Rise of the Runelords: Chosen of Sandpoint

Game Master polyfrequencies

Same boat here. VMC Magus is taking half of Ro's feats.

Now, on the other hand, if we all would get Deific Obedience as a "Bonus Feat"...*whistles innocently*

J/K but some GM's do like giving out extra goodies now and then - would certainly be a thematic reward if you're among those.

Especially with this group.

My feats (and bonus feats) are locked up with weapon/combat requirements.

Getting use to Matims skin again. So, I might pick it up.

Although I agree that the feat would be well themed for the party, I think your SLAs have you covered in that department. As I stated, I was not thinking of you guys taking the feat, but wanted to present the rituals involved in case you hadn't heard of them before.

On yet another note, I'd like everyone to make a list of the people in Sandpoint (and its environs) that you are particularly close to, or that mean a lot to your character. This should not include the PCs.

Kira and Father Creeg, as per 10-minute background in profile / Background in profile.
Of regular NPC's, Ameiko, Talene and the current temple head honcho the name of whom evades me.
Did you mean like that?

On a completely different topic, do you know if your GM upped the CR of the encounters because of your large party size?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Depended on whether the encounter was critical to the story or not.

Update to I/C thread now. Let's see if we can't finish off Thistletop ASAP so DM BrOp can take over!

Thanks again DM, this is a great group that deserved to play on!

Thanks again DM, this is a great group that deserved to play on!

I am looking forward to it! Will you play through the rest of Thistletop, or just do a summary post to wrap things up?

Karmid's BFFs in Sandpoint:

Father Zantus (Basically his adopted Father)
Sheriff Hemlock (A fellow Shoanti...even if he's 'Civilized')
Savah the Weapon's Merchant (Shoanti Weapons)
Chod the Butcher (Sells/Gifts his hunted meats here)
and Brodert Quink the Sage (Shoanti Lore)

Drasven entered Thistletop via a merchant Caravan and hasn't had much time to build a solid bond with any of the Townsfolk.

Guided by Abadar to this town, he joined the group on their quest to liberate Thistletop from the menace of Goblins.
The only townsfolk he has had any meaningful conversation with other then the party is Father Zantrus.

Storyteller Shadow wrote:

Thanks again DM, this is a great group that deserved to play on!

I am looking forward to it! Will you play through the rest of Thistletop, or just do a summary post to wrap things up?

Play through.

@Shadow: You have something evil planned don't you?

Rojava's People:

Rynshinn Povalli: Ro's shiny new girlfriend. Owns Vernah's Fine Clothing. Previously a long term crush, if Ro were watching someone else be as ridiculously pleased as she is with the new relationship, she'd find it dorky and a little sad.

Volioker Briskalberd: Locksmith. Ro has an sort of informal apprenticeship with Volioker. He lets her hang around and fiddle with locks, which she finds oddly soothing. It's also time away from the cathedral. He finds her amusing and doesn't have to pay her. Volioker occasionally sends Ro out on simple jobs if he doesn't feel like leaving the shop.

Francesca Brishon: Ro's twin sister, and the slightly older of the two. Currently relocated to Magnimar. Fran has a couple of levels in Fighter and was briefly a PC so she's fully statted down among the former PCs on the character page.

Ameiko: Of course because she's Ameiko.

Father Zantus: They've learned to get along over the last few years. Ro views him as an obstacle to doing what she wants as often as anything else. She has to admit he's a good guy though.

Sheriff Hemlock: In the past to be avoided. Now they have to work together and things have improved.

Gaven Deverin: Local Sarenite Paladin. Helped the group out under the Glassworks. Good guy, eye candy.

If the former PCs will still be hanging around town instead of quietly vanishing:

Gwyddym Soarsong: Ro's best friend at the cathedral. They've known each other since their early teens.

Talane Minley: A bit older, she tends to be positioned somewhere between the clergy and the group at the cathedral. She's amazingly straight and dutiful, so not exactly a buddy and definitely not a partner in crime. On the other hand she's so nice it's impossible not to like her.

Something for all of you to begin thinking about:

Once you complete your adventure at Thistletop and return to Sandpoint, you will have some downtime before the next adventure begins. During this period, I'd like you to drive the story instead of me by focusing on the day to day aspects of your life in Sandpoint. In order to help motivate you, let me give you a few ideas for what to focus on.

1) Where are you going to live?

2) What will you do during your downtime?

3) Why is the new GM making me do this? Does he hate me? Should I quit this game if it's going to change from Pathfinder to Net-Profit-After-Deducing-Labor-Costs-finder?

@Shadow: You have something evil planned don't you?

