Draga’s 2D:1 PbP (Inactive)

Game Master Lekku

Welcome, everyone! This is the Discussion thread for Second Darkness: Shadow in the Sky.

Here is the team list:

Augrim Whyrwharf, Dwarven Inquisitor
Grimara "Grim" Pondle, Half Orc Rogue
Jawn Stagg, Human Wizard[/smaller][/ooc]
Arianna Rothschild, Human Bard
Zaiel Shandraeli, Half-Elven Cleric

While everyone is tweaking their characters, keep this in mind.

Take max hit points at level 1 for your class, and choose 2 traits.

Second Darkness Traits:

Fools for Friends:
You don’t think of yourself as a gambler. In fact, you rather detest the whole thing. Unfortunately, one or more of your friends (pick one or more of the other players’ characters) doesn’t think so, and you’ve recently learned that friend—or friends—have decided to go to the Gold Goblin’s “Cheat the Devil and Take his Gold” tournament. Which pretty much means you have to go as well, since if no one’s there to watch out for them, they’ll lose all their money and respect. Again. Sometimes it’s hard being the responsible one. Your devotion to your friendships (even when said friends seem, at times, to be trying to test that devotion) is a point of pride to you. Whenever you take the Aid Another action to help an ally, or whenever an ally aids you in this manner, a successful check grants an additional +1 trait bonus to the check for which aid was being rendered. Additionally, as long as one of your friends is within 30 feet, you gain a +1 trait bonus on all saving throws against charm and compulsion effects.


Into Enemy Territory:
The shadow in the sky is visible from all around Riddleport, not just in town. It’s certainly come to the attention of several druids, rangers, and other rural folk who dwell in the nearby mountains, forests, and swamps—among them, yourself. You’ve consulted with several seers and Harrowers, and may even have performed some simple auguries yourself, and all the signs point the same way—something or someone in Riddleport is connected to the blot, and it means bad news for the region. You’ve avoided the sleazy, dirty town for most of your life, traveling there only when absolutely necessary, and although you don’t relish the prospect of going there now, you see little other choice (especially if one of your superiors is ordering you to go investigate). Fortunately, an eccentric friend of yours (pick another PC) is in town, and you’ve heard this friend will be taking part in some gambling thing at a place called the Gold Goblin. Your friend’s always had better luck interacting with the cityfolk, so you’ve decided to accompany your friend to this gambling tournament and plan on letting him find a safe place for you to stay while you’re in town. Your long life of self-sustenance has toughened you and made you more resistant to hardship, in any event—pick one of the three categories of saving throw. You gain a +1 trait bonus on all saving throws of that type.


Looking for Work:
Although out of work, you aren’t particularly keen on the prospect of gambling away your last remaining coins simply for a chance at riches. That said, if the Gold Goblin’s fortunes reverse after this big gambling tournament, you’re relatively certain its owner, Saul Vancaskerkin, will be needing to hire on some new staff members. You’ve secured payment for the tournament, and intend on attending mostly to check the place out, to decide if it’s a place you’d want to work at (as a bouncer, bartender, croupier, server, entertainer, spotter, or cook), and hopefully get a chance to catch Saul’s eye and make an impression. You’ve long worked at honing your skills, and are quite accomplished and certain that you have something to offer. Pick one of the following skills: Bluff, Craft (any), Diplomacy, Intimidate, Perform (any), Perception, or Profession (gambler). You gain a +1 trait bonus in that skill, and that skill is always considered a class skill for you.


Optimistic Gambler:
You’ve always seemed to have trouble keeping money. Worse, you always seem to have debts looming over your head. When you heard about the “Cheat the Devil and Take His Gold” gambling tournament, you felt in your gut that your luck was about to change. You’ve always been optimistic, in fact, and even though right now is one of those rare times where you don’t owe anyone any money (you just paid off a recent loan from local moneylender Lymas Smeed), you know that’ll change soon enough. Better to start amassing money now when you’re at one of those rare windfall times! You’ve set aside a gold coin for the entrance fee, and look forward to making it big—you can feel it in your bones! This time’s gonna be the big one! Your boundless optimism, even in the face of crushing situations, has always bolstered your spirit. Effects that grant you morale bonuses persist 1d4 rounds longer than they normally would as a result.


