Hey Chris I finally found the post I feel pretty dumb! I am just at my sister in laws but home tomorrow and I will make a post, sorry for the confusion!

Paladinhood: That sounds about right... I've always been partial to more "ambiguous" worlds,
ala Al-Qadim or Eberron, but for the Classic-Pulp feel Golarions's going for, it makes sense...
It begs the question, how a Species does get "Redeemed" though...

BTW, what Dieties "own" Poison, then? Is *all* Poison use Evil? What about hunting with poison arrows/darts?

If you leave people to writhe and suffer until they drown in their own drool, that's pretty "Evil" (at least if you're above Animal intelligence), but just using a quick-acting Poison that lets you kill a violent, dangerous Evil opponent doesn't seem particularly Evil... Certainly no more than plain "Direct Damage", which Paladins seem OK with...??? Or are Paladins also Vegan? ;-)

It begs the question, how a Species does get "Redeemed" though...

One at a time, until you get the momentum to do groups.

My favorite take on alighnment is from Tekumel. There are a large number of gods, arrayed along two opposing sides, but morality is understood to be dependent upon the god the individual has chosen to follow. Nothing odd there, but in that world, society judges the individual by how well the person follows their personal god, rather than whether they match societal norms. A very different focus.

BTW, what Deities "own" Poison, then? Is *all* Poison use Evil? What about hunting with poison arrows/darts? Just using a quick-acting poison doesn't seem particularly Evil.

You're absolutely right. Poisoning someone to bring a quick end to a long bout of suffering doesn't seem like a bad thing. And poisoning, left to it's own merits, wouldn't be.

Poison is part of Norgorber's fields of interest. As one of the Ascended, Norgorber is a relatively recent god, and his moral influence over his "portfolio" is less entrenched than other gods'. But it's growing.

Before Norgorber, poison use was neutral. Nowadays, it belongs to him in his guise as "Blackfingers", and every act of poisoning someone, even out of mercy, has become a small homage to him, and has thus become evil.

If you're not a cleric or paladin, this probably doesn't make much impact. All the gods are contesting with one another for power. Every time you look at a sunrise, your act strengthens Sarenrae. Every time you hurt yourself, your actions do homage to Zon-kuthon, regardless of your deliberate intentions.

Does that make sense?

yeah, actually... that's a nice take on it...

but along the lines of what Niel said, if one's own God (for Clerics/Paladins, for whom it matters) isn't OPPOSED to another God, then "activating" another Gods' Domain/Focus isn't necessarily bad... I.e. Irori doesn't really care if you enjoy the Sunrise, or channel Holy Light Spells...

Obviously, the Gods are often opposed on the Good/Evil basis, but plenty of the Evil Dieties oppose EACH OTHER, so they also wouldn't like their followers straying into the opposite camp. But I'm sure there's Good (& Neutral) Gods who don't necessarily care that much about Poison (as long as your basic conduct is in accord with them...) And I'd think Poison might be a minor aspect of Erastil & Gozreh, given there are plenty of Poisonous Plants & Animals...

Hello, folks...

The Playtest boards are still hammering out discussions about melee characters and are now starting to talk about clerics. Is there anything on any of those threads you'll like to bring to my attention, perhaps as a rule you'd like to 'port over and use as a house rule here?

The Playtest boards are still hammering out discussions about melee characters and are now starting to talk about clerics. Is there anything on any of those threads you'll like to bring to my attention, perhaps as a rule you'd like to 'port over and use as a house rule here?

It looks like Jason B. posted provisional changes to Barbarian Rage.... Though since it's not any different until 2nd level, I'm not worrying about it for now (Rage Powers are altered, and don't cost any Rage Points, so Rage Points only = Rounds of Rage).

I don't know how you want to run CMB...
All attack bonuses apply to Maneuver Attacks? All AC Dodge Bonuses apply to defensive CMB (Fighting Defensively, DEX)?
This would merge the offensive benefits of Dextrous Maneuvers into Weapon Finesse, and everyone automatically applies Dodge Bonuses against Maneuvers (like it worked in 3.5)... I don't know if the base DC (15) would be easier in this case (13?). (search the boards for "Maneuver AC" if you want to see more on this)

Again, if you all see a Beta ruling on the development boards, feel free to say what you think of incorporating it into our campaign.

And, we should start to plan for a "play by chat" session, sometime between now and Christmas, when we'll all log into something like Lilith's DM Chatroom and run in real time.

What times work or don't work for y'all?

Again, if you all see a Beta ruling on the development boards, feel free to say what you think of incorporating it into our campaign.

And, we should start to plan for a "play by chat" session, sometime between now and Christmas, when we'll all log into something like Lilith's DM Chatroom and run in real time.

What times work or don't work for y'all?

