Choice 2:
[x]Skills: Archery, Negotiation
[x]Endownment: Ring of The Relentless +x to Hardiness
[x]Sibling count: 6. Close sister youngest except for us, dislike with eldest brother
[x]family attitude: opposed
Counter element: Earth - The wind does not exist below the ground, within the earth's domain. Even your call cannot stir the air there, for it has long forgotten the touch of the wind. While slightly below the ground (such as in a castle's basement) wind cannot gain aspects, and chances of calm are doubled. While deep underground, such as in a mine or dungeon, your element is inaccessible.
Wait! We are playing a dungeon crawler with a character who gets cut off from her power source in dungeons.
Sounds legit!
[x]Class: Zephyrblade
For the DOOODGE potential.
[x] Skills:
-[x] Archery.
-[x] Subterfuge (lying, social manipulation, etc.)
For all that is holy and not, please take Dodge. We'll need it. Changed to Archery, as picking skills we already have nets us no benefit.
...wouldn't be opposed to swordfighting either, but Subterfuge seems suitable as well. Ties in with our story, and people would expect to pull one over a clueless noble.
[x]Sibling count: 6
-[x] A favor with the eldest heir, a bitter rivalry with one of the younger ones who feels upstaged.
Don't know if we can pick the details, but leaving my preferences here all the same.
[x] Family attitude: Positive
I suppose being chummy with the heir has its perks when it comes to how the rest view us!
[x] Start location: Lindorf (????)
Big city, big opportunities. No killings, no dungeons. Sounds like a good place to start. Maybe get some contacts and contracts under our belt before moving to more standard and highly deadly adventuring pursuits.
Choice 1:
[x]Class: Air adept
---
Choice 2:
[x]Skills: Dodging, Horseback riding
[x]Endowment: Spider Cloak. Contains the gratitude of saved spiders. Grants resistance to poison. A bearer may tame spiders or negotiate with the sapient ones.
[x]Sibling count: 6
[x]family attitude: Indifferent
---
Choice 3:
[x] Start location: Lindorf
I am having a hard time imagining proper endowment options. A ring cancelling a successful attack would be pretty powerful if we had a choice in when to activate it, as it would cancel out those Massive Trauma attacks.
Can we get an amulet of luck or some such that would grant bonuses to rolls, potentially turning a hit into a critical, or averting a critical failure? How much would the bonuses be, and what would be the use limits to properly balance it?
The sentence seems to end abruptly, though the meaning is clear.
Wait! We are playing a dungeon crawler with a character who gets cut off from her power source in dungeons.
Sounds legit!
[x]Class: Zephyrblade
For the DOOODGE potential.
[x] Skills:
-[x] Dodging
-[x] Subterfuge (lying, social manipulation, etc.)
For all that is holy and not, please take Dodge. We'll need it.
...wouldn't be opposed to swordfighting either, but Subterfuge seems suitable as well. Ties in with our story, and people would expect to pull one over a clueless noble.
[x]Sibling count: 6
-[x] A favor with the eldest heir, a bitter rivalry with one of the younger ones who feels upstaged.
Don't know if we can pick the details, but leaving my preferences here all the same.
[x] Family attitude: Positive
I suppose being chummy with the heir has its perks when it comes to how the rest view us!
[x] Start location: Lindorf (????)
Big city, big opportunities. No killings, no dungeons. Sounds like a good place to start. Maybe get some contacts and contracts under our belt before moving to more standard and highly deadly adventuring pursuits.
Choice 1:
[x]Class: Disciple of the Still Winds (Write-in)
To most, Wind is something ephemeral and fleeting - it may blow wildly for a time, but then it subsides and is forgotten. Those with a Wind affinity, though, know better - none more so than the Disciple of the Still Winds. Stillness is not stifling or irritating for this Wind practitioner - it is simply another state of being, no different from Storm, Gust, or Gale.
Abilities-
Serene Mindset [passive] - Entering a Calm environmental state inflicts no penalties on the Disciple. A select few abilities (most involving self-healing) can be unlocked that can only be used when the environment is Calm.
Four-Winds Fighting Style [all states] - When the Disciple begins an unarmed attack, they gain a bonus depending on the environmental state. During Storm, add [Charisma] damage and the target is knocked prone unless they pass an Acrobatics(?) check. During Gust, the targeted foe is moved towards the Disciple up to the Disciple's normal movement distance before the attack begins, and the Disciple regains 1 Resolve. During Gale, the target can be moved away from the Disciple up to the Disciple's normal movement distance after the attack, and the Disciple can add their [Charisma] to all ranged attack dodge attempts until their next turn. During Calm, the Disciple regains 2 Stamina after completing the attack.
I felt like trying to throw together a write-in class (or the abilities, at least). I'm not sure how it compares in power to the other options though. I like the idea of Lydia being somewhat boisterous in social situations (as seen in the intro) but calm and centered in combat.
@OrionTello I'm curious what your thoughts are on my class idea.
---
Choice 2:
[x]Skills: Dodging (unless the Disciple would already have Dodging), Horseback riding, Negotiation (if the Disciple already has Dodging)
[x]Endowment: Spider Cloak. Contains the gratitude of saved spiders. Grants resistance to poison. A bearer may tame spiders or negotiate with the sapient ones.
[x]Sibling count: 4
- Marissa von Alteisen, next in line for the County. She has always doted on (some would say spoiled) her 'precious' youngest sister.
- Leon von Alteisen, a Knight's promising apprentice.
- Margaret von Alteisen, a disciple of the Goddess of Home and Hearth (ironically, perhaps)
- Linus von Alteisen, only slightly older than Lydia. Bears a grudge against her for some childhood dispute.
[x]family attitude: Indifferent
The Count and Countess don't particularly care what path Lydia walks, as she has already surmised, so they continue the 'benevolent neglect' that characterized her earlier years. Her sister Marissa isn't very happy with them about that, however.
---
Choice 3:
[x] Start location: Menzhagen
I like the idea of being able to charm and/or placate the various spiders to mitigate one type of threat.
