ZEITGEIST (Inactive)

Game Master Whack-a-Rogue

Warehouse
Current Prestige: Flint 1 | Risur 2 | Unseen Court 1 | The Family 2


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Quote:

Steam and soot darken the skies above the city of Flint, and winds sweeping across its majestic harbor blow the choking products of industrial forges into the fey rainforests that dot its knife-toothed mountains.

Since the earliest ages when the people of Risur founded this city, they feared the capricious beings that hid in those fog-shrouded peaks, but now as the march of progress and the demands of national defense turn Flint into a garden for artifice and technology, the old faiths and rituals that kept the lurkers of the woods at bay are being abandoned.

The Unseen Court, the Great Hunt, and the many spirits of the land long ago conquered by Risur’s kings no longer receive tribute, but they cannot enter these new cities of steam and steel to demand their tithe. The impoverished workers who huddle in factory slums fear monsters of a different breed, shadowy children of this new urban labyrinth. Even their modern religions have no defenses against these fiends.

Times are turning. The skyseers (Risur’s folk prophets since their homeland’s birth) witness omens in the starry wheels of heaven, and they warn that a new age is nigh. But what they cannot foresee, hidden beyond the steam and soot of the night sky, is the face of this coming era, the spirit of the next age. The zeitgeist.

For those of you unfamiliar with the title, Zeitgeist is a 13-part Adventure Path that involves investigation, conspiracies, and philosophy in a steampunk world. The story is incredibly epic and broad in scope, and the actions of the PCs truly matter. You'll be faced with many difficult decisions, and seemingly minor choices may come back to help (or haunt) you much later. The campaign spans levels 1-20 and comes HIGHLY recommended.

Character Creation Rules: None yet. I'll be doing this recruitment in stages. PbP games have a tendency to die out early on, but if we get a good group together right from the start, the odds of success increase drastically.

To start things off, tell me about yourself. How long have you been playing Pathfinder? What do you like/dislike about the system? Are you experienced with the PbP format? If you are, but your game/s ended early, what happened? What kind of combat/social balance do you like? Do you have previous experience with the Zeitgeist AP? That sort of thing. Make me like you. :-)

That's all I'm looking for right now. If you have a character concept, feel free to share it, but I most definitely DO NOT want a character submission at this point. I haven't even told you creation guidelines yet. ;-) I will mention that combats here will be tougher than your typical PFS scenario, but they're also much less frequent. You'll want a character who's well-rounded. AM BARBARIAN is a poor choice for this AP, but so is "Derpy the INT 11 Wizard."

Homework: This AP doesn't take place on Golarion and makes several large changes to the game's base assumptions. Teleportation magic functions differently, for instance. Another example: you begin the campaign as a member of (essentially) the FBI. As such, you'll often have the option to call in backup or request various favors. Instead of typing up everything, I'm assigning you some light reading. ;-)

Players Guide
Required Reading: Pgs 1-17, 41-45, 51-52, 55
Also skim Pgs 29-34

About Me:
I'm a two-star PFS GM who also has extensive PbP experience on these boards. In addition to multiple high-powered solo games, I'm running a "Reign of Winter" campaign on these boards that's been going strong for over 2.5 years. I'm a sign language interpreter who primarily works in an educational setting, so my posting availability is limited, but I can generally get at least one GM post in per day. More on weekends, of course. If you ask any of my players, you'll see that I'm not the kind of guy who will vanish on you. In addition, I see my primary job as making sure everyone's having a good time. If something happens (in or out of game) that's negatively affecting that, let me know, and I'll do everything I can to help.

I like my games to include two things: interesting combats and meaningful character interactions. If your idea of roleplay is, "I go to the guy and roll Diplomacy. I got a 23," this isn't the game for you. On the other hand, if you like to write 15,000 words about what your character ate for breakfast this morning, this also isn't the game for you. I like roleplay, not dramatic theater.

I'm also a huge proponent of 3PP, and they will be included in this campaign. While quite a few products will be allowed for PCs, they'll also show up in the game. Spellbooks will occasionally contain spells from Deep Magic or other sources, and you may run into NPC Eliciters and Swordmasters.

If you want to know anything else about me, feel free to ask. :-) Also go ahead and check out some of my other games so you can see my GM style. The application process is a two-way street, after all, and it's your responsibility to make sure I'm the right fit for you.


Hi!

I'm definitely very interested with Zeitgeist, and by reading from your short presentation, you seem like an interesting GM to play with. I'm just downloaded the player's guide and will have a good read through it, but from what I've heard so far (focus on intrigue, less fights but more meaningful ones, steampunk setting), I can safely say that I'm thrilled about it already!

So here's me. I'm a 38 year-old roleplayer from Switzerland, proud husband and father, and dedicating most of my free time to roleplaying. I've been playing for about 25 years in many settings and game systems. I eventually came to D&D 3.0 when it came out, then 3.5E, for which I created my own campaign. I'm a huge fan of the Planescape setting, which I endeavored to bring to life in the 3.5E era. When Eberron came out, I also very much enjoyed that steampunk setting, but I chose to remain a player in that one. I joined the Pathfinder train since beta, first as a player, then resuming my mantle as a GM. I've successfully GMed two full APs (RotRL and CoT) for my face-to-face groups, but the more I GMed, the more I wanted to play too. I joined PFS for that purpose, then ended up GMing in the organized campaign too. I'm a 3-star GM now (very close to 4), GMing and playing in PbP for three years now, with a very consistant rate of posting overall. I mainly play in PFS scenarios, and select my APs with a keen eye. My philosophy is that games need to be kept alive by consistant posting, especially from the GM, but also from the players. By following that simple rule I've nearly always managed to avoid games that would end early.

