New Years Party 2010/2011

Alright everyone,

Brian has offered to host the New Years party this year. We're looking at a start time of 6pm. There are 3 checklists on the blog now, we're looking to make this a some-what-organized potluck. The untagged items have not been claimed as someone having bought them. We're looking to not make anyone pay out a whole lot, so if there's an unclaimed item you can bring, tag it and bring it. Don't see something you'll want? Add it and send out an email. This goes for all 3 lists.

We're looking at doing a bit of drink mixing, but as of this posting not all discussed combinations could be recalled. If anyone spots something missing, or has something they want to try add it. If your drink includes a Specific mixer, put it in the list item as well, as it may not already be on hand at Brian's place.

LAN setup is an option. Please answer the poll to the right. By default, I'm planning on bringing my setup for wired/wireless for the party. Not everyone has a machine for the party, and while there is possibility of extras coming into the mix, I would not count them as guaranteed. If the poll comes back as mostly No, then I'll leave my setup home and we'll work with the other games present.

Dinner is another matter. We can have it late, use snacks through the night to supplement, or replace it. Leave comments about dinner and what you would like to do for it on New Year's Eve.

That's all for now. Respond soon, there's less than a week left to prepare!

Diaspora

http://rapidshare.com/files/438421487/Diaspora_RPG__oef_.pdf

Here is the link to the book PDF of Diaspora.
I quickly skimmed the content of the book and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand it seems quite open and free flowing. It seems you can do pretty much anything with the system, build any sort of character or ship.

However, despite how stream line this shit is, it has its own rules and unnecessary tables. All the equipment and all the weird skills as well as their convoluted need to include squad or company or even ship based battle systems.

We can certainly use this system for our game, however I feel that we would all need to read and understand the rules well enough to strip away any useless information. So go ahead and download the file, read through it and lets figure out if we need to move to a different game or if we want to work with this.

Letters from the Edge

(found folded and placed on an armor stand, somewhere in New Arkhosia.)

Hi Mom.

When you find this, I'll already be gone. I've gone west, towards the dwarven holds, and I've hired on as a caravan guard for a small-time merchant hoping to make it big in the human territories. I've dropped out of the Paladien. Big Sister was the shoe-in for them anyway. By the time you find this, chances are

The Errukhal that left isn't the one writing this - it's hard to explain, and I don't know if I should. A lot is going to happen in between when I first ran away and when I'm sending this message back to you. I can't tell you what happens in between, and I can't even really hint at it much.

I know you're angrier at me now than you've ever been, and you have every right to be. Be angry at me for running away, for abandoning my responsibility. But please don't write me off yet. Like I said before, a lot is going to happen, and I'm going to be at the center of it, for better or worse.

I can't even really tell you why it's going to happen the way it does. I could say that I'm going to make you proud, but that's not why I'm doing it. I could even say that I'm serving Bahamut in my own way, and it might be true, but it's not why I'm doing it. For friends, for justice, for vengeance... lots of reasons, but none of them are really right. Bahamut knows I'm not doing it the right way, but I'm trying.

After all is said and done, I still don't really know exactly what drew me in to all this, and I suppose that's never really going to change. But rest assured, Mom - I'm onto something good. Be angry at me, but give me a chance, and you'll see.

Errukhal bin sul Shivana

Son of Argothia ben Shivana, Champion of Arkhosia

Grand master of the meteor hammer

Servant of Bahamut

Honored of Corellan

Founder of the War College

Ascendant of the Citadel

Champion of the Shard

Rook.

-----

(found inside the handy haversack of a veteran paladin, somewhere in the infinite planes.)

CALLING ALL ADVENTURERS AND THRILLSEEKERS OF THE MULTIVERSE

Are you a planar hero, saint, champion, avatar?

DON'T BOTHER*

Are you just trying to get by in a multiverse where everyone is trying to own a piece of your soul (or better yet, kill you)?

YOU'RE INVITED**

to the Citadel of Ascension, UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

and its GRAND RE-OPENING MEGAPARTY

FEATURING:

Catering by House Jorasco

Musical entertainment by whoever claims the stage***

Bottomless kegs from across the multiverse

Organized duels, contests, and free-for-alls in exotic and unique locations

First ever multiversal airship show

AND HUNDREDS OF RICH, ADRENALINE-FUELED VAGRANT ODD-JOBBERS LIKE YOURSELF

Directions on the back of this invite (to be given to your party arcanist to decipher)

DIRECT YOUR RSVPs in the form of Sending, messenger mephit, or hireling TO:

Messenger's House, Sivis extended service box 42

35 rimw Argent Av

Clerk's Ward, Sigil

OPEN TO MORTALS OF ALL SHAPES, SIZES AND SKILLS, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER****

COME AS YOU ARE***** - NO COVER CHARGE

BRING ALL YOUR FRIENDS - DON'T SPLIT YOUR PARTY

Starts 28 Bator, 8:00 AP Sigil standard time

ENDS WHEN IT ENDS.

JOIN THE MULTIVERSAL PARTY OF THE MILLENIUM

*really, you're invited, it's cool. just no preaching.

**no being a jerk. that's the only rule. break it and we kick you out in the middle of the astral sea. getting home is your complication, not ours.

***bards recommended but not required. band battles not just allowed, but expected.

****sorry, we accidentally intentionally burned the guest list. if you know someone who hasn't been invited, bring them along.

*****shapeshifters caught in the act will be forced to do impersonations for the amusement of the guests

Pieter, Diamond Soul

Pieter is a Diamond Soul monk.  He seeks to attain true mastery over his fighting techniques. Normally, once a monk achieves this they have little use for the mortal world, but Pieter was raised to protect the Wash, so he will probably become its guardian. Though Pieter has ceased to age, true immortality comes from the monks who come to study his techniques and unique philosophy, and the monasteries that pop up to convey his teachings over the generations.

