Update/Options:
Luke_Parry sounds like he's back to join Emerald Spire goodness.
I've offered spots to Dungeon Master S and GM Lari as they've both run a fair amount of Core PbP on Paizo's forums (I believe most of our paths have crossed at various points).
However, neither have a 3rd level core PC at this point (I believe both have 2nd level core PCs or ones at 5th and higher). As Maiden is tied up for several weeks finishing Destiny of Sands, here's another option.
We could play Emerald Spire level 1 again (it's an evergreen), thus enabling 2nd level Core PCs to leap straight into Level 4 (Godhome) as 3rd level PCs.
I'd be planning to follow Godhome with Level 5 (The Drowned Level, character levels 3-5 again) and Level 6 (The Clockwork Maze, character levels 4-6)... so roughly this is buying into a series like:
(3-5)(3-5)(4-6)
Thus a 2nd level core PC would play at 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th (being right in the middle for Levels 5 & 6).
Is that Destiny of the Sands game GMTrex? I ask because he's a RL friend of mine, and I introduced him to this addiction game.
I'd much prefer to use Kayanor, a core archer, but he's booked up in PJP's Shades of Ice trilogy (of which we're about half way though.) I have a level 2 wizard, which is risky without a solid group of characters to protect him.
Worst case scenario I'll make a new one at level 1.
I suspect for you, how we muster falls into two camps:
1. We start ES Level 4 once most folks are free and don't do any sort of "leveling detour". This might mean actually starting in April or so -- we're just mustering weeks in advance to get everyone's availability aligned.
or
2. Thran (your wizard) would be fine at 2nd level in a side-trek through ES Level 1 which we don't start until PJP's Hydra's game concludes. Then Thran turns 3rd, and you have your pick between Thran and Kayanor to take to ES Level 4 (levels 3-5). This essentially is a side-run of ES1 (or Thornkeep 1, even) to level up the party in March.
I guess there's a 3rd mustering option...
3. Folks who aren't free in March play the 4th-level pre-gens in Godhome (subtier 3-5) and this gives them a pre-gen chronicle to give to any PCs they wish.
I will say this, if it helps... Godhome can go very quickly as a social scenario. I think my in-person play of it took a little over an hour. In terms of all the levels I've seen, this makes it a bit quirky. I know a lot of people who play through even completely skip the level since they'd otherwise need to slow-track it on a single PC who goes through the full Spire experience.
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I would be fine with running through level 1 (since it would allow me to bring a *very* solid melee cleric build through the rest of the Spire), but if that is not an option, I would probably bring a level-appropriate druid.
Re: Slow play, the rules have changed, so you can now choose to switch between normal and slow play whenever you have a non-fractional number of XP, so it is less punitive than it used to be...
I like option 2!
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Option 2 sounds good to me. I might actually be able to get an all-spire core character caught up to the group that way, actually, through mixing in a bit of RL play for the levels already missed. I'll talk to the two main people who've run Spire around here this weekend and figure out a plan. Either way, I'm in, it's just a question of which character I end up using.
OK, why don't we assume we're running Emerald Spire level 1 as a "catch up" session starting whenever we can. I'll let everyone proceed to the next stage of discussion, which I suppose is setting up timing when we'd begin and character selection for it.
Howdy folks. It's good to be back.
Like DM Panic said, my core PC travelled through the first four levels of the Spire and now she's in the Destiny of Sands Trilogy- not dead yet!
I have a couple of PC options for a new level 1 character, though:
1) A human bard, focused on the whip for tripping.
2) An elven transmuter, hopefully I can make her an Eldritch Knight someday.
3) Gnome Druid beast rider. Cause why not?
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Hey, I am just catching up, but it sounds like we have a plan.
Zora is mid-game too, but I will keep her free after it to rejoin Maiden. Meanwhile, Zora has a first level bard sister/cousin named Zarina. She doesn't have quite as dark of a history as Zora, but instead joined a travelling circus and now adventures, using a whip primarily to aid the others on their attacks.
I do also have a gnome summoner (Druid 1/Conjurer 1) currently available, if that works better for the group.
BTW- We are very close to finishing Hydra's Fang. Could be a matter of only a few days...
So, for those of you who need an extra 3XP to get a character up to 3rd level to take on the Drowned Level.
(or those of you who wish to just grab 3XP for another Core PFS slot...)
