Okay so we've got our band sorted, now we just need to decide what everyone is going to run! I suggest we each list, what we have played in/run previously or currently, what we would like to play in, and what we would like to run, and then discuss from there.
I am playing in Rise of the Runelords, have played in The World's Largest Dungeon, Maure Castle, Tomb of Horrors, and the first few levels of Shackled City. I have run Redhand of Doom, and Queen of Spiders - the super module containing Against the Giants, etc., and am currently running Serpent's Skull here on the forums.
I'd love to play Age of Worm, Savage Tide, Carrion Crown, Skulls and Shackles, any of the other APs, or a well planned homebrew taking place in an interesting Golarion location.
Lets see, recently tried running Jade Regent tabletop, I couldn't do it justice there but I'm a better DM writing than in person. Ran CoT parts 1 and 2, liked it but had to put on indefinite hiatus. Did Kingmaker both as a player and DM in the last 2 years and am more than happy to play it again (I love this AP and have not got past book 3, its maddening). DM a fair bit of homebrew, kicking some ideas around for a pretty dark and gritty low magic (but epic) game. Hoping to play some Way of the Wicked too.
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I have GM'd part of Legacy of Fire, Serpents Skull, and am currently working through the first module of Skull and Shackles. I have also GM'd a couple of homebrew Pathfinder and Shadowrun 3.5 campaigns.
I've played part of the first module of Carrion Crown, and am currently in a CthulhuTec campaign, but don't have a huge amount of experience as a player (All my friends decided I was the nominated GM and it's just kinda stuck that way...)
I'd love to play Carrion Crown, Rise of the Runelords, Kingmaker and Jade Regent.
I'm happy to GM any of the AP's, I'm loving Skull and Shackles atm, but would probably stick away from Serpents Skull (I found that to be a pretty poorly crafted AP unfortunately, and the further through I got the worse it seemed to be :() I'd probably want to stick away from GMing homebrew though.
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Haha, Way of the Wicked. I'm honestly a very nice guy, I'll tell you a story.
I once tried to play NWN2 as an evil guy, I get to the scene where you have a chance to murder your boyhood bully while he's bleeding to death on the ground, and my hand is shaking as I click the mouse. After he's dead I feel sick to my stomach, and I have to get up and have a drink.
Yeah, I couldn't hack it and quit, I'm such a wimp :P
Counting solely the Paizo forums, I've yet to play in any campaigns here, though I've applied to about a half-dozen since my arrival. Most recently IRL, I've been a part of a Crimson Throne game (currently on hiatus) with my standard group, and am playing in a once-a-month campaign set in Golarion that has been going on now for almost six months, which is currently focusing on the acquirement of an army to defend itself from an encroaching advance from the Worldwound. Other well-known campaigns I've been through include the Tomb of Horrors, Against the Giants, World's Largest Dungeon (though we only made it halfway!), and White Plume Mountain, among numerous other homebrew campaigns hosted by my friends. I've never been the dungeon master of any of the Pathfinder scenarios or Adventure Paths, but I've run The Temple of Elemental Evil (and its sequel, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil). My last foray as a dungeon master was for a homebrew Dark Sun campaign, which centered around the reinstatement of Rajaat back into The Hollow.
The list of things I'd like to play in are pretty broad, but chief amongst them are the Rise of the Runelords, Legacy of Fire, and Jade Regent Adventure Paths. This isn't to say I'm only interested in these two things, though I do tend to trend towards characters and campaigns that are more heroically-inclined. The classic struggle of good versus evil, saving the realm from an overwhelming doom, a sense of adventure, rescuing prince(sse)s... you know, that whole shtick. Homebrew campaigns certainly aren't out of the question, but I'd prefer if they were set in Golarion or some other setting - after all, I find it easier to research something already established (no offense!) in order to build an appropriate character.
As for running things, I've had my eye on the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path for some time, though I've also pondered the idea of running Rise of the Runelords, Jade Regent, and Kingmaker myself - though I think Kingmaker would be more tenuous than worthwhile for a slower paced game, given the numerous factors it possesses. I'm open to other homebrew ideas, but the ones I've pondered myself have been sitting on the back burner for quite a while, and I'd rather hear some suggestions from prospective players before bandying my own ideas about all willy-nilly :)
Well there are lots of types of evil, something I try to express to my players and table-top gms. There is the over the top Joker-esqe villian, the misguided soul, the selfish individual, the toady, the mastermind. You have dumb evil, smart evil, charming evil. The problem with most console and computer RPGs is that they tend to do bullying or vicious evil when there are so many more representations one can do.
