Woodsmoke's Reign of Winter

Game Master Woodsmoke

Oop, didn't press send and I imagine I'm a few hours too late now...

But Merry Christmas team! Happy Boxing Day for those that follow that ole tradition (us in Canada used to get sales but sadly that's largely been usurped by black Friday for no reason other than proximity)

Yes, happy holidays to everyone!

God Yule to you all - yeah Boxing Day Sales still a thing here also - but not as popular.

Hope everyone had a good festives and are gearing up for Hogmanay!

Hope everyone had good holidays indeed. I've been dealing with a very fun abscessed infection in my gum that my very kind wisdom tooth decided to gift me, so forgive me for the absence this week. Hopefully I'll be able to get into the dentist in the coming days to get it sorted.

Feel better, GM. Take your time.

Ooft. Never a good time to get the ol' teethy pegs seen to... especially this time of year. Be well GM and hope it gets fixed with minimal bother.

Oh dang, yea that's never a fun time especially with all the good eats around this time of year. Take your time WS!

Thanks guys. Managed to get into the dentist and they cleaned it all out. Still pretty sore and annoying but this is the first time I haven't had a splitting headache in almost 2 weeks so that's been wonderful. Feeling better in time for the incoming snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic states which is good because it's my favorite weather!

We have gotten slammed in southern KY. About four inches of snow and now we are getting freezing rain on top of it.

Dear lord, you guys are making me feel less Canadian... If it weren't for the surgery I'd be eyeing up a less rainy day for a round of golf... (And there is about a week coming up apparently). Glad you're on the mend boss!

Post incoming tomorrow gents...just been one of those weeks.

Pardon if this is metagamey but... I could fog the room out, is that... A good idea team?

Worth a shot no?

Hey guys, sorry for the silence as of late. Been dealing with some health issues, bouncing around between doctors and spent 8 hours in the ER on Wednesday getting a bunch of tests. I think things have calmed down for now until a follow up appointment Monday so I should be able to get back to it over the weekend. Thanks for bearing with me.

Don’t worry, woodsmoke. Take care of yourself and when you feel up to it, we will be here.

Take your time! I've also been less responsive than I'd like lately, will be happy to pick it up when you're ready.

Agree hombre - take your time, we'll be here as/when your ready.

Works kicked up a notch here in Bonnie Scotia gang - posting might be spotty at best until end of the week. Please bot Skane as/is necessary Woodsmoke.

Getting a post up today. For some reason this week I kept getting 404'd trying to post anything on the forums except on mobile? Wasn't about to try and type up a combat round on my phone (though I guess I could have typed it on the PC put it on Drive or something..hindsight) but looks like it is working again now!

I’ve had weather issues the last several days, so I’ve not noticed any delay in posting. My little town got slammed by a tornado a week ago and service has been really spotty since then.

I’ve had weather issues the last several days, so I’ve not noticed any delay in posting. My little town got slammed by a tornado a week ago and service has been really spotty since then.

Damn, hope you made out alright with that tornado and didn't sustain any damage!

Sorry guys, it's been a week. Wife's grandfather passed and she got some other unrelated bad news as well. Should be able to get a post up tomorrow after work though as things are calming down.

Take your time, GM. We are here.

I got really lucky with the tornado. I lost a tree and that was it. 20 people were killed in a small community, so it has been pretty awful for the town.

It was the first real weather event I’ve ever been through. Terrifying stuff.

Thoughts to you both - as Geedra says we're here when you are GM (applies also to you Puka! :)

@Team sorry folks some real life stuff womping my narrow ass... Requesting a bot for a minute as I thought I'd got a post up but appears not ..

Might be closer to the weekend before i get some breathing space folks - summer shutdown season is upon me here in the North Sea and I've just kicked off our involvement in an 8 well P&A (Plug and Abandonment) campaign that'll see me and my team through to end of Sep.