EDIT: I decided to change 'Monk' to 'Disciple,' I thought that sounded a bit better.
Hi everyone! Thank you for some great replies. Unfortunately I work on weekdays, so I'm less responsive than I am on weekends. From home (so I'm slowly going insane) but on a work computer (so I have nothing to distract me). I'm very glad to see questions, but it'll be evening responses for me unless I sneak some time in near noon and blame lunch. Unfortunately that might not leave time for Q&A during votes, which is totally a fault of my schedule.
(I'm snipping some stuff in the posts I'm responding to to make things more readable)
Thanks for the catch! I'll go back and edit it. You're right that you got the meaning, and I'm glad it seems to make sense, but keep noting these errors if they pop up. I try to proofread things, but I'm sadly far from perfect.
For your notes, I accept write-in suggestions and will try to incorporate them if anarchy comes up that way.
As for skills, @Blademaster is correct - its new skills, not adding to our existing ones.
I felt like trying to throw together a write-in class (or the abilities, at least). I'm not sure how it compares in power to the other options though. I like the idea of Lydia being somewhat boisterous in social situations (as seen in the intro) but calm and centered in combat.
@OrionTello I'm curious what your thoughts are on my class idea.
I like the idea of calm as something you understand, but I feel like it works better as a level 5 or 10 evolution - you're evolving your understanding of wind so you can use it even in the calm. It strikes me as more of a class evolution than a base class, since it represents a growth in understanding of wind (as opposed to switching from wind to air which is a total shift of perspective and approach).
And the reason it strikes me as that is you've foreshadowed and developed some of my ideas of possible wind evolutions I've been mulling over. Calm might not always turn a high level air elementalist's powers off, and not just because they're burning a resource.
Unfortunately, totally bypassing a limitation of our element without a correspondingly high cost (like giving up all mass movements of air, the thing our element is known for) at the first level is out of theme of what I'm going for with first level classes. So I'll have to veto it, but with the caveat you might just end up seeing something very similar as an option in a few levels.
Since we've reached my deadline, voting is now closed, and I'll start rolling! And editing! And writing!
Orokos is a tool site for role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, allowing players to upload characters from Wizards of the Coast's Character Builder program and providing a dice roller and attribute calculator.
orokos.com
(Image thanks to the fantastic XKCD)
Uh. Hmmm. Well, I got 5 three times in a row. I guess getting the same number three times in a row is a 1/121 chance, but I'm suddenly eying how this dice roller picks seeds with some interest. Ah well, randomness is random! 555 is as random as any other result. (for the record, I made a quick test to see if the randomizer has some sort of sticky seed problem, and it doesn't seem to) So... just chance I guess!
@Nevill you are our lucky triple winner! Theoretically if I have another hundred votes with three options, this might happen to someone again. Sorry if I broke your lucky rabbits foot.
Edit: Thanks to @sioduskseeker below for pointing out the lack of endowment.
Rerolling, got Baud. Hmmm. This is my bad. I should have mentioned I don't see magic items as providing straight stat/skill bonuses in this world simply because of how powerful they are. I owe Baud something at some point.
Redesign.
Ring of the Relentless [Cooldown: Chapter]:
For the remainder of the scene double your maximum Stamina and ignore all penalties from wounds (short of limb loss). Restore your current stamina to your maximum, and all wounds you currently have are considered Treated as if given high quality first aid.
"This ring can save an adventurer's life!" Lydia was told, and indeed, it appears designed to do exactly that. Worn on the bearer's finger, it slowly and safely siphons off part of the user's vitality and stores it in the ring. It can return this stolen vitality in an instant, providing a massive burst of healing and energy. Lydia has been warned vitality is specific to the bearer, and using another's vitality is unpredictable, risky, and will certainly have unexpected outcomes. To transfer the ring, it should be left unworn for at least two weeks.
@OrionTello Thanks for the feedback on my idea. I see what you mean regarding the drawback negation without some other drawback being too powerful for a base class. I'm glad to hear that you like the idea in principle though. I also just wanted to point out that the winning vote from @Nevill doesn't have an Endowment choice.
I am having a hard time imagining proper endowment options. A ring cancelling a successful attack would be pretty powerful if we had a choice in when to activate it, as it would cancel out those Massive Trauma attacks.
Can we get an amulet of luck or some such that would grant bonuses to rolls, potentially turning a hit into a critical, or averting a critical failure? How much would the bonuses be, and what would be the use limits to properly balance it?
Combining the speed of the wind with sharp steel, the zephyrblade is a phantom on the battlefield. One moment she leaps across the combatants to assassinate an enemy mage. The next, she weaves between dozens of arrows, all swerving to miss. The next, she dodges a warhammer laughing, slipping aside moments before the each heavy swing can land. She dances across the battlefield, leaving behind bodies sliced apart by knives of steel and air. Even at rest her hair moves in a constant breeze, and her clothes rustle as tiny breaths of air tug at them - proof the wind is ever close to her.
Wind Control - Grants mastery over wind. Provides skill abilities, and will be used when dueling other elementalists Dodge - Our ability not to be hit! Acrobatics - Our ability to perform fast and graceful movements, such as walking a thin rope, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and perform other graceful feats Dance - Our ability to perform dances, from courtroom waltzes to a village square dance XP Share: Dance-Acrobatics. Half of the XP earned towards one will go to the other. One-handed Swords - Our ability wielding swords single-handed. A style of fighting that leads to less power than two-handed swords like the claymore or zweihander but more finesse. And a free hand, of course. Subterfuge - Our ability to conceal our intentions. This is the ability to convincingly lie, conceal emotion, and present a convincing facade when the occasion demands. A common trait of the nobility. Archery - Our ability to draw, aim, and fire arrows using a longbow and shortbow.
