It is raining and a storm has brought with it thunder and lightning. What you see before you is a wrought-iron gate. The black metal bars extend up well over your head and end with spear-tipped points. To the side of the gate is a sign that reads "Cemetery of Stolen Doves." Beyond the gate is a man, his hand outstretched towards you. Beckoning you? Offering you something? You do not know. As you feel compelled to pull the gate open, you are suddenly awakened and the dream ends.
Each of you received the dream over a month ago and for every night since. During that time, you have tried to find this cemetery, whose name you keep seeing, and only recently did you discover where it is. It is the 30th day of receiving your initial dream and now you stand - all together - in front of the gate from your dreams. You've never met each other before, but yet you seem all familiar to each other all the same.
Your travels have brought the lot of you to the hamlet of Quall, to a small cemetary that is located next to a temple of Dulato - a goddess of farming and good fortune.
Game System: 3.5e Allowed resources: SRD only (open source UA material allowed with approval), no flaws Starting Level: ECL 3, 3200xp Abilites: Point buy - 32 points Gear: 3000gp, custom items on approval only. Crafting can be done beforehand - but pay attention to the experience you'll have left over.
Approved by seTiny
The COre COliseum just hit 1000 fights! Come join the fun and be a part of this milestone! Next pairings are set for 22 August 2012. Activate TODAY!
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Encounter 1: Rats, Wererat and Swarms oh my (400xp) Encounter 2: Fire at the Church (450xp) (Kaden gets a 400xp bonus for starting late) Encounter 3: Ice Hounds and the Unseen Charger (250xp) (Jack gets an 850xp bonus for starting late) Story 1: Dorria is not what he seems! (200xp) Encounter 4: Dorria's Guards and Plants (900xp) (Vharton as background - gets no exp)
Kreegan 3200xp to start + 2200xp = 5400xp Vharton 3200xp to start + 1300xp = 4500xp Kaden 3600xp to start + 1800xp = 5400xp Artemis 3200xp to start + 2200xp = 5400xp Maelya 3200xp to start + 2200xp = 5400xp Jack 4050xp to start + 1350xp = 5400xp
The COre COliseum just hit 1000 fights! Come join the fun and be a part of this milestone! Next pairings are set for 22 August 2012. Activate TODAY!
Blue Moon Aurora is looking for some fresh blood to populate their forums. Home of the Duet and West Pacific Supers!
Quall is a small farming hamlet near the edge of the arctic lands to the south. It is close to the end of fall at the start of the adventure and although there is no snow on the ground, the biting cold has already started to settle in.
There is one major travel road leading east-west. To the west, about 2 weeks by foot in good weather, is New Haven - a port city that mostly exports lumber and fish (and related products derived from them) to the northern reaches. There is also a major river to the east that is wide enough to allow small merchant boats to travel up it during the warmer weather. It is closed off in early fall however.
To the east of Quall, not even a day's journey, is a thick pine forest. The road ends at this forest.
To the north of Quall, about 3 days by foot, are the Fire Mountains. They are so named because of the large number of active volcanoes in the range. There are no known passes through the mountains, but they are very inhospitable and the races who live there are aggressive and territorial. Occasionally the goblins from the lower hills will come to Quall for raids of food and supplies, but since Quall is so small - there's not much to raid.
To the south is the arctic. The land extends into a glacier which covers most of the southern territory. Not much exploring has been done to the south due to the inhospitable conditions.
Quall itself has about 200 inhabitants that are comprised mostly of 4 farming families and 2 rancher families. Very few people in town make their livelihood without the involvement of these 6 families in one form or another.
Quall is able to survive based on the small lake and river that come into the hamlet. Most of the other resources it needs are imported from New Haven by the loggers who pass through Quall to get to the forest to the east.
The Temple of Dulato: Goddess of Farming and Good Fortune, this small temple is the only religious structure in the hamlet. Archibald Longfellow is the head-priest and has another cleric studying under him. They hold daily services. The temple has a cemetery off to the west side of it with a number of graves. The temple is at (10,11).
The Farmers: Four major farming families make up about 90% of Quall's crop and industry. In order of importance and size there are the Caldwells (8,18), the Farenzis (2,12), the Tolads (4,6) and the Borins (11,4). For the most part they are all hard-working, honest and fair. Large families with several generations, their children as they age, take up houses throughout town. None of the families are related to each other, though a union among the houses does not seem an unlikely possibility.
The Ranchers: There are two major ranchers in Quall. The Fedmores (7,3) breed draft horses and light and heavy workhorses as well as cows and other large herd animals bred for food, milk and cheese. The Altarians (15,15) breed a more diverse group of pigs, sheep, goats, chicken and other fowl. They barter with the farming families in order to exchange the needs of the other families.
