paizo.com - Forums: Play-by-Post Discussion: PF2E - Kingmaker (2024)

I've been longing to play in a KM game! Thank you for running this and for selecting Quintessa to play in it!

Congrats to my fellow companions! Looking forward to playing with you all.

I will probably evaluate my spells after I look at what everyone else selected, but Quintessa is more or less ready to go.

@GM - Is it your preference for us to dot in and wait for an official start, or shall we do some introductory RP?

Thank you for the selection. :)

I'll double-check my purchases, but everything else should be set.

Quintessa, a dot is sufficient for now.

Question for all: the AP assumes you answer Lady Jamanda's call for heroes (read intro post) together as a group. Does that work for you? Do you prefer to know each other beforehand? Or do you prefer being thrown together randomly, as in a lottery and meeting as strangers? Or something else?

Hello there, lovely people!

I'll do the finishing touches on the profile today (level down, gear, etc)

Happy to be here.

As for grouping, Teela is a seamstress/tailor by trade. So if you wanted some adjustments done for the event, that's a way for people to know her.

@GM: This is my personal preference, but I'm flexible with whatever the group devices. I like it when there are some connections between some of the characters, but not necessarily all. Give them someone they know and can lean on/confide in, but let them build relationships with the majority of the group.

If you want to us to come together ahead of the time as an established group, I can certainly find a way to work this into the background.

@Teela: There's a good possibility of a connection between Quintessa and Teela for this.

Lady Quintessa would have been "provided" an outfit by her family, but she tends to lean toward the vibrant and eccentric rather than the boring and formal that is selected for her.

She would have "accidentally" ruined the outfit, needing to get some altercations done before the event. Perhaps she snuck out to find Teela and hired her to change her attire.

Thanks for selecting Thark (and me). Look forward to a fun group. If you need any rules advice or discussion, hit me up. Thanks again for running the game

It's hard for me to see how Thark might know the others in advance of call for heroes, but will leave that to others to approach the rather grim half-orc with a greatsword lashed to his hulking back.

The profile is ready.

Quintessa Orlovsky wrote:

@Teela: There's a good possibility of a connection between Quintessa and Teela for this.

Lady Quintessa would have been "provided" an outfit by her family, but she tends to lean toward the vibrant and eccentric rather than the boring and formal that is selected for her.

She would have "accidentally" ruined the outfit, needing to get some altercations done before the event. Perhaps she snuck out to find Teela and hired her to change her attire.

Sure thing. Hit me up. I bet Teela would be co*cky enough to ask to be a +1. "To observe the current trends in the upper-class fashions" would be the reason provided.

Unless she actually got an invitation? Or was it an open posting?

The event is Lady Jamandi's "Call for heroes". Whether or not a seamstress and a young, unproven daughter of a noble house fit the bill is probably up for discussion.

Quintessa learned of the call from her family, who had been discussing sending her brother. Fortunately for her, all of her siblings were otherwise engaged in business affairs, and so her father reluctantly agreed to let Quintessa go to represent their name.

If Teela was so bold as to ask Quintessa for the +1, she would have enjoyed that and absolutely taken her up on it. Not only does she appreciate the boldness, but bringing a seamstress along pushes the envelope a bit and that's just her style.

Unless Teela felt the need to apply to the call of heroes on her own.

Teela is really just looking for a way to get out of town or gain enough clout so that her being disappeared into the night would raise some questions.

Being in company with some bluebloods sounds like a plan for achieving the latter.

I'm not sure whether she is even aware of something like an expedition being planned. But if she can get in on that and skip town, that's just added value.

It might be more expedient to make it a random lottery.

However, if the consensus is to have some familiarity between the characters, I'll pitch my 2 cents:

If the call includes the promise or allusion to land holdings, I can see Fenric and Quintessa each being interested.

