My vote is we start with ImportantNobody's scenario first so we can all get a feel for it, and then branch out from there

He already said in the OP he was running the first round, guy.

@Zobozun

He said he'd vote on his own idea. The future will be decided by vote.
I vote for his idea to start us off as well. Soon as this is decided I will set up a character.

To the inn.

The Inn it is.

I'm also for the inn.

Looks like I win! I WIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNN! Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Well, time to start working on the IC.

Then it's time to make my bizarre character.

Name: Russ Trelyat
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Personality: Rather curt and blunt, but not entirely devoid of good humor. Fairly superstitious, but also courageous and practical-minded enough that it's not a crippling concern (IE, he's willing to try and kill his superstitions, literally). Fond of a good drink, perhaps overly so, and loyal even to a fault at times. Is most definitely not queasy. Is a passionate admirer of firearms.

Appearance:

Russ is always dressed in his guardsman uniform, which consists of a hardy blue coat, tough leather boots, white breeches, white gloves and a pointed cloth hat. His coat isn’t quite as long as the one in the picture and he wears it open, which looks sloppier but affords more mobility, means less heat and looks cooler. Along with his well-trimmed beard, his uniform makes for an immediately recognizable figure in his homeland.

Abilities:
As a man and a soldier of Anviek, an inhospitable frozen tundra where life is harsh and often cruel, Russ is quite hardy. He's generally athletic, leaning more towards agility and dexterity rather than sheer strength, and has an extreme tolerance for harsh conditions, hunger, thirst, and other debilitating effects physical or mental. Russ has extremely good eyesight and has trained himself into a degree of ambidexterity as far as weapons handling goes.

As part of an elite corps of guardsmen specialized in the handling of muskets, Russ is a ridiculously good shot, which counts for a lot when you consider old firearms are really inaccurate. He is also familiar with handling a saber, daggers, a pike, heavier polearms such as halberds and hand to hand fighting, as well as riding on horseback and some general level of equipment maintenance.

Equipment:
-Nat: A custom smoothbore musket, covered in runes to allow its shots to work as well against the mystical as they do a common man. Nat's most remarkable feature is its breech-loading system, an innovation that allows a shooter to set up premade “cartridges” of paper with black powder and a shot in firing position rather than having to go through the annoying and cumbersome muzzle-loading process. This advance in technology allows it the fantastic firing rate of around 10 shots a minute in Russ' expertly trained hands, a marked improvement over the typical 2.

The musket is also bizarrely hardy thanks to a combination of top notch craftsmanship and possibly its runic enhancements. It can be used reliably essentially anywhere but underwater, and will continue to function properly even if dragged through a mire or used to club someone to death. It also has a bayonet mount to allow for some manner of close range combat. Russ typically carries it wrapped in cloth.

-Bayonet: An addon for Nat, a tough knife that can be mounted under the muzzle to turn it into a polearm of sorts or used on its own if necessary. It's similar to a rondel dagger, being stiff blade with a needle point, it’s very good for thrusting through gaps in armor, though it can still be used to cut. As a companion to Nat, it is also tremendously hardy and capable of harming things that a knife should not.

-Pistolsx8: Eight standard, muzzle-loaded, single shot pistols. It wasn't rare to see someone carry several considering reloading them takes so much time it's practically a death warrant in combat. He carries two openly on belt holsters outside of his jacket, while the two on the thighs, two under his armpits on shoulder holsters and two crossed on the small of his back are hidden by it.

-Pocket pistol x2: Essentially a pair of miniature flintlock pistols Russ hides in his sleeves. They lack a good deal of stopping power, but in case of an emergency they're better than nothing.

-Saber x1: A nondescript curved sword, carried around just in case and more a sign of position than a favored weapon for Russ.

-Jack of plates x1: A garment made up of plates of armor, often recycled from damaged breastplates and cuirasses, sewn between layers of felt and canvas in the form of a vest. Lighter and more comfortable than a solid piece of plate armor while still providing excellent protection, Russ wears his under his coat.

-Backpack x1: A reasonably compact soldier’s backpack which contains what typical assortments of the type such as some rope, flint and steel, rations, a waterskin, a flask etc. It also includes tools to keep his weapons and clothes in good working order and a kit to create more of the disposable cartridges he uses, meaning black powder, paper and loose shots. Russ carries three different types of ammunition: Solid lead balls, small lead pellets for spreading shots with less killing power and smaller lead balls for use with his pistols. He keeps a good deal of pre-made cartridges handily set up on a belt pouch for ease of access.

-Bankert: Not exactly a piece of equipment, yet oft treated as such. Once a dangerous creature that would lead others to their doom in the wilderness, he was captured, stripped from most of his devilish powers and made to repay the crown by being bound to one of its servants as a familiar. He is compelled to obey Russ, who can also kill him with a word as way of incentive, but hates him with a passion and does nothing unless directly ordered, which rather limits his usefulness.

He takes the form of an emaciated, rat-like humanoid with very thin, raggedy fur, an oversized head, long bony fingers, no tail and small, leathery wings. Though typically about 15 inches tall, he can shrink himself to fit inside a gun barrel and that is what he is most often used for, loading Russ’ guns while he is otherwise busy. He is deceptively strong, enough to handle Russ’ pistols himself with some difficulty, hard to kill and very fast, but their mutual dislike means he’s not often called upon.

Backstory:
Anviek is a sprawling land, vast and inhospitable. Biting cold, lack of sunlight and harsh soil make growing food difficult, and the size of the territory means no one central power has ever held real claim to unified power. Authorities tend to be local, or loose confederations at best, and while there is an imperial dynasty with some sway it constantly flirts with disaster. A strong claim to a good chunk of the most fertile lands, however, has allowed the current Empire to hold itself aloft and establish a strong military base with which to defend itself from threats both foreign and domestic.

