Opening the Discussion Thread.
Thank you for choosing me, GM. May the Dawnflower shine her light upon all of us!
Here and in gear! May our stories be told far after we have passed from this plane.
Iolas is ready for action! May our racers be swift and our weapons strike true!
"Hello everybody. I'm Wint!!. Glad to meet you all. I'm sure that we're all going to get along very, very well. Does anybody want one of these cookies that I've baked?"
The android takes a bite of a cookie. She smiles down at the skittermander.
"This fills my belly with a warm feeling like touch of a sunbeam on a chilly morning. Thank you!"
Dot. Thank you for selecting Stell. I look forward to playing her. I will be busy for a short bit transferyring the recruitment version of Stell to this non-SFS profile.
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GM: I just realized that Wint really, really needs something like Profession - Housekeeper. Something to roll against for cooking, cleaning, etc.
Any objection if I replace Sense Motive with Profession - Housekeeper?
And buying the professional tools (I have the credits to spare)?
I know, mini-maxing the character already :-) :-).
May Weyden have our backs and may we all keep a song in our hearts!
Stell begins to play the Starfields of Denbaria jig.
DC 15 Will save to not tap your toes [or other ground-touching appendages].
Feel free to read the background info (PC version) in Stell's profile.
Iolas smiles at Wint and takes a cookie. He bites into it, wide bovine teeth easily crunching it. "Mmm. What's in this? Is that...Vercite chocolate? Or wait...no...Castrovelian!"
Wint declines to make his saving throw and starts to dance to the Starfields of Denabaria.
In a couple of minutes, you probably wish that he HAD made his saving throw as his dancing becomes more and more vigorous. And he starts to sing along. In, of course, Vesk.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to knock that tea all over you. Don't worry though, I'm sure that the stain will come off. Here, let me take that armor off of you and go clean it before the stain sets"
Rising Dawn seems surprised as she starts to dance. "Oh! What is this feeling? It is as if my body is taking over and doing what it wants to. Oh! My hands are in the air as if I do not care! Most unusual!"
Thuldas hesitantly plucks a cookie from the skittermander's tray, first delicately sniffing it before taking an unsure nibble. After a moment's contemplation, he unceremoniously wolfs it down with a grin, chasing after Wint in a shuffling half-skip in time to the music.
"Come back 'ere, my littl' friend! Can I convince ya to part wi' more o' those delights?"
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I've been doing PBP for about 4 years now, so I'll try to remember to call attention to anything I notice. I like to load up my profile with links to the SRD rules for things like spells, feats, and class features or else copy and paste the text into spoilers. It helps when you can't remember some detail to have a quick way to get the info you need. It can be very helpful to the GM as well, since he/she may need to look things up. Starfinder doesn't have as much stuff to know as Pathfinder did, but give it time and I'm sure it will build in the amount of rules that a GM and/or player will need to check before posting.
It can also be helpful to keep a text file with commonly used text, like your attack and skill rolls. That way you can copy and paste the string instead of composing it from scratch every time.
The main thing to attend to when posting is to write out the things that your character says and does and then post the rolls that the GM uses to determine success. It can be frustrating when all we get is a diplomacy roll with nothing to indicate how the PC attempted to achieve the goal. Even if all your doing is firing a gun or swinging a sword, give some colorful text that helps us see/hear the action.
Different people have different posting styles. Some like to include some text about what their character is thinking, with such thoughts put in italics to distinguish them from spoken words. I prefer to try to convey what my character might be thinking by describing his/her physical state, facial expressions, and body language, to create more of the feel that people would have when trying to understand what someone is thinking. Kind of the 3rd person limited writing style.
There are some good suggestions stuck to the top of the Online Games/General Discussion forum, such as this one.
FYI guys the PFSRD people are working on a Starfinder version. I don't think it is complete yet.
It's got some errors but it's mostly complete. Beware when going down the weapon tables. The last I checked they did not mark where the melee weapons ended the the advanced weapons begin. They also can't mention any proper names, like the names of planets, since this is not the official Paizo SRD. Other than that, I think it has everything the core rulebook has.
I would add one more piece of advice for Thuldas and anyone else new to the Paizo PBP forums. Before you preview or post anything, select everything in the composition window and then copy it. Paizo tends to crash just after you've spend 20 minutes on a post and if you don't select all and copy, you are likely to lose the post sooner or later.
Control + a followed by Control + c does the trick on PCs.
On a related note, if you are working on your profile, save your work about every 15 minutes. If you go more than 20 or 30 minutes without submitting your changes, you can lose the work.
