I'm good, had a nice Christmas and New Year. Now dealing with the effects of this "Polar Vortex" nonsense.
I had a few games die off so obviously I had to go and replace them. :P I actually saw Gav in a Recruitment thread the other day, but yeah, I haven't seen KDinIN in a while.
Christmas and New Years were surprisingly great, just getting back into the swing of normal things.
Monkeygod - Yeah, a lot of the country has been getting slammed. We've had a few cold days here in Boston, but nothing like other places. I was talking to some friends in Chicago the other day and they were saying it was like -30. Fuuuuuuck that.
Oh no, Polar Vortex is it's official name.
Its the result of combining Polar Ray and Whirlwind, plus Cone of Cold.
I'm still around. And we have been having some freakish weather here in the UK...Storms tearing up seafronts and destroying some cliff top properties, Floods across one of the major river valleys. They say it's because of the unprecedentedly high speed of the jet stream. Fortunately (for me) none of it has affected me, though they keep saying the cold snap is heading our way (Nothing like what you guys have been having, though).
I'm not sure if it's related to the same thing, but Boston's weather has been all f~~&ed up, too. Though in an entirely different way. While normally our winters hover around 0 to 10 F (-17 to -12 C), it's been 45 - 55 F (7 - 12 C), for the last like, week.
Since the last time I posted, I managed to so badly break/fracture/lacerate the big toe and the one next to it on my left foot that I needed surgery to repair them.
I am currently more or less couch ridden, and will apparently be missing work for 6 weeks. It was a work related injury, so I am 100% covered.
Just dropping in and checking in with everyone. I haven't been around much this past month because things have just been nuts with the holidays and then the stupid weather. I am near Indianapolis, and we got drilled with 13 inches of snow and as low as -43F wind chills. I coach an 8th grade boys basketball team and we are in the final leg of our season, so at the end of January things will slow down once more, and I might hop back on the board looking for a game or two then. Until then, it is better to wait for awhile. Glad to hear everyone is still hanging around, though Monkey, I feel for you on the couch-bound injury. Hope you get back in shape quick!
I've had several games stop on me, so now I'm being a bit more picky about my GM's, checking to see how often they post, etc. I did make a decision to not try hooking up with a GM who's new to online play, but broke it almost straight away.
Finally got my Paladin into a decent kingmaker campaign. (Well it looks decent)
Technically, Im still in a Rise of the Runelords AP, but the GM Seems to have fallen off the grid (no posts since before Christmas, and even then only about 1/week), so as soon as I can I'll join another and drop that one.
I had 4 fall apart over Christmas. :( I've joined up in 4 new ones since, but one seems like it's already falling apart. Two of the others are some of the best games I've been in, though.
A lot of games on here really don't seem to last, so when you find a good GM, it's nice to hold onto them for dear life. On the other hand that can go badly, too. I have one GM handling three of my games, (and playing with me in a fourth), so if he ever disappears I'm screwed.
@Gavmania - I was just looking through your campaigns and noticed that we're in different Kingmaker games under the same GM. I hadn't noticed we both got in or I'd have tried to get us together!
With that said, if you're interested in joining another Rise of the Runelords game, I might be able to get you into mine? We started with 8 players and have dropped down to 5. I'm not sure if the GM is actually looking to replace, but I could definitely ask. We're adding some elements of Kingmaker into it as well, if that's of interest to you.
Check out the game and if you're interested, let me know and I'll talk to the DM. Like I said, we're a bit further than where your game stopped - you were towards the end of Part 2, and we're maybe halfway to 3/4s of the way through Part 3. But I have the perfect opportunity arising to inject your character, again, pending DM approval. Having a Paladin around would also be super interesting since I'm playing a character who's Lawful Evil.
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Unlucky streak, hun? Aside from this, I've been chosen for one called "A haunting at Perdition's Point", which the gm suddenly disappeared. One of the players took over (although homebrew and all), so we're doing good so far.
Another one was a Kingmaker, which the GM Jacob didn't have time anymore, but we've found a very very good replacement for him, Red Ramage, and he's with us for some time now.