Abilities:
Flight of the Zephyr [Gale]: You leap to the skies, propelling yourself across the battlefield. You may move up to five times your normal move distance, airborne, and make a single strike with the force of a gale behind it. You gain a bonus to damage equal to your Charisma
Wind's agility [Gust]: As a response to being hit you may add your charisma to your dodge. This can cause the attack to miss. To an opponent, it will be as if the wind pushed you out of the way. This may only happen a number of times equal to your number of basic actions (1 base). As a basic action, you may also deflect all arrows and small projectiles aimed at you for a round
Slicing razors [Storm]: A thousand tiny cuts open on enemies who get draw close. Any creature adjacent to you at the end of the round suffers damage equal to your charisma on any exposed skin or sensitive parts. These razorwinds pass right through armor, slicing flesh beneath. Only entirely solid entities like golems or immaterial enemies like wraiths may ignore this effect. Any creature that becomes adjacent to you also suffers this effect. This is a passive. Swarms (such as swarms of rats, bats, or insects) instead suffer damage proportionate to the size of the swarm.
Skill abilities:
That was close! (Dodge 3): Once per chapter, you may fully negate a hit, assuming there's any logical way that hit could be dodged. Lightfooted (Acrobatics 3, Elemental): You may traverse impossible pathways. You may walk across a thin branch, letting it bear your entire weight, or climb a single strand of ivy, as if you were no more heavy than a mouse. Wind manipulation (Wind Control 2): You may cause localized meteorological phenomena, such as small tornadoes, tiny stormclouds, and a gale on your tabletop. These cannot lift or damage anything close to humanoid size, nor inflict even a single level of damage on them, but for everything from entertainment to proving your identity they can find a use. Flight of objects (Wind control 3): Now small objects, less than 5 lbs, can be lifted by the wind, and carefully moved to you. Paper, small pieces of jewelry, knives, anything under that weight limit can move to you. This does not make the moving object invisible - a lady who witnesses her braclets flying out of her jewelry box will probably take note.
Inventory:
Shortsword - [4+Strength] Damage, Stamina costs of abilities is reduced by 1, +2 to attack vs. dodging enemies Marked with the sigil of the von Alteisen on the pommel, this sword is unornamented - made not a status symbol, but a weapon of war Longbow - 5 damage Hardened Leather Armor - This armor is constructed of multiple pieces of scaled leather. Boiled, layered, and lacquered, each rigid piece is riveted together in a form that provides both flexibility and a modicum of protection. This is dyed in house colors Traveling clothes (2 sets)
Traveling dress - This would be suitable for meeting nobility, as a noble. Called "travelling" because it can be put on and removed without help of a maidservant, the dress is nevertheless multilayered and fancy. Could even be worn to a smaller dance or negotiation without much comment.
Adventuring gear Lydia has a selection of adventuring gear, including bedroll, tinderbox, rope, etc. As a noble, she consulted with silver-ranked adventurers, and obtained a list, which she purchased from merchants - merchants happy to pay a visit to her family personally, and obtain this shopping list. All of the gear is high quality - immediately so on viewing. Materials used are durable, resilient, and well-suited for the job, and none of it is used or scuffed.
Mechanically, as long as Lydia has her gear, she has access to everything a Bronze level adventurer would reasonably need. Specialized gear for specific jobs will need to be obtained, of course, but she can reasonably be expected to have access to anything a bronze level adventurer uses during a job (so rope, knives, cooking tools, etc.).
Another piece of advice from experienced adventurers, Spot would have set Lydia back at least a gold piece had she been a normal adventurer. Where horses are tempermental, stupid, and easily spooked, Spot is smart, judgmental, and stubborn. She can navigate cliffs without falling, ignore signals that would put her in danger, avoids eating poisonous plants, and won't stick her hoof down next to a snake. She can also carry many times what a human can. She holds the majority of the gear that Lydia doesn't want immediate access to, such as waterskins, travel rations, bedroll, etc.
Currently she is Lightly Loaded. She has no injuries.
Family
Count Jonas von Alteisan, Father
Count Jonas cultivates his imposing presence. With age, his black hair is shot through with silver streaks, and his mustache is entirely white, yet his outfits - usually tight cut and practical, styled after military dress uniforms - never reveal any hint telltale paunch or gut. Frown lines are visible on his face, and he frequently stands with his hands clasped behind his back, as if contemplating what is in front of him. Peasants, on first petitioning their count, have been known to stutter to a halt, struck mute by the weight of that consideration. As Lydia well knows, when her father truly looks at you, it feels as if his entire being and consciousness is at that moment sitting in judgment on you. A traditionalist, Count Jonas is known to publicly treat those he views as fops, dandies, and layabouts with the smallest amount of respect he can while remaining within the bounds of politeness.
While subjects who know her father by reputation tend to knowingly nod when they hear of her leaving, as if the reasons were entirely understandable, Lydia also knows her father has the ability to inspire fierce loyalty in his direct retainers. She has personally witness him spend over a hundred gold having a medical expert from Tir brought in to tend to an advisor's husband, and she has witnessed him making purchases from merchants who serve him at above their asking price - during what she would learn were harsh years. She has also witnessed him tonguelash a lord's third son who wished to take up painting rather than a priesthood.
Count Jonas has many times voiced his displeasure in Lydia, castigating her for her uncertainty, criticizing her elemental powers as unruly, and suggesting she find direction. When she announced she was going to use her talents to adventure, he responded with a raised eyebrow, and the pointed observation that that was "only the third most stupid thing she had suggested" and that he should acquiesce while he was still ahead.
The only gift he directly gave her was the wedding ring her mother had made for him, handed over with his heartfelt words - "a widower has no business wearing a ring, and jewelry makes my finger itch," along with a short paper written in her mother's hand describing in detail the intricate layers of runework that created the ring's effects.
Countess Mariya von Alteisan [deceased]
Mariya von Alteisan was originally from Gral, married as part of a peace treaty during an old border and mining rights dispute. As it was told to Lydia, she could marry any eligible noble outside of line of succession to the throne, and after a month of balls and court activities she picked Jonas. Lydia had never asked her why.
Mariya had tanned olive skin, long black hair, and a full booming laugh that could fill any space. Her clothes were frequently embroidered with glowing threads, and she could weave illusions into pieces of cloth somehow - when asked, she just winked at Lydia and said "tiny runes." All of these have long since faded in power, but tucked in the bottom of a chest in her wardrobe is still a faded handkerchief with a dragon on it, that used to prance around and blow tiny orange flames to amuse a young child. Even as a child, Lydia could see the years had cut deep lines into her face, and a network of silver scars covered her right cheek.