Researching the Blot:
You may or may not be seeking membership into Riddleport’s most prestigious magical guild, the Order of Cyphers, but you certainly have heard their call for aid in determining the nature of the strange shadow in the sky above Riddleport. You arrived in town several days ago and had some issues with security and safety at several inns before you finally settled on the Gold Goblin; you’ve been staying there as a guest for several days now, and the owner, Saul Vancaskerkin, seems like a nice guy. He’s even given you a pass to attend the gambling tournament he’s about to throw—you’re not sure how into gambling you’ll be, but perhaps there’ll be some visitors from out of town you can talk to about the strange shadow in the sky. At the very least, you’re hoping someone at the tourney will be into magic—there’s not really enough folk in this town who seem all that interested in magic, you’ve found. Your interest in magic dates back quite far, and as a result, you’ve developed a special affinity for spells and/or magical devices. You receive a +1 bonus to Spellcraft and Use Magic Device checks


Scouting for Fiends:
You belong to an organization (most likely a religion) that has definite views on the menace posed by the lower planes. The willfulness with which the city of Korvosa (they even allow a temple of Asmodeus to operate in broad daylight!) tolerates infernal influences is, to you and your organization, the greatest symbol of what’s wrong with civilization today. And now, in Riddleport, there’s news that a gambling tournament is using devils and Hell as an idle decoration. It’s likely that this is just an example of poor taste, but there’s a chance that something sinister may be lurking beneath the goings-on at the Gold Goblin. You have been contacted by your organization (or may have decided on your own) to travel to Riddleport (if you don’t already live there) and attend this tournament under the guise of a patron. Keep an eye on things there, even after the tournament is over; if you can, get a job working for the owner. Demons and devils can be subtle, and it could take weeks or even months to find proof of their involvement. Your near-obsessive hatred of all things fiendish grants you a +1 trait bonus on all attack rolls made against foes you know to be evil outsiders.
Standard Traits

If you want, you can pick up the Second Darkness Companion, but it's not required at all. Let me know if you have any questions.

Dot.

Thanks for the invite.
Dot, dot

Thanks Draga! Let the questioning begin... It looks like the Second Darkness traits are designed for 3.5. I am considering Looking for Work and/or Researching the Blot. For Looking for Work, would you let us replace the Spot skill with Perception (I know they aren't quite equal between the two systems, but pretty close). For Researching the Blot, did you have a different bonus effect in mind since identifying magic items is a bit different in Pathfinder?

Thanks Draga! Let the questioning begin... It looks like the Second Darkness traits are designed for 3.5. I am considering Looking for Work and/or Researching the Blot. For Looking for Work, would you let us replace the Spot skill with Perception (I know they aren't quite equal between the two systems, but pretty close). For Researching the Blot, did you have a different bonus effect in mind since identifying magic items is a bit different in Pathfinder?

Good catch - Spot is now Perception, so the bonus is to Perception - updated the Trait description.

For Researching the Blot, How about a +1 to Spellcraft and Use Magic Device?

Thank you, Draga! I went ahead and picked up Scouting for Fiends; should work well for Zaiel . . . .

Do you require that we take a campaign trait? When I statted up Grim, I gave her two standard traits (one combat and one social), but I can easily rework that if you'd like her to have a campaign trait.

Do you require that we take a campaign trait? When I statted up Grim, I gave her two standard traits (one combat and one social), but I can easily rework that if you'd like her to have a campaign trait.

Nope - totally your call. I just wanted you to have the option.

