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So i'm in the back country this weekend and won't be able to post until sun night or monday.
Just as well; I've got lots of family stuff this weekend.
How many of you guys have been through the South East of Asia?
I've only been outside North America twice--business trip to Germany and a pleasure trip to Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein (blink and you missed it), and Switzerland. Covered a fair bit of the continental US and Canada over the years, though.
Yeah man - I hit Bangkok some 20 years ago as a fresh faced 20 year old enroute to Oz [visiting friends]...
Shopping was crazy indeed, and there are things I saw there that are burned in my memory for better or worse ;)
Think my memories will be a bit tamer considering I'm here with wife and son. Hanoi traffic just has insane numbers of motorcycles and if you are going to get across the road you basically weave through flowing traffic. Manila had more varied traffic though as they still have the occasional ox-cart.
I've been living in Malaysia for about four years working as an ex-pat, and have been through a reasonable amount of SE Asia, few trips to Europe, some work in the middle east, and grew up in Aus /NZ. Was planning to finally hit the states this year in NY area, but that got pushed back.
Medium sized 2 handed martial weapon does 1-10 damage, x3 crit damage.
Hey skipper. Have decided to just stick with Bess being a falchion after all... originally saw her as a big ol' orc-pirate cleaver, so will stick with it methinks. The hook is a cool flavour weapon, but have gone a little cold on the idea. Cheers for the research tho an no worries bout the swag either - His own fault... Kaul will just fillet junkies and mages where they stand from now on in lol
As an aside can I also say how much fun I'm having with this group of characters, they are all very memorable indeed and Cap'n V you've truely brought Freeport alive. The skinbag encounter was truely awesome and dread inducing [been roleplaying for a long time so its nice to have that affect of..."wtf... a floating skin...this...this is...bad" lol
I'll be bearing everyone in mind later in the year when I plan to dip my toes into the murky waters of DM'ing with my PFRPG take on the old TSR classics: The Sentinel & The Gauntlet :)
Don't want to say too much regards this, but it'll be set in Ioberia, so look out your winter woolies should you fancy it...
An if my game comes even a fraction close to the enjoyment of yours Cap'n V I'll be a happy Scot [rare thing in dour Aberdeen lol]
Ah, here it is.
Thank ye kindly, Kaul. Freeport is such a rich setting, it nearly runs itself. I'm actually having a pretty hard time not throwing in too many hooks : ) I'll look forward to seeing your games. Those were the old UK series, no? how appropriate : )
Just wanted to say "On Stranger Tides" was one of my all time favorite books as a kid. I was initially hopeful about a PotC treatment, but lately not so much. Ah well, hopefully that will mean a new publishing of the original novel so I can get a new copy. loaned my old one out years ago and finding a new copy was looking difficult.
Aye they were skipper... UK 2 & UK 3 if I remembers right. Should be a hoot if a little cold lol.
Needless Freeport is a rich source o' content, but your doing a grand job of making it alive, sight, smells an skinbags lol.
yeah..sorry about that...
There is a new printing out there. That is what I picked up for my friend. I just love his concept of magic that carries through Anubis Gates/Tides/and Stress of her Regard. But yeah, hopefully it will lead a lot of people to his books...get them reading something other than the Twilight Series.
And definitely loving this game. That the Groom has a glowing, talking skull is just too cool!
Quite the motley band we make, but then its quite a motley place you have set before us.
Yes, the vodun in On Stranger Tides is awesome. I'll have to catch his other novels.
To The Chase. OK so this is the first time I've tried a chase sequence, but thought it might be fun. The rules are detailed in the APG, but basically it's a series of obstacles the characters have to overcome to catch the bad guy or reach the finish line. The system is further generalized than standard PF so I don't think initiative is important.
Slick will start one obstacle ahead of Kaul, Jim, Dibbets and two ahead of Dingus and Groom. You must be on the same obstacle for melee attacks and I'll say an adjacent obstacle for ranged attacks and short and medium ranged spells.
That said, I've got to go get some lunch. Be back in a bit.
I'll take credit for the patented Cap'n Voodoo Glow Skull, but Skin Cloak is a Freeport beastie although the encounter was inspired by Hellboy 10- The Crooked Man. Great comic if you get a chance to check it out.
