classes (IE get your DM's permission)
Assassin
Primary - Strength 9 and Dexterity 9

Bard
Primary - Dexterity 9 and Charisma 9

Battledancer (note female only)
Primary - Wisdom 9 and Dexterity 9

Explorer
Primary - Strength 9 and Dexterity 9

DWARVEN VAULTGUARD
Prime Requisite:STR 9
Requirements:CON 9

DWARVEN CRAFTPRIEST
Prime Requisite:WIS 9
Requirements:CON 9

ELVEN SPELLSWORD
Prime Requisite:STR 9 and INT 9

ELVEN NIGHTBLADE
Prime Requisite:DEX 9 and INT 9

Player's Companion

ANTI-PALADIN (evil only)
Prime Requisite:STR 9 and CHA 9

BARBARIAN
Prime Requisite:STR 9 and CON 9

DWARVEN DELVER
Prime Requisite:DEX 9
Requirements:CON 9

DWARVEN FURY
Prime Requisite:STR 9
Requirements:CON 9

DWARVEN MACHINIST
Prime Requisite:INT 9 and DEX 9
Requirements:CON 9

ELVEN COURTIER
Prime Requisite:INT 9 and CHA 9
Requirements:INT 9 (err they already need it for the Prime...)

ELVEN ENCHANTER
Prime Requisite:INT and CHA
Requirements:INT 9

ELVEN RANGER
Prime Requisite:STR and DEX
Requirements:INT 9

GNOMISH TRICKSTER
Prime Requisite:CON and CHA
Requirements:CON 9, INT 9

MYSTIC
Prime Requisite:WIS, DEX, CON, and CHA

NOBIRAN WONDERWORKER (IE the class with the most requirements)
Prime Requisite:INT, WIS
Requirements:STR 11, INT 11, WIS 11, DEX 11, CON 11, CHA 11

PALADIN
Prime Requisite: STR and CHA

PRIESTESS (note, female only)
Prime Requisite:WIS and CHA

SHAMAN
Prime Requisite:WIS

THRASSIAN GLADIATOR (Lizard person)
Prime Requisite:STR
Requirements:STR 9, DEX 9, CON 9

VENTURER
Prime Requisite:CHA

WARLOCK (Usually evil)
Prime Requisite:INT

WITCH
Prime Requisite:WIS and CHA

ZAHARAN RUINGUARD (usually chaotic and/or evil)
Prime Requisite:STR and INT
Requirements:INT 9, WIS 9, CHA 9

Wow, thanks for doing that ToDream! If anyone needs the rules for a particular class let me know and I'll get them to you. I'm fine with any of the classes listed by ToDream.

Lots of divine casters in these books:
Clerics: full armor, order based weapons (IE DM's chose), may not dual-wield
Battledancer: Light armor, not allowed shields, not allowed ranged attacks, can dual-wield, special spell list
Dwarven Craftpriest: Full armor, dwarven weapons better saves, better proficiency, only 10 levels, may not dual-wield
Nobiran Wonderworker: No armor, limited weapons, bad HP, better saves, several immuntities, lay on hands, cannot turn undead, arcane and divine spells!
Priestess: No armor, limited weapons, bad HP, faster spell progression than cleric, more spell slots than a cleric
Shaman: Light armor, limited weapons, totem animal, restores spell slots, limited shapeshifting
Witch: No armor, limited weapons, bad HP, better spell progression than a cleric, tradition bonuses, faster magic item progression

And Arcane Casters:
Mage: No armor, limited weapons, bad HP, best caster
Elven Spellblade: Any armor, any weapon, good to-hit progression, limited spell-casting, elven immunities
Elven Nightblade: Light armor, thief weapons, some thief skills, extremely limited spell-casting, elven immunities
Elven Courtier: Medium armor, moderate weapons, special weapon to-hit bonus, diplomacy bonus, extremely limited spell-casting, elven immunities
Elven Enchanter: No armor, limited weapons, bad HP, better charms and illusion spells, prestidigitiation, diplomacy bonus, same spell progression as mage
Gnomish Trickster: Light armor, limited weapon, bad HP, better weapon progression, resist illusion, extremely limited spells, certain innate spells, infravision, better illusion spells
Nobiran Wonderworker: No armor, limited weapons, bad HP, better saves, several immuntities, lay on hands, cannot turn undead, arcane and divine spells!
Venturer: Light armor, limited weapons, bad HP, shopping bonuses, diplomacy bonuses, some thief skills, worst arcane caster
Warlock: Light armor, limited weapons, bad HP, familiar, control undead, shapeshifting, 2/3 a mage's spells
Zaharan Ruinguard: All armor, melee weapons only, fighter weapon progression, bonus to saves, free weapon focus, 1/2 mage's spells, smite, self-healing, better than normal if undead

Hmm... for character #1 it's either straight Mage, Elven Nightblade, or Zaharan Ruinguard. Maybe Spellsword? Seems a shame to waste that strength.

