Leather Coats Avengers Recruitment

“We Seek the Mortal Paladin/Wizard Named Rextugenous!”

The dock hands trembled as they could barely discern from a distance the 4 macabre undead, clad in Leather Coats, slowly drifting in a long boat riddled with arrows and bolts.

They could barely view the name of the vessel, 'The Leather Coats', that had floated down the Saline River on its way to the Bay of Imboden, as the first rays of sunlight greeted the coastal town of Sherrill.

The dock hands cringed at the eerie sight of the inhabitants of The Leather Coats as one of them croaked, “Rextugenous would be a mortal of 23 summers … wearing a Leather Coat such as we!”

One brave soul summoned the courage to reply, “The only Rextugenous we know that fits that description is the Bard who frequents 'The Twisted Blade'.”

The captain of The Leather Coats long boat stretched a decaying hand in the direction of the sleepy coastal town and croaked, “The Paladin/Wizard we seek does fancy himself a Bard … Bring Rextugenous to us now … only a fellow Leather Coat such as he has the ability to put the souls of his former Leather Coats comrades at peace!”

The dock hands hesitated, unsure of what to do?

“We dare not leave the deck of this long boat,” croaked another, “for if we set foot on your land we may be unable to curb the unholy desires of the curse that has been placed upon us!”

Castle Keeper Note
So begins the opening act of the epic tale of the Leather Coats Avengers, utilizing the Castles & Crusades Siege Engine System.

Plans are for an Epic Campaign of from 3 to 5 players (+ the Rextugenous character that I will be playing as the Castle Keeper). I will consider a larger party dependent upon interest in participating in this adventure.

Characters will be new arrivals at The Twisted Blade who are seeking adventure and fortune. They are intrigued by Rextugenous and his quest to Avenge his fellow Leather Coats and will accompany him north into regions they are unfamiliar with prior to this adventure.

A Map will be Emailed to each participating player once I have developed the opening story that will be posted in the D&D Game section of the Inn.

Numbers used for the 6 Attributes will be 19-17-15-13-11-9 and will be adjusted for Race Modifiers.

Characters will receive the maximum amount of Hit Points and I will be rolling the dice and determining the outcome of situations based upon your Role Play.

Developing a Background, Character Description and Role Play are the Main Ingredients for this adventure as you need not have an understanding of the Siege Engine System of C&C to participate.

Player Characters will be Level 5 Multi-Class Characters that may include the following (Humans may be 3 Classes and all others are 2 Classes):

The Fighter is a warrior with great prowess on the battlefield.
The Ranger is an extraordinary woodsman and warrior.
The Rogue is a rapscallion and an opportunist.
The Assassin is an expert at killing and eliminating targeted enemies.
The Barbarian draws upon vestigial, primal will in combat.
The Monk conditions his body to withstand the rigors of war and the elements.
The Wizard is a practitioner of powerful arcane magics.
The Illusionist magically distorts the perceptions of others.
The Cleric is avowed to a deity and dispenses divine justice.
The Druid owes allegiance to the elemental powers of the world.
The Knight is a natural leader and strong combatant.
The Paladin is a warrior blessed by divinity, a paragon of good.
The Bard influences others through the power of words.

Any Magical abilities will be channeled through a Wand, Staff or Holy Symbol and will also be influenced and enhanced by the particular deity the character worships.

Alignments
I prefer characters be either Lawful Good, Neutral Good or Chaotic Good

LAWFUL GOOD: Characters of this alignment are dedicated to following the strictures of society, respecting law and order. They act for the benefit of others and society, placing great value on truth, honor and life.

LAWFUL NEUTRAL: Characters of this alignment place primary importance on ultimate order, structure and regulation of behavior. Good and evil are largely irrelevant for characters of this alignment because everything flows from the order of law.

LAWFUL EVIL: Characters of this alignment value structure and order, and they place no limit on attaining it, especially if the goal is to their own benefit. They do not value life or concern for others. Ultimately, they seek to impose their ideals on others through strict regulation.

