And we are good to go, Theydies and Gentlethems. A nice, rousing game of "What The Hell Just Happened?" for one and all. Hopefully one might begin to put a couple of pieces together, with more fuzzy puzzle bits to come! Yay! In any case, it's good to see us back into the swing of things after the absence, jumping immediately back into our seven day rotation with zero issues.
Also, a quick reminder that the NPCs, while not as amazingly developed as our playable characters, do have their own motivations and will act according to those motivations, accented by the occasional die roll when interacting with the PCs. Interactions, social or physical, will have results appropriate to the NPC and their own interests, be they a little vague.
Per usual, questions, comments, and concerns will be addressed in the OOC or in our Discord, and have a spiffy day.
Apologies for not getting back to you before now. I have no idea how your post got overlooked in the shuffle. We are presently taking applications and do not necessarily require any character type in particular. If you wish to apply via character creation, please follow the instructions in the original OOC post and feel free to ask questions in the meantime. I will note that new submissions are not guaranteed entry, and if they are, said characters will come in when it is thematically appropriate to do so.
@Sigil No worries!! righto heres my little character :D Any questions or needed changes feel free to give me a shout!
Just a note, I dont have Astral Self on dnd beyond so had to lob in way of the fist as a place holder, aand I think my math on the scores is correct?? But again if not I'll happily change it.
A somewhat battered looking dark blue dragon-born appears to be in his mid twenties, missing his right arm almost to the shoulder, and his right horn as well. Despite, or in spite of it, he holds himself tall. Calm blue eyes flick about himself almost constantly, betraying his otherwise slow movements and neutral smile.
Preferring to wear loose fitting wrap around of bright reds, oranges, and otherwise bright colours but will if needed change into more suitable clothing. However, he will always wear a large piece of cloth around his neck, at first glance it's just a scarf but when unfurled it's clearly a piece of a torn sail.
As expected, he carries what little he owns upon his back.
Blackberry is a very jovial and loud person who barely pays much thought to the words coming out of his mouth sometimes, but rarely does he mean anything insulting by his words and will quickly apologise if he does cross anyone. Despite his measured and slow movements, there is an anxious energy to him; he’s always wanting to be doing something, or looking at something, or even just moving about on the spot. Even his eyes seem incapable of staying still for long.
A terrible habit he’s formed since leaving his home is spending or giving away money nearly as quickly as he gets it, wanting to try out new things, foods, and drinks, or otherwise help out someone less fortunate than himself.
Sometimes though he goes very quiet and will stare off into the distance like he’s listening to something no one else can hear. It's mostly the sound of waves that sets this off.
Unfortunately as well he can be very blunt when it comes to someone else's loss of a loved one, or even a stranger dying as well. In his own words; “They're Dead, that’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.”
His early years were pretty standard to begin with; born to the Roving Claw Caravan, his days were spent travelling near all year round with his family, and any number of others who would come and go on the routes with the seasons. As far as Baronfjørd can remember, his early years were of peace and simple joys. That is until one day, they took a different route one bitter and frigid winter, he doesn't know why they changed route as he was too young to remember anything in great detail apart from the fear in the voices of grownups and the driving the horses very quickly through several towns.
Their destination was a little port town, and it was the first time Baronfjørd ever saw a ship. But something was very wrong that day; the grownups were rushing about packing everything they could carry in their bags, people were crying either quietly or loudly, and strange people led the horses away. Baronfjørd remembers crying in his Mothers arms as she took him up and onto the ship, and watching the land behind them grow smaller in the distance until it vanished from sight with the sun shining brightly above them.
But something went terribly wrong. Something attacked the boat. Something big tore its hull apart. Something gazed into Baronfjørdas debris pulled him down into the depths. Something lodged in his mind.