I like player caster types, with Oracle clearly being my favorite class of the Pathfinder system. I'm not sure I'd like to play one in Zeitgeist (if you'll have me), that choice will of course be based on how the Player's Guide "speaks" to me. While I've never had the chance to play with 3pp, I'd love to try any material you could suggest.

Pathfinder is a system I really like, despite its tendency to grow "heavier" as you reach the high levels. My sweet spot are levels 5-12, but all level ranges have their own specific charms. Lately I've been thinking that too many rules came out for that system, but my conclusion is that you only take what you need and leave out all the rest. I haven't paid much attention to Occult adventures or Horror adventures for that reason, for example.

What's more, something really bothers me in the way the APs are written: the XP system, its connection to killing monsters, and the fact you need X or Y encounters before you level. As a GM, I tend to remove all the fights that are useless to the story, or that don't bring anything to the pace/rhythm of the campaign. I also tend to have my players level at certain points of the story instead of calculating XP. I'm a huge fan of social scenarios (in PFS as well as in APs), and I regret there aren't more of them available. Of course fights can be interesting, but I'm not interested in playing a long string of meaningless ones.

Side note: my favorite PFS scenarios include The Disappeared, The Blakros Matrimony, Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment, The Night March of Kalkamedes, Library of the Lion, and one of the latest additions, Abducted in Aether. My favorite AP instalment is The Sixfold Trial by Richard Pett, from the Council of Thieves AP.

While I quite like Golarion as a whole, it never managed to convince me fully. Of course I love some specific areas (Varisia, Cheliax, the Worldwound, only to name a few), but the setting as a whole isn't the one I'm looking for. Hence, I'd love to try a different setting, especially playing in one I don't know everything about and can discover as I play. I don't know the Zeitgeist setting at all, but I'm looking forward to discovering it!


Oracles make a great fit for this AP. As you peruse the Player's Guide, look for the Skyseer theme. I believe it'll pique your interest. :-)

I share your thoughts regarding the sheer number of extra rules. It's actually what made me leave PFS. I tend to ignore quite a bit of them - particularly certain rather-controversial errata. The Disappeared and Knight March of Kalkamedes are two of my favorite scenarios, by the way. I'm also VERY partial to Black Waters.

The nice thing about Zeitgeist is that it assumes story-based leveling by default. This is partially due to the openness of the campaign. Book Two is an investigative sandbox, for example, and it's very possible to skip large portions of it if you play smart and figure out the mystery quickly.


Dotting for interest! I'm going to get reading on this as soon as I can. I have the player's guide downloaded, just got to get reading on it.

Liberty's Edge

Dotting, very very interested, will get back to you when I have some more free time.


Oh man! I think this is just the game to scratch the itch I've been having since starting to work a desk job! I love steam punk and I love heavily literate but not overly wordy role-play. After all, what you say is ultimately more important than what you rolled. That number just represents how well your character delivered the line.

I've been playing Pathfinder since high school--around 2009 is when I played my first Pathfinder game. I started on tabletop games about 15 years ago which is only a long time ago if you consider that I'm 24 years old. I've been playing consistently since then at the table and off and on roleplaying in PbPs. I started with 3e D&D but I've played every edition at least once, I've played also M&M, Vampire: The Masquerade (and Scion), Fate, Traveler, Star Wars RPG, and several others. I've even made a couple of my own!

Pathfinder certainly has its ups and downs. For what it does, though, it's the best around. If you're looking for a gamist focused table-top with plenty of room to develop creativity with an albeit narrow scope of setting, then Pathfinder is the best in the biz. My primary gripes with Pathfinder are its incredible rigidness and seemingly arbitrary requirements (I mean, really? You can't think of a single instance in which an assassin might be good or a barbarian might be lawful? Sorry, alignment restrictions grind my gears.)

I've been roleplaying online off and on for years. Some end to drama, some end to someone having real life trouble that takes them away from the game for an extended period, and many end because of college. Just... college. I'm actually between undergrad and grad now (will be for roughly a year) and I work at a desk. I'll just be pressing that F5 button waiting for an excuse to type up a tale.

As far as my preferred combat/social balance--I hate to be cliche but it's all about the balance. More social than a typical door-kicking D&D game but less social than, say, Vampire: The Masquerade. I love getting to express my character's personality through dialogue and body language but it can be just as important to express my character through action and stress.

As a side note; I'm a huge fan of puzzles as well. For instance, traps that require a clever mind and ingenuity when looking at a scenario interests me many times more than "Roll a reflex save. Take 10 damage."

I also have zero experience with the AP but I've already skimmed the introductory pages of the Player's Guide and I like what I see. As I said, I love steampunk and the world interests me. I'm also super board of the normal strict rules I have to follow in a standard Pathfinder game. I'm ready to try on some new boots.

I look forward to getting to know some others like me! If you ever want to talk or ask me any questions, I'm your man. Trust me. You won't bother me.


I'm hooked! I couldn't stop reading through the guide, and while I haven't finished yet, I can officially state my interest in Zeitgeist! The Skyseer sounds indeed very appealing, but so do Martial Scientist and Eschatologist. I'll need to think things over and see what concept I can come up with.

Investigative sandbox? A mystery to solve? Color me deeply interested!

Black Waters:
I liked Black Waters, it's one of the gems from season 0, especially with the final twist. Have you played its sequel, School of Spirits? I for one loved to return to that very special haunted school.


I first learned about RPGs via the original Traveler books. The character creation system is REALLY fun (and risky). I also enjoy Dungeon World on occasion and sometimes borrow elements from it when my players go heavily off the rails. Although I'm not particularly familiar with the system, I do use something similar to Lair Actions from 5E when I'm forced to run a fight with a single BBEG.