NEUTRAL GOOD: Characters of this alignment have a healthy respect for both law and freedom, typically choosing a road betwixt the two in order to achieve benefits and mercy for all.

NEUTRAL: Characters of this broad alignment typically believe in a balance between law and chaos, and between good and evil. Some seek to maintain existing social institutions, while others simply wish to keep to themselves. Some neutral characters disdain the perceptions of other sentient beings, finding that truth lies in nature and its animals. Others follow their own code, which changes with the situation, tending to favor those that benefit them the most.

NEUTRAL EVIL: Characters of this alignment mirror those of neutral good, but they typically follow a road that benefits themselves instead of others.

CHAOTIC GOOD: Characters of this alignment view the greatest good as being attainable through freedom and individual liberty. Thus they place primary importance on individuality and liberty of action over that of any law or societal structure.

CHAOTIC NEUTRAL: Characters of this alignment value individual freedom. They have no qualms in achieving it by whatever means necessary, good or other.

CHAOTIC EVIL: Characters of this alignment tend not to value anything, disdaining others and often seeking to destroy for their own selfish reasons. They seek power and the ability to wield it as they see fit.

Classes
FIGHTERS are brave warriors who take up arms to meet their foes in the crucible of battle. Fearless, they don themselves in the accouterments of battle, relying upon their superior martial skills to overcome obstacles.

RANGERS are a lonely breed, expert at surviving in the untrammeled places of the world and devoting themselves to protecting civilization from the depredations and incursions of creatures of evil intent.

ROGUES, rapscallions and the like make their living through nefarious and occasionally dastardly deeds. Living on the ethical edge and spending much of their lives avoiding harsh justice, these fearless villains are found in all walks of life.

ASSASSINS are stealthy and cunning, expert killers who rarely have any motives beyond the collection of payment for a job well rendered. Although not always evil, they are typically utterly indifferent to any suffering and pain they may cause.

BARBARIANS live outside the civilized world. Neither ignorant nor savage, they are, rather, a people who relish freedom, actively despising the urbane for allowing the beliefs of society to codify their behavior.

MONKS are warriors who primarily rely upon the strength of their bodies and will power for survival. They are deadly combatants, having honed their bodies into lethal weapons.

WIZARDS delve into the mysterious worlds of the arcane and wield magic like a weapon of war. They are often possessed of an overwhelming thirst for knowledge and, as often as not, power.

ILLUSIONISTS study the arcane and the nature of man and beast, using powers of oration and sorcery to twist the minds of those around them. They conjure manifestations and dreams, making the unreal real to all but the canniest of observers.

CLERICS are spiritually bound to a deity. They are usually members of religious orders, though some choose to live as wandering hermits. They wield the magic of the divine and, fortified with the armaments of war, become powerful emissaries for their causes.

DRUIDS are called to a primeval spirituality. They turn to the world shaped by nature, and not men, for their guidance and wisdom. Often unconcerned with the needs of man, they simply follow the principles of the natural order.

KNIGHTS are members of warrior-castes. As born leaders, they use their social standing, charisma, gallant actions and honorable codes to set the tone of behavior for those around them. Through their actions, they often inspire people to great deeds.

PALADINS are the holiest of warriors, living lives of purity and good while serving the religious precepts of their deity. They are dreaded by their foes for they serve as the martial arm of religious justice.

BARDS are found in all cultures and societies. Through song, oration and action they inspire men, pass on knowledge of history and tradition and influence the beliefs and behaviors of others.

Attributes
STRENGTH: This attribute reflects physical strength, including the ability to lift or move heavy objects and make powerful attacks. The modifier affects melee combat and damage, and all checks involving strength. Characters can military press 10x their strength and dead lift 15x their strength score.

DEXTERITY: This attribute represents a character’s reflexes, manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination, including the ability to dodge and defend against attacks. The modifier affects armor class, ranged combat and all checks involving dexterity.

CONSTITUTION: This attribute reflects overall health, and also represents a character’s ability to withstand pain, suffer physical damage, avoid fatigue and fight off sickness or poison. The modifier
affects hit points, and it applies to all checks involving constitution.