The next thing Baronfjørd remembers is waking up in a not uncomfortable bed, in a not uncomfortable room, where a human man was taking care of him. The man, he later came to know as Brother Rorvil (The Infirmarer) explained that he had been found among the remains of driftwood on the beach below the Monastery, with a death grip on a bit of sail, and had been in their care for several days. Sadly, no other survivors turned up. After the storm Blackberry had been the only one to wash up, but while he had survived his right arm unfortunately had taken most of the damage and despite their efforts it couldn’t be saved.
“It was very ‘touch and go’ for a while there lad; we thought we nearly lost you at times.” - Brother Rorvil
The child didn’t speak, he didn’t say a single word. And this would go on for a long time. Unable to get any information out of him, even his name remained a mystery to them, there wasn’t anything for the monks of Hiltoszin Monastray could do. In her Great Generosity the Abotess Conall Mirastina decided that the child may as well stay with them as he was already acting as Brother Rorvils shadow; never straying far from the man throughout the day and sometimes trying to help out, even if he would often get in the way of things.
And so the simple days went on to simple weeks and then months, and the Child settled into Monastery life with the other children. Of course there were some problems; any sighting of ships out on the sea would send the poor Child into hysterics and Rorvil noticed that on exceptionally quiet days and the sound of the ocean could carry in through open windows would leave the poor Child still as a statue, staring blindly ahead. Brother Rorvil did his best to care for the child and found the child was apparently happiest with something to do.
One day, the Child was asked to help the cooks prepare for a luxurious feast they were to hold for a holiday with the neighbouring village Calabelle. With a few other children, he helped carry ingredients from the store rooms or packed away jars, bottles, and rolls into bags to keep them fresh. Of course, they were all happily rewarded for their hard work at the end of the day being allowed to help themselves to several treats. When Brother Rorvil arrived and asked what treats the children had.
With flakes of pastry down his robe, the Child cried out, “Blackberry!”, and wiped across his mouth making the smear of fruit jam that much worse.
The years passed on, and the nickname Blackberry stuck just like the sticky jam. Much of his life before the Monastery is now forgotten as he happily continued his days with religious study and prayer, and soon enough onto battle training as well. While his lacking limb did pose a bit of a boundary, no one could say Blackberries fighting abilities were anything less than superb, and he proved himself more than capable on a few occasions when the village Calabelle, called upon the Monastery for aid.
Finally. Terribly. A horrible storm battered the coast. Curling in on himself, Blackberry stared blindly ahead of himself, both in his bed and somewhere so very far away. He could hear something, something his ears swore they couldn't hear but his mind was certain it did; a horrid voice that called but the unholy din of the wind against rafters drowned out whatever it was saying. Someone crashed through the door, casting bright light onto him, shouting a boat had been spotted going under out at sea.
The beach was wreathing with activity when Blackberry had arrived, people with lanterns squirting out to sea through the torrential downpour. A flash of lighting illuminated a shape in the distance, a ship's mast snapping under the sharp wist of a writhing mass. Someone shouted towards it as the lightning fade and luckily a visiting adventure had enough magic might to pull the ship, magical light pulling the boat out from the darkness, and what remained of it onto the beach.Bodies were pulled out of it and hurried up to the Monastery but despite best efforts they didn’t survive, either passing that night or in the following days.
All perished, but one; Blackberry was there when the young dwarf awoke from her painful slumber, he was there as she, barely older than he had been, asked where she was and where her family had gone. He was there when she went very quiet, and he was there when she started to cry.
History likes to repeat itself. The child followed Blackberry as he went about his duties, and Melody became like his own shadow. He saw first hand how, despite how she appeared fine, the experience had left its wounds on her. Melody shared his own hatred of water, and she too descended into hysterics as he had done at the sight of a sailing boat on the horizon. During storms he would have to either pull himself out his own paralyzing panic to comfort her, or otherwise arrange one of his Brothers to do so.
He hated it. He hated it. He hated it.He hated it so much the burning rage set his very soul alight with fury.
