The Player Character Worktable

number 2 is that he has some suspicions of who his daddy may be. all the better to sack his keep with my dear

number 3.... borogon is thinning the herd of the weak. GO BOROGON!!!!!!!!!!

and i think that his families reaction to him will depend on how publicly he gets away with it, like if he starts attacking bardosylvanian shipping or not... at least until boughbog



edit

Number 4. corwin is... Determined. He sets his mind on a goal and heads towards it, and is not to be swayed from it. Lying, cheating Stealing, telling the truth, being generous, honesty, binding oath or pain, nothing sways his mind from it's goals. (good thing that Will saves are based off of wisdom eh?)

the big issue with the vice of corwin is that once he sets his mind, he will do ANYTHING to meet that goal.. pillage, murder, cheat, lie, steal, ransom, kidnap, piracy, hijacking, ect ect ect. The ends justifies the means

The House of Ainsley wrote:

Below the nose or over the nose?

Over.




Thank you.

Well okay, give me some time to answer these questions. I've got to think a little about them

GoldenDrakon wrote:

The House of Ainsley wrote:

Below the nose or over the nose?

Over.




Thank you.

Anytime.

Wraith wrote:

Well okay, give me some time to answer these questions. I've got to think a little about them

Oh, okay.

S.E.A.M.U.S wrote:

number 2 is that he has some suspicions of who his daddy may be. all the better to sack his keep with my dear

number 3.... borogon is thinning the herd of the weak. GO BOROGON!!!!!!!!!!

and i think that his families reaction to him will depend on how publicly he gets away with it, like if he starts attacking bardosylvanian shipping or not... at least until boughbog



edit

Number 4. corwin is... Determined. He sets his mind on a goal and heads towards it, and is not to be swayed from it. Lying, cheating Stealing, telling the truth, being generous, honesty, binding oath or pain, nothing sways his mind from it's goals. (good thing that Will saves are based off of wisdom eh?)

the big issue with the vice of corwin is that once he sets his mind, he will do ANYTHING to meet that goal.. pillage, murder, cheat, lie, steal, ransom, kidnap, piracy, hijacking, ect ect ect. The ends justifies the means

Good answers. Yeah, I should have known that Corwin would (hypothetically) back his evil uncle's The-Most-Dangerous-Game-style blood sport. I can't wait to see how many people Corwin forces to walk the plank just for the hell of it....

Ironclad determination is one of those traits that can cut both ways, of course; it can serve good, it can serve evil or it can serve both at the same time; the whole "massacre 100 innocent people to spare 1,000" scenario comes immediately to mind. All in all, though, it sounds like Corwin's pretty well fully committed to the Dark Side of the Force.

Yeah, Bad Guy campaigns are pretty cool if you run them right.

The House of Ainsley wrote:

Yeah, I should have known that Corwin would (hypothetically) back his evil uncle's The-Most-Dangerous-Game-style blood sport. I can't wait to see how many people Corwin forces to walk the plank just for the hell of it....

it's be more like "Mr Smee, get the hell off of my ship!"

"but sir, we're 40 leagues from land!"

"So?"

->splash<-

1) How did Ariene die? Was Sylvea wracked with remorse or guilt at the time, and--if so--was it because Sylvea was either powerless to prevent Ariene's death or, ironically, a direct or indirect cause of her death? Was her heart wicked as Sylvea's heart is, or was her heart good before her untimely demise, and turned to the inherent evil to which undeath usually leads? Evening Glory offers redemption and escape from the wickedness which grips the undead, but opening the door to redemption is useless if Ariene has no will to walk through it.

Well.... I had a thought that Sylvea used to be apprenticed to become a Healer. Someone who uses both magic and natural means to bring those on the brink of death back. Her teacher - Arinoth - was slightly mental, but usually not a bad guy. Anyway - both her sister and Sylvea soon began to out-strip him in ability - showing much more promise even then. After that he began to work on a way to do the one thing that could not be done - bring someone back from the dead. Unfortunately he needed someone actually dead for it to be tested. He had many corpses brought to him while Ariean and Sylvea continued their studies, so advanced now that they could study on their own. They had no idea what their teacher was involved in. Soon, Arinoth began to kill for his corpses - studying different ways of dying to different (possible) ways of ressurection.