INTELLIGENCE: This attribute reflects mental aptitude. It represents a character’s ability to learn quickly, apply that learning effectively and use deductive reasoning. The modifier affects the
number of arcane spells a character can cast each day, the number of languages a character can learn and all checks involving intelligence.

WISDOM: This attribute reflects depth of personal experience, the ability to make well-considered decisions or judgments, and represents a spiritual connection to a deity. The modifier affects the number of divine spells that can be cast each day, attempts to turn the undead and all checks involving wisdom.

CHARISMA: This attribute represents strength of attractiveness, willpower, personality, and leadership. It is the degree to which a character is able to influence others. The modifier affects a creature’s loyalty and reactions to the character, the number of undead the character can turn and all checks involving charisma.

Primary and Secondary Attributes
There are two types of attributes: primary and secondary. Primary attributes are those physical or mental abilities in which a character is particularly well trained or very experienced in using.

Secondary attributes are those the character uses with only average skill. A player selects the character’s primary attributes after choosing a class and race.

Human characters have three primary attributes. Demi-human races (dwarf, elf, gnome, half-elf, halfling and half-orc) have only two primary attributes.

Each class has one primary attribute associated with it that cannot be changed. The player selects the others. So, a human character receives one primary attribute designated by the class and the other two
are selected by the player.

If playing a demi-human character, the player can select only one additional primary attribute. For example, the primary attribute for the ranger class is strength. If the player chooses to play an elf, he or she selects one of the five remaining attributes as the other primary attribute.

If it were a human ranger, the player would select two more primary attributes rather than just one. The remaining attributes are considered to be secondary.

Primary Attributes
Strength: Fighter, Ranger

Dexterity: Rogue, Assassin

Constitution: Barbarian, Monk

Intelligence: Wizard, Illusionist

Wisdom: Cleric, Druid

Charisma: Knight, Paladin, Bard

Primary Attributes will automatically be assigned to the Classes you choose for your Multi Class Character and I strongly suggest you assign your 19 to the Primary Attribute for any Wizard, Illusionist, Cleric or Druid spell caster to receive the Maximum Number of Bonus Spells that a 19 will provide your character.

Races
Race Height Weight
Dwarf 3’ 10” to 5’ 2” 140-180
Elf, High 4’ 0” to 6’ 0” 100-135 lbs.
Elf, Twilight (drow) 4’ 0” to 5’ 6” 90-115 lbs.
Elf, Wild 4’ 4” to 5’ 8” 100-125 lbs.
Elf, Wood (gray) 4’ 8” to 6’ 6” 110-165 lbs.
Gnome 3’ 6” to 4’ 8” 70-90 lbs.
Half-elf 4’ 2” to 6’ 2” 90-175 lbs.
Half-orc 4’ 10” to 6’ 5” 120-180 lbs.
Halfling 3’ 0” to 4’ 6” 45-70 lbs.
Human 4’ 8” to 6’ 8” 100-200 lbs.

Minimum Starting Age (will be modified by Class and adjusted by Castle Keeper)
Race Adulthood Middle Age Old Venerable Maximum
Dwarf 150 300 450 600 800
Elf, High 200 500 750 1000 1300
Elf, Twilight (Drow) 100 200 300 400 600
Elf, Wild 40 100 150 200 300
Elf, Wood (Gray) 60 150 225 300 400
Gnome 30 75 112 150 210
Half-Elf 20 62 93 125 185
Half-Orc 13 30 45 60 70
Halfling 16 40 60 80 120
Human 15 35 53 70 110

That should be sufficient for gauging any interest before I proceed any further in developing this adventure!

MULTI-CLASSING IN CASTLES & CRUSADES Multi-classing is a means by which a player can create a more developed character with a wider range of abilities than normally allowed by a single class.

The Castle Keeper is the ultimate arbiter of which classes can be combined and how they are combined.

Combinations Humans can combine up to three classes and demihumans can combine two classes.

