Thursday Night D&D 4E, 4:30PM-9PM PST (11:30PM-4AM GMT) Next Game: 11/29/2012

Human Wizard/Swordmage, Missing mentor hook (Though i should link the Forgotten Realms Wiki on Blackstaff tower. Turns out its an archmages stronghold, not a school. He takes on a few apprentices but picks only one of them as his successor. He has a specific name that I forget, but he mostly defends waterdeep, Douven Staul could be like a tutor since Blackstaff is busy with the city of Waterdeep) <a href="http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Blackstaff_Tower" rel="nofollow">http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Blackstaff_Tower</a> <a href="http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Blackstaff" rel="nofollow">http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Blackstaff</a> "Blackstaff is the title and name given to the master of the eponymous staff and Blackstaff Tower and the Archmage of Waterdeep." "The current Blackstaff is Vajra Safahr, the seventh Blackstaff."

Ah, clarified the plot hook. Totally missed that part. I thought the tower belonged to the Watchful Order of Magists & Protectors, but only the Blackstaff lives there and the current Blackstaff also controls the Watchul Order of Magists & Protectors.

<a href="http://i47.tinypic.com/16antz9.png" rel="nofollow">http://i47.tinypic.com/16antz9.png</a> Here is a screenshot of the flavor text that goes with my theme. Then I googled LFR and found this: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/adecuom" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/adecuom</a> (this link works) <a href="http://community.wizards.com/lfr/blog/2012/04/06/character_themes:_citizens_of_splendor_(dragon_409_article)" rel="nofollow">http://community.wizards.com/lfr/blog/2012/04/06/character_themes:_citizens_of_splendor_(dragon_409_article)</a> ----->"Blackstaff Apprentice This theme is allowed with the following commentary: Although in pre-Spellplague Waterdeep, the apprentices of the Blackstaff commonly had free access to Blackstaff Tower and substantial control over magic items found inside, for the LFR campaign, the current Blackstaff, Varja Safhar has limited visits to Blackstaff Tower to times under her personal supervision and no additional access to or usage of magic items found in the Blackstaff Tower without her express permission. PCs taking the theme of apprentice are responsible for any explanation of why Varja has sent them on an adventure, or given her permission. As the Blackstaff is a powerful figure in Waterdeep, the Archmage of Waterdeep and primary defender of the City, any apprentice would likely be a preferred target for those who hate Varja or the City itself. **Note that for the LFR campaign neither Varja Safhar, nor Laraelra Harard (her apprentice and appointed BLackstaff heir) are missing.**"

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Jett, level 1 Genasi, Swordmage Swordmage Aegis Option: Aegis of Assault Elemental Manifestation Option: Firesoul Firepulse Option: Firepulse Strength Chaos Bound (+2 to Endurance) FINAL ABILITY SCORES STR 16, CON 14, DEX 11, INT 18, WIS 10, CHA 10 STARTING ABILITY SCORES STR 14, CON 14, DEX 11, INT 16, WIS 10, CHA 10 AC: 19 Fort: 13 Ref: 15 Will: 12 HP: 29 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 7 TRAINED SKILLS Arcana +9, Athletics +8, History +9, Insight +5 UNTRAINED SKILLS Acrobatics +0, Bluff +0, Diplomacy +0, Dungeoneering +0, Endurance +6, Heal +0, Intimidate +0, Nature +2, Perception +0, Religion +4, Stealth +0, Streetwise +0, Thievery +0 POWERS Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack Genasi Racial Power: Firepulse Swordmage Feature: Aegis of Assault Swordmage Attack 1: Greenflame Blade Swordmage Attack 1: Booming Blade Swordmage Attack 1: Flame Cyclone Swordmage Attack 1: Burning Blade FEATS Level 1: Firepulse Transformation ITEMS Leather Armor x1 Adventurer's Kit Scimitar x1 ====== End ======