For character #2... hey a dumb cleric! Woo-hoo!

I also have all of the published ACKS stuff as well as Axioms if anyone needs anything.

Yeah but Kilgs, while I am not the GM, I still question the legitimacy of those numbers as those appear to just be posted instead of using the Die Roller like everyone else did ??

I used the Dice Roller... under the Tools tab, right? Is there a way I send them to the game? Sorry. New here.

And I just answered my own question while in the Edit tab... apparently you can roll in a forum. Sonuva... is there any way to access that dice roller without using the Edit?

Oh, I still have the page up from the roller. I can screen shot them?

Screenshots located in the other thread. I can reroll if it makes people more comfortable. Just didn't know how to do it.

Hey Kilgs, not to make you waste some pretty darn good rolls, but I am gonna ask you to reroll in the character generation thread. It just helps keep everyone on the same page and keep everything nice and uniform.

I also noticed you've echoed DeJoker's request for starting above 1st level. I'm reading into the specifics of the adventure module still and getting a sense that it can be done at 1st level but may be a bit of a meat grinder depending on party composition. Once we have that settled, I'll make a decision as to starting XP and increased starting gold/items.

So I guess we need to coordinate:

We'll probably want an arcane magic user, likely a mage.
We'll want someone with access to healing spells.
We'll want someone with the ability to see and disarm traps.
And finally we will want someone who can fight, and preferably protect the mage(s).

Jut putting all this in one spot:

DeJoker 1: Str 13 (+1) | Int 10 (+0) | Wis 07 (-1) | Dex 15 (+1) | Con 11 (+0) | Cha 11 (+0)

DeJoker 2: Str 11 (+0) | Int 12 (+0) | Wis 10 (+0) | Dex 08 (-1) | Con 11 (+0) | Cha 12 (+0)

---

Aegis 1: Str 15 (+1) | Int 11 (+0) | Wis 13 (+1) | Dex 12 (+0) | Con 10 (+0) | Cha 17 (+2)

Aegis 2: Str 9 (+0) | Int 11 (+0) | Wis 10 (+0) | Dex 12 (+0) | Con 11 (+0) | Cha 5 (-2)

---

ToDream 1: Str 12 (+0) | Int 16 (+2) | Wis 8 (-1) | Dex 12 (+0) | Con 15 (+1) | Cha 11 (+0)

ToDream 2: Str 11 (+0) | Int 10 (+0) | Wis 14 (+1) | Dex 10 (+0) | Con 15 (+1) | Cha 14 (+1)

---

WonderWaffle 1: Str 7 (-1) | Int 14 (+1) | Wis 12 (+0) | Dex 15 (+1) | Con 11 (+0) | Cha 12 (+0)

WonderWaffle 2: Str 10 (+0) | Int 15 (+1) | Wis 10 (+0) | Dex 8 (-1) | Con 13 (+1) | Cha 13 (+1)

---

Kilgs 1: Str 10 (+0) | Int 12 (+0) | Wis 9 (+0) | Dex 16 (+2) | Con 13 (+1) | Cha 17 (+2)

Kilgs 2: Str 10 (+0) | Int 14 (+1) | Wis 12 (+0) | Dex 9 (+0) | Con 9 (+0) | Cha 11 (+0)

---

Will update this post once the other numbers are in and we can go from there as far as class.

No worries! My bad for not doing it right.

Looks like we lost our cleric. Likely Nightblade/Ranger (Set 4) and Mage (Set 5)? Possible wimpy mage in Set 2 as well.

Still not a bad spread. Which two do you want to keep?

I'm looking at 4 & 5. Elven Ranger(4) and something else...