Soo looks like my big chase scene might have been much ado about nada. oh well, I guess that's just how the bones roll... :/
Looks like I might have to pick up On Stranger Tides for a look-see. I'll just add that to the big list of things that I'm yet to read. Need work to send me offshore again so I have hours on end to 'waste' reading good books.
For me the seminal piratical tome would be 'Walrus and the Warwolf' by Cook. Read it in high school and still have fond memories of the antics within.
And Kaul - keep me in mind for the frozen wastes. Been wanting to play a northern bezerker ever since I watched Erik the Viking
Will do Dibbs... will be a ways off [labour of love] but I've pulled together maps and converted some protagonists etc... having fun, will likely launch nearer the fall or [aptly] winter... northern berserker will be an excellent fit.
Cap'n - aye Hellboy is an awesome comic and source of macabre folktails and myth... have fell off the comics wagon of late [damned recession] but have some of the earlier in delux hardback and a collectors edition of the rpg somewhere as well...
Never read On Stranger Tides either... likewise will have to give it a gander. While not strictly speaking a pirate novel; Kidnapped is a great swashbuckling adventure and a great favourite of mine.
There's a new pb edition of On Stranger Tides out in the US, for some reason.
Cap'n, when I saw your last post (Slick's story) I was thinking he'd end up thinking we had the box, while Haskins (played by Sydney Greenstreet in the movie version) thought that Slick still had it..."It's the stuff that dreams are made of."
Jim, The Maltest Falcon has been on my list but I actually hadn't seen it until I went out and rented it after your comment. Pretty awesome that we have a 'Fat Man' and a 'Dingus' in this little adventure. Hmmm, may be I should throw in a Joel Cairo... : )
Now I got "Friends of Mr. Cairo" going through my head.
That's not a bad thing in my book.
Hey Mates,
I'm weighing anchor and sailing to a new town this weekend (actually moving from Tucson to Albuquerque so no water involved). Just letting you know my posting may be limited for the next few days.
Just as well; I'll be at an SF con this weekend, so my posting will also be pretty sporadic. Here's hoping your move is free of storms, reefs, and sharks (or local equivalents thereof).
Hey Cap'n
What brings you to Albuquerque? I am in Santa Fe. I used to live just north of ABQ in Placitas, if you know the area.
Happy moving Cap'n.
Spent a bit of time in NM while I was over in Midland TX... Santa Fe and Ruidoso were two of my fave spots ever.
Small world heh.
Hey Cap'n
What brings you to Albuquerque? I am in Santa Fe. I used to live just north of ABQ in Placitas, if you know the area.
I do. well they don't call it the 'Land of Entrapment' for nothing. I've been intending to live in NM for over a decade, but keep getting sidetracked to AZ for work mostly. I just finished my teaching certification and i'm hoping to settle down with a HS science teacher gig in ABQ. at least that's the current plan, but I'm a notorious drifter.
Cool! My wife teaches HS chem, and next year one section of physics. (She doesn't have much good to say about how the district handles teaching algebra; all sophomores have to take chemistry, and typically it's the first time they've done anything real-world with algebra. Culture shock on parade.)
Madman- My student teaching was with 7 and 8 grade and you aren't kidding about the math deficiencies. They were shocked to learn math was even a part of science. Half of them didn't even know to line up the decimal point before adding numbers together. Painful, man. that's definitely a big problem for HS teachers. the kids are totally unprepared.
I'm actually thinking of teaching Jr High just to make sure the kids get the basics they need for HS. They should definitely be getting experience using algebra in 8th grade.
How'd the move go, Cap'n?
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
I survived the long, hot, drive. I must have looked pretty funny pulling a Uhaul trailer that was bigger than my Corolla- not saying much since a Radio Flyer looks pretty big next to my little car. I ended up getting a 3 inch nail in a rear tire at some point, but fortunately the tire didn't deflate until I reached my destination so I got no complaints.
Just getting reacquainted with the Duke City. I was really wanting to run up to Seattle next week to see friends and check out PaizoCon, but reality says I need to focus on getting a job now as I haven't worked since last summer : P. reality bites.
what part of town have you settled into?
Unfortunately our Governor is out to slash school budgets, so I image teaching jobs might be tough right now. But I guess that is the case everywhere. Hope something interesting comes your way.
what part of town have you settled into?
