Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

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raixel
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Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by raixel »

Ok, since the rules discussion and the char creation threads are kinda a jumbled cross-topic mess, I decided to post the starting gear post here, just so everyone can grab it.

Re: Character creation!

Postby raixel » 19-Apr-12 12:07
Ok, starting equipment will be based on background, similar to DM, instead of just handing out a random gp amount and outfitting yourself. For instance, OB, Artaxes, as a fighter (if we're going with something similar to the background we discussed) can pick one non magical (read plain, common, steel) weapon(im assuming the weapon he focuses in, but keep it normal), studded or plain leather armor, one shortbow and 20 plain arrows, one set of his unit's fatigues, and a pouch of 1d10 gold as his latest pay. Basically stuff he would have as a mercenary that was issued to his unit.

Ameena, based on her char's background wouldn't have as much, but would have a scavenged weapon, a set of ragged clothing, (or hide armor, if you can come up with where she found it), and 2d20 copper coins she scrounged up.

Thiy would have her 2 sais, her monk robes (whether or not they would be obviously of the order she just left or not is up to you, Ian), 10 shurikens and 2d6g she ripped off from the fat pig when she fled.

In addition everyone gets 15g to spend on non weapon/armor items such as bedrolls, rations, ect. (btw, a plain canvas tent is 5 gp, the 10gp one in the PHB is a thick waterproofed one). This 15g represents stuff you have aquired pre campaign and any left over $ disappears if not spent. You can also spend any of your starting pay on stuff too if you want. The only thing you can't buy is magic items/potions/flasks ect.

Sssil starts with what he has now. Even though he has a couple little magic items, compared to the rest of the group, I don't see thi sbeing a problem as I'm sure it will equal out very shortly.

If you want something from a published source and I dont have it, (which really isnt likely. Ive got an insane DnD collection), post the item, stats, cost and desc on here.

If there is anything you think your char should have based on background that I didnt give you, let me know and I'll see what I can do.


Also, for Thiy and Artaxes, you are in the outskirts of the swamp, I wanted to play out the ambush that you guys had to flee from, but I think that might take too long. So a brief backstory to place you, if thats ok with you guys. This happens roughly 3 days before Sssil leaves Makan.

You both were in the same unit, Thiy as a freelancer. safe way to indulge in her taste for violence while honing her skills and earning money to further her plans, and Artaxes cuz that was his job as a bonded Guilds-merc in the in the off-planting seasons. He had a family to feed, and although his mercenary company took him far from his simple life in Viborg(Oh, side note, Viborg is the closest large human town to the swamplands of Zaangaard- which is the nation made up of loosely aligned city states of the mantis men, snake people, lizar, and arachnae, so that works even better), the pay was better than farming and at least he knew his wife and sons would be taken care of by the mercenary's guild should he fall.

This mission was supposed to be simple, sent by the leaders of Viborg to further trade relations with the Ten Noble Houses of the main lizar city state of Makan. As far as the mercenaries were told by their Guild, they were hired by the council of Viborg to stop a small band of bandits that had been harrassing the trade road that leads into the swamps. There was also a lizar unit sent from Makan's army that joined with the mercenaries a few days ago. Although both Thiy and Artaxes had seen the occasional lizar before in their travels, this was the first time they had ever been around large numbers of the sentient lizards, and their ways were not the ways of humanoids. They kept themselves distant, living in their own section of camp, marching with their own and only speaking to one of the humanoid mercenaries if it was absolutely needed.

