How about we all share a bit about ourselves (nothing too intimate) to get to know each other a little better?

I'm Sabrina, age *censored*, mother of 2 wonderful children (ages 8 and 11), married to a black person from Africa (yes, my kids are mixed breeds ;-) for close to 13 years now. After fishing commercial school I completed my apprenticeship in a logistics firm, eventually ending up in the IT Department of a large logistics company, translating wishes and requirements between operations and programmers. Sometimes I'm asked to hold a presentation or software training, hence my surface knowledge about communications and how you can mess up *grins* Besides family and job, I enjoy creating computer graphics and roleplay. The latter I started about 20 years ago with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st edition (and in German). After relocating to Frankfurt, I lost contact with my old table-top group, 500km distance kills the chances for regular meetings  ;-) After unsuccessfully trying to find a group in the local area, I happened upon Rpol and enjoyed playing since 2003 (June I think).

Currently I DM two regions on RoA (RoA 5, groups 8&9) and play in 13 different games on and off RoA. I know that sounds like overkill but some of the games have the DM post 2-3 times a week (at max) or are on hiatus, so it isn't really that much attention required.

My favorite character: Cathain, fighter 3/sor 1 half-demon with a badly split personality. The character is daughter to the God of Treachery and suffers from various fractions trying to draw her on their side. She has given birth to twins after being impregnated by a (super-)vampire and now fears that he will come to take them away (both are with her foster parents under protection of the dwarven highking). I've played her for 4+ years now. The game is currently on hiatus :(

My favorite character on RoA: Aerin, fighter 2/battle sor 4/Abjurant Champion 1. She's a Rashemi with strong warrior background and slowly turning into a half-dragon (gold) using the 3-level half-dragon progression found on WotC's site. Aerin joined a mercenary company because she was not showing the magic talent that would have allowed her to become a witch. Rather than becoming some barbarian's wife, she left only to find the magic within at a later point. Through some adventuring she met a friendly bronze dragon, who recognized her draconic ancestry and helped her awaken the blood in an old ritual. Since then she has had flashes of memories imparted on her by touching dragon-remains and is on a quest to find a lost dragon egg and take revenge upon the killers of its dragon mother.

Oh god, did I really write that much? - I better stop.

Who's next? (No need to write as much.)

First, sorry for not being around much lately - I've had a fever for most of the week, and a pretty bad headache along for the ride, as well.  Still not feeling better, but there's not much I can do besides taking some very mild medications.  I've tried to keep up in some of my games, but for the most part, I've simply been trying to recover (while preparing for a job interview I had earlier today - *crosses fingers*).  Like I said, still not feeling any better, but that's life.  Since I'm trying to keep myself awake (I didn't sleep for more than an hour or two last night), I might as well follow Lys here, then...


Hi, my name is Marius, born and raised in Tromsø, Norway, north of the arctic circle.  I met Aelynia's player online through this site over two years ago now, we instantly hit it off, and became good friends - before falling in love with each other, despite the fact that she was at that point still married to an abusive, selfish bastard.  (Sorry, hon, don't mean to curse, but that's about as 'nice' as I can be when describing him.  :p)  We were finally able to meet in person for the first time last summer, though the visit wasn't nearly long enough, and now we're working to make enough money to apply for a fiancé visa (she's a substitute teacher and mother of three, while I'm a student desperately trying to find a steady job, so it's harder than it may sound), planetickets, wedding ceremony, and so on.  It's tough, but we're working through it, and I have no doubt in my mind or heart that we're doing the right thing.

I don't remember just how I discovered RPoL - I just remember that I did, and joined a solo-game that didn't last too long.  I joined many games, but they all seemed to fold (with very few exceptions), but I liked the site enough to stay with it, still.  When I first joined RoA, I was actually not thrilled about it at all - I'd sent my sheet for approval, months passed by without a word, and disgruntled, I took it off my sticky.  Occationally, I'd get PMs for clean-ups, and I never responded, willing to let them delete me.  But, for some reason, when I next came to this part of RPoL, I was still listed as a PC.  I joined as a DM, taking one half of the Amn/Sword Coast South region that was heading for a big, climactic encounter, around the summer of 2006.  Looking back at it, now, I'm a bit surprised at how few DMs are still around from back then - HackDoc, Raven, and BadCatMan are the only ones I can think of, in fact.  So, while I don't feel like I've been around for too long, I've seen a lot of DMs and players come and go, and somehow, I got suckered into taking over as co-Head DM when Mike had to step down, along with BCM.  :p  Thinking back on it makes me feel old, heh, even though I'm probably one of the youngest people in RoA...  but then again, I've always been a grumpy old man inside, who wants to yell at the kids to get off his lawn.  :D

