Hey so here's where we'll discuss the details of getting these two games going. Feel free to post and get used to the formatting stuff here!
Hello, hello! Let's see how this stuff works.
It looks like description is just regular text, while "Actual spoken words are in bold".
Should I start creating a character, or will we get to that in a bit? It looks like I can just create an alias in my profile, is that right?
Got it in one!
You might wait off on creating a character just yet, lets find out who the DM will be first.
But feel free to fiddle around with the alias stuff, that is indeed how we'll show our characters when the time comes.
Oh, hello. How do dice rolls work?
Oh, hello. How do dice rolls work?
From what I can tell, you use a shortcode like this: [ dice]NdS + mod[/dice] (no space after the opening square bracket, of course), where N is the number of die, S is the number of sides, and mod is the modifier value.
This tells the system to generate a random number accordingly:
[ dice]2d20 + 3[/dice] gives
[ dice]1d6[/dice] gives
Yep, and if you want to show what the rolls are for you can do something like:
[ ooc]Rapier ATK [ dice]1d20 + 14[/dice][/ooc]
to get
I like it because it keeps everything nice, neat, and legible.
Also worth noting, posting is similar to DBO in that you can edit up to one hour after you post.
Hello folks. SigbiasSilva reporting in!
Can't wait to roll digital dice with y'all!
Never done this before, but that's true about a lot of things!
P.S. WebObjects. I haven't know anyplace other than Apple.com to use WebObjects... Interesting.
Welcome welcome! There's Mountain Dew in the fridge and cheese puffs on the table! Make yourself at home!
I'm reading through your other adventure, Chewie, and am confused about the rolls. How do you know if a Bluff or Diplomacy roll are effective? Isn't there a threshold that you have to reach, or is it as simple as >=10 passes, <10 fails?
Sometimes it seems you can handle the check yourself while other times it seems like the DM controls the check. I'm trying to figure out the locus of control. :)
This will be fun!
It's up to the DM's discretion. Though often there will be tiered successes. For example.
<10: Nobody believes your lie.
10<: The dumb people believe your lie.
15<: All lot of people believe your lie.
20<: THE WHOLE WORLD BELIEVES YOUR LIE!
(Heh, just an example, the above won't always work)
It is heavily dependent on the situation at hand and with skills like Bluff and Diplomacy, as well as Sense Motive and Intimidate, it is even more likely to be fluid.
With some rolls, they will be opposed by the other party. Say for example I'm trying to lie to a guard about something. I could roll an 18 on my Bluff, which is pretty good in most cases. But if he rolls a 19 on a Sense Motive, then my pretty good Bluff will fail.
As opposed to, say, an acrobatics check, where you either make the jump, or you fall to your doom. Heh.
More often the times you control the check yourself are times when you KNOW you've failed it. Though as with all things, the DM's word is final.
Does that help?
So, how are we doing this?
Does that help?
Sort of, yeah. I imagine in a live game things check against the DM more often, but the time delay of the forum makes those sort of checks easier to automate, right?
Also, when the DM provides an object to a character with the show/hide button, are other players not supposed to look at it, or does he just use that format to encapsulate the object?
And I'm trying to figure out how initiative works. :) I've only been reading about D&D so far, so I'm not sure how Pathfinder differs. (Newb!) A DM who is willing to explain as we go will probably be helpful!
I think you posted in the wrong forum.
Is there something wrong with having a thread in General Discussion?
I've got a large(ish) group of people coming in who need to learn to use the boards before we get the games going. It seemed a good a place as any?
Does that help?Sort of, yeah. I imagine in a live game things check against the DM more often, but the time delay of the forum makes those sort of checks easier to automate, right?
Also, when the DM provides an object to a character with the show/hide button, are other players not supposed to look at it, or does he just use that format to encapsulate the object?
And I'm trying to figure out how initiative works. :) I've only been reading about D&D so far, so I'm not sure how Pathfinder differs. (Newb!) A DM who is willing to explain as we go will probably be helpful!
Indeed they would! I'm working on that front behind the scenes as it were. Fingers crossed!
As for the spoiler posts by the DMs, yes and no. Whoever's name is on the spoiler is the CHARACTER who should know the information inside. But as a PLAYER some people like to read them anyway. That is usually okay, as long as you don't get the facts that you as the PLAYER knows confused with the facts that your CHARACTER knows.
