Saturday, January 18, 2014

[Urbis] Explorers of the Cold Frontier, Part I

Yesterday was the very first session of the Cold Frontier campaign, so let's have a first look at the player characters! Like I said, we are using GURPS for the campaign, so while I won't post the full character sheets here the descriptions will reflect that.

Lorrak is a half-gnome, half-halfling - the result of a botched attempt of a halfling archmage to reincarnate himself into a new body. Said archmage now haunts his dreams and serves as a teacher of all things supernatural, although Lorrak can tap into him once a day for a short-time power boost. So far, he has learned some Earth, Fire, Knowledge, and Movement spells, with some minor spells in the Food, Illusion, Light, Plant, and Water spells, and even one basic Necromancy spell (Death Vision). Among his more mundane abilities he is good at organizing things, and has a decent knowledge of surveying and cartography, as well as prospecting. His main combat tactics seem to involve wearing a shield and casting Flame Jet or Winged Knife. To keep up with the rest of the group, he rides a Siebenbund Riding Goat named "Betsy".

GURPS characters are also strongly defined by their Disadvantages, so let's have a look at those. He has a Sense of Duty to the group and to his family... which happens to be those Guldenbergs, who consider him to be an embarrassment. This also explains his Enemy (Watcher) disadvantage, which means that someone will spy on him and report his activities. Initially, this will be Gustav Grollbergen, the ever-smiling barkeeper from the Trade Outpost. Lorrak also has Xenophilia, which means he is interested in meeting strange new intelligent species and talking to them, at least initially assuming that they are non-hostile. On the other hand, he is also intolerant against halflings due to his... complicated family history. Finally, he has Weirdness Magnet, which means that if anything weird happens to the group it will happen to him first and foremost - resulting in his... Mothman connection.

Tasil is a half-elf con man/never-do-well who originally had a large inheritance but squandered it all and finally had to leave Dartmouth in a hurry over an affair with the wrong woman (whose husband objected). He talked his way into the expedition... it seemed like a good idea at the time. He is attractive, charismatic, has a beautiful voice, and really understands other people (the Empathy advantage). He is also a decent mage - specializing in illusion magic, but also having a good smattering of elemental and movement spells.

As for his Disadvantages, he is a Compulsive Gambler and party man, Curious, and has a Sense of Duty. He also suffers from Post-Combat Shakes - he isn't really suited to the rigors of the Wild yet (and slows the party down due to lack of Hiking skill).

Rraka Weisstatz ("White Paw") is a catfolk Holy Warrior of the Silver Lady. She is good at scouting, and she fights with her claws - which are magically enhanced thanks to her patron deity. As for her Disadvantages, she is Curious, Easy to Read (that is, very bad at bluffing or lying), a Light Sleeper, a Klutz, Colorblind, and eats about twice as much as a normal human, thanks in part to her Gigantism. Like all Catfolk, she is Impulsive, Lazy, and is afraid of open water. Finally, she has a Sense of Duty to the Faerie Courts of Avareen where she was raised, though this may eventually transfer to the group depending on how the conflicts of interest develop...

As Saß is a ranger of the nagaji snake folk who live in the far southwestern jungles on the other end of the world. His home clan was subjugated by the Far Shores Trading Company when they decided to build opium plantations there. As Saß decided to take revenge on the Company by infiltrating them from within, which none of his clan mates know - to them he is a traitor, and in fact some decided to pursue him to the ends of the world to punish him (the Enemy disadvantage). He is very deadly while wielding one sword in each hand, and can sense the area surrounding him with his snake-like tongue, allowing him to operate in complete darkness (though he cannot speak while doing so). His main problem during the trip are supplies - he is only able to digest raw meat.

Finally, Pater Markus is a hobgoblin priest of Argannon. He served as a chaplain with the Rotkappen, a famous hobgoblin mercenary unit. His spell selection is short, but useful - healing spells (of course) as well as Sunlight, Sunbolt, and Turn Zombie (all of which have seen use during the first session). In melee, he fights with a Dwarven War Staff which he can change between a Quarterstaff and a Three Section Staff configuration. Due to his military service he lacks an eye and has a bad back. He also still eats the same amount of food as in his active military days, despite being older and slower. From his old unit he also took a goblin sapper named Nob with him (an NPC Ally) who serves as his servant and cook (Nob excels at Goblin cuisine, which sadly isn't appreciated as much by others in the party). Nob prefers to shirk both work and danger whenever he can get away with it, and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

Next: What have our heroes been up to in the first session?


Note: A list of all Urbis-related posts can be found here.

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