Alright guys, you know the drill OOC stuff goes here.
Once you've picked your character I need the following info:
Player:
Character:
PFS #
Faction:
Day Job:
Slow Track or Normal:
Things I should Know about ahead of time: AKA things like trap sense, weird automatic abilities, oddball saves I should be aware of, ect.
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Player: Abraham Z.
Character: Sir Mr. Proudefeets
PFS # 100198-4
Faction: LE
Day Job: None
Slow Track or Normal: Normal track
No weird automatic abilities but he is a mounted character on a flying mount (a griffon) so let me know if you have particular interpretations of the mounted combat rules that I should know about (since I've found that there are many different possible interpretations).
Also, it'll probably take me a day or two to have his stats up online. This is the first time I'm playing him in PbP.
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Player: I'm Hiding In Your Closet
Character: Lucija Lal Rani and Naghamadi
PFS #40025-1
Faction: Dark Archives
Day Job:
Slow Track or Normal: Normal
Things you should Know about ahead of time: Has several odd old Boons (including Cornered Fury, not that that's very likely to ever be of much use to a Summoner, of all things), ye olde Eastern Mysteries trait of Qadira, variant Gnomish saving throw and magical hijinx, odd saving throw bonuses are mentioned in statistics spoiler
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Player: James Stepanek
Character: Jothas Bate
PFS # 8845-7
Faction: Grand Lodge
Day Job: nope
Slow Track or Normal:Normal
Oddball stuff:
He does have 10' reach (make that 10 threat, but can attack to 15') with his whip and combat reflexes. He also has cornugon smash, so he gets a free intimidate when he power attacks (and hits). He used to be a tripper, but with the rebuild from the Lore Warden nerf, I got rid of that. Pretty much he's just a tank with good reach who scares the poop out of things.
Mums the word from me, but I will advise that it's always a good idea to have someone able to turn on some healing wands if nothing else.
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Player: Miteke
Character: Bauble
PFS # 141936-2
Faction: The Exchange
Day Job:
Slow Track or Normal Slow
Bauble is a melee character too, so don't expect any battles to last long with all the beef we are bringing.
Note: Bauble upgrades his +1 Mithral Chain to a +2 Mithral Chain Shirt at the start oft he chronicle for 3000gp.
Alright, that's everyone! Once we've got a intro post from everyone, we'll get started on the adventure proper!
Try again, hopefully it should work this time.
How about now?I've set it to anyone can view,find, or edit.
Weird... I'll keep messing around with it. for now, just tell me where you want to go and I'll move your marker.
Okay, I THINK I fixed the map properly this time. Let me know if it works.
Just letting you guys know, my posting will be erratic over the next few days. My grandmother passed away, and so while I have the ability to post I'll be frank that I may not be up to it. I'll be back in the swing of things soon.
I would say just the first attack.
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I am not sure how this Monstrous Physique thing works. I got the spell hoping to be able to turn into a flying tiny monster, but there is no such thing. So I picked this Thriae Seer form for the flying and 4 arms and stinger, but I have no idea how to use it. Do I get 4 extra natural attacks at -5, or not since it usually wields weapons in its hands? Do I add weapon finesse and precise strike to them? Should I have taken a form with natural attacks? Being rather clueless and not wanting to slow down the game, I'll just do my normal attacks. But I'm either going to have to figure this out or abandon the idea of using Monstrous Physique in the future.
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I don't know, the very existence of those "Guides" causes me concern for the mentality they seem to promote. Using them to parse out complex mechanics or track obscure options is all well and good, but from what I've seen of them, they're just self-important editorials presenting interpretations of inherently grey-shaded, subjective, and extremely situational material as "objective fact that you'd have to be stupid or bad or whatever to disagree with".
I was once administered a fairly hot, if passive-aggressive, castigation for simply choosing not to read the "Guide to DMing" before my first time DMing on here, and the fellow (who had been with the rest of us on a couple of preceding adventures before I rotated into the DM's seat since we'd come to an adventure I'd played in before) left the game in a huff when I took the helm. Didn't even give me a chance.
Depends more on the mentality for choosing not to read the guide.
If you'd never PBP before, and simply believed that you knew "How to handle it" then yeah, I'd be hesitant to play in your game with that to, just because SO much of PBP is very different from real life GMing. (I assume we're talking about the guide to GMing that the flaxseed lodge has sticked)
On the other hand, if your a old pro at Gming and PBP gming, and you'd just rather not have your style influenced.... well, I don't necessarily agree with the idea, but I'd at least be willing to give you a shot.
