So I'm totally confused. What, in particular exactly, *is* this? I was told I didn't make it into what I originally applied for, and now I'm presented with something that has the same exact name. Did you just make 2 games? How many people even got accepted?
Color me intrigued, GM. I'm also interested in hearing what this is about. :)
From the sounds of things, he didn't want to cut too many people and made 2 of the same game. That, or we'll be playing against the other party, or some other strange thing. Frankly I'm NE and I wouldn't mind busting a cap in a rival PC...
Regardless, I think he's just made 2 of the same AP. Mahorfeus, care to post in your Alias to avoid confusion? Also congratulations man! Glad to have you aboard. Abandon all hopes of being a captain when we inevitably take over a ship ;)
Regardless, I waited till 2 AM to hear this news, so with all due respect ladies and gentlemen I'll be heading to slumbertown. Hopefully everyone's checked in by the morning. See you all in 9 hours.
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Yeah, I thought I'd made it apparent when I posted in the other recruitment thread, but just for the sake of clarification, I've basically made two games because your applications were just too damn good. They won't be intersecting at any point, so yours will be the only six PC characters on the Wormwood in this iteration of the game. For the sake of my sanity and maximum game-flow, there are only six PCs in each game.
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Also for the sake of clarification, this isn't a 'secondary' campaign or anything like that. All of your applications were strong enough to warrant placing you in either game. I just selected the personalities/characters that I thought would work together best in this one, as I did in the other one. Seriously, stop being such good writers and maybe I wouldn't have to do these things :P
I'm not sure how good a decision it was to select 12 people just to avoid busting chops, but it got me in here when I failed to get in the original, so color me apathetic. What are the names of the people in this one? Generally a group of six has 2 players fall out within the first month, of which, I will not be one of.
I watch the forums like a hawk at all times.
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It wasn't so much a matter of busting chops as it was a great big opening in my free time (I only have school part-time this semester, and enough funds to go for the next two-three years without needing a job) and a perfect storm of awesome applications.
Here's the characters/players for this particular sea-cruise.
Jagray Hamfur- M Dwarf Cleric of Gozreh- Dakcenturi
Ambrose Jeggare- M Tiefling Wizard (Infernal Binder)- The Dread Pirate Hurley
Black Dhugal- M Half-Orc Rogue (Acrobat)- Wehrpig
Sh'torek- M Undine Barbarian (Sea Reaver)- Javell DeLeon
Boldwin Stonearm- M Dwarf Fighter (Brawler)- Boldwin Stonearm
Edgar "Alright" McDougal- M Human Gunslinger (Buccaneer)- Duboris
2 Dwarves, a Half orc, Fish lips, who shall not be called otherwise, myself, and a Tiefling.
Mother of pearl, I'm the only human in the group. If I have the highest charisma we're completely screwed.
Alright, so this is what I've got to work with. Wonderful. From the looks of things I'm going to be making good friends with the Tiefling. The Dwarves are required to get drunk with each other, if only because I've never seen more than 1 dwarf in a group ever.
The Half-Orc rogue I can't wait to see, as well as the Undine, if only because they're so anti-stereotype. I don't even know what a Stereotype for Undines is, but it probably doesn't involve big weapons and yelling.
Jokes on them, I've only got 7 teeth, and they aren't even clean.
Plus I'm like 40.
"Reportin' in."
Will our backstories need any modification for this one?
I don't believe so, Boldwin. It's a mirror of the other campaign. I think he just believes that our particular mix of characters would play well together.
I have to ask, who else in this group is evil, if I may ask?
Lieutenant Jeggare, reporting in.
Edgard, our relationship could swing wildly in either direction, and in fact may end up being one of the most important factors in determining Ambrose's fate. While he may be LN, there's plenty of room for a descent into evil (again), especially considering that he's a devil-summoning devil. It seems like there are a number of characters who may end up vying for the captaincy. Should we decide amongst ourselves how we'll split up the roles, or let it all develop in the RP?
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Ultimately, that particular question is one I leave up to the group. I can say that as a DM, I favor a slightly more hands-off and organic approach to things. You players dictate your decisions to me, and I operate the environment in which the ramifications unfold. Other than seeing you succeed (or, at least, fail in SPECTACULAR fashion), I don't really have a dog in the fight vis a vis what way you decide to take things.
