Vicon and Friends -- KINGMAKER CAMPAIGN!

Game Master Vicon

This is the discussion thread.

I am hoping players will post the appropriate information in the player and character threads, I'd like to be clear on everyone that is playing and their character's motivations for taking up the charter to map the stolen lands before we begin!

Getting excited guys!

-Vicon

I have ninja dotted in and your roll20 link works! For convenience, would you keep the link to it either at the top of the page or in your tagline?

brilliant idea! doing so now!

here

Hello!

Just sent a PM for an invite to the Roll 20 thing.

let me know if you see the map, I added you!

So the party should all know each other from the beginning of the game, having arrived at Oleg's trading post by carriage carrying them and all their gear to the edge of civilization.

Each player should have a reason for receiving the charter (Ryker I believe has a feud with the bandits in the region as one of his motivators) but by the time you reach the outpost you should all know each other and already have a reason for taking the charter (or having it thrust upon you)

The initial top row of the map and the area around Oleg's trading post is already well known territory, so you will have to map beyond there. You gain 100 xp for every hex explored -- you also get a "survey bonus" of 5 minus the number of days it takes to explore a hex. so if you explore hexes in a single day, you get 4 days worth of NPC survey bonus. NPC survey bonus will be useful in chapter 2 for building structures faster than normal, representing surveyors recovering the ruins of previous attempts to settle and therefore saving time and materials. This is an incentive to work the area quickly.

There will also be bounties and warrants at Oleg's trading post to give you plot seeds for quests. you'll find adventure incidentally, or you'll go out looking for it specifically. :D

If anybody has any preferences for what kind of game they'd like to have (more diplomacy/intrigue, more hack and slash, etc) please share that with me at the start so I can attempt to give you players what you want.

There is plenty going on politically in Brevoy, but that doesn't mean you are party to any such knowledge (unless you decide to make checks for it) -- what is common knowledge is that Brevoy is presently politically unstable because the previous ruling family vanished not long ago without a trace and a new reagent (not accepted by all the lords) has been put in charge.

You also know the Greenbelt isn't the only region of hinderlands being explored with the intent to settle it -- small forces to modest armies left at about the same time you did for different areas and objectives. Knowledge checks might reveal more.

besides that I am open to questions here. Hope things go well. lets just keep communication high and make sure everyone is getting what they want. :D

Cheers!

DM Vicon

Hey guys! Dotting here.

EDIT: I can see the Roll20 map! Game's on. I'll have my story up before the weekend. Dommer is basically a dwarf soldier from the nearby mountains with close ties with the Garess family, and as a Paladin traveling to spread the Voice of Torag.

IMPORTANT!:

Everyone please state in discussion how familiar they already are with the adventure path. I want to know what I'm dealing with (and who!) as well as if I need to change some things up to keep things fresh.

EVERYONE respond to this, please!

I played part of the first book, together on the same group as Jovich. I had to leave the game earlier, though, so I'm not sure how far the group ended up going (I don't think too far after I left).

Jovich -- I PMed you about some concerns with your backstory -- am I to gather from your background that your character is the last true heir to the dragonscale throne? How did your character survive the vanishing -- and what kind of chaos might this fact impact the story?

Why isn't everyone in the region trying to kill him or make him king?

Did I misunderstand something?

I am completely unfamiliar with the adventure path. Tabula rasa beyond the player guide

I have played part way through the second book, BUT there was a player in that group who had played through book 4 so the GM made several big modifications to the AP. Frankly, I couldn't tell you what they were since it was my first time :) One thing the GM did tell us that was different was that his version of the first book was chock full of orcs instead of whatever the enemies really are. More than happy to go into specifics with you GM (from what I can recall) if you would like!

In PbP games, I like a good amount of RP, but not at the exclusion of combat. IMO, Pathfinder is about combat, and I love combat, but PbP is just so great for RP. I don't mind taking the time to RP with NPC's and each other for weeks before moving on to combat if we are all having a good time, but please don't take combats out of the game. As far as combat difficulty, I enjoy a challenging fight, but I think it should be fair (and not every fight should be a challenge, sometimes the group of level 5 adventurers stumble upon some kobolds!). Minimal punches pulled if it can be helped and if we do something poorly with our tactics there should absolutely be attempts at providing negative consequences for it. At the end of the day though, I am more than happy to just go with the flow and just have fun even if what I've said conflicts with other people's ideas.

Do you want us to RP through a short leg of our transportation to Oleg's? Sort of like a get to know you cutscene?

A get to know each other cutscene would be awesome -- as it would establish that everyone is friends and working together from the beginning.

I have completed the first book...three times? But it's been....a year or more since the last time so I'm pretty unfamiliar to an extent.

I'm good with plenty of intrigue. The more like Game of Thrones the happier I'll be (As far as lethality, intrigue, backstabbing, diplomacy, maybe not the incestious parts.)

I'm trying to decide if I should be using a pseudo-name till he would feel comfortable enough to claim his true name?

I mean Ilamin is fine but calling yourself Medvyed with little proof would likely only make things difficult and possibly invite trouble.

