Alastir Wade

Mordecai Shrykeson.'s page

70 posts. Organized Play character for Arkwright.



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Hullo. I really like Pathfinder 2e skill challenges, and I would like to show you how I run them as a GM: using Google Sheets spreadsheets. I hope you can get some value out of my method, and find a way to use it in your own games.

Zen & the Art of Spreadsheet Skill Challenges


Hey everyone, welcome to the game. Finish up your character sheets, and we'll sort out a few remaining matters.

So; after a successful gathering at House Sveinn, the Houses of the Valley and the Council have agreed to organize a force to reclaim the lands of House Gisli from the monsters of the winter. You have been chosen to lead that force, and are to proceed to the Dawnfort to be briefed.

In your backstories, would be appreciated if you could add a line talking about why you were chosen by the Houses for this mission, if you know the others and how you met if necessary.


The sun shines dully through thick morning fog mist as a group of mounted figures advance up the final hill before their fated destination.


‘As for me, build my cairn on the ridge above my House, so that I may watch over you always; and those of you who obey my laws shall join me on the hill.’
-Svein the Hero

Wotcher; an IRL campaign of mine is going fairly well, and I'd like to re-use the material generated in a PBP. I've been running PBPs on this forum for years and I believe I can deliver a quality game, and a long-lasting one.

Setting:
This will take place within the Valley, a mostly-homebrew setting based on Jonathan Stroud's novel 'Heroes of the Valley'. The setting page can be found here, linking to maps and house details. The setting page contains 'things to know' and other information, so I'll just say that reading through as much of the setting as possible will be of great advantage in this game. The game will seek to ground itself in the setting's lore and laws as much as possible.

Do further note that the setting is not for everyone. While it has its good qualities, it can be quite legitimately judged boring/stupid/uninteresting by players of different temperaments and preferences. Do read through to see if this is a setting and a campaign which appeals to you.

Players who have already read the book are welcome, though I would request that they not share details of the latter stages of the book with other players. Much of the end-of-book twist is intact, though with new variations written by me, and would be a strong spoiler. If players would like they are welcome to read through the book, though if you wish to avoid spoilers I suggest reading through no more than 1/2 or 3/4 of the way through.

Campaign:
Within my IRL campaign, we have completed one arc and are working through a second; I will leave it to votes cast here as to which arc people would like to start with. Naturally, I intend to fully respect player agency and not demand that the group acts just as my IRL did and proceed down the same path. Completing the first arc may lead into a different arc.

The Gathering
The first gathering since the winter has been called. The leaders of each house will move in force, gathering in the land of house Svein to discuss and plan the future of the valley. House Svein has also promised to drive back the winter through resurrecting the gathering's role as a time of celebration, of contests of skill and honour between the houses. As the party represent their respective houses, what sinister motives and secret plots will they discover?

Reclaiming House Gisli
With a successful gathering behind them, the council and the houses are agreed- it is time for the valley to move together in force, strike back, and reclaim house Gisli’s ruins from the winter. A brave team of scouts will venture forth first, battling and discovering the threads which have slithered and battered their way onto the land since the winter, then lead the rebuilding before the house’s members can return proper. As the party climb atop their own Battle Hill, will they be able to defend against the forces and treacheries of the winter?

I will use Google Drawings for maps. I will require players to add their stats (initiative, saves) to their character sidebar.


Build Rules:
Level: 3 (4 if doing Reclaim)
Point Buy: 27 (I'm feeling whimsical)
HP: Max first, average rounded up therafter. Same for animal companions, eidolons and the like.
Skills: Unchained Background Skills
Traits: 2, one can be any relevant AP trait. One optional drawback.
Races: Human. Racial Heritage: Elf permitted.
Wealth: Average for your level. Note setting-specific requirements for armor and the like.
Alignment: Any capable of working with a group.
Materials: Any paizo-made on d20pfsrd. My homebrew is allowed. Path of War is allowed. Note that I have read very little PoW so do not expect much help with me on character creation if you decide to use that material.
Setting-specific character rules

Recruitment:
I will be recruiting four players, possibly three if I do not receive very much interest.
I will require at least one paragraph of backstory, half a paragraph of personality, and one line of physical description. If you intend to aim for the minimum, please get a lot of detail out of those few words.
I prefer backstories to be written in the third person, or to at least contain a brief third-person summary, as I will likely have questions best answered in that format.
I encourage applicants to add a line about their experience in PBPs, and in sticking with PBPs over a significant period of time.
I will not require a full character sheet at this time. Key details would still be appreciated.
I am not expecting a large amount of interest, so if you could coordinate with other applicants to avoid doubling up on classes and builds, that would be appreciated. No need to go any further, can easily still work with a party missing a role or two.
I will keep recruitment open until I have four complete applications which I am happy with.
As per the setting document, the setting is designed to be quite basic, and for it to be built on by players. If you'd like to create a landmark, group or something else as part of your backstory, feel free, though I reserve the right to require changes or decline certain ideas after you make your application.

Consider structuring your application by filling out the following form;

Name:
Race:
Class:
Alignment:
Backstory:
Personality:
Description:
Sheet (Optional)

While I've tried to be as thorough as possible, I'm sure you'll still have questions, please feel free to post them here.


With a successful gathering behind them, the council and the houses are agreed- it is time for the valley to move together in force, strike back, and reclaim house Gisli’s ruins from the winter. A brave team of scouts will venture forth first, battling and discovering the threads which have slithered and battered their way onto the land since the winter, then lead the rebuilding before the house’s members can return proper. As the party climb atop their own Battle Hill, will they be able to defend against the forces and treacheries of the winter?

