Well I'll go into far more detail with it once we get there. I gave you guys a taste of it with the jollyboat.
With normal ship to ship combat, most of everything is done by the captain, which, sadly, is boring. I haven't read fully into this, but apparently it acts more like Mass Combat, allowing numerous leadership roles and the entire group to help in ship-to-ship combat. One man might steer, another might direct the cannoneers, while another might tend to the wounded. Only briefly looked at it, but I think its neat.
The Players Guide for S&S has the rules as-is. They're interesting, but more from the captain's point of view, not the entire group's.
.....oh my.
There are rules in this book for building a steam-powered, iron-hulled, deflective-iron plated Ironclad.
o.O
Oh.. and you can also apparently make it also ON FIRE.
Flames engulf the Hull Locations of the ship with this property.
All creatures and objects aboard the ship are immune to the
flames. If the flaming hull ship ever grapples another ship, or
uses the ram or crossing the boards special attack action, the
targeted ship takes 5d6 fire damage per round. In addition, all
creatures on the targeted ship within 10 feet of the flaming
hull ship also take the damage, though they may attempt a
Reflex saving throw (DC 11) for half damage.
Hehehehehe
Lets just see what the Wormwood looks like..
Oh dear...
I'll try to get up a post on Wednesday or today - Tuesdays are hard. xD
Still slammed with my renovation/move. Crusty, I will make an adjusted post for days 5-7 as soon as I can, but if I hold up anything please feel free to DMPC me. Hopefully in the next couple days things will calm.
Man that took a while...
Arg. Okay, posting shortly. My apologies. If it's best, perhaps I should drop this campaign, if I'm slowing it down too much.
Nah its not you Zenu - all of us are having issues with this campaign :P
Maybe I should just convert it to the Ruins of Pathfinder Shackles campaign that I've been playing around with in my head.. thar will be less time spent on a ship, at least. :P
On that note, though, I need to bug Caerlei and Osir, while DMPCing Trevor.
heh, sudden unexpected reality shift? Sounds like fun :p Saranaja would like to be captain of her own ship though...
Ya, sorry, it's way to time consuming to type up three days worth of actions while trying to renovate and move. At least well enough to give this campaign it's due attention. As soon as I get settled in, I will take Trevor back over.
Crusty, don't want ya to think that my lack of activity here while I'm still posting in the Braganza game means I'm. It interested here. It's just far easier to type up one combat action on the fly than the in depth posts here.
Also, I've managed to twist my ankle so bad I can hardly walk, and pull a muscle in my back so that I can't take a good breath without pain. Yay!
Pain, wohoo! Wait a minute...
I drank more moonshine than advisable over the weekend. Still recovering. Getting too old for this s+*#.
I tend to struggle to get this one updated as well, unfortunately. A huge part of that is settling back into the Caerlei-crazy mindset. I find myself deleting a lot of would-be posts when they end up being way too tame to come from her. I'm typically pretty meh overall on the AP subsystem mechanics as presented: caravans in Jade Regent, Kingdom Building in Kingmaker, etc. The pace of PbPs makes pulling it off about a hundred times harder too. In that regard, I'm probably in the camp of sliding the game closer to the DM's own homebrew alternative/reality shift, simply because I'll wager it's far more engaging and less "RAW". I am content to continue as is, also. I'll try to stop dragging my feet on getting updates either way.
Do note that I'm not knocking Crustypeanut in the slightest. And this AP has been fun for me, even with my lack of enthusiasm with the ship action economy. It just gets hard to separate the meta from the game (for me) sometimes when the style of play changes specifically while handling certain types of actions in APs.
Hm.. well, I did plan on including optional Kingdom Building in the 'reality shift'.. but there was also the choice of "Screw resettling the Shackles, lets just PIRRATTEEE".
Heh.
