Maintaining momentum is very important, especially this early in a campaign. If you are interested, here are a few suggestions that I have seen work well elsewhere:
1) Deadlines and botting. Maybe 24 hours (on weekdays) from when your turn is called, then you are botted. Or 36 hours, maybe. Players can offer standing guidelines; for example, Dervak will never rage while botted.
2) Call out who is up, every time you (GM) post, in bold, as the last line of your post. It draws players' attention that way.
3) Block initiative (which you are sort of doing). So right now it is Dervak, then Monster, then Everyone Else. Within each block, it just goes in order of posting unless readied is specified or people need to wait to see the results of a prior action. That way it's not 24 hours from monster to Cerio, then 24 hours from Cerio to Oscar, etc.
Good ideas. I think I can do that. I am going to bot Mala if he hasn't posted by later this evening, so that we can all start a fresh turn tomorrow; I Wil then do as you suggest and bold who's turn is next as well as spoiler the initiative in my posts
I'm sorry my activity hasn't been super great lately, I'm a teacher aide and this time of year is always just absolutely insane. But, my last day of school was yesterday! So for the foreseeable future I'm good to go.
Sorry for seemingly disappearing, been a bit distracted this week.
Socket squatter! /dead
Glad you liked that one! ;)
That was a good one. Hope you don't mind me RPing Spie. You can have more control of him in combat, especially if you're using him to deliver touch attacks
And of course if you want him back in your socket, just make that part of your post.
Yea you're good too control him all you want. Combat is NOT something I want to go through with him, I believe I can only get him back via regenerate, wish, or miracle.
About maps.
I am having a very hard time trying to convert maps (or create them) into a manipulateable format that is easy for me to use on my phone. This is very challenging as I'm not very good with imaging software, especially on my little phone, and also not terribly patient to figure it all out. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Here's my best idea:
Offer a small incentive reward to have one of us do it for you?
I haven't run any PbP games myself, but in the ones I've played, I have found Google Slides easier to deal with on phones than Google Drawings.
Cerio, I think everyone is waiting to see what the phantom does!
Well guys our friend Cerio has to leave the game unfortunately, due to unforseen Life stuff that has come up for him. We wish you all the best, sir! For the record I really liked your character and playstyle!
Darn, sorry to hear that! Best of luck, Cerio!
Should we go on with a party of 4, or should we try and refill the spot?
Continue for now, I will open recruitment and work someone new in to the story
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I would say keep going. 4 man group is what most AP's are geared towards anyways.
Guess what!
I finally got a reasonably easy system for maps up and going!
Edit: i just figured out how to turn sharing on, woohoo! So, inless you think doing it chess style where I put letters and numbers on the X and Y axis of the map and you say in your posts where your character goes, you guys can manipulate your characters how you like!
I am okay with being able to move our icons.
Same, it's cool with me either way though.
Same, it's cool with me either way though. Whatever's easiest for you!
Hello everyone; The Mad Poet has asked me to dot in here. I look forward to playing with you!
I see our name's are but one letter apart, This is surely a sign that we will get along swimmingly! Welcome to the group!
Welcome! Glad to have you here.
Mara, you can OOC dot on the gameplay thread too so it is easier for you to keep an eye on.
The rest of you slackers need to do something :P You have one head and the guard has asked for at least three. The hallway is long and there a few doors to investigate.
Is there a cue you're waiting on from me? Because I was waiting for you guys to move to a new area.
Just a busy weekend, had too bring down a tree in the backyard. Will post more tomorrow.
I apologize. Let's get moving.
Can I request you put the link to the map in the campaign info?
Welcome Mara!
Since I saw the submission I was trying to think how Dervak would relate to another half-orc if she got picked.
Dervak and Mara reflect very different perspectives on orcs. I am going off of Orcs of Golarion (where in their relationship to other races orcs are basically like the Reavers from Firefly); I do know that other Paizo products have a more Eberron-like approach. One could imagine this as being the effect of different regions.
Qadira is far away from Belkzen, so maybe in that area orcs are small groups or isolated individuals, not a huge and deadly horde that threatens to overrun civilization. Perhaps orcs are not to Qadirans the nightmares that they are to Kellids. Dervak would find it utterly shocking that a human male would willingly mate with an orc female, that a human society would tolerate the father doing so and would embrace the child, and that the child would have any respect for orc "culture" -- he is full of self-loathing and of hatred for his father for having chosen to become part orc (bits of Shadow over Innsmouth here).
He'll be willing to work together against a common foe, of course, and he'll probably feel pity for Mara. But he won't really be able to understand her.
Mala: I admit I hadn't truly considered how similar our names are. Mara is named after the female Klingon in the Star Trek episode "Day of the Dove".
Dervak: My presumption is that the more aggressive orc tribes in Qadira would have long ago been hunted down and wiped out; only the less threatening ones would survive. Over time, there would have been a marked divergence in culture between the orcs of Qadira and Belkzen.
Edit: My understanding is that in the Giant Slayer AP, there is a female orc cleric of Sarenrae: Mahja Firehair, leader of the Burning Suns clan.
I'll try to get a gameplay post up later, this weekend has been ridiculous between work and my brother's graduation party. Haven't been at my computer in a while and I hate typing on my phone...
Yes, I see that more recent writers have taken a more Eberron-like approach to orcs in Golarion. Those are not the sources I am using for my RP.
