Stradia: Gathering Storm Ch. 2 Signups/Discussion
 

To any interested, signups will be re-opening for Stradia in the coming chapter. We had three quick drop outs in Chapter 1, so that leaves room for...three, maximum of five new people to join the adventure.

Things you absolutely must do and several you should do before you consider joining:

A) Must be able to type coherently and effectively, with proper utilization of grammar and capitalization.

B) Read Chapter 1. Not only so you know what's happening, but so you know how to measure the power of your character according to the acts/skills of the Chapter 1 characters.

C) Fill out your character sheet. I'm pasting the basic information from the Chapter 1 Sign-ups below:

Character Sheet

Name:

Age:

Race: Human, Dwarf, or Elf ONLY!

Appearance:

Personality:

Bio: If you require extra information about the world, post your questions if its very general, or send me a PM if its very specific.

Equipment: Clothes, travelling supplies, weapons, armor. May also include things like mounts (ponies and horses only, please). These are probably integrated into your appearance, but if you need to be specific about what kind of armor or weapon you use, etc.

Skills: Think of this as your PCs "Level." It will act as the guideline for how much prowess you possess in different areas. You have 4 skill points, allocate them all into the two tiers: Physical and Magical. Physical is divided into Melee and Ranged, and Magical is divided into the schools described above.


Chapter 1 Sign-up Information, for reference

Type/Era: Swords and Magic Fantasy

Stradia

The continent has had a long history of tension. Two divided factions, the Kensurian people and the Venurian people, have lived separately for centuries. The boundaries separating them have been both physical and mental, anything from economical disputes to racism. All-out war has been rare, and the border which divides the continent in two is clear-cut.

Kenshuria Faction

It's people occupy the central and southern areas of the particularly massive continent, Stradia. Small hamlets and villages are scattered throughout the lightly forested areas of the northern borderlands and the rolling plains of the southwards. The Kenshuria are a relatively peaceful people, their only armies are stationed at the two largest cities in the realm: Kenshura, the capital city, and Midgaard, the midpoint of Kenshurian territory. Commoners stick to longheld religious traditions; Monk and temple life is both daily and normal here. The Kenshurians typically worship Avelia, the God of Light, and Bahamut, the God of Dragons.

Venuria Faction

They inhabit the northernmost regions of Stradia. A great forest serves as the border between the lumber towns of Kenshuria and southernmost realm of Venurian territory. While the Venurian people do stay isolated, they have shown militaristic, sometimes savage behaviour when the time came. The strength of their economy and military is almost completely unknown by the Kenshurians. If they worship Gods at all, they are obscure or exotic.

Races of Stradia

In order of population from highest to lowest: Human, Troll, Dwarf, Gargoyle, Elf, Dragonnel.

Troll, Gargoyle, and Dragonnel are NPC only!

Trolls: Ranging from six and a half to seven and a half feet tall, trolls are naturally muscular and bulky. They are always used for manual labour or as grunts in the military, since they are not intellectual enough to learn academic or mental professions. They are immensely strong, and very fast during their charge, but they lack agility. Trolls commonly use greatswords, greataxes, and large double weapons. They will sometimes use a crossbow, but they're a lousy shot.

Gargoyles: Ranging anywhere from seven to ten feet in height, gargoyles are the largest known sentient creatures on Stradia. Due to their natural size and prowess, they are excellent warriors. Their mental capabilities are as good as any human, dwarf, or elf, so magicians are also a possibility. Gargoyles have tails for balance, but possess only partial flight abilities due to their stubby wings. They can take off, hover, and glide for short periods. Gargoyles like to skewer their prey with spears, lances, and other polearms. They are both strong and agile.

Dragonnel: Any priest of Kenshuria would tell you, "They are a gift from Bahamut." They are small, bipedal dragons. Ranging anywhere from 6 to 9 feet in height, they are menacing to look upon. Glinting scales, deadly claws, massive wings, and muscular tails. Most dragonnels live a docile, peaceful life, despite these formidable traits. Dragonnels are very rare, sacred creatures who are virtually worshipped by Kenshurians.