Wotcher; a text-based campaign over Skype has finished its first chapter and we're onto the second, but we've had a drop out. Recruiting one or two people. Current game time is 7pm AEST Monday (Sunday Evening for Americanskis) but can switch to Friday or a different week day (American Time).

Campaign Page should summarize matters, but I'll reproduce the build rules below for clarity's sake. Also, do read the setting document.

Build Rules:
Level: 4
Point Buy: 25
HP: Max first, average hitpoints per level rounded up thereafter.
Skill Points: Unchained Background Skills.
Traits: 2 traits, one can be any relevant campaign trait. One optional drawback.
Races: Core + Featured.
Alignment: Any.
Wealth: Standard WBL.
Materials: Any Paizo-made material on D20pfsrd. My homebrew is also allowed; archetypes for Magus, Cleric, Inquisitor, Bard. Path of War allowed.
Valley Character Rules


Hey; good to have everyone here.

Make any last changes to your sheet or backstory as required, and we'll get going imminently, once everyone dots.


It is a dark and stormy night in the Chelish port of Ostenso. Ships rise and fall as black waves wash beneath them, lightning silhouettes the imposing hellknight citadel from its position overseeing the harbor, and the very air feels charged with energy and possibility.


Wotcher,

Intro:
Welcome to my hombrew campaign; I call it Harvest Run. I ran it fairly successfully IRL, thought I'd have a go at doing it in PBP format.

Cheliax is a great and evil devil-worshipping empire on Golarion, bordered to a prior vassal, freedom-loving Andoran. Conflict between them quietly simmers. On a lower level, we have the Bellflower Network, a secret organization dedicated to freeing Cheliax's large population of mostly-halfling slaves. You will all take the role of Bellflower operatives, 'tillers', charged with seeing these slaves to safety along an underground railroad of sorts. I'll be following more precisely the rules for starvation and survival out in the elements to make moving thirty slaves through the wilderness more challenging and rewarding.

If we last long enough, you will also be involved in the Bellflower Network's greatest operation; the disruption of the upcoming first World Slave Market, held in Cheliax, where slavers from all over the world will come to share experience and sell slaves. You'll all perform tasks to set up the operation, and if you have enough success and show enough promise, you'll get a chance to shape the operation and design much of it yourselves. All goes well, the campaign will finish with one great escape.


Character Creation:
Level 3
25pb
Max first HD, average hitpoints per level rounded down thereafter
2 traits, and any relevant campaign trait
Races; Core + Tiefling + Octofolk
Alignment: Preferably good, neutral is fine, evil requires a good justification
Average wealth
Any Paizo and PoW material on d20pfsrd is fine. As is my homebrew.

Recruitment:
I'll be recruiting four players.
I'll need a minimum of three lines of Backstory, a line or two of Personality, and one short, medium and long-term Goal. At level 2 you should be somewhat inexperienced, but have potential, skills and hatred of slavery enough to attract a Bellflower recruiter.

Post if you have questions.


Game discussion


Dustpawn was established in 43 2 4 AR as one of several mining towns intended to keep Cheliax supplied with metal ore. Its location near the Drumish border helped protect the town during the Goblinblood Wars, and demand for iron during the wars kept the town's mining industry busy. Today, the maj ority of the mines in the Dustpawn hinterlands are abandoned, and those still in use support only skeleton crews of miners . The bulk of Dustpawn's citizens now rely upon goats for income. Other busine s s e s there-such as inns, grocers, artisans, and the like-exist primarily to help support the town's farming infrastructure. One burgeoning industry about which many of the citizens remain quiet, in some cases shamefully s o, is smuggling-Dustpawn has several individuals who facilitate the movement of goods between Isger and Druma.

Dustpawn is located about 7 miles from the Conerica River, close enough that Dustpawn remains informed about national events and never wants for supplies, but far enough that the bulk of the busy river traffic between Isger and Druma passes Dustpawn by. The city of Dustpawn grew organically over the years. When miners began striking it rich, new arrivals in town built homes wherever there was open ground, and as a result the town sprawls over several ridgelines that border the open fields to the north. South of the town, the landscape rises in ragged hills sporadically topped by copses of trees or thick patches of chaparral. The town has a few open roads, but most of the buildings can be accessed by winding alleys or narrow footpaths .


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We shall bring glory to Urgen and impart to the modern world a breadth of knowledge unseen since before Earthfall. Only a cataclysm of that magnitude could stand in the way of our imminent greatness!
-Journal of Gelviel Zorriah, 20 Erastus, 4598 AR

Time for another PBP. I'll be running the module 'Doom comes to Dustpawn'

Story:
Three months ago, a falling star crashed in the hills south of the town of Dustpawn. Expeditions of miners and alchemists formed to harvest its skymetal, expeditions of scholars and astronomers formed to satisfy their curiosity; none have returned. Now, a man named Dalviss Crenn has sent word through trade caravans to Isger, Cheliax and further cities that he seeks valiant adventurers to form an expedition to validate his own theory- that the falling star is in fact a ship designed to travel the depths of space itself, fallen to earth.

The PCs will not know each other beforehand. They may choose to know Dalviss as part of their backstory.