Once you've posted something, you have up to one hour to edit the post; after that, it cannot be changed. Most people add a note like edit: to call attention to the fact that something was changed in case someone read the post before you edited it.
GM: let us know if you have any preferred information to appear in our posting headers. For Thuldas: that would be what you put in the profile fields labeled [gender] [race] [class].
Thanks, Stell.
Beware when going down the weapon tables
Yeah, I've always thought the SRD (even the official Paizo SRD for Pathfinder) wasn't leveraging the digital medium as effectively as it could. I ended up dumping all the equipment into a spreadsheet so I could filter it properly.
One thing that is ABSOLUTELY necessary.
Get into the habit of saving your post BEFORE hitting the Submit Post or Preview button. Especially if the post is long. Either just Copy it so you can paste it or, if particularly long, write it in your text editor of choice and then copy it over here.
Paizo's site has fairly regular hiccups. You WILL lose a post from time to time. And, Murphy being Murphy, it will be the one that you just spent 30 minutes on crafting to make sure that it is just perfect :-(
Thanks, Stell.
Beware when going down the weapon tablesYeah, I've always thought the SRD (even the official Paizo SRD for Pathfinder) wasn't leveraging the digital medium as effectively as it could. I ended up dumping all the equipment into a spreadsheet so I could filter it properly.
Good idea. I have a spreadsheet with the feats table that I then rearranged so I have a list of only the feats one can take at first level, sorted by type. Saves time when going through the possibilities.
I will do something similar for the weapons and armor eventually, so I can filter out the equipment a character is not high enough level to purchase. Of course, the SRD website could do that for us, but I'm not holding my breath.
Another thing I really appreciate: proofread your post before you submit it. It's a distraction when there is a glaring typo in the text. I think people posting by phone sometimes have more problems because of the tendency of the phone to try to autocorrect. Of course, I was a composition instructor in the past, so this may bug me more than most. It usually only takes a few minutes to reread the post looking for errors and fix them.
If English is not your first language, of course, allowances should be made. I understand well that English is a hard language to learn.
I recommend that you include links to things that are obscure about your character. If it's something you find you often have to check the rulebook for, it's a good idea to have a link. It's a bit of a pain but once the link is set up you don't have to do it again.
If this were Pathfinder rather than Starfinder, I would tell you to post source links to the Archives of Nethys, especially when the PRD does not have what you are looking for, as the Archives of Nethys are not only much better organized than the d20pfSRD, but also includes product identity such as deities, places, and ethnicities. If a spell or feat is only available to worshipers of Sarenrae, the d20pfSRD will not indicate that, but Archives of Nethys will. Archives of Nethys also only lists Paizo material and not 3pp stuff.
Archives of Nethys may be creating a Starfinder resource at some point in the near future (though he has not confirmed or denied it), but for now the only thing out there is the one I linked to. Paizo should have an official SRD soon too.
BTW, FYI guys we will be starting with The Commencement (SFS 101) though you probably guessed that already. Intro post should be tomorrow some time.
@Void GM
I'm going to assume that you're ok with the slight change to Wint described above (losing Sense Motive for Profession - Housekeeper, buying the professional tools).
Character now changed.
Introductory post is now in Gameplay. Let the game begin!
@Void GM
I'm going to assume that you're ok with the slight change to Wint described above (losing Sense Motive for Profession - Housekeeper, buying the professional tools).
Character now changed.
Yeah, that's no problem.
For the record though, such tools would include things like a vacuum cleaner and other portable cleaning equipment. It will be relatively heavy.
Iolas: Please don't forget to create a profile for your alias and put your character sheet there.
I'd prefer that Stell Zee-Linn post her introduction but will be going forward some time today even if she does not.
FYI I will be off-line most of today. Going to a local Board Game convention.
Iolas: FYI your resolve should be 3. It's your INT bonus + 1/2 your level, but the level variable is always a minimum of 1.
Will the GM be rolling our perception checks when there is something that can be perceived or should we roll as we think to look for something specific?
At a game around the table, it helps the GM for the players to roll, but for play-by-post it seems easier and more interesting to have the GM roll, so that the players don't necessarily get metagame clues about whether there is something they might have missed.
When I GM in PBP, I put my dice rolls under spoilers labeled "On the Table" and "Behind the Screen". I put perception checks, knowledge checks for monster lore and other rolls the players don't need to see behind the screen. Speeds things up. If a player wants to look at the rolls later to see what they were, I'm okay with that.
I keep text files with the rolls already formatted for each PC so I can copy and paste when needed.
