Lost Lands Mega-Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Grimmy

Yeah I think 8 is about my max. I have a group with 8 and they have no pace issues but they are all very invested... I guess the only way I would consider a bigger party than that would be for something very short-term, if at all...

Yeah, our group is pretty lucky to be moving as quickly as it is with the number of members we have.

Our group is actually much smaller than that, but sometimes we really i.n..c...h... along...

As for the Mythic, I have dabbled on it when it first came out - it was powerful. I think it is hard to imagine a better place to be mythic than Rappan Athuk though :D

However, Mythic does change a lot of stuff - it is quite different from gaining a level, because even the entry level abilities like Amazing Initiative really tip the scale on things.

That being said, it would be a hard choice for me between the Archmage and the Trickster paths ;)

I just asked because I have been in a large group, 6+ characters, and in the first battle it sometimes took about two days to get through one round and it was just very frustrating.

Well the streamlined init certainly helps in that regard. We usually manage at least a round/day in combat, sometimes a little better.

I have seen pbp campaigns that get through 2-3 rounds a day and others that take days. Pretty much, if a player is not posting during combat, they should have someone assigned to post for them or the DM should DMPC them. Unless you are on vacation and have told the party such, everyone in this set of Grimmy campaigns joined with the understanding that they would have to post at least once per day. If they are failing to meet this posting rate, then that person should understand that someone else, DM or another player, will be posting for them, or they will be delaying every round and standing as a target with nothing but total defense to protect them.

Maybe each player should give the dm a list of standard responses and actions in combat. Like the combat notes in paizo modules.

For example for karl
Before or round one cast shield
round two
if facing non fighter strike with staff and cast/strike chill touch
if facing fighter strike twice with staff

and so on.

I do more like what Ghaelja said.

I don't really bot PC's myself, I don't like the responsibility, even if they have an SOP it makes me feel like I'm playing with myself. Not my cup of tea. Generally after 24 hours I delay them, after 48 hours I skip them. Total defense. This varies a little depending what else is going on.

Raziel doesn't go on Total Defense - he hides :D

Something that can speed things along is have the DM roll all inits and perception checks.

Agree with hound. But to any group checks like a save v. AoE, initiative and reactionary perception checks.

I made macros for initiative and perception that I keep in the campaign tabs.

I always use the init one, the perception one I use sometimes but other times if there's no posts for a little while I drop something in a spoiler with a perception DC so if anyone is out there lurking they will have a prompt to react to at least, to get them posting again.

Haven't made a macro for PC saves but I roll one here and there when I want to be able to narrate the result without waiting for the player to post.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I've been checking out some other games for ideas too.

GM Blood, Doomed Hero, and Alexander Kilcoyne are some PbP GM's that have jumped out at me as really well organized and creative. I'm mining them for ideas.

Another good one is Doug M who is DMing one of my Way of the Wicked campaigns.

I am playing in a game with AK as GM, and I gotta say that he does an amazing job at handling the game. We are currently at level 7 and the bookkeeping is starting to get... Complex to say the least ;)

On the other hand, my GM for Carrion Crown here on the Paizo forums does an amazing work in adjudicating, and keeping a very decent pace in spite if absences. In that aspect, he is my reference

There is one other... I think he is called... Grimmy... Or something like that :D

Seriously now Grimmy, I think you are doing a great job as a GM man (or woman). There is obviously always room for improvement, but in all honesty, and again, I think your GMing style and involvement is above par. I am happy to be a part of this game, with you as a GM - keep it up and you've got a winner ;)

Disclaimer: The details above are Raziel Drakan's property, and express the owner's unbiased and independent opinion :D

I have a lot to learn as GM in general and especially about PbP. Thank you all for joining my game, I am studying the successful games all the time to get better.

Doug M's game is particularly good. The guy is a great story teller. He takes a module/adventure paths and adds to it. Extensively.

Just remember, if you read Doug M's game, ignore the Judge/summoner. He is a real a$$. He would sell his own mother into slavery or worse. Fortunately for all involved, he is now dead. Unfortunately, the rest of the foolish party is planning on raising him.

What, as opposed to the vengeance crazed antipaladin (currently dead), a slimy kobold alchemist, and a sibling rivalry driven winter witch (who's not actually a witch) who also obsesses on plans that put her and the party in hazard. Not to mention the dead goblin barbarian/rogue and the dead slaver, with a great hat. Oh and the above mentioned judge is slowly becoming a vampire.

I love the lot of them. Give me a character with great big flaws every time. They're much more interesting and convincing than perfect superman clones.

And the npc's. A greasy dwarf alchemist, a manipulative rakasta (I think) and a football fan redcap (who took out two characters before going down).

I think it is the best way of the wicked game out. Fire mountain games should reward them or something.

OK, fan rant over.