Something had to be done, someone had to destroy that creature that had caused so much agony, not just to himself but to Melody, and Gods knew how many countless others. So with the Abottess’ blessing, and some generously donated supplies, he set off to do just that.
To begin with he had trawled the Monastery itself for any information of the beast but all he found were the few stories or diary entries from years so long, long ago. The same happened when he sought out the neighboring villages, and the sailors and fisherman at ports all gave a similar answer.
"Sorry lad." The man shrugged as he gutted the fish in his hands. "The Beast don't show up much. Last time before that girl showed up was when you did. An'before then was during my grannies time."
A few months, and a few small adventures keeping local monsters in check, and Blackberry is still no closer to his goal than when he first started.There was some hope though, where there was talk of a Beast attacking boats further along the shore and following those rumors led him through other Ports and seaside towns with their own tales of the wretched Beast, appearing suddenly and seemingly at random across the years to terrorized sailors on stormy nights, only to disappear without a trace. But Blackberry wasn't just after information about the BEast,; he was also after people who could help defeat through either means or funds, and while several names cropped up along his travels there was one in particular that had caught his attention...
Sheriff Gregory Arbalest, a man of some renown for his own adventures and service to his country during a War sometime in the past, and for his efforts he had been rewarded his retirement in Avonshire. The man had apparently spent some time seafaring and fighting pirates and monsters of his own! (or at least, that's what the people at the bar had said...)
Without another lead to go on, Blackberry set back out onto the road heading towards Avonshire looking for Sheriff Gregory Arbalest in the hopes for aid in his quest.
None. As cute as animals are, they're a pain to take care of.
Likes: Jams of any and all kinds.
Dislikes: Big bodies of water like lakes, wide rivers, and the ocean in general.
Other: The Astral Arms he summons burn like fire without heat. He settles into a boxer's stance, using his left arm to defend against incoming attacks, whilst using his Astral arms to land his own.
Another front line fighter and possibly tank plus a bit of lightning to shock the enemies with!
Edited: 23/07/2022 hopefully corrected the numbers Edited: Added Mythweavers CS Edited: 01/08/2022 updated History slightly
@Arty Fox Your numbers look a little off. Before racial modifiers, the sum of your ability scores should be 78 (Barring the ratio change for increasing a second stat past 15). Dragonborn gets a couple of bumps, too.
As far as Astral Self monk goes, that one's in Tasha's if memory serves, so it's all good. But as you don't have access to Astral Self monk in D&DB, maybe Myth-Weavers would provide a better format. One man's humble suggestion. In any case, I do want a complete and accurate CS before I can consider the character for our tiny splash into what awfulness may soon occur. If you have a third online option with easy access, I am open to learn about it.
Yeah, the Astral self is in Tashas. It sounded pretty neat so thought I'd give it a go :)
I've edited my number, apologies I had a feeling they were a tad off. So prior to racial modifiers they're sitting at... Str: 9 Dex: 17 Con: 15 Int: 11 Wis: 15 Cha: 11 total: 78
then with the racial bonus the str +2 and ch +1 that bumps those up a tad.
I had gone for two stats above 15 before so I think that's where my math had gone a bit askew.
@Arty Fox A few things - Please change your character image height to 250 px. The color codes should match across the board with your character's name where appropriate. I thought your color might be too close to present or previous CSs, but on reflection it's probably alright. i don't mind the addition of the one CS to bolster the other one, but please remember that, when it comes time to make changes to your CS, you inform me, wait for an okay to do so, and handle it on both sheets.
I would also point out that you are not limited to the starting equipment from character generation. It is assumed that one has been out in the world a little bit and accomplished a couple of things. Just abide by the guidelines for said equipment in the initial OOC post. And remember, it's all optional. You don't have to add anything more if you don't want.
When those changes are completed, please tag me for a final look and we'll see where we are. Thanks again.
For everyone else approved in the RP - Let me know if you notice anything I might have missed.
