Chronicles of the Silver Rose Company

Game Master Patrick Curtin

*shrug*

I think Paizo will do fine. They seem to have fire walled themselves sufficiently, and I don't thing TTRPGs are any more threatened by MMORPGs than they were 15 years ago when UO came out. The one reason I am hanging on to being involved with this project is my faith in the primary participants. If anyone can pull off a non-greif/gank PvP MMORPGS its these guys.

Plus I think with the changing paradigm of marketing, PDF/POD, and Kickstarter even if Paizo should somehow fail the supplements will just become more decentralized with 3PP carrying the torch. It is an exciting time to be a fan of a niche hobby like Pathfinder. Even in the heyday of the 1980s there was FAR less content you could buy. Your options were so limited by what the market could justify printing.

I Agree Pat.
Optimistically, and cautiously, but I do agree.

HAving survived, I mean ENJOYED the heyday of D&D that was the 80's (anti-satanism panic and all) we are in a MUCH better place now.

Not to mention that most of the 'official' stuff that was published in the day wasn't up to snuff, much LESS the 3pp products. ;P Can you say 'level balance' anyone? Anyone?

Seriously, while I did enjoy the imagination that went into most of the modules/adventures that I own, most were just not executed well. Or at least not as well as they Could have been. :)

When the most exciting thing you own is the module from the beginners box,... well that says a lot. (And I still love Keep on the Borderlands better than anything else from the time period.) :D

BAck on subject,... while I am not (yet) Happy with the 'solutions' that they have talked about. (and, admittedly, most likely will never be considering my feelings towards PvPing) at least they seem to be listening, and trying to address the problem.

It just seems to me that they are missing the easiest, cheapest, and quickest solution to the problem. Make NO PvP an option. ;P

Yeah, when you look at some of those old modules you shake your head. I think that one of the reasons they are still held in such high regard is nostalgia. A parallel example: When I was a kid the show Bewitched was still in pretty heavy rotation. As it was on of the few shows at the time with a fantasy element in it, I ended up watching quite a bit of it. I happened to catch a bit of it yesterday while flipping through my 300+ channel options. Wow. What a horribly written show. But, the fact that 35 years ago there used to be FIVE channel choices to choose from made it seem much better than it actually was.

And back on the subject indeed, I would be most happy with a pure PvE option. I do understand WHY they are so adamant about leaving PvP 'open' in the game. It is audacious to have a game where players have a lasting effect on the terrain. As such, if you posit settlements, player-crafted items, etc. then having them able to be destroyed makes a twisted kind of sense. The problem I see is balance

There is so much perversity in the hearts of greifers. I do not know if they will play by the implied 'rules' of the game. Can the game's culture self police? Can the moderators maintain a firm hand on the tiller? Will the proposed anti-greifing mechanics be a deterrent or speed bump? Only the actual game will likely tell the tale

I really want this to work. I have been looking for a new game for years. I am tired of coming into games after the initial rush. I hope they can do it, but I am willing to walk away if they fail

Hehehee,...
Nostalgia,...

Yeah, I end up catching old re-runs of my old favorites from the 80's, and I still enjoy re-watching them, but man, they are NOT as awesome as I remember them being! :)

Part of it is what we have to compare it too now, yeah, part is fond memories.

Personally, I find that having 300+ channels to select from now just means that I have a lot of Drek I have to wade through to find a decent show to watch. With the notable exception of certain history and science channel specials, I end up watching the same few shows on the same few channels I always do. Makes me wonder why I pay out the nose for freakin cable every month. <Sigh> ;P

AND back on track, I agree. Again. It seems to me (admittingly knowing NOTHING about programming except what I learned from my mother and best friend)

(yes, My mother learned to be a computer programmer when they were using PUNCH CARDS,..) ;D

ANYway, It seems to me that with this approach of making a permanent impact upon the game terrain by allowing us to build castles and towns and such, they would have an EASIER time maintaining all of that if they left PvP out, or at least limited it. Now You will have every would-be griefer laying siege to every town and castle being built before it is finished! ;P (IMHO) I hope Im wrong. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I hope it ends up working. Because I would REALLY like to play this game! :)

And speaking of the game, I'm going to take Justin on a little shopping trip. But I wanted to have him make a quick visit to ta certain kobold first. To fish for information. And just because Justin enjoys rattling his cage. :)
I will make it pretty much a one or two entry thing, just so I don't slow things down, but I'll stop in the 'middle' of the scene so you can have Marconi react if you wish. I just have a scene I've been brewing in my head ever since those brain-rats showed up, and I have to try it! :)

Merry Christmas one and all!