Alright. I have some questions regarding your views and biases as a GM. These is for information and clarification; I have no intention of arguing against them in any event.
First, what are your thoughts on the narrative implications of stats? Do they define our characters in their entirety, or do they merely define the mechanical benefits we can expect to benefit from "on-screen", allowing us the freedom to make allusions to events and capabilities that would otherwise be outside of the limits established by our stats?
Second, how flexible are you when it comes to running the game? S&S is more sandboxy, which allows for more freedom later on. In the first book, will we be able to interact with and attempt to influence NPCs other than the ones the book allows for? There's a lot of great material in the S&S subforum if you're interested in or open to changing things, and I'd be happy to post some links.
Third, what are your thoughts regarding the way dice rolls determine the narrative? Should we roll first before writing our actions, or do we write our actions and roll at the end of the post, hoping for mechanical bonuses for good RP if the dice disagree with us?
I'm excited to be playing with you all, and I hope that this will be a great game! If I'm overstepping my role as a player with these or any other questions, please let me know.
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I don't mind answering any of these questions. The answers were bound to come out, and being sooner than later, well, yeah, I can't complain about that.
In terms of the implications of stats, I tend to view them as general guidelines, more than concrete definers. I have no particular problem with making allusions, as long as they're in keeping with the general 'feel' of the character: per example, a 7 Cha, no Diplomacy/Bluff PC shouldn't be relating tales of their savoir-faire and charming the pantaloons off of fair pirate maidens or the like. Common sense rules the day.
In terms of interaction flexibility and such, I'm pretty liberal. If there's an NPC, I don't see why they can't be interacted with/influenced through appropriate role-play and occasional rolls. There's no reason that Plugg or Scourge can't take a shine to the PCs, or Cap'n Harrigan for that matter. Could it make sweeping changes to the overarching storyline? Sure. Am I prepared for this? Yes. Though I wouldn't mind those links, if you've got them.
In terms of dice rolls and narrative, that's relatively simple. I prefer an assumptive type of posting, with the rolls at the end, so I can collate everything together when I do my DM posts. Thus, something like, "Sir Thomas the True swung his longsword in a glittering arc at the pugnacious hobgoblin, hoping to cleave it in twain" is what I'd like to see when a PC is attempting an action. I factor in the rolls vs the DC or the AC or whateverC is needed, and tell what happened after they tried to do something.
I'll state it out of hand, sometimes I can come off as a bit curt occasionally, but that's because I like to say what I'm thinking. Hopefully that won't be an issue for anyone, I'm just not a fan of blowing smoke. I don't fudge rolls, I don't put PCs in random encounters that have way too high a CR no matter what the dice say, and I try not to have anything wildly random and out-of-sorts happen in the game. I like things to be thematic, cinematic, and kinetic, and that seems to work for all the other PBPs that I've run (my longest one has been going on for seven years and running).
Dhugal reporting in. Thanks for the selection!
Jagray reporting in. As an aside to conserns about running multiple games. It's really not too bad. I'm actually running 3 concurrent RotRL APs (since April) on the boards here plus Thornkeep and PFS First Steps 1 and I'm about to start up a Shattered Star.
I just hope this game stays active. It seems like a LOT of the S&S games die quickly. Looking forward to some good times!
Just as an out-of-game aside to the captaincy thing, if Boldwin gets anywhere near the captain's seat, he's liable to get everybody here killed. He won't be going anywhere near it, but probably not for that reason.
I'll state it out of hand, sometimes I can come off as a bit curt occasionally, but that's because I like to say what I'm thinking. Hopefully that won't be an issue for anyone, I'm just not a fan of blowing smoke.
Now this I can totally respect. I prefer it. I actually am of like mind.
And thanks for the selection from me as well, blackaeon! I appreciate it.
And hello, all. I've seen a few of these names around but I know none of you, so, it should be interesting to see how it plays out.
...as well as the Undine, if only because they're so anti-stereotype. I don't even know what a Stereotype for Undines is, but it probably doesn't involve big weapons and yelling.
Yeah he is definitely a "wrong" build for this race to be sure. And like I told blackaeon in a pm, I'm a power gamer at heart and this easily does not fit the bill of a power gamer. Especially with Undine's taking a -2 to Str. BUT, I just found it "different", and I've learned over my time on these boards that "different" can be a lot of fun. I played a cloistered cleric in a pbp(actually finished the module) and he was easily top 5 in pc's I've had the most fun running. He surely wasn't beating anyone to death but he was a ton of fun.
