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981 posts. Alias of Alexander Kilcoyne.



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Your Humble Narrator

Game open only for the purpose of dotting for now.

Sovereign Court

Welcome all. I have several requests which will save us all time in the future re: player profiles. I will list these tomorrow though as i'm out of time tonight. For now, please ensure you have a profile with an avatar unique to the other players as your alias. In addition, try and complete your character sheets if not already done; including movement rates (derived from your AB).

I'll give you all a format i'd like you to enter later in order to have quick access to your stats in the IC.

If you wish, you may begin to plan out your warrant/ship origin path together. No one has veto in this except me so play nice.


DM Alexander Kilcoyne's Warpstorm Trilogy Recruitment

It is the 41st millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in His name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defense forces, the ever-vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. This is a tale of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughing of thirsting gods.

Yet you are not just any individuals - you are explorers aboard a Rogue Trader ship with authority and freedom far above the comprehension of the masses. Empowered by an ancient warrant of trade and a warp-capable ship, you venture into the uncharted voids, discovering new worlds, lost civilisations, and bizarre alien technology. Fortune and glory are yours for the taking. Rogue Traders and their closest allies stand on the threshold of unlimited opportunity and innumerable dangers.

And should you fail...

The galaxy is a big place. You will not be missed.

__________________________________________________________________________

System Information-

"The endless dark of the universe is yours, if you but reach out to take it. Yield nothing- the void respects only strength."
Serren Travius, Rogue Trader

Rogue Trader is a roleplaying game of ambition and wealth in the 41st Millenium.

In Rogue Trader, you can explore the universe of Warhammer 40,000 like never before. Vast fortunes await on the edges of the galaxy, if you and your fellow Explorers can muster the courage to find and claim them. Renown and riches reward the bold, but the unwary find only anonymous deaths. A Rogue Trader who can wrest profits from a dangerous universe through luck, cunning, or sheer force of will enjoys something few humans in the 41st Millennium even know—a life of adventure and true freedom.

Such a course, however, is often fraught with peril. Foul aliens, pernicious raiders, and even other Rogue Traders stand in your way on the path to greatness. Your wits, luck, skill, and courage will be tested to their utmost limits. To survive is to face even greater challenges—and to wield even greater power.

The lure of the unknown draws you toward a wealth of possibilities:
• Explore the uncharted regions of the galaxy
• Buy and sell entire worlds
• Battle pirates for control of valuable trade routes
• Discover the ruins of an alien civilization, the first step on a path towards a legendary prize…

The system is D100 based and is much akin to WFRP (Warhammer Fantasy Role-Playing), Dark Heresy, Deathwatch, and other 40K RPG's. You usually test against a target number dependent on your abilities and the situation at hand, seeking to roll equal to or under the number. Rolling significantly underneath this target number scores you "degrees of success" which lead to a greater result than a simple success, rewarding specialisation. Simultaneously, a spectacularly bad roll can lead to multiple "degrees of failure", which can be disastrous.

Rogue Trader is an extremely versatile system, and can feature mass combat as well as the more common smaller scale fights. It also has advanced mechanics for interaction and intrigue; do not sign up to the game expecting only a hack and slash.

Its also worth noting that unlike many other systems, Rogue Trader characters are already considered quite exceptional at Rank 1. The very class you select comes with 4,500XP worth of advances including higher attribute stats across the board compared to most in the 40K multiverse. Thus, your character already has accomplishments under his belt.

__________________________________________________________________________

Game Format and Specifics-

“Greenskins detected massing in System Designate 035-1D4-3Y. Based on proximity, most likely target calculated to be Damaris.”
Astropathic report, Naval light cruiser Aegis

I will initially run The Warpstorm Trilogy, a set of three separate scenarios as part of an overarching plot. I would be delighted to continue the game at that point in a more sandbox nature, dependent on continuing player enthusiasm. Honestly, in a play-by-post format these scenarios will likely take at least a year of active posting to complete (varying hugely on posting patterns of players). I would caution anyone looking for a "quick fix" to avoid this recruitment. A good play-by-post is an investment and I know from experience the returns can be tremendously satisfying.

The medium for this game will be Play-by-Post, on these forums. I would expect an up-to-date character alias for each player, as well as a ship alias handled by the Rogue Trader or another prominent figure. Dice rolling all to be done in-thread; and if people would like to preview their rolls and base their RP around the roll, I would encourage that. While there is room for dramatic speeches and great role-play, it better fits an actually successful roll. Narrating a bumbling speech rolled as a critical fail on a Command check can be just as much fun (sometimes more so) than a successful one.

The Warpstorm Trilogy begins with The Frozen Reaches; a scenario in which the group will take on a prominent role in coming to the aid of the defence of the world Damaris. Thriving against all odds in the midst of the Koronus Expanse, outside of fully integrated Imperial space, the wealthy planet of Damaris has sent out a desperate call for help against an impending Orc invasion...

Prepare a planet’s defences as the Ork fleets close in on Damaris. However, those defences are split between three powerful individuals, each with their own schemes and plots. Fight the xenos in space aboard the bridge of your starship, or meet the bloody Orks in brutal hand-to- hand combat on the ground!

The choices you make ensure success, or guarantee defeat. Choose wisely, and reap the rewards of your victory.

As you can see above, this particular endeavour is fairly warfare focused. However, rather than only participating in your dynasty's flagship and on special missions; each member will also be a senior commander in their own right. Their expertise and ability to plan, lead, command, charm, coerce and bring out the best in the other defenders of Damaris will be even more valuable to the effort. Not a single talent or skill within the 40K multiverse will be without a means of application, provided there is enough ingenuity behind it.

__________________________________________________________________________

Expectations From Players-

"To voyage alongside a Rogue Trader is to know great honour and even greater opportunities. First, however, there are some basics you must learn..."
Master Seneschal Nathin Tsanthos

1. Regular and reliable posting; preferably once a day, even if its only a small post. I put an lot of work into games I GM and they are an enormous investment for me, so I naturally prefer not to have my time wasted. I also expect notice in the OOC for periods of absence. Its never an issue for me to bot someone for a week or two while they are on holiday, for example. But its an issue if i'm not informed and wondering what is going on. Be fair to your fellow players.

2. Attention to detail. Rogue Trader has a lot of things to track. Attributes, skills, talents, personal gear, acquisitions, your starship (which will need its own profile/character sheet). It will be your responsibility to keep these things up to date.

3. Access to the following books (or .pdf's of them)- Rogue Trader Core Rulebook, Into the Storm and Battleship Koronus.

4. Drive and initiative. Although i'm easing everyone in by using a scenario, its still definitely a system that favors players who push, players who ask questions, players who take the initiative to make their own plans. You are operating with a Warrant of Trade and a void-enabled, personally owned starship, with the weight of a fabulously wealthy dynasty behind you. Seize the limelight and engrave your names into the history of the Imperium. Take risks and seize the day.

__________________________________________________________________________

Application Process-

"A new world is like a blank canvas waiting for an artist’s touch. Who can say, however, whether or not that touch will spawn a masterpiece or a monstrous travesty"
Knarlor Decanlia, Master Chronicler of the Fel Dynasty

In order to apply for this game, please follow the character creation process using the Rogue Trader Core Rulebook to create a Rank 1 character with accompanying backstory. Your starting package and origin path use up 4,500 of your 5,000 starting XP, leaving you 500 to spend on stat advances, Rank 1 advances and/or a lineage (part of the Expanded Origin Path).

An example of a character created by one of the FFG staff is available here. However, as we are using Into the Storm, please use the Expanded Origin Path on page 17 of Into the Storm. I have chosen Birthright as a free choice row, meaning you don't have to progress from homeworld to birthright in the normal manner.

We will be using Rogue Trader career paths only (the 8 listed on page 37 of Core Rulebook), but the extra careers from Into the Storm will be available at later ranks too. No Orks or Kroot, or any Xenos as a matter of fact. We'll also be using the Into the Storm Warrant and Ship Origin paths, but that will come later. I'd rather not throw DH classes into the mix, so please don't ask.

You don't have to create a PbP alias here just for application, but I will expect one during play. Roll all statistics in this thread and detail your origin path as well as your backstory in a single post for the convenience of having it all in one place.

I will be looking at posting history, strength of concept and the completeness of application when making my selections. In addition, I will only take one applicant per position on the ship. The only "locked in" career path I will definitely take will be the Rogue Trader. I'll make up a crew using other applications. But I suspect that this thread won't get that much interest as it isn't Pathfinder, so even if your application to play a character isn't taken, you can probably get in as a different career path after some discussion. I'm looking for 6-8 players, depending on number of applications and how feasible I believe the higher numbers to be. I will be very reluctant to select anyone with an incomplete character.

Oh- and you can place your stats rather than take them in order. I know how frustrating it is to play a Rogue Trader with crappy Fellowship.

__________________________________________________________________________

Resources-

"Never assume that your destination can supply your needs"
Rogue Trader Emmanuel Larn

Rogue Trader Errata

A Brief History of the Koronus Expanse

Fantasy Flight Games Rogue Trader Game Aids & Supplements

Dark Reign 40K (arguably the best general resource for 40K RPG)

Excel Character Sheet/Generator HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Rogue Trader Character Sheet

__________________________________________________________________________

Application Deadline- 30th June, 18:00 GMT+0

I reserve the right to close recruitment earlier due to sufficient interest or extend it.

Happy to provide further information or answer questions.


Your Humble Narrator

Welcome to DM Alexander Kilcoynes Kingmaker PbP, Chapter Three...

The Varnhold Vanishing

Links-

Previously on "Guardians of the Greenbelt"... (Links to Chapters 1 and 2)- Link, Link

Link to Discussion Thread (lurker friendly and peanuts guaranteed...)- Link

Link to Interlude Threads (between Chapters 1 and 2/2 and 3)- Link, Link

Link to group site (please give me an e-mail address in the discussion thread if you want viewing access)- Link

The Guardians of the Greenbelt-

Casimir- Aldori Arcana Duelist, Story Spinner, Redeemer and Spymaster of Kardas

Fenna- Heavens Oracle and Prophetess of Aroden, Councillor of Kardas

Kalev- Marshall of Kardas, Hunter, Warrior, Patron of Tatzlford

Malthir- Paladin of the Inheritor, Sword Scion, First Sword and Duke of Kardas

Kip- Fey Sympathiser, National Hero, Magister of Kardas, Founder of Cathrach-Cann

Ricter- Hellknight Commander, Field Maralictor, Arbiter of Law, General of Kardas

___________________________________________________________________________

1st of Lamashan, 4714...

More to come but I have to get an assignment or two due for the 15th and i'm running behind. Please dot the IC when you get a chance and i'll update asap.


Your Humble Narrator

Dot.


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Your Humble Narrator

Dot.


Your Humble Narrator

We will use this thread to run the upcoming kingdom turns- use it to discuss anything you please regarding it.

The only thing I will be rolling is the events phase at the end of each turn, so i'll post the new month after resolving the events phase every turn. Its possible this will also become an active IC at various moments if you wish to explore the remaining hexes in the Greenbelt.

For quick reference-

Kingdom Building Rules:

Ruling a Kingdom

Like a player character’s stat block, a kingdom’s stat block continues to evolve and grow as the kingdom expands, gathers more resources, purchases upgrades, and suffers defeats and setbacks. As the kingdom grows, the PCs will need to deal with a host of situations, all of which can further influence the kingdom’s stat block.

A kingdom’s growth occurs during four phases, which represent a month in total. When the PCs establish a kingdom, you should pick a day of each month to resolve that kingdom’s growth and fortunes—it’s best to set this as the last day of each month, so that any accomplishments the PCs have made during that month can impact that month’s growth.

Upkeep Phase

During a kingdom’s Upkeep phase, take the following actions. If your kingdom currently controls 0 hexes, skip this phase and proceed to the Improvement phase.

Step 1— Determine Kingdom Stability: Make a Stability check against your Command DC to determine your kingdom’s level of security for the month. If you make the check, reduce your kingdom’s Unrest by 1 (if your Unrest is at 0, gain 1 BP as a result of surplus goods and services). If you fail this check by 5 or more, increase Unrest by 2.