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Half-Elf Traits -Immune to sleep spells and similar magical effects -Low-light vision -+1 Listen, Search, & Spot, +2 Diplomacy & Gather Information -Elven blood -Favored class: any
Rogue Abilities -Proficient with all simple weapons, hand crossbow, rapier, sap, short bow, short sword, & light armor -Sneak attack +1d6 -Trapfinding -Evasion
Spells Per Day 0/2 0th- Detect Magic, Light, Read Magic, Resistance
Vharton’s mother is something of a legendary figure in the city of New Haven. She is a powerful elven enchantress by the name of Delsyna with a taste for human lovers, but no taste for motherhood. For that reason, after Vharton’s birth he was placed in the care of the Tripartite Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is a three-tiered religious order in the service of the god Thromelius the Bound. The three branches of the order are the Order of Magistrates, servants of law & order, the Brotherhood of the Bronze Manacle, a military organization, and the Order of Ministers, who teach the laity. I was into the care of the Ministers that Vharton was given.
As a ward of the church, Vharton was required to work for his keep, performing chores such as cooking and cleaning as well as giving service at the altar during the daily religious services. When he was not performing these duties Vharton took weapons training, because he aspired to join the Bronze Manacle when he came of age. His upbringing was strict, but it was a good life for a boy who was more or less an orphan and Vharton had few complaints.
Upon turning 18, Vharton was allowed to venture out into the city on his own. One day, after finishing his chores, Vharton decided to explore the city. He encountered a man by the name of Dimone, a roguish sort of fellow. Dimone was amused by the church-raised boy’s naïveté and took it upon himself to introduce the boy to the pleasures of wine, women, and song. While Vharton welcomed this induction to life outside the church, the ministers did not look on it so kindly. When Vharton returned to the church his brain was still fogged with wine & the signs of his transgressions against the strict dictates of the Tripartite Brotherhood were obvious. Although Vharton had been a charming boy and had ways of avoiding the rod of correction when he fell short of what was expected of him, this time nothing he said could assuage the ministers. Vharton was excommunicated and expelled from the church.
Fortunately, Dimone felt a sense of obligation to the boy due to his hand in Vharton’s excommunication. He took Vharton under his wing & trained him in the art of performance as well as ways of the thief. Although Vharton took the lessons, sensing that they might someday prove useful, he refused to engage in thievery, instead supporting himself by performing as a minstrel & occasionally hiring out his sword, if he could find such work.
For three years Vharton wandered between the inns and taverns of New Haven, taking work wherever he could find it. Then the dreams started. They were accompanied by an unexplainable urge to travel to the east. A few days of this were all Vharton could stand. He decided to purchase some supplies and head east. Although he didn’t know where he was going, he felt he would know when he got there. He expected that he could fund his trip in the same way he earned his living in New Haven, but he found that neither minstrels nor sellswords were in much demand along his way.
Vharton wandered into the hamlet of Quall lamenting the few silvers he had to his name & wondering how much of his equipment he could afford to sell off if he couldn’t find any work in this little backwater. As he wandered through town in search of a decent looking shop, he was shocked to see the cemetery from his dream.
Vharton has been on his own long enough that looking out for himself & making sure he has enough gold to be comfortable are his main priorities, but enough of the church’s teachings have stuck with him that he remains kind & compassionate. Although is activities as a sword for hire sometimes lead him outside the walls of New Haven, there is still much of the world that Vharton has not seen. He yearns for new sights & experiences and for greater adventures.
Vharton is a small man, thanks to his elven blood. His ears are short & only slightly pointed. Besides his size Vharton’s elven heritage shows most in his wide brown eyes. He wears his hair long & as an entertainer he wore a rakish moustache & goatee. Since he began his trip east Vharton hasn’t been as careful about his grooming, so the moustache & goatee are now a bit unruly & his cheeks now bear a short growth of stubble. Before his trip Vharton exchanged his flashy black & crimson minstrel’s attire for more utilitarian garb better suited for the harsh weather that’s sure to come. This outfit consists of a woolen shirt & pants in brown, brown fur –lined boots & a drab gray travelling cloak lined trimmed with white fur.