Seems likely :-)

1: I may be wrong, but I think Lia has no additional gear/wealth/goods.
I'll double-check at a later time. She did fetch one thing from a table of exotic and old things out of curiosity but has no idea about value.

She actually has 4 ranks in Profession(Temple Maiden) so would...work at the Cathedral, in theory.
She likes the simple routine of the Cathedral - a plus is that the people there remind her of stuff like 'eating' or 'sleeping'.
If she had wealth, she'd probably offer it to Zantus if that means she can stay.

If you insist on kicking her out, then she'd probably need one of the other acolytes to take her in (because the other option is to return to her family living far in the hinterlands - she is actually well aware that she is not exactly functional by herself.).

2: is easy. Daydream. Desna guides the Traveller. That is to say, she would not pursue a downtime activity by herself, but one special dream is enough to set her on a path she follows.

3: No worries. But Lia is REALLY not set up to lead an independent life - as you may have deduced from gameplay so far.

@GM: Also, I know it was a "start thinking about it"-thing. But I'll need to know whether there is any chance for her to stick with her routine in the Cathedral, or not. I can make something up about taking on the responsibility of being a live-in support of Father Creeg as his condition deteriorates but Lia would probably not be the most responsible caretaker.

Ummm...We've been kinda treasure-light in this game so far.

Karmid is perfectly fine sleeping in the woods nearby Sandpoint, while hunting wild boar and deer for the butcher in town.

Drasven is fine with renting a room at the inn.

He's also good with living in the woods like some vagabond though he'll do poorly.

General Profession is a merchant though he'll find himself almost equally adept at other professions as well due to his Breadth of Experience.

Jili has only been in Sandpoint for a couple of years. She's mostly kept to herself, but has picked up odd jobs. She would have made enough money to rent a room somewhere in town.

She came in with the Scarni's two years ago. It's possible even probable that the odd jobs she's been doing are for them.

Ummm...We've been kinda treasure-light in this game so far.

Well, we'll have to change that.

Oh no! Father Zantus is actually Henry F. Potter! I wonder if he has some cheap, overpriced tenements he's wanting to rent to us?

But seriously, yes, we haven't seen much at all in the way of material compensation. Ro has already put plans in effect to move out of the cathedral, and she won't let lack of money stop her.

But maybe Lia could get a tender age exemption since she's 16 and probably looks about 14?

Matrim will most likely stay in an inn

The other problem is that we just levelled...I could alter that and take 1 skill point from Heal/Diplomacy/Stealth and put those 3 into Profession(Gardener), Profession(Midwife) and Profession(Shepherd) and then do those, kinda?

Edgar has full ranks in profession (soldier) because he's a soldier. He likely has a spot at a barracks and during downtime will probably be serving on watch rotation, etc.

Despite having lived in Sandpoint much of his life, he doesn't have a lot of connections to the town itself. It is more professional obligation than anything else that ties him here. He knows Father Zantus, as all do, but he is not tied particularly to anyone beyond his family.

Uldar has enough money on him that he can live comfortably in an inn (in a single or common room). He plans to do what all bard's do to earn money: entertain! If he can do that at the Rusty Dragon, that sounds workable. I'm sure he'll have to convince Ameiko that he's good enough, but he's confidant

Uldar has enough money on him that he can live comfortably in an inn (in a single or common room). He plans to do what all bard's do to earn money: entertain! If he can do that at the Rusty Dragon, that sounds workable. I'm sure he'll have to convince Ameiko that he's good enough, but he's confidant

Ameiko has been known to give discounts on her rooms and fare to those who can reliably draw a crowd to the tavern, but she only gives those to one person at a time and never on a permanent basis. The record for the longest stay is held by a traveling skald from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings who lived like a king at the Rusty Dragon for over a month.

Matrim will try and find some card games to win at.

We are an ambitious lot!

Ro will probably try to talk a job of some sort out of Cracktooth or Cyrdak Drokkus. Maybe she can convince Volioker to start paying her something.

Uldar Unstown wrote:

Uldar has enough money on him that he can live comfortably in an inn (in a single or common room). He plans to do what all bard's do to earn money: entertain! If he can do that at the Rusty Dragon, that sounds workable. I'm sure he'll have to convince Ameiko that he's good enough, but he's confidant

Ameiko has been known to give discounts on her rooms and fare to those who can reliably draw a crowd to the tavern, but she only gives those to one person at a time and never on a permanent basis. The record for the longest stay is held by a traveling skald from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings who lived like a king at the Rusty Dragon for over a month.

That sounds like a challenge!!

She actually has 4 ranks in Profession(Temple Maiden) so would...work at the Cathedral, in theory.

