Hmm's Gallows of Madness : Foul Breed (Inactive)

Game Master Hmm

Wow! When you said that you were moving across the country, I just thought you meant travelling, not actually moving house... I feel so silly! You must have had an interesting few days. Having never moved more than 40 miles from house to house myself, I can't even imagine what that is like to go so far.

I hope you're settling in well, and that Wanda doesn't freak out the new neighbours too much. ;)

It's been an intense move. I expected some easy days afterwords but they've got me hitting 10-12 hour shifts again to bust me in.

Go figure once I start PbP my life gets crazy. I'm doing my best to keep up though!

Real life trumps PbP.

Welcome back though! You’ve been a great addition to our merry little band.

I'm doing my best alright. You guys are all great play partners and I can tell I really lucked out with who I got, both as players and the GM. You're all great!

Considering the caliber of players/GM here, it seems a good place to ask.

I want to GM for Paizo, but want to be ready before joining Paizo PbP. I have a group of friends I've played with online before who should be more than willing to help me practice and get used to it.

What would be a handful of good early modules to start with? I've GM'd in person plenty of times so I'm not necessarily looking for a module to familiarize myself with rules and mechanics so much as I am looking for one that just really "works" for PbP.

Do you want modules rather than scenarios? A great module for PBP in my opinion is Murder’s Mark, but it is an investigation so the players have to push a bit to figure out what’s going on. Still, I found it delightful.

You’ll note that Gallows of Madness is also an excellent beginner’s module.

Are you thinking of scenarios as well? There are so many good ones. For PbP I’d go with anything that has roleplay possibilities and good quirky characters. House of Harmonious Wisdom would be excellent.

BTW, I keep getting logged out repeatedly, and am trying to catch up with stuff at home, so it may still be a few hours before I can get to updating everyone.

Hope all is well!

Hugs,

Hmm

We tend to play long-term (we've ran an online campaign of another system for 3 years) and the module setup offers a good way of going on many adventures. Scenarios are almost TOO short for my liking.

You also have linked scenarios (2 or 3 arcs, often), so you can play them one after the other.
And then have scenarios grouped by Venture Captain giving them: have Sheila Heidmarch or whoever become the patron and give increasingly hard missions.
Or center on a region.
Or else start with an AP if you want something over time...

Eric’s suggestions are great!

About scenarios being too short... Not in PBP, they’re not. In PBP you can completely explore all that a scenario has to offer, and then some. As you no doubt can tell, I am a settings GM. I love to expand out on the setting and add in stuff from my research.

The scenario length is excellent for PBP, expecially the first time you GM one.

Hmm

My experience is rather limited, but I agree that most scenarios are an excellent length for PbP, especially the more roleplay heavy ones. Although I must admit, I just ran Mists of Mwangi as my first game as a PbP GM, and it finished within only four pages. However, that was just combat after combat without much in the way of roleplaying. On the plus side, it was a great way to get comfortable with all the technical parts of PbP GMing like the mechanics of running combats, formatting knowledge rolls, and searching rooms. With those technicalities worked out in a quick game, I'm now much more confident to run a longer roleplay heavy scenario. As such, I think that a quick game isn't necessarily a bad thing for a first foray into PbP GMing ;)

With all that said, if you do want to run something longer, it is really easy to seamlessly join scenarios in PbP. Just keep them in the same gameplay thread and add a little extra exposition. So if you like Eric's idea about linked scenarios, either arcs or single Venture Captains, this thread has some pretty neat suggestions for you. It also has some suggestions for following specific seasons or meta story lines. But as for modules, I'm afraid I can't help because I haven't played very many myself.

So is everyone back after our website woes? Can you all give me a quick headcount and let me know if you are still with us?

Hmm

Consider my head counted :)

What a nice head it is!

:)

Hmm

"I'll give you Prince's head on a pike if you wish!"

Kragrak mutters to Prince, “She doesn’t actually mean that, does she? If y’need someone to watch your back, I’m happy to help. As for me, I’ll be seeing this mission through until the kids are home safe. I’m sure Sprout will too.”

^ Thanks for the check ins!

Hmm

Okay, currently we have three players missing. I’ve heard from Dean and King of Anything, and know that they’re both okay but swamped. I am going to have to assume the same is true for CuriousTrout, who is working 10-12 hour long days. So I will bot them, unless one of you guys would be willing to do so, for the next few days. Hopefully we can all be together again soon!

So... Onward!

Glad to hear that people are alright, just busy. I know that it can feel a bit weird botting a lot of characters at once as a GM, so I don't mind doing it during combats if you'd like.

Do paladins taste good? I generally favor bloodragers myself =P

What brings you in here, Mort? Paladins are very tasty. Though Bloodragers are an acceptable substitute with butter!

Everyone, this is my friend, Mort from Singapore. She’s a fun GM and an evil, evil person.

