Hey Pookies, I just noticed that your point buy math is a little off. Your character has two base 15's (9 points each), a base 14 (7 points), and a base 12 (4 points). With the last two stats as free 8's, that brings your total point expenditure to (9 + 9 + 7 + 4) = 29.

To rectify this, you'll either need to drop your Wisdom from 14 to 13, or your Dexterity from 12 to 10.

Okay, I've finished the majority of both of your character sheets, so please take a look at them by clicking on "Character Details" in the upper left corner of this page. Let me know if you see any problems.

Assuming your sheets are good, then we're almost ready to get started. The main thing I still need from both of you is to finish the steps of the "Character Creation" post, namely:

• Describe your character using the rules under "Personal Characteristics", PHB pp.123-124: two traits, one ideal, one bond, and one flaw.
• Complete all the steps under "In-Game Character Setup".
• Come up with character background details as explained under "Adventure Hook".

I'd also like at least a simple text summary of your character's personal backstory. A couple of short paragraphs is fine, but of course, the more the better.

Once you've come up with these things, please PM or email them to me (jjcarver4@gmail.com), and I'll add them to your character sheet. Don't post anything here, unless you don't mind sharing these details with each other.

Most importantly, I don't want any of this to be a sticking point that kills the entire game because you just really don't want to do it. If you are having trouble, please tell me. I will help you.

Pookies says: "I would like to claim the colour dark green and I really hope I've formatted this correctly, especially with respect to the quotation marks."

Also, I have some ... free time at the office tomorrow so I will be looking into finishing off my character creation stuff (incl. point buy math). Can't do it today since my family is coming over for dinner and I have to go grocery shopping and cook.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:02, Sun 04 Oct 2015.

I had a couple of minutes, so I took out my character sheet to check the point buy math. It is correct. My base stats are actually 14/12/15/8/14/8. I have an additional strength because using the Variant Human Traits (PHB p. 31) I chose a feat (Heavy Armor Master) that increases my strength by 1.

I have to look through the rest of the online character sheet later (hopefully I'll get a chance tonight). At first glance the weight is off from what I have by a few pounds, but unless I actually manage to get down in the vicinity of 80 lb it really isn't going to make a difference.

Oh yes, good point. I totally forgot about the feat.

As for the gear weight, it is possible that I made a mistake, so please do look it over when you have time.

One discrepancy that I can think of is that I gave you a bolt case to put your crossbow bolts in. Your fighter class gear includes a light crossbow and 20 bolts, but it doesn't mention anything for you to store the bolts in. So I tossed that in for you. It does mean 1 extra pound of weight for you to carry, though.

You also didn't note the 1-pound belt pouch that your Soldier background gives you, to store your starting 10 gp in.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:02, Sun 04 Oct 2015.

If "belt pouch" is synonymous with "fanny pack" then I'm burning it and shoving the coins in my pack.

Well, here's the thing. You start the game with 10 gp, which weighs only 0.2 lb. So it certainly seems reasonable to say that you could stuff such a small amount of cash into your backpack, no problem. Even with all the other gear you've already got stuffed in there.

But what's also true is that the PHB says a backpack can only hold about 30 lb of total gear ("Container Capacity", p.153). Even though most of the pre-made class packs ("Equipment Packs", p.151) contain quite a bit more than 30 lb of total gear - even not counting the ropes it says are tied to the outside of the pack. So I don't see much of a choice but to say that your backpack is able to hold everything the PHB says it can. However, because you're already so far over the stated capacity of 30 lb, then it also seems reasonable to say that your stock dungeoneer's pack is essentially stuffed to the seams, and can't hold very much more at all.

Therefore, unless you plan to either juggle any treasure you find on your way back to town or just leave it on the dungeon floor, then it's probably wise to bring at least one extra container to hold it. A belt pouch's stated capacity is 6 lb, which would be 300 standard coins - quite a bit more than the 10 that your character currently has to struggle to stuff into his already bulging pack.

I guess maybe we should discuss the encumbrance rules a bit more, to be sure we actually do want this kind of complexity in our game. I personally like the idea of a bit more realism when it comes to gear carrying logistics, but then again I'm not the one whose character will actually have to suffer from this. This is your first taste of what it's like to use the variant encumbrance rules. How do you feel about it?

That being said, weight concerns are not the only thing to consider when it comes to deciding on a campaign's desired gear-logistics complexity level. There's also the matter of where and how your character is carrying the gear. When writing up your character sheets, I just automatically organized your inventories into separate bags, and made some realistic assumptions about what you'd be able to fit and how, since that's how I naturally think of these things. This is what led me to examine the capacity discrepancy in the class gear packs, which most people probably would have just glossed over.

Ultimately, I'm willing to budge on this a bit, but I don't want to run a silly parody where your character gets away with stuffing five suits of armor and a ten-foot pole into a single non-magical backpack. So please do let me know what level of bookkeeping you're comfortable with, but in the end you will definitely have to do some kind of accounting.