Well it looks like -- if we want to diversify and try to cover all the bases

Aegis#1 ............... would make a nice Paladin-like
Dejoker#1 ............ would make a Dex-based Fighter (Assassin, Explorer?, Elven Ranger) maybe
ToDream#1 .......... would make our best Wizard
Kilgs#1 ................ Con-man Rogue (aka Bard) maybe
WonderWaffle#1 .... I have no clue


Problem with a Ranger Kilgs is you pretty much waste that best stat that being Charisma

True... but low level ACKS hex-crawling? Not likely to survive long enough to merit being a class that is social. I like the Venturer v3 from Axioms but they're just toilet paper in combat.

Besides, that CHA isn't wasted when I train a Saber-Tooth Tiger!! Woo-hoo!

Okay for me it looks like -- #1 Elven Ranger and #2 Elven Courtier or Elven Enchanter

I say that mostly because #1 seems to pretty much be best aligned with Elven Ranger which would mean the second character ought to be Elven as well.

Yeah, I'm looking at the Courtier right now... just thought of that as well. I'll look over it some more over lunch. Back to work!

So, since both De Joker and Kilgs have brought it up, and Kilgs, sounds like you have more experience actually playing the system than I do, I'm mulling over jumping you guys to 3k experience. That would put most classes at level 2 and some at level 3, giving Clerics (if any) some access to their spells and everyone roughly twice the hit points. That should help strike a balance between the desire of Aegis (and myself) to have a 0 to Hero campaign, and the preference for not insta-dying. Although, DeJoker might WANT his characters to Insta-Die I suppose.

If we do increased gold, I will give you guys the option to trade it in for chances at magic items, as per ACKS Core/SRD Ch. 10. I don't want to start out at 5th level right off the bat though, as I am also still learning how to DM this system and would like to ease into it.

Just to take into account when picking classes.

Well again it kind of depends on what you plan to do for those early levels -- we can start at level 1 it just means the adventures have to be more suitable -- I have done old-school DnD and 1st level adventures are quite doable but you kind of have to control the environment to some degree. If you are not experienced with creating suitable adventures and/or do not have something planned I can help with that if you like -- I am really good at separating what I know versus what my character knows and eventually I am sure you will be off on your own before we get into the really meaty stuff.

That said I would suggest the following adjustment to hit points something I did way back in 1st Ed DnD instead of rolling the full Hit Die everyone gets a 1d4+? where the question mark is what would get them to their allotted hit die, which for Wizards would be 1d4+2 and for Fighters would be 1d4+4. This does 3 things creates a little be higher survivability, does not penalize those with higher Hit Die just because they rolled bad, and maintains a bit of randomness. Keep in mind in 1st Ed DnD the fighter rolled a 1d10 for hit points and I remember the fighter that had to go out with only 1 hit point -- I thought that was just cruel.

If you want to add in a bit more flavor and allow for a bit more survivability instead of dying at HP 0 you have to roll for consciousness making a Con Save with a DC = 10+-1 HP each time you take damage. Further if you go negative and have not been stabilized you are losing 1 HP per round (or 2 if your being active). This makes that Healing or Medicine skill much more useful. Now I let players go all the way to -Con x 2 before they are dead and at -Con x 4 there is nothing left to raise from the dead. This means that Con score becomes a bit more important to everyone.

Again if you want help brainstorming up some basic 1st level adventures let me know I have done this many times -- further when designing that very first adventure one should be seeding it with additional adventure options and I can talk to you about how to do that fairly easily as well.

Thanks DeJoker! I may take you up on the offer. I have quite a few low-level adventures on hand and plenty of adventure hooks as well, so we should be able to do a low-starting level just fine. I'll continue to mull it over as we build out the characters and see what shakes out. I'm basing the campaign on an adventure module designed as a starter module that links into higher level dungeons and conflicts, but I also have some other low-level mini-adventures ready too, in case the party wants to go a different direction than the module is designed for. I don't plan to railroad you guys any more than absolutely necessary to make the game function. This will be YOUR adventure.

As for the Hit-Dice that's not a bad idea. I'll mull that over as well. The dying vs unconscious thing is already dealt with in ACKs core rules. There's a "mortal wounds" table that varies the survivability based on various factors and die rolls. We'll just use that RAW until and unless it becomes too harsh or not harsh enough (unlikely).

By the way, everyone else's input is welcome as well!

Yeah. I can gladly try the Paladin route. I actually got some good rolls in, lol

Do remember that while I have read the ACK rules, a long time ago, and am familiar with D&D 2e and up, I haven't actually played ACK.

