[PbP; ED4] Wild Barsaive Adventures

Stories about games that you run and/or have played in.

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Lokathor
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[PbP; ED4] Wild Barsaive Adventures

Post by Lokathor »

Hello, all. I'm wanting to start a new play by post game for Earthdawn using the 4th edition. The changes from previous editions are relatively small but they're a lot of quality of life things that make it worth it to switch. Metaplot is the same as before: Horrors, Scourge, Kaers, Adepts, all that jazz.

I've got two interested denners off the ttrpg discord already, and I'd like to have at least 4 before starting (more than that is fine too). The game would begin at 1st circle in a small and out of the way village, with the basic plot being "you have to go out and do exciting stuff as Adepts or you'll never become better Adepts". I plan on using the published adventures for a lot of the material, but we don't have to stick strictly to that. Hopefully we can have one bigger update from me a day at least, with answers to questions and other small replies as necessary.

I can run all the dice myself (seems to work well for ancienthistory when he does it like that), and I can setup a Roll20 mat once we need a battle grid.

Current Party:
[*]Saoirse, Elf Elementalist
[*]Horus, Elf Nethermancer
[*]Markis, Troll Cavalrytroll
[*]Gurunk'Gall, Troll Beastmaster
[*]Summary Sheet
Last edited by Lokathor on Sat Oct 07, 2017 7:30 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Longes
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Post by Longes »

Yo. As promised, I'll read the book during the weekend and build my nethermancer.
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Eitan
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Post by Eitan »

Hello! Like I said on Discord, I'm reading through and making an Elementalist. I'll try and have something up for it this weekend.
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Pixels
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Post by Pixels »

Pencil me in as some sort of martial character. Probably a beastmaster, though I'm still waffling on some of the details. Probably a troll cavalryman.
Last edited by Pixels on Sat Sep 30, 2017 7:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Lokathor »

Tengu also said that they had a martial type in mind.

Other than Pixels it seems that everyone else is new enough to Earthdawn that it'll take a few days to read and set up. Folks can PM me here or find me on Discord if they have questions, or post in the topic.

We should be able to get started by the end of the weekend.

Additional people are still welcome to join if they like!

EDIT: A blank character sheet outline It's not quite perfect but it covers most of the bases. Doesn't have a designated spot for spells, but you can make a sheet for that or put them off to the side or however you like.
Last edited by Lokathor on Sun Oct 01, 2017 9:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Eitan
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Post by Eitan »

Alright, took longer than I wanted but here's the crunch for my Elementalist. I'll come up with a bit of personality and background tomorrow during work (slow days are good days heh). Let me know if there's any problems Lokathor, haven't made an Earthdawn character in quite awhile so its probable I got something wrong.

https://goo.gl/EwD1Jx
Last edited by Eitan on Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Lokathor »

Your skill/talent ranks seem unbalanced: 9 ranks on Talents, should be 8 so you need to bump one of them down by one.

Skills are the correct amount, but too many piled in. They have a maximum starting rank of 3 like Talents do, so Read/Write Langauge and Speak Language need to have one rank each moved elsewhere. Might I suggest 2 ranks into some social skill to put that good charisma to use as well.

You probably want to pick up at least a buckler with your starting money. In this edition shields give bonus physical defense instead of just armor points, and a buckler (+1 Phys Def) doesn't even have an initiative penalty.

Your current LP seems to be -100, which seems like a typo somehow.
Last edited by Lokathor on Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Longes
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Post by Longes »

Image

Horus, an elf Nethermancer

A bit more cheerful than your stereotypical nethermancer, Horus enjoys the finer things in life and leaves his home vilage in pursuit of hedonism. The world has fantastical things, and he'll find them, kill them, distill something useful out of their organs, and hopefuly live long enough to learn how to press their souls into eternal servitude. Socializing is not Horus' strong suit, so he leaves that to Saoirse stepping in when someone needs to be intimidated.
Last edited by Longes on Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Lokathor »

Looks great
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Post by Pixels »

Markis, a lowlands Troll Cavalryman who has an endless fascination with other races, Namegiver or not. He is accompanied by Buttercup, his faithful granlain steed.
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Post by tenngu »