On a side note I'm no expert on kickstarters but is it just me or has this one been handled kind of poorly? I mean Ryan is talking about there being an upswing in the last two weeks (Which dosent happen for all kickstarters) but surly the way the daily deal and the land rush is set up works against that idea?

@Rags: write away! I am going to be spending some time today massaging the Opal fight scene with the vegetable menace. Marconi would hold court in the Lower Ward, feel free to make a 'lair' for him in Little Draukari (a kobold neighborhood off Ragpicker's Square).

@Kevin: I think they were a little optimistic they could get $1 mil. They tossed in a lot of bennies to sweeten the deal I don't think they had originally thought to. They did get halfway there, now it is just a race to see if they can get their funding.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Pat - full stats for all three acolytes are now posted.

Happy after-christmas everyone!

Currently on vacate in Oklahoma, will check in as often as possible, but will not be 'back' until a couple of days after New Years.

So if I miss you that day, Happy New Year!

And thanks for the permission and advice Pat, I'll insert that littel side trip on Justin's way to the magic shop, and then meet up with everyone at teh appointed time. :)

So been working to get into Rhiannon's head space, to be more interactive. Re reading her background and peronality, she's a tactician, so at time she definitely may not talk much, but one of the things at her core is that she's made it her job to makesure,everyone makes it home in one piece.

She's very protective and sees her unit as her family, and in many ways with her noble background,the Silver Rose is her House now, and she'll do anything to protect, and promote it and any of it's members.

So been working to get into Rhiannon's head space, to be more interactive. Re reading her background and peronality, she's a tactician, so at time she definitely may not talk much, but one of the things at her core is that she's made it her job to makesure,everyone makes it home in one piece.

She's very protective and sees her unit as her family, and in many ways with her noble background,the Silver Rose is her House now, and she'll do anything to protect, and promote it and any of it's members.

Sounds like Rhiannon is a bit like Karrin. Karrin is far more easy going and is a bit of a "ball buster", teasing and tormenting folks she likes, but she's also very much a guardian seeing the groups failures as her own.

Thing is, being both a noble and a soldier, Rhiannon's just as comfortable in a gown and jeweles at a fancy banquet as sitting in a dive tavern drinking gotrot whisky.

Most people who see one side have a hard time imagining the other, as the members of the party got to see this last mission.

And there is a major difference: Karrin is not at all comfortable in social situations or even her own skin sometimes. She grew up amongst monks (many of whom believed her blood made her inherently evil), spent a good deal of time amongst rough and tumble mercenaries, and as a result she's not always sure how act in polite company or even amongst those of her own gender. She certainly has no idea how to act amongst nobles and the like. She managed to get to a fancy dress ball once in the campaign but she sadly didn't have a Professor Higgins to prepare her.

Nari is a little intimidated by Rhiannon on account of the whole noble thing. I've been trying to think of a way for her to connect more with Rhiannon because I think that the more they interact the less Nari will be scared of her, but so far no luck. Which is too bad because I think that Rhiannon would be a good mentor for her when it comes to how to interact with people. (step 1: don't dive under tables when introduced) :P

She'd be a better influence then Karrin . . . unless they were dealing with mercs or monks

Apologies folks. I have been having a rather downer of a past few days, and my heart has not been in PbP. I will hopefully get some done tomorrow.

Apologies folks. I have been having a rather downer of a past few days, and my heart has not been in PbP. I will hopefully get some done tomorrow.

I'm sorry to hear that. Depression is pretty common during the holidays, something about the lack of sunlight, the social expectations to be happy, and the financial demands makes a perfect storm.

As always life comes first Patrick, don't feel pressured by us, come back when you're ready.

Nothing holiday related, and not depression, never fear. Just battling several bad life things ATM, and not in the mood to craft gaming goodness.

Hope that life takes a turn for the better for you soon, Patrick.

Also, trying to create some interaction between Nari and Rhiannon. We'll see how well that works. :)

Nothing holiday related, and not depression, never fear. Just battling several bad life things ATM, and not in the mood to craft gaming goodness.

On the one hand I'm glad it's not seasonal depression, on the other I'm sorry to hear things aren't going well for you. You have my e-mail if you want to talk.

Best wishes to you Pat. Hopefully things will get better for all of us soon. ;P

I got sick during my vacate to OK. Sorry for the absence.

I'm back now. Physically. Mentally might take a couple of more days. ;)

Oh. My.

I think KArrin's calling out of Pug may be one of my favorite posts. Ever.

Justin is using his fire spells to make popcorn. This is gonna be good! :)

Wow! Considering some of the stuff we've had in this game that is a huge complement :) I've been saving that "when a humble servant Rao, god of peace, reason, and serenity is sent to rough you up" line (or at least a variant of it) for a while now and this is the perfect place to use it.

