Here is the current character status:
Mostly complete (online character sheet created and started buying skills):
- Eric S - Barnas (human male cleric)
- Joe S - Shaarilla (myyrrhn female air mage)
- Keith - Morty Crystaltouched (gnome male mechanician/illusionist)
- Steve L - Pellanistra Xarann (drow female martial artist)
Still in concept:
- Dale F - Drow fighter/mage (thinking about Dark Magics)
- Keanon C - Thief or scout
- Marty H - Either a giff fighter or a cleric
- Steve G - Fighter/mage
GM: Marty, I know you had a question about religions. You can assume that all of the Deities and Demigods pantheons exist in this campaign, including Newhon and Melnibonean. I may actually have more direct intervention of gods in this campaign than I have had in past campaigns.
GM: Also, as usual, I will be creating a character as well but will wait until everyone else has decided on concepts before coming up with it. I know that Steve G is considering a fighter-mage. I don't believe I have heard much else in the way of concepts.
FM: I would suggest at least 3 mages and at least one of them has Dark Magics as their college.
DALE: I am thinking Drow F/MU and am at least contemplating Dark Magic but not sure yet...
ERIC: Dark Magic is a Player option?!? Dibs! (Unless someone else really wants it)
MARTY: Yeah, Dark Magics is a fun college and my character in the 5 wands game was a star mage (good alignment of Dark Magics)/ thief.
MARTY: I haven't narrowed down my character but I will likely not be playing a mage. I'm considering going Giff with a strength focus as a fighter primarily with an anti-magic theme. I'm also considering a cleric type so I'd be interested to hear more about the prominent or recommended religions for the campaign.
GM: From your perspective aboard Spelljammer, you would have some exposure to most of the pantheons. You would likely see the heads of the pantheons as being the most powerful so thinks gods like Ra, Zeus and Odin
JOE: Can myyrrhn fly in the phlogiston? I’m considering a myyrrhn pilot who can fly with or without a ship. Though due to human endurance and below freezing temperatures, flying away from a ship would be limited. But I’ll need help to make a pilot.
GM: Yes they can fly in the phlogistan though of course, they can't make "jumps". If you want to be a pilot, which requires Spell Energy, then you will need to be a mage.
ERIC: I am going to have to walk back on my claim. Your wrote Dark... I read Black. That is why I was surprised... Because Back is not recommended as a PC class. I thought maybe you were interested in doing a experiment or something so I was willing to try.
ERIC: Anyways... Next concept would be some kind of Diviner. I do not see a magic college for that so maybe a cleric of some Knowledge God?
GM: You could consider Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge.
KEITH: As for diviner, Eric, one possibility would be a Clairvoyant psionicist if you didn't want a Divine caster.
KEITH: I don't think I've done a rogue type much in your rules systems, Steve, not since Donjon, so I am thinking that direction. Whether that means a dwarven mechanician or a halfling rogue or an elven one, I don't know. I'm told dwarves get bonuses to being a mechanician in spelljammer but haven't seen anything on that subject. Would their mechanical aptitudes have extra usefulness in the environment of a spelljammer or would they be unrelated? I would probably like to use ranged weapons, possibly including higher tech (or magi-tech) pistols? Given we want extra mages, Eric doesn't want the Dark mage, and Dark mage works really well as a secondary class for rogues, I'm tempted to do that, but I wouldn't want to step on Aiya's toes.
GM: I don't currently have dwarves, halflings or elves as common spelljamming races but they certainly exist on the larger planets so you could play one if you so desired. Otherwise you could consider a gnome. I like the idea of mage-tech type pistols but don't have it fully developed yet. I've created the concept of a Spell Cannon so it makes sense that there would be handheld mage tech weapons as well.
MARTY: Feel free to step on Aiya's toes. :) If I was rebuilding her with a rogue focus, I wouldn't have had so many offensive spells as it seemed she was 'Mrs Starfire'.
JOE: Which edge is most related to pilot versus mages in general?
GM: I could make a case for DEX, CON or MA.
STEVEL : Based on the other concepts that I have seen, I'm thinking I might go with a drow martial artist. Specifically a small, female drow martial artist who is lawful good and fairly religious, though I have yet to determine which religion. Probably not a drow religion as there is only one good drow deity and she is chaotic rather than lawful.
MARTY: I'd love to read a bit more about Giff such as physical description, demeanor, and culture. Are there any particular class affinity or areas of specialty?
GM: Here are a couple of links you can visit to read more about them:
http://www.spelljammer.org/monsters/conversions/Giff.html
http://spelljammer.wikia.com/wiki/Giff
JOE: Any info for Myyrrhn? I tried searching, but all I found was one nice picture and some eric’s world references. Nothing D&D ro spelljammer related.
