Festival of Fools (OOC thread)

[lingrem]

You have just arrived in Tydale, having been informed along the journey that youÔÇÖre arriving just in time for the start of the Festival of Fools. Another traveller informed you along the journey that the Festival of Fools is celebrated to commemorate the founding of Tydale; it was founded by a group of wandering performers who were tired of wandering around. More and more settled there, and they named the settlement Tydale, after Tymora as they credited her with the good luck they had in finding such an ideal location to settle. Since then the town has grown into a city, and each year the Festival of Fools marks their beginnings as more performers and traders come to town.

It is crowded as you arrive, and the assortment of people and styles reminds you of a city much larger than it is. There are buskers performing along the road leading in to the town, as well as musicians lined up around the docks hoping for coin as the barges and boats arrive. There are temporary stalls set up as merchants try to sell their wares, and you notice a lot of things you might want to purchase. There are merchants of all races, and many of the stalls seem to be successful. ItÔÇÖs noisy, as most markets are, and you follow the crowd into TydaleÔÇÖs Centre; commonly referred to the Circle.

Inside the Circle one of the first performances is beginning, and you settle in to watch. The first act is an acrobatics performance; a set of redheaded Halfling twins tumble around, culminating in a finale of one tossing the other through some flaming hoops which appear as if out of nowhere. As the visiting tourists gasp, they begin to clap as the flaming hoops are the opening of the next act; a fire-dancer. She is spectacular, her long blonde hair goes below her waist and seems to reflect the light of the fire she dances with. You have never seen a performance done to such perfection. You notice that many of the villagers closest to the front have tossed coins up on the stage, and you see a path closer.

As you make your way closer to the front of the stage you notice the Halfling twins going around with hats for collections, and you toss a few spare coppers into one of their hats as they pass. You spend a few seconds crowd-watching, but are quickly drawn back by a cheer from the crowd as the next act, a half-orc from your best guess, stomped a hole right into the stage. Someone isnÔÇÖt going to be happy about that; quite possibly the Half-Elf that just slapped his forehead off to the side of the stage. But the half-orc doesnÔÇÖt let the splinters in his leg stop him as he continues to drag the boulder he wants onto the stage. Compared to the fire-dancer the half-orcÔÇÖs feat of strength just isnÔÇÖt entertaining, and the crowd is beginning to get bored. Booing begins, but itÔÇÖs cut short when the half-orc easily tosses the boulder right back off the stage; the laborous dragging had been a deception. The crowd claps enthusiastically and the half-orc takes a bow. A few gnomes, with wood and tools, run onto the stage and begin repairing it.
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Game-Type: 3.5e DnD

Style: Story-based. I'm very much more an RP'er and a storyteller. I'm not combat-based, so this game will not be combat-based (that doesn't mean there won't be combat!). But the type of players in this game will likely be a lot happier if they're more interested in story/character development.

Updates: See my little introduction above? My updates will likely be like that, with a lot of in-between little updates to respond to people. It will not be based on a set day because I'll never be able to keep up with that.

Me as a DM: This will be interesting. I've never DM'd before, and I'm quite new with this sort of game in general. Expect me to go hunting for answers as I go, and for me to possibly even make mistakes that branch right out of the game. If you are a stickler for rules... I might very well stress you out. If you're a new player and need help...I'm not the best person to ask.

Setting/Story: It's fairly open-ended and I have a lot of various interactions that can be found. It is, however, a city-based campaign. There is an over-reaching plot going on.. but well, spoilers...

Before you sign up: I'll be taking 5 players. Honestly, I would like 4 because this is new to me.. but 5 seems fair. If you want to sign up, it's ok to take a bit to sort out an initial idea for a character.. but I would expect a basic outline of a character.
Good idea for questions to answer -
Character Name:
Race:
Class:
Any personality ideas:

It's not like it's a character sheet yet, so I don't think that's asking too much for someone to consider it.

ETA: I'll be rolling to see who is in after I think this has died down for sign-ups... so I'll wait around a bit for people to trickle into the new forum.