People WILL notice.

I have completed the first book...three times? But it's been....a year or more since the last time so I'm pretty unfamiliar to an extent.

I'm good with plenty of intrigue. The more like Game of Thrones the happier I'll be (As far as lethality, intrigue, backstabbing, diplomacy, maybe not the incestious parts.)

Can you tell me why you haven't proceeded to the other chapters?

Why play the first chapter 3 times and not play on?

Every single game, just died.

Two at table, one over Roll20.

The first game was due to differences in opinions on laws and two players undermining the King constantly. (He was made into a joke by those two players and their friend the GM. I agreed they changed the mood of the game and if they had wanted to be in control so much they should've mentioned it in the beginning.)

The second was because of loot. Two players wanted to get any loot that would specifically help their character regardless of cost (Not really a problem) but didn't wanna offer up any gold to help balance out the party wealth. (IE, they wanted all the cool things, plus their share of the money...and leave the other three players weaker and scrambling to catch up power wise.)

We kept trying to make it work, but in the end at the end of the book the GM told them, he would not continue the game because he didn't want to have to constantly try and adjust things to keep it interesting for the rest of the players while placating them.

The last was....idk, the GM just kinda poofed. I think we almost finished book 1 but I called it close enough, when the others considered finding a new GM I dipped out because posting rate was super slow and I build something I didn't really wanna play (I think it was 15 pt buy) purely because I really really wanted to play kingmaker.

I have been in at least four five six kingmaker games that died - maybe more - it's hard to keep track. Most of them died either before or after the first encounter, often with the GM just vanishing.

And I am in two that are currently running aside from this one. Both are at around the end of the first book, though one is going at a much faster pace than the other.

What can I say? I really like the kingdom building concept. I also plan to run it at some point for my home group after our RotRL game finishes and so I've been fishing for ideas from other GMs. I have the modules though I have only glanced at them for the most part, though I have seen enough that I am familiar enough with the general plot.

For this reason I'd actually prefer a game that changes up a lot of stuff, though I understand that this makes it more work for you and might not be feasible.

One of the games that died was going to replace the first world theme with a Cthulhu mythos theme. Another was an all-evil game which when they arrived at Oleg's had found that a previous "good" group had fought the bandits but had gotten killed and made things worse. A third was going to be a higher-power Gestalt game, and the character who was planned to be the ruler was a drow (not me though). Another was set in the Dark Sun universe.

Jovich -- I PMed you about some concerns with your backstory -- am I to gather from your background that your character is the last true heir to the dragonscale throne? How did your character survive the vanishing -- and what kind of chaos might this fact impact the story?

Why isn't everyone in the region trying to kill him or make him king?

Did I misunderstand something?

I admit I had wondered about this too, though according to his story, his mother was a Rogarvia but married into his father's family, the Courtenays. So technically he is not a Rogarvia. Though his father was gay and he has the "Bastard" trait, so he might not even be a Courtenay. Since Courtenay is a very un-Brevic name I am guessing the Courtenays are a noble family that moved to Brevoy from somewhere else, perhaps from Andoran or Galt. It's also possible that his mother was a bastard and not actually a Rogarvia.

He was believed to be dead, killed by assassins, though since the only ones who knew would be the conspirators themselves, this might not be common knowledge. But if word got out then people would no longer be looking for him. Since then he lives under an assumed name.

His evil uncle would have disappeared in the vanishing shortly after that, but since he is a Courtenay he might not not have, and if he didn't then possibly neither did his mother.

If he was known to be alive then surely there would be assassins hired by the Surtovas out looking for him. And since most people hated the Rogarvias, ordinary people would probably be happy to see him dead too if they knew who he was. But opportunistic nobles might see him as a useful wedge to try to mess things up for the Surtovas, so there might be bounty hunters looking to capture him so they could make him a new Puppet-King of Brevoy. But all that hinges on him being known to be alive.

If, after the vanishing, someone used something like divination to try to find an heir to the throne, he would have been identified. But perhaps they did not share this information, hanging on to it for a time when it would be valuable.

When everyone has introduced themselves in the gameplay section we can officially get this ball rolling.

dot

let me know if you see the map, I added you!

It still says "not authorized." Am I doing something wrong?

Okay, it's working now. :)

I have only played in a hand full of King Maker Games. All died out. Two did not even make it out the door after every one got a charter. Another one died because the a certain player was just outright a pest to everyone and started PVP situations at every turn. Only one made it past the first encounter. That one too fell to RL issues...

How frequently does everyone think they can post? I'd like to see one post daily (for the most part) from each player to keep things moving, but we should all be able to agree on a pace the game moves.

PVP will not be tolerated in this campaign. I'll drop the hammer on that viciously. This is a cooperative game.

Participating in this game is something I hope everyone will enjoy. If you're not having a good time, lets talk about how we can make it better.

If you're not serious about carrying this game forward AND taking it seriously, do us all a favor and back out now. I'm prepared to put forth a real effort and commitment if I get one in return. If certain people could care less, that will effect my investment in the game. Right now I can't wait to get going!