Mariya frequently traveled the kingdom, gathering magic and information, reinforcing runes, and serving the von Alteisan interests. She perished in the first days of the new magic - only days after Lydia first gained her wind powers - in combat with a manticore, her and her personal guard managing to destroy its wings, its tail, and one of its heads, and driving it off from the village.
Maali von Alteisan, heir (age 27)
Maali von Alteisan is every bit the proper Lothringan woman. Despite her faint olive complexion and her raven-black hair, she has a complete understanding of court etiquette, is unfailingly polite, has a fair singing voice, can play two instruments, and is skilled in five languages. She can navigate a ballroom, hold a party that is austure enough for the family's reputation, yet tasteful enough none feel slighted, and do so on a tight budget - so as not to overstretch finances. She is courting Baron Olstrem's second son, meeting him inbetween military tours, and they are well on their way to a marriage that will benefit the kingdom, and do her family proud.
Maali is also the risque anonymous poet who frequently lampoons the bloated egos of various nobles, as Lydia realized at age 14, when she recognized a specific turn of phrase ("Couldn't find his own pole if with the help of his wife and a cartographer") Maali had muttered something similar while pacing back and forth in the study. Confronted, Maali admitted everything, and soon they were sharing evaluations of Maali's play-writing expertise, giggling at specific bawdy lines of sonnets, and picking the particular noble who most deserved a well-aimed ego deflation. Lydia also learned that Maali had a string of affairs with half of the tutors hired for her younger siblings, and was the cause of more than one sudden departure, symptom of a broken heart.
Maali is the de-facto House spymaster, on the basis that Jonas hates spies, Mariya was dead, and they had no one else to report to, as Lydia learned when she enacted this plan. Her sister asked her to keep an eye open for 'anything of interest.'
Captain Hamish von Alteisan (Age 26)
Hamish is a distant presence in Lydia's life, a name mentioned, but rarely a man seen. He inherited father's lighter skin as well as his muscular build. He was trained by both Mariya and Jonas for much of her childhood, for one of her oldest memories is her at age 6 watching a gawky teenager run laps around the horse fields for some infraction. He left to join the military six years ago. He was always cordial to Lydia, and she has heard no ill rumors about his service. Occasionally he brings her something when he returns - a kid's doll at her 14th birthday, a toy pony for her fifteenth birthday, a one-eyed warhorse for her sixteenth birthday. Gifts are always delivered with a few words, and an abrupt departure, as if he waits until right before he leaves to turn them over.
Severin von Alteisan (Age 25) Lal-Priest of the Shepherd, Severin dwells near Lindorf, preaching the Shepherd's message. Which, in truth, Lydia had always found slightly trite. The Shepherd loves his flock and wants them to grow. The flock must grow, and must do what it needs to to grow, for through the shepherd is life available. That sort of thing has never appealed to her. It might also be because he's the reason she's an Aunt. Aunt Lydia! How ridiculous. Yet his wife already has a second on the way.
Faika von Alteisan (Age 22)
Faika von Alteisan is already a infamous. She has dueled a third of the nobles in the country. No, half. She's never lost a duel. She's lost ten. She lost a duel, but cut off a man's arm for punishment. She's slept with everyone she's dueled. She's slept with everyone she hasn't. She fights topless. Her style is a gift of the gods. The gift of a magic sword. Her swordmaster is actually a vampire. A snake.
Lydia remembers Faika as an angry young woman, constantly rushing about the castle. She remembers starting a fistfight with Faika by saying Lydia looked better in a dress. Or was learning faster. Or just because Lydia was blocking the sunlight. If Lydia was bruised, nine times in ten Faika was the perpetrator. She would pick fights with Hamish when he visited to spar, insult Severin's religion, and prick Brandt's fragile ego. Only Maali ever seemed to give Faika pause. Faika always seemed to avoid Maali, finding reasons to depart when she arrived, and moderating her tone as long as her older sister was around.
Lydia isn't sure what drove Faika to move on to greener pastures for drink and duel. Boredom beating the same people? Desire to seek some secret school of swordplay? Ran out of people who would put up with her? Either way, Lydia - and, she's sure, the rest of the keep - are very glad Faika is gone.
Brandt von Alteisan (Age 18)
Brandt von Alteisan is Lydia's elder by six minutes. And where any other twin might take that as a joke between the two, Brandt took it as a challenge. As a young child, if Lydia had stuff that was 'too nice' he would take it. If Lydia took it back, he'd tell father she was a thief. If she had a tutor, he 'needed' a better one, if she rode a horse he needed a war stallion, if she learned the sword, he would throw himself into it, leaving bruises all over your body (at least until Faika witnessed it and proceeded to slap him around the training circle - at which point Brandt had a change of heart about becoming a master swordsman).
Brandt seemed to take Lydia's burgeoning talent in air magic as a personal slight directed at him. At first he asked if what she had was even magic at all, questioning it, but as she started to learn to control her powers, he grew sullen and withdrawn. Finally retreating into his room, he ordered books from around the kingdom brought to him, and hired tutors by correspondence. Finally he emerged months later, he emerged, only to gather every piece of scrap of wood - furniture and rotted lumber alike - in the keep. With that, he built a bonfire outside, in the middle of winter, flames leaping to nearly the height of the keep's walls. When the bonfire sputtered, Brandt was seen in the very center of the flames, He emerged from the charged circle and claimed his new power - elementalist of flame.
Brandt's elemental gift of fire should have been the end of it, but instead he had thrown himself into the rivalry with renewed gusto. He upstaged Lydia's demonstrations, charred her dresses, and generally drove her nuts. Lydia can't prove anything, but she's sure he was responsible for no few mishaps with she suffered. Even Maali couldn't seem to control him. At 14 Maali had finally had enough, and entered a long meeting with the count. It stretched from morning to afternoon, and when Jonas and Maali emerged, both looked tired and sad. The next day, Jonas informed Brandt that he'd be trained with the military, with the intention that he enter military service at age 18. Lydia hasn't seen him since.