I'll make a mage for my main, but I'm probably going to need some help. Also, I MIGHT have some starting contribution issues, since ACK casters don't have cantrips, so at level 1 I have 1 spell per day. I also only know three spells, once chosen by Jab, two more by random die rolls.

Actually, one thing I don't see immediately, are Mages Spontaneous (With a spellbook) or Prepared casters?

Oh absolutely! There will be several event chains happening behind the scenes independent of the Party until and unless the party comes across it. I'll let you know if I need any help tracking or managing such things though, as it will be sort of my first foray into such a dynamic campaign style.

Well if I had room in one of my games I would invite you in to experience it ;) first hand but I am not sure I currently have room in one of the exiting instances.

Thanks for the consideration nonetheless. If you have anyone drop out, I'd be happy to take their place.

To Recap where we're at though:

Aegis#1 sounds like a Paladin. That will be handy.
Dejoker#1 going Elven Ranger or similar dex-fighter.
ToDream#1 I presume an Arcane Caster?
Kilgs#1 What are you thinking? Bard, Rogue, Courtier? Venturer might be tricky to keep alive but wouldn't go amiss when it comes time to sell off the loot.
WonderWaffle#1: Looking like a Nightblade, maybe? Or Dwarven Machinist? What are you thinking?

Yes, Character 1 would be a Mage. Character 2 I am undecided on.

We have one last player, Dfsearles, joining in. I'll update the roster when they get their rolls in.

Hopefully a cleric ;)

Maybe they'll even want to play a super-squishy super-cleric and go the Priestess route :P

Beep boop. Update-a-rooni.

Nearing completion with my first character, an Elven Nightblade -- very "the doctor should often be feared more than the cure" sorta magical assassin. They're no Cleric, but they do have maxed out Healing Proficiency, for whatever that's worth; chiefly because they're the actual equivalent of an elven doctor, but also because anatomy seems like it'd be super-useful for someone who does their best work from the shadows. Second character is undecided, but I'm debating on a few concepts.

A basic house rule that most people do with ACKS... 1st level-everyone gets their full hit die plus CON. For each level after that, you roll as usual. That ensures that folks don't go belly-up the first few session.

---

Do we have a healer yet? I can make a crappy cleric if needed... Hmmm... let me look and see what I can do with my available stats.

Yeah, not with these rolls, even with trading point around my attributes still suck for a cleric. I was going to go for a Spellsword, but I see thats taken. The Venturer look appealing, though I dont know if he'd come in handy. looking into other options for healing though, give me time

Do we have a rogue? My set 5 would be great for a dwarven mechanist whom has a bonus to his open lock ability, plus with enough time and gold he can build a transport or watchful guardian while we all sleep?

Aegis#1: Paladin.
Dejoker#1: Elven Ranger
ToDream#1: Magic-User
Kilgs#1: TBD
WonderWaffle#1: Nightblade
Dfsearles #1: TBD

---

Are any of these incorrect?

DF, Kilgs, its down to you two. There is currently no dedicated lockpicker or healer. But another support caster might not go amiss, nor would a second tank.

Also, guys, don't' forget to have SOMEONE with the mapping proficiency, or you guys are gonna be stuck with whatever maps you can hand draw off my verbal descriptions of things.

I'll do the mechanist

I took Survival and Weapon Finesse as my two proficiencies as I am guessing I will be more directly supporting our tank when needed. Further I felt these two skills would better help the group than the two suggested - those being Weapon Focus (Bows/X-bows) and Tracking

DeJoker, that sounds wise to me.

Are you allowing the Personal Automaton skill?
ACKS Player's Companion pg. 153: Personal Automaton: All machinists enjoy tinkering
with customized creations. A machinist with the Personal
Automaton proficiency is obsessed with one particular creation,
his personal automaton, which he continuously modifies and
upgrades.
When the proficiency is first taken, the character immediately
gains a personal automaton of his own design worth up to
7,000gp. If the character’s personal automaton is ever destroyed
or disassembled, the character may design and/or build a new
one. A character may never have more than one personal
automaton at a time.
Designing a personal automaton costs 7,000gp less than
normal, with the equivalent reductions in design time and
library requirements. As a consequence the finished design
can only be used by the character, and only to build a personal
automaton. This represents the character making incomplete
and undocumented designs for personal use.
Building a personal automaton also costs 7,000gp less than
normal, with equivalent reductions in building time and
workshop requirements. As a consequence, the personal
automaton requires daily maintenance from its builder of at
least 1 turn per day. If the maintenance is not performed, the
automaton is nonfunctional until 3d6 turns are spent returning
it to working order. This represents the personal automaton’s
perpetually unfinished state.
Any proficiency throws to design and build personal automatons
are always successful.
If desired, the character may disassemble his personal automaton
for up to 50% of the unadjusted build cost in materials. This
takes 1 day per 1,000gp of returned value. These materials may
only be used to offset the cost of constructing another Personal
automatons may be sold, but are only worth scrap value (1/100th
build cost).
A personal automaton may not be controlled or operated by
anyone other than the character.