GM: Yeah the internet seems a bit thin on them. If you want to get a better feel for them beyond the description in the race document, you'd probably need to pick up The Weird of the White Wolf and start reading at Book 2, While the Gods Laughed (page 71 in my paperback copy). Here is the first paragraph:
One night, as Elric sat moodily drinking alone in a tavern, a wingless woman of Myyrrhn came gliding out of the storm and rested her lithe body against him. Her face was thin and frail-boned, almost as white as Elric's own albino skin, and she wore flimsy pale-green robes which contrasted well with her dark red hair.
JOE: I guess that means I can play them Myyrrhn I want (I.E. basically human with wings)
Here’s the picture I found: https://daemonideus.deviantart.com/art/Myyrrhn-583489658
JOE: So I’ll just say my character looks like that :-) I’ll also say that that think she’s holding is a magic wand...
ERIC: I do not seem to be able to find the list of Racial Maxes can someone point them out to me? Thanks
GM: They are on the website. Look on the home page under Races. (http://www.championsoftheempire.com/A55A94/Flare.nsf/Races?OpenView)
ERIC: My concept has finally gelled. He is going to be a Divining Cleric of Thoth. If there was a Bard or Face class he would multi-class into that, but there is not so he is going simply be highly social cleric.
JOE: Now I just need to figure out which school of magic to specialize in. Any advice from those who’ve played mages? The one thing I wanted was a protection from cold or protection from temperature spell. Otherwise just something that could be useful to the group.
JOE: Last night I saw that could be green or Lay healer or 1 other.
GM: You could also think about Air Magics.
JOE: I was also thinking that Air Magics would be especially appropriate. It looks like Endure Cold is available as a talent, though it’s less effective (4° vs. 5°) and more expensive than a spell, but it’s always on which would be good.
JOE: How much Endure Cold would it take to survive the 20° of the phlogiston? I want her to be able to fly between ships if they’re close enough. I was thinking for early pilot training some ships allowed her to take the ship out (move away from Spelljammer), then fly back to the Spelljammer on her own power.
JOE: My estimates of comfortable temperature are different than most, maybe I have several levels of Endure Cold :-) I’m comfortable at 55 and wouldn’t wear a jacket at 45. On the other hand, I can’t take heat, anything above 75 and I’m overheating.
GM: There is a rule document on this very subject. Comfort range is determined by CON and modified by Endure Cold. It's not fully developed but will give you an idea.
JOE: Thinking about having wings and how that could be a problem. Can Myyrrhn wear backpacks? Or do the wings get in the way? Same for a bow over the shoulder and a quiver of arrows? A fanny bag should be OK, for carrying a few things. But she’s going to have to travel light (or else she can’t fly).
GM: Myyrrhn can't really wear backpacks effectively or sling bows. They can obviously carry bows but if you plan to be a mage, you could just plan on using spells as your ranged weapons.
JOE: That’s fine, but wouldn't’ starting wizards soon run out of spell points? Especially since most attacks are specialty spells that take 2 spell points?
GM: Yes, that is a very common problem for low level mages.
JOE: What are the common means for beginning wizards to work around that problem?
MARTY: They have a mundane way of fighting. Darius fought with a staff in the beginning. Aiya was a thief/mage so she always had good skill with dagger. Both had situations where they would blow through their spell points quickly so it was all about pacing. When you're lower level, you just have to use your spells at the best times and fall back on mundane ways of supporting the group. For your character, I'd suggest both a melee and ranged weapon. I don't think she has to suck at melee but she won't be a main line fighter either. I wonder if you can find a way to attach a quiver to your belt and thus still be a bow specialist? You could fight with javelins too which seems pretty cool for a winged human female.
JOE: With a strength of 10, she’s going to be terrible at melee fighting. She does have a good dex, so a dex based ranged weapon would work, if I can find one she can ccarry. I thought of a light crossbow hanging from her belt, but that would be awkward, and besides, she’s not strong enough to cock it. Javelins have the same problem as bows, she can’t carry things on her back.
GM: For all mages, think about whether you want to be an Option One Mage (buy each spell up individually) or Option Two Mage (buy up spells as a group). Since I added the Option Two Mage, almost every mage has chosen option two for their primary mage class, but stayed with option one for general spells.
JOE: Still deciding on that one, since not really interested in most of the spells of any collage I’ve looked at. Also seems like very different number of spells per group.
GM: The advantage that I found was in the times that you really needed a rarely used spell. An Option Two mage can breathe easier knowing that they have the spell at a decent rank (same rank as their other spells). For combat, it also allows them to diversify their attacks. Having a rank 22 Starfire is great until you come across a demon who is immune to fire. Having a second or third magical attack option helps. You also get a fairly significant cost break with option two as the multiple is significantly less than the sum total of each spell.
MARTY: I don't think I'll play a Giff character after all. Probably going to focus on the fighter direction. I do have a few questions to help me finalize my concept.
MARTY: Who is envisioning that they would be the charismatic interactive type? That would cover skills like conversation, barter, etc? Eric, it sounds like Barnas will cover that.
MARTY: Who is going to cover the healer role?