Needless to say work is kicking my hairy arse but I'll get back on it once I clear my feet. Your collective patience is hugely appreciated.

No worries all, whenever time is good. We'll keep truckin'

As an aside, any of you tried Pathfinder 2E? My in-person group I run is taking a break from our homebrew 5E campaign and we are thinking of starting up a Pathfinder 2 one. I've skimmed the books a bit and it looks interesting (though part of me still wants to run 1E to utilize my entire bookshelf of P1 and D&D 3e books, haha).

I’m in an online PF2 game right now. It’s my first run through under 2e. I still prefer 1e, but it is probably because I am so much more experienced with it though.

Yeah, that's my initial thought. So far 2E seems like a lot to wrap my head around, but 25 years of 3rd/3.5/Pathfinder 1E experience is pulling rank there perhaps.

Feels like certain aspects of needlessly layered and complicated. The proficiency stuff in particular; having to track multiple levels of proficiency bonuses for multiple things seems like a nightmare. Like, Fighter Weapon Specialization is "you deal +2 damage with weapons with expert, +3 if master, +4 if legendary" and that's on top of the weapon master giving you different levels of proficiency of weapons within the same weapon group depending on its..rarity, I guess?

I'm guessing "oops everything is Feats" is kinda the same as class/racial features but you just get more than one choice and can pick different stuff.

The main reason we are starting up a PF game is so I can run an AP I don't have to do much prep work for so I can spend my downtime prepping the latter half of the 5E game because I have a lot to write and prep for everyone's personal character arcs/stories, but cracking into Pathfinder 2e might be a bit counterintuitive to that, lol. Seems like a lot to learn.

I've heard the encounter quality is better and more fluid and all which was my main reason for wanting to try it, but we shall see.

We have made it to 4th level and the flow is pretty good for low level encounters so far. Leveling the first time was tough, but as I became accustomed, it got easier the next two times.

I’m still too new to make any proclamations, but there is definitely a place for it, even if I probably prefer all the fiddlety bits of 1e.

I know we are a bit stalled here waiting for Byakko and Skäne but just wanted to say no rush, we'll keep truckin when you are all back. I'm more keen to wait for everyone rather than DMPC 90% of the encounter, lol.

Kind of readjusting things in my life from a hobby standpoint and I've discovered that I really want to shift RPGs back to being the nucleus. I've been running into snags trying to divide my attention to too many different things and probably letting my creativity get dejected in the process. Recently been looking over old worldbuilding stuff and campaigns (I was even doing a nighttime reread of our old Red Hand of Doom campaign, Gerald!) and it's kind of snapped me back. I think falling into a forever DM role in my offline games had been beleaguering me a bit (hence taking a break from the homebrew 5e game) and that probably spilled over a bit. Anyway, hoping to inject a bit more vitality into my posting, and hopefully find some more roleplaying opportunities to layer in to our game here. I think that's the primary issue I have with some of the adventures in this AP (this adventure in particular) - just a lot of dotted lines of combat encounters and less roleplaying opportunities since 99% of what you are coming across is hostile, lol. Might also try to find a better way to handle the map thing. Should probably just utilize the Google suite to cut down on map editing and all, so I'll look into that.

God, RHOD is such a great adventure! One of my top ten of any RPG system that I’ve been through.

Whatever works for you is fine with me for our game, GM. Make it easy on yourself!

It's one of my favorites as well. The first half of my 5E game was RHoD and when it concluded we just continued the adventures in Elsir Vale. I liked it better running it in 3rd Edition / PF1e though. I don't think 5E is rough and gritty enough to hammer home the long, exhausting slogs.

How goes it for everyone? Just checkin in and seeing who all is back in the sphere and all. We can get the wheels turning again whenever everyone is good!

I’m here, ready to go!

Same - slowly getting back into it after RL dampening the pyre!

Sounds good. I'll ping Byakko and we'll try to get back at it this weekend.