Yeah, I mean, that seems to be the main point of the Machinist. Go for it. Just make sure you detail the stats/abilities/costs somewhere on your character sheet so I can see it.

And my wealth is 120 gp
Chain Mail 40gp
War Hammer 5gp
Shield 10 gp
Low leather boots 6sp
Leather Belt 4sp
Long hooded cloak 1gp
Gloves 4sp
Crafter tunic and pants 4gp
Backpack 2gp
Blacksmiths tools 25gp
rations, iron x5 5gp
Thieves Tools 25gp
Waterskin 6sp
1gp

How do I change to my character's name? Also, how do I upload the character sheet?

Instructions for all that and more are here: User Guide Thread

For this game in particular, create a "Custom" sheet and use This Sheet. Just save a fresh copy of it for yourself. The only error in it is that the AC is 10 points too high, easily changed. Save that and upload a link to it for your character sheet.

if you don't have a google drive acct you can use for that, PM me and we'll sort out a solution.

Oh I meant upload the Google doc lol, I’ve never used it before

You can't upload the sheet itself to GP, you'll need to post the shareable link to it as your character sheet.

Should I roll for my random spells before choosing proficiencies, or after?

Proficiencies first, but go ahead and pick your first two spells and then roll for any additional from Intelligence bonus. I know it says the Judge should pick the first two starting spells and randomly assign the rest, but go ahead and grab whichever two you want then roll for the rest.

Alright.

Given the number of proficiencies I get, I suspect that I would be the best person to take Mapping, and then take Navigation for overland travel. For my last general proficiency, maybe Healing? I also need to decide my class specific proficency.

I did roll the two bonus spells I get, and rolled the same spell both times Read Language. I get one more spell, so I was thinking either Sleep or Magic Missile?

I also have 220gp to play with, but 20gp of that is reserved for my spellbook.

Here's my character sheet so far: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jOZ4aOZDKhR07vgMatAeOBbypraZaTBlOzelYNPp-x0/edit?usp=sharing

I appreciate you taking mapping there, ToDream. It's... honestly something I just sort of glossed over.

As far as a healer, my primary Nightblade whosmacallit is pretty handy outside of combat with Healing 3, but lacks the immediacy of divine intervention, so if nothing else can take some of the strain off of our healer (or healer henchman, if push comes to shove) as needed. Can climb walls and sneak about, but lacks the aptitude for opening locks, too. Hmm.

Grog the Barbarian is a great lock opener and has a very simplistic approach ;) Grog just smash it.
So we can just higher him for doing that, as he would almost do it just for fun cuz... Grog like to smash

ToDream, sleep might be handier at first level. Good for attack, escape, and evasion. But you've also got that extra spot in your repertoire if you can find a spell to fill it, and first level spells shouldn't be too hard to find.

Here's Harper, the coldly-professional-but-genuinely-kind Elven Nightblade chirugeon. Background is stll incomplete, but I figured we could hash out the party dynamics when appropriate. If the sheet passes muster, I'll start fiddling with my backup and get the ball rolling.

I’ve actually got open lock and tap detection lol. Hopefully it won’t be so bad

I took Sleep as the spell the GM choses for me. I know I have the extra slot in my repertoire. Unfortunately I don't have a spell to fill it with. The rules explicitly call out that if you roll the same spell twice when rolling for your extra spells, you do not get to reroll, you start with one less spell.

Edit: Thinking about Loremastery as my Class-Specific Proficiency. The roll isn't super-high, but it gives me a chance to fill in a lot of knowledge. Other strong contentors are Battle Magic or Unflappable Casting.

Also, with someone else taking the Healing proficiency, I'm thinking about swapping mine to Collegiate Wizardry, unless the group feels that it's important for us to have multiple out-of-battle healers. Or I could complete the mapping trifecta with Land Surveying, though I suspect that's one will really want at the higher tier.