Pieter's strong points include his determination to see something through, especially if the wise elders of the Wash monastery tell him it needs doing. He also has no fear of challenge, being almost stupidly brave, "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger, and nothing has killed me so far." And of course he's very good at taking on multiple enemies at once.

The downsides to these being: once he's set on doing something, it's hard to convince him to change the plan; he is not scared of things that really could kill him; and his martial style's weakness is single, tough foes. In addition, he has worked alone for most of his life, having outclassed his teachers, so he tends to think only of himself and his concerns, both in and out of combat. Another weakness is knowledge of the world outside the Wash, where he grew up living in isolation with his surrogate parents, the monks. He is somewhat naive and relies on his teachers for guidance and wisdom.

Pieter (Good) would be a god of discipline and protection of the natural world. Bodyguards, wardens, some elves, and some monks worship him, as well as those wishing to improve themselves despite their past. His teachings are thus: -Obey your teacher and master in all things, for they have a higher perspective from which to guide you. -Focus on making your current actions the right actions, regardless of risk. The past is unchangeable; the present is most important, for it is here that you can improve yourself.  -Safeguard your environment and the important people in it, for your environment is you, and through its cultivation you cultivate yourself.

Although he doesn't have a particular desire to become a deity, if given the option to ascend or become an exarch, he probably would. Otherwise he plans to return to the Wash, most likely to live forever as the Ukrakta and maintain it against incursion.

Xan

1: Xanaphia is a Demigod. She was offered a place in the new pantheon of the Shard or possibly somewhere alongside the other deities, and when her duties on the Shard are done, she will take that place.
2: Xanaphia can be very single minded in some things, and it can be a good thing, or a bad thing (Fighting Yeenoghu take 1 and take 2 respectively for example) She also feels that she has fulfilled her goal in life by avenging her family. The main thing keeping her around is the sense that she owes a lot to the other Crows. They have been with her literally to Hell and back, occasionally for things that they don't even have a stake in. Another of her flaws however is that she doesn't care much for morality, she will do what needs to be done, and how it gets done doesn't matter much to her(Killing those she interrogated about Altruis for example). She may be driven mostly by a good cause but she won't let anything get in her way.
3: She would most likely be a deity of vengeance, and battle. Her goals would be:
Oppose Yeenoghu and Lolth at every turn.
Punish those who wrong you or your own.
Don't let anything get in the way of your task.

side note: ive been thinking about xans back story and i think i want to edit a few details of it. ill bring it up at game. its not uber important but i just wanted to bring it up.

Rook, who is what he is.

Rook is an Eternal Seeker - he's forsaken a concrete destiny for an undefined ending to his story, and he hasn't known what he really wants to achieve until maybe a level ago. He's also forsaken the pursuit of grand power, in exchange for complete freedom to invoke whatever power he's found necessary to do his job as a Stormcrow. He's wielded martial, divine, primal, arcane, and even psionic force in his duty, and his final powers - one sorceror utility (Platinum Scales) and one epic destiny feature (Ceaseless Guardian's Irrepressible Defense) - will cement his goal of being the indestructible core of the Stormcrows.

That said, once the Stormcrows disband, that's the end of Rook's career as far as he can see. He's accomplished the beginnings of the war college in New Arkhosia, and ensured that the next generation of warriors will be there for the Shard when they're needed. Rook's ultimate destiny may be to either retire to a secluded location on the Shard, or get Cas to permanently alter his body and just take on a new identity. Or, depending on circumstances, he may fight his last battle as the Stormcrows do what needs to be done. He knows that despite his sins, Bahamut apparently holds him in high regard, and dying to protect the Shard might be Rook's way of repaying his god for his blessings.

Rook's got a lot of flaws. One big flaw is that he's too quick to compromise his own morals. He'll get brutal and ugly if a friend is threatened, and he'll easily capitulate to other party members if they decide to use cruel and unusual tactics to accomplish something. This is the primary reason he feels guilty towards Bahamut - he's supposed to be an exemplar, and strive for the whole 'justice and protection' thing, but that just doesn't happen with him. He's also failed a lot of people important to him - his parents, his sister, Prudence, Xan on more than one occasion. He's a bit insecure - he started out his adventuring career running away from responsibility and looking for fun and glory, and now he's trying to catch up on all that responsibility he didn't take in the first place.

His strengths... Despite all that taken into account, though, Rook is aware of it all, and he's trying to do better. At this point in his life, he feels that he can go to his grave... not with a clear conscience, but with the knowledge that he did his best with what he had, and his best was pretty goddamn good, all things considered. He also has developed the ability to use just about whatever resources he can find in order to do what he does better, exemplified by his breadth of powers across the range of classes. Most importantly, he knows what's important to him, and he sticks to it no matter what.

If Rook did make it to a pantheon (which he'd rather not - he wouldn't want to take worshippers away from Bahamut), he'd probably become a deity of self-improvement. Acknowledge your mistakes, and learn from them; perfection is impossible, but still a worthwhile goal to aim for; try everything, and at least one thing will work.

tl;dr: Rook's an indestructible force with mommy issues and no well-defined destiny. His ultimate end will depend on the events of the Stormcrows' final farewells.

Ascension Citadel

Hey there gang, I just wanted to say that I am very excited about running the level 30th adventure. In this final chapter of the story, the main protagonists will finally ascend and reach their highest and powerful states.

There will be no treasure parcels so you dont need to post a wish - list. However I will need a few things from your characters.