Okay! I'm going to finish the rest and have a new choice to vote on tomorrow.
@Nevill, sorry about the magic item, but hey you got everything else at least.
Still some proofreading on this, but it's accidentally after midnight so I need to sleep.
NEVERMIND! No more posting stuff without proofreading thoroughly. AFTER letting it sit for an hour or two, not when it's 12 AM and my eyes are closing. Apologies for anyone who read the original version of this.
Rerolling, got Baud. Hmmm. This is my bad. I should have mentioned I don't see magic items as providing straight stat/skill bonuses in this world simply because of how powerful they are. I owe Baud something at some point.
well, I copied the option from giodan's post, though it seems it was araa who voted for it first. I don't really feel entitled for anything in that case, but if you give me anything, I won't say no .
Lydia isn't sure what drove Faika to move on to greener pastures for drink and duel. Boredom beating the same people? Desire to seek some secret school of swordplay? Ran out of people who would put up with her? Either way, Lydia's arm is glad she's gone.
Good god I need to not post things after midnight. Thank you for putting up with that awfulness.
I'm thinking when I get this established, M/W/F schedule for updates with voting 24 hours after each one, to give me time to write and post an update (so update Monday, voting closes Tuesday, then I can write, edit, post on Wednesday, and so on). I feel like weekends will probably be flex based on how much is happening - right now with COVID friggin nothing so I'll probably do a weekend update, but maaaybe someday I can leave the house again.
Woudl you believe I actually have no idea what I meant when I wrote that? Seriously. I know those are words I have to have produced, but for the life of me I can't imagine what I was going for.
Think you accidentally spliced quotes, I'm afraid. That's for @Nevill.
EDIT: Since I'm here, you also seem to have fallen afoul of the new and confusing Banner Title/Thread Title split. To change the actual thread title, you'll want the Thread Tools tab, below the banner.
Since we're in the town most important of the gods, we have a writeup!
Edit: Moved it to theinformation post. The intention is that background should be fun, and incorporated into the world, but you shouldn't need to specifically read it in order to enjoy the story.
For those who enjoy it, I'm going to keep doing it, but I don't want to start posts off with a wall of semi-relevant text
----------------
Dear Sister,
As you expected, I was surprised to receive your missive. Few in our family have responded to my correspondence, and indeed you have not written since the last spring solstice festival. Although this may seem judgmental, I wish to assure you it is not. I too was once young and carefree, and I understand that for you the idea of a distant brother raising a family is hard to grasp. I remember my days at the keep, and sometimes I would wonder if there truly was a world outside it.
Your decision to become an adventurer fills me with trepidation. The path of the adventurer is the path of death, and even if it doesn't find you it changes you. The many young lads and lasses sent to slay the wolves of the world become twisted and hardened with that experience. They slay this year's wolves only to become next year's pack. Although father may approve of your choice, I offer you the chance to reconsider. The Shepherd's flock would welcome you into the fold, and although the reach of father - or "Count Jonas" as he prefers we address him - is long, it is not long enough to reach inside our scheune. I have told him as much many times in response to unreasonable demands.
I am glad you have the good sense to come to Lindorf. Please, stay with us as long as you like. You are welcome here.
Your family, now and forever, Severin
---------------
Lydia stared at the map of Lindorf as she waited outside the city's gates for the guards to finish inspecting a peddler's wares. The four temples were arranged in a ring just inside the city walls, as if each was trying to get as far from the other as possible. They aligning approximately with the four directions, and the Shepherd was in the north. Instead of a central keep, there was apparently a large 'market square' in the center of town. Keeps for military forces were in each of the temples.
The guards finished inspecting the peddler's wagon, waving him through, and approached her. The pair were clearly older men, with scarred, weathered faces. The one on her left was missing the top two fingers on his left hand, something her eyes jumped to. The wound looked ragged, the edges of the fingers irregular, with a pattern of scarring on his hand around them, like something had grabbed and started chewing.
The guard cleared his throat, and Lydia loooked up, her face flushing. "O-oh! I'm sorry..."
"Anything to declare ma'am?" he asked, his eyes flat and disinterested.
"No" Lydia let the end of that word trail off. He nodded, looking at the family crest on her bags, and her traveling clothing - dirty, after four days on the road, but clearly new and well-made, clearly coming to a decision."
"Right. Five copper. Head on through. Inns are in the center near the market."
Lydia pulled out the copper, passing it over, then paused before she passed by. "Which inn is the safest? And where's the adventuring guild?"
The guard's eyes flickered over her, as his face shifted, finally taking on emotion. "Looking for people?" He smiled. "Well then, I have a few pieces of advice. For a nice inn, you can't go wrong with the Gentle Road. It's in the south, near the Traveler's temple, and it's frequented by merchants. They charge a fair price for room and board, and a safer place to leave your goods you'll never find. But..." he trailed off meaningfully, fingering his coin pouch.
Lydia sighed, and took out another handful of copper. "Buy something nice for your kids with this" she snapped, trying hard not to sound frustrated. Holiest city in the country, and the guards were little better than street urchins looking for coin.
The guard nodded, and tipped his helm. "Much obliged, the little ones do love sweets." He smiled. "If you stay in anything near one of the temples, you're declaring you allegiance. It's safe, enough, but by saying that you trust one god to keep you safe, you're saying you don't trust the others as much, if you get my meaning. It's not the sort of thing that will go unnoted. Make you friends and enemies. Stay in the center of the market and you'll need to watch your purse, but you're telling everyone that you're not aligned. Might get more friends that way, if you see what I mean."
The guard tucked the coins into his purse with a practiced gesture, nodding to her. Lydia sighed. It was good advice. "Many thanks," she said, keeping it short to avoid saying something she'd regret.