I've got a sorc on tabletop that I portray as power-hungry, merciless, and calculating, but he is also fair, everyone is equal in that they are lower on the heirarchy than he is, he keeps his word, and always gives his opponents a chance to stand down or surrender, failing the surrender however he... sends a message to any future enemies.
The upcoming character for that game after the sorc sacrifices himself (his own father has ensorcelled him) is his son. The son is honorable, kind, gentle to his inferiors, a wise and just ruler. However, he is also a sadist, reveling in the chance to kill his enemies slowly, and filled with anger and hate.
Both are chocolate, but one is milk and the other bittersweet.
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You are right, I did have an evil character I'd drawn up for the Carrion Crown PbP i played for a while, and I think I might have been able to pull him off because he wasn't the kicking puppies kind, more the cold, calculating, knows-what-he-wants-others-be-damned kind. I could have fun with it with the right people.
As far as Paizo authorized stuff, I haven't run much. I'm currently running RotR which is my first attempt at something canonical.(other than Beginners Box) Otherwise as previously mentioned I've written my own campaign arc and am currently DM'ing that on here. I'm also in the process of a second unwritten campaign where I'm making it up as I go.
I'd be up for anything. As Long as I can get ahold of the pdfs for it, I'll be happy to DM or play whatever.
I would be willing to run age of worms if there's interest. It's pretty much the deadliest most heroic AP paizo ever put out. (Groups have been known to have TPKs on the first few encounters). For those unfamiliar with it, basically you end up trying to stop a zombie apocalypse.
I'm in RotR and CC campaigns already, so I would rather not play either of those, but otherwise, I'm game for whatever.
Way of the wicked would be a hoot if done right. Similarly, a good homebrew can kick the pants off of any of the published stuff.
Also, I'm not seeing a lot of PBP experience here (on these boards at least), so I just want everyone to think about the level of commitment that they are making. A PBP campaign could last years. Normally, I not too worried about that kind of thing, but since if someone goes MIA it means that we lose a DM and a PC from four other campaigns, I'm feeling a little leery about this whole situation. Obviously, things can change in that time frame, but I would rather not have a couple of people disappear after a month, which is fairly common on these boards.
The more I hear about this Age of Worms deal, the greater it sounds. Unfortunately, I don't own it, so I can't even begin to contemplate running it. But it does sound neat and certifiably epic in scope!
Anyways, you're right, Fanguar; it'd be quite the pickle if one of us should just up and skedaddle without so much as a word. Unfortunately, I have no kind of validation to put people at ease as far as my endeavors to remain present for the long-term, save for my enthusiasm and willingness to at least try. I'm still interested in at least giving this idea a chance, and happy enough to run a game that accommodates the tastes of various players :)
Was doing PbP for about 4 years solid for a while there, multiple characters/games at once, took some time off (about 2 1/2 years) due to outside commitments but made a point of finishing the storylines I was in over the course of the month I took pulling out. No fear of me dropping anytime soon, probably going to drop a line to some of my TT players to join me in one or two games on these boards in fact.
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Sofar we have...
CA - Skull and Shackles, or any other AP besides Serpents Skull.
GM Fanguar - Age of Worms.
Almagafor - Homebrew.
rpgramen - LoF, RotR, JR and Kingmaker.
DM Carpe - Serpents Skull, Redhand of Doom, Queen of Spiders?
drawesome1111 - Homebrew and RotR.
There's been a strong interest in Way of the Wicked, but no-ones suggested actually running it.
Interest is in anything Golarion based as far as playing goes, with GM Fanguar having a preference against RotR and CC, and myself against Serpents Skull.
I'll second Fanguar's caution, this is a huge commitment. And we seem to have one more player than the 5 we were looking for so I've PMed rpgramen, since drawesome1111 expressed interest in the one post a day format first, and he seemed not to want that level of commitment.
Way of the Wicked sounds great, I had not actually heard of it - or rather I had, but for some reason I was under the impression it was a different games system.