If Dervak expresses negative views about orcs, I'm not trolling you or trying to change how you play your character. I just wish to draw on different influences than you do, and Mahja Firehair is not among them.
Looking at the fluff text in Bestiary 1 or Orcs of Golarion, it is clear that Paizo started out making orcs really evil and dangerous -- perhaps to differentiate from Eberron or Azeroth. Along with goblins, ogres, drow, and some others. That's one of the things I like about Golarion. So that's what I am running with for how Dervak sees orcs in the world. He's never heard of Mahja Firehair and would likely dismiss her as a myth.
I've played RPGs for 30+ years and never once wanted to play a half-orc. Until now. This AP has the right themes for it. The point of including half-orcs in the game is, as many designers have said, to let players be the monsters. So that's what I'm doing; he's not a human with a different skin color, he's a MONSTER by birth and trying to conquer it. This is always in his mind:
Everything about orcs as a race is painted with the blood-red palette of their ferocity. They have little to no patience for anything, and are more likely to smash a complex project to pieces than they are to complete it. They believe that pain is the greatest teacher, and care little for words that sit coldly on a page. Challenges provoke their ire, and they are most alive when unleashing the fury that builds within them. An orc who is not fighting, raging, or roaring in either anger or laughter is most likely spent and sprawled out, snoring with the same savageness.
Though much of this furious behavior is enforced by orc culture, it cannot be denied that those rare orcs raised apart from their kind, even from childhood, are often still filled with the same animal rage. All it takes is a momentary annoyance or minor frustration to drive an orc to murderous fury. Their terrible ferocity makes it all but impossible for there to be any lasting peace with orcs. Sooner or later, even if they are cowed by the strength of a greater power, something will send orcs into a rage, and then blood will be spilled.
If Dervak expresses negative views about orcs, I'm not trolling you or trying to change how you play your character.
Fair enough.
Just so you know, I will not begrudge you guys if someone hits/attacks Oscar after what he just did.
I do think that after this fight we can have some sort of protocol for everyone we meet, but I can't think of what that might be. It would be really bad for the game if doppelgangers were so easily detected as pricking their fingers. Doppelgangers are supposed to be tricky to root out.
Maybe asking them questions about Zandalous; the one we fought didn't seem all there and was oddly chatty about its master. So maybe we can use that to rattle them.
And someone please say something to Oscar? "Put an arrow into them" is a HORRIBLE way to verify identity.
That said, we should also come up with a means to confirm our own identities to each other. Like asking the order our cells were opened, something only we know.
Others? A snip of hair? Does that remain or revert when cut off a shapechanger?
-Posted with Wayfinder
Yes, maybe some secret information to confirm our own identities to each other.
OOC, if a detection method were simple and foolproof, it would make doppelgangers unable to do their job anywhere in Golarion. Every noble's court would do the needle prick or hair snip for every visitor.
But back to IC, these shapeshifters don't seem to be clever infiltrators. They haven't changed their outfits, and they blab about Zandalous. So maybe that's an option; we see what kind of response we get when we say that name.
We also have Oscar's Psychic Reading spell, though that isn't perfect.
I don't know if it's my place to jump in here.
My suggestion would be, before heading into combat, to work out, OOC, how a reasonable way to handle this type of situation would be. I would suggest waiting until everyone is on the same page before proceeding with the gameplay. If necessary, the action could be rolled back a couple of posts.
Again, this is only a suggestion, from someone who hasn't even joined the game in-character yet.
If you are suggesting that we figure out OOC how to determine our reactions to NPC social skills, I think our range of responses was reasonable for a bunch of freaked-out amnesiacs in a strange situation. Dervak and Julius believed it, Mara was suspicious, and Oscar panicked.
If you are suggesting that we should have figured out OOC how to detect shapechangers, I would say we'll do that IC after this fight.
I agree, we definitely need a kind of "two step" thing for doppelgangers, especially if we (god forbid) ever decide to split up. Some sort of "safe word" for those within the party (or maybe a few trusted NPCs, but the more people who know the phrase, the more of a chance it could be learned by an enemy) and some easy-ish test we can do to see if an NPC is real or not. I think Dervak might be on to something-these guys definitely don't seem all there. I mean, neither do we, but you know what I mean.
Next time we run across someone we should definitely test out Dervaks idea. And don't worry Oscar, Mala will have words with you after the fight.
GM: Would Mara have any spells memorized at this point? She might not, given the circumstances.
No, she would not. Except for cantrips/orisions.
GM: Did the body look human, or like something else?
It looked like a strange grey humanoid with large black eyes. This guy! Though IMO the eyes should be black. Close enough though. He was wearing nursing attire. "He" is arbitrary btw, in that form they display no gender, though the clothing is female.
Out of curiosity, is anyone going to GenCon? I am! I'm GMing a couple starfinder games in fact.
Lucky! I was thinking about it, but I decided to go to Atlanta that weekend instead. Would've loved to get my Starfinder core book early, though. Do you know what Starfinder things you're GM'ing? I really want to see how Dead Suns is, I hope it's good.
Not this year, maybe next year.
I cant make it to gencon; shackled to a newborn baby.
I wish i could play. I have a developer copy of the book because of my work, and im really looking forward to playing it and talking about it once the game's out.
-Posted with Wayfinder
I'm in Vancouver, BC, so I would probably make it to PaizoCon before Gen Con.