Spire's Shadow (OOC)

By the way, in case anybody's wondering why I've decided to name my deity's hammer after a cocktail, "Molot" means 'hammer' in Russian; and, since Tharmekhûl's also a deity of fire, whose holy symbol is a hammer wreathed in flames, well, it seems rather appropriate, don't you think? ^_^

Just posted over the GM's last post there in-game. Given the behavior of the portal as Baba stepped through, we all may be conversing about something other than phantom steeds. I've edited drastically.

Also, in 2e, the Guide to the Outlands said that the mode of travel doesn't matter on the Outlands: horse, flying carpet, or runner training... you get there when you get there. That's the way of things in the Land. Instead, what matters is how many points of interest you pass on your journey: the shortest trip through the Outlands is the most featureless one. Is that not the case anymore?

Welcome, Dunamin!

Zhegre's backstory puts him on the Inner Planes for a while; he went traveling for a combination of reasons including personal broadening, a lack of pressing need for another cleric of his particular god at home, and the possibility of finding a good site to for settlement from his homeland. At any rate, he spent several years on the Plane of Earth, getting in touch with the dwarven communities there, so he might be familiar with shad. Indeed, if you like, perhaps he and Polp know each other! It would certainly make it easy to join the group when we crossed paths.

Nah, I had no great details in mind. Just let me know what you've got before we insert it into game, to doublecheck.

Zhegre's from a Prime world that the planes call Backwater, a small dwarven nation called Rodina. (The dwarves have many, many names for the planet itself...) Their Dwarvish is vaguely Russian-sounding, and they're a pretty religious bunch that follow minor dwarven god of forge, fire and war, with a philosophy of humbleness and putting the group (clan, nation, dwarvish race, etc.) before the individual. (At least theoretically; there are always less-pious dwarves around). This leads to a very communal way of life that fits well with the philosophy of the Ring-Givers. Zhegre's a cleric of the god in question, Tharmekhûl.

He'd have been spending his time on Earth communing with the plane, earning his keep in the dwarven communities doing some crafting and assisting others with same. He was probably intending to spend some time on Fire, as that's Tharmekhûl's portfolio, but doesn't seem to have ever gotten there for very long. (It's expensive to survive there for long!)

I've read the shad racial description, but I have no idea why people would consider shad vermin; he'd probably view the new race as a great opportunity for proselytizing. ;^)

But you’re the boss, although it does give me new concerns about his build. As mentioned before, I wanted Polp to be a bit of a coward, so I figure his speed would make him eventually become a nice spring attacker, bursting forward to poke the big nasties, and then sprinting away to safety (possibly screaming like a little girl). But I think it might be wiser to go for ranged weapons now, perhaps a crossbow wielding nuisance? Hmm, I think I’ll just spend the Munch point(s?), to get those concerns out of the way.

Sorry about the delay on character creation, by the way.

Stats done and PMed to you, Duckluck.

All done now, and waiting for DM approval (or wrath, in case I did bad )

Hi guys, I'm going to be out of town for a few days (4-5) as of tonight and I don't think there'll be any internet where I'm headed.

Just assume Kadar acts agreeably and responds based on whatever feels right at the time.

I should have enough time to post again if there's an update before the end of today.

And wasn't there some mention of XP when we stopped for the night? No rush until we have enough to level up, of course -- I've got no item-crafting feats or XP spells to worry about spending it on yet. :^)

This is just a head's-up... I'm about to be going into mandatory overtime until May 25.

I will hopefully be able to continue posting 3-4 times / week, but if I'm holding things up, just take control of P&~P to get things moving along.

P&~P will basically be trying, as usual, to research the nature of Law & Chaos on the planes and will resort to trickery and illusions whenever anything might be solved by them.

Might I humbly make a suggestion, Duckluck?
I haven’t played-by-post for long, but it seems that the game slows down a great deal when asking for reactive checks (checks that require no active action on the player’s part, as given in the Skills descriptions).

How about having the DM roll all these checks at the same time in the post where it comes up?
This could be used for Spot, Listen, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, etc…

Applying this for Spellcraft could be very valuable in combat: Normal pbp combat seems to be 1 post for each participant every round to determine actions on their turn, but what if a combatant is able to take a free action in reaction to an event, even though it’s not his/her turn?
For instance, if the DM has a NPC cast a spell on a PC, and the PC has a Quickened spell on hand to counter it, it might be faster if the DM rolls the Spellcraft check to identify the spell in question simultaneously.

Why, this could even be taken as far as rolling Reflex saves for a fireball in the same post that it is cast, or initiative at the beginning of combat. The general idea is, that since pbp games go much slower than conventional gaming, let the DM roll “automatically activated” rolls.

Following the discussion on p18 of the DMG, it might also be a good idea to roll some checks without the players’ knowledge, so they can’t tell if something is up, in case they rolled low and nothing seems to happen.

Just trying to provide ideas for keeping the game moving at a faster pace.

Regards,
Dunamin

I'm willing to give it a go, Duckluck, if that's alright. Unless someone else out there without a game wants to join, then I'll bow out for their sake.

LOL! T'would be glad to.

That brings up a good topic: What do you need in the party and what are the "alignments" of the party? (I read your "everyone has a touch of all" quip, Duckluck, but I'm still curious)

Welcome to the gang! You'll find Polp to be worlds apart to Du'minh...

Greetings, comrades!

I'm off to a conference until Saturday at the earliest, more likely late Sunday before I can post again. Y'all be good, or at least non-evil. :^)

1.) If his Knowledge check lets him know anything it seems the rest of the party is missing, he'll quickly warn the others.

2.) Zhegre will do his part in the fight. Figure he goes at it from the front line with hammer and sickle, singing some low, threatening battle-song in Rodinan dwarvish.

3.) Afterwards, anyone being injured gets an offer of a cure spell.

4.) If Benyamin's character shows up, figure Zhegre will evaluate him carefully and accept him if he appears to be a decent sort with aligned goals.

5.) Above all, primary goal: press on to Bedlam and the portal to Sigil, there to contact the Fraternity of Order about their target.

Ok...dunno, but I guess the animalistic image is stuck in my mind. I looked in the Savage Species book for character inspiration and came across the Anthropomorphic template. So, how about a anthro-leopard ranger?

Stat basics for template:

Type: Monstrous Humanoid
HD: 2d8 (but I'm willing to scrap these)
Abilities: +6str, +8dex, +4con, +4 wis
Nat armor: +1
Speed: 30ft
SA: Same as leopard (improved grab, pounce, rake)
SQ: darkvision(60ft), low-light vision, scent
Feats: Weapon Finesse(b)
Skills: [as base creature] Leopards have a +8 racial bonus on Jump checks and a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. Leopards have a +8 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks. A leopard can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened. *In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus improves to +8.
Fav. class ranger
LA: +2

His training will be with the longbow, though his prefers to close with natural weapons after firing off a few rounds.

Plane of choice: Beastlands.

Backstory: Figure easiest explanation is he's a throwback from a druid grove's playing with Awaken spells. Primal and canny, this feline ranger lopes through the Outlands, hunting down foolish druids and other nuisances to the natural order.

Can have him statted within the hour (or so)