Magic in Stradia

Magic is common in Stradia. It is used to craft items, objects, even buildings. It is used to improve crops and as entertainment. It is even used in combat. Mastering magic is a lifelong task which few ever complete. Just learning the basics requires years of intense mental training. There is no explanation for the origin of magic, it is as real in Stradia as the earth beneath one's feet. Priests will tell you it is the "power of the soul" which fuels magic, they might be right.

Not only is magic hard to learn, it is physically and mentally draining. This is particularly why combat magicians are so rare, often times the amount of power needed to slay another being is enough to do the magician in. Through time, however, more and more humans, dwarves, and elves are being born with a natural knack for learning magic. No one knows why.

Magic has been categorized into several different schools. There are no actual boundaries within magic, it is simply a means of classification for the people of Stradia.

Elementalism: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. The manipulation, creation, and control of these naturally occurring elements. This can include anything from fireballs, tornados, whirlpools, etc.

Conjuration: Conjurers can create objects, small or large, depending on their skill level. They have been known to summon entire beings forth, able to control them at will. Many conjurers dabble in Elementalism, since this often leads to the ability to summon forth Elementals.

Enchantment: Enchanters can temporarily change objects or persons, bending them as their will would command. Enchanters may be able to make a sword sharper than any smith ever could. But their key strength lies in the ability to take control of other people's mind's temporarily.

Healing: While this form of magic may be tied in with any of the others schools, it has such an important place in society, it was given its own classification. A healer can cure venoms, stop diseases, and close wounds with life-giving magic. Typically, their magic only heals organic damage.

Name: Jacen Lors

Age: 120

Race: elf

Appearance: 5'10" with straight shoulder length brown hair, slender with some muscles,dark blue eyes the colour of twilight, and a nose that is slightly off-center as if it were broken once.He wears a plain white shirt with a dark brown leather vest over it, black leather pants, worn leather boots and a long brown cloak (think Jedi style cloak).He carries many scars upon his body from encounters he has had during his journeys. The most noticable is the scar on his face, running from his forehead over his right eye and down to his chin on the same side, a token from a bandit who got to close.

Personality:quiet and reserved, Jacen tends to keep to himself a lot. He is extremely calm when it comes to magical combat, but if it requires him to use melee combat, he can become reckless due to his lack of training in physical combat.

Bio:Jacen was orphaned as baby. Never knowing this, he grew up under the care of a travelling elven merchant and his family. Years later, when Jacen had grown up, in one of the villages they were passing through, they came across a fellow traveller, an old man gifted in the magical arts. Upon seeing Jacen, the old man sensed this young elfs true potential for magic. Deciding to leave his family to train under this strange man, his father felt it was time that Jacen learn the truth about his real parents, how they were found burned to death in their home yet he was untouched, and how the merchant decided to take care and raise him. With a heavy heart, Jacen said his good-byes and left with the venerable wizard. Under this wizards tutelage, Jacen quickly learned to wield the powers of elementalism and became an adept at it. One night, after several years had passed, a mysterious fire broke out that clamed the life of his teacher. Jacen, heartbroken, took up his former masters staff and has spent the rest of his life since then wandering the world in an attempt to increase his powers and learn the cause of the fires that claimed his parents, and then his teachers life. He has rarely spoken since the dreaded night.More recently his journey has brought him to the village of Wistria, where he has opted to stay and help protect them from the Venurian forces as best he can.

Equipment:Leather gauntlets with metal plating on the back cover his hands. His weapons are a wizards staff(quaterstaff) covered in archaic runes and a simple dagger for everyday use.

Skills: magic: elementalism IV




Question, how powerful would my spells be with 4 elementalism?
Any suggestions would be kindly accepted.

For all the current PCs who participated in chapter one:

Is everyone sticking around for the next/following chapters? It would be handy to know if anyone needs to drop out. If that happens to be the case, I'll just take NPC control, etc etc (Hmmm, I do that anyway, don't I?:)).

Onto the boss battle. Chances are it'll be structured like the latter part of Chapter One, since the opponents are quite a bit stronger, they're focused on the party with no other distractions (and vice versa), and well, it would be boring otherwise to have "I stab the gargoyle bodyguard, it dies...then I stab the second one! Sucker!"

I'll specify the stats of the High Priest and of the gargoyles when I create the Ch. 2 thread. In the meantime, can we do a quick roll call? Just saying your character is still in and, if you'd like, what his/her skills are again (for easy reference).