Trying to find more information about the enemy, Thiy heard while sneaking around the commander's tent that night, that (Ian, for your eyes only)
Spoiler
they were out hunting a large band of some kind of, at least according the the lizar commander that was speaking in heavily accented common to the humans in the tent, degenerate Chaos worshipping lizar species, mixed with some of the dregs of human society. As Thiy listened, she realized the problem appeared to be much deeper then one bandit group, and that it appears at least some groups similar to her old cult survived. Apparently a large force of these other lizar and humans was camped less than 2 days march away, and the military unit was planning on stealing a march on the rogues tomorrow. They were planning an ambush, that would rout the Chaos-worshippers and hopefully stop the attacks on caravans travelling through the trade ways.
Meanwhile, Artaxes was in his tent, getting ready for bed, as the bright moon, Rasar, was far in the sky and the march tomorrow was going to be long. As a mercenary who had been with the band for a while, he was considered a low-ranking officer, and was given a few benefits, such as his own tent, extra rations, and slightly more knowledge than the average grunt. He reflects on the disturbing rumors that he heard other low ranking officers muttering about during the officer's mess hour. Things like (OB, your eyes only)
Spoiler
concerns that it isnt just a group of bandits attacking caravans, but a much deeper problem. There were also rumors of Chaos worshipping lizar and humans, and that there were spies within the camp relaying troop movements to the rebels. According to another longtime mercenary Artaxes spoke with, a large force of "bandits" was camped within a few days march, and the mercenaries were planning on attacking the rebel's camp the day after tomorrow, hopefully being able to break the rebel's group and stopping the attacks.
Suddenly, on the outskirts of camp, a sentry's horn blows the alarm, and then suddenly chops short. Alarm gongs begin to ring, and both Artaxes and Thiy can hear pounding feet, jangling armor, and shouts as the camp rouses itself to the alarm. Thiy darts away from the comamnder's tent back to the soldier's area, not wishing to be caught eavesdropping and accused of spying. Artaxes grabs his armor and gear and runs from his tent as a flaming arrow suddenly blossoms in the tent wall.

The camp is in chaos. Both Atraxes and Thiy see lizar and humanoids running everywhere and fighting each other, tents and wagons burning, and cries of battle and pain. A dull-scaled lizar wearing nothing but a ragged loincloth and a a bright red circle-and-horns symbol painted on his forehead springs in front of Thiy as she runs through the encampment towards her gear, the flickering light of burning tents giving his mud-colored scales a hellish look as he bares his sharpened teeth at her. He brings his crude spear to bear, most likely thinking the unarmed monk an easy target. The surprise is evident on the besital lizar's face as the monk's fist smashes through the reptile's snout, driving shards of bone deep into the creature's brain and dropping him instantly, his weapon falling from nerveless fingers.

Artaxes runs through the encampment as well, trying to find a rallying point so that he can organize a squad to fight back against the ambush. Everywhere he looks, he sees wild-eyed lizar and ragged humans surrounding mercenaries and bringing them down, like a pack of dogs harrying a bear. Even though the mercenaries wee better equipped, some of the baandits appeared to e filled with an unholy strength, running up a soldier's sword, just to strike him down, then pulling the weapon out of their chest and running off, streaming blood from what should be a mortal wound.

The fighter sees a young unarmed soldier take a deep gash in the side from a bandit and charges to his aid, bellowing a war cry as he slams into the back of the attacking human. The young man nods his thanks as he turns and stumbles off into the hellish camp, blood dripping through his fingers as he clutches his wound. The human turns towards Artaxes, and the warrior can see taht under his ragged short black hair, the bandit has a circle with horns painted in red on his forehead. The bandit's eyes are lit with an insane glee as he swings his crudely made sword at the warrior. Artaxes easily blocks the wild swing, and counters, jamming his weapon deep into the man's throat.

The warrior is surprised as the blow doesnt seem to faze the man, just causes him to stumble for a second. Bloody bubbles gush out of the wound as the bandit releases a breath and looks up at the warrior, hate twistng his face. He quickly regains his balance and brings his sword up to chop at the mercenary. Horrified, Artaxes quickly thrusts his weapon into the man's snarling visage, strinking a solid blow across the bridge of the man's nose and deep into his brain. This time, the bandit drops like a stone, and Artaxes pulls his weapon free with a crackle and a gush of blood.

Thiy makes it to her tent, fortunately in an area where the fighting is lighter and the flaming arrows have not done as much damage. She grabs as much of her gear as she can carry, and looks around. The mercenaries are overwhelmed, taken by surprise and unable to mount any sort of cohesive resistance to the ambush. Everywhere she looks, bodies lay in the paths between the tent,s some moaning weakly or screaming for aid and ragged figures backlit by fires run wildly, slaying any wounded mercenary not yet dead. The monk holds no value for the mercenaries beyond her pay, and she realizes to stay in this situation would be suicide. She looks toward the edge of the clearing the camp is in and thinks that if she can make it that far, she could disappear in the thick swamp.