In that sense, it could be closer to the new AC game coming out! (Which I have to wait for since I'm getting it for PC. q.q)
----
Anyways, heres a bit of what I have. I would let everyone completely rebuild/remake their characters if they wanted to. I had originally planned on making you guys refugees inbound to Sargava from Andoran, fleeing the cold weather due to the current Reign of Winter up there. Rumor has it that Sargava has, in comparison to the north, become a paradise - warm weather, plenty of opportunity, friendly folk, etc. Ignore those silly superstitious rumors of snake-headed men; those are spread by people who just want to keep Sargava to themselves.
Anyways, fleeing Andoran upon a former privateer, they come across a bit of bad luck and get stranded on an island in the Shackles. From there.. we'll be using a little bit of the Serpent's Skull rules (Modified to be more PbP friendly) to survive and find your way off the island.
I've already spoken to Rob, and my ideas thus far were solid to him. Want me to work on finalizing the campaign so we can get it running, instead of this one?
In fact.. while I haven't written anything down on this campaign except for the name, I have been giving it a ton of thought. The campaign will be primarily sandbox - It'll be driven by 'quest hooks' based on what you've been doing - with the Shackles the way it is in Ruins of Pathfinder, there are plenty of opportunities to explore, adventure, and pirate.
In that sense, it will be sandboxy like Caerlei's Molthuni campaign - though probably even more sandboxy. And, should you guys wish it, you can work on building your own settlement or nation.
Sounds intriguing.
Sounds interesting. Can we restart at a higher level?
I had planned on starting you guys off at level 2 - similar to Road to Damnation. However, due to your refugee status, you'd start with the minimum amount of starting wealth for level 1, forcing you to pick your starting gear very wisely.
Is there any hard reason not to start us higher? I find mid-levels more fun with the mix of abilities, especially with minimal gear.
Hm.. theres no reason I couldn't.. I'll look into it. I have Razor Coast, so I'll see how they go about starting you guys at level 5. It would, at the least, allow us to get into the fun faster.
And, not to mention, my tabletop S&S campaign ended around level 5 - I had originally begun devising this campaign for that group should we ever get back into playing, so level 5 would be a logical starting spot for both them and you guys.
Would you want us keeping the same characters (which is fine by me), or could we do something different?
Either. You can level up your current ones or make brand new ones - I don't mind.
Gonna be a few weeks till I'm ready to start it, though - as mentioned, its currently all in my head. Since everyone who's able is into it (Osir is unavailable due to RL stuff as you all know), I'll get working on it - consider this campaign suspended then. Only thing I have for you guys right now is 25-point builds, level 5, minimum starting gold for a level 1 character (Due you being refugees - you would have had to sell most of your gear to afford the voyage). Probably two traits (plus another for a Drawback if you wish), no campaign traits.
Should Osir not wish to join us, I'm going to try and talk Teladon to join us, now that he's back. But I'm going to wait for Osir before I mention it to him.
Hmm, I guess I'd probably change characters; I'm not sure how well a slutty/ambitious pirate wench would do in a more survival oriented game. I guess if we're still taking to the high seas however then that would be fine... hmm.
I have a Character in mind, but first, any alignment restrictions?
Considering swapping to a witch.
I may consider making a cross-classed cleric-sorcerer. Could be interesting.
Considering swapping to a witch.
boo. I enjoy Caerlei way too much. She's a fun scary. ;D
And I am considering either an Undead Lord cleric or a wizard.
No alignment restrictions, just make sure you can work well with the party. Since you guys have time, feel free to coordinate your builds :P
Take note of the ship roles in Fire as She Bears as well, as they will be used. Shipbuilding, cannonforging (Aka the Gunsmithing Feat), navigation, etc all will be useful. I will be using the pricing as-is from FaSB - you'll see that ships are rather expensive, though cannons are cheaper. Cannon prices will not be affected by Ruins of Pathfinder's Commonplace Firearms - they will instead use FaSB's. A regular 6d6 cannon (the standard seen in UC) costs only 2000 gp vs UC's 6000 gp - while the smallest cannon in FaSB, a 3-pounder, costs a mere 500 gp and does 3d6 damage with a 140' range increment. And then theres the 68-pounder.. 15,000 gp, 420' range, 10d6 damage, requires 14-lbs of Gunpowder per shot and a crew of 9 to operate. o.O
Crafting your own cannons will allow you to craft 'em at half price, obviously - though you'll need a specialized building in which to do so (So no crafting cannons in the middle of the wilderness.. though I think theres a spell that'll allow you to shape metal somewhere.)
