Tuesday 18 November 2008

Black Sails: the Hoi Polloi, Part I

A quick preview of one of the more important NPCs of my Black Sails adventure.

Matthias Aldred
Male Thurian
Barrister – Dorne & Fergurn Barristers and Imports
Appearance: An aging and pale Thurian who has long since lost most of his hair and that which remains is pure white. He dresses smartly and is often seen with a pair of half-moon spectacles perched on his face.

A secret Thamarite and expert middleman, Matthias Aldred is not a man to be underestimated in his twilight years. He serves the Shroud Thamarite sept – of which he is a lay member – and is often employed as a go-between for the sept and its unwitting agents. It is in his capacity as a barrister and his reputation on handling hired groups that Professor Sunbright contacted Aldred to gather the PCs and begin the search for the lost dirgenmast.

Aldred spends most of his time in the offices of Dorne & Fergurn Barristers and Imports on Bull’s Island where he is well protected by the minions of High Captain Riordan. Not only are the premises protected by Riordan’s finest but Aldred is always accompanied by Logrul the Dogface, a heavily scarred ogrun bodyguard who has sworn his oath of service to the barrister. Aldred’s brand of practical paranoia means he never leaves the offices without his bodyguard, though he will often send Logrul out on specific errands – such as finding a certain person – while he is safely ensconced in his office.

The barrister has been ordered by his superiors in the Shroud to keep an eye on the results of Sunbright’s work in case anything that would interest the sept arises.

Sunday 16 November 2008

NQ 16!

I just obtained a copy of No Quarter 16! Huzzah! Having perused the articles now it looks like the Amethyst Rose gun mages will be the dexterity specialists while the Arcane Tempest will be the charisma specialists. I'll start making some notes this week on possible paragon path powers and see what some of the other 4e experts around here think.

What do these different foci mean to each paragon path? Well the Amethyst Rose gun mages are going to get powers that let them move around, give themselves bonuses or cause debilitating effects - they focused on impressive gun play rather than sheer magical power. Amethyst Rose gun mages will be more about giving themselves bonuses than doing bad things to their targets.

The Arcane Tempest however are much more blatant, they're going to get more magical effects and more things that directly hurt their opponents. Expect many things like pushes, slides, knockdowns and the like. Tempest gun mages will be about power.

The last paragon path has yet to get a name that I like - though most people just call it Self-Tutored or Self-Taught, I'm trying to find something fancier and cooler sounding. This last path will focus on self-protection, with defensive bonuses and shifting being the key abilities of note.

Holy Crap, the Internet!

Behold the happy dance! I once again have real access to the internet on a real computer instead of using my iPhone or my sister's iBook to try to do any work. I've moved back out of my sister's house at last and now flatshare with a bunch of other guys (one of whom cannot stop talking about COD 4 and 5, really, that's all he talks about).

4e news... alas, there is none. The guys at the Gobbernomicon have been busy bees in my absence and there's a lot more work there. I'd recommend a visit there if you have any 4e related queries or requests.

I've started to rewrite Black Sails so that the first adventure provides a stronger starting point for the PCs. Now that I've been to my first Warmachine/Hordes tournament (I did get Best of Mercs with my Magnus list - HUZZAH!) I've now met a monkeyload of people interested in playing some IKRPG. It also provides me with an abundance of people who own the right miniatures for every encounter.