Another one, Yodler's Way of the Wicked, the GM disappeared too, but we also found a great replacement for him, Omen.
That's 3 recovered games out of 4, so I've learned that looking for a replacement GM is a good thing. Bad GMs don't want to take over campaigns in the middle, cause it's too much trouble for them...
Anyway, I'm feeling we will have good news on Drow's war... Let's see if Tarlane is alright...
If the GM really drop from your RotRL, give me a call. Depending on how my life is I may take over it for you, since I already run one in the real life...
One game I am in that I seriously enjoy is the Avalon Chronicles
Yes, it seems daunting, but believe me, its an amazing game that caters to allowing you to play whatever your heart desires.
If any of you all are interested in joining(please do, it would be fun to have all of you in another game with me), I can discuss characters, setting, etc. either here or via PM.
Also, read the new player primer, which yours truly wrote up, under campaign info. That will helps LOTS.
Again, I really hope the whole group decides to join up. The game is always open to new players, most of the people who play are really cool, the setting is hella fun, and it would awesome to have you guys play with me again, even we don't always have a chance to interact :) :)
I had 4 fall apart over Christmas. :( I've joined up in 4 new ones since, but one seems like it's already falling apart. Two of the others are some of the best games I've been in, though.
A lot of games on here really don't seem to last, so when you find a good GM, it's nice to hold onto them for dear life. On the other hand that can go badly, too. I have one GM handling three of my games, (and playing with me in a fourth), so if he ever disappears I'm screwed.
@Gavmania - I was just looking through your campaigns and noticed that we're in different Kingmaker games under the same GM. I hadn't noticed we both got in or I'd have tried to get us together!
With that said, if you're interested in joining another Rise of the Runelords game, I might be able to get you into mine? We started with 8 players and have dropped down to 5. I'm not sure if the GM is actually looking to replace, but I could definitely ask. We're adding some elements of Kingmaker into it as well, if that's of interest to you.
Check out the game and if you're interested, let me know and I'll talk to the DM. Like I said, we're a bit further than where your game stopped - you were towards the end of Part 2, and we're maybe halfway to 3/4s of the way through Part 3. But I have the perfect opportunity arising to inject your character, again, pending DM approval. Having a Paladin around would also be super interesting since I'm playing a character who's Lawful Evil.
OK, colour me interested.
I've looked at your party, and you seem to have most of your bases covered. You are lacking a party Face, though (A'letta may be able to substitute, but she doesn't seem much spedialised in Face skills). If that's the role I'll be taking on, I'll probably need to play a bard (sigh, another bard. Good thing I like bards.) I have 2 possibilities; a gnome that failed to get into a CoTCT campaign (he was a bard (Archaeologist) and the inspiration for Drombar, but i'll rewrite him as a vanilla Bard) or a Human Noble bard who originates from Sandpoint and feels a sense of obligation to it. One's fun to roleplay and the others' easy to introduce.
Alternatively, If Rhanloi Ehlyss is planning to multiclass as a Rogue (which his profile suggests), I could play a Sorceror, (probably with the Sylvan bloodline, though I might go crossblooded). I'd have to think about the fluff for that and how it interacts with the situation in Sandpoint, but we'll cross that bridge later.
Incidentally Khalbar's Player (DM Doctor Evil) is GMing a COTCT game I'm in with a half elf Inquisitor named marnos Moonshadow. He should be able to vouch for me too.
I was imagining you bringing your paladin, but introducing something new definitely works. I wouldn't worry a whole lot about roles, we've been kind of just going with what works. My character has the worst charisma score ever - and is rude and judgmental and self-centered and kind of a huge b*%#* - but she's also incredibly ambitious, so she's the one doing a lot of talking. Clearly we're not worried about optimisation.
You should definitely play what you want to play. The party right now is a Barbarian, Wizard, Rogue, Monk, and Oracle. It's such a spread that almost anything would be right at home. Divine casting? Great! Arcane casting? Awesome! More skills? Absolutely! Even Martial combat is something we could use more of - The rest of the group (sans me) just went on a mission exploring something and generally got their asses handed to themselves.
