E-Dawn Volume 11: November2004 Edition
PC RECAP
Captain’s Log
Written by Theodore Favinger and Edited by Steven James Black
Strassa 13th, 1519 TH
9/3 1076 TE
I am James T. Kirk Jr. My mother
Kimberly, and my father James T. Kirk Sr. were kidnapped by Khan and taken to
the Liaj Jungle. I started this journal
to record my journey to save them. In addition, to my mother and father, Khan
attempted to kidnap Mareth’s sister Marissa but the attempt was foiled by
Mareth and Spock, and he successfully kidnapped Teefa, Gallway’s childhood
sweetheart. Calhoun, Gallway’s rival, joined us to save her and beat his rival.
Strassa 14th, 1519 TH
9/4 1076 TE
The eight mountain lion bodies are
gone. Spock says he can’t track them since the bodies were drug away over a
week ago.
Strassa 15th, 1519 TH
9/5 1076 TE
Wolves attacked us on the way to
Crossacre. All except for Gallway, who couldn’t kill anything, killed them
expediently. Then we arrived at the town of Crossacre. We ran into the Troll
Sky Raider Bonehead at the Traveler’s Lodge. Khan had kidnapped his troll
girlfriend, Ceren. He agreed to come with us and pay us for the safe return of
his beloved bar maiden.
Strassa 16th, 1519 TH
10/1 1076 TE
We awoke to screaming. A mass of
genhis babies, 200 strong had been laid near the town. The things had destroyed
over half of Ustrect in the past, and were about to add another village to that
total. Boneheads wanted to stay and fight to save the town, but we ran away
instead, escaping towards the Liaj Jungle. Crossacre was swarmed by the rabid
genhis, and many town residents eaten alive. Crossacre is no more.
Strassa 18th, 1519 TH
10/3 1076 TE
On the plains of Ustrect, heading
to the border of the Liaj Jungle, Cheetahs attacked us. We dispatched them
easily except for Gallway, who was killed and then resurrected by Bonehead’s
Last Chance Salve.
Strassa 20th, 1519 TH
10/5 1076 TE
We entered the Liaj Jungle and were
attacked by two abominations, a bulbous reptile with 4 heads. We quickly
dispatched them and went deeper into the Liaj Jungle.
Strassa 21st, 1519TH
11/1 1076 TE
Today we met Gema, a Questor of
Jaspree. He was in the Liaj Jungle investigating the effects of “seasons” on
the Liaj Jungle. We asked him what “seasons” were. The Questor replied that
they were a result of the Death Sea changing into the Black Sea, so named
because of the cooled magma at its bottom giving it a black look. The end of
the permanent heat sink meant that weather would change as the year passed. He
commented that this would be the strongest cold period ever, and that next year
would be much worse, possibly having some consequences on the Jungles of
Barsaive. We then asked what happened to the Death Sea. Gema replied that Death
had been released. He said that he thought the deaths of so many Blood Elves,
and T’skrang during the Last Battle of Blood Wood had spilled so much blood
that death was released. We then further asked what the Blood Wood was. Gema
then asked us where we had been for the last six months. We told him we had
been sealed up in a Kaer that had just been released. Gema then told us about
the Wyrm Wood, Blood Elves and the Blood Wood, and the Heart Wood. Elves with Thorns
protruding everywhere and bleeding profusely? Psh, what nonsense. We asked Gema why he was alone. Gema said his
bodyguards had been slain by Tamers and that he had barely escaped due to their
bravery and his Questor powers. We then asked what the Tamers are. Gema
responded that they were a group of Name-Givers, mostly human who reject
society and technology and believe in the savage laws of the jungle. He warned
us that they would attempt to kill any who bore heavy weapons and armor of any
kind. He bade us good day and continued on his way south, finishing his studies
before leaving the jungle. We continued north.
Strassa 22nd, 1519 TH
11/2 1076 TE
As Gema had warned us, we were
attacked by Tamers. The Tamers demanded that we give up our weapons and armor.
