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Welcome to my PbP game for the Race for the Runecarved Key (#4-00) Special. Hope you would have a blast!
Before we start, I would to share some of my ground rules. (In spoiler tags to not take up space.)
PbP Matters
1. This discussion thread is open for all OOC matters, so no ooc tag needed. For OOC matters in the gameplay thread, please use the [ ooc ] tag.
2. Please post at least once a day, including on weekends. Honestly, though, as a special, more frequent posting is definitely better. I’ll personally target at least 3 posts a day for myself. If you have not played a special before, generally each encounter is timed, so we would have a fixed number of days to clear through each. Also, very often, not only would our progress contribute to our individual table success, it would also contribute to the success of all the tables. If you would be away, please let me know in advance where possible, and we can work something out. Otherwise, if you go missing, where necessary, I will bot your characters for the sake of the rest of everyone else. Thus, a good idea is to leave botting instructions for combat (with dice rolls) and non-combat in your profile page beforehand.
3. If you have any disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the scenario, please take it to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this scenario before, or are currently GMing this for another table, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know.
5. I would have thought this would go without mentioning until I encountered this, so… It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of the game, including referencing the map on google slides. I understand that there are times where it is inconvenient to do so. In that case, please be as specific as you can as to where you wish your character to move, what actions to take, etc. If you regularly have issues with accessing the google slides, you might want to reconsider playing via PbP, especially for PFS as there is always combat, and thus map dependent.
Combat
6. Once surprise (if any) and initiative is determined, for the group of characters who can take actions, I would resolve actions in posting order, NOT initiative order. I used to do the latter but it doesn’t work that well in PbP, so am going with the former instead.
Rolls and Skill Checks
7. I would do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any).
8. On knowledge checks for general information, I would usually put them in spoilers with the necessary DCs. Just go ahead to roll, and I'll trust that you would resist reading them if the roll fails (or least not to metagame). (Don’t forget that you can make knowledge checks untrained for DC10.) There might be exceptions for plot-critical information though, where I would explicitly ask for knowledge checks. As for knowledge checks for monster lore, I would put the most basic information in spoiler as well, i.e. identity and one important info. If your roll would reveal more, I’ll provide in the next post. If you wish, you can ask for what information you want, e.g. DR, resistances, special attacks, etc.
9. On skill checks where there could be team effort involved, e.g. finding a hidden trail with survival, influencing attitude of NPCs with diplomacy, please be explicit when making the rolls whether you are attempting the check on your own, or whether you are assisting. (And take note of the pros and cons of either.) There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to assist) – I’ll state so explicitly if that’s the case.
10. On skill checks in general, if I feel you have roleplayed well, e.g. gave a good description of what your character does to search for a trail, came up with creative ways to befriend a hostile NPC, gave a very rousing speech, I would give bonuses, or even waive the DC altogether. :)
Roleplaying Matters
11. The maps and handouts link (at the top of the page) would display all the maps, handouts, pictures, etc as the scenario progresses. The most current page would be right on top, while previous ones would be left there for your reference. (Incidentally, Android and IOS has the Google Slides app in case you work off mobile devices.)
12. Please have your full character information up on your character's profile page for my vetting. Also, please have your stat block updated with the key information. Minimally please have your current hp vs max hp, AC (normal, touch and flat-footed), all three saves and movement. Feel free to include others.
13. Finally, playing by pbp provides many advantages compared to face-to-face games, the chief one being having the time and space to flesh out your thoughts and actions. So please make use of this and have posts that are more than simply dice rolls. :)
Getting Started
Ok with that out of the way, a few tasks before we kick off.
A. Go to the Gameplay page and dot.
B. Go to the maps and handouts page and fill out the table there. (Don’t worry about the 3 boxes below the table, i.e. token, initiative and perception. I’ll take care of that.)
C. In this Discussion thread, do your day job rolls (if any), and share whatever OOC information you would like the rest of the party to know about your character e.g. class, level, special abilities. We’ll leave character descriptions and introductions to the gameplay thread later when we are about to start.
This multi-table special is expected to start on 5 Jan 2018, so mark it on your calendar!
Fantastic!
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Hey-ho, checking in! Jacinth here is a Freebooter ranger, which is basically a more ship/piratey-oriented sort of character and allows her some fun abilities to offer bonuses to her companions - and they even stack with things like Inspire Courage :)
She's got a decent spread of skills and can offer both melee and ranged support as necessary. I'll go ahead and roll her Day Job now:
Also, I'll be spending her 2PP that she currently has to purchase a Cure wand. I think that's everything for the moment :)
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Howdy folks! Uther is my first attempt at a ranged character, but I couldn't resist the feat that lets him bash bonces with his bow in melee as well. If we face any evil creatures, he can bless weapons, plus he has the usual cleric spells for buffing allies.
Unfortunately he has very few skills and even less charisma, but he should be able to spot a lie or two if needed.