Making up her mind, the monk moves off in that direction. As she darts through the camp, avoiding knots of fighting, she reaches another area where the fighting isnt as thick and sees a fighter she recognizes, having served on a few watches with him as the watch-command. He is a low-rank officer, a human, and although she really dislikes men, this one has been more tolerable than most. Most bonded Guild mercenaries have little tolerance or liking for the freelancers, thinking them all just shiftless rogues out for cash, but without the honor of the bonded Guilders. However, this fighter actually talked to her on their watch, and Thiy didn't get the sense he was looking to bed her, or exploit her in any way. As she watches, he charges into a an insane-looking bandit that has just struck a young man, and quickly stabs him in the throat. She blinks as the blow doesn't drop the ragged man, but instaed the bandit grins hatefully and goes to swing again, with blood streaming from his neck. The officer brings his weapon directly into the man's face, and this time the bandit drops.

The soldier whips around as he hears Thiy approach, but relaxes when he recognizes the monk. After speaking to each other for a few seconds, Thiy manages to convince the soldier, who she remembers is named Artaxes, that the camp is routed, the mission failed. Although he seems reluctant to flee, he agrees when Thiy rationalizes that the best thing he can do is survive, so that at least one person can explain what happened here. Artxaes relucatantly agrees, and the two head for the tree-line.

They make it through the camp, dodging or slaughtering any bandits they come across. The two note that not all of them seem immune to death from anything less than a head wound, just the ones taht seem the most wild, and have the circle and horns painted on their head. However, there is enough of those that more than once, Artaxes found himself fighting a lizar or human with horrendous battle wounds, and Thiy's sais are coated in blood and gore from having to drive them thru a crazed being's eye into the brain.

At the edge of the cap, there is a ring of bodies, and they can see arrows streaking out of the trees slaughtering any who are trying to flee the ambush. The two time their run, and manage to make it to the tree line, arrows whizzing around them like angry bees.

Whew, that was long. I wanted to finish it last night but I feel asleep in my computer chair typing it and gave myself a stiff neck. :). Is this ok with you guys? Is there anything you'd change? If your cool with it, this will be your way to get you in the swamp. Ameena, yours will be next. Hopefully it wont be as long! ;)
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raixel
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Re: Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by raixel »

Ameena, do you want me to do a placing story for you? Don't worry, I wont give anything you dont want known away. Otherwise you are just gonna have hazy memories of *something* bad happening to you, something you don't understand, and find yourself stumbling through a heavy swamp with dim memories of surviving, and not much else. You could also email me a placing story, and I could alter it to fit the world building beo and I have done. It doesnt really matter, but since I'm throwing 4 chars into an already running campaign (which I wasnt planning on, and I have never dropped that many people into one beforwe), I need a placing story to figure out how to tie all of this together.
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Re: Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by oh_brother »

Hey Raixel, great intro, ready for the swamp! Sorry for the delay replying, I was travelling quite a bit this week but back to normal now.

I put all starting equipment on my char sheet (long sword, studded leather, fatigues, short bow, arrows).
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Re: Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by raixel »

K. Just waiting for Ian's go-ahead and I'll post your starting page, and then get to work on Ameena. I know Ian's busy a lot, but I want to get his ok with the placing story before going off. I'm planning on having two threads (or maybe 3) into one when you guys all meet.
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Re: Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by oh_brother »

Yeah, Ian did mention that he would be busy at work, I guess that's the problem. But you're right, we should wait in case he has any major objections with the start.

So we on our own for a bit before merging with Beo's, right?
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Re: Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by ian_scho »

Great start! Loved it.

Got my starting gear, and there may be one thing wrong with it. Thiy bought a pig! No really, she actually stole it from the man she murdered. Anyways, no problem is we lose the 5 gp worth of pork:

15 + 7 = 22 gp
Tent - 5 gp - 20 lb.
5 Rations, trail (per day) - 2.5 gp
Waterskin 1 gp
5 Torch - 5 cp
Backpack - 2 gp
Bedroll - 1 sp
Whetstone - 2 cp
Flint and steel - 1 gp
3 candles - 3 cp
Musical instrument, common (Shakuhachi) - 5 gp
2 X Sack, one of which is tied on the pig - 2 sp
One pig (no name) - 3 gp

22 gp - 20 gp - 4 sp == 1 gp + 6 sp

Cheers! (And great intro, once more).
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raixel
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Re: Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by raixel »

You can have a pig. Thats rockin! I guess it was in your tent and follows you around thenj
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Re: Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by ian_scho »

I'll explain the pig thing later ;)
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Re: Starting gear and backfground (artaxes and thiy first)

Post by ian_scho »

OK! I've posted in the new thread, and am officially nominating this one as our new OOC thread for Oh_B and myself :)
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