I'm staying with some friends just north of Old Town until I get settled. Pretty cool spot actually. I'm just looking into temp work for the summer and getting my teaching cert transferred from AZ to NM. Yeah, finding a teaching gig could be rough, but I think something will show up eventually. Thanks.
Do you know any RL gaming groups in the SF/ABQ area? I was going to check at AI. maybe start a PFS game there as well.
Why didn't you just move to Germany, I'm looking for RL players atm, I think we could also need a new English teacher at my school :)
The new AI is pretty sweet, located in an old cinema complex. Definitely not as you might remember it over on Juan Tabo.
Unfortunately my RL group is at 7 players right now and stressing the space we play in. If something changes I will keep you in mind, we do have one player looking for work that may take him out of ABQ. We are a pretty diverse group from 25 to 50 years old, with me falling on the upper side of that distribution (43).
ZZ- Ich kann ein bisschen Deutsch sprechen noch aber Ich hab nicht das Wetter gern! (or something like that- it's been a couple decades)
Groomie- no worries. I'm sure I can drum up something down here and I really ought to focus on finding a job first :P
Oh hey, not bad, not at all, I mean I totally got the message, which is most important, only two minor syntax errors. :)
The weather ain't that bad, at least not today - 31 c°
Nur ein bisschen heiss, ja?
tight spot. did i lose everyone?
definitely an interesting cast of characters. The walking around on cut-off leg stumps is a nice touch.
Yeah, definitely. If Kaul hadn't managed to damage the thing, I'd be hard-pressed to justify hanging around and chatting.
definitely an interesting cast of characters. The walking around on cut-off leg stumps is a nice touch.
didn't realize until I typed it up that I was on another jag. First, it was various corpses in bed and now it's hacked off bottom bits what with half a merman and 3/4 of a mwangi...
Ah, my bad. I had forgotten the Groom was keeping the box and just remembered Dibbets turned everything over to Dingus. If the Groom intended to hold onto the box I have no problem with that. I also included the detect magic inspection section as it might be important.
The small black box is highly polished and measures about 9”x 6”x 3”. It is made of something akin to darkwood and carved with faint intricate patterns of tendrils or tentacles or something worn down by time. The box appears to be a puzzle box of some sort and is seamless with no obvious openings or features other than a dimple at one end.
It is supernaturally hard and defies any attempt to crush or force it open.Dingus focuses his magic sight on the loot and attempts to read the auras. The black box glistens under his gaze and the scrimshaw becomes more distinct until he can make out an ominous pattern of not tendrils, but writhing serpents. There is a very faint aura of divination that resembles detect poison.
Cool! Kaul wanted to pick it or see if he could. When he started talking about breaking it, the Groom would have gotten nervous. And you piped in that there is no opening mechanism. the Groom figures the skull is tied to the box by Old Granny Skinbag, and he hopes to get the pair back to her house so that the box might open with her influence.
And I see there be the serpent reference.
Voodoo Chili, I saw that someone in ABQ is looking for a game. YOu had posted in it earlier that you were coming to town. LINK
Hey Cap'n! I think you broke my brain. I had the strangest Pirate dream last night. Not quite as weird as de-bottom-atated mermen and footless zombies. But still..it was some juicy details I hope to incorporate into my fiction. Good Job!
Hey Cap'n! I think you broke my brain. I had the strangest Pirate dream last night. Not quite as weird as de-bottom-atated mermen and footless zombies. But still..it was some juicy details I hope to incorporate into my fiction. Good Job!
yess, that's how it begins... with the dreams! mwuhaha!
btw thank for the heads up on the ABQ players. we might be able to get a couple folks together for a RL game.
Cap'n - after not knowing of it's existence until today, I went and picked up the Freeport Companion for Pathfinder PDF. Reading through it now and had a few questions to ask of the commander in chief.
1) Firearms - what are your views on these? I don't mind spending a feat for proficiency (I won't be able to until 3rd level anyway), and am just thinking that it would suit dear Dibbets. I'm thinking a pistol for general use and a musket from the crows nest.
2) Mystic Navigator Prestige Class - this one is written as an Arcane based class - but looks like it would suit Dibbets quite a bit. If you have the book, can you have a quick looksie and see if you think we could compromise on an Oracle friendly version?
Gents - this is a tight spot right enough... see Kaul's forboding of "bad ju-ju" early doors fell on deaf ears lol.