With that, she grabbed the rope on her mule's harness, and gave a light tug, feeling Spot fall in line behind her. As soon as she was through the gate, she glared over at Spot resentfully. "Kor's hairy nutsack, the nerve on that man. He'd have been stuck in the stocks in Walberg for a week. The laughingstock of the fort. Asking travelers for bribes so blatantly." She tugged the mule's lead again, heading towards the adventuring guild. "Jonas would have personally hired a crier to announce his crimes while he was there." She shook her head resentfully. "City of the gods? Which one I wonder?" She glanced south in the direction of the Traveler's temple. Spot snorted, and Lydia patted her nose. "Yeah, that's what I think of them too."
----------------
The Adventurer's guild turned out to be easy to find. All she had to do was follow the cheering.
As she watched the two fools in the circle tossing punches at each other, she sighed. "They have a fighting ring. Of course." As she watched, the woman in the ring took a blow. Her arms were crossed, but the force of the hit sent her back into the pit wall, and blood spurted from her busted nose. Across the ring, a group dressed in scalemail vests adorned with a large, stylized shield let out a loud cheer. The man lifted his arms, clearly basking in it.
Lydia was about to turn away, when she saw the woman in the ring shake her head to clear it. She mouthed something Lydia couldn't make out, and a glowing bar of light formed around her left arm. The crowd quieted as the woman charged forward and hammered a series of blows into the man. Lydia's ears rang with the concussive force as her arm turned into a blur of radiance, hammering into the armored man in a blur of speed Lydia was sure few in the crowd could follow. "Kor's teats she's fast," Lydia murmered, stunned by the speed. No matter how the man blocked or lept, the fist kept hammering against him, moving around his guard with a liquid ease that looked effortless. A group dressed in white roared, heartened, while the armored group fell silent.
Lydia narrowed her eyes as the woman continued to land strike after strike. She'd gotten fast since she'd developed air magic, fast enough that when she wanted even a blademaster would have to work to hit her. And dodging and striking had a distinct cadence. This woman's strikes were too accurate. The way her opponent's arm swept, she should have missed, but her arm just barely skimmed by. And again! That one should have fell short, but instead it was like her reach lengthened slightly, just enough to land a solid blow. And right before she did...
Lydia grinned as she figured out the trick. The light wasn't around the fighter's fists, it was in front of her fists! It was guiding her strikes. That's why it seemed like she couldn't miss.
Unfortunately for the woman - a Lightbringer, Lydia figured - her opponent seemed to come to much the same conclusion. He rushed forward as she struck, and her fists literally bounced off him. His meaty arms reached out, and he grabbed her light-enhanced limbs. Had it been an actual Light-powered martial enhancement his hands would blister and burn from the proximity, but instead he seemed unharmed. The woman's face fell, but before she could react, he pulled her forward with his enormous strength, and slammed his forehead into the bridge of her broken nose.
Lydia winced as blood spurted, and the woman staggered. The man didn't release her arms though. Instead he tugged her forward twice, in sharp succession, hammering his head into her nose twice more, making wet squelching noises.
---------------------
Lydia pushed her way into the adventurer's guild, her stomach still churning. A bored man sat at a table, counting coppers and making notes in a ledger. He looked up as she pushed her way in.
"Enjoy the entertainment outside?" He asked, taking in her expression. At her firm head shake he laughed, pushing the ledger aside, and turning to face her. "Well, no helping it. We didn't used to have it, and the idiots would fight all over the streets. Proving their prowess, or that they were worthy of being an adventurer, or some fool thing. You tell people something is going to stop them before someone dies, they take that as a challenge."
"Anyway, what can..." the receptionist looked down at Lydia's hand where she held out her badge. A worked circle of bronze the size of her palm, it had a symbol in the center that she was assured was unique. Indeed, the receptionist's eyes flickered back up, and his spine straightened. "Lydia von Alteisen. How may I assist, my lady?"
"Seriously? You know my name just from this?" She asked, annoyed. How could anyone manage that? It looked like... she squinted at the intersecting curved lines. It looked like two birds doing something dirty, if she had to describe it. "Is there some trick to reading these? Do I have to get high enough level and they suddenly become a language?"
The receptionist shook his head, smiling faintly. "Not at all, my Lady. Your brother informed me you'd probably be stopping by." Reaching under his desk, he pulled out three boxes. He took one - labeled 'wood' you saw - down, pushing it aside, and then added the smallest box to that stack. He opened the third box, flipping through. "He said you're solo, right? And I should find something nice for you?" The receptionist hummed as he flipped through the box, past paper after paper, pulling out one and another to skim before shoving them back. "Lets see, new adventurer, bronze tier, solo, skilled noble..." He rejected entry after entry until he he reached what looked like the final pile - three lone stacks of paper.
"Yup, you can accept any of these. None of them are priority, so take the day to think it over. These are just copies, the original is still here, so please take them. And if it wouldn't be too much of a bother, tell your brother that Thomas at the guildhall is always happy to assist." The man gave a half bow while still seated, and started putting the boxes away. Lydia looked at the mostly full quest box. "Really? Only three?"
The receptionist nodded. "It's not that unusual. Lindorf is a very safe town. In truth, most of those requests have been there so long it's unlikely the original issuer remembers they're still in circulation. If they don't come back in, they don't get cleared. In a more active guild it'd be a priority to make sure it's clear, but here we prefer to keep all requests until the issuer withdraws them, to avoid offending any of the temples."
"You sure none of those would be worth my time?"
The receptionist nodded emphatically. "Most of those quests are inactive. The rest are all earmarked for the temples. The Lightsworn demand any bounties on criminals and evildoers, the Protectorate have agreements with half the towns in the area, and the Travelers take merchant guard positions. Really, we don't want to ignite some sort of fight in the streets because some young devotee decided I was mistreating their sect. I'm under strict orders not to risk something like that, I could be imprisoned if I was the cause of another holy dispute."
The receptionist did sound desperate, so all Lydia could do was take the three papers and make her goodbyes. As she left Lydia thumbed through them, noting the details. One of them described bells heard in the Eastern Grove at midnight. The bells apparently chimed at a certain time in the evening, and had beeen annoying various monks. The report said 'to promote peace and tranquility between the sects, find the bell carrier." The reward was 20 silver.