I've got a fair bit of PBP experience, I helped found a couple of the Living EnWorlds and played there for years, including wrapping up some campaign, but stopped when I got divorced and ended up returning to the U.K from Florida. I'm confident I can commit to a couple of years, especially given the die off rate for PBPs, I'm probably a tad over committed, but I've got plenty of free time at the moment and I promise I'll stop looking at the recruitment forum ;)
Fanguar I actually applied for your Age of Worms game, though I'd create a different character if you decide to run it here, so needless to say I'd be thrilled if you wanted to run it. I enjoy difficult games, and Age of Worms is heralded as a very tough AP.
So it seems that Fanguar running Age of Worms is a popular choice - any objections?
caffeine addict running Skulls and Shackles certainly works for me, seems to be his preference and does not appear to conflict with anyone elses previously played list - any objections?
For myself I'm pretty open, I think we can elimiante Rise of the Runelords, Serpent's Skull, and Carrion Crown on preference and previously/currently played lists. I don't want to run Kingmaker, because I think its nature makes it poorly suited for PBP. I'd be willing to run any of the other APs, potentially even Way of the Wicked, though I'd have to read some reviews and threads about it first.
I do have the beginnings of a homebrew Campaign in mind. It would center around the dissapearance of the Archwizard Nex, and would involve the Mana Wastes, Nex, Geb, The Tower of nex near Absalom, Alkenstar, etc. I'd likely be making use of factions, and place some constraints upon character creation in a similar way to the APs. I would also need at least a week of planning time before I was ready to begin.
Ok, I'll run Age of worms. So you all can start thinking about characters and what not. It'll be Core classes only with a 30 pt buy.
If folks want me to run an AP, I have part 1 for most of them. I usually add something in to throw those who have played it before for a loop. In CoT each player had a "nemisis", in JR I added another Scion, etc.
Totally down with caffeine addict doing Skull and Shackles.
Looking at Elven Ranger for Age of Worms
Ok so:
Fanguar-Age of Worms
Carpe- Homebrewed (Nex)
Doc(Me)- Homebrew?
Which one is primary and which ones are the outliers so to speak? Or am I confused?
I'm not sure what you mean about primary and outliers drawesome? The idea is that we each run a game, and play in all the other games, no one game would be primary. You should end up DMing one game and playing in 4.
I'm thinking a Paladin for Age of Worm, its kinda nice that its a core only game so I don't have to spend ages agonizing over archetypes, etc., lol.
If I do go with the Nex campaign would anyone find being restricted to races with total or partial human ancestery particularly troubling?
Almagafor am I right in thinking you want to play in Way of the Wicked rather than run it? And do you have a preference for an AP to run.
drawesome I'd be up for a homebrew game, but I would strongly prefer one tied into Golarion. Personally I am hugely intrigued by the Land of the Linnorm Kings, the World Wound, though there are many fascinating areas on Golarion. Ideally I would want something that feels like a Paizo AP, even though it isn't one, since thye are so well done, something which has an overarching story and is fairly well planned out in advance. Where the first level minor adventures herald the later world shattering events, etc. I'm not a big fan of lets see what happens DMing.
Yeah, I would prefer playing WotW. No preference on AP to run really I like them all, been doing some sketchy world-building for homebrew if that's the way you want me to go.
As far as the Nex game, restricting race really just forces me to not play an elf (a good thing, cause I tend to default sometimes). Looking at Dhampir or one of the plane-touched, as far as class what are your feelings on SGGs supplements?
SGGs? I would be looking to stick to Paizo based material, though allowing all sources, and I think I'd allow any race that I don't feel is a significant power up.
Was looking at Beyond Bloodlines or Knacks of Nature, maybe some feat variants, I would give the full text for anything I was considering. I like the work of the folks at SGG and have recently acquired some stuff that I thought would be interesting to try out.
I'm prepared to look, but I'll err on the side of caution if I have any balance worries.
So if everyone is okay with it I'm going to go ahead and run with the Nex Campaign, which I'm tenuously titling Legacies of Hate. Blurb would go something like this,
I'm getting pretty excited, those countries have to be my favorite in Golarion they just abound with plot hooks, and remain sketchy enough that I can have a virtual free reign. I'm pretty sure that if we get far enough you will get to go to the Impossible Kingdom of Jalmeray to, with its Indian inspired Vudran populance and plethora of summoned genies.
Likely to be very Gunslinger friendly due to the proximity to Alkenstar and the Mana Wastes.
Sounds like it could be fun.
Almagafor I'll just point out that there is a Way of the Wicked game currently recruiting in case you missed it. I've got to admit I'm reluctant to leave Golarion, its just such a wonderfully constructed and well fleshed out world, I generally feel a bit blind in homebrew worlds unless there are reems of information on offer - I don't really want to have to ask the DM about things that should be common knowledge every other minute, etc.