[lingrem]

Players:

Burns
Character Name: Aethelward Maeraddyth
Race: Human
Class: Cleric

Theis
Character name: Mike
Race: Human
Class: Spell thief
personality: Adventurous and thrill seeking. Looks forward to a challenge and a bit of know it all.

WearsHats
Character Name:Calendil
Race: Elf
Class: Cleric
Personality: He's a young, naive, nature-loving elf out on his first adventure beyond his forest home. He's focused in a fight, but otherwise easily distracted by novelties, wonders, and pretty flowers. Naturally, Tydale drew him in like a fly to balsamic vinegar.

Odd
Character Name: Flacks
Race: Elf
Class: Ranger
Any personality ideas: Keeps quiet mostly but becomes very vocal when he feels strongly about something. Is likely to follow along with others.

John
Character Name: Kenneth Locke (Kent)
Race: Human
Class: Samurai

► Show Spoiler

Personality Ideas: He is polite, courteous, and friendly to folks he meets and loyal to his wealthy and benevolent Merchant liege. He has a warm countenance that is easily replaced with a stony face when evaluating danger or approaching a confrontation. His stare is not so much a threat, but a promise of recompense if the party he is addressing doesn't behave lawfully.

So Katana and wakizashi are a Bastard Sword and Short Sword respectively, Kent is a man in his late 20's. He has a wife, and fraternal twin children (1 boy, 1 girl). Kent's father talked bold of honor and protecting his family, but when a group of bandits destroyed his small village and took them all as slaves, his father visibly showed his true cowardly nature and hid behind his family. His family was saved and provided for by a prosperous merchant who took pity on them when the bandits attempted to sell his family in an underground slave market. The pious merchant has been not just his savior, but when Kent became 16 he took up serving this merchant as a loyal armed warrior. He served loyally, protecting the many stalls, markets, and travelling merchants under the employ of his merchant liege. He is by no means a grizzled veteran, but he has a very even tempered approach, only fighting by necessity and placing the lives of his charges and loved ones above his own, unlike the actions of his father. He has a small savings from his earnings from his liege, and continues to serve him. He is currently providing assistance to the festival per instruction by his liege who has sponsored half a dozen of the merchants present. He is accustomed to these duties, as his presence provides more deterrent to calm bartering arguments and the like with minimal physical confrontation.

---------------------------------------------
Possible Waiting List:

1. Burns
Character Name: Aethelward
Race: Elf
Class: Cleric
Any personality ideas: He is trying to find a cure to an obscure disease that someone he knows has, and he prefers to stay out of fights and avoids them as much as possible.

2. Zigit (Ranger, Druid, or Rogue)

3. Quarg
Name: Alexia Darkrune
Class: Battle Sorcerer or Paladin
(Variant Class but really just a redone cleric swapping out hurting for healing)
Race: Human
Background: Well educated junior officer on bare bones 'half pay' because the current Prince has majorly cut back on the military making her become something of a mercenary. Still is on the legal side of things, being in town trying to track down a theif who came to town, but the bugger is drowned. So she is left without much to do at the moment.

4. Thinks
Character Name: No-Name
Race: Halfling
Class: Rogue

► Show Spoiler

Any personality ideas: No-Name is a young, scarred halfling with unusually pale skin, silvery-blonde hair and bright green eyes who has lived the majority of his young life on the streets and alleyways of Crossport. He has no memory of his family or where he may have come from and has no interest in finding out. As far as he is concerned, he is where he is, and all that matters is finding enough food and coin to live another day. A smart boy, he learned to charm the wealthy with simple street tricks like tumbling and juggling, and to disappear into the shadows when the city guard come by; he learned which street vendors would offer him leftovers at the end of the day and which ones should be avoided; he found himself warm, safe & hidden places to sleep at night and he knows the places where he'd get his throat cut or worse... After some time on his own in the city, a teenager named Dale approached him and offered him a whole copper coin to deliver a small package across the city. The next day, he offered him another coin to deliver another item and a cautious routine developed over the following weeks. And every day, Dale would offer a copper and show No-Name some new trick to practice - how to make a coin seem to disappear in the hand; how to follow someone without them ever noticing; how to distract someone just enough that you could take something from them without them seeing... It was all a game to No-Name, and if he ever wondered why he was asked to do the jobs or what the consequences of his actions were, he never asked.

