GM Rednal's Legendary Planet AP (Inactive)

Game Master Rednal

Thanks Phai. I thought I'd gotten that post in yesterday. Probably previewed it and got distracted.

btw, I don't buy that they're better or more efficient with claws...if that was so, why equip them with axes in the first place, or risk prisoners arming themselves with weapons of fallen guards.

Na, if claws was their more effective fighting style, they would use it to begin with and have no weaponry with them. Something's wrong here...I mean beyond us having been trapped in this very deadly place.

Well, axes do have non-combat uses...

Does neither seem like a fire department nor like a Lumber Camp, so far.

Surely battleaxes(which they were) have any number of uses besides axing someone in battle...but in this specific case? I find it unlikely ^_^
It's rather the use they HAVE in battle that I find a convincing reason to NOT bring them near prisoners, if the person carrying them is not using them for their battle-purpose.

Did we ever figure out what the 2 different looking cylinders in the lizardmen room were? They were different than the stasis pods the prisoners were in. Were the lizardmen hiding in them, or something else?

No, I don't believe you found that out.

Well if we can't figure it out by inspection, maybe those axes will come in handy.

I'm enjoying the three posts before checking rule. It keeps everyone participating and the game keeps moving along. Obviously, it helps that everyone has been fairly active as well though.

Very much so. XD As a GM, I am extremely pleased with the consistency of posting I'm seeing here, and I hope we can keep it up.

Since you are currently extremely pleased with us, would now be a good time to ask how that northern campaign is shaping up? ^_^

I really enjoy playing in your games, and I'm already working on a Char to submit there...wouldn't want to miss the recruitment when it comes up though :)

Any aye, Vincent, definitely gonna copy that rule once I try my hand at GM'ing myself on these boards. I saw it in so many games, where people "hang back" because they feel their char cannot contribute anything meaningful, but even a simple conversation can take a week, and people kind of "fade away". Semi-forcing them to post keeps everybody involved.

Let me put it this way... go check the Recruitment page.

Northern... campaign? >.> /search

The recuitement thread is up.

Tried to post this earlier, but goblins ate it.

Interesting. Spheres of Power has intrigued me, but I haven't found a game that uses it yet, plus I don't own it. I don't suppose there are hero lab files for it either, are there?

WAAAH. bad timing!
I will be gone from tomorrow until monday -_- I'll try and find time each day to post, but I definitely won't have time to work on my submission -_-

*cries*

Recruitment's definitely not going to be closed by Monday. XD I plan to give it at least another week. (Just remember: The better the character fits into Norse stories, the more likely they are to be chosen.)

Spheres of Power does not have Hero lab files YET. They are actively in development, and I think currently being tested. The goal is to have them out by the end of the year, though this is not 100% guaranteed.

Cool. I'm spoiled by Hero Lab now. I still end up building most of my characters in my head, but it's so nice formating a character sheet using hero lab so I don't have to retype everything.

The game seems interesting, we'll see if I end up finding time to come up with a character concept for it. Will probably also depend on whether or not I pick up Spheres of Power as well, since budget is somewhat tight right now.

Well, I already mentioned, but still:

Will be gone for a few days on family business. I'll try and post if able, but can't make promises. Should be back on monday, do bot as needed.

Also, I know it's not closed on Monday, but I need to get answers to questions, then refine concept, come up with an adapted backstory, and start fleshing out the mechanics(to see if it fits with the concept)...any time lost on that process means it will be more stressful later ;)

Are we to assume familiarity with the concept of "buttons"? Or would a more natural reaction be to assume the panel/board is some weird sculpture with a weirder form of inscription...and pawing some of them by curiosity?

(moved from gameplay)

Generally, I know we are still using standard pathfinder weaponry, but on the other hand, Vincent is basically a Cyborg and we ponder being in space or a different planet.

In short, I am not quite certain how "tech-savvy" we really are, in the end(also because original plan had us be from Golarion, in other words, probably not knowing anything about all this).
As such, I am not sure If certain concepts would be completely alien to us, or we can understand the underlying principle. Much can be done with magic, too, but if my background is xeno-biologist, did I travel between "planes" or "planets"...know what I mean?

