My condolences to your friend.
This passage always makes me feel better and was a great Byrds song too:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Not related to this game, but small need to rant:
Ok, apparently the spending hours building a cool character and backstory to get rejected in favour of someone with a single paragraph or two of backstory is getting to me again.... to the point that I'm having trouble motivating myself to finish another character.
Frustration abounds.
Ok, that's all. Carry on.
Agree +1
My take on that is usually that person had pre-arranged acceptance with the GM and they were only really going for a limited number of spots.
I agree it is frustrating though...
I'm still struggling with bringing myself to write up what should be an interesting character because of the whole "That's a lot of work, meh" feeling. And I'd better hurry up, since the recruitment closes tomorrow.
Which one? I keep shooting for a WotR, but have gotten nothing yet.
A WotR would be fun but I have gotten the same results as you guys.
I keep thinking about trying another PbP, but probably don't have time to do it right. I'll have to be content with a new Home Monday game for a bit (We just finished chapter 5 of Way of the Wicked and I ended it there because I felt it was time to move on). We are doing Mummy's Mask next but not starting until Jun 23rd due to one of my player being gone for a month in Scotland starting in 2 weeks.
So going to do a number of one offs or a short 6 week campaign.
I really need to find a tabletop game. I was going to play with an old friend who wanted to run WotR, but we have been unable to get enough people together and living far apart makes it tough - about a 2 hour drive.
Oh, it's a Shattered Star with PFS credit. I figured that was a good time to actually make the Varisian Pilgrim I was threatening to make earlier, so I've statted out a Half-Elven Cleric of Sinashakti, thinking that the Walker of Worlds, the Empyreal Lord of Journeys, Exploration and Messangers was a perfect choice for Pilgrim and Pathfinder -- Especially since Empyreal Lord cults are pretty common in Magnimar.
Even used Ancestral Arms to pick up the bladed scarf. (Why not? Can't use a shield anyway..)
And yet, hammering out a story beyond the necessary "exSczarni" part for the trait just seems like... well... work.
(And it doesn't help when the bard I made for Reign of Winter was selected, did a bunch of "in town" RP only to have the GM bail during the first combat -- and then to see 3 of the other party members all accepted into a new game without making the cut. As I said, it's just a lot of frustration that kind of needs to bleed out...)
It probably also doesn't help that my home game (in Golarion, but home-brew) has lost the two most active (which is to say tactical-thinking, problem-solving, planning-ahead) players over the last 3 months, [the first to frustration with the direction the campaign/party went and the second to frustration with the rest of the party's lack of decision making and feeling like it was up to him to solve everything -- mixed in with annoyance at lag for trying to play electronically over Hangouts over a bad connection] and while we're adding a new body, I'm thinking that the campaign's likely going to suffer a death either due to TPK or player indecision in the next little while (they literally know that they're going to face an opponent called "the unkillable" and have stopped gathering up the stuff suggested in the journal of the dwarven Skyseeker that imprisonned her -- after "killing" her a number of times).
Wow, I'm super-ranty. Sorry, I apparently have been pressing my own buttons.
On the plus side, Tirion got me into a Legacy of Fire Campaign as a replacement player.. It's not *all* bad and frustrating, at least? :)
That LoF looked like a good one, Congrats!
My home Monday game is going on 5 years next month. We have done Runelords, Crimson Throne, Carrion Crown, and now Way of the Wicked. We started with 4 and expanded to 5 players after Runelords. However we have just lost the best, most consistent player as he volunteered to be a firemen in his town and Mondays are the day he is busy. Luckily I have one, maybe 2 more people that I can call on to fill the table, but it has bummed me out.