Over time, No-Name came to realise that Dale was part of a far larger organisation operating in the underbelly of the city, and that he was generating quite a bit of interest as the strange boy with a quick wit and a knack for discretion, willing to do dangerous work in return for a few coins and an occasional hot meal. And so it was that the Crossport Rats took him into their fold, taught him how to refine his skills and put him to work across the city.

Of course, all good things must come to an end and the Crossport Rats were by no means the only gang in the city. After weeks of increasing tensions with the Blackdockers, the situation finally culminated in a catastrophic raid on the Rats' lair which destroyed most of the hierarchy and resulted in a chaotic weeks-long battle for territory that was eventually put down by the concerted effort of the City Watch and 'Royal' Guard. Finding himself out on his own again, No-Name gathered up his few possessions and left the city of his childhood for more suitable opportunities elsewhere.

No-Name has never uttered a single word in his life.

5. Nerre
Name: Thorall Gustavson
Race: human, north folks.
Gender: male
Size: 1,95 m
Weight: around 100

► Show Spoiler

Thorall is a fierce and strong north warrior. He took part in many raids with his large bihander and brought home much honor and loot with his comrades, of whom two were his brothers. The sailed from their town to foreign coast and raided coastal towns and villages. If they were lucky, the even managed to capture ships and take them home. This is the way of the north. Thorall was the son of chief Gustav Gustavson, who was proud of his sons.
But then one raid did not went as planned. They landed again at a small fishermen village, but it seems one ruler had had enough of their raids and decided to set a mark. Once they landed, ballistas shot fiery arrows at the dragonship, nasty fire which even got stronger when the men tossed water at it. The only option for them was to abandon the ship and run into the village to take cover, ready to fight whoever was willing to challenge them. But nobody came. Instead, the village was set on fire too, to drive them out. Coughing in the smoke, and with burning eyes and lungs, they grabbed whatever fisherboats where at hand and tried to row away. But a rain of arrows and quarrels rose and killed many of the north men. The lucky ones at least got hit by a burning arrow, so they had a proper funeral - sailing away in a burning boat. Thorall, one of his brother and two other made it very far, but then they were hit. Thorall's brother saw the burning ballista quarrel coming, and pushed his brother overboard with a single word "Live!". Thorall, not a good swimmer, especially in the cold northern water, made it to a small riff far enough from to coast to be safe from drowning and being spotted. Much later, he swam to the coast, nearly drowning. There, he picked up whatever he could use in the burned down village, and walked away. That was the beginning of his soldier of fortune career.

6. Orga the Strange
Character Name: Vog-Sun
Gender: Male
Race: Half-Orc
Class: Paladin
Any personality ideas: Hails from a remote mountain village and comes from a long line of barbarians. Raised by the local church and is the first paladin they've had in centuries. Wants to go out and fight evil and spread his religion but has no idea where to begin how to do it. He was mostly just kicked out the door by the church and told to 'Make [them] proud'

7. Ziprath
Character Name: Nairah
Race: Elf
Gender: Female
Class: Druid
Personality ideas: Nairah is a young woman who has run away from home to the big city in search of fun, friends and adventure. But she has no idea what shes gotten herself into. She gets excited very easily and tends to act before she thinks which gets her into to trouble as othen as it gets her out of it.