I think the adventure paths I would most like to play are Legacy of Fire, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Council of Thieves, Carrion Crown in approximately that order. I'd also be interested in a DM stringing together some of the paizo modules as I've barely played any of them.
I'd just like to make it clear that I don't consider myself in charge of this in any sense, we should all be equals in the process and my opinions don't count more than anyone elses.
When I express my concerns regarding homebrew campaign settings for example you are wholly free to try to address them. Heck if your campaign setting is not half assed and is well developed and thought out I'd be delighted to play in it, I've just had bad experiences with freeform worlds where I feel I can't ground my character in the world since the DM is making it up as we go along.
Carpe mentioned I ought to post this here, So I shall. I have a homebrewed world I've created called Airdwyn. I have several cities, economies, etc. It's not quite as perfected as Paizo's work, but I know it better than theirs. If everyone is willing I'd like to set my campaign there. I'm very much a fan of including character backgrounds into the story and allowing the characters to affect the outcome of a story, so you will help form the world of Airdwyn for future players. Let me know what you think, when I hear back from you I'll proceed.
Sounds good, my homebrew I was thinking of was going to be left vague actually. Players of particular races, classes, and organizations would be able to come up with relevant info for the group they represent so any in game info about the elves comes from the elf palyer for example, anything particularly out there needs approval of course, but that was the initial plan with me filling in any blanks.
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Like DM Carpe I'm not as much a fan of "see what happens" campaigns, and I quiet like Golarion. It took me a while to transition from Forgotten Realms, but I'm finally getting the swing of things and my preference is to stay there. That being said, if you're confident that your world is a good one, and you're able to easily lead us into it I'de be willing to give it a shot.
Just in case anyone is interested I will point out that there are some excellent free modules available for download on the paizo site. You can find them HERE. If you are prepared to do a small amount of conversion from 3.5 there are also a number of free modules available from the Wizards site HERE, including classics like Whiteplume Mountain and Tomb of horrors, these cover every level in the game so stitching a few together into a full length campaign would be simple.
My main issue with pre-planned modules or worlds is that I don't feel like the DM has any say in what happens. The DM essentially becomes useless and merely a moderator for someone else's work. Rather than the creator of a world, he becomes a tool.
That being said, I'll look through some of those modules since that seems like a majority of the group. How long do I have to plan this campaign before everyone is ready to get started?
I'd say ideally we want to be getting started with games in a couple of weeks at most - though there's no real deadline.
I actually don't care if you guys want to run home brews instead of paizo modules. I would rather have a DM invested in their own creation than one that is simply going through the paces with someone else's module. I also enjoy episodic or mission based campaigns and most published stuff doesn't really do that too well.
I run APs simply because I don't have the time and energy these days to create something that lives up to my ambition, but I used to almost exclusively just make up my own stuff. I'm a big fan of collaborative storytelling and dislike railroading, so APs actually are pretty much my least favorite way to play. That being said, I don't want to do a hexcrawl. I would like there to be some sort of structure to the premise of the campaign. Things tend to fall apart if its too vague.
As for setting, my own personal preference is Eberron, because I enjoy its steampunk vibe and it lets you do fun things like train robberies and airship battles. Obviously, that's not for everyone, but I find it fun.
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Mmmmm, Eberron, good times, loved that setting. I'm 100% happy to play in homebrew, I was just expressing a few preferences, but you're the one who has to GM it in the end, so if your own world is easiest to work in for you, then I'll give it a shot.
I don't have the time to create my own campaigns either, which is why I stick with the AP's at the moment.
I'm just an old stick-in-the-mud, feel free to ignore me ;)
I love the APs I've never found them to be particularly railroady, honestly they feel pretty much like a homebrew campaign, but better written in my experience. The way I tend to design adventures is largely based on a paizo AP, but I try to identify a number of significant decision points where the PCs get to determine how things go, like waht faction to side with, which danger to address first, etc. Hopefully this allows me to be prepared for adventures aand to grant a decent measure of freedom.
I'll give a hombrew world a shot, but I would want to see some write ups. If you can't provide write ups for how the races fit into your setting, a blurb for each city, and information on deities then I will get very worried. I don't want to be in a position where i need to ask a dozen questions in order to be able to craft a backstory, etc.