1. What is your epic destiny. Tell me about your characters destiny. What will he/she become, will he/she become immortal and so on. For example Hasha Sa Fett will become a Demi-god, trying to become a deity.
2. What are your character’s strong points and what are your character’s flaws. This is not a job interview, so dont give me you character flaws that will make him look good such as he is TOO hard working. For example, Hasha Sa Fett is clever and resourceful, but completely greedy and selfish.
3. If your character was to be listed as a deity in a players handbook, what would he/she be like. Also what would be the three selling or descriptions bullet points that would accompany that description? For example, Hasha Sa Fett would be a deity of mercenaries. His creed: Morality is relative and cheap, but cash and influence is forever. Look out for me and mine, and that dont include you unless I say it does. And always honor the Mandalorian Ways.

Please be descriptive and feel free to go at lengths, after all this maybe the last chance to flush out your characters before we move on. Also, if you have any more comments or things you wish to mention or deal with, please bring it up.

I suggest you make a new post with this information rather then leaving a comment.

Surprise, family visit

We're getting treated to a no-expenses-paid surprise visit from Lea's family this weekend - which, unfortunately, means that I'm gonna have to miss game this coming weekend. Let me know if you want me to send over Rook's char sheet for game, or something else... and I apologize for the short notice, but this is about all the notice we were given too.

Level 27

This'll be a chance to tie up loose ends, so lemme know what you want to deal with. Ideas so far include the deathworld jungle, the glass crucible dude, Rook's responsibilities at New Arkoshia...

There will also be some personal stuff to deal with for each of you. I have some things in mind, but let me know if there's anything you'd like to focus on for your character, either from the past or for the future.

Also: wishlists! Levels 28, 29, and 30. Or, if you missed out on some lower-level gear, I may be able to throw that in for you.

(Got lucky - internet connection has been sporadic at best. It's on now, so yay.)

I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it into game tomorrow - have had a mother of a migraine that started on Wednesday and hasn't let up since. If I'm doing better tomorrow, I'll call in - otherwise, assume me MIA and hiding in a dark place wishing for swift merciful death.

Fear's Year

Fear spends a couple months helping rebuild Sigil after the war. A lot of people were hurt and some sections of the city were damaged over the months of hostilities, particularly towards the end as violence escalated. Fear basically takes over Shameska's assets and uses them to compensate those affected. (This is not only the right thing to do, it's good PR.) The remainder of the year is spent furthering his business endeavors, here described:

Aside from property and other wealth, Shameska also had quite a bit of "human capital." Many of her people had to either be put down or run out of Sigil, but many agreed to either peacefully go their own way or work for Fear. Also, Fear had almost a small army of agents, hitmen, etc., which are no longer needed. What to do with all of these skilled individuals? Put them to work! Fear starts a security/guardsman/bodyguard business, hiring his employees out to clients in Sigil and beyond. (After all, crime is bad for business.)

The 'security' sector only makes up a small portion of Fear's business, however. His real strong suit is opening up new markets, coming up with new products, and generally creating opportunities. Let's take these one at a time:

Fear begins by taking volunteers from his security forces (see above) and leading them through a portal. The portal usually leads somewhere either known to be hostile or previously unexplored. If there are any natives potentially interested in doing business or some other reason to maintain access to the portal, Fear and his team clear the portal and the path to it of any hostile forces. This is often easier said than done, but the volunteer teams receive hazard pay for their service, in addition to the already generous benefits package offered to all of Fear's employees. Once the portal is secure, Fear opens the area for trading, tourism, industry, etc. Oftentimes Fear's own interests will take precedence here, e.g. selling products to the native population (see next section), but sometimes other interested businesses will utilize the portal and location as well. Obviously Fear takes a cut here for finding the place and securing it, generally by means of a tax on goods and travel through the portal. Now ideally, the portal will lead to an isolated world with a large friendly population (e.g. the Shard), but sometimes other opportunities present themselves...bringing me to the other major portion of Fear's business, R&D.

Research and development of new products and services is a key part of Fear's business strategy. As the Stormcrows have seen, Fear has a keen eye for marketable products. (See e.g. the black sending stones, the magnetic dust trap, and most famously the dragon meat.) Often when a portal fails to lead to a receptive market, it will yet serve up some useful resource to be exploited. In the case of mineral wealth or other such, Fear generally leaves it to industrialists (though still takes his usual cut). However, the real value comes from materials that inspire some product, or which possess some unique properties. Fear will have small quantities of these exported back to his various R&D people (both arcane and mundane). Fear invests heavily in academia as well as industrial research teams. Should a resource prove to be desirable, large-scale harvesting and manufacturing can begin, making new products available for distribution along the trade network.

Thus Fear spends the rest of his year. Actually he took the Lady at her word and stays out of Sigil for the most part, with Nowhere serving as his proxy. Most of his time is spent, not exploring directly from Sigil, but looking for further portals in those worlds, to extend the network. Between trips he occasionally stops by Wu-tai and the Shard and keeps in touch, though in the latter couple of months he has spent more time exploring solo and has not been heard from often.

Ah, and you may be wondering at the fate of the Fearful Dragon, that most popular Sigil restaurant, since the supply of dragon meat from the Shard dried up...it's still in business, and still serving the best dragon in town whenever there is dragon to be had. The rest of the time it specializes in unique and exotic foods from newly opened portals. You should see the gift shop.

tl;dr Fear rebuilt Sigil and explored portals for fun and profit

Also if you have an idea for how Fear could become more connected to your character and/or the Stormcrows, let's try to work it in.