I may be crazy, well I am, but if you wanted to play that Cleric in something I could be convinced to do Runelords or Crimson Throne easily since I ran it before, or probably could be convinced to do Shattered Star (None of those for PFS though)
It would be at a slower pace than I normally like, but I bet we could easily get a party of 4 together
I appreciate the offer, GM Blood, but there's no need to stress yourself into running a whole other game to accomodate my grumbling self. As I said, it's not the first time I've reached a high level of frustration, and it eventually bleeds away (Generally after I ignore the recruitment forum for an extended period of time)
Lol - yeh, I keep trying to avoid it. But it just sucks you back in. I will say that I am getting much better at limiting which DMs I apply for. Little history+grand plans usually equal short campaign.
And, after making a detailed background for WotR for a Voice of Voiceless recruitment, I not only didn't make it with this guy but have made one of 7 WotR recruitments, and of course, the one I made didn't make it to the first combat.
Not only did I not make the Voice of Voiceless recruitment, but the angry group which formed to play to protest the poor selection in their opinions didn't even invite me either.
So, Fomiel is waiting to go archmage when we try WotR.
191 damage in a round, probably going to be hard for me to top.
Yeh, I figure that unless this is the doppleganger god, Justin just eliminated several dopplegangers by severing them in half with their twitching body parts flying across the room.
I have been in 3 VoV campaigns that died and had him leave two other campaigns I was in because he did not like his character. I really like the guy and he is in a ton of stuff, but either his style and mine don't mesh, or I have just had really bad luck. Not sure which.
As far as WotR goes, I have Drakra Worpltng. He is a bard, probably going prankster, but could be Court Bard or Magician depending on the party makeup - if there is an Evangelist or Sohei that the Inspire courage would duplicate. My guess is that DM's are unsure how he would fit in with a bunch of holier than thou crusaders. I just think that a screwball gnome bard is just what a WorR campaign needs.
Just glad GM Blood let me in AoW2 after I missed the first go around--I think our group has really gelled and turned into an amazing team. This has turned out to be my favorite campaign. I thought I knew almost all there was to playing clerics, but I have learned a great deal from our cleric.
This group has disproved the Stormwind Fallacy in my opinion (that great system mastery cannot include good Roleplaying).
This group has been great. I had not wanted to run a second group through AoW, and the person who talked me into it may not be in this game anymore, but I am so glad I decided to do it!
Thanks everyone for such a great game and sticking with it, through the high points and the low.
I agree with Justin -- I think we have turned into a really good team, and this is certainly one of my favourite campaigns also -- GM Blood's done a wonderful job of keeping things going (keeping Kilthan from joining the ranks of the poor characters who lost their GMs), but also in keeping us engaged and maintaining a good speed (most of the time).
And it doesn't hurt that the rest of you lot are all excellent players -- and so, I I enjoy both the IC and OOC interaction.
Of course, I don't enjoy the way the diceroller hates Kilthan, but that's a whole different matter.
And, Justin, I was also one of the applicants for that VoV Wrath of the Righteous -- even went out of my way to make a weird history to make the rising Mythic powers make sense (since recruitment started before the remarkably disappointing campaign traits were released). And then didn't make the alternate group cut, or several others.
On the plus side, the Varisian Pilgrim I created (resulting in being slow to post Kilthan's actions last round, and those rolls certainly weren't worth waiting for) got accepted, so there's some good news, I guess. [Also, the new guy we're bringing in to our weekly tabletop game seems to be pretty good, which is good... though I'm still one player short...] A few rays of sunshine in an otherwise bad week (the not getting the job I was shortlisted for and the pain of buying new brakes, less good...) -- and hey, it's Friday. That's usually a good thing all its own. ;)
The hardest thing about running a pbp is when to push and when to let things ride. At times I feel like like I don't give you guys enough time to sit and enjoy, but others I feel like I slack off too much. :)
It is a hard balance, and not at all like at a table where it is easier to maintain. I guess we all need to game together at a table someday!
That would be fun. Just need to find a place where we can all meet on a monthly basis. I am in New Hampshire and GM Blood is in the middle of Wisconsin. Pretty sure Justin is in Florida. Not sure about the rest of you, but pretty sure it would be a lot of driving.