Alignment Any classes can be combined that do not have conflicting alignments. If the Castle Keeper has removed alignment restriction in their game, then any combination is possible.

Prime Attributes The character must have the prime attribute for the classes chosen.
For example: A fighter/rogue/bard combination requires that the character have strength, dexterity and charisma as prime attributes.
A rogue/assassin/wizard combination requires the character have dexterity and intelligence as a prime attribute.

Weapons Multi-class characters can use any weapon from any of the combined classes’ weapons allowed list at no penalty.

Armor Multi-class characters can use any armor from any of the combined classes’ armor allowed list; however, they still suffer any penalties mentioned for a class ability such as with the rogue’s pick pocket.

A Map will be sent to the Active Players once I have some commitments … but with that in mind I will provide you some Parameters and Guidelines for consideration when creating characters.

Characters will begin this adventure on March 12 in the year 212AWD (After Winter Dark).

I will be NPC/PC playing the character Rextugenous who is a 23 year old Human Paladin/Wizard/Bard who has come from the Lake Orion region up north above the Saline River where he left the company of Protectors known as The Leather Coats due to a broken heart when the woman he loved was betrothed to his best friend (both Leather Coats).

He came down river and settled in at The Twisted Blade in the waterfront town of Sherrill where he drowns his sorrows and orates ballads to his deity Bridget and expounds upon other topics of various interest that provide his room and board. He has not been adventuring for the past 3 years + since leaving the company of The Leather Coats.

Rextugenous has a 9 Strength, 11 Dexterity, 13 Constitution, 19 Intelligence, 15 Wisdom and 17 Charisma (each created character will have any combination of these same numbers for their Attributes that may be modified according to the Race a player chooses for his or her character creation).

Each player will have a character who journeys from a different place on the Map and they all gather at The Twisted Blade prior to the visitation of the Undead Leather Coats who have come seeking Rextugenous to put their cursed souls to rest.

You will have opportunity to post Back Stories after the initial opening post covers the arrival of these Undead Leather Coats in the wee hours of dawn on March 5 until Rextugenous announces on the evening of March 12 that he will be departing Sherrill and The Twisted Blade to Avenge his Leather Coats comrades.

Player Characters joining Rextugenous are seeking Fame and Fortune and have come from a variety of locales, do not know each other except for meeting at The Twisted Blade and have never ventured north up river where Rextugenous is going to avenge his fallen friends.

This in no way implies that Rextugenous will be the leader of the party … because he is so screwed up in his mind (in spite of his 19 Intelligence) … but the orations as a Bard have convinced the participating Adventurers that Fame and Fortune await those who decide to travel with Rex the Reckless and help him Avenge the Leather Coats!

What everyone does know is that the Evil Taint of The Horned One and His Followers that had been defeated during the Winter Dark Wars is now rumored to be reaching out across the land of Aihrde once again from the reports they have heard and encounters they have experienced (Character History).

Players will have some creative license with developing their character background as a sort of Free Form for developing their character prior to the beginning of this adventure … but your character will be facing Unknown Dangers in the regions north where they have never been before!

Plans are for an Epic Wilderness Campaign that primarily includes Rivers, Woods, Mountains, Underground Exploration and possibly Castle Ruins etc that will test the nerves and abilities of each character as they face unknown dangers with emphasis on the Role Play in your writing Posts.

Region Parameters from where your character may come from include The Great Lothian Plains to the west of the Fork River that separates the Ruthan Mountains and the Silver Mountains and stretches no further north than the southern portions of these mountains at the Falls of Areos and eastward to the town of Chinon and across the Saline River to the Gnob Wood and further east to Lake Anknut located in the Ordog Wood (Devil's Wood) across to the Black River and south down to the waterfront city of Icanthos and the other waterfront town of Grel-Et (to the west) that are separated on the Map by the Straits of Ungara.

To the south and west of Sherrill your character could have come from as far south as the waterfront town of Luise and also as far as Smythe which is located south of the Edenflow River in the Eld Wood bordering the south of The Great Lothian Plains.