I took off my armor and shield, but the rest of the party refused. Thus I
fought them naked from the waist up. We defeated the Tamers and their Tiger
Companions. We found a remnant of Gema’s bodyguards still alive. His name was Bob
the Beastmaster. A Troajin who came to assist his had saved other Troajin and
Bob. We continued north. We finally found Khan surrounded by his men with my
parents. Khan told me that I had a choice, save my parents or chase him. Khan
then put some kind of small slug on my parents’ faces. Khan told me that first
comes pain, then madness, and then finally death from the creatures. I asked
him why he hated my family so much; Khan replied that we were the last
descendants of the ship’s original Captain, Jonathan Kirk. Khan told us that if
Sky Raiders had been at the helm, we would have never crashed and ended up
stranded in the Twilight Peaks, and that my failure of a bloodline must be
wiped out. I told him he was full of it that no one could have navigated through
the sudden storm. It was a show of my ancestor’s skill that he managed to
crash-land the ship safely at all. Khan then looked upward and we saw a drakkar
drift into view. Khan told me that the ship was called the Botany Bay, made
from the trees of the Liaj Jungle, in exchange for all those kidnapped with a
Nethermancer named Nibaz who had a lair somewhere to the east. Khan told Jedda,
his first mate, it was time to go, and they jumped onto some rigging ropes on
the ship. Khan then ordered his second mate, Terrell, a gigantic black ork, to
kill us all. The drakkar flew south away from us. Spock and I saved my parents
from the mindslugs, and we were shocked to find out that Terrell was also
controlled by one too. The slugs had hurt my father and he was ill. Slate
carried him. Meanwhile, the rest of the
party fought off the Ork Sky Raiders. An Ork Sky Raider’s Shield Charge with a
Crystal Viking Shield killed Gallway. Out of Last Chance Salves, Calhoun buried
him and pledged to continue their quest to save Teefa in his absence. We headed east to Nibaz’s lair to rescue
Teefa and Ceren.
Strassa 23rd, 1519 TH
11/3 1076 TE
We found a large clearing in the
Liaj Jungle. There was a door surrounded by moss guarded by charred zombies.
All of a sudden a female wingskrang and her war dog charged them. They soon
surrounded her mount and her dog. We then rushed to save her, defeating the
zombies. Brax, Slate’s rockbrother, had caught up with us, and helped defeat
the zombies. He volunteered to stay outside with my mom and dad. We entered the
rune-covered door and went down a sloping hallway to a catacomb, where 5
skeletons attacked us and were defeated. The next room was filled with
vegetation. Looking up, we could still see the sun, and the glint of a Citadel
dome. Additionally, there was a hole in the wall as well. We decided to go to
the next room. This room was filled with dead animals. When Spock entered the
door on the other side, eight of them jumped up, showing ferocious Ivory Tusks,
which killed the Wingskrang and her dog. Spock had explored an observatory
structure and an Elementalist’s house in the next room, and told us to move on
through the door. Another sloping hallway down later and we entered a maze of
doors and short dead ends. Bonehead touched a trap trigger, and nothing
happened. The smell of sulfur, ash, and oil and holes in the wall meant a
firetrap was once here. We thought it burned the zombies from earlier. We
continued onward and were attacked by guards alerted by our talking in the
labyrinth or perhaps the trap trigger had an alarm on it. Their leader screamed out something like
Ristul demands our deaths. The eight cultists attacked. It was a tough battle
since they were Swordmasters. Many of the warriors got riposted. After we
defeated them, Brax, accompanied by a human warrior called Vivit Vain and an
obsidiman wizard named Para showed up. Vivit Vain and Para were from the
Hammerhills region, which was under attack by undead. Para was part of the
Liferock in that region, and had been sent to find Slate and Brax, after the
Liferock detected their awakening. Vivit Vain was his bodyguard. We placed my
mom and dad in the Elementalist’s room in the upper level, and the injured
Slate as well as Rast and Ni’ Bawn decided to stay and guard them. We returned
to the underground level and after that we explored the next few rooms. A
guards barracks, an armory, a forge where I picked up some forge tools, an
alchemy shop with a bunch of lead in it, an alchemist supply lab where we found
some potions and some elemental jars with kernels, a temple to the nine sane
passions where Mareth prayed to Garlen, a mess hall, a prison, a food and water
storage area, a food growth area overrun by weeds, and a library where the
wizard was attacked by a black book which Vivit, his bodyguard, placed into a
large sack thinking it might be valuable to someone. We next explored a mining
shed, and then went further into the underground. The stone became a lot
rougher, as if digging were more recent. We also heard water running, and
explored until we found an underground river. We continued through the
underground until we found a chain gang of Name-Givers, furiously digging a
tunnel. They paid us no heed, as they were under complete control of the
mindslugs. We took a path to the right and saw an altar to a twisted black
being. Four women, 2 elves, 1 troll, and 1 human, were tied to four tables. The
Nethermancer Nibaz turned around pledging the four maidens to Ristul and
breaking two glass jars, each filled with four mindslugs. Calhoun saved Teefa,
Bonehead saved Ceren, Vivit saved an elf maiden named Lita, and I saved a human
bar maiden named Jill. I recognized her from the Traveller’s Lodge, Ceren’s
coworker. Meanwhile, the Nethermancer’s plan was to use the spell Pain on us and
allow the mindslugs to enter us and control our minds. He did this to Brax, and
Mareth, but they survived somehow. We killed the Nethermancer and his mindslugs
and saved the ladies. We then escaped the Kaer/citadel.