Initiative works slightly differently than it would at a table. Most DMs I've played with online take the average of the PCs (Player Characters) initiative rolls and compare them to the NPCs initiative rolls.
Like such:
16 + 12 + 19 = 47/3 = 15ish
21 + 16 + 9 = 46/3 = 15ish...
Well darn, okay so it technically was 15.666 against 15.333 so lets say the good guys win the initiative.
Now all the good guys get to have a turn before the first bad guy has a turn. The conflict will play out as such, good guys, bad guys, good guys, bad guys, ect until one group wins/runs away/ect.
Damn, you guys, get your initiatives up! =P
I have arrived.
*Looks at forum*
Could use some visual improvements. Gaming-centric tags is welcome, though.
Also, when it comes to diplomacy, Rich Berlew has some pretty good thoughts on how to revamp the diplomacy mechanic so it makes sense.
So... Now what?
Well five of the nine interested parties have found their way here. I was thinking of giving the others a day or so leeway to allow for differing schedules. I'm talking to a close friend, and experienced DM, about putting together a couple of quick beginner campaigns. Once we decide on the groups, we can work on making characters and jumping in!
Also: I love Order of the Stick.
Um... I'm still here. Forgot about this for a couple of days but now I have unforgotten! :)
Alright, that's six of nine.
Still here. We remain at five (I haven't been counting myself). Which is fine if we only run one group. I just hate the thought of the others not getting a chance to jump in.
So, just in general, what kind of campaign are you planning on running? Straight DnD fantasy? Steampunk elements? Sword and sandal?
And who'll be the GM?
Straight DnD fantasy?
Yes please! Although this is mostly because I have no idea what to do with Steampunk, or what "Sword and sandal" even is. :)
I'm such a n00b, it's terrible!
It'll pretty much be straight RPG fantasy. All the tropes, cliches, and commonalities you've come to expect when you hear "D&D". It will be using the Pathfinder rule set, which I'm told is similar to D&D 3.5.
DM will likely be either myself, or a good friend of mine who has lots of experience running these beginner games.
We'll know for sure in the next day or so. We've heard from Leviathan and Kermit, unfortunately they won't be joining us for this one. I want to give Hyokin one more day to respond before we pull the trigger. Odds are we'll be getting started on Monday.
Anybody else have questions? General or specific?
Greetings all. I am the GM friend of Chewbaccawakka, and I’ve agreed to run a game for you folks. Before we dive in, I’d like to know who has played Pathfinder or D&D 3.5 before so I can gauge the experience of the group.
Also, I'm looking for a commitment of 1 post per every-other-day minimum. You are welcome to post more if you wish, but I have a fairly busy schedule and I don't want to give the impression that I'm hitting Refresh every 5 minutes. Sound good?
Hey Netherfire! I haven't played either of those systems, though I'm sure I'll be able to pick stuff up quick!
And the post commitment sounds very reasonable. I look forward to playing!
Um... I'm rather familiar with the rules, I've played some DnD, and I've read all of Order of the Stick. Still have some trouble keeping the acronyms straight, though.
As for posting every other day, is that you or us? Would it be alright if one of us worked with you and did some of the number crunching for you?
Hey Netherfire!
First, thanks a bunch for taking the time to run us through this game, we've been looking forward to it!
And, yeah, I've never played any D&D of any kind, so I'm a complete and total newbie. I know how to roll dice and have fun, though, and Chewie promises that's all I really need! I've perusing the D&D 4 rulebooks (and I'll switch over to Pathfinder now) and have been trying to figure out how things work. Given the right resources I can figure things out pretty quickly as we go along.
@newbies: Welcome! Welcome! Always good to have NEW BLOOD. And with such enthusiasm!
@Quirel: Thank you for the offer! Fortunately, number-crunching rarely takes me very long, it’s finding time to sit down at a computer to post (as is the nature of mindless, time-consuming jobs). The once-every-other-day minimum is a buffer for myself in case my unpredictable schedule prevents me from posting every day. If the PCs are doing something amongst themselves (like conversation) that requires almost no supervision, I won’t get mad if you submit 5 posts a day, so long as it is coherent and considerate to the other players.
Looks like there’s six of you? Larger than the average party of four, but no worries. If anyone else chimes in to play I might split the group and have a 3 member party and a 4 member party, each in a different campaign. I’m gonna wait to hear from ZackDark and Ragashingo on their gaming experience before I outline the parameters for character building.
