This is the OOC discussion thread. Please use it for any OOC chatter or anything not pertaining to the current in game scene. If there's a rules issue and you've asked in gameplay and I've respond, but you're still not satisfied, lets move it here as well to avoid clutter.
Before we get started, you guys should look at each other's spell lists and make sure there's not too much overlap. Also feel free to form background connections pregame. You've all been Initiates together for the past three years. You would at least know each other's names, but it's quite possible you could be more connected as well.
When posting in the gameplay thread, please use third person present tense narrative (unless your having a flashback or something). Thoughts should be italicized, speech bolded and ooc in .
When we're in combat, please post like this:
Thondrirborngorensohn thrashes his sausage through the mustard laden bun, attempting vainly to trip the ratling tumbling across the table. "Vannik's nut cheese!" he curses as the rodent avoids his blow.
_______________________________
Everyone please put the following in the gender line of their alias:
HP: 9/18; Bombs 3/4; Cognatogen 1/1; Summon 6/6; 1st lvl Sum 2/3; 1st lvl Ext 1/2 [spoiler=Stats]AC 16, T 12, FF 14; Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +3; Init +3; Percept +6[/spoiler
Replace the alchemist and summoner stuff with any X/day abilities you might have, and close the spoiler. If there's not enough room, prioritize by things you'll use most often. This allows everyone to see each other's HP and general status at a glance, and helps me when I'm DMing.
Lastly, let me explain how I run combat. We'll use an example to make it easier. We have three goblins, 4 PCs and a troll. I will roll initiative and/or perception for everyone at the beginning of the fight. The highest roller for the party and each type of like monster sets initiative for its block. So in our example the party rolls a 26 the goblins a 20 and the troll a 12.
That means everyone in the party can act on initiative 26, actions will occur in posted order. Keep this in mind when you're posting, sometimes it pays off to wait (like if waiting for a buff from a caster or something). It's fine to say "I do this, after (insert name) goes." Once all the party members have posted, I'll act for the goblins and the troll and post a round summary. That's the changes to initiative.
I also expect you to resolve your own actions. I will put all the stats necessary to do so in a spoiler in my profile. So if you cast a spell on the goblin, you will have to roll its saving throw and describe the results accordingly. If you attack the troll, you will know its AC and whether you hit or not, and whether you got through its DR or SR or whatever. If you provoke an AOO from an enemy, you should roll it on yourself. There will be a macro for it in my profile so that all you have to do is copy and paste it into your combat post when you provoke. It will look like this:
AOO:
[dice=Whatever attack]1d20+x[/dice}
[dice=Damage]2d6+x[/dice}
5' reach, 3/round
I want you to make a similar macro for your own normal AOO, and put it in the bottom of your profile. That way if an enemy provokes from you, I can roll your AOO on it without waiting for you and delaying the game.
If you have any questions about these house rules please let me know.
Please have your status line and AOO macro in your profile, as well as your final spell selections and gear before posting in gameplay.
Gameplay is up when you guys are ready.
Going to give everything a once over to make sure there's nothing I want to swap out or switch around.
Happy to be selected! Looking forward to the game.
Here's my known spells. Please review them. If I need to change, it must be before we play. I would like to keep Stabilize for my background.
Spells Known
0th level: (at will) Detect Magic, Read Magic, Sift, Stabilize
1st level: (2 per day - 0 used) Cure Light Wounds, Divine Favor
Here's his personality.
A modern diagnosis of Hrimnagel would be post-traumatic stress disorder. He is emotionally numb, so he comes across as antiseptic professional. He accepts the importance to cooperate with fellow Pathfinders; however, he has become allergic of close relationships. He suffers from insomnia and relives his tragedies at the worst times.
Therefore, Hrimnagel would not have reached out to anyone during training. If a PC was persistently trying to get to know Hrimnagel, he would share his whole background. If not, this is what can be observed.
After the arduous, tragedy-filled trek, the austere regimen of Pathfinder training was luxurious. Hrimnagel kept to himself not making any friends. He felt that he killed the last people closest to him; although, he enjoyed each of the masters. The Master of Swords, Marcos Farabellus, trained him to wear armor and weapons. He became passable with Count Ranalc's rapier, but the master suggested the heavier morningstar for close encounters. The Master of Spells, Aram Zey, unlocked his divine connection to Count Ranalc. While he could not master the entire book of divine rituals, he learned a half dozen well enough. The Master of Scrolls, Kreighton Shaine, reinforced his understanding of the Darklands, taught him to read magic, and practiced him using divine scrolls, but he could not master arcane scrolls or wands.
Regarding background connections:
If you were aware of Cladissa at all, you probably knew her as "Auronee's sister," though Auronee Farwynd would be quick to point out that they were actually step-sisters. And the two could not be more different.