If you guys don't have Fire as She Bears, let me know - I can detail info for you as needed.
*Edit* Also.. Steam Engines and Alchemical Engines are not available for purchase/crafting. Yet.
Considering swapping to a witch.boo. I enjoy Caerlei way too much. She's a fun scary. ;D
I agree, Caerlei is an awesome character - though with Caer getting stuck with the worst jobs ('Cuz she's a woman, damned sexist Plugg) and having Caer have a hard time getting in character has got to be a pain in ze rear. I know all too well of the latter part, so I'm not going to force him to play a difficult character, even if said character is awesome.
Who knows. Maybe an NPC Caerlei exists in Ruins of Pathfinder? Dun dun DUN!
Let me know when you (meaning all the players) are relatively settled on your choices. I'm lukewarm on Mabelode and hoped 5th level would juice his interest for me. However, if you guys are going cleric and Crusty's adding all this firearms/cannons stuff, I'm going to review other options.
cheers
Well if I went Undead lord cleric, I wouldn't be very...clericy...hehehe
Well if I went Undead lord cleric, I wouldn't be very...clericy...hehehe
Not much different than Mabelode at the moment. He was going to grab some undead stuff at higher levels, but not specialize. He already negatively channels.
I'm thinking of a straight sorcerer. Any comments? How is our party balance?
My only full arcane caster is in RL. I run a Blockbuster wizard in Reign of Winter. Cast my first fireball last night: 8d6+2 damage at 5th level. Dropped the white dragon preventing it from breathing. Unfortunately, it was also flying, so gravity stole my kill. ;D
I've got an Infernal bloodline sorcerer/Cleric of Serenrae. Or perhaps a renegade demagogue bard from Razmiran.
All Arcane Party! Crusty's talk of seige engines has gotten me considering that wizard archetype. There is indeed an arcane spell that allows you to construct cannons, don't remember what level it is. hmm...
Why work against each other, Mabelode? Together we could field an army of Undead and rule over the Shackles as Necromantic Overlords!
Why work against each other, Mabelode? Together we could field an army of Undead and rule over the Shackles as Necromantic Overlords!
ha ha. I wouldn't work against you. It was just overlap schtick.
Hey, Crusty
With Captain Andoran in Ruins, would you be open to Thor here? What races are you allowing again? Something like a Ulfen viking raider with an out-sized ego and maybe amnesia of the god parts? Too weird?
Hmm, maybe not all arcane, but all Caster party at least :p
Hmm, well I'm not too familiar with the rules for seige engines, but it looks like you'd need leadership to play a decent Seige Mage... Still tempted though.
Oddly enough, the seige engine rules in FaSB are a little different than the ones in UC - they certainly have the reload times and crew listed, but they don't have indirect-fire bombards or aiming time - so I'm going to have to figure those out.
As for races.. I'm pretty open to 'em, though remember you are coming from the north - Even though you don't have to be from Andoran, that is where you're boarding your ship. Ulfen Viking is perfectly acceptable - Thor included.. heh. Minus any sort of 'amnesia vs the god parts' - however, you could argue that you have amnesia in the sense that you were a higher level. This would be a form of permanent amnesia that you're slowly overcoming - by leveling.
The only races I do not like for this sort of campaign are ones with a natural swim speed or ability to breath water - holding ones breath longer is fine, though. Obviously, natural flight ability is also a no.