Which is why I do recommend that you keep the belt pouch, or at least trade it in for a couple of canvas sacks.

Also, Pookies, I went ahead and updated the spelling of the word "armour" wherever it occurred in your character sheet, to accommodate your more elegant Canadian sensibilities.

Any more thoughts on the encumbrance rules? Are we just going to stick with the variant rules from the PHB, and then deal with the potential repercussions of having to drop your backpacks at the beginning of every fight?

In reply to Wizzrobe (msg # 14):

Im all for encumberance.

Okay, we're going to actually start this game soon. I plan to create the first in-character thread no later than Monday of next week (November 2nd). Anyone who isn't ready by then will just have to deal with me controlling your character and posting on your behalf until you become available.

In the meantime, your characters have made their way to Neverwinter, and are free to move about the city and conduct any business they wish. Check out the campaign setting and background post to get a feel for how things are in the Neverwinter area at this time.

If you have anything your character may want to buy, sell, or do in the city, go ahead and post it here. You can find your starting equipment and cash on your character sheet.

So there's no starting gear you want to sell, nothing you want to buy with starting cash from the standard equipment lists in PHB chapter 5, no information gathering around town or other preparations your character wants to do before we get started?

In reply to Wizzrobe (msg # 17):

No I'm eager to get on the road with my old friend.  (Is that a hint that I should buy/sell something?)

No, I'm really just encouraging you to look over the equipment lists in chapter 5 of the PHB, to see if there's anything else you might want to pick up before starting your journey. Keep in mind that you start with 15 gp spending cash. And, as per the rules for "Selling Treasure" on PHB p.144, you can automatically sell anything you don't want from your starting inventory for half its stated value.

If I were you, I personally would sell the torches that come in your stock explorer's pack, since they weigh a lot and you don't really need them for anything - you already have darkvision to see and a tinderbox to light fires. They're only worth 1 cp each, so you'd only get 5 cp total for selling them, but it would also dump 10 pounds of dead weight from your already overloaded pack.

Also, I'm not sure how much you've thought about the logistics of hauling around dungeon loot, but a mule costs only 8 gp and can carry 420 pounds of crap. You do have to feed it and find a safe place to leave it while you're crawling dungeons, but it's something to think about.

In any case, a couple of 1 cp sacks to lug around your treasure might be smart to have (as per the discussion I had with Pookies a bit earlier in this thread). Thankfully, though, your wise friend Steamknuckle has already accounted for this by bringing a handful of sacks of his own.

I'll need you to decide exactly where your character is traveling in the caravan. The rest of the party is arrayed as follows:

• Willow is on point, riding her mastiff.
• The wagon follows next, with Stumpy in the driver's seat and Steamknuckle riding shotgun.
• Rudo brings up the rear on foot.

You can either take up any position you prefer in the marching order, or just ride in the back of the wagon.

I still need to know your preferred travel position in the caravan.

Also, please go ahead and make a gambling check to resolve the current situation in the IC thread. This will be a contested Intelligence check, so just roll a d20 in the Dice Roller, plus your character's Intelligence modifier of +1, and post it here. You would also add your proficiency bonus to this roll if you were proficient in playing cards, but you're not.

In addition to this, please let me know (here in this thread) how much total money your character is willing to risk before quitting the game. Your relative performance on the gambling check will determine how much of that money you win or lose.

Finally, when you post to the IC thread, please either click the "Post a Reply" link in the very lower right of the screen, or remember to remove the "In reply to So-and-so (msg # N):" clutter from your post. The IC thread is supposed to be narrative, so I don't like seeing procedural spam like that there. I don't mind seeing this in the OOC thread, though, so respond however you like here.

05:38, Today: Zhaquadan Mudsmither rolled 8 using 1d20+1 ((7)).

I didnt see the post option at the bottom.

If I can ride in the back I will do that.

I will be willing to loose half a gold piece.  I would quit if I made a gold piece.

So, in case you were wondering, I'm just trying to set up a little character-developing roleplay with this card game. I figured now was a good time for all the characters to introduce themselves so that you can get a feel for their personalities.

However, if you'd rather just get on with the action, then let me know. I won't mind either way. There's plenty of time for the characters to express their personalities as the campaign progresses.

This is good just be patient with me.

I forgot to mention before, every time your character sleeps for the night, it's considered taking a "long rest" (PHB p.186). So, right now you are free to do anything a long rest allows you to do - which, currently, is really just changing your list of prepared spells. I don't imagine you have any reason to do this, but I just wanted to let you know that this is your prerogative every time your character gets a full night's rest.

Please let me know if you want to change any of your prepared spells. Otherwise, I plan to advance the game sometime before noon tomorrow.

Post here to let me know what your character wants to do in the current encounter.

Also, if you have any questions about the environment or anything like that, then you can ask them here.

I want to clear the path but I want to approach this cautiously so I would like to look around to see if I can notice anything like hiding thieves etc.

I will update the game map with a view of the current scene as soon as I have time. Please stand by.