That is a bad ass background, but it's not going to work in the campaign we're running. At least, it's not going to work unmodified. Varja did not disappear; she put the apprentice training program on indefinite hiatus and withdrew to the highest levels of the tower. For days you and the other apprentices were confused and dazed by the drastic change in the Blackstaff's priorities. When you were about to give up hope of continuing your education, Varja summoned all of the apprentices and sent them on missions. You have yours. ALSO: How many apprentices were there (at least 5 including yourself)? What were their names/races/classes/ and what were their backstories? Your character should know all of this considering you've been rivals with them for more than 6 months.

for backstory of my character, She is a Wood Elf of the High Forest descendant of the great Elven kingdom of Eaerlann. She is a ranger who follows Mielikki, who strives to protect the wilds and especially High Forest, hoping one day for the return of Eaerlann. She can often be dismissive of the non fey races thinking them the "young races" even though she is very young by elf reckoning. Because of this the Caerilcarn, the council of the woods, has sent her to branch out and understand the wider world, as they have done with many of the rangers of High Forest so they may better understand the risks to a returned Eaerlann.

That is a bad ass background, but it's not going to work in the campaign we're running. At least, it's not going to work unmodified. Oh I knew it wouldnt work unmodified. its a really powerful background theme. i figured we'd follow the LFR rules that modify it. That's what i included in the notes there, that it has been altered for LFR. I googled LFR and found this: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/adecuom" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/adecuom</a> (this link works) original unworking link: <a href="http://community.wizards.com/lfr/blog/2012/04/06/character_themes:_citizens_of_splendor_(dragon_409_article)" rel="nofollow">http://community.wizards.com/lfr/blog/2012/04/06/character_themes:_citizens_of_splendor_(dragon_409_article)</a> ----->"Blackstaff Apprentice - modified for LFR The current Blackstaff, Varja Safhar has limited visits to Blackstaff Tower to times under her personal supervision and no additional access to or usage of magic items found in the Blackstaff Tower without her express permission. PCs taking the theme of apprentice are responsible for any explanation of why Varja has sent them on an adventure, as they are a big target. **Note that for the LFR campaign neither Varja Safhar, nor Laraelra Harard (her apprentice and appointed BLackstaff heir) are missing.**" ALSO: How many apprentices were there (at least 5 including yourself)? What were their names/races/classes/ and what were their backstories? Your character should know all of this considering you've been rivals with them for more than 6 months. Uhm...can i get back to you on that? Laraelra Harard was one of the apprentices and named successor.