For whatever it's worth, we lost an Inquisitor, Ranger, and Paladin along the way. So, really, anything would probably be fine. And I literally have the exact opportunity right now to drop in virtually any character you could possibly want to be, so introducing you won't be an issue.
(Incidentally, I end up with Bards a lot, too. I still have some classes I've never played, and I've rarely played more than one of the same, but I've played like 6 f&~@ing Bards. I like them, though.)
DM Doc Evil is great, he's one of the characters I've had the most fun playing with in that game. Let me talk to the GM and see if he's good with it.
I'll have to think about it. I fancy something non-Martial, so I might go with Sylvan Sorceror, but I need an early night tonight, so probably won't get onto it until Monday (sunday is kind of a dead day as far as gamimg goes).
Cool, sent you a PM.
(Incidentally, I end up with Bards a lot, too. I still have some classes I've never played, and I've rarely played more than one of the same, but I've played like 6 f$%@ing Bards. I like them, though.)
I played quite a bit of 3.5 in college a number of years ago, but it never seemed to fail, I was the bard and the face of the party. That is what happens when you are the only one interested in the RP portion of the game. Everyone else just wanted their mad lootz or to kill things. I don't know how many times one of the guys we played with killed a town guard and forced us to skee dattle out of town under the cover of night. My charisma was not enough to reach his stupidity apparently...
Sorry for the trip down memory lane. If any of you guys have openings in a game you are in or are interested in running come February, let me know, I would love to get back in a game
I miss playing with you guys. I wish I was a better GM, I'd run a game for you. :(
Any thoughts on the above game I linked??
As I said, the game is set up in such a way that it's always accepting new players.
It seems like a really cool thing, but it's way too busy for me.
How in the heckie does it remind you of Mage, period?
While I never got into Mage, being a big WoD person, I know enough about it, and I'm not sure I see the correlation.
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the part about being students and teachers, having different knowledge, playing on different levels and doing very varied things. The setting looks specially like Ars Magica. Anyway, that's too much for me to absorb right now, and as I mentioned, I'm in a lot of pbps already, but maybe later on this year I'll give it a try.
Last game of the regular season was last night, we closed out with a win. We have our school invitational tournament this Saturday, and then I get to close the books on another basketball season. Which means, sometime next week, I might be looking for a game. Any one applying for, running, or in need of an extra player in a good game?
I don't have openings in any of the games that I'm playing in, but I have been thinking the last few weeks of trying to get back into running something. So, basically, if you guys are interested in the idea (and willing to forgive and work with me for being a bit new at it), I'd be happy to try running an AP. If anyone wants to give it a shot, either post or PM me your top 3 of the following Adventure Paths and we'll see about getting something started next week?
Council of Thieves, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Jade Regent, Legacy of Fire, Reign of Winter, Second Darkness, Serpent's Skull, Shattered Star, Skull & Shackles, Wrath of the Righteous
If anyone likes to think up characters ahead of time (like I do), it'll probably be 20 point buy. No cavalier / summoner / ninja, but the Advanced Classes from the Playtest are totally available for use.
And if you're not interested, certainly no worries, but I loved playing with you guys, so if I am going to run something, I'd rather give you first dibs on it.
Reign of Winter, and Wrath are both ones I would dearly love to play in. Wrath especially since I have browsed the APs(I have a subscription) and it just seems so awesome. Plus, MYTHIC. Also, I don't really know anything about it, as all I do is flip through each book page by page to kinda get an idea bout it, but I rarely read anything, unless it jumps out at me as something I might be interested in.(like a spell or magic item)
If you ran Wrath, I would likely play a Human(or Aasimar if allowed), Inquisitor of Iomedae, going the Champion path.
I'm already in CoTCT. I want to keep exploring Varisia, so I would prefer Second darkness or Shattered Star, but I am quite happy with other options. I have 2 possible characters I would like to develop; a varisian Inquisitor of Desna and a Paladin/Sorceror/Eldritch Knight from Sargava. I also have a good idea for a Magus, but that would be better as a 3rd level (or higher) character so I might save that for another day. Alternatively, if we go with an AP they don't fit, I'd create something anew (I have a cavalier too, but you said no cavaliers).