To Dream, I meant finding the spells in-game. Additionally, you could also drop both your Strength and Con to 10 to increase your Intelligence to 18 to get another repertoire slot and another roll for a random spell, and another proficiency.

Land Surveying is best done by hireling, from what I've gleaned. Collegiate Wizardry and/or Loremastery would not go amiss.

WonderWaffle, looks good. The background stuff tends to work itself out as the characters take on a life of their own during play. There are a few classes that need to pick a country/race/culture of origin for mechanical reasons, but Nightblade isn't one of them.

I would recommend you all know each other somewhat, even if its just "we all rode into town in the same caravan." It speeds up the awkward time-sink of in-character introductions. But if y'all love that part of the game, I won't stop you.

#1-Elven Ranger
#2-Cleric (a really poor one...)

So it looks like the Party will be:

I'm almost scared to drop my Constitution, but if people think it is a good idea, I will go for it.

My character can be your good friend ToDream if you like and be willing to make sure you stay as safe as possible. Like we have been together doing things for a while, probably your stuff mostly ;) and he just keeps your character as safe as possible while we are doing your stuff

Dropping from 12 to 10 won't have much appreciable difference unless you somehow loose two more during gameplay. Which could happen, tbh. But not likely at early level encounters.

Alright I'll do it, but what should I pick up as my new general proficiency?

Edit: Alright, that's the shield spell.

I was like, 80% sure you gonna roll another Read Languages. You're mage REALLY wanted to pas those linguistics exams...

I would recommend Alchemy, Knowledge(history) or Naturalism.

Yeah, I had through about those, particularly the first and the last. The first gives us a way to identify alchemical items while the last kind of gives my Mage as someone who really wants to go exploring (though that lack of Survival might say he's not especially good at it.)

He's a day-trip naturalist. Or like an 18th century Naturalist in the British Royal Navy. Survivalism is for the press-ganged sailors, you're too busy studying beetle poo to look for food and water!

ToDream that is perhaps why you have an Elven friend who knows Survival ;) -- yes / no ?? You never answered.

Speaking of Elven friends, we've got three Elves and a Dwarf. Quite a sight, if demihumans are fairly rare! Perhaps us Elfy sorts just sort of gravitate to each other, but perhaps we've got a history stetching back farther? Maybe they were all in service to what's left of the Argollë Empire before cutting ties? Dunno. Just spit-balling here.

On the subject of our Dwarven Machinist, I can see Harper being absolutely fascinated by all the mechanical marvels they can produce, and the two would make a neat juxtaposition of nature vs. technology. Maybe have some "spirited debates" on the subject or something.

Still pondering that second character. We've got a bunch of mages, so looking to contribute something different. Might see if I can finagle some sort of Cleric or Fighter-y type somehow.

I am game for that if the GM could give us some perhaps collective thing that a small group of Elves might have been doing or perhaps we are what remains of a slightly larger group or whatever fits into the world and the upcoming story arches

Well, some common knowledge of the general area would be:

The campaign region is part of a larger province known as Southern Argolle, which was once part of a vast Elven Empire but is now the southeastern edge of the human-dominated Auran Empire. Most elves have fled north to Northern Argolle, which remains an elven kingdom. Nevertheless, there are numerous elven ruins and abandoned elven holy sites, and several imperial cities in the region were either built by elven hands centuries ago or built atop the ruins of elven fortresses. Plenty of ancient elven artifacts and history to be recovered.

There is also a dwarven vault (underground city) in the general region somewhere, and used to be more in the past.

Additionally, there are various calls for mercenaries and adventurers in the region owing to the Imperial legions having been called West for a war against the Skysos nomads, leaving the area under-garrisoned, so if your elves are merely adventurous mercs, the promise of low-level wetwork might be enough for them. Or perhaps they are crusaders looking to open cracks in the empire and reclaim the region for elven-kind?

As for the Mage, there may be the lure of knowledge and artifacts buried in old elven strongholds, or in yet more ancient ruins rumored to lie untouched in the deadly wastes beyond the (relative) safety of the imperial borders.

So in general what is the Elven disposition to the current regime that usurped their lands? It cannot be all that friendly considering that perhaps they killed quite a few Elves in the process and it was most likely (as is usually the case for Elves) a war of attrition where the humans who breed like rats out manned the elves over time.

@Dejoker I'm fine with us being friends, I like the idea of my character being a lot like a 18th century Naturalist in the British Royal Navy.

