Oliander Silver Eagle Turambar
½ Elf Ranger - Human lineage
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Questions: I have never read any of the stuff on C&C before - I have skimmed parts of the Players handbook but don't have time to read it all. If I missed obvious answers - oops.

1. Money for equipment? I haven't picked much yet.
2. Two swords at once? Longsword and shortsword. In Xenophobia deftness allowed both. Penalties?
3. Half elf secondary attribute modification – if applied to dexterity – would it apply to armor class?
5. Lots of Chain stuff listed under armor usable for a ranger = Full Chain Suit?
6. What do we do about Secondary Skills? – For example Oliander’s history suggests horsemanship.
7. How many weapons is he proficient with? I can't find that anywhere

(Was it 93 points total? Gotta cheeck that.)
Strength: 18 +3
Dexterity: 16 +2
Constitution: 16 +2
Intelligence: 16 +2
Wisdom: 16 +2 (attribute check modification)
Charisma: 11

Neutral Good
Languages: Common, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Orc
½ Elf Ranger Modifier: +2 to mover silently and find traps.

Armor: Full Chain Suit = chain mail coif
Weapons: Longsword, shortsword, Composite Longbow


The background story:
(I need to doublecheck the geography from Hammer's posts - that might need to change. Also, there is no comment yet on the trip out to the tavern in the Mountains, just a reason why he would go in the first place. I wanted to get some things posted so I could figure out where to go from here with this guy.)

Oliander Silvereagle Turambar comes from a well established ranching family in the Southern Lands. They are not actually noble themselves, although they own as much land as many noble families. They are an old family that primarily raises horses – riding, war and work – with a few cattle as well. Traditionally the Turambar family has served the Orsini family, a very honorable family that looked out for those under their protection.
For generations this situation worked to the advantage of both the Orsini and Turambar families, as well as others in the area. Within the Turambar family there was always a head of the household who led the family and held the lands. Additional family members frequently also worked on the family lands or went into various careers. Many of them were members of a group of rangers that protected the south lands from the various dangers from the Mountains to the North. Occasionally some members of the family have gone into wizardry. One, Beleg Turambar, became a notable Druid. (And for that reason was always referred to as the “green sheep” of the family.)
Oliander’s mother, Olivinia Turambar, was a ranger. On one of her missions she met and developed a relationship with an elf from lands to the West. The exact nature of the story is unclear, but what is known is that this elf died on the venture while saving Olivnia’s life and she returned alone, but pregnant with a half-elf child. That child was Oliander. Oliander was thus raised entirely by his human family and although his elven heritage is evident if he is closely examined, he is clearly of a human lineage.
Oliander has no complaints about his childhood on the ranch as he was consistently treated very well, even after his mother failed to return from an expedition into the Mountains when he was still quite young. Yet, despite this, he never quite fit in with the family even as he was proud of his human heritage and family. He had many cousins on the ranch who were friendly, but developed at a faster pace than did Oliander. Simply put, he never quite fit in with any specific generation. In truth, his best friends came from a village of gnomes that made their homes on Orsini lands. Oliander spent many days hanging out with these gnomes and became a familiar site in their village. (Note: After the fall of the Orsini in the Civil Wars this group will move further North into more wild lands looking for a place to call home. They were not destroyed but moved voluntarily.)
Unfortunately the Orsini were drawn into the civil wars that ravaged the South Lands. They did not wish to participate, but as is so frequently true in such conflicts remaining neutral was considered by all sides as helping the enemy. Unwillingly, they were drawn into the ongoing conflict. Despite their best efforts (and the aid of the Rangers from the North who frequently supported the Orsini) the Orsini family was overthrown during year seven of these wars. The Turambar family was hit hard by this loss as they had actively supported the Orsini. Several members of the family died during the wars. The family still holds their traditional lands but now they are subject to a new overlord – the Tfallon family. As warring noble families go the Tfallon are not bad. They are no more evil than any other family, but are as caught up in the Civil Wars and the drive for power associated with them as any other family. The Turambar family has promised support to the Tfallon as the only way of keeping their lands. Financial support and horses, but not military aid, although there is much concern that such will be demanded of them eventually. For now the Tfallon family accepts this situation because the family is strong and is able to provide a vital resource during the wars – horses.
Oliander followed his mother into the Rangers. He fought for the Orsini with other members of his family. With their fall, however, he saw no need to continue his participation in these wars. He wished to protect the civilized lands, but didn’t see contributing to a Civil War as aiding in that endeavor. He no longer saw a faction worthy of his support. His goal is still to protect those who can’t defend themselves and the “good” in civilization, but he is a bit unsure just where his calling should take him. Certainly not all people who live in a civilization are civilized. For this reason he has left the group of rangers he first trained with and set out in search of his mission.
The possibility to act as a guard for the caravan of iron into the hills seemed to him to be a very good opportunity to leave the South Lands behind him and go where help would be needed.