Good catch - Spot is now Perception, so the bonus is to Perception - updated the Trait description. For Researching the Blot, How about a +1 to Spellcraft and Use Magic Device?

Those sound great. I think I'll take Looking for Work for Jawn. It fits with his story (drifting from town to town, looking over his shoulder and looking for odd jobs that don't require him to use his magic). Also, looking at all of the traits, it looks like the action starts in or near the Gold Goblin, and this gives him a reason to be there.

In the announcement you had a question mark next to Jawn's race. I think I'll go with the human version I developed, but I may change his stats just a little; bring down his intelligence a bit to increase other stats and make him a little more survivable.

Are we on the Medium, Slow, or Fast track for experience?

Are we on the Medium, Slow, or Fast track for experience?

The AP lays out a basic guideline for what level you should be at at certain parts of the story. I'm going to try to pace it in a way that provides the most fun. I don't know if that really answers your question, but if I had to boil it down, I'd say medium.

Some people might want to keep up with XP, because they like gauging how close they are to the next level - other people don't care. I'm probably just going to let you know when you level up (simultaneously). It's one less thing for me to keep track of.

That being said, I won't be tossing "bonus XP" out the window - I will find a way to reward players for quick thinking, creative solutions, or anything else I think is flat-out cool.

Grimara "Grim" Pondle wrote:

Do you require that we take a campaign trait? When I statted up Grim, I gave her two standard traits (one combat and one social), but I can easily rework that if you'd like her to have a campaign trait.

Nope - totally your call. I just wanted you to have the option.

All right. I'll keep the two that she has then.

How about making scrolls, buying scrolls and scribing scrolls into my spellbook?

For Jawn to scribe a scroll of a 1st level spell he knows, it costs 12gp, 5sp. To buy a scroll of a 1st level spell he doesn't know costs 25gp, plus an additional 10gp to scribe it into his spellbook. Can he have done some of this prior to the start of the adventure with his extra cash?

I'll keep Augrim's traits as they are also. Thanks for picking me!

How about making scrolls, buying scrolls and scribing scrolls into my spellbook?

Can he have done some of this prior to the start of the adventure with his extra cash?

Yes, that's pretty much like purchasing gear, in my book.

Also, if you purchased ranks in Craft you can choose to discount items as if you had crafted them. Limit this to one standard item (weapon or armor) or ten minor items (potions, scrolls, jewelry, etc.)

Arianna is set and ready to go.

Team soccer-mom is ready!

May I assume starting gold for Inquisitor is same as cleric - 240gp?

Yes, that's fine - I can't seem to find anything official on it.

Jawn is ready to go. He purchased two spells for his spell book with some of his starting money.

btw, I would recommend that you keep at least one or two GP on hand for the games at the Gold Goblin, at the start of the AP.

btw, I would recommend that you keep at least one or two GP on hand for the games at the Gold Goblin, at the start of the AP.

Ah, good point. I've gotten rid of one of Grim's daggers to get her a couple of gold back.

Arianna - I thought you might be interested in this.

For reference, here is a map of Riddleport, and points of interest.

The link just points back to this thread rather than a map.

Draga, of the mist wrote:

For reference, here is a map of Riddleport, and points of interest.

The link just points back to this thread rather than a map.

Yeah, I broke it - I'm just going to link a map and description, and pull that post out.

Arianna - I thought you might be interested in this.

** spoiler omitted **

I had thought about this but Ari isn't a worshipper of Calistria, she worships Shelyn instead.

Riddleport Map and points of interest.

I'm just tweaking a few more things to the AP up to date, and then everything should be ready to go. Does anybody need more time, or have any questions?

Concerning combat:

Have you given any thought to how you want to handle the combat round? For example, in my current PbP the GM has us roll initiative and then declare our actions/roll for attack, damage, or whatever (all in one post), after which he explains what happens after all parties have posted. I think this is to keep things going, as it were, so that not everyone is waiting for the higher initiative people before they can post (GM waits until all post, then relays what happens).

