Ambrose Watson

GAMES

so… uh… game this friday?  or no?

Ambrose’s Backstory

Ambrose just recently returned from “The North” where he was a part of an exploratory expedition, so he has missed out on the events of the last 2-3 years in the local city.  However, this city (Whatever one we will be spending the most time in.) is his home (and his favored community) and he takes whatever troubling circumstances cause him to spend his time adventuring almost as a personal insult.  To him this city is like an old friend and he does not take kindly to those who take advantage of her.  Ambrose comes from that fascinating combination of well bred, and dirt poor.  Once his family was quite wealthy, but that money was squandered when he was a child.  however, his name still carries some weight.  perhaps enough to get an audience with someone influential. (but not enough to borrow money against.)  His only real posessions are the old family manor (badly in need or repair) and a collection of curiosities that he has come across during his travels.  Ambrose’s part in the syndicate is that of a smuggler.  When they need goods, or sometimes even people, moved through thhe city in a descreet manner, Ambrose does the moving.  Often he stores these goods and people in the myriad hidden rooms and secret passages in his manor for a short time.  Dapper and charming, ambrose considers it uncouth to carry weapons openly and instead prefers to keep them concealed on his person.  The only exception is his longbow, which he carries any time he is leaving the city or going into a situation that he fears might require its use.  Amongst the things he brought back from his travels in the frozen tundra was his faithful sled dog baskerville.  Baskerville is a 90lb alaskan malamute/husky mix with piercing blue eyes and a thick  grey/white coat.  While Baskerville is posessed of a calm and serious demeanor most of the time, he can be quite fierce when he feels that his pet people are being threatened, and can be quite intimidating (+7 to intimidate motherfuckers)

so uh… yeah…

I heard that we were going to be starting back up the game night thing, in a neo-victorian steampunk world?  (what is the difference between neo-victorian, and victorian anyway?  that makes little sense to me…)  anyway.  I plan to play an urban ranger named ambrose watson, with a pet alaskan malamute.  I am working on a backstory for him and will let you know when I have it finished.  Do we have a start date?  Does anyone else know what they want to play?  Have I missed everything important and am woefully underprepared?

Character

So it has occurred to me that I went to all the trouble to write this backstory stuff and then i never sent it to anyone…  So, here it is.  all of this will be public knowledge to anyone that befriends Draugur.

Draugur - Draugur is a 6’2”, 340lb fat man with a huge bushy brown beard, and brown eyes that are perpetually sunken, baggy, and bloodshot from sitting up half of the night, reading by candle light.  Raised by moderately wealthy merchants in Brevoy (which was based on medieval Russia according to tvtropes.com) Draugur grew up with a passion for learning.  As a young boy he spent much of his time reading.  He has studied everything from arcane secrets to historical tax laws of katapesh.  By the time Nazar first came to Brevony, Draugur was 22 years old (a full decade older than most people are when they start wizard training.), knew a variety of cantrips, understood a great deal of magical theory (which was really useless without the training to apply it.) and spoke 6 languages fluently.  After impressing and befriending Nazar and moving as a foreign exchange student to [place where game takes place] Draugur spent the next 10 years studying diligently, and would have graduated on time if it were not for the complications in his apprenticeship, and worries about losing access to the university resources.

Sister - JEKATERINA:  Draugur’s relationship with his younger sister (whom he calls Rina) is strained.  She wants to take over the families business interests, but their parents think that it is inappropriate for her to do so.  Instead they favor Draugur for the job, even though he doesn’t want it.  On a logical front she knows that he doesn’t want the job and has even encouraged their parents to allow her to take over, however she can’t help but feel spiteful about it.  She is also disdainful of his schooling, and sees it as a waste of time and money.  She is young, attractive, charismatic, and possesses a remarkable analytical mind that makes her very well suited in the world of business.

 Parents - Lidiya, and Grisha:  Draugur’s parents are moderately well off merchants.  They fully expected him to take over their import/export business when he came of age and are disappointed that he chose to study magic instead of business.  They sent him to an expensive foreign school even though it caused a strain on their finances (not enough to cripple them, just enough to feel the pinch) because they hoped that he would go and study and then “get it out of his system”  They still hold out hope that he will someday settle down into a “normal” profession, even though he keeps telling them that he has no intention to do so.

 Recruiter - Nazar Yilmaz:  Nazar is an “Acquisition Specialist” workin for the head archivist at the university where Draugur studies.  He is a graduate of the school, whose job is to go out and find rare books, and tomes to add to the library’s collection.  This often entails crawling around in dungeons.  He first met Draugur while out chasing down a rumor that a prominent mage had been entombed near Draugur’s home town.  After recognizing the innate talent for magic, and love of knowledge that Draugur possessed, it was Nazar who convinced both the school, his parents and Draugur himself that he should travel to [place] and go to [school] even though he was nearly a decade older than most people are when they start their studies.  It was also Nazar who convinced Master Hahn to accept Draugur as his apprentice.  Nazar and Draugur have kept in touch in the years since then, often meeting for drinks when Nazar is in town and exchanging letters when he is not.  They are now fast friends, although Draugur has yet to figure out just why Nazar would want to travel all around the world, just to go digging around in places filled with monsters, and traps and the like, and Nazar doesn’t understand why Draugur would want to sit in once place for his entire life when there is so much adventure and excitement to be had.  Nazar hopes that someday Draugur will bore of his sedentary life and start exploring the world.  He makes it a point to offer to take Draugur with him and teach him the trade every time that he is in town. 

Master - Armen Hahn:  Master Hahn is an aging adventurer/wizard who is employed by the school.  He trained Nazar, and was convinced to take on the apprenticeship of Draugur against his better judgement.  (apprenticeship is mandatory for completion of his degree, and to be able to officially call himself a wizard.  Kinda like a mandatory internship)  Master Hahn firmly believes that there is a limit to the amount of magical skill one can acquire at home and refuses to allow Draugur to complete his training until he has gone out and had some adventures.  Draugur is fine with this, as graduating would mean losing access to the university library.

Level 1

The problem with lvl 1… according to this page, a common toad is CR 1/8 in pathfinder. This means that in a battle between 4 1st level adventurers, and 8 toads (not giant acid spitting toads, not even bullfrogs, fucking toads) should consume 1/3 of the total party resources in the form of HP, Spells, Items, and abilities… This means that if my familiar got going on a mean drunk and brought some friends over.  not even a lot of friends.  not a whole mob of them.  just a handful really.  then it could kill off our entire party…  Don’tchya just LOVE being level 1?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/amphibians/toad

Geek Boy was trying to name a D&D Character

geekgirlsmash:

He was running Ghost Whisperer through translators until it sounded namey.

I told him to just run it through Bad Translator to see what it turned up.

The result: Fred

Which obviously means his illusionist is now Fred. 

Draugur “Fred” Hvíslar to be precise.  (I have decided that he is going to be a foreign exchange student.)