I agree that the pace of this game has been really good. It has slowed once or twice, but then picked back up. The players are all involved and GM Blood has kept the whole campaign interesting and involving.
I would like to add that I too have enjoyed roleplaying with all of you. It has been a nice change to have a nice continuous game going for so long when several others I have been in have come in gone. The pace of the game is one of the things I really like. That we can normally get through a combat in a week or less is something that many other games cannot even compare. I love the story so far and have enjoyed each of the other characters have evolved (some more than others, elf to dwarf comes to mind).
Yeah, getting together would be fun, but difficult. I am over here on the West Coast of British Columbia (Canada). Always good to meet with players that you have played online with for a few years. I was able to do that a good 10 years back now in the Living Force camapaign that I played online. Met them at GenCon 03. Good times and always fun to put faces to names.
Going forward I know I want to see where this campaign goes and how we are able to get there.
There are some great moments in this AP, like finding out one of your party members has been a doppelganger for some time! The amount of paranoia and confusion on this last stretch of encounter from the Crooked Inn on is fun on this side of the seat, but I have wondered how it went on your end. (PBP can make this harder to convey and appreciate)
Thanks again to Dryn for playing along and making you guys waste resources as she led you into various traps and ambushes.
There are even more awesome moments coming up in the next few months! Can't wait!
I may be able to make PaizoCon this year. So if anyone else is going, let me know. If anyone wants to share a hotel, it will be just me.
I think the whole who is a doppleganger has been really cool and unsettling.
Someday I will make it to the big conventions. July 4-6 is tough as my older son goes to summer camp on July 6, so I think I would be in big trouble if I were 3000 miles away for that.
As an FYI, I am in a Way of the Wicked campaign, actually I am in two.
One new one is looking for a divine caster (Oracle or Cleric). It seems like a really good DM and a fun group of players. We just asked a player to leave who decided that playing a Cleric of Asmodeus CN/CE was the way to go.
To add to the discussion I currently live in Central Illinois. I'm kinda fortunate as far as gaming groups go. I've been in the same group since High School back in '95ish. We've had members change out but the same group. Since we've got friends all over (including one on active duty in Spain right now) we use Roll20 and Google hangout to play Every Sunday. Our Skull and Shackles game is on Hiatus for the next 6 months while the GM is in Spain, and we're alternating Mummy's Mask (which I'm running) with a Savage worlds game we're starting tomorrow.
I've never been to Paizocon, and currently don't have plans to attend. Gencon though I think in the past decade I've missed one (ever since they moved to Indy). Sadly I'll be missing this year as well.
Saw Tiron's post about the Way of the Wicked and got all excited (Now I can play a fiendish vessel, that looks cool...), but apparently I'm just too slow to the party. ;)
As for myself, also in Canada (you've probably noticed how I always type armour, for instance) - but I'm over here in the Central part of the country (which is to say, the Eastern time zone) -- about 45 minutes north of the border into New York State -- so probably closest to Tirion, but rather too far to consider driving down for a session. ;)
Drop an application. We have a few days as you will join after we escape from the prison. Currently we are about 2/3 done with it.
Fiendish Vessel would be cool. Someone else is also tossing one in, but really there are only so many variations you can make on "cleric".
I might yet -- had an angle I might approach from -- especially since the current submission is illegal -- Theologians only get one domain, Vessels need to take Devil, Daemon or Demon. (Beyond that, both modify the domain class feature)
DM may have approved it. He is allowing some futzing. I am both Sohei and Sensei since I am not planning on taking the class to the point where there would be a conflict. If you have a good concept, just ask.
Spent a few hours building it, and it's still the same (more or less) as the current sub -- as you said, only so many ways to build a cleric, especially with the same archetype. In the end, the only real difference is that mine has a hate for the hypocrites because she started off in a noble house.... and was looking at Belial rather than Asmodeus. (Well, and was actual Hellspawn..) *shrug*
It would be far too much of the stepping on toes to submit, sadly.