Strassa 24th, 1519TH
11/4 1076 TE
We returned to the area where we
fought Khan’s men. All nine ork corpses had vanished with tracks leading back
to where we just were. I decided to ignore this and move on, our mission had
been fulfilled.
Strassa 27th, 1519TH
12/2 1076 TE
Jaguars attacked us. They killed
Brax Greystone, we tried to revive him with a Last Chance Salve, but it failed.
He was buried by Slate and Para. Para lamented his death, unable to return to
his Liferock one last time after so long.
Veltom 1st, 1519 TH
13/1 1076 TE
We arrived at the ruins of
Crossacre. The bottoms of all the buildings had been chewed through. Bonehead,
Ceren, and Jill decried the destruction of the Traveller’s Lodge, and wondered
if the bartender Nybik was still alive. Bonehead told us he would come to Kaer
Cellesis after about eight to ten days with our money, and would pay us extra
50 silver pieces for saving Jill.
Veltom 3rd – Veltom 10th, 1519 TH
13/3 – 14/5 1076 TE
We arrived at home. Spock sold the
journal of Razelsus to Ray Toujours. He recounted to us the tale of the crazed
elf Elementalist and alchemist. He had built the citadel and Kaer of Odystar
specifically for his alchemical studies. He needed a lot of different things
for these studies. He needed various plants and herbs to create chemicals,
especially acids, for his quest for the Elixir of Life. He needed various
animals to create bases for his experiments. He needed lead, and thus a mine
and an area rich in the stuff. He wanted to convert lead to gold and silver
through a process called transmutation. He was thoroughly convinced that the
Philos Stone was somewhere in the Liaj Jungle. He also thought that the
planetary alignments had something to do with his experiments success and
failure. He invited people near Odystar to live there when the Scourge came.
Apparently it was breached in the Scourge, and the people were killed. The
journal recounts the madman’s paranoia at the end as a result of gigantic worms
and then abruptly ends. Vivit tried to sell him the cursed Black Book, but the
sage wouldn’t. They eventually were forced to destroy the book. Some of the
pages creepily described some of the recent events in Vivit and Para’s lives.
Meanwhile, Mareth bought Gallway’s house for three months and promptly moved
his sister Marissa in. Calhoun invited Teefa and Lita to stay with him, but
Teefa refused. She is in mourning for Gallway, and always wearing black dresses
and a veil these days. Lita is pretty crazy, she thinks herself some kind of
prophetess. She told Mareth that Upandal’s Twenty Hammers will move and the
Blood Quake will ensue when the Twenty Resume. Whatever that means. We went to Garlen’s temple. Lita was there
for some reason with Calhoun. I prayed to Garlen to heal my dad and paid some
tribute. I brought my dad before the temple’s Questor to Garlen, Vahla, and she
healed him. My dad’s speech and consciousness returned. He rested a few days
and then trained me to Third Circle. Spock was trained to Third Circle Scout by
his dad, Sarek. He then went to the airship and teased his sister, Sarah about
him being the same Circle as “big sis”.
Veltom 11th, 1519 TH
15/1 1076 TE
Bonehead comes to Kaer Cellesis. He
has the wings of some animal strapped to his back. Bonehead pays us each 500
silver for saving Ceren and Jill, who are both at the Stoneheart trollmoot.
Bonehead then goes and inspects our airship, and then he demands to see our
leadership. So we take him to the Council Chamber. Bonehead proposes an
alliance between the Stonehearts and Kaer Cellesis to hunt down Khan. Our
council accepts his proposal, and he gives them 5000 silver pieces and prisma
wings to sell to come up with more silver to repair the airship. Spock gives
2000 silver pieces and I give up 800 silver pieces to repair the ship. Khan
leaves a note on my door saying he has gone to Cara Fahd.
Veltom 12th, 1519 TH
15/2 1076 TE
Slate Greystone and Para go crazy.
They start trying to leave the Kaer saying their threatened Liferock has
summoned them. I go look over the Enterprise; I think it’ll take 11 weeks
to repair. The Obsidiman say it’ll be a month journey to the Hammerhills and a
month to get back again. Meaning the ship won’t be repaired yet by then. So we
all decide to go on their quest with them.
