WotL OOC Thread

[JadedDM]

This thread is for posting anything OOC regarding the game.

I'll open discussion by letting the players get to know each other.

Also, if anyone wants any advice on character builds or backgrounds, I'm something of an expert in both 2E and Dragonlance.

[Just_Ice]

Hello, I'm a player brought in from Giant in the Playground. I haven't played AD&D since I was a wee tyke (more than 15 years ago) besides very short online games, so please forgive my lack of system intimacy. I like mundane or semi-mundane fighters, clerics, dwarves, humans, and a moderate amount of roleplaying. I DM a 4E game IRL and have played a decent amount of 3.5/pathfinder as well as a host of systems that aren't D&D in short bursts; if you hate those systems, forgive my lack of taste.

I'm Canadian, so you might find "u"s popping up in unexpected places. This is due to a condition we all share up here and there is no cure.

I've read a number of the dragonlance books and look back on them as having a decent setting but generic plot and characters. I don't really mind generic as long as it produces something interesting, but I feel it didn't exactly go anywhere until at least the twins trilogy.

I played the gold box trilogy back in the day and remember dying a lot.

It's kind of dumb to say when I might be the only one to actually post in this topic, but I'm looking forward to the campaign and playing with you all.

[JadedDM]

Welcome and well met, Just_Ice. (Is that a pun on 'justice,' by the way? Just curious.)

I've been playing 2E for over 15 years now, myself. It's more or less all I know. I was in a Labyrinth Lord game once; and two 3.5E games; but neither lasted more than a week.

Don't worry about the 'u's. There are a few European players here at Planet, so I've long grown used to them.

I have over 100 Dragonlance novels; some of them are quite terrible. But overall, I like the setting. This is actually the fourth Dragonlance game I've run here. The first one is still active. The second one, based on the original modules, sort of fell apart. The third one ended in a TPK. Here's hoping this one will have better luck!

Coincidentally, I'm actually working through the Gold Box games at the moment. I'm just starting Secrets of the Silver Blade, in fact.

Anyway, you're not the only one about. Aside from you and myself, there's TheMightyQuinn and HorizonsDream. And maybe others soon.

[TheMightyQuinn]

Well, you won't be the only one posting on here, Greetings all!

I'm a recent "convert" from the giant boards as well. Or perhaps "graft" would be a better description?

I don't know. I suppose it doesn't really matter all that much. I haven't played 2nd edition in quite some time either, and I've never actually done any roleplaying in the dragonlance setting, though I've read almost all of the books, as well as having a majority of the 3.5 books for the setting. Good stuff.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to playing as well, and I hope to be able to make an interesting and memorable character!

Edit: I've still got ideas rolling around in my head, and my sincerest apologies to our DM - I ask a crap-ton of questions when I'm trying to figure out what kind of character I'd like to play. I'd really, really enjoy a mage though. I think.... gah! lol

[JadedDM]

No problem; I don't mind questions. I'm happy to help in any way that I can.

The game doesn't start until Saturday, so there should be plenty of time for everyone to come up with characters.

Some things to think about: Are your characters from Haven? If not, are they travelers just passing through or refugees who fled from the north? Do your characters know each other? If so, how? What does your character think of the Seeker movement? How do they feel about the rumors of war to the north and all these refugees flooding into the city?

[Just_Ice]

I'm currently waffling over class; if I choose paladin I'll definitely be part of the Solamic knights, but I know Lawful Good can be really hard to work with. I might make a ranger, investigating the Seekers, or a good ol' boy mercenary fighter come back home to put his feet up and finding that things aren't the way he left them.

[JadedDM]

Keep in mind, that if you want to play a Solamnic Knight, you'll need an explanation of why a knight is in Haven. Currently, Solamnia is fighting a war with the Blue Dragonarmy, and they need every able-bodied warrior they can get. Thus, your character would probably be on a special mission or something--similar to Derek and his men searching for the Dragon Orbs, for instance.

Anyway, a paladin could be interesting. Perhaps your character starts out as a thug who is less than paladin-like. But then your character discovers religion, converts and becomes a true paladin who seeks atonement for their previous amoral actions.