Step 2— Pay Consumption: Deduct your kingdom’s Consumption from the kingdom’s Treasury BP. If you aren’t able to pay for the month’s Consumption, your kingdom’s BP drops into the negative. Every time you end an Upkeep phase with negative BP in your Treasury, your kingdom’s Unrest increases by 2.

Step 3— Fill Vacant Magic Item Slots: If there are any vacant magic item slots in any cities, randomly roll new items to fill these slots.

Step 4— Unrest: If the kingdom’s Unrest is 11 or higher, it loses one hex chosen by the kingdom’s leaders. Any improvements in that hex (farmlands and roads) are lost and must be rebuilt after the hex is reclaimed. Any settlements in that hex become towns that must be annexed if they are to be reclaimed into the kingdom (see page 56). Finally, if the kingdom employs a Royal Assassin, reduce your total Unrest by 1 at the end of this phase.

Improvement Phase

During a kingdom’s Improvement phase, take the following actions. The number of improvements you can make during a single phase is limited by your kingdom’s size; see the Improvements per Month table for these limits.

Step 1—Select Leadership: Assign leaders to any vacant leadership roles. Leaders must be PCs or closely allied NPCs. You can change leaders as often as you want with no impact on your nation’s statistics (apart from changing what bonuses apply, as the ability scores of leaders differ); reallocating roles allows you to give every player a chance to play the role of ruler if you wish.

Step 2—Claim Hexes: Each hex on the maps of the Stolen Lands measures 12 miles across, and the PCs kingdom must be built hex by hex. To claim a hex, you must explore it and clear it of monsters or dangerous hazards; the hex must also be adjacent to a hex that is already part of the kingdom (with the exception of the first hex, which can be anywhere). At this point, you can claim the hex as part of the kingdom by spending 1 BP. Increase your kingdom’s size (and thus its Consumption) by 1 for each hex you claim. You can abandon a hex to reduce your kingdom’s Size. Doing so increases Unrest by 1 (or by 4, if the abandoned hex contained a city).

Step 3—Establish and Improve Cities: Prepare land for city districts and then purchase new buildings for your kingdom’s cities. The building’s adjustments to your nation apply immediately. You can also destroy buildings at this time in order to clear a space to build something new; if you destroy a building, don’t forget to remove its benefits from your kingdom’s statistics!

Step 4—Build Roads: Roads have an immediate initial cost but over the long term can pay for the investment handsomely. It costs 1 BP to build a road though a hex. This cost increases to 2 BP in forests and to 4 BP in swamps
and mountains. If the road crosses a river, a bridge must be built—this doubles the road’s cost.

Step 5: Establish Farmlands: You can develop any grassland or hill hex that contains roads into farmlands to help sustain your kingdom’s Consumption. It costs 2 BP to designate a grassland hex as farmland and 4 BP to designate a hill hex as farmland. You cannot build a city on a farmland hex. Every farmland hex in your kingdom reduces your Consumption by 2 BP.

Step 6: Edicts: Pick or adjust your edict levels (see page 55) as you wish.

Income Phase

During a kingdom’s Income phase, take the following actions.

Step 1—Deposits: You can add funds to a kingdom’s treasury by donating coins, gems, jewelry, weapons, armor, magic items, and other valuables you find while adventuring. For every full 4,000 gp in value of the deposit, increase your kingdom’s BP by 1. Items that individually cost more than 4,000 gp must be sold as detailed under Step 3 below.

Step 2—Withdrawals: You can also withdraw funds from the kingdom’s treasury, but doing so runs the risk of annoying the citizens. Each time you withdraw funds, the kingdom’s Unrest increases by 1. In addition, you must
make a Loyalty check (DC = Command DC + number of BP being withdrawn); a failure causes your kingdom to gain Unrest equal to the total BP withdrawn. Each BP withdrawn in this manner converts into 2,000 gp.

Step 3—Sell Valuable Items: You can attempt to sell items that cost more than 4,000 gp through your city’s markets to bolster your kingdom’s Treasury; these can be items you recover during an adventure or they can be magic items currently held by any of your cities. To sell these items, make an Economy check (DC 20 for minor items, DC 35 for moderate items, and DC 50 for major items). A failed check indicates the item doesn’t sell. Success indicates that the item sells and you can increase your kingdom’s treasury by 2 BP (for minor items), 8 BP (for moderate items), or 15 BP (for major items). You can make one Economy check per city district during each Income phase.

Step 4—Generate Income: Make an Economy check against your Command DC at the end of your Income phase. If you’re successful, divide your result by 5 (dropping any fractions) and increase your Treasury’s BP by that amount.

Event Phase (DM resolved)

During a kingdom’s Event phase, roll once on the Kingdom Events table to determine if an event occurs. Adventure specific kingdom events occur during this phase. Once you’ve determined what kind of event occurs (if any), simply follow the rules for each event to determine how the event impacts the PCs’ kingdom or cities.

Chance of an Event: There’s a 25% chance that a random event occurs during an Event phase. This chance increases to 75% if no event occurred in the previous Event phase.

Improvements per Month

Kingdom Size- New Cities/New Buildings/Hex Claims/Roads/Farmlands
1–10 1/1/1/1/1
11–25 1/2/2/2/1
26–50 1/5/3/3/2
51–100 2/10/4/4/2
101–200 3/20/8/6/3
201+ 4/No limit/12/8/4

Please remember to declare what your minions are up to at any given time!

Sovereign Court

DM stopped posting quite some time ago and game is clearly abandoned. Would like to get it off our campaigns list and into previous campaigns-

Link

Sovereign Court

7 people marked this as a favorite.

Technically this is a repost, as the first time it didn't show up when I posted it earlier today. Perhaps because I put a / in the topic.

Not honestly combed through the website feedback lately so sorry if this is redundant information and I won't be offended if the topic is locked, closed etc. if your all on top of it. Here are the issues as I see them. No. 1 in particular drove me to make this post-

1. Thread "Hiatus" Problems.

I don't think this issue is seen much outside of the campaign PbP interface but i've had reports that this also applies to people still relying on scrolling through the PbP forums manually or using the "Focus" button.

PMG has said in the past he is not so much in the know about how all the PbP stuff works- but essentially, its pretty common for a game to go on hiatus for a couple of weeks, sometimes up to a month or two. This ranges from various reasons but usually because RL is getting in the way- long travelling plans, a busted computer, floods...

So the IC and OOC threads go very quiet. You still have your dot and in many cases now, your Campaign page on your profile. So your game comes off hiatus, and you start posting on the discussion and IC thread, looking to get your game back on track.

The new posts do not show in other people's campaigns page which they use to track your game. I've had this happen to me on multiple occasions now and for the games which I DM, I ended up sending a heap of PM's to gather everybody. But not everyone is aware this is necessary and wonders why their players never show up. Players in turn, wonder why their DM never came back.

I think the new campaign interface is a fantastic tool and i'm really hoping further things are added to it (i'm also happy to make suggestions :P )- I use it exclusively as it is FAR more convenient than trawling through the respective forums (especially with how frequent dots disappear, see 3) and its a shame that I can't currently always trust it to tell me there are new posts.

A "Mass PM" to a group of players in your own campaign would also be a really neat addition to the PM and Campaign interface, especially until this is fixed.

2. 1 post in 50.

The first post on each page behaves oddly. When adding a new reply using the traditional button, it doesn't show up at all if for example, your making the 4502nd post in a thread. In addition, when trying to get at said new post, the forum will instead take you to the previous page just BEFORE the first post of the new page. More of a PbP issue than a general issue, doubt it bothers people much on the general forums.

3. Disappearing Dots.

I still don't really understand why dots are lost on various threads. I know that the official line is that the server 'repopulates' dots based on your previous posting... But it often doesn't actually ever give you a dot back until you've manually found the thread in question and re-dotted it. Less of an issue than it used to be as we seem to be going through a generally steady period for the site (barring the last major downtime which was ISP I was told).

4. PbP Trolling.

Not a topic i'm entirely comfortable with as I honestly am not sure what can be done about this. We have a situation at the moment where someone is recruiting for their 14th PbP game. This person has never got past the first page in an IC PbP, often disappearing just after recruitment has finished and leaving several players who have spent hours making a character and eagerly awaiting the campaign, hung out to dry. I suppose it would be nice if there was a way to flag such offenders, a reputation system to warn other people... Some way which didn't involve Joana, Mark Sweetman and myself acting as the unofficial forum police... We have warned people in the past couple of games but these warnings are not fully heeded as we're just fellow users, even if his "track record" is fully catalogued.

Don't honestly have a happy fix in mind here. But I don't believe this is the first time such a thing has happened (well, its the 14th time for this one individual). I think even if there isn't a policy put into place for this, its worth PMG etc. knowing about it.

5. 1 Hour Editing Lockout

Some PbP posts are the longest i've seen on these forums, dwarfing even the long rants and flame wars found in Monk threads (tongue-in-cheek, please don't post taking offence and make this a monk thread...). People often want to make sure they meet the DM's submitted "posting quota" (i.e., many want a post per day on weekdays) and post on their phone before leaving for work, or make a quick post before heading out. No one likes being the one holding everyone else up in combat.

By the time they then have access to a computer again and time to edit said post, its been over an hour. They made a typo in the spoiler tag perhaps, and the super secret PC secret scene they were having with one of the players is now bare for everyone to see. Or they accidentally linked the wrong map to a combat, causing a mess of confusion.

Lots of people "lurk" on good PbP games and plenty of people like to read them sheerly for the pleasure of it. In turn, a lot of DM's want to take pride in the "story" of their own game and clear up typos, mistakes etc. The 1 hour editing window is probably fine as is for most of the Paizo forum, but the IC threads could really do with something more generous, say three to six hours.

Not only that, but some edits I have made in the past have been so long by the time I click submit to make the changes, i've been locked out, and I am by no means a slow typer.

P.S- yes i'm well aware Paizo is fully busy with Gencon right now. I'm not looking for an immediate fix, if any fixes are even forthcoming at all.

Sovereign Court

Not honestly combed through the website feedback lately so sorry if this is redundant information and I won't be offended if the topic is locked, closed etc. if your all on top of it. Here are the issues as I see them. No. 1 in particular drove me to make this post-

1. Thread "Hiatus" Problems.

I don't think this issue is seen much outside of the campaign PbP interface but i've had reports that this also applies to people still relying on scrolling through the PbP forums manually or using the "Focus" button.

PMG has said in the past he is not so much in the know about how all the PbP stuff works- but essentially, its pretty common for a game to go on hiatus for a couple of weeks, sometimes up to a month or two. This ranges from various reasons but usually because RL is getting in the way- long travelling plans, a busted computer, floods...

So the IC and OOC threads go very quiet. You still have your dot and in many cases now, your Campaign page on your profile. So your game comes off hiatus, and you start posting on the discussion and IC thread, looking to get your game back on track.

The new posts do not show in other people's campaigns page which they use to track your game. I've had this happen to me on multiple occasions now and for the games which I DM, I ended up sending a heap of PM's to gather everybody. But not everyone is aware this is necessary and wonders why their players never show up. Players in turn, wonder why their DM never came back.

I think the new campaign interface is a fantastic tool and i'm really hoping further things are added to it (i'm also happy to make suggestions :P )- I use it exclusively as it is FAR more convenient than trawling through the respective forums (especially with how frequent dots disappear, see 3) and its a shame that I can't currently always trust it to tell me there are new posts.

A "Mass PM" to a group of players in your own campaign would also be a really neat addition to the PM and Campaign interface, especially until this is fixed.

2. 1 post in 50.

The first post on each page behaves oddly. When adding a new reply using the traditional button, it doesn't show up at all if for example, your making the 4502nd post in a thread. In addition, when trying to get at said new post, the forum will instead take you to the previous page just BEFORE the first post of the new page. More of a PbP issue than a general issue, doubt it bothers people much on the general forums.

3. Disappearing Dots.

I still don't really understand why dots are lost on various threads. I know that the official line is that the server 'repopulates' dots based on your previous posting... But it often doesn't actually ever give you a dot back until you've manually found the thread in question and re-dotted it. Less of an issue than it used to be as we seem to be going through a generally steady period for the site (barring the last major downtime which was ISP I was told).

