Yeah, except in this case it's a warhammer, no blade about it.

My thought here was a dwarven variant of the Swordmage, from a game perspective it's the same apart from the weapons, but then renaming certain things to make it more "dwarvish". So in my mind the dwarven variant is called a Forge Guardian. They are the dwarves who are tasked with guarding the most important treasures of a dwarf hold, the forges. Because of the extreme heat generated in the forges these dwarves wear leather armor created from old forge leathers rather than the standard heavy armor you normally associate with dwarves. Initially select warriors from the clan their exposure to the elemental powers contained within the forges of dwarf holds (many of which tap into the core elemental forces of the world) has heightened their sensitivity to Arcane forces which the have learned to control and harness through their rune embossed weaponry.

In reply to Baldin Stonecrusher (msg # 13):

I see. You mentioned axes, so that made me think of the kopesh.

I'd be interested to understand what the plan is for this to be a "character-driven" game. That means different things to different people.

I assume it means that the characters have a goals and the party has a goal, and the way the game proceeds depends on how the players have their characters pursue those goals.

I have a rough goal for my character. My preference is for a goal the character can accomplish even the character is killed or otherwise taken out while achieving it, and which is worth accomplishing despite that possibility. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense to take those exciting, endangering risks.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Basically, he's trying to obtain the runes by which he can ensure the safety of at least a small part of the world, so that part of the world, and the people living in it, can be safe. Even if he survives obtaining the necessary runes, making use of them might be what destroys him.

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I don't know the setting, but I figure that having my character care about some aspect of the world is important. That seems to be a common element of heroic characters, even the less-than-legal ones. So, I'm interested in hooks along those lines.

I am hoping it means the game will be driven by our motivations. I am playing a character with the inquisitive theme and I hope that means we’ll be doing a fair bit of investigation and rp around the heists.

In reply to Cal'alais Eltharin (msg # 16):

"RP" is another thing that means a lot of different things. I feel like it's generally used as a synonym for "talking." I see it as "anything done based on character motivations" which includes combat and exploration. I'm not a big fan of most "talking" in RPGs, mainly because it so often seems to involve posturing (i.e. threats and intimidation by edgy PCs), exposition, or argument. Any of those can be fun and interesting, but that can be tricky to pull off.

How do others view "roleplaying" and what are the important aspects of it for you?

Character-driven, in my sense of the phrase, means that I'm not going to railroad you or tell you that there's things you can or cannot do.  I'm using the heist plot as a context to start you guys off and put you into a situation where your characters have to trust each other, despite possibly having no history whatsoever between them, and start fleshing out what their presence means in the wider world.

I do keep the world moving around you and what your characters do, and the consequences of the actions you take, but I'm hoping to probe each of you with opportunities to reflect what is important to your character and their goals.  I will roll with whatever comes up.

One thing that I will ask, however, is that no-one rolls for social skills like Diplomacy,  Intimidation,  etc. until I ask for a roll, unless you are using a specific power or feature that explicitly calls for it to work.  I want you to feel immersed in the conversations and pay attention to the details.  It's okay to ask for references and recaps, and I am fine with shorthand when you're unsure how to express your intentions, but immersion is a big part of making 4E RP more rewarding.

That said, how are we doing on Chargen?  I only see two sheets complete, and I'm more than happy to fill things in for people  if needed.

I PM’d you my sheet. I am having a hard time with keeping the formatting clean on my phone but can try to get it updated next week

Speaking as someone who probably isn't going to have the highest modifiers in those skills, I'm fine with that. As a DM, I generally prefer players way to be asked for all skill rolls. I probably won't roll preemptively for anything outside of combat, unless there are certain rolls you'd like us to make.


I'm almost done, I mostly just need to enter it into the character sheet. I need to decide on feats and backgrounds, and buy equipment.

Finally finished the copy-paste stage of my character sheet.  I still need to pick a background and buy equipment, but after that I should be good to go.

As a human, I can pick a language. What would make sense for him to know?

Fun question time!

I can either pick up Plate and a Heavy Shield and tank it up as best I can, OR I can downgrade to Scale and a Light shield which doesn't invoke Stealth Penalties (which in a heist game, might be a big deal)

Does anyone have opinions on the subject?

In reply to Gentleman Barracus (msg # 23):

Since our choices are completely open, we don't have any reason to believe that any particular skills will be needed for this heist. There are lots of different kinds of heists, after all.

If you have plate proficiency, the class is probably designed with that in mind, so I recommend that. A shield is either/or, but worth it if you don't have a great Constitution or Reflex score.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:41, Sat 02 Jan 2021.

In reply to Barris (msg # 22):

Dwarven, Elven, & Draconic are all relevant and likely city-based languages.

In reply to Guildmaster (msg # 25):

I went with dwarven. Seemed most "rune related."