No problem. The big difference is that if you submitted an almost identical character, I know your posting style and reliability. Something I have become very wary about with many other players.
Personally, I love the Fiendish Vessel (I think that is it) because it heals with evil rather than negative/positive energy. Thus, it can heal undead/dhampir as well as more warm blooded characters.
True enough -- but then there's the concern about looking somewhat like a copycat, which may make me somewhat less appealing to Spooky.
Still, it would suck to lose the work -- my wife was grumpy about me spending the time on the backstory. (I started to post the character -- reclaiming an alias from a campaign AZ was running -- I think I have two or three of those where the entire party eventually bailed on him..) -- at the moment, the backstory's posted and the stats are right -- but the racial traits, class abilities, gear, aren't.
If you wanted to take a look at the back-story, it's here.
Bah. I did the work, might as well have someone else decide I shouldn't have submitted it. :) Not submitting was a 0% success play.
Lol - no time right now. Will try to read it over tonight. Looks good from an initial cursory review.
Update tomorrow. Its a big one and I would like to get it started but the brain is tired so I will try and fit it in tomorrow!
Let us get our buffs on first. We know a storm is coming!
I don't really have many buff's left. I can fortune people and then begin to cackle ahead of time, but if there is nobody there, then the fortune hexes will be wasted.
Without my alchemical goodies, I'm the equivalent of an NPC warrior. But I've got the heart of a tiefling alchemist!!
So back in 3.x days, as a DM I had managed to get the spellbook from one of my player's, a wizard. They were far away from civilization at the time and he didn't have any backups. I was sure he would complain to no end about it.
Nope! He took a mithril chain shirt from party treasure, put a helmet on his head, took up a crossbow, and became the group's crossbowman for over an entire level, not casting any spells until he had gotten a replacement. He took it like a champ and played through it. That's my inspiration now whenever I lose out on a bunch of gear like this to just push on through and enjoy it!
As a side note I'll be gone next week on a work trip and experience has taught me I'll not be able to post during that time. Very sorry considering my just recent absence!! Please bot me as needed.
Should be easy enough to do.
Which begs the question...will you get backup equipment now that someone else might carry for you? :)
Sorry, had company in town while dealing with home repairs and a tree service that destroyed my lawn. Back to normal schedule now.
I definitely wanted the haste round 1. Now I spend most of the fight in a pit again.
GM Blood - Okay... I was asking about the spell as I thought the pit was 20 ft deep. If Justin reach up with a weapon and Rohara over the side, they 'might' be able to reach one another at that distance. 40ft would not work.
Skorhold = As of 7th level you can start your songs as a move action... which lets you cast a spell and start a performance. Of course it does not help with moving in the same round.
Justin, I have a plan to get you out. It's just going to take 2 rounds to do. Fly spell and Dimension Door. If you had been in reach Rohara was going to cast the fly spell on you directly. If you have a destination in mind for the D-Door, let me know.
Also, if you had haste in round 1, you would still be in the pit, so it would have been of little use. You asked for Strength for the next battle, which I did not get cast before the group decided to walk into the room. Rohara would have but we continued on before started into the room prior. It would seem kind of hard to retcon all that now.
Kilthan was going to command the rope of climbing to free Justin.
I will expeditious retreat to climb fast.
Expeditious retreat only affect land speed
Isn't your climb speed tied to your land speed per the climb skill?
Skorhold = As of 7th level you can start your songs as a move action... which lets you cast a spell and start a performance. Of course it does not help with moving in the same round.
I know. Skorhald is slowed, so he cannot do a move and standard action in the same round. We really need a haste before anything else as we are really nerfed.
That is why I am waiting to see if Haste trumps Web as the spell for this round before declaring actions. I can do a lot more if haste comes in.