For your OOC chatting pleasure!!

Howdy all.  Since we are starting at LVL 1 ... what's your thoughts?  I've got a lot of ideas spinning since I love 1st ed...

Initial Ideas:
  1) Bard, the long way to fame & fortune (Human Dual Classed F5/T6/B7+)
  2) Cleric/Assassin of Tymora, life and death - just a coin flip away (Half-orc C1/A1)
  3) Cleric/Magic-User of the Raven Queen, the dead stay dead (Half-elf C1/M1)
  4) Thief, the quickest way to fame & fortune (Elf T1)

Hi Beta!

Those are some cool ideas. I'm trying to narrow my options down myself. Two leaders (at least at this point of the hundreds I've been considering) are a Half-Elf Thief/Magic-User (a charming scoundrel type who decided there were easier ways to make his fortune than studying dusty tomes for the rest of his life) and a human Fighter (a cynical, sardonic mercenary swordswoman stolen inspired by Kitiara in Dragonlance.)

That said an Assassin is an interesting idea. Would the group be okay with an Evil character?

unearth arcana introduced the idea of assassins not being evil ... he would be neutral

I just checked the Gods and Tymora is a no go so it would be Avandra maybe

Huh. Not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand it certainly makes it a lot easier to make an Assassin fit in a party. On the other hand having an Assassin be evil to start with adds a lot of flavour and makes it a bit more unique.

I have a question for those who have experience with Fighters this edition; is a lightly armoured 'nimble' Fighter with my highest score in Dexterity and deliberately avoiding heavy armour viable, or is that sacrificing too much of what makes the class work and I should look at Thief or Assassin instead? I like the idea of being skilled swordsman (or swordswoman) but I'm not really fond of the idea of clanking everywhere in heavy armour and playing someone with bulging muscles atop their muscles.

Nimble fighter is primary with Bow in 1e.  Fighter/Thief multi-class makes up for lighter armor with some added flexibility in a non-human race.  But generally, you can flavor yourself however you like in 1e and not worry too much about crunchy mechanics of later editions :)

I decided to run with Vala, a nimble bastard sword wielding human Fighter out to make money, make her name, recover a family heirloom and hopefully get rid of the generations of bad luck that have been haunting her family. :)

As the third to arrive, I'll see what Beta leans toward before settling.  I typically try to fill in the group's gaps, but as we get first dibs we will have lots of free reign.

I just want to try something other than a ranger.   I like rangers a lot, but I think branching out is a better idea.  That said, I'm bereft of ideas.  I have some things I'd like to try, but I have reservations.  I'd give a monk a whirl, but I wish they could at least get dex bonus to AC.  I'd give illusionist/thief a try because it's an interesting combo, but that would require being a gnome and having level limits.

I guess I could try pure magic user or pure cleric -- but as I said, I'll wait for Beta.  In the meantime, any thoughts/preferences are welcome.

I know what you mean by branching out. I love playing Saliq - and Illusionists are a lot of fun - but I wanted to try something different. Hence the Fighter gal. :)

A multiclass character could be very useful (I seriously considered it myself) but if you are worried about level limits I think every race are unlimited as Thieves. Also depending on your dice a human dual class character could be viable.

I'm encouraged by the history of long-running games and the prospect for leveling, which makes me excited to try a monk.  I'll see if the DM has any house rules/adjustments for them.  Many had house rules for monks because, like dex for ac.

Dragon Magazine had a variant that was good and fun (and more sensible), but I don't know if I can find that anywhere.

Maybe inspiration will strike . . . but hopefully soon.

DM Bard, are you willing to forego demi-human level limits?  If so, I'm interested in going Half-Elf Magic-user/Cleric ... Raven Queen as the Deity.

If all goes well, then I'll run with Qyn...a manic half-elf Cleric/Magic-user with an intimate connection to the Raven Queen who's seen the stuff of nightmares and lived to tell the tale.  Will his fate catch up with him before he's able to deal with it and survive, or will he fall victim to his "distractions" and never reach his full potential?

I'm fine with with ignoring race limits, I find them silly.  Whatever you develop just make sure there is a reason, or motivation, for them to join a party and adventure forth.

So, I'm going to lock in on M/C half-elf named Qyn who's got some issues for sure.

Sounds fun! :)

Vala Dragonsbane is a human fighter, the descendant of a long dead famous mercenary/adventurer/warlord whose ancestors have suffered from misfortune, cowardice and shame. Vala is definitely hoping to break that pattern and restore the Dragonsbane fortune and reputation!

Qyn is a recent inductee into the halls of the Raven Queen, but he has a depth of magic in his blood and ancestry.  It is said that his father was a great Wizard and his mother was an Arch Druid.  However, both are long dead as told in common stories.  Qyn hopes to prove himself, regardless what the stories say, as someone of legend.  All he has to do is survive long enough to do something of note.

Qyn sounds a cool character. :)

Gamma if you are interested in a monk - and while I'm more familiar with the 5e version I think they are neat - I am sure there is plenty of room for East Asian type cultures on the map in the same way the Empire of the Shifting Sands covers the Near East and the Middle East.

(Don't want to step on your toes DM Bard just saying I'd be perfectly fine if you want to introduce a culture like that somewhere.)