[ACG] Season of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master MorkXII

Dot.

My character is created. I will also dot and delete from gameplay so I get notifications of new posts. I am using a RPG alias I created, since I don't seem to be able to post as my card game character.

Great!

One of the things I forgot to mention was that I'll need a Pathfinder Society # for everyone's characters. I think this link should take you to the right page, and then you'll need to click "Register a New Card Game Character." Your character's number will be something like '123456-1001' (depending on your own Pathfinder Society number, and how many card game characters you've registered in the past).

I've created the initial game-play posts. Everyone should post in that thread with their starting hand, character skills/powers once they are ready. Also, please roll include a 1d1000 roll (for turn order) in the post.

Note that each of the cards in the blessing and location decks are hidden by spoiler tags. Generally, you should only be clicking those spoilers when you explore that location. (If you explore a second time on your turn, you would click the spoiler for the second card at the location; if something causes the deck to be shuffled, first roll a die to determine which card to explore). I will post updated decks as often as possible, but you should be able get at least a few turns in without me, if necessary.

I have picked out my deck, but it's too late at night for me to enter it into the spreadsheet. After I do this, I would appreciate it if someone else can give it a quick glance to make sure it looks reasonable.

I have picked out my deck, but it's too late at night for me to enter it into the spreadsheet. After I do this, I would appreciate it if someone else can give it a quick glance to make sure it looks reasonable.

Let me know when you have it ready, and I can take a look. Or, you can post the deck list here.

Before we get started, I thought I would post a sample gameplay post. I stole this example almost word for word from Hawkmoon in a Cosmic Captive game he hosted earlier this year, so thanks Hawkmoon! This sample simulates a turn somewhere in the middle of the game. (For more gameplay examples, feel free to check out that game)

Sample:
----

Ok. So, Mike used one of my blessings, so that is in my discard pile now. The top card of the blessings discard pile is now: Blessing of the Gods. I'll stay at my current location and explore: A Large Chest. I'll discard my Crowbar to try and defeat it (adding 2 dice).
Dexterity 9: 1d10 + 2 + 2d10 ⇒ (7) + 2 + (1, 6) = 16

Defeated! Let's see if I can recharge that Crowbar.

Strength 3: 1d6 ⇒ 1

No luck. I'll need Random Weapons: 1d4 ⇒ 2 from our GM.

Odds are those weapons won't help me much, so I'll continue without knowing what it is for now. I'll discard my Crow to explore.

Next card is...a Zombie. I'll use my blessing to help defeat him. Also, Mike has a Blessing of Erastil he said someone can use, so I'll use it.

Combat 9: 1d10 + 2 + 1d10 + 2d10 ⇒ (1) + 2 + (1) + (7, 1) = 12

Defeated. All that is left in my hand is that random weapon and a Potion of Healing. I've got 5 cards in my discard, so I'll go ahead and use that Potion of Healing.

Potion of Healing: 1d4 ⇒ 4

Sweet. Can't beat that. I'll end my turn there. I'm going to go ahead and discard those two new weapons, whatever they end up being.

Skills and Powers:

Skills
STRENGTH d6
DEXTERITY d10+2
-ACROBATICS: DEXTERITY +2
CONSTITUTION d6
-FORTITUDE: CONSTITUTION +2
INTELLIGENCE d6
WISDOM d8
CHARISMA d6
Powers
HAND SIZE 5
For your combat check, you may use your Dexterity skill (☑ you may add the Magic trait) (☐ and/or the Fire trait); you may not play a weapon on the check.
You may play any number of blessings on your combat check; recharge them instead of discarding them.

Hand: Caltrops, Burglar, Standard Bearer, Blessing of the Gods, Blessing of the Gods
Deck: 8 Discard: 2 Buried: 0 Displayed: 0
Notes: Use 1 of my 2 BotGs if you need it. Please don't use the other except for a henchman/villain/close check

-----

End example.
That is the basics. You can add in roleplaying if you want.