A second described an herb gathering mission, but for herbs in 'especially dangerous locations with high risk of monster involvement." It described a broad area the herbs might appear in, and how to identify them. Despite most herb gathering missions being classified wood, this one bore a bronze mark, and the crook of the Shepherd indicating the allegiance of who would pay. A few characters were near the seal, marking it authentic. It offered 30 silver for these herbs.
The third and final one passed to her was a bounty mission. It was in a small town far enough from Lindorf to almost fall under the domain of Breg, and it told of a pack of quill beasts that was threatening the village. Lydia paused. Quill beasts were large, porcupine-like animals the size of a small dog. Lydia remembered they could throw their quills hard enough they'd stick in skin, and could kill livestock, small children, and the unwary. The reward offered was covered by a large ink blot, and below it was written "1 silver per" and it's marked as being paid by the village.
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Vote the third!
V3C1: Questing
These quests. Do we:
[] Tell the receptionist we'll take the silver bells. The grove is the safest place here.
[] Take the herb gathering mission that's bronze, and watch out for that strange threat.
[] Take the quillbeast mission. That could sting, but unless we take an unlucky quill to the throat we'll make it out alive.
[] None of the above! These are all low paying and awful! Find someone with another opportunity.
[] I'd prefer to [Write-in]
And do we want to
[] Do these alone, we can manage
[] Find a partner, it's dangerous to go alone
[] A partner? We need more than that. write in how many you want to try and recruit for the third option.
V3C2: Location
For our lodging, do we: []Stay at our brother's house (free)
[]Stay at the inn near the traveler's temple (1 silver/night)
[]Take a room at the Rowdy Stallion, an inn near the center of town (15 copper/night)
As always interesting ideas are appreciated, every vote has a write-in.
Voting will close 24 hours after this is posted, update on friday.
Other Tasks:
If you have something in particular you want to do in the city, information you want to investigate, or someone you want to try to meet, make a suggestion. I'll try to incorporate the suggestions into the write-up, as Lydia has some time to wander. Not a vote, because I intend to incorporate all the ones that Lydia would reasonably have time and be able to do. So suggest away!
There's quite a few more writeups I'd like to do - other noble families, things of interest in the city, but they're gonna have to wait. If I try to write those all before I post then this would have gone up around Saturday. For now, I'll try to be on tomorrow midafternoon at some point to answer questions before the vote closes. If you have something you really need to know to make an informed vote, ask away. But it's probably not going to be a super long answer. Like "does the city have a horse breeder" not "please tell me the full description of the Shepherd's priesthood and Severin's role in the priesthood" (A: Lydia doesn't really know either)
Party mechanics
Party members will not be under our direct control. Instead we will learn some of their abilities on joining. This will be determined by secret information and stats, namely: Trust: How much the party member trusts Lydia Allegiance: Who the party member is aligned with Goal: What they ultimately want out of adventuring Volatility: How likely they are to act rashly and without forethought
They will share information about these with Lydia, but the amount and accuracy of the information will be governed by Trust. Similarly, we can command them to use certain abilities or behave a certain way, but they may or may not listen. The higher the trust, the higher the likelihood is they'll take our suggestion.
This is meant to simulate them being real people, with their own motivations. It doesn't mean every adventurer will have some tragic secret or dark story - they might trust you completely, be aligned with their immediate family, and want to make enough money to start purchase a good sized home and a pastry shop to run with their sister. It simply means that unlike Lydia, they may act in unpredictable ways that's out of line with how the vote went, based on their internal struggles. The difficulty of making them agree will be based on what you're asking them to do, and how much that aligns with their beliefs and goals.
Whew. This is a long one. 4400 words all told. I had loosely sketched out the gods and was planning to give brief descriptions, but given where we ended up going I felt it was important to write a little more. Which turned into a lot more. They're still summaries, but they have most of the important information Lydia knows. Not all the information she might need to know, potentially, bit we aren't a religious scholar (not a single skill related to it!)
Lydia von Alteisen
Class: Zephyrblade
Combining the speed of the wind with sharp steel, the zephyrblade is a phantom on the battlefield. One moment she leaps across the combatants to assassinate an enemy mage. The next, she weaves between dozens of arrows, all swerving to miss. The next, she dodges a warhammer laughing, slipping aside moments before the each heavy swing can land. She dances across the battlefield, leaving behind bodies sliced apart by knives of steel and air. Even at rest her hair moves in a constant breeze, and her clothes rustle as tiny breaths of air tug at them - proof the wind is ever close to her.
Wind Control - Grants mastery over wind. Provides skill abilities, and will be used when dueling other elementalists Dodge - Our ability not to be hit! Acrobatics - Our ability to perform fast and graceful movements, such as walking a thin rope, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and perform other graceful feats Dance - Our ability to perform dances, from courtroom waltzes to a village square dance XP Share: Dance-Acrobatics. Half of the XP earned towards one will go to the other. One-handed Swords - Our ability wielding swords single-handed. A style of fighting that leads to less power than two-handed swords like the claymore or zweihander but more finesse. And a free hand, of course. Subterfuge - Our ability to conceal our intentions. This is the ability to convincingly lie, conceal emotion, and present a convincing facade when the occasion demands. A common trait of the nobility. Archery - Our ability to draw, aim, and fire arrows using a longbow and shortbow.
Abilities:
Flight of the Zephyr [Gale]: You leap to the skies, propelling yourself across the battlefield. You may move up to five times your normal move distance, airborne, and make a single strike with the force of a gale behind it. You gain a bonus to damage equal to your Charisma
Wind's agility [Gust]: As a response to being hit you may add your charisma to your dodge. This can cause the attack to miss. To an opponent, it will be as if the wind pushed you out of the way. This may only happen a number of times equal to your number of basic actions (1 base). As a basic action, you may also deflect all arrows and small projectiles aimed at you for a round
Slicing razors [Storm]: A thousand tiny cuts open on enemies who get draw close. Any creature adjacent to you at the end of the round suffers damage equal to your charisma on any exposed skin or sensitive parts. These razorwinds pass right through armor, slicing flesh beneath. Only entirely solid entities like golems or immaterial enemies like wraiths may ignore this effect. Any creature that becomes adjacent to you also suffers this effect. This is a passive. Swarms (such as swarms of rats, bats, or insects) instead suffer damage proportionate to the size of the swarm.