Nice background, Nomad D2! Very cool!

Saw your questions and thought I might help Hammer out. So, here are the answers to your questions as best as I can tell.

1. Money for equipment? I haven't picked much yet.
Hammer has said we can equip our character with whatever mundane gear we deem appropiate... within reason. I'm not sure that a chain suit would be appropiate (at 200 gp), but a scale mail is within reason (at 50 gp), I think.

2. Two swords at once? Longsword and shortsword. In Xenophobia deftness allowed both. Penalties?
There are rules for this in the combat section of the C&C PHB. Basically, anyone can weild two weapons at the cost of a -3 attk penalty to your primary hand and a -6 penalty to your off hand. Your DEX modifier helps offset this penalty. So a DEX of 16 (+2 modifier) would leave you with a -1 penalty with your primary hand and a -4 with your off-hand.

3. Half elf secondary attribute modification – if applied to dexterity – would it apply to armor class?
Good question! I don't know. In addition to that, would the secondary atribute modifier, if applied to DEX, also add a +2 to ranged attack rolls and help offset the two-weapon penalties? Hammer?

5. Lots of Chain stuff listed under armor usable for a ranger = Full Chain Suit?
No... it's not listed under the "armor allowed" section of the Ranger (pg 13). Well, actually, you could wear a chain suit, but then you couldn't use your ranger special abilities...so that would suck...

6. What do we do about Secondary Skills? – For example Oliander’s history suggests horsemanship.
Nothing listed in the book with regards to secondary skills. Everything in C&C is based off your attributes. I would imagine if it came down to it, if you needed to roll a "horsemanship" check, the DM may have you roll against your INT, or maybe WIS, and would add a situational modifier (in the ranged of +2 - +5, likely) due to your background.

7. How many weapons is he proficient with? I can't find that anywhere
He can use any weapon with equal proficiency.



Hope that helps!

Ayrn

and my time at the library is about over!

I will try to get back on later today or another day to answer some questions!

As to my earlier question about horses, I was wondering if everyone was going to have horses of if the preference was to be on foot. Just trying to figure out equipment, ect.

Probably my character will go horseback, though,if not maybe he can ride on the wagon(s).

Sounds good. It wouldn't make sense for me ride a horse if the rest of you are going on foot. If there rest of you are on board I'll keep the horse.

I know your still organizing things and said it would be awhile before we start so no rush, but whenever you get a chance - confirmation on the answers to my questions and I will get you a finished character.

will be getting everything together A.S.A.P.

... just spent most of the month of July house sitting for a missionary friend of mine without internet access.

Then I had a week of meetings to attend 3 times per day and too groggy at midnight or 1am to respond here!

Stopped in at the public library this morning in Okmulgee and of course there is no internet access on the other side of the lake where I am staying.

I am flying to the Philippines on August 12th and will be there almost 3 weeks with internet access at a local internet cafe on nearly a daily basis.

Am still waiting for delivery of the 2 books I ordered, but they may not arrive until after I leave!

I will post answers either later this week or after I get to the Philippines!

..... I have copied and pasted Nomad's questions and character history info post along with Ayrn's responses onto a Word document and stored it in my Flash Drive so I can open it at the house and type my responses etc after consulting my Haunted Highlands C&C stuff that I have stored on my laptop!

Meanwhile, I will try to read through the stuff posted here and respond before they make me get off the computer for a second time today!

When it is real busy at the library you only get to log on to a computer once a day for an hour!

..... the history and background info for Nomad's new character!

I will have to get back with you later regarding your specific questions, but at least I am able to spend some time this week typing on my laptop and then transferring the info to a new post when I get back to the library!

Found out this morning that my book orders will not be mailing until sometime next week.

That means I will not have the info for deities until September when I return from the Philippines.

However, we will progress with our character creations as much as possible and I will be online in the Philippines usually 4-5 times per week.

Still have to review some of the questions as I was unexpectedly in town today, so I came to the library to get on the internet.

