GM Will Cooper |
Hey everyone, here are a few thoughts about managing combat in this campaign.
1 We've got a lot of people, and a lot of moving parts to each combat. This means that posting strict turns in order of initiative could take a long time; potentially up to 10 days for a round.
2 For those who don't know (potentially all of you!) I am on a months long journey round New Zealand, and then a bit of the US and UK. I am mostly posting from my tablet. It works fine, but does limit my ability to work up tactical maps - even in a spreadsheet.
3 I think that the above considerations mean that combat is going to end up slightly more abstract than in a typical game of pathfinder. This might be frustrating, because it will remove some of the more tactical war-game side of combat. I think we've already seen that positioning, order of events, even which round we're in, can all get confusing very quickly.
I have some further thoughts on how we best manage these issues, but would like to hear any suggestions. What works well in other PBPs you're playing in? I'm happy to adapt and adjust as we go to make this fun for everyone.
robertness |
A couple suggestions that I'd make regard initiative. I've found that it works well for the GM to make everyone's initiative roll (in a spoiler tag to minimize clutter) as we head into combat then announce the initiative order. In the PBP environment, initiative only really matters to figure out who acts before the bad guys and who acts after them. Furthermore, I'd set a deadline for everyone who has an initiative between a bad guy turn posts.
Edit: One more thing: In my GM posts, I like to end with an OOC line summarizing who gets to act before the next bad guy round as a reminder.
Iralynash |
I play in another pbp that the Gm uses the rules described by Robertness and it does work pretty well. I will only add two things: first he also give a time window of 24 hours for every round. If someone does not post in that period he will gmnpc that character or it will lose his action that round.
And second at the end of every round the gm will do a post describing what happened that round and making any necessary revisions.
Jordan Andosano |
I am amazed how well putting all the bad guys on a single initiative so the situations becomes: Chars with higher init than bad guys, bad guys, all chars, bad guys, repeat as often as necessary, works. It gives the DM a chance to summarize the good guy posts and integrate it with the bad guy posts in a concise place to summarize each round of combat.
As an old school guy we could roleplay without maps. Unfortunately every time the red dragon would breathe, all the PCs managed to be on the only 5 squares on the map it didn't affect! It can be done, it is just a challenge. Managing a strategic cavalier with teamwork feats is an example of an extreme challenge without maps.
Rommin Hawkridge |
Going with few if any maps would be easier for me as an archer. I'd +1 the GM (or designated player) rolling initiative for all and posting. The grouping of initiative as Jordan describes has worked well. When PCs go in a block, it seems to work best if all can take their actions when they can without having to wait for those in initiative ahead of them to post. If they need to wait for another player to go first, they can say so, and if their action is contingent on someone else's action they can post an alternative. For example "If Jordan casts something that takes out the swarm, I'll charge the BBEG. Otherwise, I'll run for the hills!"
Ruhk "The Dandy" |
The attack bonus from Bless is Morale, and the one from Inspire courage is competence, so they stack I believe.
However, the save bonus is morale in both cases, so unless I am wrong the net result is +2 to hit, +1 damage, +1 to saves vs enchantment and fear.
Halvor Lumbar |
The attack bonus from Bless is Morale, and the one from Inspire courage is competence, so they stack I believe.
However, the save bonus is morale in both cases, so unless I am wrong the net result is +2 to hit, +1 damage, +1 to saves vs enchantment and fear.
You are right Ruhk. Bless lasts for 1 minute (10 rounds)
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Hey everyone, quick heads up that my travels have taken me to a part of NZ with very very spotty cell phone and internet provision. I've just driven 60 kilometers to find a town where I can get a signal. We're staying long enough to have a coffee and answer some urgent emails, then it's back to the dark ages.
I should be back in a couple of days time - or heck maybe the lodge we stay in tonight will have wifi - but basically expect nothing from me for a day or two.
Thanks for the good ideas and suggestions, and I'll take them on board when I'm back in 21st century land :)
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Marduzi Lovarya |
We already cleared the final hurdle, but if you have any interest in Midgard Tales and haven't signed up yet, you still have a few hours. The amount of content is amazing:
- Nearly 200 page Hardcover or Softcover Book (depending what level you buy in)
- 64 page Christina Stiles adventure
- 16 page Wolfgang Baur adventure
- Battlemats
- 32 page Legends of Midgard
- Plus Richard Pett, Nick Logue and Tim Connors are all pitching.
You can get all of that for as little as $35 if you go all-electronic.
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
I had a look when it was announced and decided I couldn't afford it. But that was in the context of wanting to be a blue to pitch; meaning I would have needed to buy in at $100 plus.
Thanks for the reminder, this is well worth another look purely as a consumer.
Are you going to be pitching anything in this project?
Marduzi Lovarya |
I'll be pitching for sure. I caught the bug during Journeys. Gonna be some tough competition for this one. Big names pitching and while there are more adventure slots than Journeys, I don't think there will be as many other things to pitch for. I'm looking forward to it though. I've got a couple ideas of where I want to go with my pitches. If any of you can think of any types of adventures you'd love to see though, I'm open to ideas.
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Marduzi Lovarya |
Good luck with both Will. I'm focusing on the adventures right now so Wed-Fri will probably be a little nutty for me (though I'm traveling Mon-Wed, ugh). Haven't had inspiration strike with the Legends yet. Came up a little short on the first round of adventure pitches, but with lots of encouraging feedback.
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Marduzi Lovarya |
Thanks Will! Congrats to you on Kyrsa Heartwood too! I'm looking forward to finishing the yurt. It's funny, I spent a lot more time thinking about Broken Wing in the first round which was mid-pack, probably in part because of the emphasis on kobold and dragonkin PCs. Seven Spirits and Dawnsong Tragedy both came together in a rush once I had the core idea and they both did a lot better. Thanks a ton for the feedback on both of those. It definitely made them better pitches. I'm hoping to wrap Tragedy in time to pitch some of the higher level adventures. I have one idea I'm really excited about for higher levels.
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Hey guys, heads up.
I'm flying tonight to LA, spending a couple of days with friends there and then on to Seattle for PaizoCon. I don't know what access I'll have to the internet for about the next 10 days, and there will be lots of travel time. My posts may be even more sporadic than normal for the next 10 days until about the 12th July, which is when I arrive in the UK and get to my parent's house.
Cheers!
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Right, done with PaizoCon and had an absolute blast. I'm now in the lounge at LAX ready to head to London. So by tomorrow night I'll be settled in one place for a few weeks and able to post again. Yay :)
Michael, it was great to bump into you - shame we didn't get to play together, but I got caught up chatting with the OD guys. Hope you had as much fun as I did!
Marduzi Lovarya |
We had a blast! I have an extended post about it over on the Open Design boards. Great meeting you and a great time at the con. I just got back from a post-con business trip to NYC and I'm actually home for a week. Another week of vacation and then GenCon coming soon!
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Funny you should ask, Dax...
I'm working on sorting out proper maps for us to use. I've got MapTools, then it turned out I also needed an image manipulation program, so I've also got GIMP, which needs an X11 windowing framework, so I've also got Quartz, and next is TokenTools so that we can have places on the map and then all I need is an image hosting site.
So yes delays, but also progress behind the scenes!
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |
Will Cooper RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16 |