Gurunk'Gall is a troll beastmaster, and an exile. He seeks to redeem his honor due to his family's actions(piracy,banditry,assholeness). He is followed by his beast-friend Vistaru, a panther thing owlbear Troajin.
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Post by Longes »

tenngu wrote: Gurunk'Gall is a troll beastmaster, and an exile. He seeks to redeem his honor due to his family's actions(piracy,banditry,assholeness). He is followed by his beast-friend Vistaru, a panther thing owlbear Troajin.
Was he exiled for being a DnD troll? what's with those knowledges? :D
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Post by Lokathor »

Alright, we have a party:

[*]Saoirse, Elf Elementalist
[*]Horus, Elf Nethermancer
[*]Markis, Troll Cavalrytroll
[*]Gurunk'Gall, Troll Beastmaster

We can still make adjustments here or there as people settle on what skills and talent options and such that they want, but it's enough to get going.

Our story begins atop a hill that overlooks the village of Tsenin. It's a village that's out of the way from the major trade lanes, and it has only recently come out of its Kaer. They first opened up and made contact with the outside world ten years ago, but at the time the nearby land was still blasted and charred from the Scourge, completely unsuitable for farming. They cast the usual ecosystem restoration spells as described in the Book of Tomorrow, but the process is slow even in the best of cases, and so they've only been able to begin experimenting with above ground farming within the past three years. Construction of outside facilities has only begun this year. The outside forge was first, then the town hall. Now the focus is on warehouses, granaries, and other workshops.

From atop the hill your group can see dozens of villagers hard at work moving materials, putting up walls, and all of that sort of stuff. Not any of you though. As Adepts, your training went toward the intricate art of channeling magic through your Pattern, instead of learning to use a hammer or hoe or saw. There's only so much time in the day, and as a result you're all nearly useless when it comes to actually building a life. Instead, you've been sent up to the hill top to keep an eye out for anyone or anything that might approach the village from outside.

[You can each choose for yourself if you're a village native or have simply come to temporarily live within the village for whatever reason. Gurunk'Gall seems to be from out of town, I'd guess that Saoirse and Horus are both from Tsenin, and it's a toss up with Markis.]

The sun isn't even halfway into the sky when you see someone coming up the path from the village. As they approach you can tell that it's Fennon. A Human in his 60s, he's on the town council, and he's in charge of raw materials management. When he gets to the top of the hill he catches his breath for a moment.

"Friends, we have a problem. The lumber crew that I sent out a while back hasn't returned. They were supposed to return yesterday, and still no word at all from them. Six people were in the group: Kentram and Mantek, Gleem, Tartuk and Lintak, and Gram of course. Now we've never encountered any large predators in the woods, but something's kept them, so we're sending you to check it out. Just follow the trail north, even when you get to the woods you'll be able to find you way by the wagon trail that leads into the camp. If speak to Genna before you go I'm sure she can send some healing aids with you, but try to move quickly before you run out of daylight."
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Post by Pixels »

OOC: Consorting with an exile is a dishonorable action in and of itself. If I were a highland troll of any clan, I would not be able to even acknowledge Gurunk'Gall's existence without irreparably staining myself, and if I was of his former clan I would have to attack him on sight. Lowland trolls are a bit more lenient, but not by much. They might deign to notice that he exists, but he would not be treated with anything but scorn or pity. An troll is not exiled from his clan, he's exiled from his race. And there is no redemption for an exiled troll. Once the horns are cut off you can never go back.

Possible ways we could be in the same party:
  • I could also be an exile. I don't like this very option very much.
  • We could say that he did some me favor that I need to balance. Perhaps he drove away some windlings who were tormenting me or offered me shelter during a snowstorm, and I've pledged to journey with him for a year and a day in thanks.
  • Gurunk'Gall need not be an exile. The crystal raider clans are all bandits/pirates, and plenty of trolls are assholes. He could even be on a quest to restore his personal honor (katorr) or family honor (kat’ral) without having been exiled. Trolls are super into that nonsense.
In any of those cases, he and I could very plausibly have traveled here together.

Markis looks up from where he was sitting in the shade of a tree. He puts his current knitting project - a large blanket for Buttercup - down on his lap and listens carefully to Fennon's speech.

"Mmmmm, troubling."

He gets up, folding the half-finished blanket and tucks it into Buttercup's saddlebag.