I have played and GMed play by chat games, and love them. I think Grumble and I would be in :) How long of a session are you thinking?

We have a baby on the way, so pretty much anything after Thanksgiving (about the time she is due) in the afternoon or evenings would theoretically be fine. We will do our best to be there!

Again, if you all see a Beta ruling on the development boards, feel free to say what you think of incorporating it into our campaign.

I personally am quite fond of some sort of spell-less Ranger, perhaps similar to the version in the original post in this thread. Not sure if it is officially a beta rule yet, but I'd be interested if it was ;)

I'm in CMT and anything past 8:30 on Mon-Fri or Sunday is negotiable. I cannot commit to anything during the daylight hours, I'm afraid.

Sorry I forget to check this thread :S

Jason Buhlman had posted this update for the Barbarian Rage system:
Design Focus: Alternate Rage System
I'm sure there'll be minor tweaks to the powers, but it looks likely he's going this way for the overall system
(Rage Powers scaled back, but don't cost Points, you get less Rage Points each level past 1st.)

If you don't have any issue, I'll use this for Yalka, when she picks up a 2nd Barbarian level and gains a Rage Power (there is no difference until then). I think I'll do that for her next level, and then pickup one Sorceror level at 3rd, which works into her back-story (and there may be Sorceror revisions worked out by then as well).

Also, check out this thread: Combat Maneuvers Idea - Draft
This is not at all an 'official' directive from Jason, he hasn't really commented on CMB yet at all
(since it belongs in the Combat Chapter), but I thought you may be interested... ?

Evening (7pm- ?) Pacific Time probably is a good bet for a "live" time for me...

Quandry u trying to make Sachiko ;) Sorry for the lack of posting, have been reading just not sure when to add my 2 cents...

I am in Mountain time so keep that in mind for me :)

I personally am quite fond of some sort of spell-less Ranger. Not sure if it is officially a Beta rule yet, but I'd be interested if it was ;)

I don't think Jason's come out with the spell-less Ranger. But let me propose the following:

For everyone who hates ranger spellcasting, would their "spells" be more palatable if they were described as "optional class features"?

Let's say that, at each level where Grumblenaught would gain a new spell slot, he instead picks one of the ranger spells at that level, to be usable with a Concentration check (DC 10 + 2 per "spell" level + 2 per previous use this day).

Some of the powers would be extraordinary abilities, some supernatural, some spell-like. Once chosen, that would be the character's knack. It's a tradeoff: losing versatility for a greater number of uses.

For the most part, this would give a ranger a "knack" ability, usable almost at will. (The Concentration check is there to keep rangers from using Cure Light Wounds dozens of times each day when they reach 8th Level.)

Example: Grumblenaught makes 4th Level. His Wisdom of 14 would entitle him to a spell, so he takes, say, Speak with Animals. This would be an Extraordinary ability, usable 1 minute per caster level (half his Ranger level). He'd need to make a Concentration check DC 12 to use it the first time, DC 14 to use it a second time the same day, and so on.

Does this solve the flavor issue for you?

Larcifer: Yeah, Chris pointed me out to that overlap... So I decided to not take a Bloodline that grants "Claws".

...Though I think we're really going for opposite ends, since it sounded like you're more likely to go all/most into Sorceror, and in all honesty I probably will only take 1 level, to tie into my backstory...

If you want to jump into the story again, I think it's a perfect time, since everyone is really just chiming in on what their take is on everything we've seen so far and suggesting courses of action... If you've learned anything from your in-town adventure, now would be a good time to share...
Or (I presume you've read some of what the other's have been up to, and we would have caught you up, in-character)
just let Sachiko respond with her OWN take on things: Undead Bandits trying to exploit children to reclaim lost treasure/power seems SLIGHTLY controversial... Or you could just bring up how to divvy up treasure, if that's your forte :-)

Hi Folks. I just wanted to apologize for the lack of posting lately. Lets just say I can now say yes when asked if I'm allergic to any medications. The effects should clear-up soon. Until then, Chris- please NPC me as necessary. Thanks.

The live chat game would need to be sometime after November 14th, as I'm in the university's production of The Pirates of Penzance, and I have practice most evenings, which pushes my homework time into the late hours. The 14th is the last show date, so after that evenings will once again be free. At that point, after 7, in Central Standard Time, will work just fine on any non-Friday day, as I'm running a PnP Star Wars game then.

As an aside, Grumble and I are east coasters...

Cacophonik wrote:

I personally am quite fond of some sort of spell-less Ranger. Not sure if it is officially a Beta rule yet, but I'd be interested if it was ;)

I don't think Jason's come out with the spell-less Ranger. But let me propose the following:

Kirth Gersen wrote:

For everyone who hates ranger spellcasting, would their "spells" be more palatable if they were described as "optional class features"?