Build Rules:
Level 9
25 point buy
Core + Featured races + Octofolk; I wrote up fluff and stats to make it possible to have Octofolk be either Intelligent or Wise, choose which you like
Two traits, one can be any campaign trait. No drawbacks.
Any paizo material (No Unchained) + Path of War (maximum two PoW characters, any PoW material must be on a web source somewhere you can link me to) + My homebrew
No background skills; +1 skill point per level for everyone.
Max first HD, average-rounded up thereafter or roll. Can't take average rounded up after if you roll poorly
No pre-game crafting; classes with bonus item creation feats can exchange them as per PFS
Variant magic rules generally permitted
If there's been an errata nerf or change, ask and I may reverse it (crane wing, etc)
Standard WBL
Leadership is fine, but no followers affecting the game, just cohorts
Upon meeting the pre-requisites, everyone gains for free one of the following feats: Martial Training I, Weapon Finesse, Spell Focus, Weapon Focus, Point-Blank Shot, Toughness, Dirty Fighting.
Any alignment, as long as it can work with a party of strangers constructively.

Application:
I need a minimum of four lines of backstory, one line of personality and one line of physical description. If you go for the minimum, I expect the lines to be content-rich.
I'll be recruiting four players.
I'll need you to have most of your sheet done.


Among your small town, you were the strongest, the wisest, the swiftest, the most loved. A single tie bound you disparate people all together- a love of the theatre. Your performances were a shining light in the region. Now you have all been taken by a shadowy drow noble on a journey deep, deep underground to play for your most dangerous audience ever- High Ilvarandin. Survive, escape or rule; the choice is yours. On with the show.


So; welcome, everyone.

Looks like no one's too keen on playing a pure martial. Probably won't be a problem, I could just give the party some form of large meat shield to control, possibly an elemental of some sort. Still, think about it.


Paizo Advice, advise me.

Level 1 Evoker Spirit Binder Wizard, Thrush familiar.

What feats do I put on it? I'm blanking hard.


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Alright, let's try this again; didn't get enough interest at recruitment last time.

Among your small town, you were the strongest, the wisest, the swiftest, the most loved. A single tie bound you disparate people all together- a love of the theatre. Your performances were a shining light in the region. Now you have all been taken by a shadowy drow noble on a journey deep, deep underground to play for your most dangerous audience ever- High Ilvarandin. Survive, escape or rule; the choice is yours. On with the show.

Intro:
Welcome to Theatre of the Mind, a blossoming campaign idea I have. It's developed to the point where I'd like to run it as a PBP. I will say upfront that I have not completely written or detailed every part of this campaign. I would like to run this PBP as a way of developing it, writing new bits as we progress through and noting character reactions to learn and improve future run-throughs.

Theatre of the Mind will involve a party of 4 PCs being captured by Drow and taken deep underground to High Ilvarandin, city of the abominations known as Intellect Devourers, where they will be required to put on plays to entertain their brainy patrons. From this I envisage several possibilities such as the PCs engineering an escape, destroying or ruling the city by joining one of several present factions, or setting up a new theatrical college to train promising Devourer actors. I'd like to leave the choice of which up to the group. For themes I'd go definite on Horror, Adventure and Comedy, with Survival and Intruigue as possibilities. I intend to play the Devourers... differently than traditionally done.

Build Rules & Recruitment:
Any alignment
23 point-buy, I'm feeling whimsical.
Level 6
Core races
Any Paizo + Path of War + my homebrew
Two traits, one can be any relevant campaign trait from any AP, no drawbacks
Standard WBL
Max HP for all levels
Aside from putting points in Profession: Actor and the like, it would be nice if your class abilities somehow interacted with your stage performance. Obviously easier for casting classes, but I leave it to your system-mastery.
I will be recruiting 4 PCs. I will end recruitment as soon as I have 4 good applications.
I will require a minimum of three lines of backstory, a line and a half of personality, and a line of description. Please make those lines content-rich rather than poor.
No need to complete a sheet; however, a rough description of what it would look like would be nice. Class, race, likely feat choices, archetype(s).
It'd be nice to develop a little group backstory, but that can probably be developed best once playes are chosen.
I may have missed some things, ask questions if you have them.

Risks and Risk Avoidance:
I feel it would be irresponsible of me to start this game without, from the start, naming a few risks and how I plan to avoid them.
Things will get too NSFW Intellect Devourers are by their nature creatures with interests in sex and torture. I plan to mention these things, but not dwell on them; indeed, it will be the purpose of the PCs to introduce more cerebral pleasures to the devourers.
The game will die early Aside from the normal PBP mortality rate, I am starting the game without a complete campaign and an intention to 'make it up as I go'. All I can say is that I have a decent record of keeping up with games I GM, and believe I can avoid this risk.
The PCs will lose agency Part of this campaign is going to be capturing a group of relatively low-level PCs and throwing them into a feeding-ground of high CR monsters and NPCs. There is a risk that doing this will cause the PCs to feel as if they never get to do anything, as if my NPCs are more likely DMPCs, as if nothing they do matters. I hope to avoid this by giving the party a fair bit of autonomy within certain boundaries. The party will be allowed free reign throughout Ilvarandin, subject to a few 'go to this spot and CR 15 monsters will eat your face' restrictions. There should also be plenty of CR-appropriate foes and encounters. The party will be given a number of side-quests to pursue independently.


Wotcher,

My first attempt at running this game has failed due to player disappearances, but I've been watching some Daredevil recently so I'm feeling the urge to get right back up again. I will be running a homebrew adventure, designed to be finished in a single IRL session, which I came up with for my home game awhile ago. I will be requiring at least half of my players to use my homebrew archetypes. I will be only a tiny bit fussy about role-coverage; play what you want to play. I will be recruiting until I have four good applications. I will require one post per week-day and one post per weekend. Looking forward to having some fun. If (and hopefully when) we complete this adventure, I have three more in this questline to follow if everybody would like to continue.