A Barbarian/Ranger would be ideal to hail from The Great Lothian Plains and a Knight multi-class character would have originated from the Castle Vohrenbach south of the Ruthan Mountains in a patch of trees of the northern Eld Wood.

I would expect someone to create a Dwarf Cleric/Fighter and there is probably a need for a Rogue/Illusionist or the slightest possibility of creating a Rogue/Assassin (but the latter would be tricky to justify as a Good Aligned character and the only one I know at the Inn who could pull that off and make it work right in this adventure would be Eol … so check with me first about how you would work that type of character as a Good Aligned Character before I rule against creating an Assassin).

You will notice in a previous post that there are some options in creating Elf Race Characters … and each of the Races have Height and Weight info and Age range info.

Each created character was born after the conclusion of the Winter Dark Wars so that none of them have participated or been alive during that conflict.

Also none of these characters have ever experienced freezing and snowy conditions as the climate of the regions from where they originate are far removed from those types of conditions (including snow capped mountains).

Hopefully this gives you some food for thought as to creating a History for a Character that will give you something to sink your teeth into for Role Playing in this Adventure.

As stated previously … your character is a Multi-Class Character beginning at level 5 for both Classes (3 if your character is Human … but hopefully most of the characters will Not be Human characters).

Half Elfs will either exhibit more Elven qualities or Human qualities and if you choose to play a Half Orc then it would probably be best that the character were more Human in characteristics (Nomad D2 had a great concept for a Half Orc Barbarian whose mother was raped by an Orc in my now defunct Crimson Crusaders adventure here at the Inn).

Primarily right now participating players should concentrate upon developing your Character History and Description and I will work on writing the Opening Post for the Adventure which sets the stage for the beginning of this Epic Wilderness Campaign.

By the way … the size of the Map is 39,817 KB which I should be able to send as an Attachment to an Email for participating players (and Only for Participating Players!)

I decided to help facilitate matters by offering the following combination of Race/Classes to see if anyone is interested in this adventure?

Dwarf Cleric/Fighter

Gnome Rogue/Assassin

Wood (Gray) Elf Druid/Ranger played by Raven

Half Elf Knight/Illusionist

Half Orc Barbarian/Monk

I will add later where these characters are from on the Map ... but in the meantime if anyone is interested you can claim a character and begin developing a Description and Back History for your chosen character!

Sounds interesting. As I have no more running games (due to the sad reason we all know), I'm very much tempted to join in should you have me. If you can give me a few days to look into the system and the setting, then I'll get back to you on this.

Of the given race/class combinations, I'd be most interested in the elven druid/ranger or perhaps some fighter/rogue type. Ofc as always, I'm available for any type required.

Be glad to have you Raven and anyone else ... so take your time and let me know!

The main thing is character development, history and Role Play as the system takes care of itself as I do all the rolling to resolve the outcomes!

Dwarf Cleric/Fighter (Primary Attributes are Wisdom/Strength)
Age No older than 175 years (150-175)
Location Silver Mountains

Gnome Rogue/Assassin (Primary Attributes are Dexterity/Dexterity so this character is allowed to add a Prime Attribute of the player's choice)
Age No older than 50 years (30-50)
Location Began out of the waterfront town of Icanthos in the Ordog Wood (Devil's Wood)

Wood (Gray) Elf Druid/Ranger (Primary Attributes are Wisdom/Strength)
Age No older than 90 years (60-90)
Location Originates anywhere from the Gnob Wood

Half Elf Knight/Illusionist (Primary Attributes are Charisma/Intelligence)
Age No older than 40 years (20-40)
Location Castle Vohrenbach south of the Ruthan Mountains on the edge of the northernmost Eld Wood Forest and west of the Ardeen River (south of the Falls of Areos)

Half Orc Barbarian/Monk (Primary Attributes are Constitution/Constitution so this character is also allowed to add a Prime Attribute of the player's choice)
Age No older than 20 years (13-20)
Location The Great Lothian Plains between the Taryish River and Imboden River and north of the Eld Wood Forest

Can I say that, even though I'm not offering to join (sorreh), the idea of a Knight/Illusionist just sounds pure awesome in every way possible?