I like the alignment system, but I'm not super strict about it. The alignment axes are very much open to interpretation, after all. As long as you aren't Lawful Uptight, Chaotic Stupid, or Neutral Apathetic, I'm pretty relaxed. Due to the nature of the Zeitgeist AP, there'll be some restrictions, but they should be self-explanatory once you review the Player's Guide. I also have no problem with Evil PCs or mixed-alignment parties as long as it's well-played.

Like you, I enjoy puzzles. Clever traps, in particular, are fascinating to me. Fair warning: I own all the Grimtooth books. ;-) I don't require elaborate puzzle-solving skills as not everyone enjoys (or is good at) that sort of thing, but there'll generally be hints in the flavor text. "I roll Disable Device" is always an option, but "I use some sovereign glue and that broken floor tile you mentioned to block that nasty wall-mounted crossbow from firing" will have similar results and MAY negate the need for the roll. Creativity should be rewarded, after all. ;-)

EDIT: Lithrac: I dropped out of PFS partway through Season Four but have heard good things about that scenario. I'll have to check it out someday. Regarding the Zeitgeist themes, if I was a player, I'd likely be a Martial Scientist. I LOVE combat theory a la Equilibrium's gunkatas, Dreadfox Games' Swordmaster class, and Interjection Games' Assassin, and that's the flavor I get from that theme. :-)


I'm a 21 year old student from Denmark, and while I've played 3.5e and pathfinder since I was 12, I'm really new to pbp - I got into my first game as a player on the 24. of August. The group of friends I used to play with have all just recently become a tad too busy to keep up our customary weekly RP session going, so me doing pbp is kind of an experiment in trying to scratch that itch. So far, I've gotten into two games, one of which sadly seemed to have died before it got going, and I really like it. That said I've had a little difficulty finding the character's voice, but I expect that'll clear up soon. RPing via text is a little different than I'm used to, you can get much more detailed and intricate, but it's very easy to 'float' out of a scene, or end up having your dialogue get stilted. It's a fun challenge.
Aside from needing a mode of play that can bypass the need for working out a weekly or biweekly scheduling, the immersion of pbp is what drew me to it, and that's what I hope to pursue, kind of. It's a bit of a step away from what I'm used to; my group has always emphasized combat and plot advancement over character development. It's not that it wasn't there, but it'd end up in jokes as often as not, you know? Stretching those muscles would be good.

I customarily optimise my characters, although I've found that I'm more prone to creating characters based around a theme when creating a character for a pbp game. As such, the magus I'm playing ended up being focused on force magic, while the kineticist I'm hoping to be able to play in a Strange Aeons game will have some thematic interaction between her fear and sanity, and how her powers are used. I hope.

I like a bit of 3pp, although my group used to be against it, so I haven't gotten to use it much. I was going to play a Stalker in that game that died, and I'm pretty sad not to get to play him. Kravar was a cool dude.

I guess that's about it. I'm finding that roughly 1 update per day is ideal for me, and I have trouble consistently posting more than that.

I love the idea of a steampunk campaign. I think I'll be playing a crossbow user of some sort.


That's one of the things I adored about Traveler. While a game like Pathfinder really opens up a world for you to be almost whatever you want and allows you to burst with creativity, Traveler redirected that creativity. It gave you a list of facts about a person and asked you to make them real. The character creation system was certainly a way to get inspired about a character.

I don't inherently have an issue with the alignment system as a whole. I'm a bit of a philosophy junky (law will do that) so I love blurring the lines between the 9 alignments. They still certainly play a base role in who your character though. The main gripe I have is when it's used to add flavor to certain character options but they just end up stifling creativity instead like with the evil assassin requirement (uhh, Ezio would like to have a word with you).

As for how you deal with creativity and skill rolls; I couldn't have said it better myself. That makes for a good roleplay experience. Not just a mediocre roll-play experience. :P


This sounds interesting. I've heard a few things about Zeitgeist, and it sounds very promising.

I've played Pathfinder since it fully came out. I was at GenCon for season 0 of PFS. A few years ago I moved overseas, and that's when I really got into PBP on the Paizo boards. I'm back now and still playing my share of PBP. I really like it for the time it allows you to develop your role-playing. For instance, I was playing a swamp ranger in one game and I could look up plants that would live in a swamp and sprinkle it through his posts.

As a ruleset, I both enjoy Pathfinder and find it starting to buckle under its own weight. I really enjoyed what it brought to 3.5 and some of the ideas in Unchained and other books have really revitalized the conventional thinking. That said, there are now too many choices: too many feats, too many spells, too many random options to keep track of them all. I enjoy new ways to use previous skills and options rather than simply more of them.

I typically enjoy playing balanced, generalist characters. Inquisitor is probably my favorite class, though I would love to try a magus out long term too. I like to tailor my characters to the setting, and most recently I've been interested in urban skill-types (Investigator, Slayer or Rogue). I also typically lean on archetypes and try to play up their different abilities.


Also, I'm perusing the Player's Guide and I already have a favorite theme that fits exactly my favorite type of character to have in steampunk games but I won't expand too much on that yet. I really need to get in on this.

On to the setting...


@Scaffold Kane: As a philosophy junkie, you should enjoy this AP. The age-old debate of Deific Control vs Free Will is a major theme. There's also a great deal of "shades of gray," and it's very likely that the PCs alliances will shift at least once.
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@Burnscar: Character development and interparty roleplay is great. One of my favorite moments in my long-running Reign of Winter campaign happened due to a random "Santa gives the PCs Christmas presents" scene I created (I like to give out minor boons on occasion). The party turned that into a month-long RP session that spawned some serious backstory delving and at least one relationship.

Themed characters are a lot of fun, as well. That's how I tend to create PCs when I'm a player: find a cool schtick and build off that.
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@Enchanter Tim: I've been known to have my Bards sing modified Earth songs on occasion. ;-) The slower pace of PbPs really draws out my creativity. Intelligent urban characters fit extremely well in this AP, by the way.