4. PbP Trolling.

Not a topic i'm entirely comfortable with as I honestly am not sure what can be done about this. We have a situation at the moment where someone is recruiting for their 14th PbP game. This person has never got past the first page in an IC PbP, often disappearing just after recruitment has finished and leaving several players who have spent hours making a character and eagerly awaiting the campaign, hung out to dry. I suppose it would be nice if there was a way to flag such offenders, a reputation system to warn other people... Some way which didn't involve Joana, Mark Sweetman and myself acting as the unofficial forum police... We have warned people in the past couple of games but these warnings are not fully heeded as we're just fellow users, even if his "track record" is fully catalogued.

Don't honestly have a happy fix in mind here. But I don't believe this is the first time such a thing has happened (well, its the 14th time for this one individual). I think even if there isn't a policy put into place for this, its worth PMG etc. knowing about it.

5. 1 Hour Editing Lockout

Some PbP posts are some of the longest i've seen on these forums, dwarfing even the long rants and flame wars found in Monk threads (tongue-in-cheek, please don't post taking offence). People often want to make sure they meet the DM's submitted "posting quota" (i.e., many want a post per day on weekdays) and post on their phone before leaving for work, or make a quick post before heading out. No one likes being the one holding everyone else up in combat.

By the time they then have access to a computer again and time to edit said post, its been over an hour. They made a typo in the spoiler tag perhaps, and the super secret PC secret scene they were having with one of the players is now bare for everyone to see. Or they accidentally linked the wrong map to a combat, causing a mess of confusion.

Lots of people "lurk" on good PbP games and plenty of people like to read them sheerly for the pleasure of it. In turn, a lot of DM's want to take pride in the "story" of their own game and clear up typos, mistakes etc. The 1 hour editing window is probably fine as is for most of the Paizo forum, but the IC threads could really do with something more generous, say three to six hours.

Not only that, but some edits I have made in the past have been so long by the time I click submit to make the changes, i've been locked out, and I am by no means a slow typer.

P.S- yes i'm well aware Paizo is fully busy with Gencon right now. I'm not looking for an immediate fix, if any fixes are even forthcoming at all.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

There was talk some time ago of implementing this, as many of us PbP GM's like to use the short description to quote a character for example, or set up various links to useful resources or character sheets, etc.

Pretty please? 250 characters is not particularly accommodating and the short description box has the potential to be really useful :).

Sovereign Court

Any of my PbP players or lurkers, leave this thread immediately.

Ok, so pricing custom magical items is not something I do often and I want to get it right. Can someone talk me through the process of pricing a wondrous item that acts as a CL16 Status spell- allowing the user to attune the item to five others as per the Status spell. I want it to be usable once a day.

Talk me through the process please? :)

Sovereign Court

Fairly recently I finished Chapter 1 of Serpents Skull via PbP on these forums. For some time now, i've been meaning to upload these various images and Maptool campaign files in one place for others to use as they see fit.

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Smugglers Shiv No Game Trails Map-

For those GM's wanting a bare-bones map the players can fill out themselves. Made it before JJ upstaged me with a spoilerless map in one of the blogs but I feel it still fits a niche need for those who don't want the geographical features mapped already for players.

Link- Here

Creeper Clearing Encounter

A very simple map you can drop tokens right into for the PC's battle against the Yellow Musk Creeper.

Preview- Here

Link to Maptools Campaign File- Here

Campsite

A map that serves as one of the three abandoned campsites on Smugglers Shiv the cannibals already got to.

Preview- Here

Link to Maptools Campaign File- Here

Ship Common Room

For use to add depth to one of the many shipwrecks. In my case, this was the final battle with a haunted, incorporeal undead horror.

Preview- Here

Link to Maptools Campaign File- Here

Final Dungeon

I found myself frustrated trying to align the grid in Maptools to fit the Paizo dungeon, as well as hide the secret doors and tunnels etc.

In the end, I ended up drawing the entire final dungeon in Maptools. The campaign file should include vision blocking that hides the tunnels within the pit traps as well as stop tokens looking through the walls.

The grid matches Paizo's design, rooms are all the correct size etc.

Preview- Here

Link to Maptools Campaign File- Here

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Hmm... Thats all? I'll look for the other maps I did. Most are on my old PC so i'll have to have a dig around if anyones interested.


Your Humble Narrator

Welcome to DM Alexander Kilcoyne's Serpents Skull PbP- Chapter 2, Racing to Ruin

Links-

Previously on Serpents Skull...

OOC Thread

Our Heroes-

Chi

Ambroze

Tun'ada

Marcus

Gwenyth

And so the story continues...

Ambroze led you to the Sargava Club last night, a fine inn where few questions were asked but free food and board was given by the kindly owner- sympathetic to your plight of surviving a shipwreck. You get the impression hes hoping somebody will tell the tale in the common room in the evening in return but he hasn't specifically asked it. After arriving, you tucked into what must have been the finest meal in your life; or at least, after eating simple cooked meat and berries on a undead infested island, it felt like it. Despite enquiries, no one at the club could cast Remove Curse and if asked, many would be skeptical that the churches would cast such a powerful spell without owing someone a favor. Sleep came easily for everyone despite the disheartening news, a soft bed something of a strange thing without the background noises of the jungle and the stirring of a dozen other people around you.

The next day, you meet over breakfast to make plans. Ambroze has made some more progress with Ieana's notes over the course of last night...

New section in italics.

The Azlant hero Savith, who led an army to Garund to defeat the serpentfolk empire once and for all. After leading her troops on a fierce campaign through the Screaming Jungle and into the Mwangi Expanse in search of the serpentfolk city of Ilmurea, Savith built a small fort in a secluded area a mere stone’s throw from the deep scars in the earth that led to Ilmurea from the surface. Within this stronghold, called Tazion, Savith built a map of the region to plot her final assault on the serpentfolk city. When Savith ultimately perished defeating the serpentfolk god Ydersius, her followers built a city in the jungle above Ilmurea and named it Saventh-Yhi (“Savith’s Grave”) in her honor.

With the rise of the city, Tazion waned in importance, though it still stood near one of the entrances to the hidden valley. The story continues as a cult of Zura sprung up decades later in the now-legendary lost city of Saventh-Yhi, a dark and debased cult that worshipped the evil deity and ex-Azlant. The inhabitants of Saventh-Yhi defeated the cultists in a fierce battle and banished the survivors from the city forever. Fleeing to the island of Smuggler’s Shiv, these cultists became vampires and plotted a return to their homeland to spread Zura’s worship and their curse of vampirism to their former brethren. Unfortunately for them, the magical wards surrounding Saventh-Yhi kept them from simply retracing their steps. Thus, they planned to enter the city through Tazion, where they could use Savith’s original magical map to find the “back door” into Saventh-Yhi.

Ambroze needs a few more days to decipher the final section of the notes but hes getting the impression that the location of this 'Tazion' will be revealed...

Day 1, Sargava Club, Eleder...

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1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm interested in seeing the average Pathfinder player's bank details. Please include full name on your bank card, account number, security number, sort code, 16 digit number and any online banking details.

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Been trying to purge down my list of dotted/viewed threads so the Focus button retains use for me, but clicking the button seems to simply refresh the page and it is not removed.


Your Humble Narrator

Formerly DM Tanner's.

Ok, lets take the discussion over here and stop flooding the IC thread.

All existing character need to be put down to 20 point buy, if they aren't already.

I don't use Hero Points. I run Core+APG+ companion books. I won't be touching UM or UC; but if you do want to bring a Harrower in Talomyr i'm ok with that particular patron (as it has no UM spells)

Provided my remaining 4 are ok with it, PbemDM is welcome to join us.

In addition, if Theodric isn't replaced he will have to lose the Skill Focus feat.


Your Humble Narrator

The Trials of Grallus

7th of Sarenith, 4711 AR

The fateful morning has finally arrived- the 7th of Sarenith. The day the Trials of Grallus will be seen to its conclusion, with one adventuring group earning the reward- a mission from the Grand Custodian himself. Each of your recently formed band of seven is a cut above the average warriors, adepts and aristocrats in the city and you each have your own talents you may be eager to test in the trials. You are keenly aware that other bands of talented individuals have made their way to Eleder for the trials though; you expect the competition to be fierce.

Your band absconds from Picklebeard's tavern and makes its way through the streets of Eleder. Propaganda praising Sargava as a glorious nation and saluting the government for its wise decisions over the past fifty years is everywhere, as well as signposts labelled in both Common and Polyglot directing people out of the city proper and into the staging area for the trials. Bards on city corners sing the tales of Baron Grallus and his leadership that saved Sargava from a fate of diabolism, and a wave of fierce patriotism appears to be gripping much of the city. The small military forces that are based in Eleder itself are out in force on the streets, both to maintain order and to helpfully direct travellers and citizens. Your aware that a government decreed public holiday for the Trials is in effect so no one is working in Eleder today- the streets are packed full of people, mostly heading towards the outskirts of the city to leave it via the east and head to the staging area for the Trials.

You find yourself moving inevitably towards the Trials too- its a good thing that it is your intended destination because it would be difficult to travel elsewhere against the push of the crowd. Stalls selling souvenirs and toys at five times their usual price are accessible as you move along, proving very popular with the travellers who have come from other lands to see the tournament. You have seen almost nothing of the area the government has been preparing to stage the trials in. It has been heavily patrolled by soldiers and despite stories of groups trying to get a sneak peek into the area you haven't heard of any that were successful. What is known is that construction workers, local hedge wizards, officials and even a few druids have been seen entering it every day for the past several weeks. You don't know whats in store for you but it seems the Grand Custodian is determined to make it a momentous event.

Eventually, the crowd thins a little as you leave the crowded streets and can filter out more comfortably as the plains of Sargavabegin to roll out before you, albeit with trampled footsteps leading in and out of the city. In the distance, you can see a massive, red and white tent, flanked on either side by a long wooden fence. The occasional makeshift guard tower is dotted along the fence with a single, crossbow armed soldier ready to shoot anyone who tries to enter unlawfully. You also see a couple of patrols moving along the length of it. The crowd seems to have bottlenecked at the tent entrance- no doubt spectators are paying for seats of various qualities at the desks just outside the entrance. Each of you has a small, silver token with the Arcane Mark of local wizard Ilraith emblazoned upon it. You were given this token when you passed the qualifying requirements for entering and signed up as competitors. It is an uncomfortable reminder of the death waiver you were asked to sign in order to compete, but it should also allow you much easier access to where you need to go once shown to a soldier.


Your Humble Narrator

Welcome players (and perhaps lurkers).

I'm available for guidance, queries and advice re: character creation etc.

I am also on MSN throughout the day most days and you may find it much easier to ask me questions on it rather than in PbP format when checking something pre-post for example. I regularily clarify things over MSN for my kingmaker players and they seem to find it useful. My msn is-

alexkilcoyne@hotmail.com

I'm looking forward to seeing how your going to tie your backstories together.

*pulls up a chair, mixes a cool drink*.

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I couldn't find the topic in which someone touched on this a couple of weeks ago, but this is still happening.

Someone will edit their post after posting it, and their edit will not display unless the reader replies or edits, meaning you can often miss these edits.

IIRC this issue was ignored last time it was brought up. As an example-

This Link. I can only see DM Dan E's first line-

"Nice. That puts you firmly on to the positive side. I'm interested to see if Grall continues his attempt at a streak or goes for average."

When I go to edit my post as Sajan below, I can see the rest of the post that was not there until I edited.

"Loot from the priest.

- Masterwork Morningstar
- Heavy Wooden Shield (magic)
- Multicoloured (and foul smelling) cloak (magic)
- 1 potion
- 1 scroll of resist energy (hilariously the priest didn't quite get to finish his buff cycle and make himself immune to the repeated burning disarming).

The sack had a number of cunningly devised hollow spearpoints made out of some kind of ceramics. They were evidently designed to screw onto the spear shaped pole one of the gnolls had. Together they seem to make some kind of injection device, the tip of the point disperses the liquid inside the head. Several of the spearpoints are empty but two are filled with some kind of liquid. One is a thick milky liquid while the other is a blackish goop. They appear mundane rather than magical.

Spellcraft to identify the magic."