How things stand (as of right now) : Jessica (Jetheril) - Melee Striker (1 or 2 targets) Jedd (Jett Stormcloak) - Melee Defender (1 or 2 targets) Jacob (Davven) - Ranged Controller/Defender (AoE) Jaycee - Melee Defender (1 target) Lbrknight (Jak) - Ranged Controller/Striker (1, 2, or 3 targets; AoE) We're heavy on the defense & light on the heals. I'll address each of these separately. Dealing with Defenders Taken from this article Remember, an enemy can only be affected by 1 mark/aura at a time • Focus on powers that let you defend or punish even without marking. This will be the focus of my Battlemind. He'll get better and better at this as time progresses • If you do plan to mark often, then make your mark punishment more severe than normal. • If your defender ally has long range punishment, through their mark mechanic or otherwise, consider forced movement. I imagine this will come into play with Jacob early on and me a little later • Take powers that force enemies you haven't marked to attack you or someone else instead the ally that marked them. I'll be able to do this fairly well mid-heroic • Immediate attacks that punish enemies for going after your allies are your friend. Immediate Interrupts are great, and Immediate Reactions are good, but Opportunity Actions are the best The guide linked above has recommendations for each kind of defender class that I recommend you look at if nothing else. Helping with Healing by level 1 • Knight Hospitaler theme (for Wisdom or Charisma based builds) - bring an ally who just died back to life as an Immediate Reaction. • Take Student of Battle feat [Multiclass Warlord] (Str 13) - Inspiring Word 1/day • Take Student of Divine Runes feat [Multiclass Runepriest] (Str 13) - Rune of Mending 1/day • Take Student of Artifice feat [Multiclass Artificer] (Int 13) - gain Healing Infusion 1/day • Take Sentinel Initiate feat [Multiclass Druid] (Wis 13) - gain Healing Word 1/day • Take Initiate of the Faith feat [Multiclass Cleric] (Wis 13) - gain Healing Word 1/day • Take Vampirism feat [Multiclass Vampire] - gain Regeneration equal to your Charisma • Take Master of Stories feat [Multiclass Bard] (Cha 13) - Skald's Aura 1/day • Take Bardic Dilettante feat [Multiclass Bard] (Cha 13) - Majestic Word 1/day • Take Fervent Talent feat [Multiclass Ardent] (Cha 13) - Ardent Surge 1/day • Be a Dwarf and use your second wind as a minor action. • Be a Longtooth Shifter and gain Regeneration 2. • Be an Orc and spend a healing surge with a Strength based attack. • Be a Warforged and gain some minor action healing. • Be a Revenant and don't care if you're dead. • Buy a Potion of Cure Light Wounds (20gp) - Just sucking up a Standard action for second wind is probably going to be better than one of these with one huge exception: you're a non-LFR Revenant. Then you can pop one at near your true death (negative bloodied value) and be in the positive again (healing surge not required!). Helping with Healing by level 2 • Train in Heal & take Iron Resurgence skill utility. It'll keep you alive or an ally in need. • Werewolf or Werebear theme - Regeneration 2 while in beast form (must be a Druid, Sentinel, or hybrid of one of these to effectively use before level 10) Helping with Healing by level 6 • Train in Religion & take Deliverance of Faith skill utility. It'll give you a healing surge's worth of THP. Helping with Healing by level 10 • Train in Endurance & take Reactive Surge skill utility. It'll let you spend a healing surge as an Immediate Reaction to becoming bloodied.

Also I've edited my character some: • Background changed to Crusading Zealot to better match my service to Kelemvor/The Raven Queen. • Unseelie Agent theme removed due to thematic conflict with Raven Queen service. • Guardian theme added to play well with other Defenders.

Another fun note: 1. Be a non-LFR Battlemind/Battlemind hybrid (I'm going LFR, so I can't do this) 2. Choose Mark of Storm @ level 6 (add slide 1 to thunder & lightning powers) 3. Get a thunder or lightning weapon/ki focus 4. Choose Lightning Rush @ level 7 5. Cancel an enemy's Melee attack (within 5 squares) every round as an at-will Immediate Interrupt (and do some damage to boot!)

My defender mark doesnt deal out punishment, i can just Imm.Intr. to reduce the damage dealth to an ally. (ontop of the usual mark being -2 to attack anyone else)

i put jaycee down as defender, we were talking about her going a paladin possibly

Because of all the melee defenders im going to make a ranged striker. Will post build soon.

Paladin Tactics*: Your divine challenge and many times divine sanction can be applied from a distance and the punishment occurs from a distance. To sustain divine challenge over a long time you either need to be adjacent to the enemy or you need to attack it, but you can do that through ranged attacks, which paladins have some, or you can do it through thrown weapon powers or ranged implement powers you get from another class. The classic half-elf dilletante eyebite trick works here since you can eyebite the enemy from range and that makes it hard for the DM to attack you, even while marked by you. But at this point you can get good ranged attacks from dilletante, your theme, or through regular multiclassing. Chaladins/baladins tend to do better than staladins in power selection for these situations, although straladins can more afford to focus on damage boosts for big hits. Straladins generally want to go for the big weapon powers since that makes them a bigger threat without forcing them to be sticky. Another big difference is that charisma powers tend to pull enemies, while strength powers tend to push enemies. *Straladins refers to Strength based Paladins, Chaladins are Charisma based, and Baladins are equally divided amongst both. If Jaycee choses to go with a Paladin, I recommend going Charisma based for 2 reasons: 1. It maxes out her Divine Chalenge & Divine Sanction damage. 2. It allows her to easily be an awesome secondary healer ( Knight Hospitaler theme † + Lay on Hands power). :P †Note that the Hospitaler theme was errated to become the Knight Hospitaler, and its superpower, Shield of Devotion, was changed to utilize Wisdom or Charisma. :) I also realized a potential problem with the Paladin: part of their core mechanic is Divine Sanction, a temporary mass mark (often via close bursts) that does Divine Challenge damage. The problem is that since it is a mark, and since it is temporary, if you ever use a Divine Sanction power, you'll erase all other players' marks and they won't get them back without redoing their mark conditions.