ERIC: I do not think that the Healer or the charismatic type should rest in only in one character. Barnas will be a healing specialist cleric with the standard spells. And he will have good charisma and bartering skills... But it is not wise that he is the only one with skills in those areas
MARTY: Agreed. Also, you might not view your character as being primary on either. Anyone else see their concept covering those areas?
DALE: My Drow F/MU won't be missing any CHA points like he will STR, CON and LUCK so I can probably cover the Charisma.
DALE: Healing - not so much...
KEANON: I was kind of thinking that mechanician and time mage would go together good. Was thinking about a gnome scout / illusionist would be pretty cool. But still thinking about it.
GM: Keith has already created a gnome illusionist/mechanician. I like the idea of a scout as the group does not yet have one buy maybe consider a different college of magic since the group already has an illusionist. Fire Magics and Phase Magics both come to mind. Or maybe Dark Magics if Dale decides on a different concept.
MARTY: At this point, I'm thinking I'll play a human character. I'm thinking either a single class fighter with some mental and perception talents or a fighter/cleric with a combat/protection sphere focus.
MARTY: I didn't see any additional answers to my question on if anyone else was covering healing or charisma-centric skills. If I go the cleric route then I'll have the healing piece somewhat covered. I am not currently thinking of having either cover charisma type stuff, though I was considering the single-class fighter character to be a shrewd judge of character.
GM: I would say that Barnas currently has the healing piece covered as a cleric and healing specialist. He also has decent charisma based skills. In the Five Wands game we saw the benefit of having someone good at first aid so you could consider a fighter type with good first aid/anatomy skill. You could even consider a fighter/lay healer or a fighter/SOTM.
MARTY: Also, how do we know what stats have been bought down and what edges have been taken? Is STR or CON still available as an edge? Also, does the edge have effects past the +5 in character creation? Does it mean that you'll have future improvements around this stat?
GM: Don't worry about who bought what down or what edges have been taken. Just choose what you want. I backed off from the plan to disallow multiple people from taking the same edge or buying down the same stat. I haven't yet decided about future "edge improvements".
MARTY: For buying down stats, I'm not sure if I'll buy down any stats all that much but I did have the idea that 2-3 stats would be below 15 but the current chargen system doesn't allow that, such as a 14 and 2 13s. I can live with only one stat under 15 but I didn't see my concept as being so well-rounded necessarily.
GM: Go ahead and design as you would like even if it means buying down more than one. I mainly want to see well balanced characters.
KC: I looked through Deities and Demi Gods at the Melnibonian and Nehwon Mythos and decided to go with the Demigod Aarth for a religion. Aarth is Neutral and his Priesthood goes throughout there cities and towns collecting information on the inhabitants and Citizens there. I was looking At KC working around the City shadowing people and working as a scout for someone, now it looks like for the Priesthood of Aarth. So yes I took Shadowing in Place of Woodland Movement as a scout. It seemed like a very good replacement for the skill in a city\urban area.
MORTY: Morty always got along better with machines than people. People were mean. Small, even for a gnome, easily bruised and shy, he got picked on by most, especially when they were threatened by his intellect and knowledge. He took to his gnome training as an illusionist well enough, happy to be able to divert the attention of his tormentors, but was unremarkable beyond that. His true talent was for machines, he grew up picking amongst the mechanical flotsam and jetsam aboard Spelljammer, recovering what parts and useful gewgaws he could. His most treasured find was a mage tech pistol that was damaged but he managed to repair it with the help of his friend and mechanician mentor Jank. After finishing his journeyman training with Jank, he went to work maintaining Spelljammer, going where he was told and assisting those who had been at it for years, learning what he could from them.
SHAARILLA: What I had in mind for a background for Shaarilla is that she loves flying, and often flies around Starjammer, between buildings, over buildings, etc. She spends so much time outside that she’s gotten used to the cold (and has a high metabolism). She’s also been interested in the other Starjammer ships, and since she was young, would hang out around the docks. She’s especially fond of the pilots and astrogators who fly to other worlds. One day one of the pilots offered to let her try taking out his ship (move away from Starjammer), then fly back on her own power. She didn’t move the ship well, but she didn’t crash into anything either. So the next time he docked he let her try again. Some of the other pilots also let the eager kid cut her teeth on this simple piloting maneuver. She’s gotten a bit better with practice, but is still a long way from being a professional pilot. She’s also learned the basics of astrogation, but hasn’t ever tried making a course.
SHAARILLA: She’s a 2nd level Air mage, but her job is simply to go around charging various magic devices around the Starjammer. This job has been good for training her Spell Energy, which is one of her higher level skills (2nd highest after Magic Language - Elementia). The magic devices she charges are far from the most importbnat, she’s a minor cog in the mage organization that handles such things.,
SHAARILLA: She gives the impression of being fun loving and carefree, but she does have a serious and studious side (hard to be a mage without that). She had a lot of fun on their last adventure, and is looking forward to their next one… |