Ello ello. Once again, here we are at our weekly update. But this time, both sections of the party have qualified for encounters. How these are handled will most assuredly affect how things proceed from here, so... Congratulations! You have hit the tipping point of the adventure. I may be using some not-from-book mechanics here, depending on how this is played in one or both of the encounters, so we have that to look forward to.
Anyway, give it a think and do what you feel is best. I'll be here, or in the Discord for questions, concerns, and offers of bribery that I won't actually accept but will allow you to think I'm considering purely to keep hope alive. Roll them dice!
@Sigil Updated the CS with changes to the text colour to one that I don't think any of the active characters are using and added a bit more to the history to tie things together :)
As for equipment I think I'll keep it to the starting equipment for now, keeps things simple and I wouldn't class the small adventures he's been on as anything that would give any cool prizes really.
Alright, the numbers on your CS look nice and crunchy, the changes I requested went through without a headache, and your race/class combo is in agreement with the rules set in the original OOC. Please feel free to move your CS to the CS tab, and welcome aboard. I will remind that we do have a posting requirement, also stated in the original OOC post. As soon as you jump in, you're officially in the cycle. I will send you the Discord link via PM here, and we can all discuss in greater detail the circumstances of your introduction to Avonshire, proper.
Thank you for your interest, and welcome to the campaign region of Avonshire.
And the game is afoot! For starters, I would like to officially welcome in Arty Fox, who is set to make their first post this cycle. To that point, if you would like for your Dragonborn to be on the street, witnessing the fun with Marita, Victoria, and and strange little boy, you may begin there. Conversely, if you wish to begin at the local tavern asking questions we had discussed in PMs, let me know and I will repost the interior of Neil & Bob's. It would not be appropriate to begin near to where Kat and Kosara are, unless you Monk is just now waking up inside of Madame Marcie's Honey Barn. Will PM details if requested.
Now then, it looks like we all have some hard questions to answer. If you have any OOC queries, as usual, please let me know in the Discord OOC, or send me a direct message and I will do my thing. And though it might go without saying, best of luck and may the Dice Gods smile upon us all.
Hello! Would be interested in joining if you've still got room, as a druid or a wizard most likely! Just got a few questions:
- does Tasha's rule on racial ASIs apply? (For example, could a halfling get a +2 to wisdom instead of dexterity)? - how far back should one read up on the IC? I'm very interested in the story so far, but 290 posts is quite a lot to read through.
Not in any sense that doing this will guarantee a spot, but, please feel free to make a CS for consideration here in the OOC. To your question: I was clear about race and class combinations in the original post. However, I was less clear with optional rules from the approved sourcebooks from which you may pick said races and classes. Seeing as the decisions made were done to fit with the level of complexity and and social factors, I don't have that big of a difficulty using this optional rule, with the caveat in mind that if I find it overbalancing I will instruct you to put it to PHB standard.
Or to put it differently, the modified point buy system I have set up works amazingly well for a little min/maxing and ensures a readily playable character every time without diving headfirst into powergaming. If it looks like this route is being taken off the bat, I will course correct.
There is another issue, but not about character creation. This is primarily an investigative adventure. The last person to join had a CS ready before the "big reveal" parts, and the party has figured out enough of the mystery to move onto the final act very soon. With that in mind, looking at the setting and the story thusfar, please construct a character which fits into this area and would have reason to help the PCs do PC stuff. I am open to respond to any questions in this regard.
Concerning how far back you should read, well... there are always bits of nuance that can be missed. So far as it relates to what has been transpiring in the investigation, I would advise going back to the first instance of the isometric map of the Avonshire Township, on page 7. Just before this gives an idea as to how the combat system works. Earlier for a better idea of the characters already in play and how they react to one another, and earlier still to get the reason why the characters are all here in the first place.
@Sigil so yeah as I mentioned earlier on disco, Im on a vacation and while I managed to get my laptop and net to work, Im getting some issues with my disco acc as in... I cannot enter disco for some reason. I could try reseting my password, but I did so recently and its alright on my PC and I don't want to mess with it atm. I could post though if I require rolls, would it be possible to ask for them here? Im getting home saturday night probably, so I will be back on disco then.