Veltom 13th, 1519 TH
15/3 1076 TE
Bonehead travels with us as far as
Crossacre, he wants to get back and spend time with Ceren. Nine ork cadavers
attack us as we leave Kaer Cellesis. They are decayed, but the black ork body
of Terrell is unmistakable. These are the same undead as before. Someone or
something is reanimating the bodies of things we kill.
Veltom 14th, 1519 TH
15/4 1076 TE
We come to the ruins of Crossacre.
Bonehead parts company with us. We decide on going to Cara Fahd via Ustrect.
Veltom 17th, 1519 TH
16/2 1076 TE
We are attacked by Blood Circle
Troll Warriors who want us dead as we pass through Ustrect, even more no that
we are officially allied with their enemy trollmoot, the Stonehearts. We defeat
them, Para is killed and then revived by Mareth with a Last Chance Salve, and
we continue on towards Cara Fahd…
NEW CHARACTER BIOS 3
BOB THE BEASTMASTER (MIKE)
Male Elf Beastmaster Second Circle
Long-term goals: Acquire new animal companions
including a Gorilla or Ape.
Ancestry notes: Of Barsaivian descent.
SELENA SILENTTAIL (ERIC)
K’stulaami Female T’skrang Beastmaster First
Circle / Cavalryman First Circle
Long-term goals: Become a K’stulaami Griffin
Rider and train Griffins for General Nikar.
Ancestry notes: Of Theran descent, formerly of House
Carcini.
PARA (ERIC)
Obsidiman Wizard Second Circle
Liferock: Hammerhills Liferock called the Bloodyear
Rock.
Discipline Teacher: Silc of the Bloodyear Rock.
Long-term goals: Save the Hammerhills from the undead
armies.
Friends: Vivit Vain, Bodyguard.
Ancestry notes: Of Theran descent.
VIVIT VAIN (JOSHUA)
Human Warrior Second Circle
Background: Stormhammer Jungles on the night of a ferocious
storm. His mother was killed during childbirth. His father traveled to the
safer Hammerhills region and left him at the Theran Village of Rafrancher’s
Claw where he was taken in by a family of farmers. He grew restless in his
adolescence and traveled north to Balkaria where he trained with the Therans
and spent a few years as a guard as payment. His wanderlust eventually brought
him north to the Bloodyear Rock, which accepted him in strangely. The elders
there told him of the death of a member of their Liferock who must be replaced
and charged him with guarding Para to find some recently awakened
Obsidiman. They also told him of the two
undead armies circling the Hammerhills. To save his foster family in Rafrancher’s
Claw, he reluctantly agreed to the long journey.
Discipline Teacher:
Gerrald, a Lieutenant of Balkaria’s Military Garrison.
Long-term goals: Save Rafrancher’s Claw from the undead
armies. Find his real father to discover his true ancestry. Continuing the path
of the “Vain” Warrior.
Friends: Para.
Ancestry notes: Of Theran descent.
CHARACTER GRAVEYARD 2
Gallway Lennox (Eric): Killed by a Control Slug dropped on
him by Kirk after being knocked unconscious by an Ork Sky Raider’s Shield
Charge.
Selena Silent tail (Eric): Killed by a Knife Cat in Citadel
Odystar.
Brax Greystone (NPC Ally): Killed by Jaguars in the Liaj
Jungle.
TO RIPOSTE OR NOT TO RIPOSTE
New Riposte rules. Riposte is now considered an evasion and
counterattack IMB. This means that Avoid Blow, Riposte, etc can counter a
Riposte that hits an opponent. This rules change is a necessity due to the
commonness of the skill, which I expect will be a common choice for PCs and
NPCs alike due to the skill point system.
EVASION OR BALANCE?
Warrior Discipline Change. Warriors
now take Wound Balance instead of Avoid Blow at Third Circle. Why? Well my PCs
wanted the change for one thing. Their reasoning is this, a Warrior rarely sees
a successful avoid due to Acrobatic Strike and Anticipate Blow at higher
Circles. A typically Fifth Circle Warrior has a Physical Defense Value of 12
(10 Physical Defense + 2 from Bracers) + 5 from Acrobatic Strike equal 17
Physical Defense Value. +5 from Anticipate Blow equal 22 Physical Defense
Value. A typical Avoid Blow at Fifth Circle is 5 Ranks + 7 Dexterity = 12 +
Karma. Which means only humans, orks, and windlings tend to still be able to
avoid after a successful Acrobatic Strike. And no one tends to have a chance after
Acrobatic Strike and Anticipate Blow. Since a poor success on the Avoid Blow
has you end up on the ground, most people are forced to take the attack at this
point. And ending up on the ground, where Air Dance is impossible is truly
horrendous for warriors. That’s why not being able to stand after a lethal blow
is so horrible for them. A warrior on the ground is soon defeated. Due to their
typically bad Perception Step, Silent Walk using characters, especially thieves
and scouts, and getting armor-defeated due to surprise is always happening to
them. Avoid Blow doesn’t help in these situations for this character either.