A ranger works, too. There are mountains all around Haven, assuming you're a mountain ranger. There are also small patches of forests in the vicinity if you want to be a forest ranger. If you're an elf, you are probably from the Qualinesti forest just to the south. You could also be a plains ranger, possibly part of the nomad tribes that dwell there (the Que-Shu, Que-Teh and Que-Kiri).

The mercenary fighter sounds like a good idea, too. It kind of parallels the Heroes of the Lance, who left Solace for five years and found it very different from what they remembered.

Those are just ideas off the top of my head, though. You aren't expected to take any of them, of course.

[Breila]

I know I haven't posted since first expressing interest (too busy with my holidays ), but I'm definitely still in!
I'm still set on a half-elf seeker, a young enthusiastic guy. What kind of class would I need for this, cleric? or rogue?
Also, do you have read-ups for me about things only a seeker would know? Remember I don't have any dragonlance books or access to them...

[JadedDM]

Heh, you sure, Breila? Between my two other games, Stik's game, and the two games you are DMing, I'd have thought your plate would be full by now.

But then who am I to talk? I've been working on a second Lost Souls game, as well.

Okay, I've officially added you to the roster.

I have a write-up for the Seekers here. To be honest, there really isn't all that much information available on them. They basically disappeared entirely after the war. So a lot of stuff we might just have to make up.

As for class, I suppose it really depends on what you want to play. As Seekers don't have any divine ability, a Seeker priest could theoretically be any class; not just a cleric.

In any case, as Horizon is going to play one of the Holy Guard (the warriors who protect and enforce the Seekers' will), it's likely you two will know each other, at least in passing, in-game.

[Just_Ice]

I pmed you roughly the same idea on thug -> maybe Solamnic Knight, so I think it's the best bet. Rangers don't always fit and paladins are redundant so a fighting man I shall be (since they can become the knights; starting as a paladin always vexed me and I'd prefer the roleplay leading up to it). I also feel being semi-traveled without truly being experienced and coming back home is a good start for a warrior character. I'll start him as neutral good; we'll see which law axiom he takes to. Given that he'll have 17 strength and at least 10 hp he might make a good party member if anyone is wondering.

[JadedDM]

Okay, sounds good. He sounds like he might make a good front-liner.

[Haahque]

Hello I'll try to figure this out/keep up. I found out about this from a friend, and I haven't played much 2E, although I have a couple of the books that I read some years back (PHB and DMG).

I am currently playing in a 4e campaign and I've played a number of 3.5/pathfinder campaigns before, I also played around with "Unlimited Adventures" which was pretty similar to the gold box games in a number of respects.

I presume we're starting level 1? I still have a number of things to work out about the character, but here are the stats I rolled up: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4193638/

I like to try out different characters, and as of yet I haven't played a gnome in any campaign, so I'll be trying one out.

[Breila]

Here are my rolls for Khush:
STR 9, DEX 15, CON 8, INT 13, WIS 15, CHA 9

The backstory ideas are as follows:
Khush grew up in a village not far from Haven (a little more than a day's walk, I'd say) as a farmer's son. He was a frail kid, given to seizures. However, he liked listening to the village seeker. Now he's almost grown up, but not of much use for work, people say. He has to do women's work like caring for the chickens and goats and working the vegetable patch and orchard because he's not strong enough for plowing or handling the larger animals.
However, in recent months he believed he saw Zeshun when he had a seizure, and she showed him the way to a hidden treasure in a hillock where he was tending to the goats. This made him popular with the villagers, who increasingly came to him with their worries, and so the village seeker suggested he'd be sent to Haven, to be questioned about his visions by the Seeker council.

[JadedDM]

Well, I'm a little bored and want to talk about the game, and since my internet is working for once (it's been giving me trouble all week, sometimes going out for up to 8 hours at a time), I thought I'd ramble a bit here, as I am sometimes prone to doing.

I've come up with a number of starter quests for the game so far. Probably way more than I need, but hey, I wanted you all to have as many choices as possible. Of course, you all could choose to ignore all my quests and do your own quests, and that's fine, too. But anyway, in the quests I have come up with, I have been basically playing to two major themes.