Year 1, AR (Age of the Resurrection)

It did not take long for the people of the Shard to realize a new age was upon them. The preceding year of devastation and resurrection now gave way to vast changes across the Shard. Everyone felt it. The political powers simply declared it, the Age of the Resurrection, and all knew that this year would be the first.

Even had the Dragon Invasion and subsequent Resurrection never come to pass, changes now spread throughout the Shard altering its cosmology in such a way as to demand a new calendrical reckoning. The majestic, floating Isles of the Fey now drifted beyond the upper atmosphere, glowing more strongly, the choreography of their wayward motion now greatly and mysteriously changed in the heavens. Where the Shadowfell once could be relied on to regularly surge toward, and ebb away from, the surface lands, its presence now absented itself. Only the cold, grey rock and ash of its scars remained.

Where the lands once gave way to the vast and unfoathomable Astral Sea, nothing could be seen on the horizons save vast expanses of water, tasting faintly of limestone. Airships now set sail by the hundreds to find the bounds of this new frontier. Ritualists gathered scholars and waterfolk alike to go forth and plumb the depths for knowledge.

The mighty Titanspike, too, saw the world beneath its snow-capped knees changing before it, as great masses of cloud, rain, and snow churned up from the lands to cloak the top of the Shard in a shrouded majesty. All about the towering dominion, a clockwise swirl of white, grey, and black swept out and around a radius of several hundred miles. Wind and lightning scored the lethargic tempest, creating cloud patterns and white scripture, as if the Gods were crafting titanic runes in the skies.

Where lands were once green and lush, they became more fragrant, less feylike, and and altogether suffuse with the heartiest smells of the earth. Deserts grew hotter by feylight and colder by feydark. Across these vast places and others, where the lands lay relatively untroubled by hill and dale, the winds grew fiercer and heavier. Storms of sand and dust, once almost of intelligence and purpose in their passings, now wandered aimlessly, driven by a patterned chaos in the now more ponderous weather systems moving across the Shard.

Everywhere one went, the world felt more substantial. Where that substance was by its nature violent, the world felt more perilous. Where that substance was by its nature more serene, the world felt more grave. Where that substance was by its nature more magical, the world felt more certain. Farmers rejoiced, though they could not explain why. Those closest to the soil felt a rightness in their bones. Wayward fools and thrill-seekers also rejoiced, and the words they used to explain the feeling burning inside of them all boiled down to the same concepts of potential and frontier.

Where people once felt themselves penned in, as if some force had painted their forms into a great painting, they somehow felt that everything was new, that possibilities never even considered now stood knocking at the door, asking to be let in.

* * *

Society on the Shard - its institutions, nations, laws, mores, ethics, economies, and all other manner of governance - reacted differently to the Age of the Resurrection. Where individuals felt a newfound freedom of will, social structures felt the sand shifting beneath their foundations. Everywhere, leaders sought to rebuild what stability they could. Many lacked the desire or the imagination to rebuild for a new reality. Societies large and small began to collapse. Anarchy threatened to overthrow all that once held people together.

It was in this arena that the Stormcrows exerted the full weight of their legendary influence. Rook, returning to assume political authority in New Arkosha, set out during the first year to reorganize the military of the Dragonborn Empire, transforming the Old Guard into a multi-cultural Elite Guard, centered upon the construction grounds of a vast new military college near the capitol. The Forge, as it was christened, slowly began to take shape, a gold and white complex of stone sprouting from the dunes like a marbled oasis.

Xanaphia, determined to take back the Valley of Corruption, made her way back to Yesa's Light. Everywhere to the south of the old Elvish fortress, folk flocked to this enterprise. From the Holds, the Dwarves brought 4,000 soldiers and 2,000 engineers. From the Fasfarren, the Elves sent 2,000 skirmishers to swell the ranks of their kin. From the rivers of Family Highwater, the halflings sent 500 hunting scouts and 100 cooks. From High Turath, the Tieflings sent 300 talented casters, 2,000 cavalry, and 1,000 elite soldiers of various roles. In the Plains of Endless Amber, another 10,000 humans and dragonborn massed to do the dirty work of mountain fighting south and east of the plain.

The war that followed soon grew to become slow, dirty, and costly. Everywhere in the Valley, foes appeared unaccounted for in the calculus of the Elvish command. The gnolls now fought with a violence and cruelty that far surpassed their usual thirst for carnage. At times on the field of battle, a gnollish captain or a demonic lieutenant would become filled with wrath and manifest deadly powers as if possessed by Yeenoghu himself. Battle lines became pitched, and from the Valley of Blood came many reinforcements from unknown paths, wholly wicked and crafty creatures of the Shadowfell.

Casabon settled down to attend to the growth of the World Tree. During the first year, thousands of common folk descended on the Silvan Grove looking for sustenance and employment in the gardens. Though few could do beautifying work with their hands, Casabon turned none away. Like an exotic fungal growth, predominantly composed of the Resurrected, a rabble grew up about the tree, generally doing more to reduce the aesthetic than increase it. As these folk mingled with the Elves and Humans of Kellie and God's Union, new friendships were formed, and the druidic order found themselves wholly engrossed in nurturing the social conditions on the ground.

Evan Cristo took it upon himself to devote a great deal of his time and energy to restoring social order and looking out for the welfare of the Resurrected. His efforts, though fraught with frustration and difficulty, helped to hold together a New Presbetia that would otherwise have collapsed in anarchy. And many folk knew of the great Artificer and heard of his care for the people of the Shard. Though somewhat mysterious and often away on ventures unknown, Evan became a figurehead of respect to humankind on his homeworld.