I personally love guides. I've picked up so many fun neeto tips and tricks for Gming, character building, and all sorts of other stuff. But i can also understand the concern about people who are to sworn to them and take them as gospel instead of editorials.
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If you'd never PBP before, and simply believed that you knew "How to handle it" then yeah, I'd be hesitant to play in your game with that to, just because SO much of PBP is very different from real life GMing. (I assume we're talking about the guide to GMing that the flaxseed lodge has sticked)On the other hand, if your a old pro at Gming and PBP gming, and you'd just rather not have your style influenced.... well, I don't necessarily
agree with the idea, but I'd at least be willing to give you a shot.
What if it's neither here nor there? What if you've got a talent for it all, and you just know it, and the only reason that talent's ever suffered is people telling you not to believe in yourself? There was a time, at least more so than now, when people weren't so xenophobic.
Gaming shouldn't be a "community with norms" where trust has to be earned and guarding against the LCD takes precedence over enabling the gifted, it should be a haven for internally-driven deviants to excel; fantasy is the final frontier. This is something that really bothers me about the past decade or so. As it's gone mainstream, the mainstream has done far more to drag it down to its level than it's done to elevate the mainstream, precisely because one side was generous and welcoming, only for the newer blood to neither reciprocate nor learn. People talk now about a supposed increase in diversity in gaming, but what I've seen is actually the direct opposite. It's been very (literally, in my case) depressing.
But i can also understand the concern about people who are to sworn to them and take them as gospel instead of editorials.
Does that not describe anybody who thinks reading one should be so mandatory that they'd judge someone who politely declined?
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There are all sorts on the forum with all kinds of buttons that can be pushed. I would not worry about it. The fact that you GMed at all puts you in my hero book.
The nice thing about a PbP guide is it helps standardize things that need to be standardized. For example, the use of quotes and bolding for spoken stuff, italics for thoughts, and the ooc tag for ooc comments are standardized. Can you imagine the nuisance it would be if every GM on this forum did it differently?
It's also good for pointers on things like how to present your maps, edit and post chronicle sheets, and other matters that just make life easier.
Now as for style, I would agree that you are better off finding your own that adhering to a rigid structure imposed by a guide or other players.
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Changing shape is complicated. You have to recalculate size bonuses to things like AC and stealth. Some physical stats change. Sometimes I think they are replaced. Durations vary widely. Items can or cannot be used based on the spell or ability used. Some forms still allow further casting, and sometimes only with other feats. Some allow melee weapon use. And the different level versions of the same spell allow different fly speeds, swim speeds, and different abilities from the creature you are becoming. Some spells and forms can let you pounce as something large with 4 arms and natural attacks. Others let you breath water or have a poison bite or sting, with a poison DC you must calculate. Want Tremor Sense? Its possible. Burrowing? Possible. Dragon breath weapon? Yep.
I see people get it wrong all the time, sometimes in their favor, and sometimes not. The guide I refer too is pretty no-nonsense and covers the bases well. Sure it includes some of the better options for different spells but it also helps the player understand the options and pros and cons of each.
I went and dug the guide up. There are actually 2. The first is simpler and more suited to druids but its 4 page content is worth a read to get the mechanics down.
the second is quite detailed and includes 9 different shape changing spells. Worth a skimming over if you want to cast any of these.
Polymorphamory - The Love of Changing Form: A guide to shapeshifting.
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What if it's neither here nor there? What if you've got a talent for it all, and you just know it, and the only reason that talent's ever suffered is people telling you not to believe in yourself? There was a time, at least more so than now, when people weren't so xenophobic.
Gaming shouldn't be a "community with norms" where trust has to be earned and guarding against the LCD takes precedence over enabling the gifted, it should be a haven for internally-driven deviants to excel; fantasy is the final frontier. This is something that really bothers me about the past decade or so. As it's gone mainstream, the mainstream has done far more to drag it down to its level than it's done to elevate the mainstream, precisely because one side was generous and welcoming, only for the newer blood to neither reciprocate nor learn. People talk now about a supposed increase in diversity in gaming, but what I've seen is actually the direct opposite. It's been very (literally, in my case) depressing.
Does that not describe anybody who thinks reading one should be so mandatory that they'd judge someone who politely declined?
But i can also understand the concern about people who are to sworn to them and take them as gospel instead of editorials.
I'm reminded of a bit of wise words from a art teacher who i was good friends with.