Of all the students in the current crop of Pathfinder initiates, Auronee was the standout. She was gifted, quick, pretty, funny, and likable. She excelled at whatever she set her mind to, and the word "prodigy" was often times whispered amongst the instructors when her name came up. If she had any flaw at all, it was a rather cruel competitive streak with her step-sister.
Whenever Cladissa took up a project, whether it be learning a new language or playing an instrument, Auronee would get wind of it and take it up too. Then she would master the skill far faster and with much more proficiency than the other.
Cladissa herself remained shy and withdrawn. She had to work hard to remain average, so she didn't fraternize much, and joined no escapades with the other trainees. At best, she may have joined a couple study groups with other students of the arcane, but likely didn't contribute much to discussions.
Those of you of Arcane backgrounds would know that Argor considers himself to be the next great wizard of Golarion. He considers anyone capable of arcane workings as a colleague, though not necessarily his equal. He would have joined in on any study groups, as this is his first real chance to interact with others who understand his passion for magic, but he would have attempted to dominate any such discussions in an attempt to display his superiority in the field.
He also has a disdain for anyone who is athletic or known for their physical feats, and would spend as little time around such individuals as possible.
As for spells, this is Argor's Spellbook:
Level 0, 24 Pages Used:
Abjuration: Resistance
Conjuration: Acid Splash, Drench
Divination: Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Read Magic
Evocation: Dancing Lights, Flare, Light, Ray of Frost, Spark, Breeze, Penumbra, Scoop
Illusion: Ghost Sound, Haunted Fey Aspect
Transmutation: Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Open/Close, Jolt, Root
Universal: Arcane Mark, Presdigititation
Level 1, 8 Pages Used:
Abjuration: Shield
Conjuration: Grease, Summon Monster I, Mage Armor
Divination:
Evocation: Magic Missile, Burning Hands
Illusion: Color Spray
Transmutation: Enlarge Person
Cladissa's spells known are:
Level 0:
arcane mark, bleed, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, detect poison, guidance, light, mending, message, putrefy food and drink, read magic, resistance, spark, stabilize, touch of fatigue
Level 1:
burning hands, cure light wounds, enlarge person, mage armor, obscuring mist, ray of enfeeblement, sleep
Grommuk was an oddity. An orc the size of a mountain who got picked on and bullied relentlessly by many of the other initiates without ever fighting back or taking up for himself. His manner was curt, but polite, though he mostly remained quiet. The more he talked, the more he was ridiculed. He never had a mind for working out puzzles or solving mysteries. His value to the Pathfinders was no secret: he was a brute and he packed a punch that could shatter stone columns. Any amount of time spent with Grommuk leading up to us taking the injections would show a marked change in his demeanor, however. Where he used to be very unassuming, he is now a lot closer to what his appearance implies: big, mean, and angry.
I'm not opposed to any sort of background links, but given the nature of his time spent training at the Lodge, I don't see it being very likely.
Cantrips:
"Grommuk smash [insert name]
First Level Spells:
fist
other fist
Would you like me to detail more specifically the other initiates that picked on poor 'Muk? Didn't know if you wanted to dangle them in front of him at any point during the course of gameplay. If not, I'm cool with that too.
I'm not really planning on going much outside the the PFS scenarios, if at all. So don't worry about it.
Hey Grommuk
I could see Hrimnagel eating and bunking with Grommuk as two fellow outsiders. They would never have conversations and just enjoy the silence and confidence that the other one is as much of an outsider.
cheers
Man, I totally got a Hulk-boner reading your transformation post Grommuk.
I am still considering whether to give you guys hero points or not. I want to see how a couple of combats go first. I have a feeling I will be giving the enemies maximum HP before long :P
Whenever we start a scenario I will give you guys the option of "playing up" if possible. That means I will run all the encounters at the next highest tier (tier 4-5 instead of 1-2 for example). They will be significantly more difficult, but also offer greater loot.
Dr. Collingsworth spells are
1st level: Enlarge Person, cure light wounds
As an initiate, Dr. Collingworth was quite terrible. He would have been punished quite often. Much of his interaction would be looking for volunteers for a variety of new 'drugs' he was testing.
While interested in Magic he is more focused on what we would consider biochemistry. I could see some conflicted tension between Argor. One the one hand, both are interested arcane stuff and Cyrill is much more athletic. But he isn't a jock, so we should be ok.
Hey Grommuk
I could see Hrimnagel eating and bunking with Grommuk as two fellow outsiders. They would never have conversations and just enjoy the silence and confidence that the other one is as much of an outsider.
cheers
Sounds good to me. Now that Grommuk's a little more primal, he may actually become a little overprotective of Hrimnagel.
Cool, Grommuk
Hey Cyrill & Argor! Reading your avatars, I can't find your Evolutions. What I am missing? I found Argor's Ability Increase and Skilled, but not which ability or skill.
cheers
Cool, Grommuk
Hey Cyrill & Argor! Reading your avatars, I can't find your Evolutions. What I am missing? I found Argor's Ability Increase and Skilled, but not which ability or skill.
cheers
Should be there. I took the extra evolution feat for 4 evolution points. Improved Reach [1pt], natural armour +2 [1pt], reach[1pt], slam [1pt].