Barris:

There may be room for a connection between our characters. Being a Runepriest and having learned Dwarven it may be that you have visited or studied under dwarven Runepriests at  the hold where Baldin grew up. You may even be aware of Baldin's original position, disgrace and banishment from the hold. I'm good with however you want to play it, but just wanted to put the possibility out there.

My character sheet is pretty much complete. I just need to finish off Baldins' mannerisms and appearance. GM let me know if I need to change anything.

In reply to Baldin Stonecrusher (msg # 27):

Cool. There are some rune-related relics held in Baldin's former hold. What role, if any, did Baldin play in Barris gaining unauthorized access to them?

Barracus, you would also have had access at one time to certain runic texts and artifacts that Barris would have sought. What kind of deal would he have had to strike with you to get a peek at them?

In reply to Barris (msg # 29):

So Baldin was a Forge Guardian, as I posted about earlier. In the hold the Forge Guardians were not only responsible for guarding the forges but also the sacred runic texts of the clan. Unfortunately under Baldin's watch one of the runic texts was stolen. Baldin was cast out of the clan for dereliction of duty and his family name dishonored.

Now obviously I don't want to start by sowing party discord but maybe Baldin remembers you visiting the hold and either working with the Runepriests to gain access to them or Baldin turning a blind eye, based on a friendship we had struck up, to allow you to peruse them.

Either way now the text has been stolen Baldin is seeking you out. He doesn't necessarily think that you are responsible but wants to find out who you talked with about the texts.

This sounds like a cool character hook for our GM. :)

*is furiously taking notes in between worldbuilding and drafting encounters, and all the potential ways to throw them out the window when the party gets creative*

I approve of all of this.  The more background stuff you come up with now, the more material I have to work into the story.  That's not to say that you HAVE to know anything about each other, but any information on character motivations and history is appreciated.   I've already started working out how certain locations are related and what agencies might be responsible for your respective woes, but feel free to keep it coming!

Also, I've added one more player, so now we should have all the primary Archetypes covered.

Is there anything you need from me, that would help make writing those details up easier for you?

Are we playing in a known world like the forgotten realms? If not, can you tell us a bit about the pantheon?

If so, please provide it in proportion to the amount of influence the pantheon is likely to have on the events of the game and the decisions of NPCs, so what we read is relevant to the game.

Nuria, the world I've set up, uses the Forgotten Realms pantheon, but if there's something you want added we can make that happen.

Most of the kingdoms of Nuria were carved away from the grasp of Sorceror-kings who had seized power during the Age of Absence, leaving the world covered in arcane and divine wounds that straddle the planes and have yet to heal.  Most city-states are fractured alliances, some being the domain of divine acolytes and the forces who supported them, and others being lorded over by the former apprentices of the Sorcerer-kings who turned on their teachers when they saw that the armies of the divine were actually gaining ground.  As such, there is a constant shift in allegiances between nearby kingdoms, and a distrust between those cities supported primarily by a temple, and those supported by powerful mages.  Who knows when some church might decide to cut down a powerful spellmaster before he becomes another Sorceror-king, or when the traitorous mage might turn on those who helped him overthrow his former master?

In the city that the story is starting in, Needlerock, the population is primarily dwarven, with the other half split between human and Dragonborn.  Others are present, but those are the most prominent.  A century ago, the city was wrested from the control of a powerful wizard who had built his stronghold at the base of a canyon, where the top of a volcano had been blown from inland to form a natural fortress surrounded by jagged spurs of volcanic rock.  Worshippers of Moradin and other dwarven gods joined the armies of Torm to take the site and strike down its owner, but clashes with the cultists of dark gods seeking to capitalize on the weakened forces brought the campaign to a standstill.  Under dwarven rule the city has been expanding and consolidating, but troubles in the depths of the city have prevented them from moving on past just holding ground.

Cool, yes.

Barris did gain access but he found that the texts contained no new information for him, except for one of them which contained details he didn't need or want: The Word of Impermanent Demise, which is a key aspect of the syllabary of undeath. Barris works with the syllabaries of protection and destruction, and he didn't want anything to do with the word, so he didn't touch it.

However, someone else who knew about Barris's visit and Baldin's involvement took the opportunity to embarrass Baldin while casting suspicion on Barris. They are the ones who took the information on the Word. That information is not itself the Word; divine runes and the runic words usually can't be written permanently in a form mortals can read. But the texts would go a long way toward someone figuring out the Word and how to employ it.


Thanks. Mainly I just want to know if there's anything in the baseline lore of the game that is definitely not present. Like, there's not a lot about runes, but I'm going to assume that they're still part of how the gods formed the world and its many aspects, and that mortals can harness the least powerful of them for temporary effects in the world.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:34, Sun 03 Jan 2021.

I love the backdrop! In a city of dwarves, humans and Dragonborn am I going to stick out like a sore thumb? Or will I be a known oddity. I think that works best for the Inquisitive theme. I am a known stranger. The pointy ears that the dwarves tolerate.

Oh, and Baldin could have sought me out to help him find his missing rune? Just a thought? I am also happy to just be pushing my way into that investigation