GM Gatsby |
This is the discussion thread for the Jevenwist campaign, taking place in the treacherous cradle of bridges, platforms and walkways that span the heights of the Katterfein peaks.
Feel free to post here out of character, ask questions about rules, discuss tactics, plans and actions and just generally jaw about the game. If you have an observation, suggestion or gripe, this is the place to bring it.
Firs thing you should do s introduce yourself as a player, and give a little bit of a suggestion as to what kind of things you hope to see or achieve later in the game - not just to me, but to your fellow players too.
Gatsby
Zirul Huntinghawk |
I'm Zirul, I'm kind of new to pathfinder. I've played D&D 4th addition and D&D 3.5 in real life and D&D Next, but I like pathfinder better, I just don't have friends who play pathfinder in real life.
I enjoy roleplay that affects storylines and can get me extra stuff that I would not have been otherwise able to get. The 4th addition had little roleplay to it, our DM only ran combats and then had us do skill challenges that can affect our exp. The only roleplay were small time chats for 10-20 minutes with NPCs that had some but not much affect on the outcome, then another combat. It was a prebuilt campaign though. I have played other prebuilt campaigns that say if you do this, this happens, if you don't do this, this happens. 3.5 was a lot more roleplay with our DM, and choices actually matter. If you do something right, it can affect the story, be able to find stuff that you would not have been able to find otherwise or even take you on secret quests. The other DM I'm under has his own campaign, some of the stuff happens anyway in his thing, no matter how you roleplay, but not everything happens anyway. Traveler, a roleplaying game I'm also playing is under a prebuilt campaign, but everything is it happens anyway, not even the slightest choice will change even minor details in the story, which some prebuilt campaigns have, where as in 4th addition and D&D next minor details and sometimes even a little bit better than moderate details changed in the story, prebuilt traveler made me feel like my choices don't matter, other than combats and in-between storylines, like maybe you can find extra stuff every now and then, our take out an enemy using stealth instead of fighting them head on.
What I like to see..well, roleplay that matters and rewards, even if it is just minor story details or finding 10 extra gold. I like heavy loaded combats, but not like next to impossible ones. I enjoy puzzles and plot twists, which is what our 3.5 DM is doing. I love doing stunts when I can get the opportunity, which is why I give most of my characters jump/acrobatics/balance skills and climb skills, and tumble skills. Some of these skills do or do not exist depending upon if you are playing pathfinder or D&D. I sometimes like stealth, sneaking into bases, taking out a single enemy or 2 before being spotted. I love realism just a little, for example if you shoot and arrow and you miss by just a little bit on the roll, but there is another creature, ally or enemy 5 feet to the right or left to your target, there is a small chance that you could accidentally him them.
I like playing as an effective team, but if the party needs to split up, I see no problem with it, in fact our D&D 3.5 and 5th addition DMs allow people to split up for a short period of time, but they all have to meet up somewhere. I even like splitting up, it can be effective. I like roleplaying positives of a race, but not negatives. For example, if I'm an elf, they love the forest and I wouldn't go around destroying it, but they can be a stuck up race and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that especially with all the conflic it can cause, and a neutral one would be they hate orcs which I would roleplay since most orcs are evil or the fact that elves are curious and I can enjoy roleplaying that. I can roleplay drawback traits, but not negative emotions of any race, and every race has one.
Zirul Huntinghawk |
To clarify the race thing, I don't mind conflict between two or more PCs or even non-enemy NCPs, I just don't feel comfortable being the cause of it. This doesn't mean I won't play an evil character or do evil things to benefit me which can cause conflict but being mean to other races to or attacking for no good reason ie., I've seen good barbarians do this and the DM lets them since they are what they are, is just not me, while stealing or killing in cold blood and looting the bodies would by my way of trying to survive or get good stuff for free.
And the barbarian thing would be like, hey, I don't like your music, so they attack the music player on sight, I would do this if it meant getting valuable items, not because I don't like their music.
Ravboom |
Ravboom here. Been playing RPGs for 25+ years. Most of that time as the GM. I run several PBP games on here, and a couple in real life.
As for what I want to see in the game, I'd like to see cooperative OOC work. In character, a little intercharacter conflict can be fine, as long as it doesn't get out of hand. Or it can be all fully cooperative, both work well.
I've played Ravboom in a Kingmaker campaign before, and I had to drop out of it mostly due to OOC conflict, not IC conflict. Which I hated because I liked the game and the other players (mostly), but I was getting in a bad head space with the constant OOC nit picking directed at me and only me. So I really don't want to see that again.
Jack Erizo |
I started with pathfinder a few years back and was in multiple games that usually lasted a short time. been in a pbp before the just seemed to die out. I am currently in rl dnd 3.5 game. We tend not to role-play much in it so I've been looking for a game to do so.
Geralt Eletherian |
I've played a bit of DND 3.5, but haven't been able to find a steady group in my area. When I learned about Pathfinder (and it's various attractive rules tweaks) I tried to get a local face-to-face group going with no luck, so I decided to dive headlong into play by post. Eventually want to get into DMing on these boards, as well.