Intro:
It has been six months since you and the rest of your adventuring party captured a prisoner, knocked her unconscious and threw her atop a badger warren to be devoured as a sacrifice to the mighty Badger Lords on a whim. Five months since a strange, stocky man with white-and-black hair approached you with a small and a written message, the letter saying that the Badger Lord himself saw your sacrifice and is willing to accept your service. Four months since you joined the Pathfinder Society. Now, another message- different from the ones which so often precede your Pathfinder missions with small requests and quests- has arrived under your door. The Badger Lord calls you to a tavern with the sign of the Dancing Devil in the Chelish city of Egorian, promising a reward for a deed well-done. With your fellow disciples, you ready yourself for travel.

Character Creation:
Level 3
Any alignment
Max HD at first level, half rounded up therafter
Any core races + Aasimar and Tiefling
Standard WBL
Any paizo except Unchained, plus my homebrew
Two traits, one can be any relevant campaign trait, no drawbacks
No crafting
I may be ignoring a few erratas; off the top of my head, Crane Wing works as it did previously.
All PCs will be Badger Lord disciples and so will receive a potion each mission granting them the Ferocity monster ability

Character Creation:
I need Character Name, Race, Class, Alignment, three lines of backstory, one line of personality and one line of description. No need to create a new alias or sheet at this point. I have no issue with alias recycling.

My Homebrew

I realize it's an odd mission, and odd to insist on use of my homebrew, so I fully expect some questions. I'll explain more of the Badger Lord story once we have people recruited.


The Underdark beckons; refuse and it will drag you down, down, down.


Welcome, all. Finalize your sheets if necessary, and come up with a line of group/pair backstory.


Does Smite apply to Channel Pos/Lay on Hands damage if the target is undead? What if using a Wand of Magic Missile? Anything ridiculous stem from if this is ruled this way?


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Among your small town, you were the strongest, the wisest, the swiftest, the most loved. A single tie bound you disparate people all together- a love of the theatre. Your performances were a shining light in the region. Now you have all been taken by a shadowy drow noble on a journey deep, deep underground to play for your most dangerous audience ever- High Ilvarandin. Survive, escape or rule; the choice is yours. On with the show.

Intro:
Welcome to Theatre of the Mind, a blossoming campaign idea I have. It's developed to the point where I'd like to run it as a PBP. I will say upfront that I have not completely written or detailed every part of this campaign. I would like to run this PBP as a way of developing it, writing new bits as we progress through and noting character reactions to learn and improve future run-throughs.

Theatre of the Mind will involve a party of 4 PCs being captured by Drow and taken deep underground to High Ilvarandin, city of the abominations known as Intellect Devourers, where they will be required to put on plays to entertain their brainy patrons. From this I envisage several possibilities such as the PCs engineering an escape, destroying or ruling the city by joining one of several present factions, or setting up a new theatrical college to train promising Devourer actors. I'd like to leave the choice of which up to the group. For themes I'd go definite on Horror, Adventure and Comedy, with Survival and Intruigue as possibilities. I intend to play the Devourers... differently than traditionally done.

Build Rules & Recruitment:
Any alignment
23 point-buy
Level 6
Core races
Any Paizo + Path of War + my homebrew; other homebrew considered
Two traits, one can be any relevant campaign trait, no drawbacks
Standard WBL
Max HP for all levels
Aside from putting points in Profession: Actor and the like, it would be nice if your class abilities somehow interacted with your stage performance. Obviously easier for casting classes, but I leave it to your system-mastery.

I will be recruiting 4 PCs. I will end recruitment as soon as I have 4 good applications.
I will require a minimum of three lines of backstory, a line and a half of personality, and a line of description. Please make those lines content-rich rather than poor.
It'd be nice to develop a little group backstory, but that can probably be developed best once playes are chosen.
I may have missed some things, ask questions if you have them.

Risks and Avoidance:
I feel it would be irresponsible of me to start this game without, from the start, naming a few risks and how I plan to avoid them.
Things will get too NSFW Intellect Devourers are by their nature creatures with interests in sex and torture. I plan to mention these things, but not dwell on them; indeed, it will be the purpose of the PCs to introduce more cerebral pleasures to the devourers.
The game will die early Aside from the normal PBP mortality rate, I am starting the game without a complete campaign and an intention to 'make it up as I go'. All I can say is that I have a decent record of keeping up with games I GM, and believe I can avoid this risk.
The PCs will lose agency Part of this campaign is going to be capturing a group of relatively low-level PCs and throwing them into a feeding-ground of high CR monsters and NPCs. There is a risk that doing this will cause the PCs to feel as if they never get to do anything, as if my NPCs are more likely DMPCs, as if nothing they do matters. I hope to avoid this by giving the party a fair bit of autonomy within certain boundaries. The party will be allowed free reign throughout Ilvarandin, subject to a few 'go to this spot and CR 15 monsters will eat your face' restrictions. The party will be given a number of side-quests to pursue independently.


I'm readying a recruitment post for an adventure to High Ilvarandin, home of the Intellect Devourers. It's occurred to me that owing to the presence of these creatures, my campaign may involve mature themes and activities; sex, torture, drugs. While I'm not planning for this to be an ERP, I do expect the presence of these topics to be mentioned; 'and over there's the Eternal Orgy. Now, let's get you settled in your rooms over here...' Does Paizo have content limits on its boards that would not permit my campaign?


How would you build a pair of PCs seeking to function as a duo? Looking for direct synergy? Current thoughts are witchguard ranger and mounted paladin/synth mount or nature oracle companion.


Wotcher.

Out of a desire to make a more effective version of the white-haired witch, I created my white-haired magus archetype. Over time, it has grown quite large, to the point where someone suggested converting it to a hybrid class. Thus I now have a little clumsily created the strandmage.

I'd appreciate any comments/reviews/help.