Ariean stumbled upon his experiments and was disgusted in what he was doing and threatened to tell the Council of Elders what he was up to. Unfortunately she didn't have the time as he killed her to protect his secret. Not because he thought it was wrong, but because he didn't want anybody else discovering the way to true immortality before he did.

He told Sylvea that Ariean died of poisoning - that there were others that were jealous of their successes and that she was probably next. He slowly whispered into her mind, making her paranoid enough to begin killing those she believed wanted to kill her (and those she thought were responsible for her sister's death) while he continued his experiments in secret. More than thirty years passed before she learned the truth and in a fit of rage killed Arinoth. Unfortunately she did so in public view and her other crimes were soon discovered. She was outlawed and sentenced to death.

As she awaited her punishment, wracked with guilt and remorse, a Death Priest passed through her village. He learned of her plight and her unwavering devotion to the memory of her sister. He made her aware of the Order of Twilight Candle and perhaps alluded to where she could find them. But he left and her escape was left to her.

Sylvea escaped and went into a self exile, venturing forth to find the Cult that the Death Cleric had spoken about. Wandering for years, she eventually found the temple in which she currently resides, discovering and pleading her case to Evening Glory.


2) With a name like Sylvea, she is likely a forest-dwelling wood elf, common among adventurers. But wood elves are usually wholesome and good of heart. Why is Sylvea evil? Was she a bad seed in the womb, or did other events conspire to lead her down that dark road and away from her kin?

She's mainly evil because of the above: and the below (you'll see)

3) Elves are usually friends to the living world and to the lifeforce in all of Nature's things. So long-lived are elves that they rarely think of death, yet Sylvea, as a death priestess, must consider the concept often. Is she perfectly comfortable in her role, or does she have qualms against death, qualms possibly left over from her life among the flora and fauna? What compelled her to this way of thinking? Was she born with a natural morbid curiosity for a subject which may as well be taboo among the elves? Was Ariene's death so traumatic--and Sylvea's love for her so great--that it immediately pushed Sylvea over the edge? Or was it another event entirely, however sudden or gradual that event was?

I think that she was definitely born with a morbid sense of curiosity. That was what had led her to seek becoming a Healer. She likes both sides because to know how to heal, you have to know how to hurt. She found joy in her studies and her sister soon followed her, for her own reasons. She looked out for her sister, knowing that Ariean looked up to her, but was soon absorbed in her studies, often unaware of Ariean's successes or failures. It only drove her sister to work harder to match her.

She was a little more prepared when joining the cult for death, having had to deal it out for many years before. Her own mortality is also starker because she had lived with the belief that she would die any day. And faced with her own sister's mortality: she does better than most her age having to face death so often. Her abilities with healing also show her a starker side to living, as she knows about wounds and diseases and is often faced with them more than her brethren would be.


4) Like Good, Evil comes in many degrees, whether as a humble and unrepentant pickpocket who feels only joy in his petty thefts, or as a bloody savage who has slain and tortured hundreds out of twisted revenge against a world which, he believes, spurned him. The evils of people such as Corwin and Karnoz are quite evident, but how is Sylvea evil, and how subtle or blatant is this wickedness? Is it mere potential, or does her history have deeds in which many would find shame--and some others would find twisted pride--in mentioning? What are her inclinations as one of the wicked, and--besides the capacity for love--what redeeming virtues does she bear?

I think the only real evil in her is that she does anything she deems she must do. No matter the consequences. Her fierce loyalty to her sister and her (relatively new) religion are the fuels she uses to justify most of her actions. She will not see the possible consequences to her actions unless they are the consequences she wants. She is mostly selfish in that she is so loyal. It is where her loyalties lie that make her evil.

Other than that, she can be surprisingly compassionate, though this comes only every so often, to a stranger. She does not possess much patience for those she considers fools - but her emotions run much deeper than she lets other see. She may not strike someone (adventuring with her) as evil, until she decides she must do something (usually that something is nefarious in nature.)