On the occasion that you need to shuffle a deck in the middle of a turn, just use a roll to determine the cards. So, if the deck had 7 cards and you evaded a monster then explored again, you'd just do this:

Random Card of 7: 1d7 ⇒ 1

And then open the spoiler for that card.

If the deck had 7, but you'd acquired a card, then evaded a monster, just adjust the roll. So this would work, since you'd acquired card 1:

Random Card: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Or, you could just roll the 1d7, and if you hit a card that's already been removed the deck, roll it again.

There will be times you'll just have to wait for the GM. Usually that will be when you need a random card or when cards need to be added to locations. I'll do my best to check the thread as much as I can to accommodate that.

Remember, this is a suggestion, do what works best for you. I'd strongly encourage the following though:

Bold another character's/player's name if you end up impacting their resources. i.e. if you use one of their cards, if they are at your location and all characters at your location have to summon and encounter a Zombie, etc.

Share your tentative plans for the future. For example, if you are close to closing your location because it will be empty of cards in a turn or two, state where you might go next. That way if someone else also moves locations, they can factor in your preference if it is strategic to do so.

Let others know what resources/cards of yours they can use. And be clear. It can be tricky. If Lem had 2 blessings in a 5 card hand, you might say something like this: "If you are at my location, you can use my power to add to your check. And I'm also ok with someone using one of my blessings. But over all, don't use up more than 2 of my cards."

Also, despite what others have said about their willingness to let you use their resources, if you think it would be best to have them reconsider, pause and ask them that. For instance, in our Lem example above if the group had already used 2 of Lem's cards but he still had one Blessing and someone else encountered a villain. If someone needed help closing a location, it might be best for Lem to let someone use that blessing. So don't attempt to close the location until you've asked Lem and gotten a response. He might think it valuable enough to give up that third card.

Above all, be ok with how others manage their characters. They might not play the way you would. But that is ok. We can still have fun and be successful.

If you have any questions about how to post, please ask.

My deck is entered into the spreadsheet.
The cards are all labelled 'B' in the upper right corner.
They are all basic except for an ally who has the entry 'owner:Reta'
I checked that there are the right number of cards of each kind.

I'm hoping for a quick sanity check about my deck.

Looks good to me!

I made one quick fix to get rid of the "<Card Name>" row in the Deck List. That way you won't accidentally draw "<Card Name>" while we're playing. :)

dot

Okay, I drew 5 cards, and entered them in 'hand.' I did draw at least one of my favored card type, so it's a valid hand. And now I believe I should copy and paste the section at the bottom of the spreadsheet into gameplay. Is this correct?

Right. So you would select A32-A54, copy, and then paste that into a new post in the Gameplay thread. (Also, you can blank out G1 so that its not showing you a card from your deck, but that's not a huge deal).

If you want to include notes for the other players (which cards/powers you have that they can make use of, what you plan to do on your turn, etc), you can type that in the notes box (A29) and that will be included in the A32-A54 character text.

I added the card I acquired to my hand but not my deck in the spreadsheet. Is this correct?

Also, I moved the blessing out of my hand and into discarded in the spreadsheet.

Is there anything I could have done better on my turn, in terms of clarity of my actions?

You can add the Spyglass to both your Hand, and the Deck List on the second worksheet (just make sure the names are exactly the same). It's not a bad idea to track that its not from your class deck like you did, but I also keep track of the cards that the party acquired for when we get to deck upgrades.

The Blessing you handled perfectly.

As for your turn, I think you posted your actions clearly. It would be best to include an update of your current hand/powers at the end of your turn (by copying that section from the spreadsheet into your post). This is especially helpful if you have cards/powers that others could make use of on their turns. It also lets people know how many cards are in your deck/discard, so they might want to send a Cure your way.

3d10+2=8. you've got to be kidding me!

Not quite as bad as the 3d12+1d6=4 I got last night trying to close location with a dex 10 check in S&S

Yeah, the dice haven't been friendly today... :/

How do I order the recharged cards in the spreadsheet? Which card is the last recharged -- the one on top or the one on the bottom?