I was wondering if you were going this way, were going as it's written in the pen & paper rules, or if you're doing something else.

Hope my question makes sense!

The map link isn't working for me at the moment.

The map link isn't working for me at the moment.

Yeah, not for me, either (I first tried it about 1.5 hours ago). Bad link, maybe?

Following up on the combat question... I am in a few PbPs, and I have seen the method Rhys mentioned work well. For example, an action might be:
Round 4

And sometimes just post a flat "I need to see what x or y does before I can post my actions.

Yeah, I saw Nazard is doing this in an Arcadia game. I think it looks like a good idea. I'd generally title the spoiler with the round number, just to streamline it.

I don't know what's up with the map. I can see it, through google docs, but maybe I need to post a different link. Try this one.

Yeah, I saw Nazard is doing this in an Arcadia game. I think it looks like a good idea. I'd generally title the spoiler with the round number, just to streamline it.

** spoiler omitted **

I don't know what's up with the map. I can see it, through google docs, but maybe I need to post a different link. Try this one.

No dice

If you like, I've had some success with creating a google site, where you can easily download jpg or png picture files of maps and stuff. Good for combat maps too.

No dice

If you like, I've had some success with creating a google site, where you can easily download jpg or png picture files of maps and stuff. Good for combat maps too.

Anything that works - how do I set it up? I was hoping google docs would suffice, but I guess it's just not working.

Nazard wrote:

No dice

If you like, I've had some success with creating a google site, where you can easily download jpg or png picture files of maps and stuff. Good for combat maps too.

Anything that works - how do I set it up? I was hoping google docs would suffice, but I guess it's just not working.

I think DM JZ uses Flickr for his maps, but I've never used it myself.

Nazard wrote:

No dice

If you like, I've had some success with creating a google site, where you can easily download jpg or png picture files of maps and stuff. Good for combat maps too.

Anything that works - how do I set it up? I was hoping google docs would suffice, but I guess it's just not working.

You need to have a google account. Go here and follow the instructions to set up your own. The whole process is fairly simple to execute. Once it's set up, you'll want to get e-mail addresses from all of us to give us access. I think the sharing controls are under the "More Actions" menu on the top right of the google site.

Draga, I made a site for our Arcadia game. You should have an invite, so you can see what it looks like.

Excellent - Try it now.

Excellent - Try it now.

Perfect. Riddleport in all its glory, but can you invite us as collaborators, not just viewers? That way, we can create character profiles in the site and edit them ourselves.

Send me an email with your character names included.

-------------

. . . Sent!

. . . Sent!

Also sent.

Draga: are we beginning the PbP now, or are we awaiting something? Shall we roleplay out arriving at the inn, or would you like us to wait for you?

Draga: are we beginning the PbP now, or are we awaiting something? Shall we roleplay out arriving at the inn, or would you like us to wait for you?

I just want to make sure everyone has access to the maps, first. It can wait, I suppose.

Go ahead and RP what brings you to the Gold Goblin.

The PbP starts here.

Do you guys have a preferred method of formatting posts?

It would probably be helpful if we can reach a consensus. I'm open to other ways of doing it, but I usually do this:

Thoughts and narration

"General conversation"

Yelling!

Out of character

I also like what Nazard suggested for his game for combat rounds:

Then sum up what happened: Draga runs up and punches Captain Blye square on the nose!

Thoughts?

The only way I've done it (so far):

Narration was usually like this.

"This represents dialogue, as it stands out clearly from the narration."

Italics for thoughts/stream of consciousness . . .

"Yelling!"

"Quieter tones of voice."

Out of character, naturally!

Attack/Damage/Skill Check/Whatever: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
. . . . for die rolls, of course!

Draga, did you block out your email address or did one of the Mods erase it?
Send me an email at

and I'll reply with my information

Got everyone's info - feel free to post in the PbP thread

RP what brings you to the Gold Goblin.