As for redeeming virture, her compassion for others and her need to heal those she sees wounded. Her loyalty is also a redeeming virtue, I suppose. And besides, she's just neutral evil

Okay, I hope that answers your questions for now. If you have more, don't hesitate to ask!

neutral evil is fun, it's the self-serving evil

Yeah that's what I thought. Basically she's selfish.

Cool. We'll have to see where you go with that.

So, Tain...if you're still around and still interested, there are a number of slots open for player-characters who are Ainsley relatives. If that sounds good to you, do you prefer dyed-in-the-wool aristocrats, aristocrats who have walked away from the House (whether because they sympathized more with the commoners, they found their responsibilities as nobles suffocating, or they did something bad enough or embarrassing enough to get disowned by the House and didn't see any point to seeking reconciliation with them), or illegitimate descendants who didn't have a chance at being accepted into the family in the first place?

I think he was looking for the honorble warrior type (his original thought was samurai, but i didn't think that would be appropriate for the setting.. I mean, Keltic samurai? This isn't a James clavell novel)i think as far as relationship wise he was thinking of being a second or third cousin of the modern ainsleys, but i'm unsure about that.

gimme your aim/yim or hotmail thingie so we can get in touch

Aw, I don't really have any Instant Messanger accounts. I had some years ago, but I haven't really used them since the City of Heroes days. I'll have to go digging through my hard drive and see what I can find.

As for honorable Ainsley warriors, surely you remember Sir Ashton Ainsley (played by Gaia). He was the honorable warrior sort--think Teutonic knight or Transylvanian knight and you'll get a good idea about what Ashton was. As for being a cousin to lordship, I never fully expanded Iridia Ainsley's descending bloodline; you might recall that Iridia was the youngest sister to Corwin's mother Gwenlyn--as well as his uncles Borogon and Wardner--and Iridia ran away from the House of Ainsley in light of all the nasty things that Borogon and Wardner were doing back at home before and--doubly so--after their father's death (as opposed to Gwenlyn, who didn't have a choice in leaving and apparently got kicked out of the House after getting framed for dark witchcraft, but Corwin's just going to have to figure out the details of that mess for himself...).

So it could be that Tain's forthcoming warrior is descended from Iridia, whose descendants have been serving the Duchy of Konegheim (where Iridia moved and ended up marrying into the reigning Eowuld family in order to protect herself from her wicked brothers...not that Iridia didn't have any skeletons in her own closet, of course...) and otherwise keeping to themselves for the last fifty-odd years.

Like Sir Ashton did, Tain's character might have even been initiated into knighthood and played a role in the Imperial Civil War as well. But I wouldn't want to simply rehash Ashton's prologue; sure, Karkova was one of the nations that rebelled--and the most major of the rebel nations at that--but the Nordic kingdom of Hrothjurgan actually split in half during a whole mess of infighting and political divides among the jarls and their tribes leading up to the war, and I was thinking of exploring that development a little more.

Ask Tain how he would feel about being an honorable Germanic-style knight trudging through two feet of ice and snow to chop up a bunch of Vikings, just as a general idea. Better yet, tell him to get back in here.

Did you ever decide on Karnoz's bonus languages, GD? One thing that Yorgo neglected to mention was that Anyaska wasn't (or, if she's still alive, isn't) human, her ring was a gift from Hennbauer and he had the ring's inscription scribed in Anyaska's native language; whether or not Karnoz can comprehend the inscription depends on his language fluencies, of course.

With his Intelligence, Karnoz may speak and comprehend up to three extra languages.

EDIT: Oops, I just checked Page 1 of this topic while I was hunting down that Languages table. Goblin, Orcish and Abyssal. Got it. I just forgot to write 'em down while I was carrying on about Innuendo, I guess....

Quite an interesting history Karnoz must have, to have picked up fluencies in those languages. Maybe he learned Abyssal from a succubus who used to lollygag around with him. You know, I think I still have Panacleothass' old character sheet lying around somewhere....

The House of Ainsley wrote:

Quite an interesting history Karnoz must have, to have picked up fluencies in those languages. Maybe he learned Abyssal from a succubus who used to lollygag around with him. You know, I think I still have Panacleothass' old character sheet lying around somewhere....

Sheesh! How many times do i have to kill that particular villian?