I don't think it matters, as long as you're consistent. The deck-draw mechanic only works for random cards - if you run out of random cards and all that is left is the recharged cards, you'll manually copy them from the Recharge column to your Hand column.

this is char 9251-1006

There seems to be a little bit of an issue with the spreadsheet. The deck count is showing as 5, when it should be 6. Reta has 15 cards, 5 in her hand, 1 buried, 3 discarded, which leaves 6. I also come up with 6 when I look at the actual piles on my desk.

Edit: I see what happened. Cell H4 of Deck Handler sheet refers to Deck list cell J46, but the count is in cell J45. I believe you (GM) removed a row because I had left the <card name> row in, and that apparently messed up the cell references. I cannot fix this, I evidently don't have the needed permissions.

I think I noticed references when I used cut/paste since that will update the references to the newly pasted cell and that wasn't my intent cutting from hand list and pasting into the discard pile.

For me I was able to undo my cut/pasting and out fixed itself.

May or may not be the same issue

Edit: I see what happened. Cell H4 of Deck Handler sheet refers to Deck list cell J46, but the count is in cell J45. I believe you (GM) removed a row because I had left the <card name> row in, and that apparently messed up the cell references. I cannot fix this, I evidently don't have the needed permissions.

That's definitely when I messed it up, but the problem was actually the formulas in E2:K16. I think I have it fixed now though.

It looks correct now. Thank you.

I'm going to be out this evening, so it might be late tonight or early tomorrow morning (Eastern Standard Time) before I can get the locations set for scenario 3. In the meantime, please let me know what Deck Upgrade you took, and what Power Feat so I can record it on your Chronicle Sheets.

Also, now that we're a couple of scenarios in, I'd like to know if anyone has any thoughts on how things are going, or recommendations to improve.

I think things are doing well and I am amazed at how we are running the card game, with an online spreadsheet and messageboard. Additionally, I have taken pics of the cards in my deck with my phone, so I can refer to them anywhere, and so play/post as long as I have my phone with me.

I think knowing what the full text of the cards in other people's hands, especially the more unique cards, would improve strategic gameplay. Is there a way for us to post pics that other players can access?

Posting pictures of Paizo's cards on the internet is something I would be very hestitant to do, because it's a problem in terms of their intellectual property.

Yeah, pictures are probably out of bounds. If there are any cards that would be particularly useful for everyone to be aware of, I think that the card text could either go in your notes (you could put it behind a [ spoiler ] tag), or I could put it up top with the turn order.

That might be something that we could ask to have added to the spreadsheet: the option to enter the card text into the Deck List worksheet, and then have it automatically generate that text behind a spoiler tag if that card is in our hand (or maybe displayed).

A thought: I'm finding the changing order a little disorienting. (which is weird, I'm fine with it in RPG play). Would it be within the rules to instead have a fixed order, but roll initiative just to see who goes first? Not this time, obviously, but in the future.

I'm in no way criticizing, I'm just throwing out ideas since I get the impression we are still 'early adopters' of PBP card game.

I'd be OK with it either way, though I am in another PBF on BGG (non-reported) and I do think it would help me remember things a bit better if I always knew I went after X character, for example.

I do like the idea of having text shared for certain cards that aren't in any of the base sets since I lack about half the class decks (gunslinger and goblins fight included).

Outside of that I don't have any real complaints! Everything seems to be running pretty smooth. Definitely appreciate the time and effort you're putting into this!

I don't think there's anything in the rules that would prevent us from picking a player order and sticking with it. We can keep the current order moving forward, if you want. Or we can try to set up an order based on when everyone is most likely to be able to play their turns.

I put the text for Seoni's Black Spot at the top of the page. If you have a card you would like the text for, let me know and I'll try to add it.

I'm going to be away for a good part of this evening (EST), and most of tomorrow as well. I'll try to get at least one update in late tonight or tomorrow morning, but after that it probably wont be until late Saturday night.

I've put the Bandit henchman at the top of the page in case someone needs to close the Waterfront, so hopefully you won't need me for at least a few turns.

I'm not a math person -- can someone let me know how you can calculate the odds of a check?