Hey friends,

Haven't heard back from Byakko in a couple of weeks since I reached out. Hope he is faring well and it's just a tangle of real life stuff that's pulled 'im away.

Either way, not sure where that leaves us at this juncture. We've cycled through quite a few players in this venture over the past.. 11! years (thanks for being here since Day 1 Geedra!) and I fear the adventure path is kind of out of steam for introducing new ones. There's no riders left to pass a mantle and I kind of think that things are so deep in it's hard to introduce new players to the storyline and all. Not that I want to draw the curtain on things but I'm not sure trudging on with a mostly new party is quite so engaging. Open to both of your thoughts though, mates.

Certainly don't want to cease playing with you, either, if things do end up coming to a close here. Maybe a fresh start is in order. Reflecting, I can kind of realize how the characters cycling in and out and the loss of pulse on the story in this campaign (I think this path is a rough one to run in this format) could have definitely affected my own gusto and motivation, so maybe a new beginning could be a nice shot of invigoration.

Anyways, just mulling things over at present. All ears for your weigh-ins!

Hey Woodsmoke - yeah am torn as this AP is thematically one of the best, but agree having the group so intrenched in the story (which you have woven majestically) makes it tough(er) for new joins.

Do definitely want to continue playing in your game (wether in this AP or the next) - would be interested to hear what everyone else says.

It is a big ask for the GM in any AP. If you’d prefer to start another for whatever reasons, I’d be happy to do so. I’m also happy playing Geedra.

Basically whatever you’d prefer works for me, GM.

Thanks for the feedback, and the support. I think I am leaning towards a shift to a new game. I just think injecting another 2-3 PCs in at this juncture is just really hard to fit into the narrative and I feel like newcomers would feel a bit lost and not have as much investment into the whole storyline.

That said, instead of a new AP, I'm thinking about maybe doing some homebrew if you guys would be down for it. I think I'm a much better GM in homebrew campaigns and I have my own world I have been building for my entire D&D / pathfinder career of near 25 years. Multiple continents, cultures, maps, and so on. Lots of options and there's a few places I've been wanting to set a game in. Let me know what you think.

Like I said, I’m cool with whatever you feel up to, GM.

Home brew is perfectly fine with me!

Home brew is also fine with me chief. I'd be down to play for sure - sounds interesting :)

Sounds good! Now just to figure out what to run, haha.
Any sort of theme or style you guys are wanting to engage in? Ye olde classic adventuring? Horror? War? Urban? Intrigue? Sandboxy start something and see how it develops? I've got ideas and locales that could fit any of it.

My favorite part about homebrew is really centering its development around the PCs motivations and stories, so figuring the setting and campaign type/genre, then working to get characters made that can really feel invested in the world around them and like they are breathing parts of it so I can build off of those interactions, motivations, goals, etc.

For example, for a change of pace from the arctic I do have a desert-themed and flavored region called Rekkar-Sarrat and its surrounding environs that could be a fun and adaptive backdrop. I had ideas once to run a sort of sandbox style campaign there where PCs could basically live their lives and carve out whatever paths they wanted (whether it be adventuring, running a business or serving in some profession, guild politics, anything really) but could still naturally run a more standard party-based structure there too. I have a lot of history and culture built up around here as well.

But as said I've places to fit most types of games so let me know if there's anything you have a penchant or current hunger for.

I could play in a desert themed adventure. I had a desert Druid I really enjoyed in that first desert themed AP paizo published. I forget the name of it now. I also have played in a few different dark Sun type games and loved them as well.

While desert settings aren't my go-to - I still have fond memories of the Hule and the Sind Desert in Basic :)

I enjoy fishes out of water (literally) in settings like that so would be interested to see what the background is like and see what pops.

No decisions made yet, I'm more apt to make a game that all would be gung-ho for; granted the 'all' right now is just us!