The first theme is 'war is hell.' I really wanted to emphasize that, which is part of why I chose Haven as the starting point. Although Haven usually only has a population of about 5,000, recently that number has tripled due to incoming refugees. These 10,000 refugees have really disrupted the way of life around there. When people lose everything, they become desperate. And there are also always those who will prey on the desperate, from charlatans and scam artists, to murderers and thieves. Plus, these people are consuming food but unlike the citizens of the city, don't have jobs and so aren't putting anything back into the community.

Haven has shut its doors to any further refugees, meaning there are hundreds of people being turned away. All of the inns have been filled to the brink, all of the empty warehouses (and any other storage areas) have been rented out, and numerous people have rented out spare rooms and such, as well. And yet, there are still poor souls forced to sleep in the streets. The Holy Guard, who are supposed to keep the peace, only number in the hundreds. They are stretched too thin, and most of them are both exhausted and frustrated.

And the war hasn't even reached this area yet. This was, in part, what inspired this game. The Heroes of the Lance see some of the suffering, but they overall don't deal with it. They are always on the move. And they tend to only show up in the aftermath. They saw Solace after it burned, but weren't there for it. Same with Que-Shu.

So I really wanted to emphasize the suffering of the people. And focus on how the PCs feel about that. Do they view the refugees with pity? Do they want to help? Or do they view them as parasites? Or as an opportunity to fulfill their own agenda? Do they feel safe in Haven? Or will they flee to protect their own hides before it's too late?

The second theme is 'faith.' Although an atheist myself, I've always been interested in religion, both old and new. And anyone who has studied religion even slightly knows a big component of it is faith.

Here's what is interesting to me. The 'true' gods of Krynn require no faith. They actually grant prayers and outright speak or even walk among their followers. Hell, Paladine actually traveled a bit with the Heroes of the Lance in human guise. Caramon's sons wound up on a weird misadventure with Reorx. Priests like Goldmoon and Elistan never had any doubt or questioned their own faith, because it didn't exist. You don't need faith for something that is right in front of your own eyes.

But the 'fake' religions of Krynn, like the Seekers, do require faith. They can't chat with their gods or perform miracles by praying to them. And I find that makes them more interesting than the Holy Order of the Stars. I think it's a shame that after the war, the Seekers and other 'false' religions dried up completely. Takes all the mystery out of it.

So I'd really like to explore what the PCs really believe. Do they have faith? In what? Themselves? The Seeker gods? Something else entirely? How easily will they abandon that faith when shown the divine powers of the 'real' gods? Do people really give up their beliefs so easily when shown proof otherwise?

Okay, enough rambling for today. I see some posts were made while I was typing this up, so I'll address them now.

Khush grew up in a village not far from Haven (a little more than a day's walk, I'd say)

There's a very remote and tiny village in the mountains just northwest of Haven called Esker. There's almost no information on it, and I don't have an exact distance, but I'd say 'about a day's walk' is close enough. Might be a good fit then.

..so the village seeker suggested he'd be sent to Haven, to be questioned about his visions by the Seeker council.

I like it. It really touches on what I was rambling about just above. Are his visions legitimate or just fevered dreams? Was it just lucky chance it happened to come true or did something--a god, a demon, or something else--nudge him in that direction?

Hello I'll try to figure this out/keep up. I found out about this from a friend

Umm...hi, Haahque. I have to admit I'm confused. I thought people couldn't post in here unless they were added to the group by a mod or admin. I guess I was mistaken?

Well, you didn't go through official channels, but that's okay, you can join if you like. Welcome to the game. Just curious, but who is your friend who directed you here?

I presume we're starting level 1?

That's correct.

I haven't played a gnome in any campaign, so I'll be trying one out.

A gnome works. They are rather rare in this part of the world, but it's easy enough to justify one's presence in Abanansinia--likely, the gnome is on their Life Quest, and it has brought them to Haven, whatever it is.

[Haahque]

Nope, I just registered for a planetADnD forums account and was able to post here.

It's a friend irl, so I don't know much of his online stuff, but if I had to guess from what's been posted here, I'd guess Just ice.

I'm probably looking at multi classing. I'm also debating the merits/risks of being a renegade wizard and/or a Wizard of High sorcery/hedge wizard. Can wizards of high sorcery opt to NOT wear their robes and hide the fact that they can cast magic?

EDIT: you mentioned allowing some kits, but ask first, so I'm looking at maybe using the Mouseburgler kit (gnome/rogue). Is this cool?