Here's the discussion thread for the ES Level 1 run
I'll try to keep the Gameplay thread here "clean" so it just segues into Level 4 after Level 3.
Bump for check-ins to the above linked discussion thread!
Here's an update on where we're at.
Giovanni is in the home stretch of Penumbral Accords, which I believe will give him the XP needed to hit 3rd level.
Zora is ready and available to start ES4.
Maiden is in the home stretch of Destiny of Sands Part III.
I imagine we'd be looking to start Emerald Spire Level 4 (Godhome) around May 10th or so given the current pace of things.
This is a fairly fast level if you tackle it a certain way (it could completely play out in a week and a half if we all post as often as we all usually do). My plan would be to then go straight into Level 5 (Drowned Level) if there are no objections.
Maiden/chadius still finishing up Destiny III. Once she's free, I'll see about dusting this off and getting us started again.
I fired off a couple PMs to see if I could fill our 4th/5th spots. Failing those, I'll hit Flaxseed up later today.
Looks like Giovanni needs to level to 3rd!
I haven't forgotten about you guys! I've just been pinging various players in turn for the 4th spot, working to suss out who may have interest, a 3rd level core PC and would be a solid daily poster.
In some cases the PM replies have taken a few days to come back with weekends and such.
If anyone knows any players from their other Core games who they think would round out the party but also be solid posters, feel free to ping them as well and let me know here.
@Maiden & Luke: Anyone from your Destiny game perhaps?
I think most folks from our Penumbral game were too low level.
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I just saw the recruitment post in Flaxseed, which made me come looking. Since this campaign is marked as inactive, I wasn't seeing updates. So if you get started and I am not chiming in, PM me a note to remind me to check back in.
Having said that, I am also travelling for much of the next 2 weeks, so I may be rather quiet until Jun 7 or 8 anyway.
Alrighty. I would've PM'd you had you not checked in.
No bites so far. Worst case, you guys can always take a pre-gen along if we want this thing to go super quick. :)
Our 4th, GreySector has been invited to drop by the thread.
Once he checks in, we can handle any last pre-run prep you guys want, and try to get things started, even with Zora traveling some. It's a holiday weekend, so I expect things to be a bit slow getting going.
I'm not sure who may have played or run this level of Emerald Spire before, but this level can be an odd one amid all the others, especially in PFS play.
As written, there are three ways to complete the Godhome level - (a) make an offering, (b) massacre the trogs or (c) deactivate the Godbox.
You have actually successfully completed (a) at this point. You could choose to head down to the next level, or the others are still valid options for you at this point.
I bring this up in the OOC thread since this "module" stands out to me as the single most boggling in its execution, since it can go so fast and be solved with literally a little exploration, conversation and the sacrifice of 8lbs of iron gear.
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Yeah, it is a little odd, but we need to remember that each of the levels was designed by a different 'celebrity' author, each of whom almost certainly brought their own roleplaying 'spin' to their particular level...
I see no reason to massacre an apparently benign group of troglodytes, so I am happy to keep moving :-)
Ah normally I wouldn't spoil a chronicle before we're done, but taking a glance at it this morning to prepare it gave me some insight on how the campaign leadership is handling this level.
Your rewards for completing this adventure depend on how you resolved the encounters. You earn 1 XP, 1 Prestige Point, and 1,600 gp for each of the following accomplishments (maximum 3 XP, 3 Prestige Points, and 4,800 gp). If you completed three or more objectives, you earn one additional Prestige Point (for a total of 4 Prestige Points).
Appeaser of the Godbox: You and your allies sacrificed metal to the Godbox, and in doing so you opened the trapdoor to the next level of the superdungeon.
Disabler of the Godbox: You and your allies disabled the Godbox machine.
Scavenger of Offerings: You recovered most or all of the trinkets attached to the Godbox.
Slayer of Troglodytes: You and your allies defeated at least 10 troglodytes in combat.
The next level is also a 3-5, so you could conceivably take the chronicle at this stage and run (down to the next level, which I'll immediately start running), or could choose to investigate this one a little further.
If the chronicle ends up being 1xp, 1pp, 1600gp, I imagine you'd switch to taking it normal track.
I'll be a quiet GM as you guys play around with the end condition going ahead, since there's several ways this could pan out depending on how you approach it if you stick around.
We'll let all the other players weigh in on how they want to continue or not now knowing the full impact of continuing down a level at this point.