Skill abilities:
That was close! (Dodge 3): Once per chapter, you may fully negate a hit, assuming there's any logical way that hit could be dodged. Lightfooted (Acrobatics 3, Elemental): You may traverse impossible pathways. You may walk across a thin branch, letting it bear your entire weight, or climb a single strand of ivy, as if you were no more heavy than a mouse. Wind manipulation (Wind Control 2): You may cause localized meteorological phenomena, such as small tornadoes, tiny stormclouds, and a gale on your tabletop. These cannot lift or damage anything close to humanoid size, nor inflict even a single level of damage on them, but for everything from entertainment to proving your identity they can find a use. Flight of objects (Wind control 3): Now small objects, less than 5 lbs, can be lifted by the wind, and carefully moved to you. Paper, small pieces of jewelry, knives, anything under that weight limit can move to you. This does not make the moving object invisible - a lady who witnesses her braclets flying out of her jewelry box will probably take note.
Inventory:
Shortsword - [4+Strength] Damage, Stamina costs of abilities is reduced by 1, +2 to attack vs. dodging enemies Marked with the sigil of the von Alteisen on the pommel, this sword is unornamented - made not a status symbol, but a weapon of war Longbow - 5 damage Hardened Leather Armor - This armor is constructed of multiple pieces of scaled leather. Boiled, layered, and lacquered, each rigid piece is riveted together in a form that provides both flexibility and a modicum of protection. This is dyed in house colors Traveling clothes (2 sets)
Traveling dress - This would be suitable for meeting nobility, as a noble. Called "travelling" because it can be put on and removed without help of a maidservant, the dress is nevertheless multilayered and fancy. Could even be worn to a smaller dance or negotiation without much comment.
Adventuring gear Lydia has a selection of adventuring gear, including bedroll, tinderbox, rope, etc. As a noble, she consulted with silver-ranked adventurers, and obtained a list, which she purchased from merchants - merchants happy to pay a visit to her family personally, and obtain this shopping list. All of the gear is high quality - immediately so on viewing. Materials used are durable, resilient, and well-suited for the job, and none of it is used or scuffed.
Mechanically, as long as Lydia has her gear, she has access to everything a Bronze level adventurer would reasonably need. Specialized gear for specific jobs will need to be obtained, of course, but she can reasonably be expected to have access to anything a bronze level adventurer uses during a job (so rope, knives, cooking tools, etc.).
Another piece of advice from experienced adventurers, Spot would have set Lydia back at least a gold piece had she been a normal adventurer. Where horses are tempermental, stupid, and easily spooked, Spot is smart, judgmental, and stubborn. She can navigate cliffs without falling, ignore signals that would put her in danger, avoids eating poisonous plants, and won't stick her hoof down next to a snake. She can also carry many times what a human can. She holds the majority of the gear that Lydia doesn't want immediate access to, such as waterskins, travel rations, bedroll, etc.
Currently she is Lightly Loaded. She has no injuries.
[x] Take the herb gathering mission that's bronze, and watch out for that strange threat.
[x] Do these alone, we can manage
[x]Take a room at the Rowdy Stallion, an inn near the center of town (15 copper/night)
V3C1: Questing
[X] Take the quillbeast mission. That could sting, but unless we take an unlucky quill to the throat we'll make it out alive. [X] Find a partner, it's dangerous to go alone
-[X] Someone with medicine skill. Preferably with a defender class and the skills of wilderness survival.
A wind user has the upper hand against the quill beasts. They use projectiles, and Lydia can dodge or deflect them. Yet it still may go wrong: quill beasts are dangerous. Lydia shouldn't go on this quest without a partner to guard her back.
V3C2: Location
[X] Stay at our brother's house (free)
Other Tasks:
[X] Learn more about Lindorf's adventurers. Make friends with some of them.
[X] Spend some time with the brother and his family
"No(,)" Lydia let the end of that word trail off. He nodded, looking at the family crest on her bags, and her traveling clothing - dirty, after four days on the road, but clearly new and well-made, clearly coming to a decision."
In general I avoid pointing out punctuation errors if only because my own grasp of grammar is subpar. However, I would note that misplaced quotation marks make readers look for when the character started talking, interfering with the reading.
There are also a few cases of missing commas, especially notable after direct speech, but they are too minor to point out.
She mouthed something Lydia couldn't make out, and a glowing bar of light formed around her left arm. [...] No matter how the man blocked or lept, the fist kept hammering against him, moving around his guard with a liquid ease that looked effortless.
A single limb enhancement? Doesn't sound too powerful, considering other limbs don't get the benefit of auto-aiming and coordination. Can't argue with the results though, even though they didn't last long.
I think we should cut our teeth on simple tasks and use them as an opportunity to find similarly new adventurers, or possibly some older ones with more experience.
[x] Tell the receptionist we'll take the silver bells. The grove is the safest place here.
[x] Find a partner, it's dangerous to go alone
[x] Stay at the inn near the traveler's temple (1 silver/night)
It's not so low-paying a job that we can't pay for the lodgings, but money isn't the point. Hence we split them if we can get a companion out of this.
We are more likely to find a companion at the inn, hence not taking up brother on his offer. Don't want to look as if we are aligned with Shepherd either.
Now, it's an open question what kind of companion we'd get on a bronze quest like this, but hey, at least it isn't a wood one!
If they have better jobs in mind, we are all ears.
Edit:
[x] Learn more about Lindorf's adventurers. Make friends with some of them.
[X] Take the herb gathering mission that's bronze, and watch out for that strange threat.
[X] Find a partner, it's dangerous to go alone
-[X] Perhaps someone who knows the outdoors, possibly a Defender to complete our skill set [X]Stay at our brother's house (free)
[X] Spend some time with the brother and his family
[x] Learn more about Lindorf's adventurers. Meet some of them.