By the way, what is your objection to Cavaliers? Summoners I understand (They're way OP). Ninja's are too Eastern for the AP's you mentioned (but then so are Samurai. Why aren't they excluded?) But Cavaliers? I've not heard that they are OP, and they seem flavourful enough to me.
So far we have interest in: Reign of Winter, Second Darkness, Shattered Scar, and Wrath of the Righteous.
Reign of Winter, and Wrath are both ones I would dearly love to play in. Wrath especially since I have browsed the APs(I have a subscription) and it just seems so awesome. Plus, MYTHIC. Also, I don't really know anything about it, as all I do is flip through each book page by page to kinda get an idea bout it, but I rarely read anything, unless it jumps out at me as something I might be interested in.(like a spell or magic item)
If you ran Wrath, I would likely play a Human(or Aasimar if allowed), Inquisitor of Iomedae, going the Champion path.
I'm still pretty early on in the Wrath game I'm playing it, we just finished the first part of the first book. So far I've been feeling a little underwhelmed by it, just because it has something of a slow start. It doesn't have the same kind of "grabbing" hook that Crimson Throne or Rise of the Runelords does, where you get into it pretty much right away. As long as you don't mind sticking it out through that bit, I definitely wouldn't mind giving it a go.
Any of the ones that have come up so far I'm good with playing - which is why I included them - but thought this bore special attention because I'm not exactly sure when it will really start to pick up.
And yeah, the Aasimar would absolutely be allowed in that game, for obvious reasons.
By the way, what is your objection to Cavaliers? Summoners I understand (They're way OP). Ninja's are too Eastern for the AP's you mentioned (but then so are Samurai. Why aren't they excluded?) But Cavaliers? I've not heard that they are OP, and they seem flavourful enough to me.
The Samurai would ordinarily be excluded, too, but I forgot about them. The problem that I have with the Cavalier (and Samurai for that matter) isn't flavour - the fluff is pretty excellent. It's more that I don't love dealing with mounted combat. The Cavalier actually seems pretty cool - acting as something of an Inquisitor with more Battlefield Control. I would definitely consider it, but the idea of being able to just charge into any fight on a mounted war machine leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
Now I should say that, depending on the AP we go with, my feelings on the tentatively banned classes could change. Jade Regent in particular seems like it might be a good place for the more Eastern Classes, and simply tweaking the beginning of the AP could explain your presence. Likewise, since at most there would be 3-4 of you, the Summoner might even be fine, provided it isn't that one insanely powerful archetype that could just solo the entire game.
Also, per Monkeygods original question about the Aasimar being available as an option, I feel I should mention that I'm up for allowing most races, provided the character concept is interesting, and it fits with the game. That's the basic rule of thumb for all of these things, "if it's interesting, I'll allow it", though with the added caveat of "it doesn't make things considerably more difficult for me."
I just started running Shattered Star for my RL group, so I would like to pass on that, for now.
Not sure when Wrath "picks up", but from what I can tell, it definitely does so in a big way eventually.
Excellent, I'm looking forward to that. And yeah, that's a reasonable reason to not want to do Shattered Star. I'll throw that one and Crimson Throne out.
That leaves us with interest in 3 (Reign of Winter, Second Darkness, Wrath of the Righteous), and another 4 unmentioned (Jade Regent, Legacy of Fire, Serpent's Skull, Skulls & Shackles).
Hopefully KDinIN and Aetherni are interested and will weigh in!
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Well, I'm in about 12 pbps at the moment, Mogwai, but if you're playing Second Darkness I could surely come up with something interesting, since ROW and WotR I'm already playing in. The other four are also ok, but I have no idea of what to play in it. Have you ever thought about Throne of Night campaing?
Hmmm...My creative juices are running...thinking about an alchemist who supplies the lowlife of Riddleport...he uses poison and other such tricks in a pinch, but prefers to keep opponents at bay with bombs, or buff his allies with extracts.
Now I'm torn between building this and using my inquisitor of Desna.
Well, I'm in about 12 pbps at the moment, Mogwai, but if you're playing Second Darkness I could surely come up with something interesting, since ROW and WotR I'm already playing in. The other four are also ok, but I have no idea of what to play in it. Have you ever thought about Throne of Night campaing?
