Core or Bust!

Game Master dien

So, I don't have any names yet (I usually name characters last), but I have a few fledgling concepts so I figured I'd throw the out here to see what y'all think.

1) A Taldan nobleman who was educated in all the trappings of nobility and "civility", but who was "asked to leave" his formal training at school due to his terrible temper. I think it could be an interesting take on a barbarian. Someone who has the facade of dignity/upbringing but always has anger boiling at the surface.

2) An ex-officer in the Molthuni army, a grizzled veteran of sorts. With most of his former soldiers slain or having retired, he seeks more of the "easy life" applying his knowledge, tactics, and "motivational skills" for the PFS. Human (or maybe half-elven) bard.

3) A dwarven trophy hunter, an adrenaline junkie who wants to slay great beasts and keep them as taxidermy. Ranger or Fighter.

What do y'all think? Whichever I decide on, I'll start fleshing out the background and crunch more.

They all seem pretty fun to me. And for the group we've heard so far, they all seem to bring something new. Though I guess the bard brings the most unique set of class abilities, but that's not to say you have to go that route. :)

I might have to set to DM for #4-19 and #6-11, as I've played both of those in core.

I'm going back and forth between some sort of martial, or a cleric (we should probably have two of those if one of them might be running at some point).

At the moment I don't think anyone has a cleric as their first choice. It was my second, but I'm leaning strongly towards the paladin right now. We have a paladin and a druid it sounds like fairly sure (not counting the other proposed classes that also get CLW), so while a cleric would certainly be NICE, there is still some healing options if/when a cleric isn't present.

Okay, I opened the playlist up for edits, so that if you've played specific scenarios you can note it on there. (OneLung, already got yours.)

Okay, so ideally I'll get our first game started this coming week, once Andrew's back from his con and all. I'm finishing up GMing a Tide of Morning game where they just can't seem to drop the bad guy, haha, but that really shouldn't take more than a few more days.

So now's the time to post character sheets if you're done with them, do tweaks, dot gameplay if you haven't yet, check the scenario listing to put in any you've GMd, or make notes if you want to GM something...

Myself, I'm kind of torn on Blakros Matrimony, it's one of my favorite scenarios and I don't know if I want to GM it more or play it more. ;)

I'll get my sheet for Shaya up at some point tonight.

Other than that, can we start by, say, the 30th? Eben, I know you're gonna be outta town from 6/2 to 6/6-- I'm willing to wait until the 7th of June myself, but there's also the aspect where it's summer starting now: there's conventions, there's vacations, there's strong odds that someone is going to be absent at any given moment. If we wait for a guaranteed 'everyone is 100% here' who knows how long it might take. ;)

So I'm okay with flexible botting, but if people want to try and wait until everyone can be here for at least our first scenario (Rise of the Goblin Guild!), I'm also okay with that.

Hey, excellent! Let's get this thing rolling! I can have Klo's character sheet up today. I have him built out, just not formatted for a character sheet, yet.

Speaking of formatting, do we want to do a standardized stat line in the "Class" field for DM simplicity? I know some DMs really appreciate that, and I know many players playing healing-capable classes find it helpful, as well. I'm fine with whatever, but thought it was worth asking as people get their pages together.

Start date: don't delay on my behalf. I specifically didn't mention that in this thread because I was going to make this game the priority to post in while I was out of town. I likely won't be able to post more than once per day, but I'm hoping that's enough to handle solid introductions and be helpful in launching the game.

Scenarios: the only one of those I've played (and that not even in Core) is Rise of the Goblin Guild. So whatever I end up DM'ing, it'll be my first time to see that Scenario content. That's not a big deal, though. I can fill in wherever is helpful, to allow others to get to DM those Scenarios they want to.

Klo's placeholder. :D

(Not sold on the avatar, though.)

I GMed the slave ships of Absalom in regular PFS (eben was actually one of the players). I could do that again. When I get home I'll look up all of the scenarios I already own to throw my hat into the ring to GM.

Can I get a summary of those characters that have been confirmed so far?

So, I am leaning toward the strength based rogue. No name just yet. I have no preference on what to run, I will just need plenty of lead time so I can have enough time to prep. Should have the sheet up tomorrow.