Let's say that, at each level where Grumblenaught would gain a new spell slot, he instead picks one of the ranger spells at that level, to be usable with a Concentration check (DC 10 + 2 per "spell" level + 2 per previous use this day).

Some of the powers would be extraordinary abilities, some supernatural, some spell-like. Once chosen, that would be the character's knack. It's a tradeoff: losing versatility for a greater number of uses.

For the most part, this would give a ranger a "knack" ability, usable almost at will. (The Concentration check is there to keep rangers from using Cure Light Wounds dozens of times each day when they reach 8th Level.)

Example: Grumblenaught makes 4th Level. His Wisdom of 14 would entitle him to a spell, so he takes, say, Speak with Animals. This would be an Extraordinary ability, usable 1 minute per caster level (half his Ranger level). He'd need to make a Concentration check DC 12 to use it the first time, DC 14 to use it a second time the same day, and so on.

Does this solve the flavor issue for you?

I'd certainly give it a try - the flavor seems more Grumble-esque, but if you'd prefer to use RAW to prove the playtest, that's fine as well ;)

Sorry to spring this on y'all on such short notice, but it was sort of sprung on us at the same: Kelly (Valdisara) just delivered our first child late last night, 4 weeks earlier than planned.

Everyone is fine and beautiful, but we won't have much in the way of computer access for a few days - Chris, you have our permissions to forward the story as you see fit, as long as you don't give away all of Grumble's cheese. ;)

We'll be back ASAP, prolly by late weekend.

Wow congratulations on the new baby.

Hey, congratulations both of you!

Yep, congratulations. We'll want details, you know!

Hey I have tried posting the last few days but have had time out issues trying to connect to the Paizo board. Looks like things have settled down now though.

Sorry for the lateness, but VERY BIG CONGRATS to the two of you!!!!!

We discussed the idea of a play-by-email session. When would people have time over the Thanksgiving weekend?

Thursday, November 27th -- Morning -- Afternoon -- Evening
Friday, November 28th ---- Morning -- Afternoon -- Evening
Saturday, November 29th --- Morning -- Afternoon -- Evening
Sunday, November 30th ---- Morning -- Afternoon -- Evening

Please reply with the times you would be available for, say, three hours.

Friday afternoon would be bad for me, I have a wedding to attend and Saturday evening is my DeadLands campaign at home. But Thursday and/or Saturday morning would probably be very good.

We aren't doing much for Thanksgiving this year [tv dinners?] so any day would likely be fine with us.

As for delivery/baby details, I don't know if any of you have kids, but let me tell you it was crazy. This is our first baby, so I was completely unprepared for what happened. Keep in mind I had been told labor takes 12-24 hours usually, for first babies...

It was about 1pm, and we were on our way to my doctor's office for my flu shot when all of a sudden I felt this sharp pain. 5 seconds later there was this gush of fluid, and I knew my water had broken. We were all the way across town from the hospital [in lunch traffic too] so we kept driving to the OB's office. Bad idea - road construction had traffic backed up for a mile. It took us 15-20 minutes to drive what normally takes 5 minutes. I walk in, and the nurses tell me immediately to go to the hospital. So we get back in the car and drive back the way we came, through traffic. Every slowdown you could imagine seems to get in our way, including a tractor driving in front of us on a 1-lane road. 40 minutes later we get to the hospital. By then, the contractions are pretty strong and coming fast, and my clothes are soaked. Of course there is a line outside the hospital to drop patients off. Matt gets so frustrated he starts yelling across the lot at people, telling them to move it so his pregnant wife can get inside. LOL they just stared and kept going slow.

I make it upstairs to labor & delivery at about 2pm, only to see a line there too! Seriously there were no beds, so I stood a while waiting or one, contractions and all. Finally they got me in one, then left me there for more than an hour before the doctor came by. By then the contractions were only a few minutes apart. He seems surprised when he examines me, and says I am already 5cm dilated [the goal is 10]. I tell him I want an epidural, and he says the anesthesiologist will be by soon. While I wait, I continue deep breathing through contractions and focusing on a spot [a knot] on the curtain that separates me from the other patients. They move me to a birthing room a half hour later, and the anesthesiologist FINALLY shows up around 4:15. By then the contractions are maybe a minute apart [they seemed almost continuous]. 45 minutes later he finishes explaining the damn procedure and actually gives me the meds. They take the edge off, until a nurse tells me to give myself more every 10 mins so I feel no pain at all. Shortly thereafter, a doc comes by to see if the epidural is working, and I ask her to examine me. She does, and seems shocked that I am 9.5cm dilated. I started pushing maybe 45 minutes later - I had only been in labor 5 hours and 45 mins at that point. Livia was born a little while later, 5 pounds and 17.5 inches long. The funny thing is that there was no doctor in the room when I delivered, it was so fast[a nurse caught her]. When she finally decided to make her appearance, there was no stopping her!