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Hey all!
William is a pretty standard paladin, good in a scrape, doubly so against evil or undead, only once a day for some odd reason.
He tends to be quiet and stern, conflicted with with his paladin oaths of charity and mercy vs his inner ruthless nature (Oath of Vengeance).
Point him at evil and he'll smite it happily.
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Ooh, three religious types! This should be fun! Especially since we are all combat oriented ones.
Lumo is a Nagaji, dumb as a rock, but nice. He has a fervor for Gorum and protecting the innocent. However, being a cleric of Gorum, he has no qualms about working outside of the law. And, often, the ends justify the means. While he believes that fighting is the best way to end most conflicts, he is not against the occasional use of diplomacy to avoid an unwise battle.
For the party, he'll cast Bless (Looks like it will stack with Jacinth's buff) and do out-of-combat healing Channels. His role is a frontliner, and he is pretty good at it. The only DR-piercing method he lacks is Adamantine. Hopefully we won't be seeing any constructs.
I'll take 10 on my Profession check for a 18.
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A few matters.
1. One of the players haven't checked in yet. Have pm'ed him.
2. Nigel, could you fill in your character details at this link?
3. For the game, I would also need to know (a) whether your character has a wayfinder, and if he/she has one, (b) how it is usually carried?
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Thanks for the prod kuey! Tellerin checking in and ready to roll.
Tellerin is a pyromancer with a side helping of illusionist against those pesky enemies that are immune to being toasted. His sole unusual feature is the feat Burning Amplification, which allows his normally flash-in-the-pan fire descriptor spells to light things (and people) on fire until they put themselves out. I've seen some variation on how GMs interpret this one when it comes to the catching on fire / putting yourself out mechanics (and it lacks an FAQ to clarify things as far as I've seen), so I figured I'd give you a heads up kuey.
Tellerin is handy with diplomacy, perception, and using magic devices. He's not too shabby with spellcraft and KN:arcana either.
Tellerin has a wayfinder and carries it in a pocket on the inside of his vest. He hasn't yet had a reason to use it, though I guess if you're asking about wayfinders maybe he'll get a chance to this game!
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Sorry I have been doing a lot of traveling this week. I putting the finishing touches on him. I really don't like the format of this characters character sheet and I am needing to spend lots of his money. Plan to have that done by the end of the night and I'll do the posting of his info then too.
My week slows on Friday so you don't need to worry about me slowing down the game.
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Some things I think I should point that is unique for this particular special.
1. I'll be tracking the success of your various encounters via Key Points. It would be largely transparent for you in the game, but I thought you should know this. Without going into too much details that would spoil the game, the more Key Points you earn the better. (Duh!)
2. There is also a competitive element to this - at the end of the scenario, the table with the most number of Key Points wins!
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I am going to assume the "dark" reputation of the Aspis Corp is well known enough that William can justify attacking a lawful caravan.
Else he's out
Or, in all honesty. Would there be a problem with retrofitting a new PFS character for me, it seems a Paladin is just not suited for this mission.
Seeing as how we know the caravan is only Aspis based on the arleady questionable reputation and word of the VC, and the caravan is as far as he knows breaking no laws, I can't even fathom William travelling with the group, let alone attacking.
"Because they are evil and might have done evil things" doesn't cut it for me.
I suppose an alternate is simply sitting out this encounter.
Thoughts?
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William did detect clear evil from the Aspis agent at the party. And being in the Pathfinder Society, tales would abound of the countless nefarious acts of the organisation. How William reacts to that, however, is ultimately up to you.
I thinking also that William might accompany especially to make sure no needless killing, or any killing happens. Besides, Sheila's instructions were specifically to stop the gold from reaching the Aspis, not to steal the money. You can always donate it to an orphanage after that. :) Oh simply hide it until after the auction is over, then return it.
But sorry, I can't allow changing of characters after the scenario has started.
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I'm just going by the rules in the CRB since I haven't been able to find anything in the PFS rules that says it works any differently. ;)
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Remnar, please don't retire William just because of this scenario. Even among the GMs, we were discussing at length about how morally "grey" this scenario. For those who've played quite a bit of PFS, it is an interesting change but it is definitely not the norm. I've got a paladin myself, and haven't had any issues thus far.
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It should be quite obvious that it is an incorporeal creature, so I don't think I'm giving things away by stating it here, but want to take this opportunity to clarify the rules on this. If there are newer players, you are likely not to have encountered incorporeal creatures before. Incorporeal creatures can only be damaged by magic or magical weapons. And while you are unlikely to have any magic weapons at this time, the party does right now have the ability to make your attacks magical, like Uther suggested. (And there's at least one other option I saw in the party.) However, note that smite evil does not by itself make attacks magical - so a paladin wielding a mundane weapon cannot smite an incorporeal undead. That's why there's such a thing as teamwork.