To the other races, Cristo came to be understood as the most humane and socially conscious of the Stormcrows. Where Xanaphia was a figure of action, Rook a figure of aristocracy, Casabon a figure of divinity, and Fear a figure of enterprise, Evan was very much a figure of the Shard itself. Though seemingly preoccupied with the weight of worlds, his scattered efforts did not go unnoticed.

* * *

Thus ended the Old Era of the Shard. For a year, there was relative peace. Then, shortly after that first year, in the Cooling Season, the Stormcrows departed to return a favor to a strange planar traveler. Evan stayed on the Shard, busy with his tasks. And it was at this point that the Scar, which had been cold and peaceful, began to ooze forth a slow, viscous cloud of sickly grey from its unfathomable depths. Long studied by Evan Cristo, the Scar seemed to have awakened from its temprary slumber, as if it could sense that the great Artificer was now alone to stand against it...

Tell Us About Your Character (Hasha Sa Fett)

Hasha Sa Fett

Born into a clan of mercenary warriors from island called Mandalore in the Elemental chaos, Hasha Sa Fett traveled with his father Jangasha Sa Fett. While working for a Elemental Emperor, a small resistance has been building up to oppose the tyrannical rule of elemental lighting’s domination. A band of highly skilled psionic spell blades revolted against Imperial rule, and in a major strike, killed Jangasha Sa Fett.

Hasha Sa Fett has taken up his fathers mantle and became a bounty hunter, learning from the clan the mercenary trade. Traveling from world to world and plane to plane, working as a mercenary, finding hard targets and bringing them to the justice of the highest bidder.

Making friends and accountancies across the ‘verse, and building his name, Hasha Sa Fett has quickly risen to be one of the more well known bounty hunters, he began funding his own search for psionic spell blades and systematically killing them. This project became well known as project 66.

Arrogant, sarcastic, and often deserving of this high self opinion, Hasha Sa Fett makes use of technological marvel, and often learns tricks from his targets. Completely a moral, Hasha Sa Fett believes in the morality of money and connections. The only thing being more important then wealth or fame, Hasha Sa Fett believes in challange and sometimes will undergo a hunt specifically for the difficulty, even with a relative low pay out.

Fear Comic

Page 1 http://dreadnought9.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2rk3ad

Page 2 http://dreadnought9.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2rk3bq

Page 3 http://dreadnought9.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2rk3cr

Page 4 http://dreadnought9.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2rk3e2

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Game postponement for June 12

We had another veterinary emergency to deal with... this one looks like it's going to be less nasty (and less costly) to us, but I'm gonna have to keep an eye on our big cat for the weekend. My apologies for the short notice; I'll be able to start the level 25 adventure next week.

In Which Nowhere is Reassured

Nowhere.

"Don't talk to me like that, talk out loud."

Why?

"Her people do that now. It creeps me out."

"Well you have to admit it's convenient."

Nowhere stood in a darkened room, comfortable for tiefling eyes. Faint rays of gray dusklight filtered through shuttered windows, highlighting a map of the City of Doors resting on a desk. Various colored inks outlined territories and routes through the streets. In the darkness beyond, he could see the shape of his seated ally.

"Here's five more names. And the location of another portal. I've never even heard of this one before." Nowhere handed over a folded parchment. After a moment, red hands appeared over the desk, using a quill to draw a new circle on the map before retreating back into the gloom.

"Excellent work, Nowhere. Here's the money for your informants. Are you sure you're paying them enough to keep quiet? Maybe you should take some extra." Several platinum coins clacked onto the desk, shining with reflected gray light. "I want her closest people, this time. Her personal associates."

Nowhere paused, taking a moment to stare at the outline of his employer's face.

"Your reward is coming soon. We're almost ready."

"Are you going to kill her?"

The darkness was silent. Nowhere waited long seconds before asking again.

"Is that a yes?"

Still, the man in shadow made no indication.

"You have to let me do it."

"What do you mean? I thought you wanted to get out. How do you plan to do that if you're dead?"

"You need someone to help."

"I already have a team. She'll kill you, Nowhere."

"I have just as much right to revenge as you. Things have gotten worse since you left, and even more since you came back."

The man at the desk considered for a moment. "Alright, I'll see if there's something you can do."

Nowhere took the coins, cool in his hands, and walked out into the fading gray dusk.

Ability to DM / Level 25 wish list

Since votes have not yet been cast for a side game, I can confirm that I am ready and able to DM our level 25 adventure, if another game has not yet been agreed upon or prepared. If needs be, I can complete level 25, and we can start a side game before Brian's level 26/27 adventure.

On the 4E note, it's that time again - wish lists. If you have an item you'd like, post it up - ideally, you'll give me one item for levels 26 thru 29, and bold the one you want most out of the lot. You can also let me know what general piece of equipment you'd like, and I'll improvise.

Finals-related absence for Sat 5-15

Due to finals for my writing class, I'm gonna bow out of game on Saturday, due to a. needing to complete the final, and b. being too stressed out about it to be able to focus on anything else. Sorry for missing the climax of your game, Matt...

Game Proposal Form

Its good that we got some thoughts going about for our next game and everyone is excited to propose different game systems for us to play. I believe that we have one or two weeks left in Matt’s game and we need to figure out what is going to happened next.

People are posting both game systems and campaigns. Although sometimes those are the same, more often then not game systems do not actually represent campaigns. So here is a format that we could follow:

Campaign Name: This is like a book cover, should tell us something about the game you will run.

Campaign Description:Give us one or two paragraphs about the specific campaign you are proposing to run through a three - four week period.

Readymade Characters: Tell us about the main protagonists or even antagonists in your campaign that we will be playing. In one or two sentences describe the characters that will be provided. Or tell us about the rules that we need to know to make our own characters. With the creative use of the internet, if somebody wants to play a non ready made they can easily get this done through email.