I was one of the people to mention interest in Zeitgeist in the AP Applications thread (actually I was the person to ask if anyone was interested in running it when I noticed it was now complete back in July).

I began the application process for your Way of the Wicked campaign but lost motivation for my character during the process and never finished my application, but I do have my post for the beginning of that application.

Way of the Wicked About Me Post:

Hi!

I have been playing Pathfinder since 2012, but have been roleplaying for most of my life, though I have spent most of my time as a player and very little time behind the GM screen. Most of my experience with Pathfinder is limited to short lived games in real life before having to get together every week started wearing on people and what I have played here on the boards and a bit over on myth weavers. Therefore I have spent a lot of time building and theorycrafting characters, so I'd like to say my system mastery is somewhat high compared to my level of play. Despite that I usually make my characters more for flavour than combat effectiveness. Of the games I have been in most are ongoing, a few have dropped from the GM disappearing and once I myself had a few huge life alterting changes in a very short period of time that took me away from the internet for a while, which lost my place in one game, which still ended shortly after when the GM disappeared. Outside of Pathfinder I have experience with D&D, World of Darkness, Iron Kingdoms, and a bit of Shadowrun. I also happen to partake of almost every other geeky hobby under the sun: video games, board games, fantasy novels, miniature wargames, Magic the Gathering, etc.

I've played a single session of WotW in real life, but I love the idea of the campaign, most certainly from a Lawful Evil perspective, which is one of my favorite alignments in the game. That single session involved a lot of fire and explosions my GM did not expect, but it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately the GM decided he didn't like running pre-written adventures.

I have always been more on the roleplaying side of the roleplay vs. combat spectrum, but I still love a good combat, I just like it if there is opportunities to get creative in said combat. I do find it tedious when as you said players post 15,000 words before anyone else gets a chance to reply. I understand that you can do more in a post in PbP than when you have the spotlight in real life, but I still find if someone writes too much it starts to alienate the other players from a chance to react to what your character does.

I don't have a specific character concept yet, but I do prefer the tragic fall and descent over the psychotic.

I'll add that I have no experience with Zeitgeist outside of reading the Player's Guide and vaguely following the release of each adventure. I have always had a great amount of interest in it and I would love a chance to play it. I love the fact that it sounds like it creates a true story.

I'd also like to second Burnscar's love of character development and interparty roleplay. It is one of the things that has been lacking in almost every game I've played and it is some of the most fun I've had RPing when it does happen.

I'm a grad student now, so I am enjoying the chance to PbP even more as it is easy to post while sitting in my office on my laptop doing research.


Hi. I'll have a look at the players guide and get back to you later today with more details. I've been looking to play a gothic steampunk type of game and this might fit the bill. Im still a huge noob as far as play-by-post go and have been playing on a campaign for about a week. Anyhoo I'll check this thread out and the phb and get back to you in a couple hours.

Thanks!


Ahh, Equilibrium. That was a very inspirational film! My interest for the martial scientist theme also comes from the completely anti-cliché trope of playing an intelligent fighter (sort of like Roy in Order of the Stick, if you know that online comic), far from the all-too-common dumb brute we're used to see at gaming tables. I also loved the idea of someone able to learn from his fights in a more direct manner.

Besides, one more thing I like about Zeitgeist is that these themes are relatively unrelated to classes. Hence even if the martial artist theme strongly leans towards the fighter class, it is by no means required.

As far as the Pathfinder system is concerned, are you using house rules? Do you make use of Pathfinder Unchained, for example? I found myself really interested in a few of them, including Background Skills. I also appreciated Paizo's attempts to remove the need from the "big six" magical items, but I haven't found a variant I'd loved so far. The reliance on these six types of items is also one of the constraints I've grown to dislike in Pathfinder, since in my opinion magic items should all do something special, and not be "just another +1" in a string of added bonuses. For me, a magic item compendium should feel like a toy shop at Christmas!


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@ThePaleKing: Ah, yes. I remember you. Your character art was really nice and could actually be reused for a Zeitgeist campaign. :-)

@Lithrac: I'm very familiar with OotS. That and Goblins are two of my favorite webcomics. In case you haven't read that far yet, each Theme has a three-level PrC associated with it - if you're so inclined. The Martial Scientist's is pretty cool.

I do have a few houserules in my games and will put them up once we reach the "crunch" aspect of character creation. I've chosen to ignore most of Pathfinder Unchained but do use something akin to Background Skills. Also, while the "big six" is still a thing, crafting is allowed, and I'm flexible regarding customizing or reslotting items. If you want a vest of resistance or a headband of physical prowess, it can be arranged. Also, due to my vast library of 3pp, there'll be plenty of cool magic items to be found. ;-)


I'm not applying because I recently got into another Zeitgeist campaign, but as someone who's currently playing with YBD in other games, I can say that he's a great GM and you're probably going to have a lot of fun here. ^^/ Best of luck to everyone!


I live for moral ambiguity! I've also actually had lengthy debates on libertarian free will, determinism, and compatibalism. I think you just made any potential character of mine a philosopher to some degree. :P


Very interested in this....there's been a few Zeitgeist recruitments that have passed me by due to RL, hope to submit for this one tho.

Me:

I'm Al, a 45 year old father of 3 girls. I work in IT. been playing RPGS since 5th grade...Wow that's a long time ago. Cut my teeth on original Gamma world and AD&D 1st edition.

Grew up and had a haitus on face to face gaming , but got my fix from CRPGs .

Found the paizo PBP forum about 4 years ago and haven't looked back :)


Thanks, Red. XD


Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:

@Burnscar: Character development and interparty roleplay is great. One of my favorite moments in my long-running Reign of Winter campaign happened due to a random "Santa gives the PCs Christmas presents" scene I created (I like to give out minor boons on occasion). The party turned that into a month-long RP session that spawned some serious backstory delving and at least one relationship.

