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Hi everyone,
As it seems like there's quite a few new folks interested in giving the PBP experience a try, I wanted to provide an opportunity for you all.
I'm a two star GM, getting close to my third, mostly playing locally. I'm just getting started in the PBP world myself, so I'm well acquainted with the questions you might have getting started.
I'll be going with the classic replayable, First Steps Part 1: In Service to Lore. Everyone's able to play it, and it's fairly simple to GM, which is nice as I'm running a couple other scenarios as well. If it goes well, and there's continued interest, I'm happy to follow up with the Wounded Wisp (or something else, we can talk about that when we get that far).
I sincerely apologize for the wall of text that follows. It isn't as intimidating as it may look. I promise.
A couple essential notes:
Most Important Rule: Ask questions. If you have questions about the format, the scenario, or anything else, tell me. If you'd like to speed things up or slow things down, let me know. Getting feedback is especially important in this format.
Time Frame: Scenarios tend to take 3-5 weeks to play out, depending on activity. If you get very into party banter, roleplaying with NPCs, and such it can take longer, but I'd say that's a good thing. On the other hand, if inactivity slows down combat, that will also make things take longer, in a bad way. This scenario is pretty short, so the length is largely up to you.
Ideally, being able to post once per day (at least once per weekend) is ideal, even if it's brief. In order to keep things going, especially in combat, I may put your character on autopilot if necessary. Obviously, people have lots of stuff going on, so if there's a period where you know you won't be posting much, please let me know, and we'll accommodate that.
Much like when you're playing a module in person, your character is effectively "locked in," and is not supposed to be played in other scenarios. If you have a lot of characters like I do, that's not a big deal. Otherwise, you might consider creating a new one so that you don't lose other opportunities to play.
Applying: You should have a first level PFS character to play. This will be run as part of the Classic (non-Core) campaign. Eventually, you'll need to set up a character sheet and such, but in the meantime, for now I'd need a post with the following bare bones:
- Character Name
- Brief Description (Mechanics, Personality, etc.). This doesn't need to be a novel, just a few lines to give me some idea of who you are. If there's anything very unusual in the fluff or crunch, it'd be nice to have some heads up there too.
- Faction
Brand new players will be given priority, followed by relative newbies. Veterans will be welcomed if there's still space left. It'll be more or less first come first serve, but some people who expressed interest in the PFS blog post will get top priority.
On September 20th I'll take stock of how much interest we have. If we have a mostly complete table, we can get things moving, Otherwise, I'll start looking to fill some seats.
Again, let me know if you have any questions, and welcome to Play by Post!
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In.
I'm a very experienced PFS player and GM (3 stars, done this scenario 8 or 9 times as either a player or GM, so I'll stay out of the puzzle solving), but this is my first time trying PbP.
I'll be playing Molos Pinktusk. I'll post more details later (and probably stick to posting as Molos in this thread from now on to avoid confusion).
Quick question: The post above says something about setting up a character sheet. I'm old school - my character sheets are pencil and paper. Does this mean I have to type in ALL my PC details somewhere? If so, let me know so I can get started in advance.
I have a scanner on my home printer, so I could scan my sheets and email them to the GM if that's good enough. I'll probably need to do that with the chronicle sheet showing that it's legal for Molos to be a tiefling, anyway.
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A scan or similar of your sheet is fine by me (you can even take a picture and send it if it's readable), though some GMs will want a full sheet written out on the character's profile.
For example, THIS is one of my Core PCs. Admittedly, it's not the prettiest, and HERE is a guide to making great ones, but I don't need nearly that much information.
If you look at the Class/Level line, you'll see a big list of character vitals (HP, Saves, Initiative, Perception, etc.). That will show up when you post with that alias, which makes things easier for the GM to make any necessary rolls. I'll include a preferred format for that (improved over what I currently have there) before we get started.
The other thing that would be important to have somewhere on the character's Paizo profile would be keeping track of spells prepared/used or similar limited-use abilities, so you can keep them updated as things get going. Conditional modifiers to saves, AC, etc. would probably be good to include there too.
Generally speaking in PBP, there's a lot of honor system in terms of past chronicles, ownership verification, and the like, mostly due to the hassle. I'm willing to take tielfing status on faith, especially as you're a well established player. Likewise, if you say you're using a folio/shirt reroll, I'll believe you.
I would love to be a part of this, I'm an experienced tabletop player looking to dive into PbP! Tell me how I can get on board.
I'm looking at making a cat folk ninja/arcane caster.
Wait, wasn't this PFS game in PBP format? ._.;
Does that mean different character creation guidelines? Because that's easily accomplished.