Game System: Give us one or two paragraphs about the game system you would like to use for the previously mention campaign. Perhaps people will find that they want to play your campaign but have different game or rule set suggestions and so on.

Notes: Let us now if you want to run the proposed game in several blocks or if it will be one shot adventure. Let us know anything not mentioned above.

Have your proposals ready and uploaded in either comments or preferably as separate posts on the website by no later then monday 17th and the voting will go on until friday the 21st, giving the chosen proposal a week to prepare for the game.

Alternate game options discussion

Propose some systems you want to use or put in your vote.

Divine gifts.

In the last adventure, individual Player Characters decided to either aid Kas the bloody handed or Kais the chained god. In the end of the final conflict, Kais the chained god won and defeated Kas the bloody handed once and for all.

Those players that strongly fought or aided Kais the chained god receive his blessings as follows:

Chained God's Divine boon:

Level 26

Price: N/A

Divine Boon

You gain +2 bluff

Encounter: Move action. If you are slowed or immobilized and hit with an attack, you may transfer the slowed or immobilized effect to your first target. Only one creature can have a status effect transferred to this way.

Daily: As a minor action, if you are immobilized or slowed you end that effect and transfer it to any one creature within 10 squares.

Those Player Characters that supported Kas the bloody handed (despite the outcome of the fight, it only matters who you were supporting) You gain Kas the bloody handed' training.

Blood Hand

Level 26

Training

You gain +2 bluff skill

Encounter: Minor action, after you bloody or reduce an enemy to 0 or less hit points, you may spend a healing surge to gain one of the following: heal healing surge value hit points, gain +5 attack bonus on the next melee roll, or gain concealment.

Daily power: Minor action, after you bloody or reduce an enemy to 0 or less hit points, you may spend two healing surges and expand a daily power to gain one use of the enemies encounter or rechargeable power.

If a Player Character supported neither of the parties directly, that character is a true pinnacle of neutrality and indecision and does not gain either boon.

If a Player Character supported both of the parties, then that character is a true opportunity driven dog, and gains Kas The bloody handed's training, because he would be proud.

wish lists lvl 24

was online and i figured id put this up in advance. the level range is 25-28.

Wish Lists, level 23

Per request last night, here's the post to post what you'd like for items this level.

(I think I might have misheard before we left, Sergei - let us know if you wanted a standard wish list from us, or if you wanted to know which item slots we wanted to fill.)

Storm crow Floor plan Sketch

Here is the first draft of the floor plan for the ship

End of Time adventure summary and explanation

I know I didn't make it very clear in the game, but here's what was going on:

During the fight to save the Shard from utter destruction, the End of Time and the rest of his buddies had already started dismantling everything. The End of Strength started sapping the strongest, the End of Justice began killing the innocent and empowering the cruel and destructive, and the End of Time began traveling back through time and freezing the most important people who would keep the Shard  together.

Fortunately you were able to defeat each of these world-enders, thus undoing their work. But the End of Time was spared, and while he was banished, the work he had accomplished so far remained. Thus when you returned to the world, you found it altered, missing critical components.

Eventually you tracked down the frozen areas and destroyed them, resetting the timeline in the process. Caius had very little control over what had happened, but he eventually figured out how to preserve each of you (his 'implements') when time changed. The End of Time was weakening as he went backwards (due to the battle) so each frozen area affected a smaller area and less powerful being. At first he was able to freeze a paragon directly (Baiyan), then only a group of lowly creatures he knew would affect Xan, and beyond the time of Sorako's ascension only a single item, the divinely radiant artifact.

All of the above, the Stormcrows found out on their own or with a bit of explaining from Caius. The most of the rest of this probably wasn't figured out, but maybe some of it could be.

In regards to the last frozen item, it actually had the biggest effect on the world; because Sorako never encountered it, his religion either never got started or was much less influential...in fact he may never have become religious at all. This meant that all the thousands of people he converted, and that they converted and so on, never had that experience, and many of them may have fallen to lesser lives or been tempted by other religions or cults. Sorako also failed to provide some much needed redistribution of wealth to the poor and needy, particularly of Wuu Tai, leading to decline and further poor and desperate people looking for a way out.

As for the deal with "Tim," at some point after leaving the Stormcrows, he died and became a Larva Mage (basically the maggots and bugs on his corpse were enchanted by his magic and sheer will to live). As is typical of Larva Mages, he set out forming alliances with various factions, and came up with the idea to take as much power as possible. (He did retain some portion of his previous personality, hence the stereotypical evil genius plot, and the delicious irony of setting up his evil lair beneath a candy shop.) He had the idea of planting arcane bombs in people, Joker-style, to use as leverage against world leaders. Also, he collected whatever powerful items and artifacts he could find, for use against the inevitable band of evil-genius-slaying heroes.

In the original timeline, he didn't have much luck finding allies and victims, although he probably would have come to your attention at some point. With Baiyan out of the picture, the Goblin nation was more vulnerable, and he tried to take over with sheer force. Once you restored that, he instead found Freedom's Refuge a relatively isolated place to kidnap people from, among other cities. However, with Sorako out of the picture, that provided quite a nice environment for his plans to really take off. He was able to kidnap thousands in cities across the Shard. He allied with some Yuan-Ti and some humans, and some undead.  In his quest for artifacts, he also heard of a certain dark box from his allies in the Underdark, which he transported to his lair for further study.