Mithral shirt (worn, 10 wt) 1100 gp Cold weather outfit (worn, 7 wt) 8 gp
MW longsword (belt left, 4 wt) 315 gp Wand of cure light wounds (46 charges) (belt right, -wt) 750 gp MW thieves’ tools (belt front, 2 wt) 100 gp Belt pouch (belt rear, 0.5 wt) 1 gp Dagger (belt rear, 1 wt) 2 gp Dagger (boot, 1 wt) 2 gp
MW shortbow (left shoulder, 2 wt) 330 gp 20 arrows (right shoulder, 3 wt) 1 gp Backpack (center back, 2 wt) 2 gp Bedroll (below backpack, 5 wt) 1 sp MW buckler (left arm, 5 wt) 165 gp MW lute (back, 3 wt) 100 gp
Waterskin- water (backpack, 4 wt) 1 gp Everburning torch (backpack, 1 wt) 110 gp Flint & Steel (backpack, -wt) 1 gp Trail Rations- 2 days (backpack, 2 wt) 1 gp Winter blanket (backpack, 3 wt) 5 sp Chalk x3 (pocket, -) 3 cp Small steel miror (pocket, 0.5 wt) 10 gp Sack (backpack, 0.5 wt) 1 sp Whetstone (backpack, 1 wt) 2 cp Entertainer’s outfit (backpack –wt) 0 gp
Feats - Mind Blade - Weapon Focus (Mind Blade) - Wild Talent - Two Weapon Fighting - Throw Mind Blade - Psychic strike +1d8 - Two Weapon Defense
Woodelf Traits - +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence - Medium: As Medium creatures, elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. - Elf base land speed is 30 feet. - Immunity to magic sleep effects, and a +2 radial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells or effects. - Low-Light Vision: An elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. - Weapon Proficiency: Elves receive the Martial weapon Proficiency feats for the longsword, rapier , longbow (including composite longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) as bonus feats. - +2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks. - An elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively looking for it. - Automatic Languages: Common and Elven. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan. - Favored Class: Ranger. A multiclass elf’s ranger class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
Background: Born to a tribe of Woodelfs, who call the pine forest east of Quall their home, Naylo trained to become a scout in the Defenders of the Mother Tree. But the son of a leader of a Branch of the Defenders and a songshaper was born under an omen. On the seventh night of his live the newborn was bathed in an eerie blue light. Legend of the tribe told it to be either a sign of a hero to the people or a portent of discord and strife to come. On his initiation quest to join the Defenders, Naylo failed to notice an ambush of a small group of goblins and got captured. As his fathers Branch engaged the goblins the failed Scout sat in shame, wishing of having a blade to cut his bonds. His wish was granted as an eerie blue blade formed in his right hand. After dispatching his guardians, he employed the hit and run tactic of his tribe to bring down several of the shamans of the goblins. From one he claimed an amulet of elven origin. Because of his failure he was deemed unfit for the Defenders. No one believed his claims to his deeds, because he was not able to produce the blade again. Relegated to minor tasks the rejected scout devoted his spare time to the training of his unusual talents. At first the blade would only form while under some form of duress. With time the blade showed up every time Naylo willed it into existence. Two more times he applied for the Defenders, but to no avail. Shortly after his latest try, the Dreams started. After some inquires from his parents to his disheartened state, he confined into them to his dreams. Has father told him of Quall and the Gate. After some discussion with his parents Naylo informed the elders of his tribe of his decision to go on an Qui-Anar. A journey to find your place in the world.
Description: Speaks: Common, Elven, Goblin Medium, 4'11" tall, 104lbs., 121 yrs old Black hair, Brown eyes, Sun tanned skin Naylo is a well muscled, nimble youth. His high quality leather clothing of browns and greens blends well in his forest home. A headband keeps his long black hair from his face, a single braid ends in tail-feather of an owl. A light mace adorns the right hip.
Concentration: +2 Autohypnosis. Trapcrafting: +2 to Appraise Traps. K Architecture: +2 Search for hidden architecture K Dungeoneering: +2 Survival underground. K Psionic: +2 Psicraft. K Planes: +2 Survival on other planes. Psicraft: +2 Use Psionic Device with Power Stones
Level 1 Astral Construct Small Construct (1pp) HP 15 Move 30ft AC 18 (T13/F16) F+0 R+2 W+0 Slam +2 melee 1d4+3 20x2 / Grapple -1 Two abilities from Menu A
Level 2 Astral Construct Medium Construct (3pp) HP 31 Move 40ft AC 18 (T12/F16) F+0 R+2 W+0 Slam +4 melee 1d6+4 20x2 / Grapple +4 Two abilities from Menu A
Level 3 Astral Construct Medium Construct (5pp) HP 36 Move 40ft AC 20 (T12/F18) F+1 R+3 W+1 Two abilities from A
Equipment
Hat of Disguise Vest of Resistance +1 Everbright Ioun Stone Tent Rations (10) Travelers Outfit (4) Backpack Dagger Psicrystal (Impatient +2 Initiative) 44 gold
Sturum: L2 AC with Improved Trip on Hit and Improved Natural Attack. Sturum is a hulking biped with no neck, a sunken head, three eyes, and meat-hook fingers. It's pure brawn and dangerous fingers serve to put foes out cold on the ground. Sturum likes lyrical poetry, percussion music, and watching chefs work.