Jikan's sheet. Not dead set on him if something else is needed, but I do like his concept a lot. Long term plans... lesser quicken metamagic rod for maximum buffs (probably mostly for quickened Haste).

Okay, I have Korum ready to go as far as character sheet goes. Going to try an play him as the confident wise-cracking, less moral sibling/cousin of Shayla.

Woot! I see avatars, I see aliases. :D Korum, I look forward to sibling shenanigans. (Did you mean Siver-eyed? You can still change it :P ) Klo, I like the avatar, but obviously you can fiddle. Jikan looks great to me.

Here's Shaya!

So, confirmed:

1- Shaya, paladin frontliner
2- Korum, probable STR rogue
3- Klo, druid EATYOURFACE
4- Jikan, all the transmutations

Mbauers is still tossing around concepts-- personally I dig #2 and #3 most, mbauers-- a bard would be great to round out what we have so far, and rangers are always one of my favorite classes. (Plus I like dwarves.) But obviously if the Taldan is speaking loudest to you, run with your heart!

OneLung is looking at martials or clerics last I saw, and then there's whatever you have in mind, Upaynao.

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Uniform tagline: I'm not too bothered if they all match, personally, as long as all the basics are there. But I'll model mine after Jikan's for conformity.

I actually want to do the bard, from a character standpoint as well as crunch standpoint. I'll stay him or her up, hopefully today/tonight (travelling to my in laws for the day). I need to get the latest version of the rules for PFS, as I imagine it has the faction traits in there.

I had planned on having the hyphen, but figured an orc would not have a grammarically correct name. It's a dedication to our goddess, so no worries changing it if you think it does not fit.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I am desperately working on my cleric right now, since I think it's what we need two of.

Unfortunately, so far I've got a name and a race. That's it. So expect me to post late tonight with the character.

I mean, we have a paladin, druid, and bard. Clerics are always welcome, but don't feel like you have to play it if something else feels better for you.

Agreed. I'd much prefer to have a group fully engaged in their character concepts than have a player or two feeling like they're just filling gaps. I'd think we could strategize to make group comp work, as long as we're not all straight fighters or something. :)

"Invested. Kull-Amon does not understand the word. It smells of green softness. Of fat calves before the slaughter. Kull-amon is not invested. Kull-Amon is, as the All-seeing Eye is."

I just pegged down the first few elements of my character.
FOLKS WE GOT OURSELVES A CLERIC! :D

Ooh, Nethys. I do like Nethys thematically and am always frustrated that I can't legally make a paladin of Nethys.

Onelun's building an Iroran cleric as we speak.

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Minor issue on the scenario listing: There's a few so far that at least two people have played, on my more careful reading of the thread. #4-19 (Night March of Kalkamedes) is a no-go as both TriShadow and OneLung have played it (that I know of); same thing for #6-11 (Slave Master's Mirror), barring the use of GM stars, etc. (Mbauers, I know you haven't played them in core so we could theoretically move your GMing around). Upaynao, have you done Green Market in core yet? Andrew has, so possibly he'll be GMing that one.

Anyway, those two I mentioned we'll need to swap for something, most likely, but in general if you've played anything in Core so far make sure it's noted on the listing so we can hopefully not do too much last minute scenario swapping.

I had planned on having the hyphen, but figured an orc would not have a grammarically correct name. It's a dedication to our goddess, so no worries changing it if you think it does not fit.

Haha, it wasn't the hyphen, it was that it said 'siver' instead of 'silver' when I saw it. ;) No, I think the name is awesome.

Done!

To note for everyone, the "Yargul Tracking----" section in this characters statline summary is a link that should take you to a tracking page.

I present to you Yargul, cleric of Irori.
Gosh, core clerics...!

If you want to swap back in Mists of Mwangi, I could DM that one.

I wouldn't mind burning a replay on it. I still got 2 left this year (really... 7 actually).

As to the conflicts, I have not played either 4-19 (Night March of Kalkamedes) or #6-11 (Slave Master's Mirror) in CORE, so I should be fine. If need be, I can always run one of those and apply the chronicle to Korum.

Dang. I like those clerics. :D

As far as signing up to DM scenarios—and given my lack of experience with nearly all of the ones on our list—I think it might be helpful to outline the kinds of Scenarios it is likely to make the most sense (or be the most fun) to play. Then maybe we can go at it backwards once a few other folks have had a chance to claim the ones they want to GM.

