The Player Characters

Mallus wrote:

YTBD wrote:

So suggestions for what I should run? I'm not wedded to anything in particular and haven't really looked over the PHB that much.

Something perverse? That seems to be the dominant theme.

The perversion is in the background, 4e is still new enough (and without all the splatbooks and addons especially FR stuff) that it's hard to come up with a whole lot of broken stuff (at least for lv 1 char).

I'm looking for something more like character class suggestions and choices for powers/abilities.

We've got plenty of fighter types (Warlord, Pal, Fighter, Rngr).

One wizard and one warlock, so we seem to be okay on the arcane side of things.

We've got two healers (Warlord & Pal), so I'm guessing that we should be okay for healing.

I guess that leaves a rogue. Which is fine by me. Haven't run one of those since 1e. I am open to other suggestions if there's something interesting, but I think most of the basics are covered pretty well.

Hmm, I'm starting to flash on the "Snake" version of The Middleman (great show btw. HIGHLY recommend it) or perhaps just a straight "Snake" Pliskin knock off.

YTBD wrote:

Hmm, I'm starting to flash on the "Snake" version of The Middleman (great show btw. HIGHLY recommend it) or perhaps just a straight "Snake" Pliskin knock off.

I've been enjoying the hell out of that show. The crappy special effects are a large part of the charm, along with the various in-jokes. J.R. "Bob" Dobbs international airport indeed....

Rolzup wrote:

I've been enjoying the hell out of that show. The crappy special effects are a large part of the charm, along with the various in-jokes.

It's like Buffy with all the wit and none of the angst (which is both good and bad). With Dr. Who's effects budget (well, less).

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J.R. "Bob" Dobbs international airport indeed....

I liked all the Dune references in the one episode.

re: Snake... I don't have the books with me, but it's hard to wrong with a human "brutal" rogue. I'm wondering if you could get away w/using a Dragonborn (fits with the "Snake" natch). You'd miss the DEX bump, but get a +2 in both useful secondary stats (STR,CHA).

Either way, we could make up a pseudo-Escape from New York backstory; maybe Snake was hired by the Snake States to recover one of their citizens believed to be a prisoner of the port's Governor. When he arrives in the port --by glider launched from the deck of a ship in the Aster-- it turns out that the man he's supposed to rescue is now a Magistrate and that ten years had passed during his ten-minute flight to shore.

The Middleman is awesome.

For determining what we need, it's probably most useful to look at it in terms of 4e's four "roles."

Defender: 2, a fighter and a paladin.
Leader: 1, a warlord
Striker: 2, a warlock and a ranger.
Controller: 1, a wizard.

Of those, both defenders and the warlord are melee characters, and the other three are ranged characters.

A cleric would be useful, since 7 PCs stretches one warlord's healing a bit thin, and paladins are only mediocre at healing. A rogue would be useful too - we can never have too many damage-dealers, and they're good at short range as well as melee. With three other melee characters, it would be fairly easy to get flanking all the time.

YTBD wrote:

The perversion is in the background, 4e is still new enough (and without all the splatbooks and addons especially FR stuff) that it's hard to come up with a whole lot of broken stuff (at least for lv 1 char).

I'm looking for something more like character class suggestions and choices for powers/abilities.

I'm not sure about brokenness, but when I looked through the Monster Manual races, it seemed like the Bugbear, Drow, and Goblins had interesting potential as rogues.

This is my idea so far. It doesn't quite live up to the weirdness of the other characters. Anyway...

Penelope Pindar is a young and ornery human ranger. Before setting out of her crazy cat woman of a mother’s hovel to…. well, not become a crazy cat woman herself, she was often led by her mother to believe inaccurate things. For example, Penelope’s mother convinced her up until her late teens that male genitalia included teeth. Unfortunately for the young ranger, she found the reality to be slightly more horrifying. She still isn’t quite sure how sex works (among many other things) and would prefer to keep it that way. After all, it’s not very practical unless one wants to have babies – and to Penelope, the idea of caring for another being every moment of every day sounds terrible (unless it’s a cat she’s taking care of, of course). She values the practical. And alone time.

Penelope has much disdain for men. And for most others, too, though one might notice that she has a little more patience when it comes to fellow females. Needless to say, she’s not very personable and prefers to keep to herself. In keeping with trying to attract as little attention as possible, Penelope tries to clothe as much of her body as she can – including her head.

Her motivation for adventuring consists of not wanting to do the domestic thing or ending up like her mother. The reason she’s helping people is mostly because she figures she should. And anyway, if you save someone’s ass or do them a favor, they do tend to forget you’re not a personable or nice individual.



And here is the number stuff. If anything's wrong, blame Shil.