Wraggle: L2 AC with Improved Natural Attack and Buff. Wraggle has nine spindly legs grouped in threes with heavy spheres for feet. It moves awkwardly, making it difficult to hit on the run, and the heavy spheres make for potent bashing weapons. Wraggle enjoys playing tag, exploring pantries, and tap dancing with Hector.
Ronk: L2 AC with Improved Bull Rush and Mobility. Ronk is a human sized worm with dozens of cilia for legs and armored segments for a back. At each end is a large six-segmented eye. Ronk enjoys hot tea drinks, theatre, and giving awkwardly long hugs.
The Chims: L1 AC with variable traits. The Chims are a family of small humanoids with maleable forms that can be adjusted to handle their task at hand. Not fit for combat, they throw themselves at other tasks with reckless abandon bordering on suicidal glee. Chim, Chimm, Chym, Tchimn, Tchimm, Tchyim, and Chiym are six of the Chims and each has their favorite activities.
I chose a very unusual, and somehow harsh story. Tell me if you'd like me to change it, please.
Maelya was the average farmer girl. Lively, lovely, and very much a scoundrel. So, when she was barely able to bear a child, she happened to become pregnant from a young boy from nearby. She faced the shame on her family, and grew a lot in the process. When came time to deliver the baby though, her body proved too frail still, and she nearly died in the labor, while her baby didn't make it. She spent a few days unconscious, and her mind drifted away. When she came back to the world of the living, she wasn't quite the same anymore.
First, she found her mind honed to a sharpness she had never thought possible before. And then, there were the Dreams. She heard a voice in her head, and she knew it to be the one of her baby boy, who loved her very much, and guided her from his paradise.
Clever as she had become, she soon became bored with her life in the village, and learned anything she could from travelers, be they merchant, clergymen, scholars, or whoever. Maelya now longed for something more. And the Dreams took a turn for the uglier, with a Gate appearing.
Rapid Metabolism: You naturally heal a number of HP per day equal to the standard healing rate + double your CON bonus. You heal even if you do not rest. This healing replaces your normal natural healing. If you are tended successfully by someone with the heal skill, you instead regain double the normal amount of hit points + double your constitution bonus. -featname (optional brief summary here)
Half-Giant Traits
Low-Light Vision: Can see twice as far as a human in a dimly lit location. Retains color. Fire Acclimated: +2 on saving throws vs fire. Giant(Psionic): Not subject to spells that affect humanoids only like charm or dominate. Weapon and Armor Profficiency: Proficient with simple and martial weapons, as well as all light and medium armor and shields. Powerful Build: Considered one size larger when subject to a size modifier, or an opposed size check (Grapple/bullrush kinda stuff) Can use weapons designed one size larger without penalty. A half-giant is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature’s special attacks based on size (improved grab, or swallow whole) can affect him.
Barbarian Abilities
Illiteracy: Cannot read, though if I choose to I can put 2 points in reading and writing. Fast Movement: Landspeed is faster than my race's norm by 10ft. Benefit only applies with no armor, light, or medium, and carrying less than a heavy load. Rage 1/day: In a rage, a barbarian temporarily gains a +4 bonus to STR, a +4 bonus to CON, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but he takes a –2 penalty to AC. While raging cannot use Charisma, Dexterity, or intelligence based skills. (Except for balance, escape artist, intimidate, and Ride) Rage lasts 3 + (the newly improved) CON modifier. At the end of the rage, the barbarian loses the rage modifiers and restrictions and becomes fatigued (-2 strength, -2 dexterity, can't charge or run) for the rest of the encounter. Uncanny Dodge: A barbarian retains his DEX bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his DEX bonus to AC if immobilized.
Half-Giant Abilities Stomp(1/day): Your foot stomp precipitates a psychokinetic shock wave that travels along the ground, toppling creatures and loose objects. The shock wave affects only creatures standing on the ground within the power’s area. Creatures that fail their saves are thrown to the ground, become prone, and take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. The save DC is charisma based. Manifester Level 1, DC 11
Background and description
Medium, 7'9" tall, 260 wt, 34 yrs old Brunette hair, Brown eyes, Tanned skin
Her father, a giant was the constant plight of a small village of farmers, taking what crops he could from them, along with anything he found of value. Clothes, jewelry, or what farmers considered jewelry. Most was not for him, but for his daughter, D'ellen. D'ellens father, had no name, no family and did not care much for the world until his daughter. D'ellen never got to know her mother, she died shortly after birth when she threatened to take the child away and raise it her as a human. D'ellens father couldn't think of that and prime instincts took over as he murdered her mother in cold blood.