"You will find somebody to keep watch while we go, mm? It would not do for us to chase one danger and leave the village open to another. And we shall speak to Genna as you suggest."
Last edited by Pixels on Tue Oct 03, 2017 7:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Lokathor »

"Of course, I will stay here for a bit until Mixie and Zixie arrive in a while. Perhaps you can't see them yet from this distance, but they will be along."

Those of you who squint can see two windlings on the edge of the village. They seem younger, barely a foot tall each. Easy to miss without knowing what you're looking for.
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Post by tenngu »

OOC:
@Pixels: I imagined the exile was more self imposed more than anything, and not really a formal exile (ie, still having horns). Maybe exile was too strong a word in this case.
@Longes: My bad, I put the knowledges like that so I would remember to change them. Apparently that didn't work.
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Post by Lokathor »

Genna is an older ork lady. She is the mother of Tartuk actually, and whispers a prayer to the Passions for you to have a safe journey and find him quickly. She gives you a bag with three Salves of Wound Closure, two Booster Potions, and a Healing Potion. No charge, this is all official business for the village and she's just happy to be able to help you find her son.

Any other business people want to handle before moving out?
Last edited by Lokathor on Wed Oct 04, 2017 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Eitan »

Saoirse grins as she swings her legs out from the tree branch she had been sitting on and drops to the ground. A few stones she had been chipping away at fall back into a pouch on her belt as she says, "Hopefully they just found some ancient ruins! There's got to be something out here left over."

OOC: Saoirse is ready to go, I'm going to finish editing the PDF tomorrow and put it up, should be fixed up without any mistakes.
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Post by Longes »

OOC: As I've warned Lokathor - I'll be somewhat slow on posting until the 15th. Sorry about that.
Horus gives the potions a lookover and distributes them among the companions, so that everyone could heal themselves or someone else if there's a need.

"Fennon, do we have maps of the area? Anything weird they could have found?"
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Post by Lokathor »

Fennon: "No detailed maps that we can send with you. There's the occasional cave and so forth, but nothing that a lumber crew should have gotten wrapped up in. After all, there weren't any sudden storms last night that a person would need to hide from or anything like that."
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Post by Pixels »

OOC:
@tenngu: Ahh, okay. We should be fine then.
@Everybody: Healing Potion to Gurunk'Gall, Boosters to Saoirse, Wound Closures one each to Gurunk'Gall, Horus, and me?

"I see your work, Genna. If there are herbs we might find while traveling, speak and we shall retrieve both the men and the plants."

Assuming that nothing else past that pops up, Markis is for leaving immediately. He'll ride Buttercup at the back of the marching order.
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Post by Longes »

Horus is ready to go as well. He appreciatively nods to Markis' considerate choice of position.
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Post by tenngu »

Gurunk pats his beast companion Vistaru gently twice, indicating the need to wake up and start moving soon. He'll take any sort of healing item and gingery put it in his pack, and sling the pack over one shoulder.

"Them tracks will probably still be fresh since the weathers been good. following six pairs of tracks in the dirt and mud will hopefully make this quick work. Vistaru gets cranky if she hasn't had her evening meal."


OOC:
I took the tracking talent, so if we're pointed in the right direction, we might be able to pick up the trail and follow the tracks.
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Post by Lokathor »

Genna: "Oh no need to gather anything Markis, it would only slow down your search for my boy."

The brief journey towards the woods is an easy stroll. Then you step among the trees and move along the path for the logging wagon, deep ruts in the ground guide your way, punctured by the occasional sapling stumps where they chose to simply fell the obstacle rather than go around. What sunlight makes it past the thick vegetation above your head dances slightly on the forest floor as the wind pushes the leaves about softly. If something has harmed the lumberjacks, it might even be waiting behind these very trees. You try to discard such thoughts as the clearing is spotted up ahead.

The first trees cut this season made way for the workers' camp. Small tree stumps are being used as stools and tables. Plates and bowls and cutlery can be seen laid out on some of them. There's still food on the plates, and one of the cups has been tipped over, its sea dark wine spilled down the side of the log.
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Post by Eitan »

Saoirse peers around the camp curiously, starting with the food and wine sitting uneaten on the tree stump tables. Looking back at her companions she attempts a half-hearted joke, "I guess we don't have to worry about dinner..."

OOC: I imagine we'll all be doing a general look around but Saoirse doesn't have anything specifically relevant to activate. More of a party buffer than a sleuth at this stage.
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