Although we've discussed some of these ideas, rules, and brain-fluff off-line, a little repetition may be helpful.
1. This is a Neutral (with good tendencies) to Good game. Alignments are 'real world' flexible in terms of there being shades of grey in which you can play. Good doesn't mean you are a Boy Scout 100% of the time.
2. All monsters are equal, but some are more equal than others... :) While I may put you up against a standard Orc, from time to time I will also be taking liberties with their stats and abilities. That includes alignment. You could run into a 12HD LG Harpy if the mood strikes me. Generally, you will receive some warning that creature X may not be quite 'typical'. I won't purposefully sandbag you... but if your trigger fingers are a bit too quick, that is your problem. :)
3. Spontaneous Casters receive their stat bonus on BOTH the number of spells they can cast and the number they know.
4. Criticals still require confirmation HOWEVER on a critical threat the first die of weapon damage automatically scores its maximum. So, if the threat is 'failed', the damage is still Die Max + additional bonuses. If the threat succeeds, the damage is Die Max + additional bonuses + critical die(ce) + bonuses.
5. After you purchase it the first time, your standard ammo supply is unlimited provided that you are close to a town or other vendor/resource that can reasonably resupply you. I decide what is 'reasonable'. ;)
6. While most NPCs you encounter will be of the standard classes found in the Pathfinder Core materials, a few will be either from 3PP sources or a homespun class.
7. I will, from time to time, make rolls for all characters to keep things moving. In general, I will try to let you guys roll for yourselves.
8. I will, periodically, act on obvious suggestions without waiting for agreement from all characters to move the plot along. I won't do this in any situation where the choice seems 'questionable' to me. If you disagree with some choice I've made after the fact, I am happy to retcon things.
9. Hit Points are gained as the 'averaged' Pathfinder Society method OR by die roll, whichever is HIGHER. So if your roll is less than the 'average' then you get averaged roll.
10. Some of my rolls will be done 'on the table' and others will be done privately (using the dice-roller on my iTouch) to keep certain aspects from being metagamed.
11. We are on the honor system here. I'm not going to be looking over your shoulder or constantly reviewing your character sheets.
12. This is an open world and you are free to roam around - but there are no training wheels. There are challenges and areas that will be well beyond your ability to handle early in the game. I will give warnings about these areas if I think you are walking into a TPK but ultimately the decision is yours. If you don't mind rolling up new characters, who am I to say 'no'? :)
13. Please try to respect the DM spoilers to individual characters/players. It is information designed for the characters to reveal or not as they choose. I don't mind you peeking into language-based spoilers.
14. I do give out DM Hints on request. So if I lose you guys or you feel like you are floundering, ask for a little help.
Other Matters - I have a website built for this campaign and will be sending you invitations shortly.
New Question - How do you guys want to do Experience? I am planning on medium track advancement. Do you want a running total on your XP points? Just updates as you get close to leveling? Would you prefer I just tell you when to level at good points in the story?
You can handle XP however you want, although I do enjoy watching my XP climb on my sheet, he he.
As far as xp, i'm fine either way but my vote is that teh DM keep it and just let us know when we level. I like the mystery and surprise!
Getting to know how much XP we've received from a fight is nice as it lets us know how tough you thought it was. However, that doesn't mean I necessarily want to track it myself as a player. Provided it doesn't take forever and a day to level like in one of our games, then just being told when we 'ding' is fine by me.
I'd rather you have time to put towards telling your part of this story than getting bogged-down in numbers if it's not something you normally keep strict track of.
All of a sudden I"m thrilled that i put that rank into swim...
No, it decidedly will NOT take you forever and a day to level. :) I tend to try getting the characters past 1st and sometimes 2nd level as quickly as possible. I think the game becomes the most fun between 3rd and 15th. You can expect to progress pretty quickly.
I do tend to track XP so that is no burden on me. Let's try to split the difference here. How about I keep a running total and will mention your progress at important moments and when notable... So you hear things like "Damn that was 1000 points you earned in one battle!" or "You guys are halfway to the next level", "3/4 the way there", "Kissing distance from getting your first 3rd level spell", etc.
I tend to go with the 'medium' XP value of an encounter rather than re-calcing based on difficulty. It averages out I think. You get a bit more experience for the easy encounters and a bit less for the more difficult ones. If a battle really stood out as hard in my mind, I'll just throw on a bonus amount based on the depth of your characters' PTSD. :)
If you want to figure out how I evaluate difficulty on any particular encounter, just ask and I'll give you a breakdown on the points I assigned it. Does that work for everyone?
FWIW - I apologize for the long-ass post in the thread. I try to keep posts to a reasonable reading size but at the outset of a game like this, I have to go 'verbose mode' for a bit to set things up. It will slim down, I promise.
Works for me... and sometimes the story-teller's gotta get long winded. We all know that.
Findelgwing is rocking that shark!
he he...looks like I am channeling your inner die rolling spirit there , Ben.