Because of all the melee defenders im going to make a ranged striker. Will post build soon. • Thief (Essentials Rogue) is the best single-target ranged striker. • Invoker is the best multi-target (3+) ranged striker. [I recommend a Cleric/Invoker hybrid over a straight Invoker - you get better defenses, use of Holy Symbols, and the Cleric's versatility along with all the important Invoker powers & features.] • Mage (Essentials Wizard) is the best AoE ranged striker. Based upon what I've read in charop forums anyway.

I also realized a potential problem with the Paladin: part of their core mechanic is Divine Sanction, a temporary mass mark (often via close bursts) that does Divine Challenge damage. The problem is that since it is a mark, and since it is temporary, if you ever use a Divine Sanction power, you'll erase all other players' marks and they won't get them back without redoing their mark conditions. This part is wrong. you need to read over the charop forums on wotc for 4e. divine saction/divine challenge stack. and they are opportunity not immediates

I'm not sure how many characters the DM is wanting, but I'm still interested. I'll most likely make a cleric as it appears the group is low on healing. I'm an experienced DnD player, but it's been a while for me, so I'm going through my options pretty carefully. I'll most likely go for the ominous signs hook.

not everything has to be about what the best stats are, well unless you are playing Munchkin heh, sometimes it just works for a character

Yeah I know that, i was just letting him know te ruling on how the paladin marks worked

more meant some of the other posts, its cool tho its just well trying to say its not always about the best stats

I agree with Jessica. CharOp forum crap should stay on the CharOp forums.

Thanks Jacob, I didn't mean to imply Divine Sanction and Divine Chalenge don't stack damage, just that the mark from a Divine Sanction will replace another defender's mark (and their punishment/protection respectively). 2 examples: 1. I have a character marked. I don't need marks for damage, but I do need them to shift after a marked enemy shifts. If another player overmarks the enemy adjacent to me, that enemy can just shift away from me ignoring my opportunity attack. 2. Jacob has a character marked. Same overmarking deal. That enemy can now attack some other ally (I'm assuming Jacob was marking at range) and take Divine Sanction damage before the attack instead of protecting whomever from it. Overmarking isn't necessarily bad, it just requires more tactical forethought. My concern with some Divine Sanction powers is really just for the ones that do things like "all enemies within 3 squares are subject to your divine sanction until the beginning of your next turn." Then by the time your sanction wears off, all those enemies that were marked by someone else are mark free. Did I explain myself better there?

Yes, i got what you mean now. Yeah, we do have a fair number of defenders. my mark is easier to work around though, i only mark one thing til it dies, and usually the caster/blaster/aoe enemy so i can dampen their attacks.

I agree with Jessica. CharOp forum crap should stay on the CharOp forums. CharOp rage from a random forum poster. Open forums are hilarious. :P @Jessica, do what you feel is most enjoyable of course. Jacob and I go on about all things optimization simply because we enjoy it and want to be helpful, not because we want everyone to harken to it (at least I believe Jacob would agree with that). Personally, I relish playing with folks who enjoy different aspects of RPGs than me. You'll notice that while I'm very active during character creation and battles, I hardly say anything when RP-time comes around; and that's because I enjoy listening to other people RP much more than doing it myself. I've played in groups before where no one had a RP bone in their body, and found such games to be very dull.

i agree with enjoying the story, getting into your role and personality. im not a munchkin optimizer, i just peruse the forums for interesting combos and builds to base ideas off of. i will still mix in a fair bit of flavor, and not every choice i make would be optimized, but its nice to have a benchmark of awesome and accurate to tweak from so i am still useful. charop would have told me to be assault swordmage not shielding, and a striker not a controller.