These days, I run three regions in RoA, but honestly, my heart isn't as much in it as it used to be - with the news of D&D 4E coming out, my enthusiasm for the game fell to an all-time low, especially concerning how they're treating the FR setting.  I'd say that I'm a bit burned out on roleplaying in general, if it wasn't for the Star Wars Saga Edition of the d20 SW RPG which I got my hands on earlier this year, and absolutely loved.  I always liked Star Wars (original trilogy only! :p) more than Lord of the Rings, and I was amazed by how balanced, well-designed and easy to play the new rules were - and how much fun playing the game was.  I still play D&D, but that's more than anything because of the characters, not because of the rules, which I've grown more and more annoyed by in general, especially whenever I come into contact with powergamers and rules-lawyers.  :|

My favorite character:  A tie between Chave, Beguiler Extraordinaire, and Isiah, Red Wizard of Thay (well, almost, anyway :p).  They're both RoA characters, and to me, they're so 'real' (in a very flamboyant and outlandish way, in Chave's case! :p) that whenever I sit down to write posts for them, it doesn't take a concious effort on my part - the characters write themselves.  Both are a lot of fun to play, and definitely social characters, certainly nothing like the calm and quiet Joseph here.  :p  Isiah is loyal to the Red Wizards of Thay, though when it comes to ethics and morals, he's a few steps above the majority there - and the fact that he's got the hots for the paladin in the group is certainly going to help affect his view of the world.  Chave, on the other hand, is a blowing leaf, going where the wind takes him, currently in Chessenta.  He's a liar, a thief, a crook, who's in it for himself.  He's definitely smitten by the group's priestess of Corellon, though, so he's doing his best to appear heroic enough for her to like him.  :p


_{And you thought you wrote a lot?  :p  I'll stop rambling now, hehe.  I'll see if I can't work up an IC post for Joseph sometime this weekend.}

I'm Carlo, I'm from the Philippines a fresh fine arts graduate from the royal pontifical university of santo thomas.  UST is really a mouthful  I don't have much to say about my gaming habit since I seldomly play pen and paper RPG in real life since there is no local gaming group in my area, most of them dwells in Makati area which far away from where I live.  Thank god for RPOL!  MMORPG is in a Rage here in RP.

Personally I lost count who long I been playing in this region since Alister was my first character in ROA.  I started this thing to practice my English writing skill, so on and so forth.

As for my personal life...

I'm a jobless creative thinker/artist who enjoys watching sitcoms and cartoons.

That be it, so lets get back to the desert and sing the song that involves a horse, which apparently was left unnamed.

Well good, because I really enjoy the chance to test out a desert adventure.

In answer to Lysande's question, if you do not have a cleric or a druid or someone who can cast create water, the party will have to worry about provisioning for the extreme climate.

In answer to introductions:

My name is Cricket (I'm a she). I have a background in journalism and novel writing. Been RP'ing since the 90's which is how I started writing stories, because I didn't have a gaming group to RP with until about 1996, roughly two to three years after I discovered DnD. I love the genre of fantasy and I'm an abashed elf lover.

I have one son, 5, who is the love of my life. I'm based out of Phoenix, Arizona and I just discovered RPOL at the end of March 08 and I really like this site since it lets me game more frequently. I run a table top DnD campaign and I have just dipped into Shadowrun to help out a friend who wanted a DM. I recently was complimented by the Shadowrun group requesting me to be their permanent DM despite the fact that I was a total newbie in terms of Shadowrun. I also love the White Wolf world of adventure. I have played Ironclaw, Rifts, GURPS, and Living Arcanis. I'm an avid video gamer of RPG (Final Fantasy, Draqon Quest, Breath of Fire, Star Ocean, etc etc) but I love sword and sorcery type games best and prefer Dungeons and Dragons with other living people's by far better than anything else.

I love world building and often my players help add to the world. My campaigns become history and canon for home brew and I am fond of taking people to epic levels. I tend to be a mid to high magic DM (what good are magical goodies in the DMG if you never get to use them?) and because my own DMs hardly if ever handed out magic items, I tend to overcompensate. My greatest strength is my story telling and creativity. My weakness is attempting to balance battle combats because I tend to be so open about what I allow players.