Wotcher. Everyone, say hello to each other and get started on your sheets. I'm on my mobile for a while so will explain the background you should know later.


A fiery red sun smothers itself in the west, towards diabolic Cheliax, calling you.


Wotcher,

I'm on break for awhile, and have decided to run another PBP with some of my free time. I will be recruiting four players. I will be running a homebrew adventure, designed to be finished in a single IRL session, which I came up with for my home game awhile ago. I will be requiring at least half of my players to use my homebrew archetypes. I will be only a tiny bit fussy about role-coverage; play what you want to play. I will be recruiting until I have four good applications. I will require one post per week-day and one post per weekend. Looking forward to having some fun. If (and hopefully when) we complete this adventure, I have three more in this questline to follow if everybody would like to continue.

Campaign Intro:
It has been six months since you and the rest of your adventuring party captured a prisoner, knocked her unconscious and threw her atop a badger warren to be devoured as a sacrifice to the mighty Badger Lords on a whim. Five months since a strange, stocky man with white-and-black hair approached you with a small and a written message, the letter saying that the Badger Lord himself saw your sacrifice and is willing to accept your service. Four months since you joined the Pathfinder Society. Now, another message- different from the ones which so often precede your Pathfinder missions with small requests and quests- has arrived under your door. The Badger Lord calls you to a tavern with the sign of the Dancing Devil in the Chelish city of Egorian, promising a reward for a deed well-done. With your fellow disciples, you ready yourself for travel.

Character Creation:
Level 3
Any alignment
Max HD at first level, half rounded up therafter
Any core races + Aasimar and Tiefling
Standard WBL
Any paizo except Occult, Technology and Unchained, plus my homebrew
Two traits, one can be any campaign trait, no drawbacks
No crafting
I may be ignoring a few erratas; off the top of my head, Crane Wing works as it did previously.
All PCs will be Badger Lord disciples and so will receive a potion each mission granting them the Ferocity monster ability

Application:
I need Character Name, Race, Class, Alignment, three lines of backstory, one line of personality and one line of description. No need to create a new alias or sheet at this point. I have no issue with alias recycling.


I realize it's an odd mission, and odd to insist on use of my homebrew, so I fully expect some questions.


An archetype I've been working on for awhile. Would appreciate some thoughts.

Class progression table and a few thoughts on builds at the bottom.


A last night of rest before the rising mountain road, the sign of the Red Gear offers a few tables for the bigger folks amid its archipelgo of gnomish-sized tables and clientele. The wine burns hot, the music is cool and satisfying as it wafts through the tavern air. Four friends toast.


The Book of the Titan is enormous; two feet tall, a foot thick, a foot wide. Its pages are of cured calf-skin, magic written into it by sorcerous giantblood, centuries of dust caking its cover and edges. Its runes are inscrutable to those unversed in the language of Giants, its techniques requiring a mage of their blood.

Searching and asking has dug up the name of Zoarth, cloud-giant, wizard, friend or at least not enemy to the smaller races, living in his giant sky-castle, last spotted flying towards a high peak in the Kodar Mountains.


Wotcher. Time for another PBP.

Background:
In the course of their shared travels, four powerful adventurers discovered a magical tomb, the Book of the Titan, capable of bestowing great physical prowess upon its reader. To invoke the ritual, the adventurers will seek out a necessary component, the aid of a wizard with giant blood- Zoarth the Cloud Giant in his floating castle above the Kodar Mountains. What will result from seeking his aid?

Trimmed down this adventure (Curse of the Riven Sky) for a game that never happened, figured why let it go to waste. I'll be recruiting four PCs for this module. Might do more afterwards if everyone is still interested. Game will be played PBP using Google Drawings for maps. No particular statement at this time when recruitment will close, probably when I have four applications I like.


Character Creation:
Level 11
20 point buy
Max hitpoints at first level, average rounded up therafter
Core races
Any paizo-made material on d20pfsrd is allowed, excluding Occult and Unchained. My homebrew is also permitted- Mystic Sage, Mystic Warrior, Dawn Dancer, Sound Striker, White-Haired Magus
Some backstory and personality would be nice, at least a paragraph of the former and a sentence of the latter.
Any alignment capable of working together as a party is fine.
2 traits, one can be any relevant campaign trait, no drawbacks
Standard WBL
No crafting
No leadership

If enough complain/ask I may open up allowable races and permit Path of War.


I will be recruiting four players. Game will take place over Skype text chat each Sunday at 7:00am, GMT +10. Skype name is book.guy

Campaign Intro:
Cheliax is a great and evil devil-worshipping empire on Golarion, bordered to a prior vassal, freedom-loving Andoran. Conflict between them quietly simmers. On a lower level, we have the Bellflower Network, a secret organization dedicated to freeing Cheliax's large population of mostly-halfling slaves. You will all take the role of Bellflower operatives, 'tillers', charged with seeing these slaves to safety along an underground railroad of sorts. I'll be following more precisely the rules for starvation and survival out in the elements to make moving thirty slaves through the wilderness more challenging and rewarding. You will also be involved in the Bellflower Network's greatest operation; the disruption of the upcoming first World Slave Market, held in Cheliax, where slavers from all over the world will come to share experience and sell slaves. You'll all perform tasks to set up the operation, and if you have enough success and show enough promise, you'll get a chance to shape the operation and design much of it yourselves. All goes well, the campaign will finish with one epic great escape. Welcome to Pathfinder: Harvest Run