Yes, i got what you mean now. Yeah, we do have a fair number of defenders. my mark is easier to work around though, i only mark one thing til it dies, and usually the caster/blaster/aoe enemy so i can dampen their attacks. Yeah, one of the cool things about your build is you can basically be a ranged defender with that. Is there a way to extend the range of your Aegis of Shielding?

items and paragon feats maybe

i agree with enjoying the story, getting into your role and personality. im not a munchkin optimizer, i just peruse the forums for interesting combos and builds to base ideas off of. i will still mix in a fair bit of flavor, and not every choice i make would be optimized, but its nice to have a benchmark of awesome and accurate to tweak from so i am still useful. charop would have told me to be assault swordmage not shielding, and a striker not a controller. Gotcha. I'm somewhat in the same vein. I love optimization, but only so far as it serves my design goals and desired theme. If I wanted to be the ultimate fishing defender, I'd have gone with a Swordmage|Battlemind instead of a Warlock|Battlemind, but it just didn't feel right to me. Likewise I dropped the Unseelie Agent theme - it didn't fit the feel of my character, even though it gave me a flat out +1 to attack & damage at level one.

Uhm...can i get back to you on that? Laraelra Harard was one of the apprentices and named successor. Not in our game. The successor has not been named publicly but Laraelra is the favorite. You'll need at least three more apprentices, their histories, and your character's relationships with them. for backstory of my character, She is a Wood Elf of the High Forest descendant of the great Elven kingdom of Eaerlann. She is a ranger who follows Mielikki, who strives to protect the wilds and especially High Forest, hoping one day for the return of Eaerlann. She can often be dismissive of the non fey races thinking them the "young races" even though she is very young by elf reckoning. Because of this the Caerilcarn, the council of the woods, has sent her to branch out and understand the wider world, as they have done with many of the rangers of High Forest so they may better understand the risks to a returned Eaerlann. How familiar is your character with the Nentir Vale? High Forest is quite a ways distant from Waterdeep, and you're traveling even farther away joining the caravan. I'm not sure how many characters the DM is wanting, but I'm still interested. I'll most likely make a cleric as it appears the group is low on healing. I'm an experienced DnD player, but it's been a while for me, so I'm going through my options pretty carefully. I'll most likely go for the ominous signs hook. The game is capped at 6 players. We have one opening currently, and Branden has an open invitation if he wants to join. Don't let that stop you! Submit an application and check back Wednesday night to see if you've been accepted. I agree with Jessica. CharOp forum crap should stay on the CharOp forums. Jessica can defend herself. Jacob and Jedd are both interested in CharOp and are welcome to discuss PartyOp as long as it doesn't interfere with how other people want to play. All three of them are returning party members. Are you interested in joining the game? If so, please submit a character application. If not, I'd appreciate it if you didn't add more posts to this thread. It's long enough already and trying to keep track of the conversation is becoming difficult. Thanks!

yeah i get what you guys are saying, for me i love the story, the characters, playing through it all

How familiar is your character with the Nentir Vale? High Forest is quite a ways distant from Waterdeep, and you're traveling even farther away joining the caravan. She decided to head towards waterdeep rather than silverymoon as the closest city, being sent out to the world to understand it, she heard of the caravan leaving the city and wanting to be out of its confines decided to use her knowledge of the wilds to protect them and maybe learn a thing or two