HUMAN RANGER1 – Initiative +8; Speed 6; HP 26 (Bloodied 13); Healing surges/day 8 (6 hp); AC 16 (+2 leather, +4 Dex); Fort 14, Ref 16, Will 12; Longbow +6 (1d10+4); Unaligned; Str 12, Con 14, Dex 18, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 10

Feats: Defensive Mobility, Improved Initiative +1

Special abilities: Fighting Style (archery); Hunter’s Quarry (+1d6 dmg); Prime Shot (+1 to hit target with ranged attack if no ally is closer to it)

Languages: Common, draconic

Skills: Acrobatics +9, Athletics +6, Endurance +7, Nature +6, Perception +6, Stealth +9

Equipment: Leather armor, longbow, longsword, adventurer’s kit, 60 arrows, 13 gp

At-will powers:
Careful Attack – Standard, melee/ranged, Dex +2 vs. AC (Hit: 1d10 damage)
Nimble Strike – Standard, ranged, Special (shift 1 square before or after you attack), Dex vs. AC (Hit: 1d10+4 damage)
Twin Strike – Standard, ranged weapon, 2 attacks, Dex vs. AC (Hit: 1d10 damage)

Encounter powers:
Evasive Strike – Standard, ranged, Special (shift 2 squares before or after attack), Dex vs. AC (Hit: 2d10+4 damage)

Daily powers:
Split the Tree – Standard, ranged, Dex vs. AC, roll attacks vs. two targets within 3 squares of each other and use the best roll vs. both targets (Hit: 2d10+4 damage)

Penelope wrote:

Before setting out of her crazy cat woman of a mother’s hovel to…. well, not become a crazy cat woman herself

That might be the best reason for becoming an adventurer I've ever seen.

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She still isn’t quite sure how sex works...

Then she'll fit right in with this bunch of characters.

Mallus wrote:

Then she'll fit right in with this bunch of characters.

It's not just adventuring, it's group therapy!

gridley wrote:

It's not just adventuring, it's group therapy!

"Is that man in noble's garb their patron?"
"No, their psychiatrist".

gridley wrote:

It's not just adventuring, it's group therapy!

That's what the players (and DMs) generally need after a session in this group, but that does make sense IC too.

Hmm - maybe that's what my Warlord needs to be - a motivational speaker spewing pop psychology at the other PCs. "It's just a flesh wound! It's all in your mind! Repeat after me, 'I think I can! I think I can!'"

Atlatl Jones wrote:

Defender: 2, a fighter and a paladin.
Leader: 1, a warlord
Striker: 2, a warlock and a ranger.
Controller: 1, a wizard.

Of those, both defenders and the warlord are melee characters, and the other three are ranged characters.

A cleric would be useful, since 7 PCs stretches one warlord's healing a bit thin, and paladins are only mediocre at healing. A rogue would be useful too - we can never have too many damage-dealers, and they're good at short range as well as melee. With three other melee characters, it would be fairly easy to get flanking all the time.

I think the cleric's going to be by far the most helpful, since (I think) my warlord and Scott's paladin can provide 4 healing surges worth of healing per encounter, and that's not much in a group this size. Also, John C, when not DMing, is going to be running a rogue, in which case either the warlock or the paladin will be unavailable with Scott or me DMing.

Rogue/Wizard in all likelihood...but be that as it may. Don't feel obliged to play a cleric or NOT play a Rogue, John. We'll muddle through, one way or another.

Hell, I can always play a Cleric myself, instead of the homicidal gnome rogue. Abstemious Maul, priest of the Dog and in no way bitter about that fact.

Rolzup wrote:

Rogue/Wizard in all likelihood...but be that as it may.

Multiclassing in 4e? You masochist, you!

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Don't feel obliged to play a cleric or NOT play a Rogue, John. We'll muddle through, one way or another.

True. If the PCs in the CITY game can survive (barely), this group should definitely be able to.

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Hell, I can always play a Cleric myself, instead of the homicidal gnome rogue. Abstemious Maul, priest of the Dog and in no way bitter about that fact.

AKA, the Pooperscooper?

I'll do the cleric. 4 healing surges/battle is not even close to enough. Especially when the Cleric can do it at least once a round.

shilsen wrote:

Hmm - maybe that's what my Warlord needs to be - a motivational speaker spewing pop psychology at the other PCs.

BTW shil. I love this idea. He can be the best-selling author of such disreputable pamphlets as "Release your Inner Legion", "The Power of Valorous Thinking", and "How to Win Friends and Crush Your Enemies, See them Driven Before You, and Hear the Lamentations of their Women".

Really, the port needs a huckster motivational speaker.

YTBD wrote:

I'll do the cleric. 4 healing surges/battle is not even close to enough. Especially when the Cleric can do it at least once a round.

Aw come on, you of all people should be accustomed to the joys of unstanched bleeding...

Mallus wrote:

shilsen wrote:

Hmm - maybe that's what my Warlord needs to be - a motivational speaker spewing pop psychology at the other PCs.

BTW shil. I love this idea. He can be the best-selling author of such disreputable pamphlets as "Release you Inner Legion", "The Power of Valorous Thinking", and "How to Win Friends and Crush Your Enemies, See them Driven Before You, and Hear the Lamentations of their Women".