Jesus, I thought I was in a lot of games.
I actually hadn't heard of Throne of Night, so I looked it up, and it definitely sounds intriguing. If that's what everyone wants to play, I don't mind picking it up. Otherwise, it seems like Second Darkness is winning!
Hmmm...My creative juices are running...thinking about an alchemist who supplies the lowlife of Riddleport...he uses poison and other such tricks in a pinch, but prefers to keep opponents at bay with bombs, or buff his allies with extracts.
Now I'm torn between building this and using my inquisitor of Desna.
I did say Playtest classes are available, so the Investigator is on the table, too, if you wanted a bomb-less Alchemist. I only mention it because I started playing one recently in a Carrion Crown game and I'm absolutely loving it. THERE ARE OPTIONS ABOUND.
SOLD ON THRONE OF NIGHT!!
1), I love me some Drow. Definitely a favorite race. Two, it looks like it would be the perfect game(aside from Kingmaker of course), to use the Kingdom Building rules from Ultimate Campaign.
I *think* I might be able to get my younger brother in on this game as well.
I wonder if its possible to play with both evil Drow and good Dwarves in the same party. Zach loves Dwarves, but not sure if he would want to be evil, though he definitely doesn't mind playing bad guys.
I wonder if its possible to play with both evil Drow and good Dwarves in the same party. Zach loves Dwarves, but not sure if he would want to be evil, though he definitely doesn't mind playing bad guys.
I don't think it's meant to work that way, but let's talk about it.
The way that Throne of Night is written, there are actually two separate campaigns.
Campaign #1: The Explorers. The players are adventurers that come from the surface to explore the worlds below. They build a new Kingdom underground bringing hope to a world without light. They can be mercenaries, or vindictive. They needn't be saints. At least one member of the party should be a Dwarf, but otherwise pretty much anything goes.
Campaign #2: Overlord. The players are evil Drow, bent on subjugating this entire region of the underworld. Players are absolutely encouraged to be Chaotic Evil, where there is a "Patron" subsystem to create a lord that the party works for. This is to unite them together despite their Evil tendencies.
The location that the Drow start in for Campaign 2 is essentially an outpost on the outskirts of Drow civilization. It's basically being banished. The ruler of the outpost was sent there simply because she was too important to kill, and was instead "promoted to the middle of nowhere" and now wants to build up her own army to get revenge.
So, I don't see a way that you could possibly have Non-Drow in the Second Campaign. I might allow one player to be a slave, either as a Duergar or a Svirfneblin, but it would require some really solid roleplay between them and their 'master'.
With that said, I think either Campaign would allow for a more Neutral Drow. I'm not really into the whole Drizzt-the-lone-good-Drow thing, but if you were sent to Vothys, there's probably a good reason. Hell, you could be an evil Drow who doesn't agree with the new ruler of Vothys.
As far as racial options, though, Campaign 2 doesn't really allow for much, just because of how it is set up. It's meant for the players who do all want to be relatively psychopathic Drow. I'm more interested in the first option, but they're both growing on me more and more, so I'd very gladly run either. With Campaign 1, I'd allow Core Races, most/all Featured Races, as well as Duergar, and a rebalanced Svirfneblin. Everyone has something to lose from the Drow seizing control.
Zach is interested, and is leaning towards the first campaign. As part 2 is intended to be more or less all Drow, I think I'll choose the first as well. I don't like restricting players options, despite it being a part of the AP.
Provided that this is good with Gav (and KDinIN?), I'll throw a thread together soon, and we can move the discussion over there for figuring out races / classes / traits / etc.
It feels very fitting that we play a Drow game given that we met here in a Drow game. :)
I don't like restricting players options, despite it being a part of the AP.
I'm in the same boat. It makes sense for the Drow, given how they are, but I still don't really like it. Like I said, I'd have stretched it a bit to have slaves, just to give it an extra something, but it's definitely still limiting.
Zach is very interested in playing a Stonelord Paladin, but is a little hesitant due to the -2 Charisma Dwarves get.