I still remember my first game I ever ran, I allowed a gryphon PC who tried a potion prior to identifying it...it was acid, and the gamer spoke with a lisp for the rest of the game to RP it. I love RP. That being said, I'm not familiar with RoA forum rules and antecedents, so please forgive if I slip...like not realizing Forgotten realms has a ten day week instead of a seven day week...and restrictions on characters.

I currently have taken the Evermeet and Anauroch regions since joining the RoA. I typically check my games (GM or PC, whichever I am, a minimum of once a day...that's my commitment to my gamers. I rule by advancing a scene if three quarters of the group have posted actions...though I am unsure if RoA standards allow that). I have discerned that the RoA games go slower than my own boards.

If you have any questions, please ask me. I'll be glad to answer. I have elephant hide thick skin when it comes to sensitivity, at least with regard to postings electronically. And the NPC's and game will never reflect my actual feelings. OOC can clue you in but I won't punish or use the game as retribution for anything, nor will I take anything said in character as real life.

Those are my promises to my players.

Please give me a moment...  *wipes away touched tears*  Okay, I'm better now...

First off, let me say that Lys has fast become one of my favorite people and bestest friends.  I adore her.

Second, thank you, darlin'!  Joseph is one of my heroes, my very best friend, and someone I look up to more than I could ever explain.  His love, strength, and support helped me through my divorce.  If it wasn't for Marius, I'm not sure I would have truly been able to go through with it even though it's what the kids and I wanted and needed.

Okay, so I'm Kristin.  I'm from Missouri in the good old U.S. of A.  I am extremely patriotic and conservative as evidenced by my living in the Bible Belt, a fact I am very proud of.  Other areas, states, and countries are good, but I'll never be at home anywhere else.  I was an AF brat, born on the East Coast of the States, but this is home and always will be.  (Thank goodness Marius is willing to move here!  :p )

Besides my wonderful fiancé, I am very close to my parents and extended family, but obviously especially our three children.  Yes, our.  Why?  Because the kids absolutely adore him and constantly beg me to marry him.  Because they are fairly young, because we don't know how long saving up money and messing with U.S. immigration will take, and because there's a big age difference between Marius and me (a detriment since I'm desperately searching for a full-time teaching position - I'm fully certified for anything from birth up to 6th grade), the children do not yet know that we are definately planning on getting married.  Our oldest, though, strongly suspects, and the middle says she'll never forgive me if we don't get married.  Anyway, he considers the children to be his.  The children consider him to be theirs.  :p  And I consider him to be their daddy.  Marius certainly takes better care of them than their real father ever did or does now.  (Still no child support from him whatsoever.)  Our kids are 10, 8, and 6, by the way.  And I just got reading reports on the younger two.  Both of them scored so high, they're off the charts!  Our son, the six-year-old, is in the 99th percentile for his grade, and the eight-year-old is in the 100th percentile for her grade!  *beams proudly*

Let's see...I'm also a musician.  Used to be 'professional' as in I got paid for it - weddings and the like.  Won lots of contests, got the highest rating at different kinds of contests, was in all the honor choirs and stuff.  I can mess around on most instruments except the guitar (my fingers are too weak to hold down the strings good enough, but I'm really wanting to try to change that somehow), but can play the clarinet.  First chair even though I hated it.  And I can play the piano, which I love, and I sing first soprano.  I can sing all the way down to high tenor, though.  Ummmmm...hmmmm...Oh yeah!  I'm like the world's best female video game player.  Or the most addicted, at least.  :p

Okie dokie.  My favorite characters?  Table top: Jalie.  Halfling rogue.  Modeled after Tas from DragonLance.  She was awesome.  And she was especially funny paired with the group's paladin.  If he would've just left her alone, he really wouldn't have almost gotten killed that time she had to save him.  Great story there.  Anyway...on RPoL: wow, this is tough...  Probably...Kira, I think.  She's a slicer in a Star Wars game.  Even though I can't stand Star Wars (Spaceballs is where it's at!  Ludicrous speed!  Go!!!!), I really like how she's so bad with people but really has a soft side buried underneath all her pain and insecurity.  Plus I like that for once I'm not letting anybody else dictate how I play her.  I'm not worrying about what the group needs or wants, even though it's kinda contributed to some problems.  On RoA: Jyslyn, hands down.  A drow paladin of freedom whose liking a certain Red Wizard a bit too much.  :p  I've also played her as she is, but the group and DM(s) have been so fabulous it has been effortless.  She still mourns Blue terribly, the first person she ever met to instantly take her at face value, and she still has some other grieving to finish up if that makes any sense, but she's just fabulous to play.  I don't have to come up with anything on my own for her, she truly writes herself.  Much better than any other character I have although there are others who do the same.