Tell me what you think. He started out as a slave in a Goblin maze but through divine intervention he broke free.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Jak, level 1 Minotaur, Invoker Divine Covenant Option: Covenant of Wrath Minotaur - Silenced Beast (+2 to Insight) Theme: Escaped Slave FINAL ABILITY SCORES STR 12, CON 14, DEX 10, INT 11, WIS 20, CHA 8 STARTING ABILITY SCORES STR 10, CON 14, DEX 10, INT 11, WIS 18, CHA 8 AC: 17 Fort: 13 Ref: 12 Will: 16 HP: 24 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 6 TRAINED SKILLS Endurance +6, History +5, Insight +12, Religion +5 UNTRAINED SKILLS Acrobatics –1, Arcana +0, Athletics +0, Bluff –1, Diplomacy –1, Dungeoneering +5, Heal +5, Intimidate –1, Nature +7, Perception +7, Stealth –1, Streetwise –1, Thievery –1 POWERS Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack Escaped Slave Feature: Hidden Strike Minotaur Racial Power: Goring Charge Invoker Feature: Rebuke Undead Covenant of Wrath Power: Armor of Wrath Invoker Attack 1: Vanguard's Lightning Invoker Attack 1: Divine Bolts Invoker Attack 1: Lightning's Revelation Invoker Attack 1: Storm Call FEATS Level 1: Ritual Caster Level 1: Rod Expertise ITEMS Ritual Book Hand of Fate Comprehend Language Chainmail x1 Adventurer's Kit Rod Implement x1 ====== End ======

How things stand (as of right now) : Jessica (Jetheril) - Melee Striker (1 or 2 targets) Jedd (Jett Stormcloak) - Melee Defender (1 or 2 targets) Jacob (Davven) - Ranged Controller/Defender (AoE) Jaycee - Melee Defender (1 target) Lbrknight - Ranged Striker [no info] We're heavy on the defense & light on the heals. I'll address each of these separately. Party balance is a concern at this point. We'll be playing these characters for months, and right now we're tipping heavily in one direction. This might become a problem for encounter variety and balance.

If you're going for multi-target striking with a straight Invoker, you'll want Hand of Radiance as one of your at-wills. It targets 1,2, or 3 (and eventually 4) enemies vs. Reflex for 1d4+Wis radiant damage. The way you turn this into a killer at-will is focus on radiant damage boosts (Silvery Glow + Superior Implement Training (Defiant rod) in heroic give you +4 to each attack on top of magic & level bonuses). You'll need to worship Sehanine during heroic, and retrain to Amaunator by paragon (you'll want the Morninglord PP - gives all enemies vulnerable 10 radiant). By epic (if you were to play that long) you'd easily be doing 25+ radiant damage to any 4 targets within 10 squares of you (at-will). If you've obtained flight by then, you could just become a holy disco-ball of death.

I might talk jaycee into going a Leader, it depends, we have some time together tonite so ill talk to her about it then

He started out as a slave in a Goblin maze but through divine intervention he broke free. BTW, I think this is hilarious.

I had considered putting a character up, but not after seeing people tell others how to play/build their characters without being asked for advice.

If you're going for multi-target striking with a straight Invoker, you'll want Hand of Radiance as one of your at-wills. It targets 1,2, or 3 (and eventually 4) enemies vs. Reflex for 1d4+Wis radiant damage. The way you turn this into a killer at-will is focus on radiant damage boosts (Silvery Glow + Superior Implement Training (Defiant rod) in heroic give you +4 to each attack on top of magic & level bonuses). You'll need to worship Sehanine during heroic, and retrain to Amaunator by paragon (you'll want the Morninglord PP - gives all enemies vulnerable 10 radiant). By epic (if you were to play that long) you'd easily be doing 25+ radiant damage to any 4 targets within 10 squares of you (at-will). If you've obtained flight by then, you could just become a holy disco-ball of death. Invokers are controllers. I think he was swapping out of striker or defender because we have plenty of those, and im only an off controller

True, though I think a lot of controllers can basically be strikers depending on how you build them (e.g. you take Freezing Burst and combine it with Enlarge Spell, Arcane Admixture Thunder, Resounding Thunder, & frostcheese and you've got an 7x7 grid that does decent damage and slides > change to Winged Horde and add Arcane Admixture Cold, Mark of Storm, and Psychic Lock and you've got a devastating hurricane of force your melee counterparts will love to take advantage of). I assumed by his earlier statement that he wanted a ranged striker, but I could have misread.