Nathano:

Your character looks satisfactory, just remember, if you're going to play a "silent" character, be willing to add either more description or more thoughts in your posts.

As for your questions about spell power with IV Elementalism, well, you're mostly looking at greater ease in casting time and burden on your body. If you read Chapter 1, you'll see two characters have a I (or so) in Elementalism. At that level they were able to set arrowheads on fire with very little trouble, but casting a fireball took a little more time and carried a heavier toll. The growth is basically linear for magic, you're four fold stronger than someone with Elementalism I. "Stronger" means you can cast them faster (making it a viable choice in the heat of battle), you can cast them more times without becoming fatigued, and of course, they're just plain stronger!

Keeping the linear idea, you could make a fireball that's four times larger or more explosive than, say, Jim (or was it Rini, argh;)), but it would tire you as much as it tired that character. Of course, fireballs are boring, this is elementalism, be creative, you have lots of options! Also remember you aren't a walking mana reserve, until quite a bit of "leveling up" happens, it's impossible to hurl spells left and right 20 times without passing out. This means two things: a) Be prepared to resort to melee combat and b) Choose your spells wisely and cast strategically.

Name: Malice Heir

Age: 112

Race: Elven

Appearance: He stands tall at 6' that wear a large cloak that covers the whole body, it is colored black that gives off a shine. Underneath he wears a dark protective leather shirt, a pair of brown leather boots. His eyes shift colors from time to time, normally they stay adjusted to the color red. His hair is long reaching his shoulders that is colored hazel.

Personality: Serious and talkative, normally to find out information that he has not yet obtained. When met with a stranger, his hand is always held onto his sword for precautious matters.

Bio: He was raised inside a forest, nurtured by the nature and the spirit within it. He is able to recall an image from long ago, a faint picture of a lady that has been bothering him since.

Equipment: He wears a leather shirt, the fabric it is made from was compressed with iron compound to increase defensive structure. He has a long sword kept under his cloak, and he has a necklace with an orb that resonate for unknown reasons.

Skills: Elementalism I - Melee- III

Durin is still in... dwarf stone mason with
Melee IIII

Raenor Hunt is in. Melee II, Ranged II.

Elmric Bremith is still in.

Melee II
Healing II

Aieris Adelphie is still in.

And still quite wet.

Ranged 3, Elementalism 1.

my character is not going to be pure silent, he is just the type that does not talk unless he feels it is really important for him to say anything.

for a better idea of what he looks like think of Link(avatar pic) but with the features i've said. He also has a scar running from his hairline over his right eye down to his chin on the same side.

Your character looks fairly good Antolone, but it still needs some fine-tuning. Of course, I'll ask random questions in an attempt to help you flesh him out a little more. The answers to the questions can be taken directly as add-ons or worked in as you see fit.

Name: Your name is Malice? Hm...

Bio: What forest? By territory, are you Kenshurian or Venurian? You were born and raised in a forest, but you're over a century old, so you must have other experiences? (Such as where you learned to be such a good swordsman, where you got the special leather vest, the amulet, etc). Most importantly, what brought you out of the forest and out into the other lands of Stradia? What brings you to Kenshuria? And most recently, what brings you to the northern villages where the invasion is happening?

Everything else is satisfactory. Mainly the bio needed some sprucing up.

You could integrate those descriptions into your appearance (the analogy and the scar). How did you get such a big scar? That could go into your bio unless the reason is secret for some reason.

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Chapter 2 will be starting VERY soon. We're starting right where Chapter 1 ended, which means Nathano and Antolone (if you're sticking with this) may not actually begin for a little while. I'll try to set it up so you can start posting near the beginning of the chapter, but you won't be with the party until...well...until you guys meet up.

New people, you'll be starting in the village of Wistria, a tiny farming village south of the Gole region. It's plopped somewhere in the middle of the massive rolling plains that is central Kenshuria, and continuing further south will take you to more villages and eventually Midgaard. I don't really mind what your reason is for being in Wistria, but the best and most common would be because you're there to protect Kenshuria from invasion, or you're there to fight, and you just happen to be helping Kenshuria at the same time.