Hmm

I'm stalking... Oh yes I'm ebul. But don't they say that about all cats? =)

Eh, actually lawful neutral.

Paladins give me allergies. Too much holy goodness ;)

"Hello Mort! Why don't you eat the stoopid frog sitting over there?"

"Frog?! Oooh I love frog legs."

*pounces*

But as the snow leopard pounces on Prince, it seems to go right through him without effect.

Prince will save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Prince realizes that the snow leopard is an illusion - it is not really there.

I'd say a mix of major image +ventriloquism

"Good day to you Mort! While frogs and paladins are very tasty, I feel compelled to inform you that cavaliers are not the least bit palatable. We spend far too much time training in heavy armour and riding animals, and alas there is no time left in the day for us to wash."

The illusionary snow leopard wrinkles its nose at Lord Baggett and gives him a disdainful sniff.

To the warehouse! Anyone slow tracking this adventure?

Hmm

Not I...

Fast track for me too, please. I probably should go slow because Braggett will have 7XP in only 3 outings, but the lure of a new level is too much for me to resist. :)

At this rate he'll probably retire (assuming a dragon doesn't eat him) before any of my other characters even reach mid level.

Heh... If he’s in one of my games, he’s had a lifetime of adventure already, right? Seriously though, you have been a blast to play with so far!

Standard track for me as well, please :)

All of which reminds me. I need to report slightly early to give VC Larry Smith (who has been kindly volunteering as our HQ) a chance to get the reporting done prior to the holidays!

Boon Rolls?
GM: 1d20 ⇒ 14
Castiel: 1d20 ⇒ 18
Lord Bragett: 1d20 ⇒ 19 1d4 ⇒ 4
Oak Sprout: 1d20 ⇒ 12
Prince & Princess: 1d20 ⇒ 12
Wetbeard: 1d20 ⇒ 9
Zakhar: 1d20 ⇒ 17

Congratulations, Lord Braggett!

"You single, boon-bearing Braggett?"

“If he isn’t, I get dibbs on a date!”

Though I have to meet him first...

Woohoo! A Boon :)

"I am deeply flattered your grace, lady Cup, but I am married to my job. Where there is evil, I shall be there. If a dragon is terrorising a village, I am the first to stand to its defence. If there is a tower without stair, I am the first to scale the walls. And if there is a barrier of thorns surrounding a castle, I shall be the first to prune! Alas there is no time for relationships."

Crashing tonight. No update until tomorrow.

Full disclosure: I will be at JimCon Nov 16-20. Posting will be sporadic during that time period. However we have an extension that was gracefully offered by that VC chick when there were forum outages. So we’ll still finish within the extended deadline. I’m hopeful that we might make it by the original deadline of the 17th, but why rush a good ending?

Hugs
Hmm

Sounds like that VC chick knows what she's doing! :)

JimCon... So is that a convention for guys named Jim? I hope you have a marvellous time whatever it is, and thanks for letting us know.

Returns hugs.

"I want to meet a Jim too. A Prince Jim".

Ok.... Captain Newby......ME.... Just noticed this side thread to the game.... Thank God I dont play this game for a living.... :)

All of which reminds me. I need to report slightly early to give VC Larry Smith (who has been kindly volunteering as our HQ) a chance to get the reporting done prior to the holidays!

Boon Rolls?
[dice=GM]1d20
[dice=Castiel]1d20
[dice=Lord Bragett]1d20 1d4
[dice=Oak Sprout]1d20
[dice=Prince & Princess]1d20
[dice=Wetbeard]1d20
[dice=Zakhar]1d20

Congratulations, Lord Braggett!

Not sure what this means but it looks interesting....

Do paladins taste good? I generally favor bloodragers myself =P

Paladins taste like Chicken.... If you can catch um...

Ha! Welcome to the discussion thread, Dean!!!

Boon rolls were for Player boons for PBP GAMEDAY VI, the convention in which you guys all were playing. Did you know that this was a PBP Gameday VI event? Well, you do now!

Hmm

Is someone willing to bot Linda’s characters?? It’s my crazy Wednesday, so i might not be able to do so!!!

Hmm

I'm willing, but I'm away from my computer and won't be able to for about another hour.

I would offer but its probably safer for everyone if I don't... Might get everyone killed ... Even Mr. Kibble And we cant have that.... :)

Thanks for the botting, Braggett! Most appreciated!

Hmm

Thanks Braggett! Yesterday was a hectic day, and I wound up crashing early.

Happy to help :)

*sits on haunches and CATerwauls*

Which reminds me - the last time I went to Disneyland in Tokyo- there was this jungle theme ride. One of the posters was saying. "Jungle Slug? Tastes like chicken!"

Hey all! I have an 8 hour drive ahead. I will likely be updating gameplay later today from the road. Meanwhile, take care and please be patient with me as I head off to JimCon!

Hugs
Hmm

Safe drive!