Themed characters are a lot of fun, as well. That's how I tend to create PCs when I'm a player: find a cool schtick and build off that.

Glad to hear it, it sounds like a good time. That way you could have the items mean a little bit more than 'that one +3 frost sword we took from the dragon', as well. That's about the only thing I dislike about the 'christmas tree' system pathfinder has, the items end up not carrying much meaning to the characters.


Yes, I still haven't used that character art for another character either and it would be so perfect for Zeitgeist. Thanks for the reminder!


Downloaded players guide and am in the process of reading.

To start things off, tell me about yourself?:

Hi YBD. I am a little older than most and have been gaming since 1980, back when RPG’s were not cool. I was forced to take a break from rpg’s from 1993-2005 when I moved to another state and had no one to play with. During that time I got married, graduated collage, dropped out of law school and got busy making kids (2 to be exact). Over the years I’ve played Shadow Run, GURPS, Traveler, Villains and Vigilantes, Champions, Marvel Super Heroes, D&D (basic, advanced1&2, &5), and Rune Quest to name a few.

I love to read and eat. Indian is my favorite food and I am a bit of a pizza snob preferring New York style over Chicago.

I have a job and will not be able to post from work, but I can commit to posting twice a day (early mornings and evenings.) Also, I am on Eastern Time.


How long have you been playing Pathfinder?:

I’ve been playing pathfinder for close to 4 years with the same core group of 4 people. Although, we have expanded to include our kids (some have left for college) as well as people my friends have met during PFS play, swelling up to 8 people at times. We primarily play home brew but we have completed the Shattered Star AP and are currently working our way through the Giant Slayer AP. To my dismay we don’t use much 3pp.
I don’t play much PFS as I usually have family commitments on Saturday Mornings. I enjoy making characters and backgrounds that tie into settings just as much as I like playing.

What do you like/dislike about the system?:

Likes
There is a lot to like about the d20 system but specifically I think the OGL has greatly benefited pathfinder. I like the options and 3pp compatibility. I think it is a good system for pbp and your can have fun playing just core or everything goes.

Dislikes
Stacking bonuses that are exploited by munchkins.


Are you experienced with the PbP format?:
I’ve only been doing PbP for 4 months or so but I was lurking a lot longer. I wasn’t sure if it was for me so I took my time getting into it. I really like it as it allows me to have a richer experience. I also enjoy building characters and backgrounds even if I don’t get selected in a process.

If you are, but your game/s ended early, what happened?
I’m in several pbp and I’ve been in one game that has ended early because the GM’s life got a little to hectic and he needed to take a break. I’ve found that smaller groups seem to work better (and move along faster). I am pretty particular in what games I apply for and I’ve noticed that GMs that require more in the application process seem to have better & longer lasting games.


What kind of combat/social balance do you like?:

I don’t really have a preference, although I don’t think I would enjoy a game that was 100% either way. For me it is all about what makes sense with the setting and group make up. For example, when my son was learning we had to up the combats and scale back the social aspects. That being said, a dungeon crawl would not be my first choice.

Do you have previous experience with the Zeitgeist AP?:
Nope first I’ve heard of it, reminds me of Eberron.


Hi!

So, strangely I've been looking around at a gothic steampunk as a setting for some RPG stuff and this looks pretty cool.

So lets see.

Oh right, about me.
Um, I started playing my first Pbp this past week, so I'm still pretty new about how it works and what I can and can't do but I'm getting there and it's pretty fun and I'm enjoying it so far.

I've never heard of the Zeitgeist setting but from what I can tell on this thread alone that it's pretty popular.

Lets see, I'm a big Pathfinder fan and have been playing it with my group for about 5 years now I think, maybe more. Sometimes twice a week but at least once a week. (The other night we rotate gaming systems and campaign settings.

I'm part of a group that have a youtube channel where we've been playing RPG's.

I know some people get super serious but I'm here to have fun and to make sure whoever plays with me are also having fun and entertained. And I always defer to what the DM allows me to do over the rules and of course what makes for a more exciting game.

As for problems at the table, I have too many character ideas and not enough games to fit them all into.

I enjoy combat in games and the roleplaying stuff. I like playing characters that are unpredicable and do off the wall stuff. (Psst, I once took down a Necromancer off a tower using a fishing rod.)

So um, yeah. That's me I guess. I'd like to try this setting and look forward to hearing what happens next. Best of luck to everyone.


Yes, the Polyhistor looks amazing! Perhaps it could even lead me to play another class than oracle. Crazy, huh? ;)

My other considered choice so far would be a time oracle, either skyseer or eschatologist, since both themes would fit perfectly.

You spoke about 3pp, but I'm unfamiliar with most of them. You piqued my curiosity with that topic, since it's something I've always disregarded so far (except for adventures), mostly because I didn't know anything about it. Is there anything in particular you could suggest starting with?


Oh and if I'm selected I'm considering a Spirit Medium with the intent to become an Urban Empath. Or otherwise possibly play a Gunsmith or Technologist. But the Urban Empath would be my first choice cos it's pretty rad!


Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
To start things off, tell me about yourself.

I'm a 28 guy (single and with no child), that started playing 2e d&d in 2001. Not sure what else are you interested in.

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
How long have you been playing Pathfinder?

Since 2010.

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
What do you like/dislike about the system?

-I like the amount of choices for character creation. Having playing 2e just before PF, It's a fresh air to not having all the rogues/fighter/wizards to be the same.

- I have come to dislike some of the imbalances of the game, bows vs crossbow/slings, to name one. A particular one that annoys me is fighter , my otherwise favorite class, having so little skill points. For this reason I have developed some taste for not-optimized games where even the weak options can shine. But I also like to make solid builds for games like this where combat can be harder than normal.