And as per reading backgrounds of other pc's - the discussion y'all had in the recruit thread - I never read backgrounds barring it being absolutely necessary.
Mainly because said pc(doesn't matter which one it's been) doesn't know any of the others, so there's no reason for him to know your background. To me, it opens up massive roleplay opportunities to get to know the other characters in game. The mystery of it all I find intriguing as well.
But that's my meager 2 cents on that. Spread the change out amongst yourselves. :)
@Ambrose: I'm curious about your Craft skill. On your mythweavers site, you've got it checked, but I don't see a specific skill you've chosen. It's possible I could've easily missed it somewhere because that tends to happen to me a lot.
Javell, that's a quirk of the sheet. All class skills are automatically checked, even if there aren't any ranks in it, and it also fills in the stat bonuses. My +4 comes from my Int modifier, but I'm not trained in anything specifically. Since Craft skills are usable untrained, it's effectively a wildcard that counts for all Craft skills.
Alright, looks like everyone's here. I'd like to get started as soon as possible if that's savvy enough for everyone! It's going to be an interesting ride to say the least.
Though I must admit that, if I do a preview roll, I like to say what I do within reason. It's treated me well for as long as I can remember, and I'm not one to abuse rolls. Javell I'd still request you read my character's Alias at the least, as he does indeed have 1 solid hair trigger. As well as a strong dislike for carnivorous fish...
Also I sincerely hope everyone took atleast 1 rank in swim.
I'm ready whenever the GM is. It looks like the other group is still in the process of congregating.
In the meantime, is there any room in anybody's backgrounds for any preexisting relationships? Meeting for the first time at the start of an Adventure Path is all well and good with me, but I'm just putting it out there.
Unless you were on an enemy ship 20 years ago, Edgard isn't going to know hair or hide of any of you, though he is a regular at Port Peril, especially in this particular Inn. Edgard is just a pirate after his prime, really.
Jagray could have potential past realtionships. He's been on a few different ships, always on the hunt for that next treasure while spreading the word of Gozreh and generally carring for the ships crew. His most recent ship wrecked during a severe storm and he's been drinking away his worries and survivors guilt until recently where the urge to get back on the sea has started to creep in.
@Ambrose: Gotcha. Cool.
Yeah, no way Sh'torek would know anyone. But I could easily believe you(Boldwin) and Jagray might know each other. Because, you know, all dwarves know all dwarves. ;)
Come on, not all dwarves are drinking buddies. :)
It's an honest fact, if anything. Though I'm still slightly worried about Edgard's Martial prowess. +4 is nice and all against touch, but I'm gonna have trouble against the higher AC guys...
I think you'll be fine. +3/+4 to attack is more or less typical for a level 1 character, barring some serious optimization.
It's a lot better than Ambrose's -3. I'm expecting a tragicomedy of errors when it comes to the first couple of combats, at least for my part.
Why would we take a rank in Swim? We're sailors! Sailors don't know how to swim. Yay superstition!
Plus, within a certain range it's touch AC. That's always easier to hit than regular AC more often than not.
Unless your in an adventure where you're constantly attacking monks with high wisdom. Then it could get tricky. ;)
We shall cut a swathe of pain and destruction throughout every local shoreline! But we're avoiding the s$$~ out of the monastaries. Bastards are like snakes.
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More like lizards. They crawl into your house, climb up the inside of your legs, and bite you on your ass.
Maybe I don't know enough about lizards.
Anyhow, I plan on getting a post up later tonight to get things rolling, but before I do, I'd like to address how I'm going to handle life aboard ship. Each PC'll get (eventually) assigned to a position on the ship's crew, and since I don't feel like having to RP out exactly what the day's work will entail each day, I'm gonna get vignette-y on yer scurvy backsides. I'll make the requisite ability/skill checks for your characters and dictate what happened during the course of their duties. The portions that I will RP out with you (which will likely happen independent of one another, unless you end up on the same work detail for some reason) are the ship actions your characters will be able to make, which I'll enumerate below, basically reprinting from the book for the sake of expedience.