Is that enough?  Please tell me it is!  I feel like I've typed for an hour.  :p

Oh, I can't resist: I love you, Marius!  (Sorry, he's just so darned sweet I even forgave him for cursing already.  :p )

If I remember correctly, the party owns a few beast of burden that could carry enough water for days of travel.  Still I don't know where it went since it was a 'party' property.

We did have horses that we 'liberated' from previous encounters with the black scorpions (long before entering their base). Some of the horses we sold (by Aja'nesir, a bedine PC who left the game), but the rest we kept for carrying supplies. Ha'laam, a bedine boy, accompanied us and looked after the animals. It was the same when we finally entered the scorpion outpost. There were a few Zhentarim traders with us, staying behind with the animals; they were supposed to identify Zhentarim goods as our deal was destroying the base but not hauling all the goods back to the Ha'adad oasis where they had come from.

There is really three options:

1.) We had to leave the animals behind because of the Zhent forces.

2.) We took them back with us.

3.) Ha'laam took them as token of our grattitude.

You took them with you. I'm not going to strip the party of anything they acquired in the previous start of the adventure....at least not at the start. How you use your resources in future is up to you.

Speaking of which, dost the party want the random encounter light on or off?

I'm fine with random encounters. :-)

I'll leave it to the GM.  I do prefer plot driven encounters over random ones.

The whole point of random encounters is that they actually are random encounters.  Thus, if we should encounter random encounters on our journey, I shall not be opposed.  However, if they were to begin to bog down the game so that we never, in fact, progressed on our journey, then I might get impatient.  But that's just me.  :)

I like having a random encounter once in a while, it makes travelling seem more dangerous (as I imagine it would be, in a world filled with monsters and magic! :p).

Just some out of character information, I have test run the module on my table top and I would recommend for party resources it may be better to conserve though I do have one or two scenes set up prior to arriving.

Please note: Aelynia's player is ill, as I read in another game I play in with her. Just a heads up in case you were waiting on her reply.

Thank you, Lys.  I went ahead and posted, but it wasn't a very good one.  The painkillers I'm on are great, but I'm not thinking clearly, and I am still suffering a bit.  I sincerely doubt I'll be able to post frequently or decently for a few days, but I'll try.  However, if it's necessary, definately please feel free to NPC me.

Er, it was my understanding Aelynia was scouting ahead from the party, which means I do not consider her rolls to be useful for the party's other members.

i.e. Lysande does not know about the flash of light or the sounds unless she makes her own listen/spot check rolls or if Aelynia communicates the information back to the party somehow.

Lysande, I'm moving your post from prior to Aelynia communicating to after the communication.

Ah, ok no problem. I was under the impression the flash was seen by everyone, my bad - sorry.

The PHB says that the language the familiar speaks is only understood by its master. I wasn't sure so I looked it up since I don't normally play a spellcaster.

I thought the only way a familiar could speak with someone other than its master was via spell or via same species.

You are correct on all accounts but the raven. In the SRD it says explicitly it can speak a language of his master's choice. Perhaps this is WotC's tribute to Edgar Alan Poe *shrugs* And the language shared with its master for all other familiars doesn't come into play before the wizard is level 5, which Lysande isn't (class level wise). I know familiars are a bit tricky and more often then not I switch to other options if possible. In Lysande's case it just felt natural for her to have a familiar, and his eyes in the sky have been an invaluable aid before.

Ok. I have no problems with that, but since Aelynia's player is also a gm, she should be able to see the private to Lysande messages, so she can act on understanding the raven if she wishes.

I noticed the PM, yes.  But I stopped reading when I saw it was to Lys only.  I'll go back and read it now.  Thanks guys.  :)

I vote for dragon slaying!

OOC I do too, but IC Aelynia is too worried about you, Lys, and Joseph to want to even though she'd gladly do it herself.  :p

A candlemark is an hour.