He knew of the Stormcrows, obviously, and he figured you might eventually confront him. Thus the scrying and spying on you, and he tried to kill Councilman Strong before he could give you any information. He knew you were coming. He was watching the whole fight with the crazy nobles and their cult. He set up the fight in the cavern so he could see what you would do, particularly Sorako since he was an unknown factor (and radiant, at that...particularly scary for an undead guy). He had hoped to use his invisibility to see which portal you would choose to go through and then go the opposite way. All else having failed, he used his ace, the bombs which were the source of his influence over the world.

He didn't really know what the dark box did, so when Cas went for it he assumed you were just trying to destroy his stuff. The box contained the radiant artifact that had such a large influence on Sorako. (Some kind of divine sunrod or something? I dunno.) It had a similar divine effect on Cas, though of course, each person gets inspired in their own way...

Finally you returned to what seems to be the original timeline, having undone all of the End of Time's work. Now nobody knows all of the stuff that happened, except perhaps a few people who saw Fear disappear or those who were traveling in or out of the Shard's plane during a reset. As far as the Council and the rest of the world knows, the world was ending and somehow the Stormcrows fought off Caius or something. The Council rewards you as they did each time, not for resetting the timeline but for defeating Caius and saving the world.

As an aside, there was a lot of potential for abuse here, not only in asking stuff of the council, but also in the way the resetting worked. I half-expected you guys to realize you could commit grand theft kingdom and none of it would matter after the reset, except you'd be filthy rich. But each of your characters was remarkably selfless, even after figuring out what was possible. (Except for Fear... I had him take advantage to show you what you could get away with, but nobody went for it.) I particularly like how Sorako helped some youth escape the Underdark life and even lost quite a bit of money to the 'throwaway' timeline.

Dangling plot threads: The Maruts promised to tell you who wanted you dead. They may or may not remember the conversation, however. It's also possible the End of Time was able to change some small thing far in the past that didn't have such grand effects, but perhaps some small things are off. Caius may be able to prevent a total reset if such a thing gets fixed...or he may not. Tim still exists in the original timeline, he just wasn't able to do too much damage yet; he'll probably grow in power until he can achieve his goals and he might strike at the party preemptively if he sees a chance. Then there's Fear's meddling in Sigil...just what was he up to, and what was he planning to do before poofing back to the Shard?

Rewards: Some precious gems and other items off the tombstone golems and undead, a few old Goblin coins (collector's items!), some Stern Handler's Wraps (Epic Tier) from the Storm giant, a scroll of View Object plus the arcane components and crystal ball focus to cast it from the Maruts, a bunch of coin and art and low-level items from the gnoll shrine, Gauntlets of Magical Interchange from Councilman Strong, various jewelry from the insane nobles, a Greater Ring of Invisibility dropped by Tim, and a selection of items from the last Council ceremony.

All together that comes to: 450,000 gold, Scroll of View Object, Crystal Ball worth 5,000gp, Gauntlets of Magical Interchange (lvl 22), Greater Ring of Invisibility (lvl 23), Stern Handler's Wraps (lvl 24), and your choice of lvl 25 item.

I know I said lvl 24 and 23, but I was mistaken cause I forgot about the Wraps, and forgot the lvl 25 item. I also changed the parcels to be for a 5 character party instead of 6. This way it's like Fear wasn't there, but I'm giving him the same amount of gold each of you got (90k) just so he's where he should be for his level. (This is justified by him asking the council for it, or possibly stealing stuff in Sigil.)

Alternatively, we could do it like it was a 6 character party, which would mean splitting the 450k up 6 ways, but throwing in an extra lvl 23 item of your choice. So each person gets 75k instead and you get to choose a lvl 25 and lvl 23 item. (This could be justified by the council refusing to give Fear the 90k, or it counts toward the total) Let me know, I'm not sure how you guys want to do it. Also feel free to ask any other questions in case this wasn't long and convoluted enough for ya.

Wish Lists for David

Since David asked for wish lists for this coming adventure, here's the thread for 'em.  Remember - the level range for wish list goodness is currently 23, 24, 25, and 26.

Storm Crow (ship)

Installed in the Stormcrow: the Austere Dojo

For his reward in helping correct the instabilities in the Shard's timeline, Rook has requested that the cargo bay of the Stormcrow be set up with a particular collection of equipment known as the Austere Dojo.  It includes racks of practice weapons, animate sparring targets, and some very interesting training manuals from many old sources.  Once complete, Rook immediately puts it to use.

In game mechanic terms, 24 hours of retraining in the Austere Dojo allows for the replacement of a martial power as if you had just gained a level.  However, it can only be used once per level.  This will allow for Rook, Xan, and Fear to do power retraining at an accelerated rate - this includes at-wills, encounter powers, dailies, and utilities.

Nerf Alerts, March '10

March 2010 update

Once again, only the most relevant nerfs are noted... but we got hit pretty hard this time.  Funny how so much of the stuff we latch onto gets quickly errata'd.

Divine Miracle: Holy crap was it nerfed.  No longer allows infinite recharging of encounter powers - now you can only do it once per encounter.  Demigod and Chosen just got raeped.

Boots of Eagerness: Also raeped.  No longer a free action - now you need a minor action to activate it.

Solitaires: Are now a daily item power, not an encounter item power.  This mostly hits Xan and Rook, especially Rook who was looking forward to action-point spamming with the Violet Solitaire.

Potion of Clarity: Officially and utterly destroyed.  Uses a daily item power, and is only useful for encounter and daily powers that are of the potion's level or below.

To be honest, yeah, I was fully prepared to abuse the hell out of these potions for the next ten levels, and it's probably for the best that I don't get to now.