Three Months Ago; 1st of Pharast, 4711 AR-

Just off the south-west tip of the Mwangi Expanse in Sargava; the Lost Colony, Baron Utilinus, Grand Custodian of Sargava, rested a weary head upon an open palm as he perused the documents before him. Utilinus was seated at a large, black desk made entirely of darkwood, covered in sealed and unsealed documents, parchment and ink. He had not left this desk for several hours and he ate absent-mindedly from a simple fruit bowl. The Baron was dressed in a simple grey robe, stained with juices from the local fruits he ate while working and brown stains that hinted of a workaholic lifestyle maintained through potent brews and elixirs to keep him awake and mentally capable with very little sleep. The Baron held his breath in anticipation as he read the latest dispatch from Kalabuto, knowing that the news in the message could tell of a revolt that had seized the city or that the Mzali had conquered it for good. He sighed in relief as he read a message from his general- another Mzali attack had tested the cities defence and the loyalty of the Mwangi people governed there, but the ancient city had stood firm. Barely.

The Baron then turned his attention to matters of the economy; specifically how he was going to be able to raise further funds for the military when the tribute to the Free Captains left his treasury crippled every month. A knock upon the door to his private chambers was quickly followed by the apologetic voice of Gellius, one of his massive Chelish bodyguards.

Forgive me Grand Custodian, but I have General Morvius here. He says he was given orders to report to you personally.

Utilinus paused as he wracked his brain for why he would have issued that order.

Ah of course... How foolish of me to forget he reprimanded himself as he replied in a tired but authoritative voice- Allow him passage!

A thin and dangerous looking warrior of Mwangi heritage entered the chamber, but little other than his skin colour spoke of a Mwangi tribesman. He was dressed as a soldier, in fine banded mail and a plumed helmet, with military decorations pinned to said mail. Morvius was a descendant of one of the first natives to truly assimilate themselves into Sargavan society and by the time he had been born his family were one of Eleder's handful of 'Mwangi' noble families. As a result, Morvius took a Chelish name, wore heavy armour and was trained in classical warfare by a bladesmaster rather than growing up hunting and learning to fight in a manner akin to a combination of guerilla warfare and mass charges.

Raising Morvius to a rank as high as General had been a logistical and political masterstroke for the Baron for not only was Morvius highly educated and capable, he represented hope and equal opportunity for Mwangi all over Sargava. The Baron smiled wearily as the general entered, and held out his hand to receive the report Morvius carried. His smile faded when he read the contents.

Failure? Again? How many did we lose this time trying to get at it? he asked.

Just under three score soldiers and double that in auxilia, Baron. I fear our soldiers morale and training is insufficient for such a task came the reply from Morvius. How long do we have left, dare I ask?

The Baron winced at the question and took a deep drink of a swirling brown mixture before responding. Well, the Sargavan Chalice was disappointing this year. It did not raise nearly as much trade and tax income as I had hoped; perhaps the event is getting a little stale. We have, at best, six months left before we can no longer afford to keep this up. We must uncover its secrets before that time, or we risk our trade lanes coming under constant attack at best. At the worst, we risk another invasion from Cheliax. The thrice-cursed queen would love nothing more than to reclaim Sargava.

The general paced back and forth for a few minutes as the Baron returned to his paperwork, allowing Morvius the time he needed to formulate his response. When it came, the Mwangi general had a glint in his eye and a cunning sneer on his face.

My Lord, I have a suggestion. Adventuring parties and companies are springing up all over Sargava of late; in particular deserters from Kalabuto are often forming independent groups to provide security for the petty noble's government-granted patches of land.

Inspired by the Baron's nods of approval, Morvius continued, growing excited.

My proposal is this- host a grand competition in Eleder, inviting such groups to compete in some contest of skill or competition for the honour of receiving a dangerous, lucrative and glorious mission from the Grand Custodian himself. The revenue such an event will generate should be comparable to the Chalice and should buy us more time to keep paying the pirates off, maybe even enough spare to raise more men for Kalabuto. It will also provide us with a group who may be capable of uncovering the secrets that continue to elude us. If they should fail; it costs us nothing and the morale of our men will be unaffected.

The Grand Custodian was genuinelly impressed, but tried hard not to show it too much. He nodded as Morvius finished.

I had been contemplating a similar idea he straight-face lied. But your counsel and input is, as always, valuable to me. It shall be so. I shall make it a contest, testing their strength, skill, knowledge and will. It will be known as the Trials of Grallus, to honour our first Baron...

The Baron smiled smugly, having taken creative control of the event in a single smooth motion. Morvius was nodding alongly enthusiastically and praising the motion. It would take some months of planning but, as Morvius had pointed out- adventurers were expendable. If he had to send some of them to an early grave; well, it was for the good of Sargava. In the end, the nation's wellbeing was the only thing that truly mattered...

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Explanation/What to Expect

Explanation-

So, if the fluff text wasn't indicative i'll explain. You will take on the role of a budding adventurer in a newly formed adventuring party, a significant cut above most other warriors, aristocrats, adepts, experts and commoners in Sargava. Once I have chosen six players you will be expected to decide on your group's short history, previous jobs, how well you know each other and describe your journey to Eleder (if you were not already there).

From there, your party will compete in the Trials of Grallus with similar competitors for the honour of receiving a commission from the Grand Custodian himself, Baron Utilinus. Rumour has it that the commission is dangerous, but offers glory and riches beyond your wildest dreams.

What to expect from DM AK-

Lets see...

I adhere pretty strictly to RAW but I do deviate from it sometimes; usually in favor of the players.

I have a solid grasp of the PF rules system and have played and DM'ed in many PbP's here on the Paizo forums- for an example of my DMing style and to look at how I tend to run my games etc. you need look no further than my Kingmaker Campaign (near the end of chapter 2, started 1 year ago. A link to Chapter 1 is available on the first post of Chapter 2) and my Serpents Skull Campaign (near the end of chapter 1, started about 8 months ago).

I use MapTools screen prints and make my own maps for complex combats. Combat is well organised with a round update marking the start of the next combat round, active effects tracked and helpful notes made available to the players.

I'd like to think I am fair, I am extremely reliable and I am dedicated to producing a great game for my players. As such, my recruitment process IS selective; I put a lot into my games and want my players to do the same for a kickass PbP we're all proud to play in. I work hard on ensuring my posts are clear, descriptive and free of spelling errors. I am NOT going to suddenly disappear on my players; if I do have an abscence you'll be the first to know and nothing short of my demise should disrupt the game for a long period (don't worry, i'l have instructions to inform my players put into my will ;) ).

I favor sandbox over rails campaigns and you will need to provide your own direction and act on your own initiative rather than DM hints much of the time. That said, I will eventually introduce an overarching plot.

What to expect from this game-

This game should have a decent mixture of exploration, combat and role-play. Characters created for it should be combat capable but also expect to be involved in politics, leadership, exploration and skill challenges.

This game is likely to eventually involve kingdom building using the KM rules (but obviously not in the River Kingdoms).

I don't want to give spoilers, but your likely to be heading into an indoor, hostile environment should you win the trials.

I will not DM screw you (oh you took favoured enemy Elf? Ha, thats never coming up again...) or DM metagame (How does he know you have Deflect Arrows in the first round of combat? Erm...) and will endeavour to make your choices work in the campaign and steer you away from bad choices (I think Skill Focus: Craft Basket Weaving might not be the best choice for your Barbarian).

With that said, it WILL be a challenging game. I am known to run combats that often drop PC's (although I rarely kill them) and you shouldn't expect everything you stumble into to be magically CR appropiate.

I will run the game for as long as people want to keep playing. I have a rough 'end plot' figured out for high level play but we could keep playing after that or finish there.

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Please read the following sections carefully if you are interested!

1. Apply with a concept only- race, class, personality, background/ethnicity, appearance, motivations, aspirations etc., put into a spoiler tag in a single post, for my ease of reference. Stating which campaign background (more on this later) your character wants to use will also be appreciated. I don't want character statblocks yet, it makes me feel guilty for saying no. Starting level will be level one.

2. Please also include your time zone in GMT. For reference, I am GMT+0 (England) but often post at funny times of the day/night. I don't want to see any actual builds out there that you will have spent extra time on, that I have to then say no to. I hate saying no to people as it is. I should point out in advance i'm not going to be allowing the Leadership feat, so be careful about assuming that feat will be ok at 7th Level.

3. I am generally a very frequent poster, and do expect the same of any applicants. If you can't commit to at least checking on the game once a day and making a small post on most days, this PBP won't be for you. I reserve the right to take your character's actions for you if I feel your character is holding up the game, typically after you have been inactive for 24 hours. This is especially true in combat, where after 24 hours I will take your characters action for you to the best of my ability.

4. On that note, abscences are ok, but as a matter of courtesy I expect a post informing me and i'll be happy to bot your character.

5. The party size will be a party of six (I prefer 5 but I feel guilty if I only take 5...). The characters chosen will be made with a 25 point buy stat array, chosen from the following arrays (pick one, pre-racial)-

18,16,10,10,10,8

18,15,13,10,10,8

18,12,12,12,12,10

17,14,14,12,10,8

16,16,15,10,10,8

16,16,14,10,10,10

16,15,15,14,8,8

16,14,14,14,12,8

15,14,14,14,14,8

15,14,14,12,12,12

6. I will not be enforcing alignment restrictions but common sense should apply. As long as the character is able to play well with others (no PvP) and not harbour secret desires to backstab the group you should be ok. A sense of loyalty to Sargava is expected but not essential.

7. All classes from the Core Rulebook are legal (except from Paladins), as are the APG's- with the exception of the Alchemist and Summoner. I'm just not happy with those two classes, sorry. I am keen to see lots of archetypes played though. I will generally be allowing material from player companion books (such as Gnomes of Golarion or the Cheliax book) but I am not touching Ultimate Magic or Ultimate Combat with a 10 foot pole.

8. The idea is that although your character could feasibly come from anywhere, he or she has been active in Sargava for a while. You will be required to start with a campaign background from the options listed below; they are all designed to be equivalent to two traits (often in the way of a feat). You will also select one free choice trait. The campaign backgrounds are detailed in the next section.

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Campaign Backgrounds

Defender of Kalabuto

Constant revolts and attacks from Mzali have ensured you have had to fight for your life alone and cut off from your fellow soldiers on more than one occasion.

You gain the Desperate Battler feat.

Native Sargavan

Although your heritage is Mwangi, your family considers themselves Sargavan citizens and has suffered and endured many years of scorn and attacks to become respected citizens of Eleder.

You gain the Iron Will feat.

Survivor of Smugglers Shiv

Against all odds, you were one of a handful of survivors who recently escaped from the dreaded island in Desperation Bay. You struggled for weeks on the island, desperately learning the ways of the land in order to survive; when you finally reached the south-west tip of the island you found a slaughtered cannibal tribe and a rebuilt lighthouse you used to hail a ship. Although the memories of such a place may haunt you still, the skills you learnt there have proved useful.

You gain the Skill Focus (Survival) feat and the survival skill is always considered a class skill for you.

Laughing Jungle Resident

Dex 13 required.

Having grown up in the thick forests and treacherous terrain of the Laughing Jungle, you find little on any battlefield to disrupt your graceful movements.

You gain the Nimble Moves feat.

Crown's End Smuggler

Before joining up with your adventuring company, you have enjoyed a fairly lucrative career as a smuggler in Crown's End, which came to an abrupt end you rarely speak of.

You gain a +1 bonus to your Sleight of Hand skill and it is always considered a class skill for you. You also start with 500 gold pieces worth of non-magical gear & coins instead of your normal starting cash and you also have a free masterwork simple weapon.

Fort Bandu Veteran

You served in the notorious Fort Bandu for a time, a member of a 150 man legion that was frequently called upon to defend ground against many times that number of hostile Mwangi.

You gain the Combat Reflexes feat.

OR

You gain the Exotic Weapon Proficiency in a weapon of your choice, if you meet the BAB +1 requirement.

Military Tradition

Your family has served proudly in the Sargavan military for generations and you valorously seek to defend your homeland against any who would dare threaten in.

You gain the Focused Discipline feat.

Noble of Eleder

Your status as a young and popular noble in Eleder allowed you the freedom to pursue any path you desired while growing up.

Requires Cha 13.