Kingmaker is a very "Rough" campaign. There are some reasons for it though.

1. It's political. Politics are impossible for everyone to be on the same page and we all gotta remember at the end of the day that it's a game and we gotta stand up and walk away. And also that you can't win everything (I know pathfinder typically teaches that you can...just sometimes in this campaign you got two to five sets of PC teams...so only one of them can win and you gotta be ok with that and not hold a grudge.)

2. It's a sandbox, and sandboxes require the players to be just as responsible for moving the game along as the GM. The players make a LOT of decisions in this game and will typically talk a lot about each decision.

3. It's cursed. Idk what to say other than I know about like one in twenty surviving for quite some time. And even those don't all make it to the end. (~shrugs~ I may be exaggerating a tiny bit in this one but I swear it feels this way and from what I've read around, it seems close to those numbers.)

On weekdays I can usually post once per day. On the weekends less often, probably once for the weekend.

dot

Wait, did you switch characters? I thought you were playing Christian.

I can consistently do at least one a day, but, like Azul, I can manage only once on the weekend. There will be times where I can do more, but I try to shoot for that. If it ever comes to less, I'll be sure to notify you all here!

EDIT: I'll second the above question.

I am all for one post every day (or aspire to that) and one post weekends. Not set in stone either, our group will find a good pace and try to stick with it.

I can manage the same pace to my knowledge.

Also, he changed his character to another because we were starting over at least that's what he said earlier I think.

That's a pretty normal posting rate for me.

I can manage the same pace to my knowledge.

Also, he changed his character to another because we were starting over at least that's what he said earlier I think.

I must have mixed them up, I thought Christian was the new character! My bad.

EDIT: FYI, I'll wait until everyone has made their initial post before responding to anything (unless the DM starts posting). Don't want to leave anyone behind!

I am up for as many post as I can get in a day. I am able to post at least one a day...

Vicon was coming on as a replacement Gm for a KM game that I was in. That was the original reason why I reached out to most of you. This was the 2nd Level game that we were going to continue on with. Vicon decided that he want to start over from the beginning with his own game. This was all fine and with no problems. I decided that since we were going to start over I would play Christian instead of Andreas.

After some posts and PMs with the GM it has come to light that my background was not going to work with the game. I have put a lot of time and energy into that background and decide that I would play a different character instead of changing the background that I work so hard on. That is were Andreas comes in again. Still the same direction just a different character with a background that the GM and I can work with.

There is no bad blood or hard feelings, it is a game and we are here to have fun.

I feel you, Ivory Songbird was supposed to run a single player Kingmaker campaign and I have a character that I have on the backburner that I likely will never touch except for if they become active again and agree to pick it up or someone else volunteers to try and run it solo.

After some posts and PMs with the GM it has come to light that my background was not going to work with the game.

Having a character related to the Rogarvias does pose problems for a Kingmaker game. If I was opening a Kingmaker recruitment I probably would only accept Christian if the campaign was an "evil" campaign. A Rogarvia would be a good angle for a character with some kind of connection to red dragons, like a Draconic Sorcerer or Bloodrager, or maybe a Dragon Disciple. He would need some justification for why he didn't disappear with the rest of the Rogarvia family though, and what happened to cause the Vanishing is supposed to be secret, so that would be tough to do without possibly breaking some plotlines later or revealing some GM information.

But I note that the current character also seems to have a Rogarvia connection. Is that correct, or is that going to change?

-----

I note that Andreas has a mount. Kingmaker is one of the most mount-friendly APs and so this is a good choice.

Were you aware that a mount or animal companion can have an archetype?

Since the Share Spells ability really does nothing for you (unless you plan to multiclass) I would suggest that you give your mount the Charger archetype, which is really made for Cavaliers. There are other archetypes too.

But I note that the current character also seems to have a Rogarvia connection. Is that correct, or is that going to change?

with a background that the GM and I can work with.

Already cooking novel stuff I hope will shake things up in the campaign. Bring your A-game because I'm going to throw some curve-balls at you!

Question... should I set up a discord for this game so people can chat more easily, or is that too much? I see other kingmaker campaigns doing it... it could be especially helpful with decision making at the settlement level.

Discord is fine but I will not be using it that often. It would be hard to get away at a set time (if we do that ) to log onto discord to talk. The kids barely allow me time to post as it is...LOL

Understood. We can do without for now. :D

Hope we can start cooking by the weekend!

If you're using it as a chat program and not as a voice program I think it works fine.

I'm using it for my Way of the Wicked campaign to help people know when someone has updated something or discussions or other such things on an easier to see basis.

If you're using it as a chat program and not as a voice program I think it works fine.

I agree

I would find the discord thing irritating as it makes two websites to check instead of just one. And I find it is difficult to use Discord to review old posts. It does not scroll well.

Im not familiar with discord at all. I've never used it, or even heard of it actually

That tears it, no discord.

Azul Aros wrote:

But I note that the current character also seems to have a Rogarvia connection. Is that correct, or is that going to change?

Sir Andreas der Eisfalke wrote:

with a background that the GM and I can work with.

Are you going to dial your guy back to 1st level?