8. Alavar
Character Name: Gorrik
Race: Dwarf
Class: Druid

► Show Spoiler

Any personality ideas: Gorrik is from one of the biggest dwarven cities on the continent. Born and raisedin middle class family of engineers, he was expected to carry on the tradition. And he did, but not without a twist.
The turning point of his career and life was meeting with a druid from refugee tribe that sought shelter in the city. Confronted with brutish rejection of improvements of their "temporary" encampment, based solely on their beliefs, he thought. Process of thinking took quite a long time, spend in libraries, talking, and becoming druid apprentice. Conclusion was simple. Both sides of conflict between nature and urbanisation were nuts. After anonymously writing half -lampoon, half-engineering textbook "How to Please a Druid", he left his home (seeing no change in dwarves, or druids - at least at the moment) to find less conservative groups to spread his ideas of cohabitation between city and the wild.
When it comes to buisness he is straight to the point and businesslike, and just as bullheaded as most conservative stereotypical druid, but his ideas are almost always "the golden mean", (not only about nature, but as he is good{NG}, they are more pointed in that direction).
Away from business, he enjoy good joke (though his jokes often cross the border of outright sarcasm, or even a jeer), flirt (with both males and females) and his beer, though his social skills might be sometimes... lacking.

9. Zwums
Character Name: Jet Donath
Race: Human
Class: Ranger-bow based
Personality: Very young, Jet was son of an widowed-ranger father who was brutally murdered before Jet's eyes. Jet subsequently had to mature, and fast. A previously chatty child who lost his will to speak in all but the most necessary situations. So, almost completely taciturn and mute. Most assume he can't speak.

10. spiderwrangler
Character Name: Karvenk Drasfu
Race: Human
Class: Cleric
Any personality ideas: Atypical cleric type... reveres spiders, but not in the evil drow manner...

[BadgeAddict]

I would love to play.

I'm guessing this will be text based?

Character Name: Zandrax WurdWeever
Gender: Male
Race: Gnome
Class: Bard or Druid (Also willing to be Ranger)
Any personality ideas: Left his village due to his intense desire to explore. He isn't sensitive about his height and tends to make height jokes and puns about big people.

[M0rtimer]

No... No, just... No... It's too much. Just... Too much... XD

You guys have fun though.

[lingrem]

Yes, text-based.

And Mort, you just joined with Theis' anyway so go make your conjurer so that my Otter can eat your Rat apparently....

[Theis2]

TL:DR
Or read it before the forum was up.. not sure which is the most fitting but I'm in!
We are going to have some fun right?

[M0rtimer]

I only have one request of the players...

Find Nicodemus...

And kill him.

[lingrem]

You're a jerk, m0rt! I'm gonna go to a Games Moderator about you!

......

Dangit.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Character Name: Aethelward
Race: Elf
Class: Cleric
Any personality ideas: He is trying to find a cure to an obscure disease that someone he knows has, and he prefers to stay out of fights and avoids them as much as possible.

[Zigit]

Can I play? I'm thinking ranger or druid, but maybe a rogue would fit in better? Someone who sticks to the shadows, like me?

[lingrem]

Whatever works for you - these things can be changed around once sign ups are done.. just in case it ends up being a party all bards or stuff. haha.

[Theonewhoisodd]

I know you're only taking five but since there are three who have yet to put up a character sheet:

Character Name: Flacks
Race: Elf
Class: Ranger
Any personality ideas: Keeps quiet mostly but becomes very vocal when he feels strongly about something. Is likely to follow along with others.

[lingrem]

OH I should make this clear:

I'm going to roll to see who will be in. That wouldn't be fair to just ignore people who don't get online on the weekends, or who don't know to move over to the new forum right away!

[Quarg]

Well,
I will throw in my Hat

Name: Alexia Darkrune
Class: Battle Sorcerer or Paladin
(Variant Class but really just a redone cleric swapping out hurting for healing)
Race: Human
Background: Well educated junior officer on bare bones 'half pay' because the current Prince has majorly cut back on the military making her become something of a mercenary. Still is on the legal side of things, being in town trying to track down a theif who came to town, but the bugger is drowned. So she is left without much to do at the moment.

[thinkslogically]

I'm interested! Will think up a character description in the next couple of days

[lingrem]

Thinks you know enough to be able to play

And I don't need a character sheet before rolling - but I do want a brief character idea before hand.