I've done a great deal of roleplaying over the last fifteen years. Sometimes within various rulesets, sometimes as simple freeform forum roleplay without any mechanics to it. I enjoy those as well, but you'll often have someone doing something ludicrous because there aren't any rules to curb them.
Player wise, I care almost exclusively about story and character. Loot should come along when it's appropriate to the story, characters should fear for their lives (cuz raising the stakes makes the story better), etc etc. If Geralt gets a great magic item or new skill, I want it to be because something sweet happened in the game.
Vis a vis comments on IC player conflict - I'll admit that I love it, but recognize the problems it creates. Like Ravboom mentioned, too often IC conflict leads to OOC conflict, which ruins all the fun. IC conflict is awesome in games where players can separate themselves far enough from their characters.
Ravboom |
What part of the country are you in Geralt? Not asking address, just general idea. :) Depending on where it is, i might have some suggestions for a meat world way of finding a group.
GM Gatsby |
Echoing what has been said before, I'll give a little example from my old tabletop group. One guy, Ed, lost a character when trying to give the party time to escape. Very heroic, very noble, and the players thought it was pretty selfless out of character.
His replacement character was a cleric-type who had loaded himself with enough vows and incidental items as to create what was essentially a zone of non-violence around him that affected both allies and enemies, and chose to play the character as an over-the-top pacifist vetoing even the killing of an animal for food.
Now, we'd cautioned him against this during tabletalk before the session, but he said he wanted to try out a different sort of character and we, as a group, relented. I was the DM, and whilst I found the mechanics a little hard to get used to, it made for some interesting encounters. I didn't mind it so much, really.
His fellow players took it well - their characters were annoyed at being hobbled, but they made a good few jokes about it and there were no arguments at the table. I was sort of impressed, if I'm honest...
... until they waited until nightfall, buried him up to his neck in the sand of the beach they were on (being careful not to harm him in any way, ensuring he could dig himself out, giving him ample room to breathe and checking that the tide wouldn't come in and drown him), got into their small boat and cast off.
Again, at this point, I expected there to be something - an argument, some sniping - but instead Ed just said '... So... Do you think it would work if I tweaked it a little?' The players agreed that it might, he tweaked the character to make it less group-controlling, and the 'replacement' cleric (hired in a bar after being spun the sad tale of how a series of increasingly unlikely coincidences led to the abandonment of their previous cleric, much to Ed's amusement) stayed with the party for a good while.
No real life fights, no real life arguments, and no bad feeling.
Character conflict is possible without it devolving into player conflict - as long as it stays that way, I'm happy.
Geralt Eletherian |
What part of the country are you in Geralt? Not asking address, just general idea. :) Depending on where it is, i might have some suggestions for a meat world way of finding a group.
Ann Arbor, MI. What do you have in mind? I've already checked things like Facebook and done some google searches. All the RPG groups I know of personally are full-up. Such an exclusive clique! :)
Ravboom |
LOL
You could try Nearby Gamers
Or also Pen & Paper Games
Pen & Paper games has a map finding function.
Geralt Eletherian |
Thanks Rav, I'll check 'em out.
Yeah Jack, there's a few groups I know of nearby (got some friends in 'em) but they're too big for another player to jump in. I've got standing "if you start a new campaign" requests for 'em, but no luck so far.
Really though, play by post is great too. Don't have to worry about making time to meet.
Joza Fersig |
Okay, think I finally got all/most of my crunch posted. I don't have access to Hero Lab at the moment, so I'll add the point breakdowns for my skills and such when I get home later.
Anyhoo, I've been playing RPGs for about 16 years. I got my start with AD&D 2.0 and have also tried some other stuff over the years such as Vampire, Champions, Dark Conspiracy, AD&D 3.0/3.5/4.0. My RL gamer friends and I started playing Pathfinder last August and so far we're having a blast with it. This, and one other campaign that I've submitted a character for, are my first experiences with PbP.
As for what I hope to get out of playing, I'm really hoping that doing PbP will make me a better roleplayer. I play in two groups of RL friends on alternate Sundays, with 3 others plus myself being in both groups. Though we have a good time and do do some roleplaying, there's also a lot of "rollplaying" and tangents and goofing off during the sessions. Both groups are also large, with 6 and 7 PCs. This isn't as much of a problem in the first group since the dynamics are a little more low-key, but there are at least 3 dominant personalities in the second group which can make it harder for the more quiet ones (myself included) to be heard and participate. Also, I'm not that great at thinking on my feet when it comes to RPing and I think I could do better in a text medium where I have a much easier time conveying my thoughts.