Man thank goodness I made a half orc that can take a lickin [literally]
Skinbags and stumpwalkers sums things up nicely lol. Been some great set pieces...
Dibb's any juicy stuff for thug types or half orcs in the Freeport Comp?
Gents - this is a tight spot right enough... see Kaul's forboding of "bad ju-ju" early doors fell on deaf ears lol.
Ha. bad juju is right, literally. this was a boss level encounter and y'all were taking it on short staffed. Not intentionally, but wandering around at night with known killers on your tail will lead to such things!
Thankfully I think everyone will survive this time, but don't expect every encounter to be level appropriate. you gots to know when to run away and live to fight another day. ; )
also everyone- try to keep loot and hp up to date on your PCs so I don't have to guess what's going on :P and thanks for playing along. I'm having a great time.
That is all.
Dibbs- firearms are definitely a part of Freeport lore. I'll be using the PF firearm rules though per the Inner Sea World Guide. That said they will be extremely expensive and rare as they are handcrafted by a rogue gnome in Freeport or somehow imported from Alkenstar.
The Mystic Navigator has some good fluff. If you want to come up with some alternative oracle mysteries, I'd be cool with looking at them.
EDIT: Actually now that I think about it, there might be some political ramifications to actually using firearms in Freeport that might be fun to play around with ...
Cool bananas Cap'n, will put up a bit more detailed a run through on the prestige class on the morrow. I've got the Inner Sea Guide as well so will give the firearms rules a look-see as well.
We both know how concerned Dibbs is with making sure his actions are politically correct - wink
Kaul - will have a gander through the book for ye as well. There looks to be some flavorful stuff in there for press gangers.
Cap'n - have had a skim over the PF firearm rules and am still keen to continue on my ill-conceived quest to get myself a gun. Will still be a while though, as I won't be able to pick up proficiency until 3rd level anyhow.
On the topic of the Mystic Navigator, there are two options - which I've spoilered for length:
Apart from that I'll need to chuck a feat at Skill Focus and round out the skill reqs over the next 6 levels.
I'm not a fan of the planar aspects of the PrC, so would be quite happy to cut those out and replace with something else flavorful.
The last class feature I like is the 7th Level Master of Tides, so I would probably cap out the PrC there.
Would probably need to rename it something suitably Gozreh-ian as well, maybe Sunburnt Skyseer or the like.
I could just take those as my Level 3, 7 and 11 Oracle revelations - though master of tides probably wouldn't really jive with a Wind Mystery oracle.
Upside of this is that I get the two main PrC features at 3rd and 7th rather than needing to wait. Also cuts out the reliance on Knowledge (geography) as well.
What do you reckon Cap'n?
Press Ganger feat - needs Weapon Focus (sap) - gives a +2 to Intimidate and +2 damage when attacking a flat-footed opponent with a non-lethal sap attack
Shanghai feat - needs Press Ganger - can use melee weapon that deals lethal damage to do non-lethal at no penalty
There are also a couple of sea-fighting feats like 'Rope Monkey' and 'Sea Legs' which help fighting at sea.
I can transcribe full text if you like.
Dibbets-
to be honest I'm kinda 'meh' about prestige classes anymore. too many onerous requieremnts and sometimes you lose some really nice core clas benefits. I think the archetypes are a MUCH better option.
I'm fine with a mystery substitution. my only thoughts are that Master of Tides is kinda misnamed as ship movement has less to do with tides than currents. actually seems to me just accelerating a ship +20% or -20% is less powerful that increasing winds to hurricane speeds??!!
I suggest calling master of tides something like Master of Gales and making that the level 7 mystery and renaming master of winds something like Master of Storms and making that the level 11 mystery.
That's just my gut reaction. I guess the concentration check is the control on the master of winds ability, but I'd have to compare that against spells, wind effects, etc to really get my head around it.
I agree that the archetypes make for better customization than most PrCs out there and would be happy to consider the abilities as Revelations instead (and save me the dump feat and skill points).
Looking at the wind effects I'll already be getting through Wind Mastery (alter winds at 2nd, control winds at 10th and control weather at 14th) the Master of the Winds ability actually seems a bit extraneous now. And Far Sight is probably a bit of overkill given I've got Wind Sight as well....hmmmm.
Since we've still got some time before / if we get to 3rd level I'll ponder on the matter for a while.
Appreciate the time and consideration.