BTW - is the Maiden slow-tracking this level as well (assuming it ends up being 3xp) to be able to play the next level (which is for 3rd-5th), and I'll let you know is a normal, straightforward level XP-wise.
At this stage, you've (a) secured passage to the next level, and (b) deactivated the Godbox.
You haven't (c) looted what fell down or (d) slain a dozen trogs.
I can hand out chronicles at this point, or you guys can plot a return to this level to tackle any loose strings you would like. I will say, I'm a very generous GM when it comes to core rogues and troglodyte perception is quite poor if you'd like Zora to take a stab at (c) after a couple hours pass and the troglodytes have collected themselves and let some time pass.
Again, you have my apologies that this particular level is such an awkward one as it translates to campaign chronicles ~ in how it decides it will aware prestige/XP. In a home game, a GM would have the flexibility to reward you full XP (whatever would be needed to ensure the proper pace with the full module) for a social victory, but the chronicle sheet apparently has other ideas (I suspect to allow for this level to be bypassed without slow-tracking as most folks likely also would perhaps get through it diplomatically).
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I'm fine with taking partial rewards for this level.
I've played this level in a standard campaign, and in there we just bought some iron ingots, donated them to the godbox and moved onward. So I was interested in how the thing works.
The Maiden believes greatly in hospitality, and is upset with herself for destroying their local deity, as they did nothing wrong to her.
Sounds like a plan. The chronicles will will be 2XP, 2PP and 3200gp.
Can folks confirm they are still slow track with the 2XP instead of the 3XP that was potentially planned? (Maiden, Bon?)
This level was penned by Frank Mentzer, so it certainly exudes a more "old school" D&D vibe, where there's mostly a number of classless monsters and the main schtick of the level is something interesting versus a chain of various fights capped by a "boss fight".
As a player and a GM, I honestly don't mind this level and like I mentioned, outside the context of how it was sanctioned for PFS, I think it's refreshing to have a session where you're just interacting with a strange non-violent troglodyte cult who is interested in you sacrificing iron instead of blood to its "deity".
My only gripe is the sanctioning of it reduces the XP and PP gain by playing nice with the trogs, who are presented as non-evil and non-violent up until the point the Godbox is turned off. Essentially as long as the Godbox is humming, they are all mellow folks. Their leader (Savisk, you didn't fight her), is listed as CN, but Bon is right that all the general trogs refer to the Bestiary, so presumably they are evil.
Although, I suppose most groups taking the friendly route complete the module in about an hour of real-time play, so gaining 3XP, 4PP and 3600gp would be a bit much for how much time was used. What honestly would be worse would be 3XP, 1PP and 1200gp since that would keep a PC behind the WBL curve relative to others, so by scaling down the XP, the reward is commensurate with the play time and the PP/gold is kept in balance with the gained XP -- I would guess that's how John justified it when he did the chronicle for this level. Regardless, our local FLGS has this same conversation when chronicles were handed out since most locals did the quick and friendly approach and many departed the level without even deactivating the Godbox, kind of liking the creepy/friendly trog vibe of the level and wishing to keep it intact.
Is everyone good to continue on to the Drowned Level?
Here's the chronicle sheets. As always (lately for me, at least), I'll trust you each to fill in your Day Job results.
FWIW, I marked "Troglodyte Friend" since you did not kill any troglodytes, which appears to be a boon you can only receive if you did just as you did, so you got the most XP/PP/GP possible while still gaining this boon.
(It actually says the trogs remove the plates and reactivate the Godbox, so presumably they get over what you did after some time passes)
What the Godbox was? Sure, from the intro of this level...
Long ago in another part of the universe, an autonomous probe designed to explore naturally occurring rifts in the fabric of space discovered one that led to a very unexpected place indeed—Golarion. Passing through the heightened magical fields surrounding Golarion transformed the probe’s artificial intelligence into an animating spirit and altered its internal systems while leaving parts of its original programming intact. The probe arrived near the Emerald Spire, pulled in by the planar energy. From its new vantage, it continues its centuries-old mission, peering through invisible and intangible planar rifts at countless weird and unexplored dimensions. Obeying its ancient imperative to nurture and protect sentient life, the probe uses its wondrous powers to provide for the local dungeon denizens, a tribe of very peculiar troglodytes who call their mysterious benefactor skraa-orm thagh in their own tongue, or “the Godbox.”