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Wait, wasn't this PFS game in PBP format? ._.;Does that mean different character creation guidelines? Because that's easily accomplished.
Yes, this is a Pathfinder Society game. Check out this intro page for info about PFS, and be sure to download the Guide to Organized Play. That contains the specifics for character creation.
The bare minimum you need to know for character creation is that you start at level 1, it's 20 point buy, everyone starts with 150 gp, and races are limited to those in the Core Rulebook, plus kitsune, nagaji, wayang, and tengu. Most options from Paizo published sources are allowed, but there are some things that aren't, so check the Additional Resources list to make sure anything you want to use is allowed.
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Tiger Claw, Fromper is correct, this is part of Pathfinder Society. The Guide he linked is extremely important. Please read that. If you have questions, the PFS section of these forums is a good place to look (many of them have probably been asked and answered before), and I can answer others you might have here.
The "Gameday" threads you see all over here are basically a convention for PFS players using this forum.
NenkotaMoon, yes, is a PFS game, and you will receive a chronicle sheet just like an in-person game. Your character should thus be 100% PFS legal.
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I'd like to apply. Lots and lots of PFS experience (including playing and running First Steps a lot) but absolutely no PBP experience.
My character would be first level.
Character is Shallya, a Kitsune unchained rogue trickster. Faction is probably Silver Crusade
Edit: Shallya is a Kitsune who largely embodies the stereotypes. Fun loving, mischievous, good natured. Originally from Tien he got into trouble there when one of his pranks involving the daughter of a noble family wasn't appreciated and decided that it would be good for his health to put a long distance between himself and the offended family.
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I would like to play, too! I have a couple characters in the works, but I'm still toying with them. I have no PbP experience, but I am trying to change that!
Wailan Pendragon is a Half-Elf uSummoner. With his trusty ally, Calcifer the fire elemental to guard him, he seeks out strange and powerful artifacts to bring back to the Pathfinders to study. Dark Archive.
Iltame N'Okul is a Nagaji oracle of the time mystery. Although visions of the past cloud his vision, he doesn't shy away from combat and can support his fellow adventurers. Scarab Sages
I would rather play Wailan, but can play Iltame if there are no other healers.
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As a GM, I'm very much of the "play what you want" school of thought. As pauljathome mentioned, you're probably ok without a real healer.
So far, we have interest from:
- PatheticWretch - Grimnir Hammerhand - Dwarf Paladin (Stonelord) (Veteran)
- CorvusMask - TBD
- Fromper-Molos - Tiefling Fighter
- TigerClaw - TBD (New to PFS)
- NenkotaMoon - Dravil Artix(?) - Paladin
- Pauljathome - Shallya - Kitsune Unchained Trickster Rogue
- KingofAnything - Wailan - Half Elf Summoner
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OOC: Molos talks with a vaguely Russian accent.
"We have two paladin in group? I have wand for heal! Paladins can use wand. We have plenty healing."
OOC: I went through last night and did a cut and paste of the standard NPC stat block from an adventure, and copied Molos's stats into that, with slight format changes here and there. Click on my character name to see that in my description. Good enough?
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That's fine for now.
The gameday officially starts Saturday, though we don't have to start right away. That said, we do have a lot of interest. Would you be able to have it together by Monday? That way everyone has the weekend to get their details together.
At this point, I'm still open to new interest, though at least 5 of 6 spots are likely taken, potentially all 6 depending on a response from TigerClaw. Anyone who I can't take will be considered an alternate, and you'll get priority if I'm able to offer a similar table down the line.
One additional note for everyone: I use Google Docs drawings for maps, like many GMs here. There will be a link shared, and you'll be able to move your characters much like on a battlemat. I don't think you even need a google account to participate thanks to the access settings, but if that poses a problem please let me know.
At this point, I'm still open to new interest, though at least 5 of 6 spots are likely taken, potentially all 6 depending on a response from TigerClaw. Anyone who I can't take will be considered an alternate, and you'll get priority if I'm able to offer a similar table down the line.
I'm in, I was tossing around some ideas, I'm thinking Human Inquisitor of Abadar.
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I can probably get it ready by Saturday(probably by Friday if I do it instead of studying xP), its just busy week until weekend <_<;
Anyway, yeah, I haven't ever played pbp before, but I have played in PFS since last fall. (Last fall is also first time I got chance to try out rping, but I think I have played enough to get hang of it) So um, sorry that I'm probably not very good at this x'D
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This looks like it's full up, but if a spot is open I'd love to play. I'm on my 3rd season of PFS but have never played PbP before.