[Quarg]

]

I'm interested! ...But have no idea about D&D so will need some time to come up with a character build. Can I make someone up after I find out if I get in or do you want character sheets in before you roll?

Well historically I've used
Javabased 3,5 Character Builder

[thinkslogically]

Thanks! Sorry - I got too excited when I saw your game and didn't read the rules properly. I've edited my post now and will make someone up tomorrow.

[Arch Lich Burns]

I kinda made this character while the forums were shut down, and made his backstory (was for thies' game but ah well) with lin's help (so we both know this character extremely well), due to boredom. So ...
Character Sheet
Image:

► Show Spoiler

[thinkslogically]

How do you want us to generate stats Lin? A standard array (and if so which one) or dice rolling?

[lingrem]

I was going to do it the way that Theis did his - because if I forgot how I could ask him. LOL. But there's no need for doing an actual character sheet until after the roll - I'd feel bad if someone had something made up fully and then didn't get in.

[Arch Lich Burns]

Sorry already did!~

Anyways two sets of 4d6 (dropping lowest), and choosing the set that you prefer the best.

[M0rtimer]

Invisiblecastle allows you to do that real easy and Lin would be able to confirm that yes you did roll 4 completely natural 24's.

http://invisiblecastle.com/stats/

[Nerre]

I would like to join as well. I would choose a fighter of some kind. As race I will stick to the basics: human.

[thinkslogically]

I was going to do it the way that Theis did his - because if I forgot how I could ask him. LOL. But there's no need for doing an actual character sheet until after the roll - I'd feel bad if someone had something made up fully and then didn't get in.

no worries - I was just wanting to get a feel for the base stats is all, I won't spend ages on abilities etc. unless I get in, but I find it an easier place to start from sometimes Anyway, dice rolls it is

EDIT:

Character Name: No-Name
Race: Halfling
Class: Rogue

Any personality ideas: No-Name is a young, scarred halfling with unusually pale skin, silvery-blonde hair and bright green eyes who has lived the majority of his young life on the streets and alleyways of Crossport. He has no memory of his family or where he may have come from and has no interest in finding out. As far as he is concerned, he is where he is, and all that matters is finding enough food and coin to live another day. A smart boy, he learned to charm the wealthy with simple street tricks like tumbling and juggling, and to disappear into the shadows when the city guard come by; he learned which street vendors would offer him leftovers at the end of the day and which ones should be avoided; he found himself warm, safe & hidden places to sleep at night and he knows the places where he'd get his throat cut or worse... After some time on his own in the city, a teenager named Dale approached him and offered him a whole copper coin to deliver a small package across the city. The next day, he offered him another coin to deliver another item and a cautious routine developed over the following weeks. And every day, Dale would offer a copper and show No-Name some new trick to practice - how to make a coin seem to disappear in the hand; how to follow someone without them ever noticing; how to distract someone just enough that you could take something from them without them seeing... It was all a game to No-Name, and if he ever wondered why he was asked to do the jobs or what the consequences of his actions were, he never asked.

Over time, No-Name came to realise that Dale was part of a far larger organisation operating in the underbelly of the city, and that he was generating quite a bit of interest as the strange boy with a quick wit and a knack for discretion, willing to do dangerous work in return for a few coins and an occasional hot meal. And so it was that the Crossport Rats took him into their fold, taught him how to refine his skills and put him to work across the city.

Of course, all good things must come to an end and the Crossport Rats were by no means the only gang in the city. After weeks of increasing tensions with the Blackdockers, the situation finally culminated in a catastrophic raid on the Rats' lair which destroyed most of the hierarchy and resulted in a chaotic weeks-long battle for territory that was eventually put down by the concerted effort of the City Watch and 'Royal' Guard. Finding himself out on his own again and in danger of arrest by the Watch and being murdered by the Blackdockers, No-Name gathered up his few possessions and left the city of his childhood for more suitable opportunities elsewhere.

No-Name has never uttered a single word in his life.

► Show Spoiler

Ok, might have got a bit carried away there...