Tell me what you think. He started out as a slave in a Goblin maze but through divine intervention he broke free. Yeah that's cool. Are you willing to take plot hook #2 as well?

I had considered putting a character up, but not after seeing people tell others how to play/build their characters without being asked for advice. our group isnt really like that, just more like they said they like to optimise and well sometimes it gives ideas for the rest of us

Ya i will take the second plot point. This is just a rough build i just wanted to get some feedback.

I'm in the process of making a character right now. It's looking to be an Ardent. Still taking the leader role, but not a Cleric. I could still swing the hook #2 by having the character be a close friend of the church. It could actually work into the character background that I'm cooking up. Something along the lines of repaying a debt for the church rescuing him from a cult years ago. If that doesn't work, I can do something else. I'm actually fairly new to 4e (but not DnD in general, played for many years in 2nd and 3rd) so there's a lot of stuff on the character builder that is kind of new to me, but I tend to pick things up pretty quickly. Hopefully that's not a problem.

I'm thinking of playing a spellscarred druid(Protector)/shaman. It's taking me a while to get the build down though. Thinking about taking the spellscarred harbinger theme, and having my backstory link that in to plothook1. something like: "i lived in Akanul until i became spellscared, at which time i search for someone to cure me. i eventually came across Douven from the blackstaff tower. Whilst he did not yet have a cure for the spellplague, he helped me to try and subdue it, and even partially control it." I'm still tinkering with my build, but heres what i've got so far: <a href="http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=474240" rel="nofollow">http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=474240</a>

So, here was what I built. ====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Taris Roe, level 1 Half-Elf, Ardent Ardent Mantle Option: Mantle of Elation Half-Elf Power Selection Option: Knack for Success Guiding Hand (Perception class skill) Theme: Escaped Thrall FINAL ABILITY SCORES STR 10, CON 16, DEX 11, INT 10, WIS 14, CHA 18 STARTING ABILITY SCORES STR 10, CON 14, DEX 11, INT 10, WIS 14, CHA 16 AC: 16 Fort: 14 Ref: 10 Will: 15 HP: 28 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 7 TRAINED SKILLS Diplomacy +11, Heal +7, Insight +9, Perception +7 UNTRAINED SKILLS Acrobatics –1, Arcana +0, Athletics –1, Bluff +4, Dungeoneering +2, Endurance +2, History +0, Intimidate +4, Nature +2, Religion +0, Stealth –1, Streetwise +4, Thievery –1 POWERS Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack Escaped Thrall Utility: My Mind Is My Own Half-Elf Racial Power: Knack for Success Ardent Feature: Ardent Outrage Ardent Feature: Ardent Surge Ardent Attack 1: Energizing Strike Ardent Attack 1: Demoralizing Strike Ardent Attack 1: Recursive Emotions FEATS Level 1: Martyr's Surge ITEMS Chainmail x1 Adventurer's Kit Greatsword x1 Sling Sling Bullets Candle Hammer Pitons Chalk and slate ====== End ======

Thanks for your interest in the game. As of right now all openings are taken. But you're first on the list for replacements and I will send you a private message if we have an opening.

I'M SO EXCITED! This game is going to be awesome! It's no secret to anyone familiar with Keep on the Shadowfell that the first adventure is based off of that module. But, trust me, if you've played Keep on the Shadowfell or even read the adventure, this is so heavily modified that the only connection it has to that module are the people, names, and plot skeleton. If running the game based on that first module is troubling to you, just trust me. Go into it with a good attitude and you're going to have fun! I CAN'T WAIT!

I'm heaps excited as well it's going to be great and I think a great campaign as well. I was originally thinking hey what this is KotS but figured you wid have made it your own and so it's different for us

Okay that's good. I am going to be running KotS for my home group tomorrow, and didn't want to have to play dumb., So I'm playing the same from the first game and didn't change anything if you need to look at the character summary.