The Wound Balance Skill could be useful, but these skill points are better
going to the Riposte Skill, which is at least competitive with their Physical
Defense Value due to the +3 Step bonus. A typical Riposte at Fifth Circle is
Rank 3 + 7 Dexterity + 3 Steps = 13 + Karma, meaning elves, dwarves, and
t’skrang can Riposte if they Acrobatic Strike only easily. There is also no
knockdown, making Riposte a great skill choice and worth the risk even at
higher Physical Defense Values such as with Anticipate Blow. They also don’t
get Karma on STR until Ninth Circle, making the Wound Balance Skill less of a
good choice for Warriors than for the Sky Raider.
SKILL POINT BUYING?
Characters who are in town may buy
a number of skill points equal to 1 per week for 250 LP. This approximates the
time necessary for picking up skills. If not in Kaer Cellesis where such
training is free, the Skill Points also cost 25 silver pieces per each skill
point due to training costs as well.
UNUSUAL RACE/DISCIPLINE COMBINATIONS #8
T’skrang Sky Raider
Advantages: +1 dexterity, toughness, and charisma
make for a great Sky Raider. Dexterity is important to help with attacking and
evasion, toughness helps Fireblood a lot, and finally charisma improves Battle
Shout.
Disadvantages: No strength or willpower bonuses.
Strength is important for being a key component of the sky raider’s damage, and
willpower is important for Air Sailing and Windcatcher. No bonus to perception
is hardly a disadvantage, considering no Sky Raider talents are based on this
attribute.
Attributes (66 purchase points):
DEX: 15+1= (16): 7/D12
STR: (13): 6/D10
TOU: 13+1=(14): 6/D10
PER: (13): 6/D10
WIL: (13): 6/D10
CHA: 13+1=(14): 6/D10
Commentary: This character is an odd choice due to it
being a sky raider from a culture known to be major boatman and merchants of
the Serpent River. Playing a k’stulaami would make more sense, but I
think role-playing wise it’d be more fun to play a normal t’skrang who is an
outcast from his house and holds a grudge versus them. One of the character’s
major goals would be to raid and punish their original house. Thus character
goals would include getting a drakar and using it to steal from their old
house. This provides for some interesting role-playing possibilities.
Statistically,
this character needs a +1 in perception for an 8 spell defense value, a +1 in
willpower for +1 base mystic armor rating. After this it requires a lot more
points to gain power. +2 in toughness increases your Death Rating by +3, your
Wound Threshold by +1 and your Unconscious Rating by +3. However, a +2 in
charisma adds +1 to social defense value and a charisma step, just in time to
use it with Battle Bellow. A +3 in dexterity will add a dexterity step and +1
physical defense value. Still, +3 to strength seems key due to the weight
requirements of the class. To be an effective sky raider you’ll need melee,
missile, thrown, and maybe even unarmed combat weapons, as well as shields for
Shield Charge and good armor. The +1 to strength step also increases your
damage and knockdown key for Sky Raiders.
For skills, consider Wound Balance,
as it is great when combined with Karma on Strength at Fourth Circle. Tactics
is a solid choice by Fifth Circle, as it can be devastating with Battle Bellow.
(Tactics to add +Rank to attack for allied Sky Raiders who are loyal to you as
an action and Battle Bellow to add +Rank to Battle Shout for allied Sky Raiders
as a non-action). A Sky Raider using Fluid Blade forged weapons could find the
Anticipate Blow Skill useful to help trigger Momentum Attack.
Additionally, this Sky Raider has
great offensive capabilities. Take for example the racial tail attack. By Third
Circle, the Sky Raider gets the Unarmed Combat talent, making him able to do a
Shield Charge and then follow it up with a racial tail attack. Pick up Violent
Thrust talent knack as soon as you can. Although it hurts your defenses, it
negates the step penalty of the racial tail attack. Although be careful of
aggression, since a –5 to physical defense value tends to be deadly.
Additionally the fun continues at Fifth Circle with Swift Kick. Get the Melee
Swift Kick talent knack so you can use it after a Melee Attack. At Seventh
Circle you get Momentum Attack, making your Sky Raider able to do four attacks
potentially, keeping up with Air Sailors, Warriors, and Swordmasters.
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