I try to be pretty laid-back as a player. I tend to stick to playing good characters, but I don't mind evil ones and I don't mind character conflict as long as it's entertaining and done in the spirit of fun. Since my groups in the past have been fairly large, most of the RPing that gets done is usually done between the PCs - I don't mind this, but I'd honestly like to play in a game where my PC can maybe make some NPC friends, put down roots somewhere depending on the character, things like that. I'm the person that's always sad to see the GM NPCs go at the end of an adventure ;)
Ravboom |
Attention Deficit and Dismemberment.
It's similar to ADD, but you hack people apart when you get distracted.
:)
Or they could mean Advanced Dungeon's and Dragons.
Ravboom |
Ack, I forgot to buy extra equipment. Oh well, I'll just keep it in gold.
Zirul Huntinghawk |
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - Zirul, if you don't know it there are many that would consider you lucky, many others that would consider you cursed. It was a mixed bag, for sure.
Edit: Ravboom's response is probably more technically accurate. :)
and what would be some of the example differences? class variations, race bonus variations. Cover works differently? Armor works differently? Game is more realistic as in bludgeoning weapons break armor and slashing weapons don't?
Ravboom |
The number of differences is so massive that it would take a few weeks to type them all up. AD&D was a MASSIVE expansion over D&D, and 3.0/3.5 was another MASSIVE expansion over AD&D. You used to have THAC0, which was your to hit armor class 0, and AC ranged from 10 to -10, with lower being better. You had limits on classes and who could take them, not all classes had 20 levels (base classes that is), you had some with stat minimums, god it was an entirely different system.
Geralt Eletherian |
Woo! Let's get this party started!
On that note, I'm looking forward to a point in the story when Geralt can gain a bit more tactical understanding. Then, I hopefully won't have to send him running up possibly-cluttered carriage aisles... but till then, he's a young piss-and-vinegar hothead. ;)
Joza Fersig |
My reaction was similar: Oh boy, a fight!
Hopefully what Joza lacks in general combat ability can be made up for in roleplay and skill-checks; Investigators as of the current playtest version basically have little to no combat skills. That's okay though, I knew that when I picked the class - nothing like a challenge, right? :)
Zirul Huntinghawk |
I hope to be good in both combat and roleplay or at least fairly decent. Not to mention, time thief will have some interesting paradoxal abilities later on. Forgot to spend my mote on that attack, which would have added 1d4 to the attack roll, but oh well.
Joza Fersig |
Just like in the other PbP I'm playing in, I realized that we don't really have much in the way of healing ability. Of course given the low-magic world it makes sense, but it's probably something to be mindful of as we play. Though if alchemy is pretty commonplace, there's always potions :)
Joza Fersig |
Assuming I can get Joza around behind him, she'll likely try a grapple. Of course if the others kill him, that's not really any skin off her nose. There's always the bespectacled gentleman to direct questions to :)
Joza Fersig |
Hmm, looks like Time Thieves and Investigators do get some ways to heal themselves and other people as they level up a little more.
What sorts of things do we have in mind for our characters to focus on as they get more powerful? For example, it looks like Zirul, Varitus, and myself all have the potential to be skill monkeys - was there anything that anyone intended their character to focus on more than others? I'm not picky, but I don't want to step on anyone's toes :)
GM Gatsby |
GM Gatsby wrote:I hit him in the shoulder, but I deal 7 damage? How does that work? I would figure more damage would mean more vulnerable spots. And a critical hit would be like hitting the target in the heart or the head....your shot is on target, the shaft of your arrow now protruding from your target's shoulder.
Zirul, I'd appreciate it if you could take purely out-of-character questions to the discussion board - helps the main thread run a little more smoothly. :)
On the subject of damage, you're right - more damage means you hit a vulnerable spot, or at least is described as such in an abstract hp system, but the things you're fighting have a decent amount of hp (as shown by the fact that one is currently sitting at 29 points of damage received and is still not quite done for) and a shot to the shoulder, whilst not quite as mechanically impressive as a head or heart-shot (or Geralt's kick to the groin... ;) ) is still a pretty serious injury for somebody to take. Arms are... kind of important to somebody wielding a sword. ;)
Zirul Huntinghawk |
so can my character move anywhere in a five foot shift out of danger, or am I trapped, because he will move wherever he can and then shoot. Not used to crowed areas in combat.
GM Gatsby |
If you head upwards into the cheap-seats carriage you're pretty much safe - it's Mal I:m worried about, seeing as he's almost surrounded. And yeah, multiple combatants and a tiny train... believe me, your bow will be a lot more useful once you&re out in the city, especially if you&re focusing on dex and str based skills. ;)
Ravboom |
LOL
Wrong gobby to use hostage on. :) Ravboom only has one rage round left, so he's fine with them getting away for now, chase them down, kill them later, kill their friends, get more bonuses. :)
Joza Fersig |
And who knows, it might unnerve them more to see that at least some of these scary people apparently don't care if they kill the hostage!
Of course there's always the guy we subdued, but he might be an acceptable loss for them depending on what they're after...
*Edit* I don't mind it because it's nice to have a challenge, but I can't help but laugh that Joza is almost certainly out of her element with and compared to everyone else.