As nobles, Fenric and Quintessa could plausibly be familiar with each other from social events despite their family seats of power being on opposite sides of Brevoy. Easily conceivable that they each know the other has ambition/interest beyond their station. When each hears of the call, they could have simultaneously reached out to one another looking for support.

Tessa, Quintessa's fortunte-telling seamstress, could have a foretelling (real or manufactured) that Quintessa will come into a significant bounty but only if she keeps the seamstress close to her. Either Quintessa remembering a relatively remote foretelling or Tessa having the foretelling--miraculously/suspiciously--right after hearing about Quintessa's plans to go on the adventure.

Fenric could be familiar with Selina from his years spent trying to master his fencing--Restov is an obvious place to find teachers--and recognize her as a potential mercenary to help them with their adventure into the Stolen Lands.

Thark could be known to Fenric in a similar sword-training-adjacent familiarity by face/name, if he wanted, and hired on as a mercenary with the promise of battle and glory. Or Thark could be a last-minute arrival divinely guided to assist this motley band of adventurers. Fenric wouldn't say no to having a cleric along, even if he might be a little suspicious at the serendipity of it.

That way nobody is necessarily intimately familiar with any one member of the party but they all have a reason to go on an adventure with at least one other person in the group. And there should be plenty of wiggle room to play with for everybody.

Nailed it, I love all of your suggestions.It's up to Teela how she handles the fortune-telling bit, but I think it's genius.

You are 100% correct. Tessa and Fenric would not only know of each other (it is required to know all members of the noble houses), but I’m sure they would be acquainted from numerous events they would have been required to attend. Being relatively close in age would likely further the possibility of a preexisting relationship above and beyond acquaintance as well. I can absolutely see her reaching out to Fenric to lobby for any support she could.

I like it. Either case, Teela's way in would be Quintessa, it seems.

Quintessa comes to Teela's place to get her dress done. The girls get chatty.

Hearing what the dress is for, Teela offers to do the work for free if she can come with, offering a few justifications. In this order.

- She wants to see the fashion trends of the local nobility to use similar materials and copy some designs, then sell to a clientele that pays more.

- She can perform with her handheld harp and can sing. Life on the road can be boring, and in ye olden times, you either made your own music or trudged in silence. No Spotify back then. Also, she is a tailor. Lot of thorns on the road. Clothes get torn up. In short, she uses a few excuses to justify her being in the expedition. Music, platonic companionship, crafting skills, fortune telling.

- Speaking of forutne telling, she casually mentions that since Quintessa is going on an expedition, Teela can try to augur what the future holds. A cold read. She shuffles the cards and her responses to them to try to inception Quintessa that having a fortune teller could be advantageous.

- She states that she is bored in town and wants to see the world. Surely a rebellious noble-born such as Quintessa understands a call like that.

- If all that fails, Teela would confess that some bad people are after her and she wants to get out of town.

- If THAT fails, she will outright try to steal Quintessa's invitation. Teela's thievery is +6, Tessa's perception is +4. I'll take my chances.

I'll let you decide which one you will go for.

She's not here to recruit a companion and has no intention of brining someone along who's dependent upon her. So initially, she's put off by the request. I think it is likely the culmination of Teela's pursuit and a slow build-up, climaxing after the cold read and her call for exploration and before resorting to thievery. I do have to admit I love the idea of Teela being announced as Lady Quintessa to an awaiting Fenric, though! :)

Teela's offer to do the work for free fell on deaf ears, as money doesn't particularly mean the same thing to the two individuals. Never truly having to work for coin, she's not appreciative enough of the offer to take Teela on.

Though her plea to see the trends of the nobility is more enticing, it still doesn't win her over. When she's casually singing while taking measurements, it catches Quintessa's attention for the first time and she can exploit Quintessa's weakness. She is an avid follower of Shelyn and loves all forms of art and music. She immediately sees Teela in a new light.

So she's hooked and ready to hear the cold read, and Teela locks it in with exploration and seeing the world; Quintessa sympathizes and caves.