Anyway, since I had a moment, I figured I'd get around to filling in some blanks with Karnoz:

1) What were Karnoz's origin, founding years and upbringing like? Was he an impoverished street urchin who couldn't hack making an honest living, so he tried his hand at a dishonest living instead? Or was he a spoiled brat from a well-to-do family, instilling in him the notions that greed is good and that such concerns as morality, property rights and the sanctity of life simply do not apply to him?

Karnoz’s mother died in childbirth but his father was an alchemist and tutor for a wealthy family but lost everything after the fall of the Empire. Karnoz and his father were suddenly on the run in a land where order and stability disinigrated around them. Karnoz’ father, Dietrich, managed to provide services to the many gangs, packs, factions and thugs that rose and fell in the anarchy that followed to include manufacturing poisons and providing translations. It was Dietrich who educated Karnoz teaching him alchemy and languages among other skills. Life was hard in that time as money was as fickle as the people they were working with. Karnoz learned his street ways during this time also to help provide. He also learned a few ‘rules’ to govern his life by; ‘Trust no one’ and ‘Do what it takes to survive’ being two key ones.
Dietrich was eventually killed, leaving Karnoz on his own to find his own way. Constantly moving from place to place, Karnoz also learned another, very important rule; morals, ethics and laws were just self imposed barriers. Once these social chains were discarded, one could discover great opportunities. He also learned that all life has value, and that one could cash in on that value.


2) Surely there's an origin to his "street name". While it's unlikely that he earned it from killing a king or other similarly powerful and well-defended figure, whom and how many has he killed in his history? Were the killings driven by greed, by sadism, by bloodthirsty madness or by some other vice? And were they performed with all the zeal and passionate fury of a madman, with the cold, emotionless dispassion of an executioner (my guess), or with the fearful trembling and stinging remorse of a compelled sociopath who knows that what he is doing is wrong but cannot turn away from it? Or perhaps in truth he has committed no murders at all, his nickname self-fabricated and insubstantial until he can prove himself with the death of Hennbauer or someone else?

In his time, Karnoz occasionally joined with or opposed other groups and guilds. He learned that such guilds were not worth joining unless he were on top and thusly avoided them for the most part. He did however pick up on the advantage of a good persona or reputation. Thus ‘Raven Murder’ was born. While secretly admitting there is a touch of theater to the name, Raven Murder is not just an act. Raven is a hunter, a killer and a stalker. In his history, he has stolen, broken bones, terrorized and killed without regard or remorse. While defiantly a sociopath, Raven does not kill for pleasure. Everything he does is a means to an end; a part in a grand scheme that drives him.


3) Where does he see himself in the future? Is there a single driving ideal spurring him onward, and what will become of Karnoz if that driving goal is ever achieved? Or are his long-term ambitions vague or nonexistent, leaving him driven only by his momentary wants and cravings?

His greatest driving goal is to succeed in his chosen endeavors. Those endeavors are often to be the one on top of the rat race in one form or another. Of course being on top is just half of the competition. The other half is staying there.


4) Your character is evil, true. But, just as every good person may possess damning vices, so may an evil person possess redeeming virtues. Everyone alive has the potential for good and evil alike; what determines morality amounts to nothing more than which of the two ideals is stronger in any given person. Pure snow-white heroes and jet-black villains are far more bland and uninteresting than those characters who must grapple with both angels and demons, so which vices and virtues best define your character? And are those subdued virtues yet strong enough to carry the hope--however great or small--of eventual redemption? Or is your character truly damned, with what dwindling goodness in his or her heart doomed to be forever imprisoned beneath the crushing weight of selfish desires and accumulating sins?


An excerpt from Karnoz:

"Good? Evil? What’s the difference? What makes one good or evil except the false, pre-conceived ideals and morals I learned to abandon long ago? If I am evil, then I am a necessary evil. Love me or hate me but you All need me. You want what I provide and keep your little hands and conscious’s clean. Who else are you going to turn to? Warriors? Feh! Overrated, over priced and often stupid. Mages? Flashy yes, but hardly as subtle or reliable as the quick flick of a knife. Priests? What’s a priest going to do, pray? You think their Gods are going to give a damn about you? You’re a bug if even that. I am so much more …terrestrial. I am a thief and a stone-cold killer, and I sleep very well at night. I strive to be the very best that I can be at what I do, your own sensibilities be damned."