The Expertise Feats: These are now feat bonuses instead of untyped - and in exchange, a lot of other feats that would offer to-hit bonuses are now untyped.  Mostly this is just gonna be a little bit of paperwork to make sure that everything's being counted right.

Timeless Locket: Brutalized.  You can no longer use the granted standard action to make an attack.

Diamond Cincture: You now have to actually spend the healing surge to use the belt.  Not too bad, it's just that now we can't buy like fifty of the level 10 version and have free healing forever.

In conclusion - sux.

Changes and an indefinite hiatus.

I've been more distant than normal lately at the table, and think it's because many things are now changed in my life away from the group. I wouldn't know where to begin to explain, but suffice it to say I think this time the hiatus will be longer than the last one - an indefinite hiatus. You guys have been great to game with thus far, but I'm on a different road now and I think if I come back to something like this at all it will be years later.

Story-wise, Baiyin goes home to be prolific and improve the standing of his people. The goblins will play up their hold against the dragons for ages to come and hold it as inspiration for new devices, blues will enter the world, and the swamp-land will be reshaped in Baiyin's lifetime. (OOC, I'm handing creative license over to whoever in the group wants it, to reshape the goblinoid region of the map.)

You all have my number if you want a hand with something. (advice, sounding board, moving help, more?) Always glad to help my friends.

Take care everyone.

Hiatus from game

I need to take a break from the game; I don't know for how long, whether it's going to be a week or two or five.  We're dealing with a family emergency, and the gaming part of me is empty - I wouldn't be able to contribute to any games played.

Wish me a lot of luck, I'm probably going to need it for the next week or two.

(Brian, I know you invited us to the Ren Faire and the Feast, but at this point it's no longer an option for us.  Thanks for offering, though.)

Dungeon Tiles.

I am proposing that we, as a long term gaming group, buy dungeon tiles for our game. They are durable, reusable, colorful, and enhance the feeling of the game. These tiles make it easy to build colorful maps with ease, and because 4E is highly focused on combat, I believe that we will use them very often anyway.

We can either buy the dungeon ourselves at 12$ per set ourselves, or we can purchase color ink cartridges, and make them ourselves. I am making a sinister woods set right now as a prototype, and I am not sure how long the ink will last, but Ink cartridges are about 30$ from amazon and may or may not be enough for all the tile sets. The matte photo paper is 10$ for like 50 odd sheets and cardboard or heavy durable paper Im not sure about.

There are like 12 sets or so that we can buy over time at retail or ebay price, which go from 9-12$ each set, which Im guestimating will come to like 12$ per person.

or

Printing and making them will cost us about 6$ split 7 ways, not counting the durable paper such as crafts cardboard, and time. The advantage and disadvantage of printing them is the quantity. We will be rolling dice and gambling with the ratio of ink to printing power, but our tiles will not be double sided, and replicas can be easily made.

If we use a printing service at .69$, we arent really saving much either. At .69$ for 12 page set for 12 sets is roughly 100$ just for the paper.

As always, I dont proof read my shit, so the post is probably full of spelling errors.

Last Chance: Wish Lists

(Items start popping up this upcoming session.  I've got a wish list from Matt and David, but I'm missing stuff from everyone else.  Last call for specific items or just some specific _kind_ of item you want; if you don't post a reply here or email me your greatest desires, I'll figure out something that fits your character.)

Item levels available are: 21, 22, 23, and 24.  Please give me a suggestion for each level, since availability determines what you get.)

Renaissance de la Sole

Epic Destiny Class.

Prerequisite: 21st level character.

Beacon of Light Feature (Level 21): Your body ignites, radiating strong radiant light that illuminates the surroundings and grows exponentially to your power. You gain +2 Wisdom and you radiate light 20 squares out that pierces magical darkness. You can suppress and change the light and its form as a free action. The light glows as follows:

21-22: 20 squares

23-24: 30 squares

25-26: 45 squares

27-28: 70 squares

29+ : 100 squares

Radiant Nova (level 24): First time you die each day, your body and all of your possessions explode in a microscopic event horizon. All enemies that are affected or touched by your Beacon of Light take unpreventable 1 point of radiant damage and are blinded (save ends). All allies that are in the Beacon of light gain your healing surge value worth of hit points without having to spend a healing surge. You are then reborn in a column of brilliant light at the end of the encounter with maximum hit points and a refreshing outlook on life.

Archon of Radiant Light (level 30): You expand and your body loses mass, becoming a large super heated energy being. Change your creature type to immortal, gain 20 fire, necrotic, and radiant resistance. All attacks that you make deal radiant damage. You no longer have to eat, drink, or sleep (Although you still need to take extended rests, which constitute of relative inactivity) and you gain 360 degree sight (making it impossible to gain Combat Advantage by flanking) You also gain aura of Burning light:Enemy creatures that enter or start their turn within aura 5 take 15 points of unpreventable radiant damage, 10 enemies take unpreventable 10 points of radiant damage, 15 enemies take 5 points of unpreventable damage. (Remember that Aura of burning light only affects an enemy once and therefore can only take 15, 10, or 5 points of radiant damage.

Utility lvl 26 ??????

Item Wish/Idea List

It's time to request information from everyone again.  For the 20th-level adventure, there'll be six magic items given out.  As before, I prefer to skip over any items for my character, and make sure everyone else receives a magic item for the level.

If you have a wish list of items, please post it here or email me with it.  If you don't have a wish list, please still give me suggestions as to what sort of thing you'd like, or what fits for you.  The current spread of item levels is 21 through 24, with two items in the 21 and 22 slot.

If you don't give me a wish list or an idea of what to give you, I get to decide what you get.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, but don't complain to me when you get a bag of tricks filled with ten different kinds of monkey. :)