Oh, for sure you need to provide campaign materials if you're going to be doing a full blown homebrew. That's the advantage of using a published setting, things like which races are present and the racial relationships etc. are already established.
I'll be putting up soem campaign material and campaign traits today. The game will be 25 point buy - which I would not normally do, but I want to provide a little extra wiggle room since there are likely going to be some parts of the game taking place in the dead magic areas of Alkenstar and the Mana Wastes. Casters should build accordingly, guns will be readily accessible.
At a rough guess I would say less than a tenth of the game will be in antimagic so casters ought still be viable, they would just be advised to have a back up option. I'll also probably allow Pearls of Power to work in the dead magic areas, and might consider creating a magic item similar to the Barrels in The Wheel of Time. You should not be facing dead magic areas for the first few levels at least.
Generally it will work if it would work in an antimagic field, basically if there is an EX next to an ability it works, if there is an SU next to an ability it is gone. I would not focus on building for antimagic just make sure you have a couple of options to cover you in the event it crops up - I imagine that makes a lot of in game sense living in the region.
An antimagic field suppresses any spell or magical effect used within, brought into, or cast into the area, but does not dispel it. Time spent within an antimagic field counts against the suppressed spell's duration.
Summoned creatures of any type wink out if they enter an antimagic field. They reappear in the same spot once the field goes away. Time spent winked out counts normally against the duration of the conjuration that is maintaining the creature. If you cast antimagic field in an area occupied by a summoned creature that has spell resistance, you must make a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) against the creature's spell resistance to make it wink out. (The effects of instantaneous conjurations are not affected by an antimagic field because the conjuration itself is no longer in effect, only its result.)
A normal creature can enter the area, as can normal missiles. Furthermore, while a magic sword does not function magically within the area, it is still a sword (and a masterwork sword at that). The spell has no effect on golems and other constructs that are imbued with magic during their creation process and are thereafter self-supporting (unless they have been summoned, in which case they are treated like any other summoned creatures). Elementals, undead, and outsider are likewise unaffected unless summoned. These creatures' spell-like or supernatural abilities may be temporarily nullified by the field. Dispel magic does not remove the field.
Two or more antimagic fields sharing any of the same space have no effect on each other. Certain spells, such as wall of force, prismatic sphere, and prismatic wall, remain unaffected by antimagic field. Artifacts and deities are unaffected by mortal magic such as this.
Should a creature be larger than the area enclosed by the barrier, any part of it that lies outside the barrier is unaffected by the field.
For alchemists this means that extracts, bombs, and mutagens do not work since all are supernatural abilities. But all his ex abilities would, msotly relating to poison use, etc. Normal alcehmical supplies will still work, and an alchemist would still be able to add their int bonus to damage from spalsh weapons.
@DM Carpe: Is this a guns everywhere type campaign? More specifically, are a lot of the enemies going to be using guns against us?
Basically in Golarion there is one place that has guns, they are otherwise very very rare in the world. But that one place is in Alkenstar, which is nextdoor, and in theory at least, subject to Nex. So yes you can certainly expect to see guns a great deal more frequently than in a normal campaign.
Guns have been gradually disseminating for the last hundred or so years, and many of the tribes in the mana wastes own one of two that they have wrested from Alkenstar's defneders - usually in the possession of chieftains, etc.
However, both Nex and Geb are very magical centric nations, so guns are looked down on within their borders by the ruling classes. Essentially Alkenstar developed guns because they are in a dead magic zone, magic is almost always cheaper and more effective than their tech - when it works.
I'm not usually a big guns fan, so I'm going to need to brush up on their mechanics.
Okay so the discussion and gameplay threads are up for A Legacy of Hatred. Please make a single post in the gameplay thread and then delete it, so you can get it on your campaigns list for ease of location. You can go ahead and do that now, or wait until you have created your character alias.
You may begin posting in the discussion thread, which includes information on the Nex, Geb, and Alkenstar you can use in character creation - its mostly common knowledge.
The game still won't begin for at least a week.
Okay so the discussion and gameplay threads are up for A Legacy of Hatred. Please make a single post in the gameplay thread and then delete it, so you can get it on your campaigns list for ease of location. You can go ahead and do that now, or wait until you have created your character alias.
A Legacy of Amiable Discussion
A Legacy of Hatred
You may begin posting in the discussion thread, which includes information on the Nex, Geb, and Alkenstar you can use in character creation - its mostly common knowledge.
The game still won't begin for at least a week.