Each PC can take a daytime ship action and a nighttime ship action; I'll have you declare your ship actions in the discussion thread at the start of each game day. The daytime threads will be more vignette-y, as I mentioned, while the nighttime ones will be more communal in nature, and allow for more PC-to-PC interaction as well. I'm not just going to pigeonhole you into, say, gambling and not getting to talk to your fellow players.
I'm also handling the rum rations rule a bit different, as I think as they have them in the book are a little ridiculous and would result in a whole ship of alcoholics who dropped over dead after a month of sailing. A DC 10 Con save will be required to avoid the Con damage, and if the save is successful, both the 1d4 alchemical bonus to Cha and the fatigued for 1d8 hours status are halved, minimum 1 hour. The rum is still quite potent, though, so each successive save will have a +2 to the DC; playing a game of heave is still quite dangerous, and can result in death from intoxication in short order if the players are not careful.
Before we get started, is there anything else we need to hash out? Otherwise, there'll be a post up by tonight. And for the record, I tend to post every other day so I can pack a lot of detail into my posts, but there'll be more if I have the time to do so. That's a pretty firm statement. I'd rather move a little slower and keep a good pace than try and blow my wad early and run out of gas in the tank.
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Also, duhr, here's those ship actions. Went to the trouble to write them all out and didn't post them.
Daytime Ship Actions
Work Diligently: Gain a +4 bonus on any one check for a job’s daily task
Influence: Make normal checks for a job’s daily task and attempt to influence a single NPC
Sneak: Make normal checks for a job’s daily task and briefly explore one area of the ship (the PC can make a single Perception check or another skill check with no chance of detection
Shop: Take a -2 penalty on all checks for a job’s daily task and visit the quartermaster’s store
Shirk: Take a -2 penalty on all checks for a job’s daily task and take time exploring one area of the ship. The PC can take 10 on a single Perception check or another skill check, but must make a check to avoid
being discovered.
Nighttime Ship Actions
Sleep: Go to bed early and sleep through the night (automatically recovering from fatigue or stepping down from exhausted to fatigued)
Gamble: Play or gamble on a game of chance or pirate entertainment
Entertain: Make one Perform check to entertain the crew
Influence: Attempt to influence an NPC
Sneak: Take time exploring one area of the ship. The PC can take 20 on a single Perception or other skill check, but must make a check to keep from being discovered
Steal: Attempt to open a locked door or locker. The PC must make a check to avoid being discovered.
Up to two ship actions can be performed during the middle watch in the dead of night, but only for the following actions:
Influence: Attempt to influence an NPC
Sneak: Take time exploring one area of the ship. The PC can take 20 on a single Perception or other skill check, but must make a check to keep from being discovered
Steal: Attempt to open a locked door or locker. The PC must make a check to avoid being discovered.
Dead-of-night ship actions require a DC 10 Con check (+4 for each action performed) to keep from being fatigued in the morning.
Do we get to choose which ones we wish to do? Or are they rolled randomly? Because honestly, randomly seems odd. Mainly because I could never see Sh'torek "Entertaining" anyone. Unless, of course, the captain ordered him to just to mock him. Which I get that.
But the daytime activities strike me as something pc's would choose to do based on the character's persona. Of course, there's the occasional "whim" also that makes any of them possible. But I'd find it odd that, "On the 5th straight day, you are visiting the quartermaster's store again, with the same amount of money you had last time; which is nothing since you spent it 4 days ago." That would really turn into redundancy and quite lame/annoying/whatever.
Anyway, I'm just curious if it's a daily random roll or is it selective.
Are we forced to drink? Is there a point to drinking the rum besides getting drunk? I ask because I've got Sh'torek as not being a drinker. Yeah I know. Not only is he not a typical class for his race, he's also not a typical sailor either. Which makes him totally odd. And fun! Well, to me anyway. :)
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The daily and nightly ship actions are ones that PCs get to choose for themselves. Nobody's gonna make the barbarian get up and dance for them (though he might if he did end up getting drunk, I imagine) during the evening, and he probably can't carry a tune too well anyhow. If someone doesn't post their ship actions for a certain day, I'll assume they chose Work Diligently and Sleep as their choices as a default.
The actual jobs on the ship (pumping bilge, swabbing decks, running rigging) will be assigned to the PCs, and they may have varied jobs over the course of their tenure on the Wormwood, depending on what they prove to be the best at. These are NOT voluntary, and dereliction of duty on the ship can involve whippings or worse... unless you get away with not doing your job (Shirk).