Character Creation:
Level 2
20pb
Max first, average hitpoints per level rounded down thereafter
2 traits, one can be any relevant campaign trait
Races: Core + Tiefling. We'll be playing muchly near Cheliax, so expect certain racial attitudes towards Halflings and Tieflings. If possible, a maximum of two tieflings would be nice. They're not meant to be hugely common.
Alignment: Preferably good, neutral is fine. Evil with justification for why you'd help out.
Average wealth.
Any Paizo-made material on D20pfsrd is fine (includes ACG). My homebrew is also allowed; archetypes for Magus, Cleric, Inquisitor, Bard. Path of War is also permitted, if you consider yourself quite familiar with them; I'm not so I'll be relying on you. No Unchained or Occult.
I'll need Backstory, a line or two of Personality, and one or two medium-long term Goals. Character picture would be good too. Please heavily consider having your character be from Cheliax or an adjacent country. Backstory-wise, your character should be somewhat inexperienced, but have potential, skills and dislike of slavery enough to attract a recruiter from the Bellflower Network. Your backstory should end with you in the Chelish port city of Ostenso, ripe for recruitment; though the Bellflower Network is secret, so you shouldn't be actively seeking it.
Just a heads-up; as part of your duties as secret abolitionist, I'll be requiring the party to run a front; some business or endeavour to give you an excuse to be running around, a day job. Start thinking about that.


This is going to be for a fairly specific audience, this post.

I was reading through Midnight Over Sanctaphrax for some ideas for a different campaign I'm running, had the mild thought of what would it be like to run an Edge Chronicles campaign; what rules would be necessary, who could the PCs be (assuming no prior experience with the setting), what would the character building requirements be.

Off the top of my head
-Rules for sailing skyships
-No magic-using classes and no magical items
-Expanded weather-forecasting and survival skills?
-A few custom races and many custom enemies

Anything else occur to anyone?


I'm pondering a campaign concept, and considered introducing a naval element; PCs start off doing some missions about ships, then on ships, then they end up getting their own ship. A friend of mine pointed out that the issue with that is the ready availability of Fireballs and other spells with the potential to utterly wreck ships, turning them into more liability than asset in a fight.

After some thinking, we've determined that there's no easy and justifiable fix for this; so I'm curious as to whether there's any other literature on the subject? Did ship v ship and high-magic problems come up with 3.5? In 4e perhaps? How about in other very different systems, say GURPS?


Player dropped from an Evil Rise of the Runelords game. I need a new player urgently for the next session, the climatic battle to defend Sandpoint against the goblin horde.

Game is played over Skype text chat, the next session is in five hours. If anyone is interested, please PM me your skype name.


Dot


Dot


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Wotcher.

Introduction:
Welcome to recruitment for my Rise of the Whatlords game. We will be playing Burnt Offerings, the first book in the Rise of the Runelords AP line; if we manage to complete it and people still want to play, I'll find or create something for us to play next. We will not be continuing with the Runelords AP should we finish the first book.

I've decided to start up this game after reading over Painlord's guide to PBPs and reflecting on my past and current PBPs a little differently. I'd like to give it all another try. I think I can run a fun and interesting game for everyone involved.

Expect a mildly modified version; enemies will be re-built, encounters will be modified or removed. Additionally, expect me to be very amenable to 'going off the rails'; if you wish to evolve the plot in a way the game does not exist, run it by me and I will be very unlikely to dismiss it out of hand. If you have already played Burnt Offerings, as long as you can avoid meta-gaming or giving spoilers to people who don't want them, it should be no issue.

I'll be accepting four players for this game. I like to keep group numbers small; too many and too often I feel like I cannot stand out from the crowd as a player.

I've been playing Pathfinder for over three years, and PBPs for much of that. I've almost finished a vanilla PBP of Burnt Offerings that ended up proceeding rather slowly due to dropouts and other reasons; I would like to try for a faster speed this time.

I will use combat maps hosted on Google Drive; I'd like players to move their own tokens.

Recruitment:
Right now, no one needs to create characters for this game. I want to try something different. Those interested, please fill out the below.

Experience with PBPs:
Experience with the RotR AP:
Favourite alignment and why/do you hate the alignment system and why:
Number of PBPs you have played in:
Number of PBPs you have played in that have finished/are still actively ongoing after a long period of time:
Tell me a little about the PBPs you have played in that finished/are still actively ongoing after a long period of time:
Your most interesting character in a previous PBP/real life game:
Your best roleplay interaction post in a previous PBP:
Can you commit to an absolute minimum of 1 post every 2 days:
Can you commit to this game for a long time, as the bare minimum is measured in months not weeks:
What would you like to do in this game/get out of this game:
Are you a dick:

After a few days, I will announce four people to join the game. I will then request Skype names from all my players so that we can form a group conversation (text-based) and sort out character creation and other preparations there. Plus we can have some fun exchanging old game horror stories.

Character Creation:
Level: 3
Point Buy: 25
HP: Max 1st level, average rounded up thereafter
Materials: Any Paizo on D20pfsrd excepting ACG, Unchained and Occult. I may allow personal homebrew upon application and screening. I may permit Wordcasting if you ask nicely.
Alignment: Any except CE
Wealth: 3000gp
Race: Core + Aasimar/Tiefling
Traits: 2 and 1 RotR campaign trait

If we manage to complete the adventure, I will implement the Mythic rules, granting everyone a tier.

So, that should be it for now; post if you have any questions.


Discovered a few PBP guides and it's got me thinking about starting up another one; but first, I was wondering- what is the best way for dealing with drop-outs? What has been everyone's experience? What worked well, what could work well? How about recruiting replacement players- a good idea? How best to introduce them?


Pretty much what it says on the tin. thoughts?