I'm doing a plastic man idea. My hide is toughened like rubber and I can expand my fist into a hammer as well stretch my arm. Me bashy bashy too. Though not as well as Mr. Breakmarrow I'm afraid.
I think he means improved damage.
Edit: Update incoming sometime today in gameplay.
Mine says the skill and ability affected right beside the listed evolutions.
I plan on having minor physical changes at first, then perhaps something hideous develop later, as he becomes more mad with power. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I think, if it's not too late, I'd like to switch out obscuring mist with ear-piercing scream. Hope that's okay.
Yeah that's fine. Just no changes after the first combat please.
Just a friendly reminder from your English teacher DM, everything should be written in present tense. It's jarring for me personally to have half the group writing in past tense and the rest in present. Sorry if it's a nitpicky request, but it makes a big difference to me. Thanks!
Good. I tend to post in the present tense, with one notable exception, so I had been going back and changing the tense because somehow I got the impression you wanted it past tense. No problem on that front.
Okay, now we're transitioning into Silent Tide. Do you guys want to play it at tier 1-2 or 4-5? Tier 1-2 looks like it will be pretty easy for you guys. Tier 4-5 would be much harder but probably doable, with a very challenging (deadly?) final encounter.
4-5. What's the worst that could happen?
Go big or go home...4-5.
Grommuk and Cyrill I still need your stats in your Gender line of your alias.
Only two votes for Tier 4-5, need one more to make it a majority. So for now I'm going to run this encounter at 1-2.
Whoops. Yeah, 4-5 works for me. Are the numbers essentially level ranges? I've never done anything with PFS play before.
Will take care of the stats as I post into combat tonight.
I had to download the Pathfinder Society guide to figure out what the tiers meant. I'm still not 100% sure. But I won't buck the trend, so I say go with 4-5.
My eagle better still hit if these guys get a sudden upgrade dag nab it!
Oh, sorry, I thought it was common knowledge. Tiers are the same thing as APL (average party level). So I'm supposed to add up all your levels then divide by the number of players. Since you're all the same level as each other and will stay the same level it's 1 right now. Then I can add 1 for large party size, multiple companions etc.
If we were playing real PFS, you'd be tier 1-2. If it came out to 3 or something, I would ask you guys which one you wanted. In practice I ended up "playing up" a lot more than down because the scenarios are usually relatively easy with a balanced party and the loot is much better. I plan on always giving you the option as it's more fun in my opinion.
Since I already started this combat as 1-2 I'll leave it that way, next encounter I'll switch things to tier 4-5. Also a warning for those new to PFS. These scenarios are made to be played in four hours of real time, so they are VERY railroady and combat heavy. If you go off the rails, you may fail the mission outright in some of the scenarios.
In fact the whole bit we've done so far is written as a flashback in the scenario. It gives you no opportunity to actually talk to Hestram it just opens with this fight after me reading several paragraphs of expository text. I changed it to make it more organic, as I will do from time to time to make this feel more like a continuous campaign than a bunch of one off scenarios.
Man, I wish the current scene happened later on in Grommuk's progression. The desire to use four old men linked together by chains as a whip (+4 crying pooping Geriatric Lash anyone?) is pretty overwhelming.
Thank you for that image. :)
I think I already said no to this earlier, but I'm going to add the following evolution option for you guys.
If you already have the low-light vision evolution, you can take darkvision of 60' as a 1 point evolution.
So...
Jelani is on vacation
Oh! Totally missed that memo. That clears up some things in my noggin.
I may not have posted a memo. I was going to continue posting as normal during my trip, but only ended up posting in games I'm playing in. That's more fun than updating combats :P
I'm flying home later this morning, expect an update within 48 hours.
Do you guys have PFS numbers? I've decided that even though we aren't technically using PFS rules, I can still report these scenarios we play. If you guys all give me a PFS number, we've got enough for a table. That way we'd all get credit towards a PFS character, you have to pick a name for the character, but you don't actually have to build it until you go to play IRL. Chronicle sheets would be a little more problematic, but I could e-mail them to people.
Sure, I'll give it a whirl. Have been curious about the whole Society Play thing for a while anyways. Assuming everyone else is onboard.
It can be really fun, especially at conventions.
No objections here.
Sorry no PFS number. Someone can use my spot for a friend who wants the points.
I really like how these guys' mist and silent aura is making this combat uber creepy. Are you guys enjoying the individual LOS maps?
Yes. Great maps. Very helpful to understand how complicated the combat is with information asymmetry.
Ya, I approve
I feel like it’s something that PBP is really good for. It’d be hard to achieve at a table (the information asymmetry).