I have just completed an updated scenario that will serve as probably the second major turning point in this adventure.

Once any repercussions or results progressing from the Opening or Intro scenario [that I typed and saved on my flashdrive earlier this year] have been resolved by your role play and my posting such resolutions in the story, this second major scenario will be introduced into the adventure and then we will go from there.

Meanwhile everyone should be submitting further background story and info for their characters as soon as possible so we can progress with getting started in a few short weeks.

Deity selection for your Race will have to wait until I get a copy of the new Of Gods & Monsters book that should be released shortly after GenCon.

That means my copy should be waiting for me for when I return to Oklahoma the first week of September.

Although I have some special missionary meetings to attend on Labor Day Weekend and also in the middle of the month, we should be able to get the adventure underway before the end of September.

By providing your background story and character descriptions I will be able to look through the Of Gods & Monsters book after returning to Oklahoma and select an appropriate deity for your character, or possibly give you a couple of choices.

Deities have Avatars and those Avatars will come into play at appropriate times during the course of this epic adventure!

I will have consistent internet access in the Philippines through August 31 so if you have any questions that need to be addressed please post while you are further developing your characters and I will do my best to reply!

MONEY for Equipment will be addressed once the PC Characters have safely escorted the wagons to Dirty’s Roadhouse.

During the wagon journey to the Haunted Highlands each PC Character is allowed to wear Scale Mail Armor or less with a reasonable amount of weapons available for the journey. He did NOT Provide Any Chain Mail for the Adventurers!

He knows the importance of movement for both defense and attack during this long journey to the Haunted Highlands!

Adaf Adshead has supplied the wagons with plenty of weapons for the journey at NO Cost to the PC Characters as part of their provisions.

DEFTNESS in Land of Xenophopia was allowed for using both the Longsword and Shortsword, but in Haunted Highlands there will be some type of penalty for using weapons in both hands.

I suggest giving Oriander a Deftness Secondary Attribute because it will give a Half Elf of Human Lineage a +2 to the Secondary Attribute in addition to any other bonuses for that attribute.

It also would be in his favor to give him a 17 for Dexterity on the original creation. Although both 16-17 give a +2 for Dexterity Bonus, I would take a 17 into consideration above a 16 along with his experience from his background story.

There are Deity Avatars that can fight with weapons in both hands without any penalties, so having a bit of a penalty would help differentiate from a PC Character.

However, there are Deity Avatars that also give bonuses to PC Character followers and depending on what is included in Of Gods & Monsters we may be able to eliminate any penalties with the above combinations. But I must wait for the book to find out for sure!

It should also be noted that Deity Avatars can die during battle!

Yes the Dexterity Modifier affects Armor Class, Ranged Combat and All Checks Involving Dexterity.

Fighters get to specialize with 1 weapon, but Rangers Do Not specialize a weapon.

Rangers do possess an extraordinary ability to combat their most common foes, humanoids and giants and get to inflict extra damage against such foes.

Levels of Experience will also come into play for every PC Character and their abilities.

Horses are provided for each PC Character by Adaf Adshead if you choose to ride one or you can walk or ride in a wagon if you so choose.

Those who will use Horses in the adventure will have the opportunity to get a fresh mount at the roadhouse before exploring the frontier!

Knights have the Special Horsemanship Ability, but Oriander will be allowed some horsemanship abilities due to his background. Horsemanship (Dexterity) for Knights and if Oriander has a Secondary Attribute of Dexterity he will be a better horseman than the average non-Knight PC Character.

Hope that covered the questions that have been dangling these past few weeks and my apologies for the delay in addressing them!

I do realize that Real Life issues either conflict with or abort the progress of individuals and even the Castle Keeper in keeping an adventure moving along.

Once we have the adventure underway I will do my best to NPC any PC Characters at times along the way to help progress the adventure.

Therefore it is Most Important to include enough information in your PC Character Background History and Character Description and Info for me to do so if it becomes necessary at some point in the future!

Received a PM that Ayrn is dropping out due to commitment to playing other games.

No Problem Ayrn!

ShadowDragon has disappeared from Oaks Heart so do not know entirely what is going on with him?

Am presuming that Brianna and Dragon Mistress will be on board and of course NomadD2 so need to hear from Nimu also!

I will proceed in this adventure with whoever stays on board as there will be enough trinkets from Adaf Adshead to make up for any Arcane Spells lost.