"So many students think they can skip the basics and go right to being Avant-garde. What they don't realize is that you have to know the rules to break them."
I think it's much the same with tabletop and GMing. I've had far to many "Special" GMs who make error after error, problem after problem, all because they refuse the wisdom of those who came before them. They don't have a REASON for the way they do things, other than it sprung forth from their mind and therefore, it must be good. I've had this problem far more with Old Guard style GMs then I have with new "Mainstream" folks who are happy and willing to learn and then make something new out of it.
Talent is Iron. If you have it, you have it true. But a lump of iron is fairly worthless except for as a bludgeoning object. The difference between iron and steel is careful additives, heat, tempering, and skill. If you hold up the Iron as a be all end all because it's "Pure" then... well, your never gonna make the best out of it.
This here pedantic metallurgist is twitching with a desire to correct things, but is restraining himself.
No no, go ahead, I love learning about metallurgy, My dream is to buy a house and have a forge in my back yard some day. I got to do some blacksmithing as a kid and I loved it, so I'd love to chance to get to do it again someday.
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I'm reminded of a bit of wise words from a art teacher who i was good friends with."So many students think they can skip the basics and go right to being Avant-garde. What they don't realize is that you have to know the rules to break them."
I think it's much the same with tabletop and GMing. I've had far to many "Special" GMs who make error after error, problem after problem, all because they refuse the wisdom of those who came before them. They don't have a REASON for the way they do things, other than it sprung forth from their mind and therefore, it must be good. I've had this problem far more with Old Guard style GMs then I have with new "Mainstream" folks who are happy and willing to learn...
And yet...the proof was in the pudding. It worked when I did it. Just because a lot of people who think they're gifted are really just overconfident doesn't mean all of them are.
I suspect the difference lies in "X looks like Y, sounds like Y, but doesn't think like Y"...and despite the fact that that final part can't be empirically verified beforehand, it's what matters.
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Hmm. I am a materials engineer with an advanced degree (Georgia Tech). I work for NASA and do a lot of metallurgy. Plus I am an aspiring blacksmith and make among other things knives. I do not yet have a dedicated shop though. I have a small forge I can use inside and two larger once that have to be set up outside. It takes me half a day to get set up to work on a big project right now. Someday I shall have my own smithy.
Heh, I'm a stereotypical scholar. Holed up in a tiny apartment with more books than space, multiple fairly useless degrees (Psychology and English being the most applicable) and I work in finance at a major corporate bank managing mortgages. Mostly, I just want more space for my books, and a backyard for all the various projects I wanna do. I'm surprisingly handy, with carpentry, metalworking, and even rope making skills, but no space to apply any of it. Hooray city living right?
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Have my PhD in steelmaking (technically materials science and engineering)from CMU. Don't actually do metallurgy anymore (IT).
So to be pedantic, English, being the funny language that it is uses the word 'iron' to mean a few different things which are quite different. Pure iron is iron, but also carbon saturated iron is also iron (cast iron). Of course there's also wrought iron. Steel is really defined as iron with certain amount of carbon in solution. So you can make steel by either adding carbon (from pure iron) or removing carbon (from cast iron). Carbon saturation is the lower melting point on that phase diagram so usually steel is made by starting with carbon saturated iron.
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Holed up in a tiny apartment with more books than space, multiple fairly useless degrees (Psychology and English being the most applicable) and I work in finance at a major corporate bank managing mortgages.
"No direct vocational utility" =/= "worthless". Never forget that. :)
America's enabling of anti-intellectualism and particular disdain for liberal arts (i.e. that variety of things which one must learn in order to be FREE) is likely the biggest reason everything sucks so bad right now (and the fact that it's infected gaming is all the worse - what are RPGs without "the life of the mind"???).
"No direct vocational utility" =/= "worthless". Never forget that. :)America's enabling of anti-intellectualism and particular disdain for liberal arts (i.e. that variety of things which one must learn in order to be FREE) is likely the biggest reason everything sucks so bad right now (and the fact that it's infected gaming is all the worse - what are RPGs without "the life of the mind"???).
Thanks for that little bit of reassurance, it's nice to hear it once in a while. It doesn't hurt that my gaming circle is composed of people who run circles around me (Seriously, I have 2 doctors of various histories, 3 professors, and more!) so I have to remember to balance my purely intellectual interests with my need to eat and have a roof over my head, and remember that it's okay to do so.
Jothas? That is totally fascinating! So cool!