He does have his own alias, but is only posting from his phone right now.
Yeah I was gonna say, the Stonelord swaps out most of the "iconic" Paladin abilities, and only needs Charisma for extra Lay on Hands, so you can pretty much dump Charisma and still be fine. He could pretty much pump up Con and Str and just go to town smashing things. Evil things.
I may be mistaken, but I think Paladins are one of the classes that don't require a ton of different ability scores, either, so he may have options. However, if the penalty prevents him from wanting to play that character, I'd have no problem with moving it to -2 Dex or -2 Int instead. I honestly don't think that 2 Cha will be worth all that much to him, though.
Gav: Haven't heard you weigh in on this one yet, but I feel as though I should mention as I read Throne of Night, that I would allow a Cavalier for it. You would likely not be able to always be mounted due to the nature of it being underground, but there are plenty of large sections where one would be able to ride around, or even scout ahead, which I think would be interesting enough to warrant it.
The only thing I don't think I would allow is the Gunslinger, but you'd be insane to want to play one in this situation anyway .
I'd be quite happy to play, but don't have any access to Throne of Night. I'd need help with campaign traits (if you are using them) and other campaign customisations.
My Cavalier is a halfling, so not entirely suited to underground. It would make sense to pick characters that have darkvision (Light travels in the dark caverns).
It might be interesting to pick a bunch of underground races (Dark Elves, Duergar, Goblins (Mogwai lives again!), Orcs, Half Orcs, Hobgoblins, Svirfneblin, etc.) and throw together a party of them. Of course it fits neither of the standard campaign openings, so I would understand if you don't want to adapt to that.
Otherwise, I'll have to think about a character. The Alchemist might work (he was gonna be half orc), but has no rationale to go exploring underground. Alternatively, I might look at Svirfneblin or Duergar, if you can work them into the campaign.
I'd be quite happy to play, but don't have any access to Throne of Night. I'd need help with campaign traits (if you are using them) and other campaign customisations.
Yeah, don't worry about that, I'm definitely not expecting anyone to pick up the PDF / book. It actually doesn't come with Campaign Traits - or any kind of player's guide at all - but I'm going to write some. I like Campaign Traits for their Background hooks.
I'm keeping them relatively unspecific, so that you still have a lot of options with them. Right now they run the gamut from "wanting to help the Dwarves", to "being a mercenary" to "being an escaped slave".
The only other thing that's really in the PDF for players is maps, which I'll gladly post up as we go. You definitely won't be missing much information by not having it.
My Cavalier is a halfling, so not entirely suited to underground. It would make sense to pick characters that have darkvision (Light travels in the dark caverns).
It might be interesting to pick a bunch of underground races (Dark Elves, Duergar, Goblins (Mogwai lives again!), Orcs, Half Orcs, Hobgoblins, Svirfneblin, etc.) and throw together a party of them. Of course it fits neither of the standard campaign openings, so I would understand if you don't want to adapt to that.
Otherwise, I'll have to think about a character. The Alchemist might work (he was gonna be half orc), but has no rationale to go exploring underground. Alternatively, I might look at Svirfneblin or Duergar, if you can work them into the campaign.
I am not particularly worried about bringing the characters together - I have some ideas on that front. I'm already adjusting it quite a bit with the races and campaign traits, to make it a bit more varied, since the way it's written by default is kind of the premise of The Hobbit.
The only problem that I have with the more monstrous races is a matter of motivation, which you've already mentioned with regards to your Half-Orc. What Hobgoblin is going to help the Dwarves reclaim their lost Citadel?
Right now I'm looking at Core Races, plus Drow, Oread, Duergar, and Svirfneblin. I retooled the Svirfneblin to make them not worth 24 points because that's insane, and increased the Oread and Duergar a bit to make them not worth less than 10 points because that just bums me out.
Darkvision is definitely likely to be important, but I also have ways to mitigate that difficulty if it becomes too bothersome.
I'll get a discussion thread up later today or tomorrow so that you guys can actually start thinking about what you'd like to play, and talking about it more and so on. Hopefully KDinIN likes this campaign, since he's the only one who hasn't actually weighed in yet.