D&D 4e, The Beast of a Thousand Knives (Full)

[Kowsauni]

Hey everyone, this is a one-shot I've run before but never on here. It's pretty short but it actually ties into another, much larger, story, so I figured I'd take a shot at running it on here. If everyone likes it, I might run more campaigns from the story afterward.

I would prefer 4 players, but will accept up to 5 and will start it running as soon as I have 3. I expect players who join this game to be active. I would like to see at least one post per day with a minimum of at least a post from each person every couple days. For combat, you have 24 hours to take your turn, otherwise it will be skipped or your character will be controlled by me for that turn. If you have stuff going on IRL that prevents you from meeting these requirements, please let me know.

[ Character Sheets ]

1] Revenge
2] Kuori
3] Gloom
4] Adrik Ducan
5]Hakka

[ Setting Information/Background ]
Lupa is a small farming community located between the coast and a large dense forest known as the Tapana Woods. The town's chief exports are fruits from their numerous orchards and livestock from the surrounding ranches. The people here live simple, laid back lives in tune to the seasons of the year. They are also very superstitious and distrust the forest and the ocean. The townsfolk chiefly worship Pelor and have a church erected to him in the town square. The population is mostly human with the second largest group being dwarves. There is also a sizable community of halflings and a smattering of other races living throughout the town. People here are generally friendly to outsiders but tend to regard the more monstrous races of the world with suspicion.


[ Game Introduction/Plot ]
Ranchers in the farming town of Lupa have begun to complain about cattle disappearing into the night. Strange happenings have also been reported at the outskirts of town. Townsfolk complain of strange noises in the night, similar to dozens of little knives being stabbed into the outsides of their homes. Those brave enough to venture out into darkness have found nothing, but in the following mornings small puncture marks have been found in the sides of these houses. Whispers have spread of a strange monster haunting the town. The fearful townsfolk have begun to dub it “The Beast of a Thousand Knives” and have offered up a bounty to anyone who can solve this mystery and put an end to the strange happenings in the town.


[ Character Creation ]

Available Sources: Anything official; if I can build it in the character builder it goes.
Banned Resources: Nothing homebrew.

ECL: Characters begin at level 4.
Wealth: One Lvl 5 item, one Lvl 4 item, one 1vl 3 item, 680gp
Races: No Changelings, no Pixies—all other races are okay.
Ability Scores: 20 point buy OR roll 4d6 and drop the lowest. If you choose to roll, you can attempt one re-roll if you don't like your first roll. At this point, you can't go back to using your first roll. If you're unhappy with your second roll result, you may use point buy instead.
Alignments: No evil of any kind.
Pantheon: Any non-evil.
Backgrounds: Any.
Themes: Any.  

[Rain Yupa]

Hnn... I haven't played in so long, I kind of want to, but work exhaustion has made my credibility unreliable, I think. I'm not sure if I'd be welcome to participate. Thoughts?

Honestly, even if a bunch of games cropped up, I wouldn't join any more than one, until I wrangle in all my IRL responsibilities. Pretty much all work (and the times I'm home, is usually me sitting there in a daze).  

[Kowsauni]

I might be able to make an exception for you, Rain. Do you think you will be able to manage to post at least once every two or three days? What I want to try and avoid is someone is who is going to post once a week, or lose interest after a few weeks and never post again. It's a short one-shot so I'm hoping to at least get to the end of it; on tabletop it would probably only take an evening to get through.  

[Rain Yupa]

As my schedule is now, the only day I can't guarantee a post is Thursday (I normally don't get home til 10pm or later, I head out after work to do stuff that day). Any other day should be fine, barring things coming up, which is truly few and far between for me.

Managing one character versus managing DM duties are entirely different beasts sweatdrop

Part of the reason why I decided to say something at all was because of the short-termness of it; even if it's not "working" well for me, I think I'd have the wherewithal to see a short-term game to the end, at least.  

[Rain Yupa]

Well, being a Thursday night and me getting home late, I'm actually past due for bed, so I'll work on things tomorrow.

I'm completely willing to pass up a slot to others of course, due to the sketchiness of my schedule. So if 4 people throw down in the next day, I'm not going to sweat it in the least.

Goodnight!  

[Kowsauni]

Alright cool, then I think you should be fine. Now I'm off to bed.  