You gain the Noble Scion feat.

Laughing Jungle Hunter

You are a skilled archer and in the dense and treacherous Laughing Jungle you were often forced to take shots at dangerously close ranges against vicious predators. You have honed your close combat shooting skills as a result.

You gain the Point Blank Shot feat.

Student of the Barren Clergy

With their clerical powers gone, many of Aroden's once powerful clergy focused their energies on teaching students like you to concentrate and channel your own spellcasting powers under the most dire of circumstances.

You gain the Combat Casting feat.

I am happy to accomodate other concepts and produce similar descriptions and background to fit your concepts so don't feel straightjacketed by these if none of them fit what you have in mind.

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Campaign Houserules

1. Crafting feats give you access to producing your own items, and you will have sufficient downtime to do so in the game. However, all crafting is done at 100% cost instead of 50% cost; the advantage is easy availability of what you want.

2. Deadly Aim provides a better trade off for crossbows- -1/+3, -2/+6 and so on.

3. The Vital Strike feat automatically upgrades into the next one in the chain when you reach the appropiate BAB (Vital Strike becomes Improved Vital Strike at BAB+11 for example.)

4. There may be more, i'll try and remember. Nothing major though.

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Submission Timeline

I will be reviewing submissions on Tuesday the 28th at 6PM GMT+0, assuming I have a healthy selection to choose from. This is not first come, first served- please take your time with your applications and early posters will not enjoy any particular advantage.

I will check the thread regularily and am happy to answer any questions or queries.

Edit: These are the kinds of backgrounds that have got into my games in the past.

Barator's "Vaysh Triesente"

JaceDK's "Casimir Bodevski"

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Is there any unrest for a building being destroyed? I could have sworn there was a point per building destroyed but am I imagining that?

Also...

KM Players Stay Out:

I've had the Owlbear trash my PC's capital in my PbP. Would it be reasonable to allow the PC's to rebuild the buildings at 75% cost instead of paying for the whole thing over again? Plenty of ruins are made into buildings at half cost in the campaign. Thoughts?

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At present I don't have the time to really do the math or think it over, so i'd be interested in hearing thoughts on this idea- what if crossbows enjoyed a -1/+3 to hit/damage ratio on deadly aim, much like how two handed weapons enjoy a better ratio than one handed.

Thoughts?

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Nearly every week we get people in this forum asking about a 6 player conversion for Kingmaker, or seeking the additional chapters that have fallen into the archive. Cue endless bumps, links and explanations. Its quite frustrating.

I've asked JJ before about stickying the conversion threads myself, General_Chaos and the_minstrel_wyrm have completed, and he made a fair point in that he didn't really want an additional six threads stickied in addition to the half dozen or so already stickied.

So how about just one stickied topic, entitled 'Community Created 6 Player Kingmaker Conversion Chapters' or something along those lines- containing a link to each chapter and a link to the topics here in the KM forum? Pleeeeeease?

Any readers/users of the chapters, +1 for great justice? Show the support y'all!

Many Thanks

Alex

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I made a lot of pre-orders last year and many were cancelled on account of them charing to my old card- and I didn't have the funds to be inclined to put them to my new one. However, I ordered the inner sea guide on my new card and the funds have left my bank account; and today I received an email saying this order was cancelled. Is this perhaps the pre-order I made for the inner sea world guide that was on my previous card (if I indeed ordered such a thing?)?

Many thanks

Alexander

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I'm aware i'm going to be told many times over that these rules are final and not open for playtest- perhaps this thread is futile, but I still feel I should say my piece on this.

Theres something about firearms in a fantasy game that makes designers go 'squeeeeeeeeeee' and make new rules for them rather than accomodating them in the normal manner alongside other weapons. This is a phenomena I first noticed with Psionics, and has been somewhat present in every edition of the game that i've played including 4E; a system that was almost a match made in heaven- Psionics represented by at will, encounter and daily. But even then, they had to come up with something different.

Paizo make a good move by not keeping the exploding dice rules from the campaign setting book and representing the powerful nature of firearms with a higher base damage dice and crit rating, as I hoped they would eventually do.

I make the case that having firearms ignoring armour and natural armour is an extremely odd mechanic that seems to be trying to simulate bullet's massive penetration value in a fantasy game. In a fantasy game, armour can be magically enhanced so that it protects you even against ancient artifacts, weapons literally soaked with magic and wielded by legendary heroes. These weapons don't ignore armour, or natural armour- but a primitive firearm does?

I'll quote the appropiate section that concerns me for context-

Ultimate Combat Playtest wrote:


Range and Penetration: Armor, manufactured or natural, provides little protection against the force of a bullet at short range. When firing upon a target within a firearm’s first range increment, the attack resolves against the target’s touch AC. At higher range increments, the attack resolves normally (including taking the normal cumulative –2 penalty for each full-range increment). Unlike other projectile weapons, most firearms have a maximum range of five range increments.

We don't give weapons a penetration value in Pathfinder- not counting Brilliant Energy, armour is assumed to be as potent against a thrown dart as a point blank shot from a heavy crossbow. Your armour is proof against spears hurled at you by Kobolds and Goblins at first level. It helps you defend against the slams of an Air Elemental at third level. It can protect you from Troll claws as long as longswords at fifth level, despite the massive strength behind the blows. It can deflect the thrown boulders a Stone Giant may hurl at you at 8th level- even if the projectiles are bigger than you! It can weather the blows of mighty adult green dragons at 12th level, with teeth that would realistically tear through metal with the force behind them, and even the Unholy spiked chains wielded by powerful Cornugons at 16th level may not be able to harm you through your trusty armour. Even the claws of a Pit Fiend, the bite of a Tarrasque, or a large sized, +5, unholy, mighty cleaving trident wielded by Dagon himself may not be able to negate your full plate.

Going with this realism logic, natural armour is another conundrum. Your bullet won't be sinking through the sheer metres of thick hide that is represented by the Tarrasque's armour- but actually, RAW, it will be. Completely passing through it as though fired by a brilliant energy weapon (a +3 enhancement I note...), piercing the soft, vulnerable flesh underneath.

Then here come firearms and the dragon slayers wielding them- ignoring armour/natural armour and targeting touch AC from the humblest of levels. In a world where my supremely magically enhanced +5 suit of full plate armour can help against the massive force behind a club bigger than I am, wielded by a creature ten times my size and several times stronger than a normal human- bullets simply penetrate it like paper?

I have been hoping for a gun-wielding class to be released for some time, as have my players. This bizarre mechanic of ignoring armour, even rendering magical enhancement useless; has sadly put me off the Gunslinger class. I believe it harms versimilitude, as well as having nasty implications for class balance. Am I alone here?

I apologise for the semi-rant, and i'd like to add that having open playtests like this is one of the reasons Paizo are, and will remain, my favourite hobby gamer company i've ever bought from.


Your Humble Narrator

Hi guys, even if you have nothing to add please make an ooc post to dot the thread. I'm starting this quite loosely, so don't be discouraged if the place is slow before January. Just post when you can, and we'll work on getting a regular post going after the holidays.

The tempest class strike frigate known as the Void Wolf, prestigious flagship and greatest prize of the Demetrius Dynasty- sailed quietly through the Warp, guided by the subtle instructions over microbead of Senior Navigator Lion Rogal Guilliman Benetek and the steady hands of Voidsmaster Jerol Seoul. The pair were somewhat exhausted after a recent encounter with a sudden, previously unknown warp storm- but now the Warp was still, or at least appeared to be... Junior pilots watched the expert pilot handle the smooth frigate effortlessly with the sleekness of a raider vessel, desperately trying to pick up some pointers for when Jerol slept and they took over the ship. Of late, their skills had improved a little, but they were still not permitted to attempt a landing after the near-disaster landing of Tyron 4. A pair of junior navigators watched their master patiently, far more stoic than the nervous and jittery pilots despite their exposure to the Warp, ready to take over once Lion tired.

The flagship had recently secured another lucrative trade agreement for supplying Halo Artefacts discreetly to a leading noble family in the Calixis segmentum; the family had been working through intermediaries in order to protect their reputation of course, but the financial success of the venture was almost guaranteed. The Void Wold now travelled through the Warp towards the Koronus Passage- the only gap in a massive wall of warp storms between the Calixis segmentum and the Koronus segmentum- and as far as any know, the only access to it.

The Void Wolf is scheduled to resupply at Port Wander, the only official Imperial presence in the entire Koronus Expanse- although Rogue Traders often formed small mining or trade colonies deeper into the Expanse, Imperial jurisdiction officially stops at Port Wander, as do the Imperial Navy's patrols. Should a Xenos threat ever be truly stirred up from the Koronus Expanse, Port Wander would be the first line of defence for the Calixis segmentum.

Feel free to make any knowledge checks you feel could be applicable to see if your character knows much more about Port Wander- Common Lore (Imperium) at a -30 penalty and Common Lore (Koronus Expanse) at +10 spring to mind.

The master of the Demetrius Dynasty is currently residing within his private chambers- more lavish and extravagant than most minor noble's mansions look. His faithful bodyguard Minerva stands to attention nearby, ever vigilant, and continually twirling her pistols expertly.

At the God-Emperor's shrine, Missionary Praetia leads a sermon to the Emperor, and in the faces of the thousands of undercrew members solemnly assembled before her, she finds comfort even in the uncomfortable nature of Warp travel and the xenos technology that powers the ship. Most of the ships crew are void-born- living and dying on the vessel, only seeing planetside when on shore leave. To know that they are part of a Rogue Trader Dynasty- the hand of the Emperor himself beyond the reaches of the Imperium; it brings many of them hope to their otherwise miserable lives.

Further below deck, Havelock the Explorator supervises a regular maintenance team, frustrated at the incompetent crew's failure to grasp the most simple of repairs to the somewhat strange machinery spread through the ship. Finishing the repair himself, Havelock finds himself wondering, not for the first time, what on earth actually powers the Shard Cannons the Void Wolf depends upon in combat...

This is much your story as it is mine- feel free to take liberties with introducing NPC's, describing your actions etc. The crew is currently at full population but their morale has suffered a little due to problems in the Warp Storms- morale is currently at 85%.


Your Humble Narrator

Everyone please make at least one post here to 'dot' the thread. The purpose of this thread is for OOC discussion, clarification, questions to GM and anything else that may arise when writing the saga together :).

No consensus was really made on what was going to be done with the extra 3 ship points, so I took the liberty of randomising which option. We ended up with-

Augmented Mission and Augmented Thrusters

One item and Augmented Thrusters (adds +5 to Maneuverability of ship).

Temple-Shrine to the God-Emperor

The ships finished stats are-

The Void Wolf

Speed: 8 (7 in combat)

Manoeuvrability: +20 (this number is added to the pilot's maneuvering rolls)

Detection: +12 (this number is added to any augurs check)

Hull Integrity: 36 (effectively the ship version of wounds)

Armour: 19 (lances ignore armour but not void shields)

Turret Rating: 1 (applies a -10 penalty to hit and run attempts etc, represents the small turrets on the ship that are too small to damage large ships. Also gives +10 on boarding actions)

Space: 42 (1 space left)

Power: 45 (14 left)

Weapon Capacity: Dorsal 2 (Dorsal means top-mounted, and can fire in any direction except directly behind.)

Morale: 88/101% (+1 to all morale loss)

Population- 100%

Void Shields- 1

Machine Spirit Oddity-

Skittish: The ship fears battle, buckling against its masters when entering the fray. When in combat, reduce the ship's speed by 1. However, when not in danger it runs eagerly and fast- reduce long distance travel times by 1d5 weeks, to a mininum of 1.

Complication-

Xenphilous: Through dealings with some Xenos race, this vessel has been outfitted with examples of their blasphemous technology. When constructing the vessel, players must select 1 Xenotech component of their choice. However, any tech-use tests to repair the ship suffer a -30, due to the strange nature of the machinery. Should the character have Forbidden Lore (Xenos), the penalty is only -10. Also, the forces of the Ordo Xenos have an interest in the vessel and who controls it...