'Cara' is, to all appearances, a young girl. She appears thin, pale and quite sickly, but has an unwavering and, to many, extremely unnerving stare.
Zarta Dralneen took pity on this young girl and has endeavored to find her a place within the ranks of the Pathfinders, perhaps leading to some clues regarding her identity.
[Cara is a Dhampir Psychic with the Amnesiac and Formless Adept Archetypes]
The fire elemental, Calcifer, races around the area making small circles.
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Kharaste, we're possibly full it's possible a vacancy will become available. I'd be interested to see Kharaste in action at some point, even if it isn't in this game, as I'm putting together an Amnesiac of my own.
CorvusMask, don't worry at all. The whole purpose of this is to provide an opportunity for people to learn. You certainly don't need to write a novel for each post, especially in combat. For the record, I've been playing PFS for about a year and a half, and GM'ing for about a year. I'd dabbled in RPGs before, but this is the first time it's been a regular thing.
Dravil, Wailan, and Molos, your sheets look pretty much together. At the top of this page, you'll see "Gameplay" and "Discussion" tabs. Please post in those, using the character's alias. Welcome aboard!
Testing the sheet for my Inquisitor. How's it look?
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Okay, I'm almost finished with building up Raharjo, the main thing I'm missing is that I haven't really bought equipment for him yet. I had given him one gm chronicle, so he has 757 gold, but I'm not sure what witches need exactly as I don't have much experience with casters.
I guess I still need to make sheet for his viper familiar right? <_<; Thats something else I still need to do. Well and write character details of course.
I'll start writing his sheet down in the correct format before finishing those things X-x;
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Tigerclaw: As KingofAnything said, you should use that additional point. The only other mechanical issue I notice is that Rapid Reload needs to specify what you intend it to work on, presumably Light Crossbows in this case?
While Cure Light Wounds is a nice spell to have, generally speaking most players will pick up wands as soon as possible, which means there are more exciting options for your first level spells. For Abadar, if your Inquisitor calls Absalom home, the spell Blessing of the Watch is a good fit, though there are a lot of great options on the list.
As King also said, you should get a Pathfinder Society number. If you go to "My Account" on the top of this page, you should see a section called "My Pathfinder Society." I believe it will either say, "You are Pathfinder #XXXXXX" or should have an option for you to get a number. Once you do, you should be able to register a character. If you notice many of the other characters have green names, that's because they were built using PFS profiles.
CorvusMask: The familiar doesn't need its own profile, but it should have its stats listed in your sheet. That said, because Witch familiars are extra important, they tend to stay out of combat even more than usual.
As for equipment, it depends a lot on what you want to do with your witch, though pretty much anything that's generally useful for characters (alchemical items, utility adventuring gear etc.) would make a good level 1 purchase. Having a backup weapon or two, especially ones that can break DR, would be wise. Ultimately, though, you're really mostly going to be saving for Wondrous Items.
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Pauljathome: For both sheets and posts, my general answer is "as long as it's clear to me/others, it's OK." That said, there are some conventions, like using bold for speech. Instructions for most of the formatting are included below the textbox where you write each post.
Long series of dice rolls should go in spoiler tags, but that's not super relevant at first level.
The die roller allows you to do some relatively complex things. For example, you could set up an attack roll like this:
or
In a higher level game, I might ask for a format like the second one (my 14th level ranger has at least a dozen feats/class features/etc. that could potentially modify his attack rolls). As we're going to have relatively simple characters, either way is fine with me.
I'll roll initiatives and many Perception checks, though you're welcome to roll your own if there's something you want to inspect.
Italics are common for internal thoughts and such, though they often end up just part of the main post.
My second post in this thread linked a guide to putting together character sheets, though you certainly don't need anything that elaborate. It should be clear enough that I or somebody else would be able to run your character fairly easily, at least mechanically.
Corvus: Sorry that happened! I'd generally recommend quickly copying the text before you post, or writing longer posts in a separate program. Using the bestiary viper statistics isn't quite right, and would be cheating yourself out of saves, as well as HP (unless you make yourself a witch with 6 HP).
I got my PFS number and fixed the stat (and spell) I didn't apply. I can't, however, seem to get Benjamin Registered since the name was taken...by me...
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You don't have to have that all done to post in the Gameplay thread. Join us!
Umm, okay ._.; Well, I bought him light crossbow just so he would have some weapon. I mean, I don't think I gave him any actually offensive abilities <_<; So hopefully that won't be a problem, I guess there is still time to rebuild him if anyone has comments