Klo, being a druid and a Shoanti "asset" to Varisia, would be best used in Scenarios that highlight those things. Outdoorsy adventures (where being a survivalist, tracker, and guide are helpful) would be a good fit, too. Getting to participate in ones with heavy Druidic themes could be fun. And those that touch on the Year's theme (Runelords) seem appropriate to Klo, as well.

Don't treat those as hard and fast rules; I definitely want other folks to get to play in what they want to play in. Just getting some initial thoughts out there so the group can help me figure out good Scenarios for me to DM. :)

Kara is formerly a captain in the Molthuni army who at one point bought in wholeheartedly to the rhetoric of her superior officers and government officials. She was well-known and well-respected for her daring, and she loved the admiration she would receive from her exploits.

This changed when her squad was sent on a suicide mission to recover an artifact of dark power, and only she survived. It struck her with its power, weakened her greatly, and only her stubbornness kept her alive to crawl back to her encampment. She lived, but could never quite swing a blade the way she once could. As she lay awake in her tent recovering from the blast of dark magic, she realized that, for all their fancy words, her superiors saw her as nothing more than the disposable footsoldiers who enlisted with the promise of gaining citizenship.

She stole a horse, fled to Nirmathas, and offered her services to those who might appreciate her talents: the Pathfinder Society. Perhaps she could keep dangerous magical weapons out of the hands of those who betrayed her, and away from loyal soldiers who sacrifice everything, only to be cast aside.

That's what I have so far. I ported over stats from a different profile for formatting, I just need to put in Kara's stats.

I laid claim to three of the scenarios to DM. That being said, I'm not married to them in case someone else really wanted to.

#0-23: Tide of Morning
#3-05: Tide of Twilight
#4-11: The Disappeared

Hey, gang's all here!

Also, would any of these characters have spent any time up in the northern Varisia area, where they might have used a local kid as a guide? :D

I will come up with a list of what I've played. That's almost certainly what I would prefer to GM, and it'll probably be slightly more than my fair share. I don't mind.

Just made a few updates (feat & gear swaps), but Klo should be good to go. :)

Just a thought, but perhaps we should include Valley of the Veiled Flame?

Or—as much as it might not be exiting given that we've all played it multiple times—push a Confirmation in during our 1st level Scenarios and just rearrange to make everything else work. :)

I have run Valley of the Veiled Flame before, so I have no problem running it here.

I'm not opposed to seeing Night March go, as I've had my fair share of talking swords locally. I would push for Slave Masters' Mirror to stay as I think it's an important part of the Desimire storyline.

As far as replayables go I would rather play Wounded Wisp of the three (four) as if I have to fight another g&&#!@mn minotaur I might erupt into a pile of goo.

Okay, sorry, today wound up being busy and didn't get a start-on like I wanted to. I'm okay with the notion of taking out Night March and swapping in an evergreen as our first one. Wounded Wisp works for me.

I'll go start up a gameplay post for WW, then.

Hmm, so, bards can cast with no penalty in light armor. Does that apply to a mithral breastplate?

Yup. Though as you're not proficient, you'd still take the -1 penalty to attacks and skill checks involving moving.

Neat bard trick....

Take the Armor Expert trait, then wear Mithral Breastplate. No penalties to anything at all, even without medium armor proficiency.

For sure... in a classic game. :P

That's exactly what I was considering, and why I asked the question! :-)

I believe Armor Expert is a Core option, so mbauers's approach is good.

Armor expert is in the traits document. Works just fine in Core. :)

Oh, huh, I thought it was from Ultimate Campaign and therefore not allowed. Ignore me!

What was that Dien? Did you say something?

Har de har.

I think Jikan might be the only party member with less than 14 strength. This might be a violent party.

As the buff sorcerer... no complaints.

From Kara's mention (I apologize... probably going to be using in-character names here a lot since it will be consistent) I'd be for Golarion languages being correlated to real-world languages. Is there a list someone has that they prefer? I know I've seen them before but I think there's more than one.

Ooh. I could get into that.

What should we do for Shoanti? And Druidic? :D

Hmm..maybe some kind of irish gaelic or whelsh for druidic.