Crew Skill- Incompetent (20%, 2 ship actions)

Essential Components-

Jovian Pattern 2 Class Drive

Strelov 1 Warp Engine

Single Void Shield Array

Combat Bridge (+10 on tech-use tests to repair the ship)-

M-1.r Life Sustainer

Pressed Crew Quarters

M-100 Augur Array (standard)

Supplemental Components-

Compartmentalised Cargo Hold- When working towards a trade objective, this component grants an additional 100 achievement points.

Barracks- +100 achievement points when working towards military objectives, and grants +20 on boarding and hit and run actions when carrying troops (not currently carrying troops).

Augmented Retrothrusters- +5 maneuvrability (added in base ship stats), can only be damaged on a critical hit.

Temple Shrine to the God Emperor- Morale raised permanently by +3 (included above), +100 Achievement Points when working towards a Creed Objective.

Xeno-Tech Supplemental Components-

Shard Cannon Battery x2
Strength (max number of hits in a salvo)- 4
Damage (per hit): 1d10+2
Crit Rating (number of degrees of success to crit): 3
Range- 6

I'd still like a player to make a 'Void Wolf' alias to trackall this stuff. Pleeeease? Pretty pleeeease?

Sovereign Court

Hi all, if you have ten to fifteen minutes spare the more responses that can be gathered on this the better the quality of the research in the area will be. To avoid the Hawthorne effect the purpose of the survey is only explained in the debriefing at the end of the study.

You will need to install a plugin and you will need to be using Firefox.

Thanks in advance!

Link

Sovereign Court

Hi guys. I only recently noticed that a lot of the avatars available are from the older AP's like CotCT. Any chance of the images from the newer AP's appearing as avatars?

Sovereign Court

I tend to see a lot of IT professionals on these forums, so I thought i'd try and seek help here.

Basically, i'm stumped on my uni assignment. I've had flu and I missed the relevant lecture and the lecture slides are not making sense to me. I've been trawling the internet but the terms 'infrastructure' and 'architecture' are used in so many disciplines i'm struggling to find what I need. Obviously I don't want the work done for me but can someone tell me what I should be looking for? I can't find any 'types' of network infrastructure.

Heres the scenario-

You are a newly appointed IT manager of a growing building merchant. The business is both a wholesaler and retailer in that they sell from their warehouse to the trade and through a chain of local shops to the public. Although the turnover is £20 million a year, each of the stores and the warehouse have their own stock control system. The shops have a manual system. The warehouses have a computerised system for stock control.

And i'm stumped by these two questions (more by C than D).

c) What type of infrastructure would be appropriate for the shops?

d) What type of network infrastructure could be used to bring all these different outlets together and what were the consequences.

For C, should I be talking about distributed systems, mainframes etc.? Or should I be talking about client-server architecture etc? Or something else entirely?

Examples of these 'types' i've been unable to find would be great.

Please help :).

Alexander

Sovereign Court

I'd be happy to get the ball rolling, but RT is an EXCELLENT system for hotseat GMing- we could roll up and make the ship together, and have characters busy elsewhere within the Dynasty when that player wants to GM. We could hotseat per endeavour or just whenever a GM has had enough (although sticking out the endeavour is recommended!).

I have all the resources necessary so if you don't I have that front covered.

Any interest? Just testing the waters before I start this one up.


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Your Humble Narrator

Welcome to DM Alexander Kilcoynes Kingmaker PbP, Chapter Two...

Links-

Previously on "Guardians of the Greenbelt"... (Link to Chapter 1 Thread)- Link

Link to Discussion Thread (lurker friendly and peanuts guaranteed...)- Link

Link to Interlude Thread (between Chapter 1 and 2)- Link

Link to group site (lurkers please give me an e-mail address in the discussion thread if you want viewing access)- Link

Tanner's (Ilya) building tree diagram (recommended)- Link

The Guardians of the Greenbelt-

Casimir- Aldori Arcana Duelist, Story Spinner, Redeemer and Spymaster of Kardas- Link

Fenna- Heavens Oracle and Prophetess of Aroden, Councilor of Kardas- Link

Ilya- House Orlovsky's Representative, Grand Diplomat and Lord Mayor of Northgreen, Wizard and Merchant Extraordinaire- Link

Kalev- Marshall of Kardas, Hunter, Warrior, Defender of the Wilderness- Link

Malthir- Paladin of the Inheritor, Sword Scion, Dutiful Son and Baron of Kardas- Link

1st Of Neth, 4712...

Casimir if i'm a little out on my date I apologise, assume you lost some time waiting for the colonists etc. if necessary.

Two years have passed since the first pavestone graced the area of land around the Stag Lords Fort, the beginning of the kingdom founded by the Guardians of the Greenbelt and their allies- Kardas. Kardas has grown into a small but stable kingdom under the wise policies of the Council, and despite heavy taxation the quality of life in Kardas is very high. Its capital city Swordhaven is an economic powerhouse and is home to almost six thousand souls- just under two thirds of the kingdom's estimated population. The yearly festival known as Foundersfeast is a massive event, attracting visitors from all over the River Kingdoms and from the rural areas of Kardas.

Although Kardas is continually tested by the unstable nature of the Stolen Lands (in particular an earthquake that rocked the very foundations of Swordhaven), the Council is in agreement that after two years, the kingdom is finally stable enough to not need the entirety of the Guardians attention. The Council are fully in agreement that the rest of the Greenbelt must be made secure in the same manner as the north in order for Swordhaven not to succumb to an unknown threat- Kesten Garess in particular advises against complacency, pointing out that Taldor's doomed colony in the Stolen Lands was reportedly over twice the size of humble Kardas before its fall.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Casimir has been receiving reports of the progress of the other three expeditionary forces sent south by the Stag Lords. The information he is able to report is as follows-

Note- I have uploaded a map of the River Kingdoms up on the group site, worth a look!

The experienced adventuring company known as the Iron Wraiths operating far to the west of you near Pitax have apparently been destroyed by raging barbarians in the area. The Swordlords have no plans to risk a further expedition into the area, especially as they believe a further expedition into the area may provoke River Kingdoms such as Daggermark and Pitax.

In the Nomen Heights to the east of the Greenbelt, a up and coming Swordlord known as Maegar Varn has successfully founded his own colony at the orders of the Swordlords. He has replied to Ilya's letters assuring you that he will soon be 'made available to survey your efforts and offer my guidance where appropiate'. The tone of his letter suggests that he clearly thinks he outranks you, but the tone is also almost paternal in nature, an experienced man offering his support and advice to thoseless seasoned.

You have heard little of the are directly to your west known as the Slough. As the most vital trade route leading into the heart of the River Kingdoms, a large group of diplomats and veteran soldiers were dispatched into this area in order to claim it and keep the trade routes safe. Casimir's men suggest that they were successful, as a large fort has sprung up in the centre of the Slough.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite Ilya's efforts, Kardas is not yet seen as important enough to merit any real response from any of his efforts to establish relations with any of the other River Kingdoms. Ilya has been made aware of a critical yearly event to which Kardas has not yet been invited to attend- the Outlaw Council of the River Kingdoms.

Consisting of leaders from the most significant kingdoms, the Outlaw Council provides the only political stability the River Kingdoms have ever known. Rulers from almost all kingdoms are invited to attend this yearly council in Daggermark, but only lords from Daggermark, Gralton, Lambreth, Mivon, Pitax, the Protectorate of the Black Marquis, Sevenarches, Tymon, and Uringen are truly respected. Other kingdoms are considered too transient to merit full consideration in the proceedings, though in the spirit of unity they are allowed to attend and speak occasionally. Unlike in other meetings, mere representatives are not allowed to speak—a lord must attend personally to have a voice. Topics of yearly discourse include negotiating treaties, defense against mutual threats, food distribution, recognition of sovereignty, and solving smaller, interpersonal matters before they become armed conflicts. The meeting hall where the Outlaw Council gathers is considered neutral territory—no king rules any other there, even Livondar, Lord of Daggermark. However, Daggermark’s famed assassins are on silent duty as servants throughout the meeting, making the Outlaw Council meeting the worst time of the year to attempt a Daggermark coup.

Thanks to Ilya's efforts however, it is likely the recognising the sovereignty of Kardas will be discussed, meaning you will likely be invited to attend next years Outlaw Council.

Note- I also uploaded a text document referring to the Six River Freedoms you would all be familiar with by now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, on the 1st of Neth, the Guardians are leaving Kardas in capable hands until the last week of the month, when they pledge to return to catch up on their kingdom duties. The crowds cheer as they ride out of Swordhaven's grand castle, and they bask in the adoration of their people...

So- Over to you...

Sovereign Court

Warning- Minor Spoilers

I just read the description of the Guardians of the Greenbelts very first festival in my Kingmaker PbP and I felt the need to plug it here. It was written by terok, aka Malthir al' Dagon, from the perspective of a young boy named Noleski who lost both his arms to the dire boar Tuskgutter- only for the Guardians to work with Bokken on an experimental potion made from the blood of a Trollhound.

As a DM, its a delight when tiny bits of added fluff and motivation lead to quests and character development in themselves. Initially, I only had a boy lose his arms to Tuskgutter to justify why the hunters were willing to pool together such a large amount of gold for the death of the boar in the first place- and its led to a seperate side-quest, and a fleshed out character that could be Malthir's cohort in a few yearsof game time, role-played out rather than just taking the leadership feat and a cohort appears from thin air.

Anyone interested in more background or if they have any comments the game thread for chapter 1 (completed), the interlude thread between chapters 1 and 2 and the discussion thread are linked here in that order.

Link

Link

Link

Without further ado...

Terok i've taken the liberty of formatting your work somewhat, hope thats ok.

Foundersfeast Tales – Noleski the Troll Blooded

We were almost to SwordHaven, Bren had told me earlier that we would be there in three days and easily make it for Foundersfeast. It had been over three months since I had seen my “uncle”, Malthir, and the rest of the Guardians.

Some of the folks around Oleg’s felt a little resentful that they rarely saw them anymore, but not the men and women in this group. They had all spent time with them, raised glasses with them, seen what they had done for them in the early days. It had taken some convincing, but father had allowed me to go with the hunters, trappers, and goodly kin that had made the decision at Oleg’s trading post to make the trip to the festival.

Father trusted Bren and Lorast as brothers, so he had felt safe in allowing me to go even if he couldn’t. When we first came upon the farms and the road under construction heading north we weren’t sure what to think. The Kamelands just didn’t seem so intimidating with a wide road cutting a swath through it. The road was wide enough to fit two wagons side by side and we were travelling with a group of colonists from Brevoy hoping for a new start and great opportunities.

The small smokestacks of the farmhouses and the rows of fields greeted us and grew more abundant as we headed south. On the new road it would only be a tow and a half day journey from this point on foot, and it was said that the guardians had once made the trip on horseback in one!

At the beginning of the first day we stopped at the small mining hamlet near the Kameland Gold mine. The miners, including some gruff Dwarves, greeted us warmly. They knew we had some small coin to spend and across the kingdom, there seemed to be an expectation of openness and friendliness to newcomers. As per any stop I came too, people looked at me a little strangely.

Ever since the magic Bokken had used on me, thanks to the Guardians, I had grown unlike any boy that anyone knew. I was 13 and already over six feet in height as well as adding considerable bulk. My parents complained I ate them out of house and home and to be honest, they were probably not stretching the truth too much. The rumors would start just after I arrived, “Troll Blood” was my nickname. I didn’t mind much, no one bothered me because of it.

The next day was a good day’s travel and we ended up near the Kobold lands. It still amazed me that they little folk were not causing any trouble, but it was said that their Chief, now a Lord of Kardas as well, was a member of the ruling council and enjoyed his place, as did his people. Some of the folk did use rumors of their stealth and skill with a blade to keep their kids in line at night with threats of, “if you don’t listen to me right now, a Sootscales might come and take you from your bed to work in their silver mines!" We met several on their way back and forth from some of the farms, trading and such and they seemed nice enough, although a little scared of us bigger folk. We spent the night at a way point that had been built for travelers such as ourselves by the Kingdom.

We travelled much of the next day into the late afternoon. Our group crested a small hill and SwordHaven came into view. It wasn’t a great city, with high walls and a great Castle shimmering in the distance. In fact you could see the old Stag Lord’s fort with a number of workers around it slowly repairing and upgrading the keep. It looked to be expanding and the start of a ditch was being built around it, but it was far from done. Beyond it you could see the Tuskwater, stretching as far as you could see in the distance. A patrol of armed men rode north past us just stopping long enough to make sure we didn’t run into any trouble heading here. Their livery, a bold sword crossed by a bow in the background, paid homage to both Erastil and my goddess Iomedae.