Jayce files So the gnome's a spell-caster… under 'important things to remember' as his body slides into a combat stance...
Ushari slips into a combat stance, waiting...
Looks like you're channeling more than my die roller! :D
(We read each other's writing so much... it's no wonder we don't do copy-catting more often, honestly.)
Findelgwing is rocking that shark!
You know what they say: Payback's a pissed-off 6' 6" elf girl wielding a bastard sword.
Not to detract from Fin's beating of that shark like a f@c<ing gong but I would like to state that Jayse very nearly killed that fresh shark with two well-placed kicks.
Color me impressed as hell with how you guys have 'schooled' my fish. :)
The puns don't get any better from here. :)
Holy crap. I totally missed that...
I feel so stupid.
What, no guy water ski-ing has shown up yet?? I feel gypped, he he.
Due to the sheer crappiness of tripod, Mike has very kindly offered to host some the GSI campaign materials - particularly battles - on his worldsunknown server. So, in future, we'll be running battles there. Here is a sample shot for ya... showing the raft in some detail and your characters' current health statuses.
Thanks much, Mike!
No sweat. Functionality is already in place from the other 2 campaigns I have on there so there's no sense in not making the most of it. I'll try to get a party matrix made up when I have time. Should be a bit easier since there's fewer characters than in the other campaigns...
YAY! We finally get to see Lureene and Straehan together again! He he.
Good deal on the map thing. Anything that makes the DM's job easier is kosher with me
Gents - please put some thought into what one magical item (preferably a wondrous item but others are OK) would your character most benefit from/like to have. It should be in the 5k-6k GP range. Assume you have BOTH of your classes going, not just your current one.
After you've figured it out send the idea to me publicly or privately. If privately make the subject header "Dear Santa, for Christmas I want..." :)
Drawing of a DM giving a thumbs up sign. :)
Sure you don't want the since Ushari is so flirty? I hear they are made for steel-town girls on a Saturday night... :p
And Acme doesn't have a very good rep in the Coyote community.
Santa-baby, just slip these items under the tree… for me:
(Any would be fun and awesome)
Ring of Sustenance (I'm a fan of the nearly no sleep thing)
Headband of Wisdom +2
Slippers of Spider Climb
Cloak of Resistance +2
Cloak of Elvenkind
Sure you don't want the since Ushari is so flirty? I hear they are made for steel-town girls on a Saturday night... :p
And Acme doesn't have a very good rep in the Coyote community.
He he...you know she would Definitely go for that...she is quite the Maniac ;-)
Damn you, gobbos!
The combat isn't officially over until Ben decides if he wants to take a parting shot at the last living Gobbo. However, I just want to say 'good battle' and I am sorry for some of the sucky rolls - for the players - and one or two of the lucky rolls for the bad guys. If that die-rolling glitch still worked, there would have been some fudging on my part.
Also, per our discussion above. I just wanted to tell you guys you are over halfway to Level 2!
Jayse is not taking the shot. I posted it in-thread.
Dont sweat the die-rolling thing. It sucks, but it happens... especially at low-levels when hp pools are so low and there is no "fudge room" when things go sour.
Shall I assume, unless otherwise stated, that you guys will be searching bodies for cash and sellables?
Heck yes! Stealing... I mean looting the fallen is an age-old tradition!
Well glad I didn't have to speak up on this one, he he
And I am nothing if not an 'old school' player. :)
Ask and you shall receive:
.
.
.
18 SP
4 GP
3 Shortbows
2 Shortswords
2 Longbows
2 Longswords
2 suits of Leather Armor (medium)
The other Goblin equipment isn't worth salvaging and the remaining Shortswords are only of value to a rust collector or someone who is fond of Tetanus jabs.
If you guys want to track loot on the GSI site, I can open the pages to editing for you. Just let me know.
Ask and you shall receive:
.
.
.
18 SP
4 GP
3 Shortbows
2 Shortswords
2 Longbows
2 Longswords
2 suits of Leather Armor (medium)
The other Goblin equipment isn't worth salvaging and the remaining Shortswords are only of value to a rust collector or someone who is fond of Tetanus jabs.
If you guys want to track loot on the GSI site, I can open the pages to editing for you. Just let me know.
I put the list on Ushari's personal list for now, but I think it would be easier to track it on the GSI site.
OK, I'll change the permissions.
...
..
.
Done! Feel the POWER!
(puts on He-Man mask)
I
HAVE
THE
POWER!!!
(takes mask off)
Loot added to GSI site.
Uhn UH! She doesn't say "I have the POWER!"
Yeah, Ushari would take the gear to sell.
What was the payout per person on that gear sale? I missed it.
You each get 59 GP and 5 SP... and there was some additional SP change.
Sorry guys I am swamped with work right now. I'll try to do some substantive posts as soon as I can.
No sweat. Work > Play, right?
Wait, you mean I've had it wrong all these years? Well damn! ;)
NAAHH, just handwave our glorious VICTORY over the forces of EVIL!!