@rivaan Discord is funny about that sometimes. If you feel up to getting a post together this cycle, great. If not, remember that you did let me know in plenty of time and it isn't absolutely required. That said, if you need to make a roll during this time, DM me about it and I'll handle it on my end. Enjoy your vacation, McRiv.
@Vertigo Closer to the end than the beginning, more like. Think two thirds or three fifths there. Anyway, this is really one part of a potentially three part adventure, if the interest is still there after this wraps up. Please do think it over, and feel free to cobble together a sentient meatshield new adventurer using rules provided if you so choose. And of course, I appreciate your interest in our stabby, magical adventure.
So, here we are again; me posting an update, you reading it. Things are in mid-happen. One will notice that there isn't a lot of detail at the Thoroughfare section of the update. This is mostly because the situation hasn't changed much aside from fewer people being present. It's like a wave of people getting news and hiding themselves. Well, a lot of them, anyway. Otherwise, this looks like an opportunity for character interaction. Or whatever best fits character motive.
The duo across town seem to have their hands full, and have finally gotten into the Honey Barn, so congrats are in order. Do what you do.
And for everyone, as per usual let me know if you are performing a specific action, hit me up in the OOC of our Discord and I will make my DM'ly judgements, and if there are any questions just drop me a line.
@Sigil The timeline shifted a bit and we will be heading home tonight. Though this leaves me arriving late into the night after hours of travel, so I will still be posting tomorrow. ^_^ ty for the patience.
Update is posted. My apologies for the shorter description of things going on about the Thoroughfare, there isn't a whole lot of direct action or discussion to get into when the townsfolk are trying to get indoors and avoid people, and the general setting is already out there. But here we are, opening a line of possible inquiry with the lady who spoke up earlier. Let's see where the dice rolls take us. If I might pose a suggestion - act decisively. We are approaching the more active portion of this adventure, and a timetable of penned events is happening. The chance to affect these events comes with character involvement.
Per usual, questions, comments, concerns, etc. are best dropped in my DMs on our Discord, and get with me for calls on dice rolls, also in our Discord. And once again, I appreciate your presence in this D&D mystery story.
Congratulations on surviving this far, Theydies and Gentlethems. A note for the party; the map and description of Neil & Bob's is placed there based upon the discussion we had in our Discord's OOC-Lounge. Characters taking action otherwise will have to either deal with this or send me a private message with a good reason as to why. Of course, light conversation will have to take place before this IC, but that's why we worked it out in Discord. Plug in what you need to. Work it out among characters. Hell, do a collab or two if it feels like the right thing to do. Or just assume it's going off without a hitch offstage and do your thing.
Per usual, any comments, questions, etc. should be dropped in my lap via DM.
Aaaaaand we're back! Thank you for taking to the hiatus without issue. My more professional hurdles now out of the way, we are ready to get back into the swing of things. Hence, this update. Concerning this update, there are a couple of things to note, in case they aren't clear enough from the descriptions in the IC:
Within the tavern, as far as anyone can see, it's just the staff and the party. The customers have all left. Robert is behind the bar nursing his drink. Lea is out in the open unless she's fetching something for someone. Based upon context in the dialogue, one might assume that Daisy is in the kitchen doing what she does.
The rain doesn't seem like it wants to stop anytime soon, either. Unless your character wants to go out in a downpour, you've got some time in here. I might recommend getting to know your fellow adventurer in this time, or opening discussion with the staff here. Be advised that the current clack is still clacking, though the weather is probably postponing plans all around town.
As far as timers go, everyone is reset back to Day One. Formulate your plans, do your thing, have it set up within the coming week. Work out collabs if you need. Per usual, questions, concerns, and calls for rolls or rulings can be placed in our Discord OOC or by private message. Welcome back.
1x Laugh