SwordHaven looked ready to burst. Tents were set up all around the town and you could see them forming around the old fort as well. I followed Bren and Lorast’s lead and went into the bustling town to find a place to set up our meager tents. The weather was decent, though a bit cool, but promised to be a fine day for the festival. I was anxious to see them, I hoped I would be able to, but with all of the people around I wasn’t sure how to find them. We wondered over to the old fort and a large group had gathered around someone speaking on a hillock to the crowd. There was no way that you could mistake Casimir’s voice for anyone else. My heart started pumping but Bren placed his hand on my shoulder and told me to be patient. We found a place on the hill to pitch out tent. Near that hillock a large half-orc and a group of hunters appeared to be roasting a rather large Boar as well as an Elk. The finished meat was being handed out to the people around us as well as another wagon parked next to the scene with several kegs was pouring some fresh water and ale.

Lorast recognized the Half-Orc as one of the newer guardians named Kalev, a hunter from our area. I didn’t know him but he still seemed larger than life, a mighty silvery spear resting on the wagon near him. Lorast went over and spoke with him and the men exchanged hands and a good laugh. As Casimir came over for ale after his last tale I ran over and greeted him, ”Casimir, it is me, Noleski!”, I grabbed the man in a great hug, he seemed surprised at me, but I guess he wasn’t ready for the 5 inches and 30lbs I had put on in the last 3 months as well as the full face of hair.
”Noleski, it is you, I hardly recognize you, you big brute! Ah I see you are here with friends. Bren….Lorast. Well, we are glad that you could make it all the way from the northlands. How are things up there, it has been too long since we visited?” We caught up for a few minutes before a messenger arrived and pulled him away to more important matter, but you knew he was genuinely happy to see us and he promised to let Fenna and Malthir know we were here as well.

When the decision had been made to make the Stag Lord’s fort the capital of the new Kingdom and SwordHaven was formed the Guardians had spoke to us at Oleg’s telling us of their reasons, with almost guilt in their voice. We had wanted to have them near, to be part of the Kingdom from the start, but we understood why they started in the south. That they cared to explain to common folk the reasons for their choices was enough for most.

I woke up that next morning feeling a little groggy. I looked much older so I was able to get ale when I knew I shouldn’t have. Bren and Lorast knew immediately what had transpired and set me to several tasks to make sure I regretted my mischief. We left early so we get a good view of the festival kickoff and it took us some time to find a decent spot where we could see the unveiling and speech. Already people thronged the small streets, and the food and ale was on every street corner. I had never seen so many, it was said there would be several thousand coming to attend Foundersfeast. The Guardians had provided much for the folk, and everyone seemed in good spirits.

Finally after an intolerable wait a procession started from the fort, banner’s raised high, noble steeds carrying a group of important looking folk to the square. There were few guards, but folk such as us made sure no one was going to cause trouble. They disappeared for a while as they made their way down here and then they came into view. It was them, Malthir and the entire ruling council riding to the square. They all looked regal, but still rustic except for “uncle”. As per usual he was head to toe in shimmering armor. He almost didn’t seem real until he got close. I waved and yelled to him but the cheering for the council had grown too loud.

They came to a small stage that had been erected in front of the canvas shrouded statue and they walked up onto the stage. Uncle started with a speech about honor, justice, perseverance. About standing up for what is right and doing good for others, while asking nothing in return. Many were moved by the speech, most of us believed that this is what we came to this land for. He ended by calling on us to enjoy this day, our day, the day of the people of Kardas. Men moved to unveil the statue, one of Edric himself, it was impressive. Those who knew him were moved, that he had given his life for us. The cheering was legendary.

Soon Fenna took the stage and gave a moving speech about the Kingdom and what it stands for as well as what we, as a people, have already accomplished. It was then followed by another great cheer. The speeches were ended by Casimir who weaved a fine tale for the crowd, the fall of the Stag Lord himself! Then the festival was officially kicked off with acts and celebrations throughout the crowd.

As the main crowd started to break apart a Kobold, larger than most we have ever seen, and two armed men approached our little band. ”You comes with usss, we have needs to speak with yousss.” We weren’t sure what this was about but soon we were led to a great, new looking Guildhall filled with merchants and tradesmen of all types trying to talk to a bookish looking man. I was later to find out that this was one of the new Guardians, an elf named Ilya, part of a noble family from Brevoy.

We were brought into a back room where Malthir and Vaysh stood. Like an angel, you could not look at her and feel something. I had heard most of the men say at one time or another that there is not much they wouldn’t do to be with her. Malthir and Vaysh seemed to share a moment when they saw us, their eyes met and then Vaysh strode forth to greet us. As was her way she gave each of us hugs and pestered us to tell her what we had been up too. Not many could say no to her. After some time catching up with Vaysh, Malthir finally was able to drag himself away from several men vying for his time. He had always seemed larger than life, the Holy Knight that had promised to make me whole again. My father had talked with me over and over again in those early days as I recovered that I should not get my hopes up and that I might be this way for the rest of my life, but I had always believed in his promise.

He looked tired, but happy as he placed his hand on my shoulder, it was odd to look him in the eyes for the first time, "Well Nol, I see you continue to grow like a sapling, and every time I see you I think you are two feet larger.”, I was always so unsure of how to talk to him, I lowered my eyes and gave him the respect he was due, ”My liege, I am well. We would not have missed this for all the gold in Absolom.” I smiled, ”I have been practicing, every day. None of the boys my age can match my skill with the blade!” My excited talk made him smile at me, but I cursed myself silently for acting like a boy and not the man I need to be for him. ”I hope to be able to come down next year and start serving as your squire, if my liege will permit it.”

Malthir sighed a little and spoke to me quietly, ”Look at me Nol, there will be plenty of time for danger, you are still a boy yet. Enjoy what time you have with your friends, there will be plenty of time to fight.”

But I was determined to prove myself to him, ”My Lord, it is most utmost desire to serve you as soon as I can, here in SwordHaven. I work every day at the blade, on horses and my father has even had a suit of leather armor made to fit me so I can start getting used to wearing it. If I may be so bold sire, you need me here. I will be a warrior of Iomedae and the sooner I can receive guidance from you, the faster I can help the Kingdom.”

A strange look came over him then, I would have almost thought it was sadness, but it quickly passed. ”Well then, if you have your father’s blessing and you feel you are ready to start, return to me after your 14th birthday and you shall indeed become my squire, I live up to my promises Nol!” We chatted a little about the Kingdom and my family but then he was pulled away by General Kesten and some other pressing matter.

As I watched him from across the room I saw Vaysh wonder over to him and slip her hand into his. I could not help but smile, everything seemed right with the world at that moment…

No spoilers without tags please btw, i've permitted my players to look at this topic lol.

Sovereign Court

Lots of posts I am losing, oh technical team.

Some of my players have reported problems too. Its not absolutely major, its just catching us off-guard as we've become accustomed to not having to copy and paste every post recently... Is something funky happening with the server?


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Your Humble Narrator

We will use this thread to run the 24 kingdom turns- use it to discuss anything you please regarding it.

The only thing I will be rolling is the events phase at the end of each turn, so i'll post the new month after resolving the events phase every turn.

For quick reference-

Ruling a Kingdom

Like a player character’s stat block, a kingdom’s stat block continues to evolve and grow as the kingdom expands, gathers more resources, purchases upgrades, and suffers defeats and setbacks. As the kingdom grows, the PCs will need to deal with a host of situations, all of which can further influence the kingdom’s stat block.

A kingdom’s growth occurs during four phases, which represent a month in total. When the PCs establish a kingdom, you should pick a day of each month to resolve that kingdom’s growth and fortunes—it’s best to set this as the last day of each month, so that any accomplishments the PCs have made during that month can impact that month’s growth.

Upkeep Phase

During a kingdom’s Upkeep phase, take the following actions. If your kingdom currently controls 0 hexes, skip this phase and proceed to the Improvement phase.

Step 1—Determine Kingdom Stability: Make a Stability check against your Command DC to determine your kingdom’s level of security for the month. If you make the check, reduce your kingdom’s Unrest by 1 (if your Unrest is at 0, gain 1 BP as a result of surplus goods and services). If you fail this check by 5 or more, increase Unrest by 2.

Step 2—Pay Consumption: Deduct your kingdom’s Consumption from the kingdom’s Treasury BP. If you aren’t able to pay for the month’s Consumption, your kingdom’s BP drops into the negative. Every time you end
an Upkeep phase with negative BP in your Treasury, your kingdom’s Unrest increases by 2.

Step 3—Fill Vacant Magic Item Slots: If there are any vacant magic item slots in any cities, randomly roll new items to fill these slots.

Step 4—Unrest: If the kingdom’s Unrest is 11 or higher, it loses one hex chosen by the kingdom’s leaders. Any improvements in that hex (farmlands and roads) are lost and must be rebuilt after the hex is reclaimed. Any settlements in that hex become towns that must be annexed if they are
to be reclaimed into the kingdom (see page 56). Finally, if the kingdom employs a Royal Assassin, reduce your total Unrest by 1 at the end of this phase.

Improvement Phase

During a kingdom’s Improvement phase, take the following actions. The number of improvements you can make during a single phase is limited by your kingdom’s size; see the Improvements per Month table for these limits.

Step 1—Select Leadership: Assign leaders to any vacant leadership roles. Leaders must be PCs or closely allied NPCs. You can change leaders as often as you want with no impact on your nation’s statistics (apart from changing what bonuses apply, as the ability scores of leaders differ); reallocating roles allows you to give every player a chance to play the role of ruler if you wish.

Step 2—Claim Hexes: Each hex on the maps of the Stolen Lands measures 12 miles across, and the PCs kingdom must be built hex by hex. To claim a hex, you must explore it and clear it of monsters or dangerous hazards; the hex must also be adjacent to a hex that is already part of the kingdom (with the exception of the first hex, which can be anywhere). At this point, you can claim the hex as part of the kingdom by spending 1 BP. Increase your kingdom’s size (and thus its Consumption) by 1 for each hex you claim. You can abandon a hex to reduce your kingdom’s Size. Doing so increases Unrest by 1 (or by 4, if the abandoned hex contained a city).

Step 3—Establish and Improve Cities: Prepare land for city districts and then purchase new buildings for your kingdom’s cities. The building’s adjustments to your nation apply immediately. You can also destroy buildings at this time in order to clear a space to build something new; if you destroy a building, don’t forget to remove its benefits from your kingdom’s statistics!

Step 4—Build Roads: Roads have an immediate initial cost but over the long term can pay for the investment handsomely. It costs 1 BP to build a road though a hex. This cost increases to 2 BP in forests and to 4 BP in swamps
and mountains. If the road crosses a river, a bridge must be built—this doubles the road’s cost.

Step 5: Establish Farmlands: You can develop any grassland or hill hex that contains roads into farmlands to help sustain your kingdom’s Consumption. It costs 2 BP to designate a grassland hex as farmland and 4 BP to designate a hill hex as farmland. You cannot build a city on a farmland hex. Every farmland hex in your kingdom reduces your Consumption by 2 BP.

Step 6: Edicts: Pick or adjust your edict levels (see page 55) as you wish.

Income Phase
During a kingdom’s Income phase, take the following actions.

Step 1—Deposits: You can add funds to a kingdom’s treasury by donating coins, gems, jewelry, weapons, armor, magic items, and other valuables you find while adventuring. For every full 4,000 gp in value of the deposit, increase your kingdom’s BP by 1. Items that individually cost more than 4,000 gp must be sold as detailed under Step 3 below.

Step 2—Withdrawals: You can also withdraw funds from the kingdom’s treasury, but doing so runs the risk of annoying the citizens. Each time you withdraw funds, the kingdom’s Unrest increases by 1. In addition, you must
make a Loyalty check (DC = Command DC + number of BP being withdrawn); a failure causes your kingdom to gain Unrest equal to the total BP withdrawn. Each BP withdrawn in this manner converts into 2,000 gp.