He's not REALLY supposed to be in the field, but whatever group got him out the first time wanted him to do it in person instead of compiling the information. Maybe something along the lines of, 'We don't trust the Elves not to keep secrets, so you are going in person to verify the report.'

It should be noted that there isn't a strong current of racial animus between humans, elves and dwarves, but there is some level of cultural friction between them and between the various human cultures, even within the empire's borders. There is definitely enough history between the various groups that there could be reason for bad blood, but most of it is distant enough (for humans at least) that it wouldn't be on most people's minds.

There are two general religions, the Empyrean and the Cthonic. Different cultures have different names for the specific gods of their pantheons, and may disagree over points of theology but they all agree the Empyrean gods are gods of Law and generally good, and the Cthonic gods are gods of Chaos and generally considered evil by society at large. I'll list the gods in a post in Setting Info later on, but it's not exhaustive and is based on the Auran Imperial religious beliefs, so you can certainly make up your own minor deity or a cultural variation on one of the Auran deities as well.

More than that you'll need a proficiency check or a conversation with a cleric to know something specific.

Great ToDream, so melding the concepts of an Elven Ranger and your character what do you think might have been their common ground of mutual friendship. I mean obviously his ability to survive in the wild but aspect of your character do you think would be the pull for the Elf in a relationship of mutual benefit. Heck it could even be something that has nothing to do with the character's profession just something they have a connection to that would prove of interest.

Note I am just brainstorming with you on this to come up with a mutual agreement on what we build this friendship upon and how it shaped over time.

It's gonna depend on the person. It wasn't the humans themselves that kicked the elves out, but Thrassians, the evil lizard men enslaved by the elves, who then oppressed and enslaved (and ate) both elves and humans. Evil/chaotic humans then overthrew the Thrassians, and then a coalition of lawful/good humans and some elves that overthrew the evil human empire and the humans established the Auran empire. So it went Lawful & Chaotic Elves > Chaotic Lizards > Chaotic Humans > Lawful Humans

So there is a LOT of history in between, but undoubtedly there are going to be elves who still see southern Argolle as their land. There's a lot more to it, of course, but only historians and scholars would know the details.

P.s. in this setting Lawful and Chaotic are a bit different from the D&D assumptions. More on that later when I can find the explanation for it.

What! Who wrote those history books? We Elves would never enslave another race even one so obviously inferior as the lizardfolk. Perhaps they misunderstood are guidance and just viewed it as enslavement when all we were trying to do was enrich their lives.

But seriously they have the good Elves enslaving the Lizardfolk or were those the Drow those who have chosen the path of darkness versus the path of Light?

That's kind of lost to History and it depends on who's telling the story. The lizard men tribes that exist today are definitely monstrous and cannibalistic, and have no interest in making peace with anyone except to enslave them, though they will behave if given no choice, and as such are sometimes enslaved and used as gladiators by the Aurans. But the elves of yore definitely ruled over them at some point, and got overthrown. The nature of the original relationship is obscure. Some myths also claim the elves enslaved humans, while others claim that elves and humans worked together and lived in harmony. No one really know what brought the elven empire down.

The Elves know but we have our reasons for keeping our secrets ;) ... even from our own people

So I understand now just someone putting out those alternate facts based on hearsay, vile propaganda, and conspiracy theories

Some elves know some of the truth, but not all of it. And some of it is locked away in the ancient ruins of Southern Argollë and the Wastes beyond...
(cue dramatic mysterious adventure music)

There we go now we got a plan find the lost information to know the full story ;) even if we do not tell anybody else because some things were best left not told

Considering I’m running around on a Harley, I’m sure they have plenty to discuss lol. I’m wondering though if I can make a Batmanisk character. Where he relies on different gadgets and gizmos he constructs. I’ll have to look into it.

Should you not be doing a more Joker kind of shtick since you are riding around on Harley ;)
bud-dum-tsh

I am having a horrible time with that spreadsheet thing its not at all acting like I would expect it to and its missing a lot of stuff for my character

What kind of issue are you having, exactly?

P.S. Bard. Second character's gonna be a dumb Bard with delusions of grandeur!

Hmmm. Darn. It was meant to make things easier. If its more trouble than its worth, just record it on the custom sheet the "old fashioned way".