She is beautiful and worth every second of pain. :)

Congrats you two! I rememebr my obstetrics rotation, I felt pretty lost, I hope you had great nurses! Chris I started a new job, I will get my rotation soon I will post the date asap.

I have all those days off so I am open, Saturday would be my last choice due to time with wife :)

Friday morning and any time Saturday would be best for me, though I might be able to squeeze Sunday morning out of the occupied slot. I'll get back soon on final times.

It looks like Saturday morning works for everyone, then?

My inclination would be to use Lilith's DM Tools website. It allows a private room, die rolling, side conversations...

That sounds good... Do you want to mention some bits on how you see it running, etc?
You mentioned side conversations, so maybe creating TWO chat rooms?

/???

That sounds good... Do you want to mention some bits on how you see it running, etc?

You mentioned side conversations, so maybe creating TWO chat rooms?

/???

You can set up a private room, invite more than one person to it. Messages between DM & player can be handled via the standard "/privmsg" function. :)

Oh, and congrats Valdisara!

GHAH! Lilith! Are you one of those pesky Realms deities that hears their name and the next five words spoken?

So what time do y'all want to set for Saturday morning, then?
Any other specifics you'd like to throw out there, Chris?

...AND we just leveled up JUST in time... ~exciting~

I guess I'll level-up then, since it seems we're out of combat and all:
+6 ranks (4+INT+Favored Class) (Acrobatics x2, Climb, Heal, Perception, Swim),
+4 hp, +1 BAB/Fort, +2 Rage Points, Improved Trip (Wolf Totem)

When Saturday morning: We want to let people on the West Coast sleep in a little, but we also want to avoid eating into the afternoon of the people on the Atlantic...

We'll start at 8:00 Pacific (10:00 Central, 11:00 Eastern) and plan to play for three hours.

Grumble's level 2 Adjustments, assuming we live long enough to get our aforementioned night's rest:

Level 2: +5 HP level 2 Hit Die (1d10=2), Precise Shot Combat Style Feat, +1 BaB, +1 Fort Save, +1 Ref Save, +1 Rank in Climb, Perception, Stealth, Survival, Knowledge Local and Appraise

Excellent.

"8am... 'sleeping in'... <grumble> <grumble>" ;-)
I will bring a cup of my morning mate/ coffee/ etc...

And btw Chris, not that this problem will be relevant to the "live" chat session,
but I thought of some "protocol" tweaks that might help avoid problems in the PbP:

We had a fun play-by-chat session this morning, attended by four players; fun enough that everybody wanted to have another one tomorrow morning. We'll start at 11:30 eastern/ 10:30 central / 8:30 pacific time and run another two-and-a-half hours.

Looks like Val and Grumble are gonna have to skip this session today - we've got tornado conditions incoming, and are going to have to drop offline for now.

If the weather cooperates, we'll be online as soon as possible, but y'all might think about playing w/o us :(

Ah. We were wondering. Hope everyone's safe.

All is well - we lost power for a bit and had the machines powered down for most of the afternoon as a precaution.

We're sorry we missed the opportunity, and look forward to the next time!

WHEW. Sorry I missed the chat game. My Thanksgiving break turned into a massive work break at my house. I think I might have moved everything in there twice, at least. Gah. The only free time I had, I used to hit the local game store Friday night. Grabbed some L5R cards, and LotR Online, but still haven't gotten to play around with either. As soon as I get a handle on what's happening, I'll post my level up stuff, and try and get back into it.

That's the dice. Hope you can make the next live chat.

For the story, it hasn't really progressed all that far ahead of the Mad Slasher scene:

Val & Martaug & Grumble talked a bit more with the Gnome (I was late), who mentioned that the Blackspears had headed off towards the windmills to try and ambush us, and everyone returned to the Barn to rest, heal, & level up. There was a semi-confused brouhaha with Martaug & Val almost killing Sachiko for her taint of evil spirits, but nobody was harmed in the end. We tried to have a 2nd chat session, but Mother Nature intervened with a hurricane in Florida, meaning it was just Yalka and Martaug, and we basically just discussed out-of-character (with Chris) what we thought of all the Blackspear business and the clues we had so far. Now all the active party members are at the cave Gunlar found, getting ready to go in, and we noticed there's some fresh Wight tracks around it.

Level up stuff:

BAB up by 1, thus CMB increased by one
Fortitude save up by 1
Gained Weapon Focus (Bastard Sword) as a fighter bonus feat
Gained the bravery class feature
Gained 9 hp

Sachi leveled up, you can see it under her advancement spoiler tag...took a level of sorcerer