I've been meaning to do a post about procedural issues, and this is one of them.
Normally I will do important Perception checks myself, as well as any other kind of check where a failure shouldn't be obvious. Sometimes I will spoiler these, though in the past sometimes I have hidden the rolls in a completely different thread.
One GM in a game I am in as a player set up an off-site doc that had macros for all the characters skill checks that would be rolled like that, and had players fill it out for their character. I may do that.
I am still getting a handle on which Starfinder skills ought to have hidden rolls though. So for the time being I don't mind letting open rolls stand, especially for an "easy" scenario like this.
Some other things:
The same will apply for initiative checks. I will roll initiative for the party.
To save time, initiative will be done in blocks. This means that if three of you get to act before an enemy, you can act in any order and your actions will get resolved in the order you post. If you want to wait to resolve your action until after someone posts, you need to specify that you are doing that. Ideally you still want to post what you are doing (such as "after Bob moves I will go 10' east and shoot at the tiger"). Feel free to make conditional actions ("if Bob drops the space goblin, I will instead shoot at the giant spider"). These speed up the game.
I will also roll all saving throws. This will speed things up for everyone.
If you have a character ability that let's you use a reaction to get some kind of "do-over" (like rerolling a save or making an enemy miss with a shot that would have been a hit) please include your intention to use that ability of the opportunity comes up. I don't think Starfinder has many things like that but they break up the flow of things if we are always going back and retconning, so this helps the game move along.
Maps will be done with Google Slides. The maps will be editable by everyone so you can move your tokens. If for some reason you are unable to do that, please let us know and I or someone else can move your token for you.
When your character moves in combat, assume the presence of land mines. Describe to me which squares your character enters when moving, such as "I move 15' east and then 5' northeast." In some encounters there will be traps or other effects that occur if you step in the right (or wrong) square. Most encounters don't have this, but I don't want to have to give away which ones do by asking you to do this only in the specific encounters where there are traps in the floor.
I will often put a grid reference on the maps so you can tell me which square you are going to by a set of coordinates.
For narrative action, we will be using the Rule of Two. This means that I will not advance the story unless two characters post that they agree on a course of action, and nobody dissents. This means that one player will not be able to dictate that "the party goes east."
The game is intended to be team-oriented, so one player shouldn't be making decisions for the whole party, but at the same time it takes too long for me to wait until all five characters agree to do something. The rule of two is a compromise.
If someone disagrees then we RP it out until there is a consensus, and if we can't reach a consensus in a reasonable time, then I will call a vote. From experience I can tell you that this will be a rare occurrence.
If you intend to step away from the rest of the group and do something independently, make sure that is clear in your post.
About stat lines:
This is an example of a stat line for the pregen Obozaya I am playing in an SFS game.
A few things to note:
* You don't need to include your name - I just did that because the Avatar name is not the same as the name of the character.
* You don't need to indicate your gender. I think I can remember that one. Don't waste space.
* I didn't include my theme but it doesn't hurt to include it in brackets.
* If you use [ ooc] tags easier to read by breaking up sections by color.
* There aren't that many skills in Starfinder, so you can get away with putting all your skills in there. I find that this makes it really easy for me as a player since I don't have to open my profile to see what my skills are.
* I put my attacks at the end for the same reason.
* If you have character features that have limited uses per day (like spells) that should be in there somewhere too.
* You can only fit so many characters in one of those boxes, but you have three boxes to work with. "Gender" will be displayed first, then "Race" and then "Class."
Your stat line doesn't have to be exactly like this but I recommend you do something similar.
I am a bit OCD so if I say I like things a certain way try to humour me. :)
As an Operative I'm not sure how well your suggestions will work. Advice sought :-)
1) I've got a LOT of trained skills. 9 right now and that will increase at level 2
2) My attack is quite complicated due to the operative trick (ie, it is two rolls, the one affecting the DC of the second).
One thing that I've always sort of liked are Spoiler boxes. Provides the information but at least somewhat hides it.
By all means use a spoiler box if you think that will help. If you find you are running out of space you can use short forms, as long as they are clear.
You don't need to specify how trick attack works, just what your extra trick damage is.
BTW Wint: you should have 8 HP, not 6. Skittermanders get 2 racial HP.
Also: I note in your character sheet that you show only Stealth in your explanation of Trick Attack. Even though you have the Ghost specialty you can still use Bluff or Intimidate as well.