..... is to get the imaginations of the Role Players stretched into an entertaining story telling mode!

We have a lot of Lurkers here who enjoy reading!

Hammer,

A couple of clarifying questions for me:

1) Do the players have to choose one of the listed race/class combos listed above? Or do they have the freedom to create their own?

2) Do the players have to create a multi-class character? Or can they choose to just play a single class?

Thanks,
Ayrn

I posted the 5 multi class characters since things were going slowly in responses to see if anyone was interested.

If someone has another multi class they want to create I am open to considering their request.


As it stands right now the 2 classes will both be level 5 so if someone just wanted to create a single class character then I would consider it ... but I do know there are players here at the Inn who enjoy playing multi class characters ... so I thought I would accommodate them this time

Each Player will utilize the numbers 9,11,13,15,17 and 19 to create their characters.

Primary Attributes do not necessarily need the highest numbers assigned to them as the Prime Attributes need only a dice roll of 12 for a successful roll as opposed to an 18 for Secondary Attributes (plus the Challenge Level for a particular scenario is added to the 12 or 18 to set the bar for the necessary successful roll)

Attribute Modifiers are either added or subtracted depending upon the numbers assigned to Attributes (and modified by Racial Traits)

Attribute Modifiers for this particular adventure 2-3 -4
4-5 -3
6-7 -2
8-9 -1
10-11 0
12-13 +1
14-15 +2
16-17 +3
18-19 +4

For Example Rextugenous has a Strength of 9 which is a -1 as an attribute modifier so a roll would subtract -1 from the dice total to determine a successful roll.

Secondary Strength Attribute would be an 18 plus if the scenario has a challenge level of 3 it would be a 21 roll that would be needed for a successful roll.

But with the -1 Attribute Modifier it would take a roll of 22 to be successful (Castle Keeper rolls the dice in all situations by the way) as 22-1=21

Were the 9 to be a Primary Attribute number then it would be 12 (Primary) plus the 3 Challenge level = 15 and the successful roll would require a 16-1=15.

Hope that helps in considering your character creation

Excellent. Thanks, that really cleared it out for me. Now we only need more interested people. So Innmates, join the call.

..... working up the opening scenario that sets the stage for the addition of new players so hopefully I will have it done and posted over the weekend.

The beginning of the Intro to this adventure is in the Recruitment Thread and there is much more to be added to bring some clarity as to what you will be facing

Although this adventure is Rules Based there is the element of Free Form when it comes to creating your character.

Unklar The Horned One The main thing to know is that The Horned One or the Lord of the Winter Dark named Unklar, ruled Aihrde for a thousand years and then was sent to the Void. Now, his worshipers spend their time trying to summon him back to rule again.

His Evil Minions and Influence had spread throughout Aihrde and the region where your Player Character originates from had felt the harsh bite of the frozen bitter cold that gripped much of the land to the far north across The Inner Sea and to the Far East where Unklar ruled in Aufstrag

The Taint of that Evil Reign brought bitter snows and evil creatures that did the bidding of The Horned One ... but the last traces of such snows and dangers disappeared over 200 years ago ... well before your character was born.

You have the poetic license to create a background story for your character with the above in mind.

You can create the descriptions of where you are from and the cities and royal history there if you so choose.

Beaked Dragons There are reports of Beaked Dragons spreading from the Great Soup Marsh in a sinister migration into the Eld Wood Forest and into The Great Lothian Plains.

Beaked Dragons are more turtle than lizard and can swim. They are heavily scaled, grow up to 30 feet long and not only bite a victim but puke up their stomach acid to further immobilize their prey.

They have webbed claws and do have the magical ability to transmute rock into mud to hide themselves and dig dens to lay in wait for unsuspecting prey.

Their eggs are considered a delicacy ... especially to dwarfs ... and will bring as much as 10 Gold Coins on the open market.

Alignment is Neutral