But that didn't matter to him. He had his daughter. And thus this went on for years, as he protected D'ellen, showering her with gifts when possible. But one day it all came to an end. A group of adventurers travelled past the town and agreed to kill the giant that has been terrorizing the village for many years. He fell to the group of adventurers, but failed to find D'ellen. After many lonely nights of barely surviving she was sold into slavery, and travelled many months in a caravan, she was tortured, but one man in particular decided kindness was the better route. This man talked to her, and even taught her how to speak common as she grew up, telling her many fairy tales. Finally her chance to break out of her cage came. She could have escaped into the night but something broke inside of her, and a frenzy that wouldn't die burned inside of her. She walked into the caravans camp, most were sleeping, but she made sure they wouldn't be for long as she let out a blood curdling scream before picking up the nearest bludgeon and proceeding to cave many of the unexpecting men's head in.
There was one man left who begged for his life. The one who was so nice to her. Unfortunately the rage inside of her wouldn't let her stop. Guilt jolted through her mind, though the caravan tortured her this man never did anything particular to deserve this. She panicked, taking clothes, food, and weapons and running into the wild where she vowed to learn to control her rage, and never let her be controlled by it.
She lived in the forest, scavenging, hunting, killing highwaymen, anything to get by. She honed her rage and her skills many days and nights, making sure she would never do an act so regrettable of killing a friend. This went on for many years, before finallay the dreams started. Until now she knew no purpose other than to survive. She would find her new purpose.
Backpack (center back, 2lbs) 2gp Bedroll (below backpack, 5lbs) 1sp Bag of Holding Type I ( 15lbs, can hold 250lbs, 30 cu. ft.) 2500GP Portable Ram (Left Back, 20lbs, +2 to circusmstance strength checks to break open doors and allows a second person to help increasing my bonus by two.) 10gp
Waterskin- water (backpack, 4lbs) 1gp Trail Rations- 20 days (backpack, 20lbs) 1gp
Artemis looks over the Dulatotian Temple, examining it. "It's a bit small to be called a temple, isn't it?" he remarks to his friends both seen and unseen, "I mean, a Temple, with a capital 'T' really ought to span a whole city block, be worked to every detail and gilded with silver or gold."
He listens for feedback, apparently not from his tangible cohorts, "Yes of course, it ought to be made in marble. I could design such a thing with the right pay. Retire from adventuring and the like..." Artemis hums to himself, musing over various intricasies involved when renovating rather than constructing from the ground up.
Snapping out of it he turns to whoever is next to him. "You know, a lot of architecture goes into the larger tombstones and mausoleums. Quite a lucrative field with the right contacts. Quite lucrative indeed."
I guess there's little harm in getting going. Hopefully Chirp and Felix will join in soon enough - was just hoping to have all of the character sheets on the first page, but oh well. Anyway - welcome to the game gents.
The sun is shining but it is getting towards late afternoon. The cold of the season however is impossible to ignore and despite yourself, you are shivering. In the distance, storm clouds evidence that change is on the way.
Before you is the cemetery of Stolen Doves - a formidable wrought-iron gate marks the entrance and it is open during the day time. Within, you don't detect any movement that is untoward - an occasional squirrel searches for nuts among the graves, a few leaves rustling in the late fall breeze.
The stone wall that surrounds the cemetery ends at the Temple of Dulato nearby. It is a small stone building with a high steeple and bell. Although there is no one on the dirt road that you can see, the sounds of people at work are not so distant - the most clear of all is the blacksmith's hammer to the south and east.
A man emerges from the temple, white haired and dressed as a priest of Dulato. He has a set of keys on an iron ring in his hand and he is busy fiddling with them as he leaves the temple. Just as he turns to head towards the cemetery, he looks up and notices that the cemetery has visitors. He approaches you with open arms and a broad smile.
Why hello there. Good fortune to you all. Are you visiting someone in particular?
The COre COliseum just hit 1000 fights! Come join the fun and be a part of this milestone! Next pairings are set for 22 August 2012. Activate TODAY!
Blue Moon Aurora is looking for some fresh blood to populate their forums. Home of the Duet and West Pacific Supers!