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
Are you experienced with the PbP format?

Yes, quite a lot. At the time, here In pauzo forum I'm Dming two campaigns and playing in another two. The older one have two years, but I'm playing pbp with that group of players since 2012.

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
If you are, but your game/s ended early, what happened? What kind of combat/social balance do you like?

I've been is several games, not everyone have been successful. generally is the GM disappearance or uninterest that ends the game. through I personally have suffered from players quitting.

I've also withdraw Gming for a couple of games due to a sudden lack of time, but playing is much less time consuming and generally speaking I'm very loyal player (for example I, and Spazmodeous above, have been in a game where the GM had to pause the game several time due to real life problems and the whole group wait for him months and months each time always eager to keep playing)

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
What kind of combat/social balance do you like?

Everygame have their own mechanics. Combat heavy or social heavy, both are fine for me.

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
Do you have previous experience with the Zeitgeist AP?

I've been intrigued in the Ap since Endzeitgeist first review, but I've never tried to apply for a game.


Well, is delightfully unexpected.

I've been playing Pathfinder for about two and a half years now; it's an excellent system for generalist fantasy but I find it really starts to lag behind other systems if you try to make things too 'high-powered' or 'cinematic'. As a former wargamer, I also appreciate that they keep adding in new ways to combine various combat tactics into something that's more than a waste of time. Seguing from that, I usually play martial characters; my IRL-gaming group all prefer not to play them and I don't mind, so that's my comfort zone.

I've been playing in PbPs for a little over six months now; picked them up during an extended hiatus of my real-life gaming group. So far I've only had one game end early; about a month into the campaign the DM up and vanished and we never heard from him again.

I prefer a larger emphasis on social situations, though this runs into more than a few problems. Unfortunately, more than a few DMs I've seen treat RP as a 'spin your wheels until I find an opening to point you in the right direction'; I don't think I've ever once been able to resolve a situation in a PbP just by talking it out. Emphasizing social situations also puts a spotlight on the party's writing skills and, if everyone is talking at once, makes the game flow like gravel.

I've heard of Zeitgeist before and read the Player's Guide, but nothing more than that. The Martial Scientist is everything I want in a fighter and then some.


This evening's become rather busier than most, so I don't have time for lengthy responses to everyone who's checked in since I last posted. For now, here's a couple bullet points. ;-)

- Endzeitgeist is awesome, and his reviews are what led me to the Zeitgeist AP.
- Gaming channels on Youtube are cool.
- When PCs spin their wheels for too long, I move the scene forward. Assigning a "party leader/final-decision-maker" is often helpful, as well.
- I'll post my massive library of allowed 3pp when I put up the character creation rules but have mentioned a few sources in previous posts. Spheres of Power is the big one, though. Also, I've heard good things about the Tinker, Gadgeteer, and Machinesmith but don't currently own them. If somebody's interested in playing one and can get me access to the source, I'll consider it.
- I remember Spazmodeus from my "Way of the Wicked" recruitment and think he'll be happy to know that I now own Path of Shadows.


Ha! nice to be remembered :)

Realized I didn't answer all of your questions ...

answers:

How long have you been playing Pathfinder?
I bought the core rule book the month is came out, but didn't have any RL friends or time to play face to face. Found the boards here a few years after and 7000+ posts later....

What do you like/dislike about the system?
I always liked 3ed and hated 4e D&D, so I found Pathfinder a nice extension of the 3ed philosophy. Carried over some of the same issues of course, as option bloat is beginning to rear it's ugly head.

Are you experienced with the PbP format?
7000+ posts worth! :)

If you are, but your game/s ended early, what happened?
If you take a look at my campaigns tab you'll see a nice long list of inactive campaigns. There's been only a handful of campaigns that I personnally removed myself. Either I lost complete interest in the character or found the pace or atmosphere of the campaign to be counter to my interests. So i politely excused myself. The majority of the inactive campaigns is due to GMs disappearing or closing it down due to real life issues.

What kind of combat/social balance do you like?
I find equal enjoyment from a nice exciting combat sequence as from a thrilling RP moment. My philosphy has always been to reward full xp for convincing the ogre guard to let the party through as for actally killing it. I hate GMs that rail road the party into killing everything, as well as players who think the same way.

To me combat is just as valid an excuse for RP as that conversation with the barkeep to find out information about the Lost Castle of Tarminad. I always strive to provide something for the GM to do with my posts. I don't always succeed, but I've read and re-read Painlord's guides and so always try to progress the game.

Do you have previous experience with the Zeitgeist AP?
Only in reading the players guide and managing to apply for one.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16

Definitely tossing my hat in on this. Busy day at work right now but I'll read through and have questions/ideas a bit later on.


I must admit, I'm tempted to try a Machinesmith with the Technologist theme...

Questions and Answers:

To start things off, tell me about yourself?
Well, I'm Jon. I'm a father of four kids. I have a degree in Archaeological Sciences, and work as a Night Receptionist right now (yay, economy) so I tend to be on most nights. I have a twisted sense of humour, and enjoy a little madness in my characters.

How long have you been playing Pathfinder?
Quite a while. Six years or so? Let me put it this way - my old copy of the Core Rule Book, before it dissolved from overuse, was a first edition.

Beyond that, I played some of the older versions of D&D, Call of Cthlhu, Dark Heresy, the Serenity Roleplaying game...etc, etc.

Are you experienced with the PbP format?
On here? Almost 6000 posts so far. I've been doing Play By Post games far, far longer...19 odd years I would think? I was 13 when I started. I met my wife via a PbP many moons ago. I run two games on here, one of which has been going for nearly 3000 posts now and has had the same six players for the last two years, so I'm likely doing something right...