In the meantime, the rest of you can start thinking about the type of character you want to play, but please do not start building them until we get everyone on board. That way we can avoid repeat posts explaining things.
I saw some kids playing a D&D game in a comic type store... once... from afar... like a decade ago...
I wanna play a Bard! Or maybe a Barbarian! Or multiclass as a...
BARDBARIAN!
BARDBARIAN!
I'm new at this, but seems legit.
BARDBARIAN!I'm new at this, but seems legit.
You'd be surprised at what you can do with multi-classing. In fact, I plan on playing a ranger so I can dual-wield bows, and then multicross as a RangerXRanger so I can dual wield my dual wield.
Taking the Manyshot feat for each class would then let me fire two arrows per bow twice in one round. That means that, at full combat load, my character will fire sixteen arrows a volley.
It also means that my character qualifies as artillery.
If nobody ends up wanting to play a Cleric/healer of some sort, I wouldn't mind! That will make me choosing a whole not simpler.
Other than that, I really can't seem to settle toward one class or another. I've played Rouges and Bards before (though not 3.5/Pathfinder), so I'll try push away from those. I'd be interested to take on a class that can only memorise so many spells per day, as that's a mechanic I've not had the luxury of experiencing.
Or I could be a monk. Hmmm.
I really will have this narrowed down later, I swear!
If nobody ends up wanting to play a Cleric/healer of some sort, I wouldn't mind!
I say go for it! I was leaning toward a Druid myself.
I'm leaning towards the Paladin. I'm liking the martial weapons + lay on hands + smiting + (eventual) channeling energy. I'm going to need eight tons of help setting everything up though. There's a billion options. :)
No experience whatsoever over here. I have read the entirety of Darths and Droids, including the commentaries and eventual TVTropes link, but no actual experience.
I'm thinking of looking into the possibilities of thief/rogue type, if there's such a thing in Pathfinder.
I like these ideas!
@SigbiasSilva: The two spellcasting classes that come to mind for what you want are Cleric and Wizard (divine and arcane magic, respectively. Heh).
@ZackDark: There is certainly a rogue type!
@Ragashingo: Right you are, there's a BILLION-MILLION options. Which leads me to my next question for the group...
Learning how to build a character might take some time. In my experience, beginners learn how to play the game before fully understanding how their character stats work. Plus, it sounds like you guys are eager to start playing.
So, if you like, I can build your character for you. I'll just grill you with some questions and send you a completed character. We can go over how the character works when it's time to level up and have a bit of gaming under your belt. Technically not a question I guess, just an offer. Let me know.
We will be starting at level one, using the ability score point buy system to determine stats. Use the High Fantasy campaign type, also called "20 point buy".
These are the races available.
These are the classes available.
These are the races and classes listed in the Core Rulebook (also called Core races/classes). If you peruse the paizo PRD, you find other classes listed in the other publications: Advanced Player’s Guide, Ultimate Combat, and Ultimate Magic. We will not be using these later publications. Please only use the Core Rulebook for your character building. I might allow the other books later in the game, depending on how things go.
Firstly, I'd like to know who will be attempting to make their own characters, and who would like me to make one for them. LET THE QUESTIONS BEGIN.
I will be building my own char, since I've got a good bit of experience with it. But I anticipate having quite a few questions with the nitty gritty, as always.
@Beorn: Of course you are! The potential to shape-shift into a bear?! It's perfect! :D
I supposed it would be best if we built my character iteratively, as you suggested. Feel free to contact me. Would like my Google account contact so we can IM?
ZackDark brings up a good point. Eventually I will need a gmail address from each of you. I'll be making a spreadsheet to serve as a gaming grid, and sharing it with you. Click on my avatar and send me a private message with your gmail. Thanks.
Righty, looks like I'll be the Cleric everyone!
I'll also be building my own character, as I've had some experience. I'll throw up any questions as they present themselves, of course.
I'm very much looking forward to playing! :D
Contact sent!
And reading up, I'm leaning towards Human Rogue. One thing, does it have to be female?
No gender requirements. The physical appearance is up to you, as long as humans look human and so on.
I will be building my character as well.
Henry Southgard, Mercenary for Hire, will be gracing this campaign.
(Soldier with the crossbowman archtype)
Hey Quirel, unfortunately I don't think the Crossbowman archetype is a part of the Core Rule Book. It looks like if you still want to play a Fighter that's fair game though!