Play@YSDC

This is for out of character conversations.

How about this character idea? A guy who was the thrall of a sorcerer for 13 years, but now is free (maybe the sorcerer is dead, maybe their "contract" ended?). Now he secretly yearns to be a sorcerer himself... but doesn't really know how. He works as a sell-sword, travels around, hoping to find "a source of magic", or some eldritch tome. He is a "barbarian", uneducated, but strong and cunning, although his willpower and sanity was damaged throughout his long years of slavery.

Sounds good to me. Did he perhaps steal any tomes or scrolls from his former master?

I was thinking of playing a ranger-type, perhaps Aquilonian.

Cotton wrote:Sounds good to me. Did he perhaps steal any tomes or scrolls from his former master?

If possible, yes! But it's up to you what exactly.

The character I've thought of is a Brythunian man named Culas, who comes from a poor agricultural background and has little formal weapons training but a moderate natural aptitude with sword, spear, ax and dagger. He is shifty and secretive and reveals little of himself - it seems he may be on the run from some past crime and has turned to the mercenary life in order to escape.

@Mr. Handy: An Aqulonian ranger type is great! Maybe your from the western border, and grew up with the threat of Pictish raiding parties?

@evil_scientist: Yeah I'm always up for giving players enough rope to hang themselves with something to make the game more interesting.

@Wruter: Sounds good! I doubt you'll be the only mercenary with a shady past.

Is it okay if I post my rolls here? I don't want to spam the character creation thread too much.

Name: Anakunaisi, the Unbound

Characteristic rolls:
STR: [dice]0[/dice]
CON: [dice]1[/dice]
DEX: [dice]2[/dice]
SIZ: [dice]3[/dice]
INT: [dice]4[/dice]
POW: [dice]5[/dice]
APP: [dice]6[/dice]
EDU: [dice]7[/dice]

STR: 12
CON: 9
DEX: 10
SIZ: 15
INT: 13 (Idea: 65)
POW: 11 (Luck: 55)
APP: 15
EDU: 13 (Knowledge: 65)

Damage bonus: +1d4
Magic points: 11
Health points: 12
Sanity: 55

I'll stick my character creation dice rolls here too:

[dice]0[/dice]
[dice]1[/dice]
[dice]2[/dice]
[dice]3[/dice]
[dice]4[/dice]
[dice]5[/dice]
[dice]6[/dice]
[dice]7[/dice]

Looks like I got a 7 in CON so I'll move a point to make the specified minimum 8. The EDU of 14 is maybe a bit high for the common-background character I envisaged so I may need to rethink - it's probably best to allow the rolls to determine the character anyway.

Keeper, aren't we allowed to move up to 3 points around? If so then I'll shift 3 from EDU to CON to give 11 and 10 respectively, which sounds more like the character of Culas.

Sounds good to me!

STR:
[dice]0[/dice]
CON:
[dice]1[/dice]
DEX:
[dice]2[/dice]
SIZ:
[dice]3[/dice]
INT:
[dice]4[/dice]
POW:
[dice]5[/dice]
APP:
[dice]6[/dice]
EDU:
[dice]7[/dice]
Those rolls were terrible!

Yeah i'm alright with you guys fudging some numbers in character creation. Also I'll allow one re-roll of the whole batch if you guys want so you can have two sets of numbers to choose from.

I'll roll another set just to see if it suggests any other character.

[dice]0[/dice]
[dice]1[/dice]
[dice]2[/dice]
[dice]3[/dice]
[dice]4[/dice]
[dice]5[/dice]
[dice]6[/dice]
[dice]7[/dice]

Some fairly high numbers there but I think I'll stick with my original more average rolls, moving the 3 points from EDU to CON as planned.

I'm taking off 1 point from EDU and 2 from APP, and redistribute the between CON and DEX.