If you are, but your game/s ended early, what happened?
GM vanishing or players dropping. I tend to post a lot. I don't tend to get bored or wander off. With, I think, two exceptions a game closed because others stopped posting. One of those exceptions was a solo game where I didn't enjoy the player's character too much, and the other was because the game was a dungeon crawl that I found a bit dull.

What kind of combat/social balance do you like?
I prefer a little more social interaction to combat. I like combat to be a spice, something to move the story along. It takes time for combat to go in PbP games, and so can get a little dull, especially the Level 1 Orc Warrior style encounters just put in to extend a dungeon a little.

Do you have previous experience with the Zeitgeist AP?
Yes, I should point out I do know a bit about this campaign, as I'm the guy running the game for Rednal. Eheh. If that's an issue, then do say so, and out I go.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16

And here's my Q&A:

Background:

To start things off, tell me about yourself?
I'm 42, a husband and dad. Work in Tech Support, getting back into writing after way too long. I have a degree in Communications with an International focus and love RP

How long have you been playing Pathfinder?
I was part of the original alpha playtest before there officially was a Pathfinder RPG.

Are you experienced with the PbP format?
Very much so. Aside from the ROW game, I'm in one of the longest running games on the board (started on Mar 27, 2008)
and also in one of the most prolific (46,251 posts in the gameplay thread in 3 1/2 years) so attrition's definitely not a concern with me.

If you are, but your game/s ended early, what happened?
At this point I usually only go for games by a GM with a good record or a couple players I've played with before to increase the chance of longevity. The ones that dies were about even mix of player attrition, GM abandonment (though I'm in two games that just up and found new GM's), or a failed experiment.

What kind of combat/social balance do you like?
With good pacing and a good GM both can be equally awesome. A picthed battlescene or grueling waves of combat can be just as enjoyable as 5 pages of straight character interaction if everyone's into RP.

Do you have previous experience with the Zeitgeist AP?
Nope but it looks o be pretty awesome from checking out the Player's Guide.

Oh one other thing of note, I tend to create characters that are thematic to the setting/scenario and fulfill a specific role.

Liberty's Edge

Hello, I'm 23, a Computer Engineering student from Italy and RPG aficionado. I have not yet played a Pathfinder campaign, and neither I have played any PbP, but I game-mastered a short one with my friends.
About the system: I have not yet played enough Pathfinder to get a good grasp, but I like it so far. My biggest grievance is that I really liked the prestige class system of 3.5, and I feel that in Pathfinder they are lackluster at best. That said, I'm in love with archetypes.
For combat/social balance, I like to mix the two. I'm totally in for having one hour and a half of trial, negotiations, and intrigue, followed by a desperate stand against the evil duke's guards (or anything like it.
I have binge-read the Zeitgeist Player's Guide, and I really really like it, even if I feel like the theme feats are a bit narrow from a gameplay standpoint (gunsmith forced to TWF, for instance).
I have a wide range of nerd passions, from sci-fi to fantasy, and shoot for eclecticism (also academic, I have studied, among other things, history, literature and philosophy in high school and kept myself interested in these and other mixed topics.
Finally, I haven't yet thought of a character, but I want to look as cool as her.


I really want to peruse the 3pp list before settling on a concept but the technologist is what I had my eye on.

Something like this would be perfect for me.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16

That's pretty awesome.

I've got two concepts coming together. An investigator martial scientist that fights like RDJ Sherlock Holmes, or an Oracle with the Ancestors mystery who's the Ghost Whisperer as a homicide detective


Kane, that pic is one of my wallpapers. Good choice.

I'm considering this, but I'm nearly finished with playing it in real life and will be running it afterwards. Is that going to be okay?


First off, greetings to everyone who's posted since yesterday. It's always encouraging to see that my campaign interests people. :-)

To reply to a few of your points:
- I'm not a fan of pointless combat, so encounters will generally be bypassable, relevant to the metaplot, or both. There will be no "10ft by 10ft room with an Orc and a treasure chest" fights in my games.
- Being part of a long-running campaign is a point in your favor, but that doesn't mean those new to the boards won't get picked. We were all new once, and I often reserve a slot for a promising newbie. :-)
- Theme feats are narrowly focused, but you'll get one for free (instead of traits), so it's not too bad. It's also a pre-req to a campaign-specific prestige class that's actually useful.
- I don't own the Machinesmith class, but if you get me access to it, it'll probably be allowed. From what I've heard, it's well-balanced.

I'll post the list of allowed sources (and any important houserules) at the end of today. That will trigger Phase Two of this recruitment - your character concept, theme feat, and avatar.

EDIT: @Philo Pharynx - as long as you can avoid metagaming, I'm okay with it.


The Machinesmith is available here if you'd like to peruse it. I think the website version is now mostly up to date, but if there's anything in a PDF I would like to use, I'll be happy to share.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

*Stage whisper* Psst! If anybody wants to make an investigator type, say that you studied the teachings of Astoroth to learn how to do it.


"Bad Yidhra!" *bonks her with Book*


I can never escape Yidhra's eternally not looking at me gaze...


*Stares at Jon for just a few moments*

>w< b

You'll never take me alive!

*Poofs out*


...I'm reasonably sure I can't take you dead either.


Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
To start things off, tell me about yourself. How long have you been playing Pathfinder?

Hi! I'm Fighting Chicken, and IRL I'm a librarian in South Texas, USA. I've been playing PF since the game's inception, and 3.X before that. PF really grabbed me when it first released - a lot of the patches that Paizo put on the game from the previous iterations were much needed IMO, and since then, I've really grown to respect Paizo as a company, which is why - probably more than anything else - I continue to play PF over some of their competitors.

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
What do you like/dislike about the system?

As I said above, I really like Paizo, the company. They are responsive to their customer base, progressive and inclusive, and produce quality products. I also really like how the OGL allows for other companies to produce PF products, and there's some really great 3pp products out there (SoP being my favorite, having replaced Vancian casting in the game I'm running on these boards).