Key to this military might are its famed guardsmen, some of the deadliest gunners known to the world, and Russ is one of them. However, the shaky standing of the Empire and its constant spending on reinforcing itself means its subjects often go underpaid and its guardsmen are no exception. While allowed to farm and ply other trades to supplement their income, the discontent of the guardsmen is palpable and whispers of rebellion abound, supported by smaller powers looking for a piece of the pie. At the very least, distinguished captains have begun maneuvering their way into politics and positions of power, making for an unstable situation.

A career soldier born to an equally dedicated father, from whom he inherited his position in the corps, Russ holds no lands and knows no other trade that isn't warfare. He is also politically daft and equally unwilling to betray his lord or engage his former comrades in arms in a massacre. Sensing the coming tide, and seeking a way to avoid going hungry, he took the permission to find alternate ways to supplement his income as an out and left his homeland to work as a mercenary.

Hmm... Dragon?

That certainly changes things.

*ponders*

Anyone still trying to get a character sheet out? I'm planning on starting the IC tomorrow so if you want to be ready for the opening posts, than snap to it!

@ImportantNobody
Well I did drop mine like 2 posts above, looks like you missed it.

@ImportantNobody
Well I did drop mine like 2 posts above, looks like you missed it.

He'll be fine. His cartridges will be expensive and super hard to find through most stories so should balance him out well enough.

I edited the first IC post so it's now ready.

Adventure Name - Summer Sport-fighting Ceremony
Length - Short
Tone - Lighthearted with some serious moments
Short Description - The High King MacMillen of the Navigator Isles hosts an annual tournament for prize fighters, open to all of Illendriel. The islands, though not too far from the mainland, had seen few tourists. However, Summer Sport-Fighting Ceremony had gained much popularity around the world especially since the time of its inception. It is the 29th annual Summer Sport-Fighting Ceremony, and life-time fans of the Ceremony speculate it to be far greater than the last 28 combined. Every year, the winner is rewarded the Championship Belt- something that is worn proudly by all winners of the Summer Sport-Fighting Ceremony. This year, the High King has offered the winner of the tournament: one single favor, within reason, which the High King can fulfill; on top of that, he/she will be awarded the title of Knight under the High King, an honor normally only reserved for born citizens of the Navigator Isles.
Character Stipulations - The tournament is focused around hand to hand fighters, though magic-users and those who wouldn't normally use melee can join, granted they can make their powers inconspicuous enough. Characters are expected to have some background with one another. Characters should also be sentient enough to sign their own name, though I don't see that as being a problem.

It looks like our little bishonen guest might not be making out of this madness in one piece at this rate...

It seems worse than that - he's dead, GM.

Star Trek aside, is the guy visibly alive or not?

Whenever Kodor takes action. I think I want to include a bard. Kodor the Barbarian and Crouching Enior, Drunken Elf, would make for songs of legend. And if anyone wants to collaborate in making a character with me, I do not mind.

Character and world building... that's what I do!

It seems worse than that - he's dead, GM.

Star Trek aside, is the guy visibly alive or not?

Maybe he has reraise cast on him so comes back to life and is like, "so anyways, as I was saying..."

Kodor is really strong and had him in a bad position, so this might be the best course of action or else he would never be able to beat someone on this guy's level if not here. Kind of sucks that the dragon was able to kill the white mage with him who was talented enough to use reraise.

So yeah, he'll be visibly dead for a bit but with a strange aura about him.

Whenever Kodor takes action. I think I want to include a bard. Kodor the Barbarian and Crouching Enior, Drunken Elf, would make for songs of legend. And if anyone wants to collaborate in making a character with me, I do not mind.

Character and world building... that's what I do!

I was thinking of making a thief girl. We could use a nimble, rapid striking character in our party. A currently airing anime does have a thief girl somewhat like the one I have planned, but whatever. I've wanted to use one for a while.

@Sodium is literally playing a spider. I think we might be covered in regards to fast thiefly characters.

Also, in regards to what happened with that poor soldier, I'd say that having your quest hook start off as a character who we have no information about beyond them being part of the same faction that can incite spontaneous lynch mobs when spotted was a poor choice.

It might be a better idea to just let the soldier lie (Raise Dead requires a relatively intact corpse, anyway) and bring in another character to more directly give the quest.

@Sodium is literally playing a spider. I think we might be covered in regards to fast thiefly characters.

Also, in regards to what happened with that poor soldier, I'd say that having your quest hook start off as a character who we have no information about beyond them being part of the same faction that can incite spontaneous lynch mobs when spotted was a poor choice.

It might be a better idea to just let the soldier lie (Raise Dead requires a relatively intact corpse, anyway) and bring in another character to more directly give the quest.

I was under the impression that the spider would be human sized to transform into a human shape. Large spider was the term given. I did forget the fact of her thievery.

The purpose of that plan was to give the option for some characters to think, "we shouldn't mob the guy we know nothing about" and choose to do something to help him, which would benefit the team with information they could find useful as a reward. And possibly heal him and use him for help. You don't need the exposition of another guy coming in. You will see visible damage on the dragon when he shows up that should still give ideas on it's weaknesses and wounds. You guys at the inn just won't have time to prepare before he's in the clearing. The quest of stopping it from killing everyone will be obvious enough.

He is relatively in tact. I don't know what the rules of d&d are for that, but some gashes here wouldn't interfere.