Ah, good answers all around, GD. But I've pretty much come to expect that from you. Kudos.

The House of Ainsley wrote:

So, Tain...if you're still around and still interested, there are a number of slots open for player-characters who are Ainsley relatives.

So whatever happened to tain anyway? I don't think he/she ever even made a post....

Judging by what SEAMUS said, I think Tain just lost interest and left. We're not that snooze-inducing, are we?

*snoozes*

I couldn't resist....

How could he lose interest? He never did or even attempt anything.

Feh....

For further feats, can I please have Skill Focus: Sense Motive and Spell Penetration?

Wraith wrote:

For further feats, can I please have Skill Focus: Sense Motive and Spell Penetration?

Sure!

So while elves have long enjoyed a reputation for being wise and discerning, Sylvea is exceptionally keen among her kind at perceiving subterfuge. Is she naturally gifted with intuition, perception and empathy? Or is her history riddled with others' attempts to deceive her, crumbling her naivete and leading her to greater familiarity with lies, ruses and guises? Perhaps she may even be a paranoid sort, and her hyperactive suspicions just happen to be accurate more often than not....

Arcane magic is far more suited for offense than Divine magic is, and Wizards and Sorcerers hence get more use from Spell Penetration than Clerics do, as Clerics more often claim roles of support or protection. For a cleric to develop Spell Penetration suggests a cleric who is unusually talented at delivering harm unto others, perhaps even taking satisfaction or malicious delight from channelling the wrath of the gods into affliction, injury or death. What might this say about Sylvea's heart of hearts, then?

Or perhaps Spell Penetration is an asset common among wood elves who must commonly defend themselves against their hateful cousins, the dark elves (aka. drow elves or drow). The drow are the sworn enemies of all the sunlit elven races, including the wood elves; that Sylvea is unusually bleak-hearted, selfish and death-fixated among wood elves would matter little to them. The sunlit elven races united to banish the wicked dark elves to the subterranean hollows of the Underdark millenia ago, and the dark elves' rancor for their banishers has festered ever since. And one boon among the drow elves is spell resistance, developed either through their intimate contact with the element of earth or through the spellfire of innumerable elven wizards.

Spell Penetration certainly does have its uses for all spellcasters. For example, let's say that Sylvea finds herself suddenly assailed by Amalardexyss, a drow elf priestess of the spider goddess Lolth. A close confrontation is waged, and Sylvea launches in with an attack spell: Inflict Moderate Wounds.

Dark elves' Spell Resistance is equal to 11 plus the elf's character level. Amalardexyss is a Level 5 cleric, so her Spell Resistance is 16 against offensive spells. Sylvea is also a Level 5 cleric, and in order to defeat Amalardexyss' Spell Resistance she would normally need to match or beat 16 on a roll of 1d20 + 5 (Sylvea's spellcaster level); however, because of Spell Penetration Sylvea makes the check as if she were a Level 7 cleric...1d20+7. Sylvea's 20-sided roll comes up 10. Normally her Inflict spell would be wholly absorbed and negated by Amalardexyss' Spell Resistance, but instead Sylvea draws even more power from Evening Glory to blast Amalardexyss, enough to break her Spell Resistance and do her harm. The dark elf yelps as Sylvea's hand grasps her neck and funnels dark, poisonous power into Amalardexyss' veins, tearing randomly placed rents through her gray skin with but a faint ripple of resistance....

Thoughts?

oooohhhh... love the narrative

You always come up with interesting thoughts.

Anyway, I like the dark malicious kind of Sylvea, but not for dark malicious reasons. Hence being only a Neutral evil. She's like it because of a good hearted, or reasonable reason. Not just 'cos'.

As for the Spell penetration... I sort of wanted to explore a spellcaster type of cleric. So i'm trying to shift her that way a bit more. Like a blue mage... (i think its blue) or something like that. I never did like red mages... and whites were weak and (what was the one that healed and dealth damage at the same time?)

Argh... so long since I've played it.

Anyways... I want to delve more into her history and you've seemed to accurately guessed at where I'm going. Of course, I could just be saying that because I have no clue and your idea sounded so good.