Guys once again I have to apologize. My daughter has been sick these past few days, and I haven't had time to update. I will attempt to update soon. Thanks for your patience

I hope your daughter is on the mend and feeling better soon, Patrick.

I understand, we all caught the creeping crud over the holidays. Hope yours isn't too bad, and gets better soonest! :)

Hope she feels better soon.

Same here Patrick, I'm hopping she's feeling better soon. This is the time of year for colds though.

Hope she gets well soon. It's all going around right now.

Hey all. Just a quick update. My entire family is now socked in with the creeping crud. I will keep you updated, but at this point I'm feeling very sluggish and unmotivated. Hopefully things will be better come next week

if this were a horror movie that would be the last post we ever got from Patrick . . . dun dun duuuuuuuun

Get well soon dude!

Oh dude,
BEst of luck, get well soon, ALL the monkeys!
:)

I see that the Monkey crew is feeling better? :)

(I hope everyone is well, My family is finally better, but my stinkin' cough will NOT go away!) ;P

<Sigh> One of these days, Justin's mouth is going to get him into trouble I can't RP him out of. ;P

Have fun teaching Pulgh a lesson guys! (Why does Karrin's last post remind me of the Bugs Bunny/ Elmer Fudd/ Daffy Duck cartoon? The one where they all ended up in the boxing ring together? "And none of THIS, or THAT, and nothing like THIS," (Punch, Pow, Sock)
:)

Well, we're moving forward on the getting better thing. It's an uphill process. Plus, I had to do a little research for Nari's and co. walk through all of Sigil. It's like trying to write a travelogue on a city you only know through a FODOR book...*sigh*

Now, I got to figure out the fight on the Green Lady and figure out if you lot can kill plantzilla

Well, we're moving forward on the getting better thing. It's an uphill process.

Amen brother, amen.

Plus, I had to do a little research for Nari's and co. walk through all of Sigil. It's like trying to write a travelogue on a city you only know through a FODOR book...*sigh*

Lol, but you do such a wonderful job!

Now, I got to figure out the fight on the Green Lady and figure out if you lot can kill plantzilla

Heh, time to see if Magnus can do his imitation of a weed-whacker! :)

Keep getting better! :)

Oh, and I will also keep those interested in the PFO appraised. It did fund (if you didn't notice that) and I will be entering on month 1 of the Beta, so that will be interesting.

Very cool.
I hope you have fun! :)

When does the Beta start, do you know yet?

I think they are shooting for summer 2014 for Beta, and 2016 for general release

Oh good,
Plenty of time to plan/anticipate then.
:)

I'll be sure to give you an honest appraisal

That was a pretty awesome tour of Sigil.

Yes, yes it was. :)

I'll be sure to give you an honest appraisal

I would expect nothing less from the infamous monkey! :)

Sorry for the long posts. I just can't help myself some times!

I'll take my meds next week, I swear! :)

Hey guys an gals, rules question,

CHecking all of my updates from that last treasure haul, and have a item/Int question.

WHen you gain Int from an item that you don't usually remove (headband of Vast Intellect+2) do you also get extra skill points from using that item?

I need to go do more research, seems I read that exact question on another thread,...

Trying to make a shopping list for Justin. To prepare for our excursion.

He doesn't have much cash it turns out (spent what he had on his new magic coat, and his nice new ring and headband leaves him owing from future loot) So I am planning on scrolls.

I figured an Invis 10' might be good, may Prot/evil mass, anything else? suggestions?

Hey guys an gals, rules question,

CHecking all of my updates from that last treasure haul, and have a item/Int question.

WHen you gain Int from an item that you don't usually remove (headband of Vast Intellect+2) do you also get extra skill points from using that item?

I need to go do more research, seems I read that exact question on another thread,...

Nevermind!

I will pick the 'random knowledge' skill the headband has. The skill bonus is only for that skill. :)

LOL! Way to go Isaac,
No, don't hold back, tell me how you really feel! ;P

Well, Justin's certainly not the shy, retiring type.

A question for those of you that have run Planescape on the tabletop- is it easier to introduce for the first time if you begin with fresh-faced Primes thrown into the planes or better to lay the whole thing out for the players to see from the beginning? Someday I'd like to update the setting to PF and introduce it to my players (who mostly started on Pathfinder).

The appeal is to play exotic characters you don't normally get to be, but I also worry about dumping too much info on them at once in order to have native planar characters.

I have found that Primes are better. You might remember Davi wanted to be a native, but he got frustrated with the Cant. If someone is very knowledgeble about the setting (ie-you =) then a native Cager is a possibility. But, few can pull off that Cager 'tude. Issac does it the best of any PC I've seen (even if he is originally from Yggdrasil).