She likes the simple routine of the Cathedral - a plus is that the people there remind her of stuff like 'eating' or 'sleeping'.
If she had wealth, she'd probably offer it to Zantus if that means she can stay.

I didn't realize that Lia was working at the temple in an active way and that she was so young. The Father is unlikely to cast you out any time soon because of this.

Sounds like someone has her lodgings done.

*smiles*

yay :)

@working: aye, like many others, she had been brought to the temple at a young age - growing up there with the other acolytes meant the same responsibilities and duties as the others. I made sure to keep the profession maxed to reflect that.
I believe the Sandpoint Cathedral was slightly enlarged due to the special setting, with an attached convent.

Happy to hear I get to stay!

OK, I get the sense you will all make short work of the Yeth Hound, if not, it'll get one last taste of blood before you send it off in the second round :-)

Here's something else to consider:

It has been my experience in PbP games that momentum is very important. Momentum in this case specifically means the rate at which the majority of players post. It doesn't necessarily matter if the posting rate is once a day or twice a week (although I prefer the former over the latter), as long as the rate stays the same and everyone is happy with the rate of posting. As long as the majority of people (most importantly the GM) is posting at a regular rate, things keep moving forward and people tend to not lose the thread of the main story line. It's only when things slow down, when the rate of posting decreases, that PbP games start to lose this momentum. The effect is that people begin to lose interest in the game. Once you have lost that momentum, I have found it is very hard to get it back.

My hope is that we can make a commitment to set and stick with a rate of posting that we can all agree on. My preference would be to try for 1/day (except for weekends), but if you don't think that's an achievable goal, I am willing to consider a slower rate.

Having said that, I am changing how posting during combat is handled. Pathfinder combat is slow, even when you're playing in a F2F game. Pathfinder combat in PbP is even slower. Because of this, I am instituting a new rule (once I take over): If you don't post something within 24 hours of my last major combat summary post, I will bot you. This is nothing personal, and I won't think less of you if you don't make the 24 hour deadline, but I really want to get through the next book of the AP in under three years, but we won't be able to do this if we wait around for people to post in combat.

What does everyone think?

I don't usually have a problem posting once a day.

I typically check out the forums once a day.

I'm usually on twice a day or more for weekdays.
On weekends I'm slower but I can manage once a day post.

I'm usually on twice a day or more for weekdays.

On weekends I'm slower but I can manage once a day post.

I don't have posting requirements for weekends, as I consider that family or home chores time. If you have the time, sure, but you deserve a break too.

While we're on the subject of posting, has everyone read Painlord's Guide to PbP gaming? It's a great read, and offers lots of useful advice on how to improve your posts (both in- and out-of-combat), and especially how to make them more "useful" for the other players to play off of. I highly recommend giving it a read if you haven't read it, or reading it again even if you have. I just re-read it last week.

I can almost always post daily.

Painlord's guide is very good. Simple ideas that are easy to use and never go out of style. Reread it recently myself.

ok with posting requirement (and botting if missed)

Another portion of the map is peeled back.

I'll move this to my post daily list.

I will try and post daily.

I have found that my work load wildly fluctuates, sometimes giving me an opportunity to post from work, sometimes not.
At home, I have a 1-year old and a 3-year-old, both of which demand attention in the evening(plus I bring them to bed) - that's to say: soemtimes they are little angels and I got all evening to spend with SO, posting, and video games - other times...not.

That combines to make a daily posting rate mostly workable, but there may be times where it simply does not work out, and without an option to give advance notice(e.g. even if the kids are ill, I don't know if I 'll have a chance at work).

I totally understand, Lia. I have a 7-year-old, and he can still be a handful from time to time. Family time is always more important.

The daily posting is more of a goal than a hard requirement. Nobody's getting booted for not meeting it.

I’m going to be fully open. I recently applied to a game company in Tokyo, I don’t know if I will get the job or not, but it might change mo posting for a little bit. ... I think I’ll be checking out any posts in the morning on the train ride.

Good luck on the job Matrim!

"I am also still curious what she meant to become. Demons are not immune to lightning the way she was. If Nualia's resistance was innate, then she may have been making deals with a different power altogether."[/b]Not having an idea how she brushed the electricity off so easily still irks me. I'm afraid there's more to that than we can see right now...

Sorry Lia,

Actually Demons ARE immune to lighting. Its one of their few actual Immunities. They also have TONS of resistances. She was also an Aasimar, and they have a natural resistance to lightning.

"Demon Traits

Demons possess a particular suite of traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry) as summarized here.

Immunity to electricity and poison.
Resistance to acid 10, cold 10, and fire 10."

NOTE: She was also a cleric, and could have had a resistance spell active when we fought her.