A player has approached me about re-statting his Level 3 Lion Shaman Druid to be a Pack Lord. My key issues revolve around his plan to have the time of his life at low-levels controlling 2, 3, 4 or more Spinosauri, freely swapping them around through the relatively small 24-hour new-animal ritual. His character also recently became Evil, so not being too concerned about his low-level animal companions being easily wiped seems to fit into that, according to him.

Some issues I noted included

-Slowing down combat; I suggested capping the maximum number of animal companions he can have based on how many people are in the group that day.
-Suspension of disbelief; one dinosaur is one thing, 3-4 of them is... another.
-Hand-waving feeding and finding it; easy for one dinosaur, less so for 3-4
-Not worrying about his animal companions getting wiped might make him non-neutral and not 'revering nature'

From a mechanical standpoint however, it's hard to fault him; having many spinosaurs at low-level will be like every day is a christmas massacre, and the archetype has scope for swapping them for a higher-level companion once DR starts kicking in and he gets serious.

I suppose what I'm asking is... any thoughts? I'm a bit flummoxed on this, not sure how to respond to him, told him I'd think about it for a few days.


I'm currently making up a poster to find any people interested in playing d&d at the college where I live; I wouldn't mind including a short summary detailing what it is and how it works. Nothing huge, a few lines at most.

Any suggestions? Google seems oddly reticent on the subject.


When chosen, say hello here.


the Grand Lodge of the Pathfinder Society, its tallest tower- Skyreach- a white finger pointing immensely into the sky

Victory in the Ruby Phoenix Tournament earned the Pathfinder Society a pick of the legendary treasures of the Tian sorceress Hao Jin, and the Decemvirate knew just what item to select: a frayed and dirty tapestry hidden deep in Hao Jin’s vault. This unassuming tapestry acts as a doorway to another dimension in which Hao Jin stored her most massive items, including entire buildings, battlefields, and the ruins of ancient civilizations. The Pathfinder Society is now methodically exploring and cataloging the diverse locales tucked within this extradimensional space. Deep beneath Absalom’s Grand Lodge, the Pathfinder Society’s Master of Spells, Aram Zey, gestures at the tapestry hung on the wall, surrounded by ladders and scaffolds. Scholars and diviners scurry around the tapestry, analyzing its abstract patterns and comparing insights. Zey snaps his finger to quiet the room and looks the group of Pathfinders in front of him up and down speculatively. "Just you? Well, let's hope... Anyway." He shakes his head, then starts firing off words in a quick succession.

“Greetings. As the learned of you should know, the aasimar nation of Tianjing contains a handful of temples to Korada, Empyreal Lord of forgiveness and foresight. The Pathfinder Society is interested in exploring these holy sites, but the aasimar disciples in Tianjing are reluctant to grant the Pathfinder Society full access to their faith’s secrets. Fortunately, the custodian council of Tianjing gifted one such temple to Hao Jin centuries ago. This temple—the Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment—now sits vacant within the museum demiplane of the Hao Jin Tapestry. We need well-trained explorers to survey the isolated and abandoned site." He stops for a moment to look you over again. "Well-trained you seem..." he mutters before shaking his head and continuing.

“We will transport you to the Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment within the Hao Jin Tapestry and provide you with a small cache of supplies. We need a complete report on the temple with a focus on four key locations. First, locate the temple’s meditation room, find evidence ofany meditative techniques described there, and record any effects of performing those techniques. Second, prepare a comprehensive catalog of all works in the temple library. Third, find the temple gardens and draft a detailed plan of the garden’s layout. Finally, enter the temple’s crypt and take rubbings of the carvings on each sarcophagus."

"I want to emphasize- you are not being sent there to kill anything. There may be hazards- fallen ceilings, some outsiders who've snuck onto the plane- and you may need to deal with them, but you're primarily going to be cataloging, drafting and recording. Real Pathfinder work, not the pseudo-mercenary violent rubbish we seem to get drawn into again and again..." He gives a little sniff of distaste, eyes running over the blades in front of him. "Record the meditative techniques, catalog the library, mape a plan of the garden."

“You will enter the tapestry within the hour. Any questions?”


Another day, another death-defying mission into the unknown for the members of the most glorious Pathfinder Society. But this one promises to be fairly quiet... nothing but a few traps and old ghosts, right? Right?

Wotcher. This is the recruitment post for a non-PFS sanctioned run of my favorite scenario, Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment, with enemies altered with homebrew from various sources.

I'm looking for 4-5 players for this run. Traditional requirements for 1 post/day, etc in place.

I'll be looking for characters to fulfill a few categories- Ranged, Melee, Magic, Divine, Skills. In the event I have multiple applications for a single category, and they all seem of the same reasonable standard of backstory/personality/fluff, I MAY decide to choose players according to die roll.

Note that this scenario has a delightful balance between challenges for Traps, Combat and Skills; characters to deal with all three will be needed.

So, that aside, here we go-

CHARACTER CREATION RULES

Level: 4
Race: Core + Featured.
Class: All Paizo - ACG. Repeat, no ACG. Otherwise, go nuts. I can handle Synthesists.
Alignment: Preferably non-evil, go for it if you think you can justify it
Point Buy: 25
Hitpoints: Full at 1st, half rounded up then on
Traits: Two, one can be any campaign trait.
Drawbacks: One, optional. Receive an extra trait for taking a drawback.
Wealth: Average for level.
Backstory: Not much, just enough to inform some nice RP during this scenario. Note that every character needs to end up as a PFS member.
Personality: More than Backstory, again enough to inform some nice RP. I do not intend this to be simply a combat-slog, and indeed the scenario isn't written like that.