STR: 12
CON: 9 -> 11
DEX: 10 -> 11
SIZ: 15
INT: 13 (Idea: 65)
POW: 11 (Luck: 55)
APP: 15 -> 13
EDU: 13 -> 12 (Knowledge: 60)

Damage bonus: +1d4
Magic points: 11
Health points: 12 -> 13
Sanity: 55


Occupation skill points: 180
Hobby skill points: 130



Cotton, will you provide Occupation options, or should we just do them ourselves?
Edit: I "found" a Dark Ages pdf, so I can pick something from there.

Thanks, I'll definitely make a second set of rolls!

STR:
[dice]0[/dice]
CON:
[dice]1[/dice]
DEX:
[dice]2[/dice]
SIZ:
[dice]3[/dice]
INT:
[dice]4[/dice]
POW:
[dice]5[/dice]
APP:
[dice]6[/dice]
EDU:
[dice]7[/dice]
That's still pretty bad, but not quite as bad as the first set of rolls.

I won't have time to finish my character for a little while, possibly not until the weekend.

I'm fine with you guys picking and defining your occupation yourselves based on your character's backstory, but I'm more than willing to post stuff from the book as well if that's what you guys would prefer.

There is an occupation for Juggler/Minstrel, which gave me an idea.

Anakunaisi was a brave Turanian nomad. His life changed when one day he and his warband raided a Stygian caravan, which turned out to be that of the sorcerer Amon-Ghesed. The sorcerer summoned undead abominations and killed every single nomad, but for Anakunaisi he had a different plan. He subdued the proud warrior with evil spells and made him his court jester.

I want to create a sort of hybrid Jester/ex-Nomad/Bodyguard occupation.
The eight occupational skills:
Art (juggling), Fast Talk, Fist/Punch, Kick, Natural World, Navigate, Ride Horse, Weapon Skill (Bow)

Sounds Good. You can go ahead and apply your skills with that as your occupation.

I saw a post earlier about my character's name, but it seems to be gone now. I'm not that familiar with Hyboria, but I had thought from the culture descriptions that Aquilonian names would be more French. It might be better to rename him Claudius, which is a Roman name, though that may also be too similar to Culas. If that doesn't work, what about Marcus?

Either Claud or Marcus could work for your character, Handy. Additionally, here is a name generator for Frankish names which would also work for an Aqulonian.
http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/fr ... Yf6VqOZOt8

Sorry about that Mr. Handy, the name struck me as out of context with the setting but I thought it might be considered impolite to say so about another player's character, so deleted. Anyway in case you missed it here also is the link to the Hyborian name generator and the first two on the list will be Aquilonian examples.

http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/hyborian-names.php

Also before we get started, do any of you want your characters to know each other before signing on to the expedition? Or are you all going to be strangers to one another?

I'll go with Claudius then.

I think my character (Anakunaisi is quite a long name, maybe he shortens it to 'Naisi?) can know Wruter's (Culas). Possibly they worked together as mercenaries before. They appreciate that neither of them asks questions about the other's past

That sounds fine evil scientist although I envision my character being somewhat untrustworthy.

It's also likely that we have a mutual dislike of an Aquilonian - Aquilonia is basically the Roman Empire and both Brythunia and Turan have been at war with them so we might see Mr. Handy's character as representing a rich and powerful oppressor.

EDIT - I've changed my character's name to Fenn to avoid confusion with Mr. Handy's character.

Sure, they don't have to be buddies, just maybe took part in one expedition or raid together.

I think my character hates the Stygians, as he was enslaved by one of them, but is more or less neutral towards Aquilonians.

Claudius is a mercenary too, so it's possible that he knows the others, but not essential. As an Aquilonian, he will think his civilization is more advanced and cultured than the others, but he doesn't disdain foreigners (except for Picts). He rather feels like he should lift them up, though they may see that as condescending. He also would want to convert others to the worship of Mitra, who he believes is the One True God.

Style question, would you all prefer if I switched to third-person instead of second? For example, do you like "Fenn swings his short sword" better than "you swing your sword"?

I use third person in the games I run, and I think it works better. That way there's no ambiguity about to whom you're referring.

Alright. I'm going to switch because I think will read better.

Just a character picture for Anakunaisi -- Subotai from the Conan movie

Nice