Really, the port needs a huckster motivational speaker.

Oh yeah. "Fighters are from Mars, Wizards are from Jupiter." "The Seven Habits of Highly Lethal People" and, of course, "Tuesdays with Grabthar."

The funny thing is that my character would fall for his platitudes hook line and sinker. He's a bit naive that way. If I could have given him an 8 Int, I would have.

Atlatl Jones wrote:

"The Seven Habits of Highly Lethal People"

Bravo!

In view of the horrible taste shown by those of you actually liking the motivational speaker, here's my PC:

What’s in a name? To Captain Artichoke – everything. The son of a greengrocer with a sadly literal name and a woman with an unfortunate liking for military men, Captain spent much of his early life trying to explain what his first name was and why (“No, just Captain! Not Captain anything! Yes, I know!”). Eventually, just as his mother had hoped, he ended up joining the Port’s military. Unfortunately, being called Private Captain Artichoke or Sergeant Captain Artichoke wasn’t any more pleasurable, and Captain quit the service well before reaching the rank of his name.

A couple of positive things that Captain did discover in the military were an aptitude for tactics and an ability to lead soldiers to be better than they naturally were. Once he was back on the streets, he decided to try and make some money off these skills, delivering lectures regarding teamwork and character-building as well as printing a series of pamphlets (“The Seven Habits of Highly Lethal People”, “How to Win Friends and Crush Your Enemies, See them Driven Before You, and Hear the Lamentation of their Women”, etc). After a little initial success, Captain discovered that nobody was really that interested in his theories, especially once they had learned his name.

After some grousing and drinking, Captain then came up with a brilliant (or so it seemed at the time) plan. He would prove the efficacy of his methods, goddammit! And he would do so by collecting a band of relatively inexperienced warriors and forming them into the greatest band of heroes the Port has ever seen. Over the next few weeks Captain scoured the bars and taverns and seedier parts of town for appropriate candidates. Unfortunately, what he found were the other PCs. The rest is history … or hopefully soon will be.

Captain, which is what he insists everyone call him, though the other members of the Just Us League have a distressing habit of referring to him as Arty, is a tall and burly man with a bit of a gut and a neat moustache. Having lost most of his hair prematurely, he looks a bit older than his actual age, which is somewhere in the late forties (note: think Dr. Phil in chainmail). He spends most of his time at the headquarters of the Just Us League attempting (usually vainly) to train the others into a cohesive fighting force or looking for appropriate jobs for them. Though possessing a fair sense of humor, the combination of dealing with the group he has assembled and everything that results from his name has led to him being a little gruffer than he might otherwise be. A capable combatant, he prefers to fight with a sword and a distinctive disc-shaped shield with a star on it. Captain is actually an excellent tactician, though perhaps not as good as he would like others to think he is, and convinced that he can make the Just Us League utterly awesome. Someday. Maybe.

A question for the DM(s):

I found an article in issue 364 of Dragon magazine containing some illusion spells for the 4E wizard. Many of them would fit quite well with my character concept, as I see him taking a particularly cruel delight in psychic intrusions.

Would it be kosher if I used them?

The PDF of the issue can be downloaded for free here: http://www.wizards.com/files/364_Dragon.pdf (Note: this download contains the errata'd version of the spells; the individual article download still has a few mistakes in it.)

Here are the individual spells I was considering:

Spoiler:

shilsen wrote:

(note: think Dr. Phil in chainmail)

Awesome!

Mallus wrote:

shilsen wrote:

(note: think Dr. Phil in chainmail)

Awesome!

Thank/Blame Amber. It was her idea, mainly because she hates the man.

shilsen wrote:

(Dr. Phil in chainmail)

"I want to help you... help yourself... make this saving throw!"

"So you've multiclassed into bard. How's that working out for you?"

gridley wrote:

A question for the DM(s):

I found an article in issue 364 of Dragon magazine containing some illusion spells for the 4E wizard. Many of them would fit quite well with my character concept, as I see him taking a particularly cruel delight in psychic intrusions.

Would it be kosher if I used them?

Looks fine to me. I'd personally rather not allow in too much non-core stuff early on, since we're all picking up the system right now, but these ones look just fine. Anyway, I think John C is/should be the final arbiter, since I think he's going to end up as primary DM for this campaign, with Scott and me sometimes filling in.

BTW, Steve, I think your Fort/Ref/Will on your PC sheet are all too high by 1. I presume it's because of the Human Perseverance feat, which gives you a +1 feat bonus to saving throws. In 4e, Fort/Ref/Will are defenses (like AC), not saves. Human Perseverance helps with saves, which occur vs. ongoing effects and vs. death. It's still a damn good feat, since it raises your chances of making each save by 5% and also means that when down and dying you pop up to 25% health with a roll of a 19-20 on d20.