It is a strange and turbulent time for Golarion. Clashes and delvings in the Worldwound have created and unleashed strange monsters and powers like never before. Word of the struggle between mortal and demon has brought visitors from the stars to join the fight or claim vacant real estate while the eyes of the world are distracted. And with their gold these visitors have brought their gods, whose presence is slowly becoming felt on this world...

Now more than ever, it's a time to be extraordinary.

Wotcher, folks. I've been wanting to try out some of my favorite homebrew, and towards that goal I'm starting up a game. Plan is to run a short adventure- a PFS module, maybe the first book of an AP, haven't decided- where I'll incorporate some of my homebrew as well as some other homebrew I like into the combats, NPCs, plot if possible.

In return for running this game, I'd like it if one of my chosen players would be willing to run a second game as GM after this is over, in which I can play as a PC using my homebrew. This second game can be any adventure or settings rules, doesn't have to be the same as mine.

I will be picking FOUR players. At this stage, I think we sort out what homebrew is approved; each will get an 'overpowered? broken? bloody stupid?' test from me. If you want to discuss over Skype, private message me your name.

Campaign will be set on Golarion, subject to someone showing me a homebrew setting that really sets me afire.

I've ran several PBP games and hosted two RL games that are on hold for the holidays, confident I can run an enduring and fun game. 1/day minimum posting rate offered and expected. I will use maps.

CHARACTER CREATION RULES

Level: 4
Race: Core + Featured + Homebrew. Homebrew monsters upon approval and upon presentation of a great backstory.
Class: All Paizo - ACG + Homebrew. Repeat, no ACG. Otherwise, go nuts. I can handle Synthesists.
Alignment: Preferable non-evil, go for it if you think you can justify it
Point Buy: 25
Hitpoints: Full at 1st, half rounded up then on
Traits: Two, one can be any campaign trait
Drawbacks: One, optional
Wealth: Average for level
Templates: None. Unless homebrewed, then mayyyyyybe
Backstory: Not needed at this stage
Personality: Not needed at this stage.

No official third party material, must be homebrew from forums, your own fevered imaginations, etc.

Goes without saying but should probably be stated that if you want Homebrew to be approved, must be able to send me it to look over and understand.

List of my permitted homebrew for this adventure
Sound Striker Bard Archetype
Mystic Sage Cleric Archetype
Mystic Warrior Inquisitor Archetype
Tovenaar Magus Archetype
Dawn Dancer Bard Archetype


This is the Tovenaar, a third party class which gives the player a large number of domain powers to use and ways to use them in combat. Sadly it's hideously executed, see my review at the bottom-right.

I'd appreciate some help homebrewing a more functional version. Here's my effort. I really like the idea; there are loads of flavorsome and mechanically interesting domain powers which can add some versatility and options to a martial beyond 'I hit the thing'. Also, the domain powers are really quite balanced, and giving someone loads of them and the ability to use more than one in a turn isn't the slightest bit overpowered. The one exception I've found is the Repose domain, where the ability to use a power twice in one turn is effectively instant-unconsciousness, but everything else is fine.

Main issue with my attempt is that it runs out of steam later on due to the lack of spellcasting, and there are very few feats which are useful or interesting for my Tovenaar. Some have suggested decoupling my class from the Magus, not sure how or whether to do that.

Thoughts, anyone?


PCs will be delving a soggy Osirion tomb, I'm considering putting a few Mummies of the Deep in their path. These mummies have Control Water as an SLA and can be pretty easily placed on the map in a corridor that is about half stepping stones and half deep pools.

As described, the SLA has the potential for combat use- raising water to create difficult terrain/barriers, raising water to trap creatures or shove them off balance, lowering water to make them fall down into deep pits... But the spell doesn't actually give any advice on how to 'stat up' these effects.

Just wondering if anyone had any good ideas on this matter. If water rises up to engulf someone should I stat it as per Reverse Gravity? If it's used to knock them off balance, should I stat it as per Hydraulic Push?


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I'm writing a campaign set in the delightfully flavorsome region of the Mana Wastes but I'm having some difficulty due to geographical inconsistencies.

The Map of the region. Note the positioning of Alkenstar and Dongun Hold and Martel.

An immense fortress called Cloudreaver Keep guards the eastern border of the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar. It is one of the three points connected by the massive Bridge of the Gods, the other two being Alkenstar City and Dongun Hold on the far side of the canyon.

Okay, so there's a massive canyon not indicated on the map with a huge bridge running between three cities. I can show that with a little work in MS Paint. But...

The city of Alkenstar is divided into two distinct parts—Smokeside and Skyside—naturally separated by the Ustradi River.

Yet, as shown on the map, the Ustradi River separates Alkenstar and Dongun Hold, not Smokeside and Skyside...

The Alken Falls are a seven-hundred-foot fall cascade where the Ustradi River plunges over the Hellfallen Cliffs. Alkenstar City, with its steaming factories and turning gears, stands proudly atop the Falls. Meanwhile, the town of Martel rests at the foot of the waterfall, its two landmark towers climbing the full height of the cliff to connect with the main city above.

Yet, as shown on the map, Martel is miles and miles away to the east.

Can anyone help me resolve these inconsistencies? Preferably a resolution where rather than 'ignore the map' or 'ignore the description' there's a way to combine the two in a way that makes logical sense.

Cheers.


Hullo all,

A new-ish player is quite eager to start a single-player campaign with me as GM, featuring her as a level 5 Vampire (the full template) Wizard, fleeing Geb on a quest for redemption and a neutral good alignment.

Just wondering whether anyone can predict any problems in execution and storytelling that I cannot, and possible solutions to those problems? General thoughts on the premise, how I should build encounters, how we should play?

I have hosted a few home campaigns and played much online, but never any solo campaigns.

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