[Rain Yupa]

Sneaking on during lunch at work! Sshh, don't tell!  

[Rain Yupa]

Other half  

[Rain Yupa]

3, 2, 4, 4 = 11
6, 5, 3, 6 = 17
4, 5, 4, 4 = 13
1, 1, 2, 5 = 8
6, 2, 4, 3 = 13
1, 1, 3, 4 = 8

... I don't think a 17 is worth 2 8's sweatdrop Even standard array has a bigger total bonus than this (IIRC, +7 net?)

Attempt # 2 / 2  

[Rain Yupa]

Eh, not looking too good...  

[Rain Yupa]

1, 2, 5, 1 = 8
2, 3, 4, 4 = 11
4, 1, 6, 6 = 16
5, 4, 3, 5 = 14
5, 1, 5, 3 = 13
4, 4, 3, 6 = 14

That I'll happily take. Comes out to a net of +7 too, so I'm kind of on the mark there, anyways. I think it's even a smidge over standard point buy?

I was thinking Runepriest (Leader type), because I don't think I've ever seen anyone in the guild play one except for me (and that was a replacement PC right before a TPK happened). Not sure the race yet. I'm thinking Half-Elf (His father is a traveling elf warrior, stayed briefly with the character's mother then departing again, leaving him a sealed book for when he came of age that taught him about runes); Deva (Re-introduces runes into the land with each reincarnation!); Tiefling (Bet you can't guess where he got his runes from!)... maybe Eladrin too, no backstory thought of yet.

Also, I wouldn't mind giving any other Divine class a whirl, I never play those. Cleric (Leader), Paladin (Defender), Avenger (Striker)... probably not Invoker (Controller) for a smaller game like this, plus I've played one or two before. But right now, leaning Runepriest unless someone else throws out something that might make me change my mind.  

[Lord of the Vine]

Rain Yupa

1, 2, 5, 1 = 8
2, 3, 4, 4 = 11
4, 1, 6, 6 = 16
5, 4, 3, 5 = 14
5, 1, 5, 3 = 13
4, 4, 3, 6 = 14

That I'll happily take. Comes out to a net of +7 too, so I'm kind of on the mark there, anyways. I think it's even a smidge over standard point buy?

I was thinking Runepriest (Leader type), because I don't think I've ever seen anyone in the guild play one except for me (and that was a replacement PC right before a TPK happened). Not sure the race yet. I'm thinking Half-Elf (His father is a traveling elf warrior, stayed briefly with the character's mother then departing again, leaving him a sealed book for when he came of age that taught him about runes); Deva (Re-introduces runes into the land with each reincarnation!); Tiefling (Bet you can't guess where he got his runes from!)... maybe Eladrin too, no backstory thought of yet.

Also, I wouldn't mind giving any other Divine class a whirl, I never play those. Cleric (Leader), Paladin (Defender), Avenger (Striker)... probably not Invoker (Controller) for a smaller game like this, plus I've played one or two before. But right now, leaning Runepriest unless someone else throws out something that might make me change my mind.

Aside from Storm Sorcerers, Runepriests are my favorite class. They cover the full spectrum of Striker/Defender/Leader, with a very versatile power option.  

[Kowsauni]

I've only seen a Rune Priest played once and found it underwhelming. Its a bit of a jack of all trades, okay at many things but excellent at none. It also takes a bit of coordination to play as other players need to stand next to the Rune Priest to get the benefit of his auras. Thirdly it has a lot of those sometimes frustrating skills that can be cast on your allies but never on your self. The player playing the rune priest switch to playing a cleric after a few sessions.

But don't let me discourage you. It definitely is a unique class, and thematically its pretty cool. I can assure you min-maxing is not necessary to complete the story. If you have a cool idea for a character, go for it.  

[Rain Yupa]

After looking at the Runepriest, I decided to pass for now, due to the possible party size of 3; it strikes me as a class that has more to offer with more allies. Instead, I am playing a Paladin. Specifically, a Tiefling Paladin named Revenge.

Woooooooooo!  

[Rain Yupa]

Here's the nitty gritty of Revenge. Backstory forthcoming (I've got to go to bed!).

EDIT 1/31: Updated with backstory, AND defenses!