The rum ration is expected to be had, and whippings can refuse to result from failure to drink it. It's used more for pacification of the crew at night-time than an actual reward. With that said, crowded ships can be easy to hide a quick pouring-out of a ration, as long as nobody is watching.
As an aside, since alcohol came up, the premise behind the beginning is that your character was carousing at an inn in Port Peril called the Formidably Maid. Whether your food or your drink was drugged, or you just got downright beaten to Hell outside the bar, or bagged in your sleep, the result is the same: your character was press-ganged into the crew of the Wormwood, and you'll be serving until... well, until you manage to get away from it. I'll have the initial post up a little later tonight (been doing some homework), so we can get cracking. Here's a link to the gameplay thread:
http://paizo.com/campaigns/SkullAndShacklesWavesOfSteelPBPGameThread/gamepl ay
Disclaimer: As always, the GM has full authority, and if he contradicts me then take that as the correct answer.
During the day, we are each assigned a duty based on a random dice roll. The three job categories (rigger, swab, cook), which we are assigned to by the ship's officers on the first day, each have a different list of potential duties. We each get one daytime action, chosen from the list above, which will likely be done in the vignette style the GM has mentioned.
In the evening, we have free time. We are forced to consume one rum ration during dinner, ostensibly to keep us pacified, though more are available if we desire. We each get one free nighttime action, and we can take another one at the risk of being fatigued/exhausted the next day. Like the daytime actions, nighttime actions are chosen from the above list.
EDIT: Ninja'd by the GM.
Since you asked, I do have some more questions. Some of them are in a PM I'll send in a moment. In the evening, are we relatively free to move about, or do normal operating areas such as the deck become off-limits? If we wanted to engage in combat practice, would we be able to so out in the open, or would we have to do it in secret?
On the combat practice note, I intend to progress Ambrose into Eldritch Knight. I could just take an arbitrary level in fighter without any narrative support, but that rubs me the wrong way. Does anybody think they may be interested in instructing Ambrose in the finer points of melee combat?
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I'm so ninja I can't see myself in a mirror.
You had the nail hit right on the head, although I'll state right now, I'm more liable to pick than I am make a random roll. I am not a fan of random rolls when I can choose instead. Should your PC prove great at pumping bilge, well, they might end up doing that a lot, etc. Unless the officers decide to change things up (for whatever reason), it doesn't seem reasonable they'd have people switching tasks willy-nilly to me.
Edit: Since you asked, the regular crew (swabs and riggers) are typically intended to be in their bunking area belowdecks after the Bloody Hour (punishment time) has taken place. Still, it's a big boat, which is why the Sneak option is available. As for combat practice, that'd also be confined belowdecks in the bunking area (again, it's a pretty big boat). Besides, some of the pirate crew might be pretty entertained by watching Ambrose learn how to use a sword!
On the combat practice note, I intend to progress Ambrose into Eldritch Knight. I could just take an arbitrary level in fighter without any narrative support, but that rubs me the wrong way. Does anybody think they may be interested in instructing Ambrose in the finer points of melee combat?
It's possible Sh'torek wouldn't mind. Initially he wouldn't due to not knowing you at all. But that doesn't mean that can't change obviously. It would depend on how well they get along. Sounds kinda interesting. And I'm with you on that opinion. I also hate multi-classing just for the sake of multi-classing. I also prefer to have an in game reason.
As per darkvision: I was thinking about that earlier. Usually it's just 1 pc with darkvision while the rest have none. That is definitely different.
I was about to state that it was slightly funny that my left eye couldn't see in the dark with the adjustment of the eye patch, but then I recalled that there's actually left eye there and it hasn't seen anything in 20 years. Haha! Let's get this show on the road.
Another question: it looks like three or four of us have skills pertaining to navigation. The dwarves, for example, have a trait that grants a bonus to Survival when using maps or charts. What skill/skills do you plan to use for naval navigation? Prof. (sailor), Survival and Kn. (Geography) all seem viable candidates, which makes it ambiguous.
Honestly all 3 of those can do it. Kn Geo is better for travel, survival is better for tracking, and prof sailor can do it just as well.
It's definitely going to be interesting to see what happens. A part of me is on the worried side. *chews nails*