Okay - yeah I understand your thoughts - maybe this weekend though I can work on it as I am excel programmer

Don’t think I hadn’t thought of that, but you already took that name lol

The only thing that i found really wrong with it was the AC cell wad trying to add 10 to the modifiers, when it should have been 0. And it was trying to tie the Constitution mod to loss of left ear, so i just removed the problematic "if" statement from the Con bonus cell. The rest of it seemed to work fine, though its not entirely automated. Unfortunately the creator gave up on it rather than finish it. I also didnt try out every class. So maybe it breaks down on some of them.

Yeah mine was not working hardly at all -- but like I said maybe this weekend I can look at it and help you get it finished -- are you willing to help get it finished?

Yeah, I'd love to get it finished. Complete automation isn't necessary, but it should be functional and shouldn't be doing automatically making errors. However, this weekend I will be incommunicado, more or less, for family reasons, but I should be able to check my messages a couple of times.

Sorry y’all. I’m still around. I’ll catch up today.

No JabBurrwalky I did not mean you would have to be available on the weekend but if you have Discord my Id is DeJoker#1460 shoot me a friend request and let me know its you.

What I would like you to do is help fill in any missing data and I will be expanding data sheets to make that easier to do. This way I can focus on the gathering of the data and you can focus on simply inputting the data.

No worries! Let me know if you need anything.

Sounds good, my username on Discord is Trinitar#9903, so look for a request from that name.

Anyone else is welcome to add me there as well.

For anyone else having trouble with the Character Spreadsheet, just put your stats into the Custom character sheet by hand, and we'll figure out if there's a worthwhile solution later. Better to get the game rolling and hammer out the wrinkles as we go.

So far I still need sheets from:
Aegis
Kilgs
DeJoker (working on it)
ToDream

Here's Teallah, the diminuative, illterate, bawdy, foul-mouthed, hot-headed Bard with dreams of being famous across the Borderlands and the Empire. Aside from missing a background, should otherwise be mechanically sound and ready for play. Kinda squishy, not very smart, but banking on that Charisma to be incredibly intimidating and making the most out of that Loremastery proficiency to fake it like a pro.

That sounds awesome Wonderwaffle

Looks good Wonderwaffle, though the HP should be 5, not 6, due to the low Con.

Right you are! Fix'd!

I sent Aegis and kilgs PMs asking about their character sheets yesterday morning and haven't heard back from them. If I don't hear from them by tomorrow afternoon* we'll get started without them and they can jump in later if they join us.

*It'll take me till then to get the first post written.

Poll time till then, would guys rather arrive "on the road" with a couple hints about local settlements to pick your own destinations, or be dropped in near a settlement right off the bat? Either way it will be in "Civilized" areas, so chances of a hostile random encounter on the road, especially a high level one, will be extremely low.

Well an organic reason that we are all coming together would be good or are together would be good -- if that was already supplied my apologies its been a bit ;)

Well, I don't want to dictate your characters' motivations but, assuming you all have a general reason to be in the borderlands to begin with, travel is dangerous these days, with the legions who normally patrol and keep peace gone off to war. You are all arriving in the company of a larger caravan, which is now splitting off to go to different locations throughout the region.

Reasons to be in the region could include:
Looking for mercenary work along the border
Looking for criminal work in the cities
Searching for ancient elven artifacts or history
(For Elves) (For Dwarves) Seeking out adventure for its own sake
Seeking out a place to make a name for yourself, by any mean possible, and the hinterlands seem like a good place to start for some reason... (?)

I think the Ancient Artifacts and History would be very important to Elves and I would opt for that one if the other Elves agree.

I'm in agreement that hunting down ancient Argollëan artifacts seems a solid reason for Elf-y folk to be in the area, both for lucrative and historical reasons. Harper strikes me as a sort who'd fall in a nice middleplace there, preserving some of the more significant things while pawning off lesser artifacts for a fat paycheck for the party.

Alexander is always up for research.

Well I have a solid rapport with ToDream's character perhaps I introduced him to Elf friends of mine who were also interested in digging up that information that Alexander is interested in finding.

Not sure about the Dwarf's connection though but I am sure we can create some kind of bridge that seems plausible and basically organic in nature.

I've got an elf and human. The Elven tie-in is a good one.

Hey. Sorry. I had a very busy week RL. I’ll get caught up real soon.

Sorry folks. With the pandemic winding down, courts are back open and I got hit by a pair of trials. Will get back on track shortly.

Finally finished and threw a character into the character generation thread and submitted

Welcome back, nothing much has happened yet. Jump in whenever you like.