Rekkar-Sarrat is loosely inspired by the Nile region at its core, with the surrounding regions being more akin to deserts. For a very, very truncated background -

The Pharosi people, led by the Pharaohs, flee their ancient homeland of the Empires of Pharos for a now-unknown reason. They make a decades-long sojourn through the Dunes of Empty Sun and emerge into the floodplain of the great river Do'ol set Maradha. They immediately begin to conquest/colonize it, displacing, destroying, or assimilating the peoples they encounter - the Shuka (a small race of shamans and druids) are at first enslaved and then driven out, while the Nomadi (another race of humans) are treated more warmly, though most of the nomads simply move out of the way, some are assimilated. The Pharosi start building their kingdoms, introducing their controlled irrigation and sustained agriculture, eventually forming a series of kingdoms along the river and building a new civilization (Rekkar-Sarrat). There is great growth and expansion but also infighting as Pharaohs contest with one another. Gnomes arrive on trading vessels down the river from far to the north and eventually bring Rekkar-Sarrat into a more expansive network of trade and the region gradually becomes a major hub of commerce. This leads to a great influx of different goods, cultures, religions, philosophies, and people start to turn their backs on the Pharaohs that they have served for thousands of years and turn to the almighty gold piece, creating a more mercantile society, with the power of the Pharaohs waning considerable and the power of mercantile guilds and trade princes rising. Though some dynasties/Pharaohs still exist, this current period is seen as the very end of the so-called Age of Pharaohs.

There's a lot more to it then that but that's kind of a very general overview of the core region. I have a lot of lore written that I can work to brush up and link if interested. There's three major human races - Pharosi, Dwahani, Nomadi - each with their own distinct cultures and all. Gnomes, Halflings, Dwarves make up the most common of the common races (Gnomes and halfling tweaked slightly from core - Dwarves are very different; vested much more in the arcane and arranged into Houses that constantly plot against one another...more like drow society than typical Dwarven). The region is very cosmopolitan in current times, however, so you have full-blooded Orcs from the Scablands, Goblinoid and Gnoll slavers that do business in the kingdoms, Solari elven (more like core elves, from afar) traders, painted elves (a kind of spin on wild elves) from the Shimmering Sea, a sect of which has opened trade with humans, half-orc and half-elves that have migrated or stayed behind off merchant vessels to set up shop, plus a number of other ethnic human groups including the northern pirates from Xeng Qui and the mountain mercenaries of Lanpei, and traders from beyond.

I've got stuff written up for most of the regions and races.

I also have a fairly fully-fleshed out continent elsewhere that features more traditional fare. It has the Empire of Eliendor formed by the conquest/assimilation of petty kingdoms currently led by another imperialistic queen hungry for more. Eliendor is made up of smaller baronies, the most recent of which is Varuna's Chase, a region very culturally different than the rest of the empire (think Franks and Norse). South of them is Cethlennean which has so far resisted repeated Elindean incursion due to their heavily forested and boggy homeland advantage and the close alliance with the elves of Setal Solaris across the sea. East of Eliendor is Arc, a now backwoods former-kingdom made up of small principalities that rose up after the ruling family died out after a series of malign mishaps. Arc is a bit of a superstitious land and viewed as cursed by outsiders (and by many insiders). North of Arc across the mountains is Spiria, an expanse of tundra and taiga and frozen shores, notable for its most prominent city of Glysten that is ruled by a rather metropolitan white dragon. South of Arc is Jerdala which is a great steppe of Orcish horselord nomads. Basically orc mongolia. Just south of this continent is a series of island city states collectively called Sarkrosa; mercantile, maritime society.

There's more I could ramble on about but that's a brief overview of a couple places anyway!

Setting looks amazing - both options tick boxes for me. Heaps of potential material for some great concepts :)

(Thought I already posted a response but I guess only in my head!)

Sound good. I'm working on getting some things together with the setting and potential campaign info that I can compile in a doc/drive and share and we can move on from there with figuring out the rest. Thanks for sticking around!