You didn't travel between planets before - you studied stuff on your home planet (local equivalents of stuff like, oh, the crashed ship in Numeria). Assume you're at least moderately familiar with the concepts of technology, but the actual tech in use here is unfamiliar to you.

(As a Sword and Planet adventure, Legendary Planet has technology, but it typically leans fantastic - more crystals than computers.)

Yeah, expected as much. I was just uncertain how far-reaching our familiarity with technology should be.
The Players Guide only...partially covered the extent. And since you originally wanted us from Golarion, I was unsure what the creators had in mind before we have some downtime to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings.

Thanks for the answer :)

I don't threaten without a weapon, could only if I step closer to pick it up from Vincent, in which case we can't flank anyway.

If It targets me, it has both a 50%+ chance to hit and to knock me out. As mentioned on entering/or with robot, Phai is somewhat afraid, and saw it's power when it attacked Vincent(wether she knows more about mimics or not).
Tactically, I hope that I can pelt it from range, meaning even if it manages lucky hits against you two, I could possibly draw it away, letting Andretta try and stabilize you(or heal myself).
If we all get "stuck" on it, thats not an option...so moving to the back is not cowardice, but tactical thinking on Phai's part.

Not like that flanking bonus helped much with that roll. ;)

Overall, this game has been lots of fun so far. A few friends and I are going to be starting a biweekly game soon using character creation rules I mostly poached from this game since we'll have only 3 players. The power level definitely seems to be in the right spot, though the game so far has shown that poor dice rolls can be pretty cruel to a 3 person table at low levels.

I've also noticed that 3 person gestalt parties tend to bump up the defenses and tone down the damage output a fair amount, which is nice to see, since I think I'll probably be using a similar ruleset when I run Wrath of the Righteous next year sometime.

Should be interesting to see if we manage to make it to the levels where we can more easily weather fickle dice in this game.

@GM Rednal: Any metagame advice whether this section of the game is intended to be explored/cleared out without resting? I think we'll probably be trying to rest here after this combat unless there's a good reason not to. That secure control room is looking mighty comfy right now.

Matter of fact, despite the possible lucky crit, Phai would more or less insist on resting...that giant insect is still around, and that Mimic was a bit too "close" for her.(positive thinking=>we overcame it with that last round...i simply HOPE it was enough.)

It agree that the module feels like it wants you to clean everything out completely unprepared, what with sounds coming, stuff shutting down and malfunctioning and things roaming wild.

But from a metagame perspective, that would really suck for a regular party. The cleric has no heals, the wizard has no spells, and the warrior and rogue alone can't really deal with everything thrown at them without any support...(plus it would be immensely boring for the level 2 wizard with no spells, and only slightly better for the cleric)

So...yeah, there may be negative effects for resting, but I'd pretty much insist on it anyway, because if we end in a TPK in the next fight, we'd have no one to blame but ourselves...

@Vincent: I think everyone dying in the prologue helped make it clear that defenses would be helpful. XD And that remains true. That totally remains true.

Gestalt can be a lot of fun - it does, after all, allow for thematically complex characters, and it usually lets people have SOME way of contributing to any given challenge, so they're always involved - but it's important to be clear about your expectations. For example, I've been fairly clear about how I want people to focus on diversifying across multiple roles, rather than supercharging one thing. Things like that make all the difference. For ANY character, I would say "no" to things not meant to be stacked (lots and lots of AC bonuses, damage bonuses, whatever).

I'm actually running a three-player WotR right now. It has a heavy emphasis on themes of redemption - when characters are rewarded for non-aggressive solutions to problems, they're more likely to attempt to pursue such options in future encounters... and characters who are thinking about saving enemies and convincing them to become allies aren't going to invest everything into higher hit and damage numbers.

In this game, the lesson is hopefully "You really can't predict what will happen next - be prepared for various things, rather than relying on one solution that might not work".

...

And also "Ask yourself whether you really need to go to that room and kill that monster when you don't know how far you have to go, and carefully weigh your ability to continue with your desire to pursue specific things". You don't always have the luxury of a 15-minute adventuring day, and if I were you, I'd try to get out of the prison. XD (For what it's worth, I AM planning to give you something that resembles a rest when you accomplish this. You won't be sleeping, but you will be recharged, up to and including picking spells and getting healed.)