Step 3—Sell Valuable Items: You can attempt to sell items that cost more than 4,000 gp through your city’s markets to bolster your kingdom’s Treasury; these can be items you recover during an adventure or they can be magic items currently held by any of your cities. To sell these items, make an Economy check (DC 20 for minor items, DC 35 for moderate items, and DC 50 for major items). A failed check indicates the item doesn’t sell. Success indicates that the item sells and you can increase your kingdom’s treasury by 2 BP (for minor items), 8 BP (for moderate items), or 15 BP (for major items). You can make one Economy check per city district during each Income phase.

Step 4—Generate Income: Make an Economy check against your Command DC at the end of your Income phase. If you’re successful, divide your result by 5 (dropping any fractions) and increase your Treasury’s BP by that amount.

Event Phase (DM resolved)

During a kingdom’s Event phase, roll once on the Kingdom Events table to determine if an event occurs. Adventure specific kingdom events occur during this phase. Once you’ve determined what kind of event occurs (if any), simply follow the rules for each event to determine how the event impacts the PCs’ kingdom or cities.

Chance of an Event: There’s a 25% chance that a random event occurs during an Event phase. This chance increases to 75% if no event occurred in the previous Event phase.

Improvements per Month

Kingdom Size- New Cities/New Buildings/Hex Claims/Roads/Farmlands
1–10 1/1/1/1/1
11–25 1/2/2/2/1
26–50 1/5/3/3/2
51–100 2/10/4/4/2
101–200 3/20/8/6/3
201+ 4/No limit/12/8/4

Month 1-


One of our players is dropping out of the game due to RL commitments and I will be looking for a regular poster to replace him. The group are about half-way through the chapter on about 1,500 posts and somewhere mid-way to level 3. As one of my backup slots awarded is already in-game and Wander Weir's sellsword got into Naviors game afterwards, i'm open for submissions again. If you already have a submission previously made on the old thread, don't hesitate to resubmit.

The group's discussion thread is lurker friendly so feel free to chime in there or ask me and the group any questions you might have (or just do it here). Heres the link- Link

The game thread is here, providing an easy way to look at the characters already in play. The character leaving the game will be James Carmichael. Link

I'm looking for concepts rather than builds and character sheets. Your character will likely be another shipwreck survivor, separated from his or her crew on the island and fighting for survival.

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Anybody else or problem localised to me?

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I hashed this out in twenty minutes last night, and I thought i'd see if other people had any ideas or alternatives. My goal was to fill the dead levels, fix the strange 5 + skill points design, raise HD to match the medium BAB, and to replace the capstone with something better. Here are my notes-

(The dead levels were 15th, 17th and 18th.)

Artificer Changes-

HD-
Changed to D8 to match medium BAB.

Skills-
Add Fly as a class skill. Change skills gained per level to 6 + Int modifier.

15th Level: Craft Golem
The artificer gains Craft: Golem as a bonus feat.

17th Level: Technologica Arcanum-
The Artificer may apply metamagic feats to the effects his device creates on the fly by spending a full-round action to activate the item. Using this ability is dangerous however, and is always treated as though you had run out of safe uses for the item (if you have already ran out of uses for the item increase the base DC as appropriate)- and if the check is failed the device breaks permanently. The DC to activate the item increases by an amount equal to the amount of spell levels increased by the metamagic x2- and in the case of devices with multiple effects this DC increase must be calculated for each effect the artificer chooses to apply. The artificer may apply different metamagic feats to each effect his device produces, but is limited to one metamagic effect per device ability.

Example 1- Grognard, a 17th level artificer, decides to use the Maximise metamagic on the fireball effect his Inferno Cannon produces. He has not used the item today, and the DC to activate the item is usually only 15. Because he is applying the maximise metamagic on his Inferno Cannon to deal 60 damage instead of 10d6, we treat the item as though it was being used beyond its safe usage capacity- so we start with DC20. Because the maximise spell metamagic increases the spell level on normal spells by 3, we double this to get our new DC- 26. If he fails this check, the item breaks instantly.

Example 2-Grognard has built a firestorm launcher- a device which combines the destructive power of a fireball with the nastiness of a lightning bolt. Because the device has two effects, we start with the “unsafe” usage of DC27 (25+2 effects)- and work our way up with metamagic. Like in example 1, Grognard wants to maximise the fireball effect- so the DC increases to 33.However, Grognard wants to get even more oomph out of his launcher- so opts to ALSO maximise the lightning bolt damage on his weapon! This increases the DC to 39!

18th Level:
Exemplar (formerly a capstone ability)

20th Level: Technological Supremacy-
The artificers devices have become so potent and reliable that even when they are subjected to his Technologica Arcanum ability, they only break permanently if he fails the check by 10 or more. Failing by less than ten when using this ability merely results in the weapon not functioning for the rest of the day. The Artificer also gains a permanent +1 bonus to all skills, his vast mental reservoir of knowledge and know-how serving him well in any endeavour.

For those who don't have Tome of Secrets- the class is here; Link

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Its finally complete. I'm not 100% happy with the formatting but the encounter conversion should be sound. Sorry for the wait.

Link- Link

Feedback and thanks is, as always, appreciated. And obviously the conversion is ridiculously spoiler heavy, so do not read if your a player (ESPECIALLY IF YOUR ONE OF Y PLAYERS!).

Warforged my friend, were you planning on converting Chapter 3 still?


We have had to say a fond goodbye to our Cavalier Sir Edric Orlovsky as the player's work has firewalled off the Paizo forums, rendering him unable to post.

The game requires a fair amount of commitment, please do not apply unless your confident you'll generally be able to post more than once a day.

Lurkers on the game will be given highest priority as they will be most familiar with my style of DMing and whether their concept would fit well with the party. The game is approaching 2,000 posts and the remaining four players are all dedicated, frequent posters who play and RP exceptionally well.

The party are level 2, approaching level 3.

If you would like a chance to join a solid PbP Kingmaker game with a reliable DM, please submit the following details-

Apply with a concept only, race, class, personality, motivations, aspirations etc, put into a spoiler tag in a single post, for my ease of reference. I don't want to see any actual builds out there that you will have spent extra time on, that I have to then say no to. Oh, and an idea of what leadership role you will be gunning for will be nice too.

I am a very frequent poster, and do expect the same of any applicants. If you can't commit to at least checking on the game once a day and making a small post, this PBP won't be for you. I reserve the right to take your character's actions for you if I feel your character is holding up the game, and any long abscences (3 days or more) that have not been mentioned to me in advance will be looked on unfavourably.

The party size will be a party of five; you will be joining four existing players- a Human Bard/Fighter, a Tiefling Witch, a Gnome Heavens Oracle, and a Human Paladin of Iomedae.

I enjoy challenging combat, and i enjoy heavy RP. If your not a fan of both, best not to apply.

I tend to post late evening/night/early morning at GMT+0. I am UK based. PLEASE POST YOUR TIME ZONE IN GMT TERMS.

All base classes are legal concepts, as are the APG's- with the exception of the Alchemist and Summoner. I'm just not happy enough with those 2 classes, sorry.

I will be reviewing submissions and making my decision on who will join The Guardians of the Greenbelt on Monday evening with a view to introducing your character to the party mid-week sometime. I do not make decisions based on a first come first served basis, so take your time with your concept tomaximise your chances of winning the slot.

Link to the game- Link

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I'm currently statting out Vesket as a challenge for 6 players in the next chapter of my Kingmaker conversions, and there seem to be some serious miscalculations on his stats.

Firstly, Vesket starts as an advanced lizardfolk, yet his stats don't seem to match this.

Vesket's Stats (1 stat point used somewhere)-

Str 23, Dex 14, Con 20, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 12

Vesket's Stats with the advanced template removed-

Str 19, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 4, Wis 4, Cha 8

Vesket's Stats if he was medium sized instead of large-

Str 17, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 4, Wis 4, Cha 8

Int and Wisdom 4? Seriously? Compare to an average lizardfolk and a lizardfolk with the advanced template's statistics.

Str 17, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 14

The advanced lizardfolk is far superior in stats, and yet the normal lizardfolk has these stats-

Str 13, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 9, Wis 10, Cha 10

In a culture where the average Lizardfolk has Int 9 and Wisdom 10 the Lizard King is exceptionally stupid and lacking any common sense- hes also less likeable than the average lizardfolk with his 8 charisma.

^^ All of the above could possibly be explained by some horrific point buy system where Vesket got treated to a 5 point point buy and got to nerf his stats to an awful standard for no extra benefit, but his natural armour is also 2 points lower than a normal Lizardfolk with the advanced template; it wasn't raised with the advanced template.

So am I overlooking something or did something go wrong with Vesket's stat block in the Paizo machine? Or perhaps the lesson here is not to reverse engineer anything and look for sense :)

Edit: Vesket also doesn't qualify for vital strike with BAB+5...

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While I too have great respect for this campaign world, perhaps your enthusiasm doesn't need five or six topics? ;)

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Went to edit one of my aliases for a PbP today, but its been completely wiped other than the name and avatar. I do not believe this was not due to an error or oversight on my part, for even if I somehow accidentally deleted the main profile area the stuff in the boxes would have remained.

Is there anything that can be done about this, and is it happening to anyone else?

Link- Link

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Hi guys, seems the dots by topics have disappeared again, any insights? Happening to anyone else?

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Sorry, there was a problem handling your request. The system administrator has been notified.

Please contact customer.service@paizo.com if you continue to have difficulties.

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I'm working on my chapter 2 conversion for 6 players, and I happened to notice that the Hodag's CR was very low for its large number of Magical Beast HD. Its defences are good, its HP is high and it has a large number of quite nasty attacks- including a bonus on a charge.

Why such a low CR? A magical beast with 8HD is normally a CR higher at CR6. I know thats a general rule and exceptions apply, im just wondering why it was chosen to be a CR5 rather than a CR6.

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Activate Dot.


Your Humble Narrator

Character build guidelines-

20 point buy.

Average gold for your class.

Two traits, one of which must be campaign. Rich Parents is banned, and Heirloom Weapon has an addendum- you can take it, but only for weapons which you are already proficient with by virtue of your class or feat.

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Hi all, i've eventually given in and committed myself to running this adventure path. I tend to run quite a fast-paced game, preferring players who can post at least once a day. Do not apply if you don't have the time to commit to the game.

So, apply here with a concept for a character for my Serpents Skull Play-By-Post if your interested. Guidelines are listed below, and are mostly the same as the guidelines for my Kingmaker game; I will provide the link so you can see the kind of application I want to see-

Link to Kingmaker Recruitment Thread

Apply with a concept only, race, class, personality, motivations, aspirations etc, put into a spoiler tag in a single post, for my ease of reference. I don't want to see any actual builds out there that you will have spent extra time on, that I have to then say no to. I should point out in advance i'm not particularily keen on the Leadership feat, so be careful about assuming that feat will be ok at 7th Level.

I am a very frequent poster, and do expect the same of any applicants. If you can't commit to at least checking on the game once a day and making a small post, this PBP won't be for you. I reserve the right to take your character's actions for you if I feel your character is holding up the game, typically after you have been inactive for 24 hours.

Please specify your time zone in GMT format for me in your application. FYI, my time zone is GMT+0 as I am based in the UK.

The party size will be a party of five. The characters chosen will be made with a 20 point buy build, and will have to take a campaign trait from the players guide as well as another trait of their choice. There will also be two backup slots in case any players drop.

I enjoy combat, and I enjoy heavy RP, and I reward both. If your not a fan of both, best not to apply.

I tend to post late evening/night/early morning at GMT+0. I am UK based.

All base classes are legal concepts, as are the APG's- with the exception of the Alchemist and Summoner. I'm just not happy enough with those 2 classes yet, sorry. I am keen to see lots of the new archetypes played though :).

I will be reviewing applications on Saturday the 14th at 7PM GMT+0, assuming I have a healthy selection to choose from. This is not first come, first served- please take your time with your applications.

Also, any questions? Am happy to answer any queries. For an example of my DMing style etc. I suggest you take a look at my Kingmaker game.

Finally, please read the Serpents Skull players guide before making your application. Many thanks!

Please use this thread as I can't access the other one and i'm being told others can't either! Damn forums...

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