Be advised that in order to use a skill to make a trick attack, you need to be able to actually use that skill. So to use stealth you will need to find a way to hide from your opponent by using cover and so on. It helps if you are creative here. But if you find yourself in the middle of an empty and brightly-lit room, you won't be able to use Stealth to make a trick attack (at least until you get your cloaking field at level 5).
How does my stat line look?
BTW Wint: you should have 8 HP, not 6. Skittermanders get 2 racial HP.
Don't forget that you have a house rule for small characters. I thought that cost me 2 HP (1 to start, 1 Racial)
Also: I note in your character sheet that you show only Stealth in your explanation of Trick Attack. Even though you have the Ghost specialty you can still use Bluff or Intimidate as well.Be advised that in order to use a skill to make a trick attack, you need to be able to actually use that skill. So to use stealth you will need to find a way to hide from your opponent by using cover and so on. It helps if you are creative here. But if you find yourself in the middle of an empty and brightly-lit room, you won't be able to use Stealth to make a trick attack (at least until you get your cloaking field at level 5).
Ah, you're taking that interpretation are you? The rules are unclear and there have been many electrons slain in the discussion :-). Fair enough, you're the GM.
About stat lines
I think I've wrangled my stat line to an appropriate condition; let me know if anything has been glaringly omitted.
As a dwarf, I have a sack-full of, ah, very niche bonuses (+4 AC vs. giants! Heck ya!). I'm just gonna go ahead and omit those from my stat line, if it looks like we're gonna fight a giant, I'll make it known, but that's on me, no need to ret-con those.
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LOL! Love the icons for the children. :D
BTW Wint: you should have 8 HP, not 6. Skittermanders get 2 racial HP.Don't forget that you have a house rule for small characters. I thought that cost me 2 HP (1 to start, 1 Racial)
Ah, yes. I should include a link to it somewhere.
But that does not penalize your racial HP (which have already been penalized, pretty much). In which case you should have 7.
Ah, you're taking that interpretation are you? The rules are unclear and there have been many electrons slain in the discussion :-). Fair enough, you're the GM.
I'll have a look at the threads to see if anything changes my mind, but on my first look it seems pretty clear. You need to make a stealth check, and there are certain circumstances where you cannot make stealth checks.
The same will apply to bluff or intimidate - for example, you can't bluff someone who can't perceive you. On the other hand, that circumstance would give you a nice stealth bonus. So it's a matter of which thing suits the circumstance.
For the record though, most SFS scenarios I have seen have battle maps that are littered with cover. So most of the time it will not be a problem. When it is a problem it's a chance to flex your roleplaying muscles. It also means that smoke grenades are potentially especially useful for you.
I think I've wrangled my stat line to an appropriate condition; let me know if anything has been glaringly omitted.
As a dwarf, I have a sack-full of, ah, very niche bonuses (+4 AC vs. giants! Heck ya!). I'm just gonna go ahead and omit those from my stat line, if it looks like we're gonna fight a giant, I'll make it known, but that's on me, no need to ret-con those.
Yeah, don't worry about the niche bonuses. Your line looks good to me.
I do know that there is at least one scenario so far that has a giant. How many more we see is open to speculation. Space Goblins do abound though.
I've created another character that is an operative with the Hacker specialization. It has this to say:
Associated Skills: Computers and Engineering. You can attempt a Computers check with a +4 bonus to make a trick attack by creating a computerized distraction (you can’t use this option if stripped of all computerized gear in an area with no computers).
This makes it clear there are some situations where a skill cannot be used for the trick attempt. Seems reasonable you can't use stealth if you can't hide. It's sort of like in Pathfinder using stealth to create the condition from which one can make a sneak attack. It can't be done if there's no cover.
I'll get my stat line down once I get home and access to a computer. Fiddling with the tiny boxes on mobile is a pain.
...
Hey... you could use that Avatar image for when Wint gets really mad. :)
:-). Oops :-).
I definitely sometimes forget to select the right avatar. Sorry :-).
You're right though. Its definitely just "slightly" different from Wint, isn't it :-) ?
I'm looking forward to when Paizo finally gets around to populating the icon selection to include lashunta, ysoki, vesk, and many other Starfinder races/species. Seems like it should not take this long.
Obviously the Society wanted to preserve these items for some reason, and Thuldas is reluctant to tamper with them.
Ha, and I thought this would be my first big contributory skill check. Oh well.
My posting may be limited for the next few days. My home computer is in the shop and so I'm limited to using my iPad or my work computer. It's also the start of a new teaching term, so that keeps me a bit busy the first few days. I'm teaching in the morning now, Monday through Thursday, so most post will have to wait to late afternoon or evening.
No worries. Thanks for informing us.