I use anydice.com sometimes. Enter "output " and then the dice you're rolling at the top (like "output 3d6 + 4"), click 'Calculate', and then click the 'At Least' button to see the odds of hitting the number you need.

I also use anydice.com for PC, or "Dice Stats" on my android phone.

the easy way to find the average in your head though is to take the die, divide it in half and then add .5. So a 1d10 /2 = 5, plus .5 = 5.5 average for a d10. If you have 3d10 then you know your average would be 16.5. a 1d10+1d8+1d6+1 would be 5.5+4.5+3.5+1 or 14.5. For complex ones it might be easier if you just add all the dice together, then divide by 2 and add .5 per die. So in that last example of (10+8+6)/2 + 1 + 1.5 it would be 24/2 = 12 + 2.5 =14.5

(hope I explained that well...on conference call and still waking up lol)

I am using anydice too for such probability math I know one guy who can do this stuff in his head but I can’t

So, how do we want to handle turn order for the next scenario? Keep it the same?

I would like to stick with the same order, but randomize who goes first (i.e. where we start in the 4-person cycle). Perhaps you could roll a D4?

Also, I had to banish a card. Can someone walk me through how I replace it in O.P.?

Randomising who starts is good. With 4 players whoever starts gets more goes (at least in theory everybody had exactly seven turns last game)

Would love to know the correct procedure. When i banished caltrops in my first game I replaced it with a blast stone (the other basic item card available) which has become my place holder for a sihedron medallion.

I found it in the guide. It's on page 10.

First step: Cards passed to other players during the scenario return to their original owners. Cards that were set aside for Loot cards are also returned to their decks, and the Loot cards return to the game box.
Second step: Add any reward cards to your deck. This does not include Loot rewards like the Sihedron Medallion. This type of reward doesn't happen often (not at all in Season of the Runelords Adventure 1). When it does, its usually something like "Each character draws 3 random blessings from the box, chooses one, and returns the rest to the box" from Season of the Plundered Tombs (3-4B).
Third step: Deck Upgrades. You pick 1 Deck Upgrade from the acquired cards (or 2 in this case, because of the scenario rewards). You can pick any cards from the acquired cards - at this point it doesn't matter if you are missing cards from your deck list.
Fourth step: If you're still missing cards, you can add B Deck cards with the Basic trait to fill in the gaps. Once we hit Tier 3 you can pick any card with an adventure deck number that is 2 less than your current tier.

When i banished caltrops in my first game I replaced it with a blast stone (the other basic item card available)

That was perfectly legal, but you could have also chosen to add Caltrops back to your deck. Banishing the Caltrops just returned it to your class box, and then you were allowed to pick and Deck B Basic from your class box (including Caltrops).

Now, every scenario, one character can substitute Sihedron Medallion for any 1 item card. That item card gets placed to the side, and then goes back into your deck at the end of the scenario.

I would like to stick with the same order, but randomize who goes first (i.e. where we start in the 4-person cycle). Perhaps you could roll a D4?

I'm good with this. If there are no other suggestions before we start the next scenario, this is what I will do.

I'm good with the permanent turn order and random start player.

I'm okay with permanent turn order and random start player. Might be worth considering putting Reta in front of me though so that way our dex skill characters are going every-other turn. Might be helpful if we run into some dex based barriers or something of that sort. Just a thought, I'm okay with whatever though.

That's not a bad idea either.

Lirianne/yamasaki
Seoni/Merisal The Risen
Reta/Redelia
Kyra/redeux

?

Looks fine to me.

I've tried a couple of times now to submit session reports for these games through the online interface, but I can't see if they've saved correctly or not. Can someone check to see if they see any session reports for their ACG characters? If not, I'll have to follow-up with cartmanbeck and see what I'm doing wrong.

Nope, nothing.

If I look at my player sessions it shows there. If I look at Seoni's play history it is not there. This is true for both my self reported sessions and Cartman Becks sessions as well. Only showing sessions for the first two scenarios

Ah, there it is. I looked two of the three possible places, and forgot the third was there.