I understand, but it still strikes me as odd that all prepared casters had to start empty, while spontaneous ones get their "juice".
Thats a pretty significant gap depending on party-makeup. A sorcerer+oracle are all fine, a wizard+cleric seem screwed.

I'm fine with pushing on, but it does strike me as a slightly odd design decision regardless(not complaining, just pointing out).
And for the record, suggesting to skip areas seriously messes with my completionist OCD. I was known to backtrack significant lenghts in video games because certain maps were at 99% uncovered...I'm trying my best and was standing in the door of the mimic room chanting(the room is revealed, the room is revealed, no need to search it, the room is revealed, ...), hoping for one of the others to call it off...because I can't... ^_^

You misunderstand. Prepared casters who can keep their spells in their heads - like Wizards - do. Prepared casters who must prepare each day did not have the opportunity to do so - you were swallowed a bit longer than that.

(Some plots are more troublesome for some character types than others. XD This is a built-in part of the game, and COMPLETELY intentional. As has been pointed out, if the designers wanted everything to affect everyone the same way, there would only be one class.)

It's less "go in the room to kill the monster" than it is "we're pretty sure something is dangerous in here and we know it can look like anything, so let's deal with it while we are expecting it so it doesn't creep up on us and surprise us in the middle of the night". Especially with floors that vanish, tubes that spit out diseased zombies, etc., it really seems too risky to leave rooms unexplored. It also seems risky to rest for the night while we're still in the prison, which is why we've been pushing hard thus far I think.

Also, I'm totally good with no 15-minute adventuring day (stretching resources is interesting). Smaller encounters tend to be more enjoyable and valuable when they work to erode party resources. I expect the "standard adventuring day" for this group will tend to be quite long, it's just tough to continue when out of healing, and hit points within 1 hit of unconscious (or 1 crit of dead).

Just to be clear, none of this is intended as any kind of complaint. I'm having tons of fun (this is my current favorite PbP I'm in). It's a challenging game, I never know what's coming next, I like the characters, the themes have me thoroughly enticed and I'm invested in my character (auttaine are just so cool!). Couple that with good players and a GM style that I enjoy, I think this game is great.

Well, Mimics tend to wait for they are.

...

Evidence suggests this works. XD

(It wouldn't come out to strangle you in your sleep. They're not that kind of foe. Now, OTHER stuff in the prison...)

I agree, it's really enjoyable, I really like it.

It was not meant as a complaint, as mentioned, I just thought that it would probably make sense to cut groups SOME slack in terms of resting ability considering it could be very troublesome depending on party makeup...that worry is completely moot in a gestalt game like ours, I'm perfectly capable of contributing without the shaman side online ;)

But yeah, while we're slinging compliments, I am enjoying it very much, and I'm all for the long adventuring days(one reason I'd commit significant parts of the spell loadout to healing/de-debuffs).

I think what REALLY threw me off was that giant insect shutting down Ooran and crunching Vincent good before taking off again. And the fact I'd feel incredibly vulnerable climbing. That has Phai REALLY on edge, and is probably the biggest reason she wants to stay in the floor rather than press on ;)
(or, rephrased: that was such an atmospheric WTF-moment I'm literally scared of going into the shaft it retreated into).

I suppose a "Yeah, the worm bull-rushes you all from above while climbing, you each take 6d6 fall damage, roll new characters" won't happen...but it FEELS so possible...

that worry is completely moot in a gestalt game like ours, I'm perfectly capable of contributing without the shaman side online

And that's why I didn't softball things by making it easier. XD I knew you would still have -some- way of contributing, but would still have the chance to learn the important lesson here. If you weren't gestalt and actually needed those spells to be functional, I'd have found some way of permitting it. Nothing's less fun than being told "by the way, you can't contribute at all". Kinda defeats the purpose of playing, y'know? o_O

Haha, ya, I know, it's why I was even wondering in the first place.(as in, how is this intended to run with non-gestalted groups).

But as said, I'm all happy and satisfied and feel fully capable.

Also, if you have a moment, you could check gameplay before the 3-post count. I'll probably head to bed soon and would really like to know if we got the Mimic or not... ^_^

Ah, you players, so demanding. XD Okay, okay~

Also, I'll check your XP gain after dinner.