LOL. but I'm the admin... so I can get away with things like that.

*snicker*

I guess I should finally get around to answering this one, huh? I just got back from the hospital a half-hour's drive away (visiting Dad), and between trying to finish Karnoz's update, piecing together the Bard and Fox's upper two floors, throwing together some new Gametable tiles (including the long-awaited depth markers and elevation markers as well as two new sets of water tiles for deep water and very deep water, tiles for water with wavy edges, overlays to denote crenellated walls, and more...), redoing my work on the Ainsley family tree and working on three new drawings because I suddenly got the drawing bug again, I have much to do. So...

Wraith wrote:

oooohhhh... love the narrative

You always come up with interesting thoughts.

Thanky.

Wraith wrote:

Anyway, I like the dark malicious kind of Sylvea, but not for dark malicious reasons. Hence being only a Neutral evil. She's like it because of a good hearted, or reasonable reason. Not just 'cos'.

Well, the Ethical Alignment (Lawful-Chaotic) doesn't really have any bearing on the Moral Alignment (Good-Evil), or vice-versa. There's really no fast and easy way to determine exactly how good, evil, lawful or chaotic a character is (or, for that matter, how close to the dead center of either axis a Neutral Something or Something Neutral character is). You might have a Lawful Evil guard captain who could coldly order the slow torture of a newborn baby just as if he were ordering a ham and swiss on rye, and you could have a Chaotic Evil street urchin who pickpockets a few coins from everyone he comes across, just because he can and because he has zero concern for other people's welfare. The guard captain would be "Hardcore Evil", while the street urchin would be more along the lines of "Evil Lite". And on that same token, you might have a Lawful Evil acolyte who remorselessly embezzles from his temple's coffers and skims from the charity box now and then, or you might have a Chaotic Evil warlord who mutilates victims and takes "trophies" from their bodies while going to lengths to keep them alive (and very, very miserable).

So being Neutral Evil doesn't really make Sylvea any more evil or less evil than any given Lawful Evil or Chaotic Evil character, and there are "hardcore" Neutral Evil characters who could make her look Good by comparison. It's all just different degrees of Evil, ranging from "sympathetic villain with multiple redeeming qualities" (the end of the spectrum where Sylvea seems to be) to "absolute monster who has crossed the Moral Event Horizon and can never be absolved of his or her sins, not even by death". And that's all just something that you have to play out.

So as long as you're not behaving too good to be evil, have fun.

(As a note, the "good person led into darkness and villainy through circumstances and/or ideals" theme--which is probably one of the most compelling themes in literature, by the way--can work for the other Evil alignments too. A once-Lawful Good baron who is so terrified of the prospect of seeing his barony crumble and fall to chaos and anarchy that he will do anything to maintain order begins to issue decrees and commit acts of increasing severity, right up to the point where his character flaw leads him to the dark side and the next thing you know, he's hacking off some old man's legs just for stealing a loaf of bread. Or a once-Chaotic Neutral freedom fighter grows increasingly paranoid as his wearying campaign against the king takes an uphill turn, and he starts threatening his comrades or calling them "traitors to the people" over the most minor offenses...and soon after that, he's murdering his best friend--who was once his most trusted lieutenant--for not coming back to camp one day, while madly (and baselessly) accusing him of spending that day relating their band's plans and location to the king--without once listening to his friend's panicking pleas and explanations--even as he's cutting his friend down.

Both examples' characters started off non-Evil but eventually slid into Evil thanks to the weight of their own circumstances and/or character flaws. So sometimes the Ethical Alignment can serve as a catalyst for shifts in the Moral Alignment, but aside from such correlations the two aren't directly connected.)


So it seems that the truest test of Sylvea's convictions--and her Alignment--is somewhere over the horizon. Arinoth--the mentor who killed Ariean out of envy and ambition, and who thus compelled Sylvea to seek out Evening Glory and the Order of the Twilight Candle in the first place--is still out there somewhere. If Sylvea's spiral into wicked selfishness was indeed spurred by her desire for vengeance against Arinoth, what would happen to her if she actually succeeded in finding him, striking him down and avenging the cruelties which he inflicted on the lives of Sylvea, Ariean and other hapless elves? Would she remain comfortably cold and unrepentant, or would she start creeping back towards redemption (and a possible Alignment shift)?