I'm alright with an all-caster party.. might be interesting. I'm also willing to accept 3rd-party archetypes on a case-by-case basis. One of the Wayfinders has some neat ones.. one Cavalier one lets you have a bond with your ship. :3
I'm thinking an Iobarian witch who belongs to a coven descended from ex-Jadwiga; some branch of a Jadwiga family that was nearly massacred to the last man/woman/child for either A.) opposing the Queen at the time, or B.) proving disloyal to Baba Yaga herself and incurring the wrath of one of her Riders.
As to a build? No idea yet. I can always emphasize healing a bit more if necessary, though witches aren't the best at it. Not doing a Winter Witch, though. Done it before. Want to explore another style of character.
For me, I think I have a Cheliaxan (Chelish?) escaped slave. Wizards experimented on him, and he has crippling self-doubt. I apparently like my characters miserable.
After considering my options I couldn't really come up with anything I liked better than Saranaja, so I'll probably just be levelling her up unless inspiration strikes me in the meantime.
Blood of the Moon has gotten me wanting to play a skinwalker (or if Crusty was especially nice a full lycanthrope), but the options in the book didn't really seem to fit with what crusty has detailed so far.
Working on a little bit of a Player's Guide to let you guys know what you can expect. The Shackles is such a fun region.. I'm having a blast figuring out whats happening there in the Ruins of Pathfinder Timeline.
Also.. we might be having another person join us soon.. I'll let them post for themselves though :P
Actually, Saranaja.. I might allow that. I'll have more info on it in a bit. There happens to be a not-insignificant faction of Werewolf Pirates in the Shackles..
However, I don't yet have that book, so a definite answer will have to wait a bit until I do have it. I might* allow a full Lycanthrope (Afflicted, not natural), though you'll likely start a level lower than everyone else. We'll see!
As for races.. I'm pretty open to 'em, though remember you are coming from the north - Even though you don't have to be from Andoran, that is where you're boarding your ship. Ulfen Viking is perfectly acceptable - Thor included.. heh. Minus any sort of 'amnesia vs the god parts' - however, you could argue that you have amnesia in the sense that you were a higher level. This would be a form of permanent amnesia that you're slowly overcoming - by leveling.
I'm working on my Thor - Magnus Thorson: Aasimar (angel-blooded) barbarian to start and cleric beyond to represent his divine powers. Current idea is that he would be the son of Gozreh who was tricked into creating the Eye of Abendego. To punish him, he cast into mortal form landing in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings where he became an Ulfen Viking. He doesn't not remember his immortal life. Need to sync up the timelines of the Eye creation to the campaign start... Thoughts?
Yeah I figured there'd be a level adjustment. Blood of the Moon is a pretty interesting read, the skinwalkers are basically the lycanthrope equivalent of tieflings and aasimar, they can take on bestial features and there's a base, generic version and 8 were-animal kin to match the 8 lycanthropes focused on in the book.
Afflicted eh? Interesting... The book does have some feats and items to help mitigate that.
Ooh, okay I've got a bit of an idea brewing now. My character was sent (or snuck) on board the ship to prepare the way for some sort of sinister organization of lycanthropes that wants to relocate to, and take over the shackles. They have his sibling held as collateral and inflicted him with lycanthropy to further ensure his loyalty/silence. Thinking a rat, or maybe bat... wait no, you said no flying. I'd really like to play a weretiger but I think they'd end up being a bit too similar to Saranaja for this campaign (alternate idea for Saranaja perhaps?)
Uhh Magnus, the eye formed about 107 years ago I do believe with the death of Aroden. I guess you could always blame the delay of his descent to Golarion on heavenly bureaucracy...
Uhh Magnus, the eye formed about 107 years ago I do believe with the death of Aroden. I guess you could always blame the delay of his descent to Golarion on heavenly bureaucracy...
Yeah. First, he had to be found. Then, punished. 'but that is a story for another time...'
And Aasimar are long-lived.
Ahh right, forgot you said Aasimar. I think adulthood for them is 60-80 from memory so that could work :)