The best and worst thing about the system, in my opinion, is the glut of options. It is great for character creation and kind of a headache from the GM side of things. When GMing, I tend to fall on the side of let the players play what they want to play, but this definitely causes more work for what can be a fiddly and massive (and ever-expanding) ruleset.

I love archetypes, I like that single-classing is often more desirable than multi-classing, and the setting isn't bad either. Though I like other settings as a whole more, the toolkit approach to PF's Golarion makes for a many-sizes to fit your tastes approach, and many of those sizes do just that.

I don't much care for 2sp classes, and as mentioned prefer SoP casting to Vancian. I like the flattened power curve and flexibility of concept that SoP brings to the ruleset.

Like someone stated above, I like to play generalist characters (my current PbP PCs are a court bard, inquisitor, brawler, incanter, investigator, and swashbuckler).

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
Are you experienced with the PbP format? If you are, but your game/s ended early, what happened?

I am experienced. I've got 4k+ posts on these boards since I started in April 2014, and most of those posts have been in PbP games. My current longest-running game started in July 2014 and sits at about 2800 gameplay posts split between two threads (one for kingdom building), and I was in a 3000 gameplay post game (also split between two threads, one for downtime), before that one succumbed to GM disappearance. I am GMing a homebrew game on these boards that passed the 1000+ gameplay posts milestone recently.

Some of my games have ended early, mostly due to GM disappearance / GM IRL issues. I withdrew from one game due to it not being a good fit; I felt that that spot should go to someone else that fit better.

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
What kind of combat/social balance do you like?

I think more important than balance is variety - not only in terms of combat/social RP, but in terms of objectives, antagonists, terrain/conditions, conditions of success/failure (if there are multiple possibilities along a spectrum, even better!), ability for different players to shine, etc.

I think in general sandboxes can do really well with PbP, especially if players are good at driving the action, and dungeon crawls aren't particularly suited to the medium (though I've got a GM that does a great job with them, so like all things in life, YMMV). My own game has been based around this premise - I allow the PCs a wide range of latitude in splitting the party, driving the action, etc., and encounters tend to be short and brutal, rather than a long string of smaller room-by-room encounters designed to drain resources.

Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:
Do you have previous experience with the Zeitgeist AP?

As I love 3pp, I'm aware of the AP, and have read Endzeitgeist's review. I've also read the player's guide. I tend to love games with a noir-ish/pulpy feel, which I think Zeitgeist has. I don't currently have a character concept in mind.

Thanks for the consideration!


Your Benevolent Dictator wrote:

First off, greetings to everyone who's posted since yesterday. It's always encouraging to see that my campaign interests people. :-)

To reply to a few of your points:
- I'm not a fan of pointless combat, so encounters will generally be bypassable, relevant to the metaplot, or both. There will be no "10ft by 10ft room with an Orc and a treasure chest" fights in my games.
- Being part of a long-running campaign is a point in your favor, but that doesn't mean those new to the boards won't get picked. We were all new once, and I often reserve a slot for a promising newbie. :-)
- Theme feats are narrowly focused, but you'll get one for free (instead of traits), so it's not too bad. It's also a pre-req to a campaign-specific prestige class that's actually useful.
- I don't own the Machinesmith class, but if you get me access to it, it'll probably be allowed. From what I've heard, it's well-balanced.

I'll post the list of allowed sources (and any important houserules) at the end of today. That will trigger Phase Two of this recruitment - your character concept, theme feat, and avatar.

EDIT: @Philo Pharynx - as long as you can avoid metagaming, I'm okay with it.

Super excited! The more I think about the Urban Empath the more excited I get. Aaanyhooo.


@Fighting Chicken: Nice to meet you. :-) One thing I enjoy about PbP is the ability to easily manage a split party through the use of spoilers. I'm all for variety, and I'll frequently add/modify encounters to play to individual PCs strengths/weaknesses.
---------------------------------
Phase Two
Burnscar
Enchanter Tim
Fighting Chicken
G-unit
JonGarrett
Lithrac
Mark Thomas 66
Nicos
Sapiens
Scaffold Kane
Spazmodeus
That Sean fellow
The Pale King
Whiskey and a Bonesaw

Please give me an idea of the character you'll be applying with. I'm looking for who s/he is, why s/he joined the RHC, your race and class, preferred theme feat, party role, and an avatar for mapping purposes.

Allowed Classes:
Anything Paizo except Vigilante and the Occult Classes. Of note: I ignore the errata regarding Crane Wing and the Scarred Witch Doctor. Also, while it's not required, I very much prefer Vancian prepared casters and Spheres of Power spontaneous casters.

- Swordmaster (Dreadfox Games)
- Divine Channeler (Rite Publishing)
- Legendary Rogues (Legendary Games)
- Path of Shadows (Ascension Games)
- New Paths Compendium (Kobold Press) (but not the Savant class)

Interjection Games
- Assassin, Primordial Dancer, Runesmith, Strange Magic I (composition and truenaming)
- The material from the Big Book of Bloodlines (except the Bloodlord class)

I also own many products by Abandoned Arts, Flaming Crab Games, Rite Publishing, Rogue Genius/Super Genius Games, and am subscribed to EnWorld's TrailSEEKER Patreon. Lastly, while the spells from Kobold Press' Deep Magic aren't allowed, most of the bloodlines/schools/mysteries/etc are permitted.


Okay sweet, time to get into the real thought process! Is there an SRD for Spheres of Power? It's something I've been meaning to buy anyway, but it would be nice to be able to look at it first.


Oh, hey, I wonder if the module I wrote for TrailSEEKER is still there...

Yes, there's a SRD for Spheres of Power. It's a really cool system, very simple and easy to use.

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