Possibilities abound.

Wraith wrote:

As for the Spell penetration... I sort of wanted to explore a spellcaster type of cleric. So i'm trying to shift her that way a bit more. Like a blue mage... (i think its blue) or something like that. I never did like red mages... and whites were weak and (what was the one that healed and dealth damage at the same time?)

Argh... so long since I've played it.

I think it actually was the red mage who was the 50/50 heal/harm type. The white mage was 100% healing, and the black mage was 100% harm...assuming we're both talking about the early Final Fantasy games here.

So what sort of motive led Sylvea to develop Spell Penetration, would you say?

Wraith wrote:

Anyways... I want to delve more into her history and you've seemed to accurately guessed at where I'm going. Of course, I could just be saying that because I have no clue and your idea sounded so good.

LOL. but I'm the admin... so I can get away with things like that.

*snicker*

I had several ideas, actually. But you're welcome to pick a couple that fit well.

Okay, we got a fair part of the way through Keagon Ainsley's character creation last night.

Keagon begins with 2,177 Gold. Sometime before the end of character creation, Tal, go ahead and spend some, most or all of it on Keagon's starting equipment, paying particular attention to Keagon's special list of available goods tacked onto the very end. (That barrel's pretty big and cumbersome, but it's a good place for a fast "getaway" when something nasty comes looking for you.... )

This is also a good time to pick out some more of Keagon's details, including Alignment, height, weight, hair color and eye color.

The next time we link up, we'll have to come up with Keagon's Hit Points. The Ranger class has a d10 Hit Die per Level, but as a house rule, any rolls below the halfway number (5, in this case) are rerolled; nothing sucks more than going through all the effort of gaining a Level only to roll a lousy 1 for your new gain in Hit Points, after all. Level 1 receives an automatic maximum (10 Hit Points, for a Ranger), and Constitution bonuses stack on top of all that. Check out Keitha's Hit Points; being from a warrior Class with a stout load of Hit Points, chances are pretty good that Keitha and Keagon should not be standing behind Karnoz and Sylvea (though Corwin's pretty serviceable as a meatshield himself)...unless it's time to Rebuke an angry mob of ghouls or disarm an acid fog trap, of course.

Also make notes that, as a Level 5 Ranger with his Abilities, he has the following:

Speed: 30 feet
Initiative: +0 (though certain Feats can be picked later to improve this...)
Base Attack: +5
Melee Attack: +7
Ranged Attack: +5

Saving Throws:
Fortitude: +6
Reflex: +1
Will: +3

And don't forget to pick two Favored Enemies, two types of creatures which Keagon has spent a great amount of time studying, tracking and/or encountering (and is thus a more effective stalker and hunter of these creatures). The order is important here; Keagon will receive +2 bonuses against his first Favored Enemy and +1 bonuses against his second. Remember that Keagon cannot pick Humans or Elves as Favored Enemies unless he is of Evil alignment.

You can also choose an animal companion for Keagon, anytime now or later. Some animals are off-limits (ie. young black bears are okay, mature black bears or grizzly bears or brown bears are not, and polar bears or dire bears are way over the line...but don't expect the local Town Guard to just let you bring an uncaged bear into town either way), but many are okay. Some Rangers and their players may pick combat-worthy animal companions like bears or wolves or badgers, others prefer reliable and steadfast mounts (like wild horses or giant skinks), and still others pick their animal friends for different reasons entirely; a chipmunk may not be very useful in a fight, but when you're locked away in the duke's prison, it's very nice to be able to dump your chipmunk out of your cloak and send him through the bars to fetch the jailer's keys....

Keagon's Wisdom is high enough where he can cast 1 1st Level Ranger spell per day (and so is Keitha's Wisdom; I'll send you a PM about it, Jaz), but we can worry about that later. Once we get through this part, we'll move on to Skill Points.

Sounds good so far, right?

Was looking at the great sword, is it the same as a two-handed?

Hey, Ainsley, could you add my equipment list to my character info in Character sheets please? Sorry to ask, its hard for me to find it.

Thanks