Of course we will have to be careful about the judge, hey ghaelja. (Lol)

Now back to your normal viewing

Yeh, we have an interesting party. It will be interesting seeing how things go. I can't wait for the Judge to become a full vampire. So many options, and none of them good.

I would love to know how many lurkers that campaign has. I know of probably a half dozen or more, and I am sure that 2-3 times that just read without posting.

EDIT - Oh, and the dwarf alchemist NPC is awesome.
- not sure who the rakshasa is you are referring to, but I have no doubt that DMDM has one in there somewhere. Pretty sure we have an Erinyes npc as well.

Well, that's the idea.

The lady who jax has the deal with, the oracle sort. Not certain what she is, but for some reason rakshasa came to mind.

Pretty sure she is a devil of some sort, but that is possible.

Off to bed guys. Theater production tomorrow from 6:30 AM to 1:30 AM :(

If I get cut during showtime I'll be online for a few hours. If I work straight through, I'll be comatose for most of wed tho!

Sounds fair. We'll see you when you get back/wake up!

I am back among the living

I do not envy you your musical theater.
That is some ballbusting work.

dot

Heading to a different job site, not sure about wifi situation. Most likely can post but not move tiles on battlemats.

One more day of this festival guys, then I'll be back to my normal posting!

This is day four of 16-18 hour work days and no more than 4 hours a day sleep 0_0 so forgive the lapse in posting! If I made any thread updates today they would probably be riddled with rules mistakes lol. I'm a zombie ;)

That's insane, no apologies necessary. Hang in there mate, we'll be here when you get back!

Yeah, this is the longest you've ever been away, it's not really been that long, and you gave us warning, so you're fine! Looking forward to getting going when you're ready!

No sweat! Real life trumps all. Thanks for dropping in to let us know, though. :)

I don't expect movement on the this game during a four day fourteen hour stretch. No zombie dms please, this is too much fun.

Agreed I do not want any zombified DMs. I mean it would be awesome for us but ...Wait DM Grimmy come back for small bits so I can coax xp and magical items from your zombie self....you know to help the party and stuffs

If Priscilla Springheel was at the shows this weekend I bet I would be missing at least a few mics :p

WA updated, catching up on the rest now.

What you talking about, I'd steal the show!

Eh, the fortune-teller will still be there when you get here.

AHHH! Is it the influence of mercury in retrograde or what?!

Big sorry to MoD for messing things up, I swear I meant well!

Just a thought guys.
It's kind of cool using other real world languages in place of the fantasy ones so far.
I think I've seen spanish as the substitute for celestial, for example.

So, I was thinking what about:
spanish=celestial
chinese=draconic
? italian or latin?=abyssal
turkish=orcish
russian=giants
french=elves
german=dwarven

any thoughts?

For some reason that spanish=celestial thing really made me twitch :/

Sanskrit in the devanagari script is lovely for celestial though.

Yeah, I just can't see Spanish as Celestial.

If you used something other than Latin for Abyssal, then Latin for Celestial would be something too. Though, I think that's more from most takings on supernatural fiction leading towards all things holy being spoken in Latin.

I agree with Jeb. For celestial, and anything other planar, I'd look at a script that doesn't use the same alphabet. Something like Tibetan, maybe?

Yes, a tibetan script would be my second choice after devanagari, as long as the font is dbu can (with the top line).

I think it was Quetzoquatl the zen archer from Mouth of Doom who used Spanish for Celestial. For whatever reason it impressed me as an interesting choice.

Certainly understand your hesitancy.
Tibetan seems like a real cool option. Seems like abyssal would be the next hardest one to pin down? Other thoughts on elvish? I have a hard time squaring them with French honestly.

I think it was Quetzoquatl the zen archer from Mouth of Doom who used Spanish for Celestial. For whatever reason it impressed me as an interesting choice.

Certainly understand your hesitancy.
Tibetan seems like a real cool option. Seems like abyssal would be the next hardest one to pin down? Other thoughts on elvish? I have a hard time squaring them with French honestly.

You could always follow Professor Tolkien's example and base Elvish on Finnish (Quenya) or Welsh (Sindarin).

I am recruiting to see if anyone wants to play in the Classic TSR sandbox of B1-9 In Search of Adventure set in the Duchy of Karameikos.

Given attrition rates on the boards, we will see how it goes. The core N1 group couldn't keep up a decent posting rate, and the new group had some problems 80% through the vicious I1 gauntlet.

Given the high system mastery evident on this thread, this is my attempt to skim some cream!!

Sam, I would be interested. I died in the I1 gauntlet (as did the entire party) and it just ended.

was with this character

but we were only allowed core rule book for the adventure so i didn't get to make the character the way I had envisioned him.

Well, the I1 gauntlet was vicious.

I am still doing core only, but there should still be plenty of RP/character development space in the Core classes and races.

If you want in, redo the alias for level one.

Is it with basic rules? :)