I'll make it up to you someday, somehow...much appreciated ^_^

Good news, everyone! You have enough XP to level up.

Anyway, do not update your character sheets yet. Instead, make and save a copy of your updated sheet, posting a summary of your updates here for me to review. Once I've approved them, THEN you can update your sheets.

(I'm not expecting any trouble, and you will almost certainly be given immediate approval. ^^ It's just a habit of mine so I can double-check things. I've only had to reject something once, and that was because Greater Invisibility and Mythic's "Undetectable" Legendary Item power is flat-out broken. XD)

I've only had to reject something once, and that was because Greater Invisibility and Mythic's "Undetectable" Legendary Item power is flat-out broken. XD)

Whatever could you mean? ^_^

Yay Level!

That SHOULD be everything, but I just woke up

And I'm off to bed, good night!

That SHOULD be everything, but I just woke up

Obviously, it was not everything. I dun messed up somehow. It may be I've missed a last-minute attribute shift during creation, or it slipped my mind somehow, but with the 10 Con and no HP-providing Feats, I can only have 11 HP per level via FCB, but I also list that in skills.

I do have plenty of skills to go around, so I guess I'll cut back on those. Means -1 rank per level, for simplicity's sake, I'm just removing 3 picks in this level. -Intimidate, -Spellcraft, -Acrobatics from the list above.

Then things should be correct. Apologies.

Yes, you can change that trait - and you're all good otherwise. ^^/

And updated.

For the trait, I just looked quickly with no luck...will update ASAP when i found a replacement that fits and that I want.

What're you looking for? Maybe I can help you find one.

Thing is, I found a few interesting ones, but most of those seem religious, which I kind of avoid usually(on courtesy of not usually playing very devout characters...(except Eliphas, he was really going to be into Yidhra ;)) ) and regional ones, which are not really...good choices, without more info about my home planet.

Defensive Strategist being one of those(but would be moot sooner or later anyway, as I will always be allowed to act in surprise rounds and treat my init roll as a 20 for that-)
Another would be Magic is Life, I heavily dislike death effects, and not bleeding out as only proper healer would be nice.
Other things that would be interesting are things like Storm Hunter, where the utility would heavily depend upon wether that actually would come up. If we spend much of the time indoors, for example, that would be rather useless.
Others yet, like Battlefield Surgeon would be especially interesting if Skill Unlocks are in...(as that would be a potent healing combo with Signature Skill(Healing) as long as I don't run out of Doctor's bags-)

All in all, I'm looking for some kind of added utility that is not SO situational that I'd forget about it when it comes up.

Out of those, I'd probably prefer Battlefield Surgeon if Signature Skill is in and the combo works(meaning I get to treat people twice a day, with the signature skill bonus, which could allow me to swap a few healing spells for different ones later on-)...with Magic is life as a close second.
Storm hunter seems very situational, but would fit(and regain utility after "Control Weather" is online), and Defensive Strategist is nice, but will be obsolete in a few levels(but showcases the kind of thing I am after).

The last time someone was really into me, it was because I was eating them. o wo~

Rednal thinks Signature Skill is permissible, and honestly, he doesn't want to crimp the party's healing TOO much. You never know when you'll be far from home with no way to access supplies, so if you plan to invest in healing options when you can... XD It'd be mean of him to reject that.

Sorry for being slow today. Unexpectedly home with kids. Should be back to full speed on Monday.

Hehe, thanks. Yay.

I'll be a walking health kit.

Channel positive energy - check.
Cure spells - check.
Cure spells not bound by level limit - L4+ check.
Healing Hex - check.
Healing Hex empowered and at range - L5/L12 check.
Heal Skill - check.
Treat deadly wounds twice - check.
Signature Skill unlock for Heal Skill - L5 check.

I hope that HP will not be the limiting factor of our long adventuring days ^_^

Hmm.. I've been thinking. Would clone work on an auttaine? The half-construct type prevents normal raise dead, which is why Vincent's primary goal is finding a way to restore lost auttaine heroes to life. Fixing the weaknesses of his people is a big part of his faith. It's a little unclear whether a clone would function for them though, as an insurance policy.