Dungeon Master S's "True Dragons of Absalom" (Inactive)

Game Master Chris Marsh

Greetings! This PbP will be a little different for a few reasons. First, it's a pre-gen PbP, which fundamentally changes some things about how I run it. Mostly that means I don't have to collect as much information about the characters. To that point, I'm going to post the same text I typically do, just feel free to ignore the parts that aren't relevant.

Secondly, and more importantly, I'll keep a running commentary about my processes here in the Discussion Tab. BY ALL MEANS, ask questions. Some additional background about me that I don't usually include: I have been playing some edition of this game since the late 1980s. As of this game I'm hovering around 250 tables GMed, about 90 of them are PbP. Now, without further ado, here's the opening post. I keep this wall of text on hand so that I don't have to reformat every game:

Welcome to my Play-by-Post!
Here's the ctrl+P for all my games:

1. I've been running games since the late 1980s, I've seen a lot of editions. I started playing PFS with Slot 1 Season 0 at Gen Con. I'm solid with the PFRPG rules, but everyone makes mistakes. I'll try to be as fair as possible.
2. I'm a Venture-Lieutenant for Southern NH. If you're ever in the area, or you need help finding games/conventions there. PM me.
3. I post with a high rate of frequency. That being said, if you guys can post 2-3 times per day, awesome. If it's only 1/day I understand. No worries. Real Life Comes First (tm).
4. Feel free to preemptively roll Perception, Disable Device, etc. It makes the game run more efficiently. I ask only that you make sure minis are placed in their actual position in case your choices have consequences (good or bad.)
5. Let's get started:

Player Name:
PC Name:
PFS#:
Faction:
Day Job: Feel free to roll now.
Perception and vision/senses:
Initiative:
Notes: Anything I should know; passive abilities, boons that are way out there, etc. If you have abilities that are immediate actions that interrupt an enemy, I'll be as fair as possible, but you can help me out by telling me under what conditions you typically use it.

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Some expectations in my games:

One of the first things I do is prep the scenario, obviously. I have a particular order of operations here:

I just linked to your discussion from my campaign, so that GMs in both my thread and yours can flip between the discussions if they like.

(I love what you have set up already, Chris!)

Hmm

Thanks for running this, DMS...not familiar with the scenario and have a couple of questions...

What pre-gens are available for us to choose from? If I read the info on Paizo right, it's run with 4th-level pre-gens...what level characters can we apply the credit to, just 4th or is there a range like 3-5?

I should be able to post multiple times a day, as needed...

There is a predefined array of options, which I haven't put up yet.

The chronicle can go to either a new character or a level 3-5.

Thank you for doing this, Dungeon Master S! I'm looking forward to leaning a thing or two.

Player Name: Marty
PC Name: Lord Braggett Fizzlebotham IV
PFS#: 210803-2
Faction: Sovereign Court
Day Job: 1d20 ⇒ 13 + whatever skill my pregen has. :)
Perception and vision/senses: N/A
Initiative: N/A
Notes: N/A

Yes, thank you for running! Here's my info:

Player Name: Lady Ladile
PC Name: Nimerah Hakimi
PFS#: 192133-2
Faction: Liberty's Edge
Day Job: N/A
Perception and vision/senses: N/A
Initiative: N/A

I work 10 hour shifts with a 1 hour commute each way so making 2-3 posts a day isn't always feasible for me. However, I can almost always manage at least 1/day and I try to be very prompt in letting the group know if that looks like it will change for any reason.

Hello. Thank you for running. I'm very excited to learn how to make GM prep easier.

Player Name:CariMac
PC Name: Essa
PFS#: 110249-9
Faction: Silver Crusades
Day Job: ?
Perception and vision/senses: ?
Initiative: ?

So the goal is to start Monday. Given my busy job (I'm a teacher at a really rigorous STEM high school), time to prep most of my games happens during lunch and office hours. The days of prepping at night are long over. I'll go through today-Friday and mark up any extra notes. I also reached out to 5* GMs I play with and asked them for advice about what scenes are the best. It's a great way to prep as asking takes two seconds and the replies are helpful.

When you guys get to the point of choosing characters, I have the pregens converted to BB Code.

Hmm

That'll be super useful, thanks Hmm!

Okay, so here's my first question. What sort of notes do you make? Is it just highlighting important information that might otherwise be lost in the text, or is more along the lines of reminders of special rules and cool things (personalities of NPCs for example) you'd like to try?

Great question. I DEFINITELY do these things for face to face games, but I do it here.

1. I preemptively calculate things I'll need. One of the most prominent examples is when a scenario tells me that players need to make a Diplomacy check to make someone helpful, but the DC isn't calculated.

2. I look up spells I don't know well, especially if they are part of the specified tactics.

3. I make notes about how to play an NPC. So I might make notes like "ham it up", "is gruff." If I have specific turns of phrase I might use those.

4. I make hints for scenarios that make assumptions on player decisions that I... don't expect. Truthfully some scenarios might make assumptions that just don't survive the table. So if I think (or GMs have warned) that its a common place to get stuck, I'll add a little foreshadowing to maintain pace. That might look like "Make sure this NPC gives obvious hint that time is running short"

Checking in, not sure yet what character I want to apply it to but I'll decide shortly.

One thing I'd like to emphasize that DMS mentioned in his post above, is to search out and read the GM discussion thread for the scenario here on the boards. You can find one for probably 80% of the scenarios, though it's a bit harder for the first couple of seasons. So many times when I'm prepping a scenario and have a question about a certain mechanic or whatever, it's already been asked and answered there. Sometimes it's just a group consensus to run it a certain way, but a lot of times the scenario authors themselves will chime in and explain their intentions. I'm also a big proponent of the PFSprep site, and use it all the time.

Also, to add on to point number 4 above. I find this is more common with some of the faction goals within scenarios. A lot of times it's not obvious to the players that there may be specific faction objectives and some hints may need to be dropped.

@ GM: Sorry, I'm not trying to steal your thunder!

It's not stealing thunder. We're on the same team!

Thanks for the answers guys! I never thought about point 4 before, but I will make sure to do that sort of thing in the future.

Player Name: Otha
PC Name: Flyndyngylyn
PFS#: 239913-1
Faction: Grand Lodge
Day Job: N/A
Perception and vision/senses: ?
Initiative: ?

Hey guys,
I'm stopping in to let you guys know about a rules discussion the other table of Dragons has been having.

In PFS, there is a rule that characters can only be in one game at a time. Although GM credit is an exception to this, playing pregens is not. In other words, you can't assign credit for this adventure to a character who plays another game during any part of when this game is played.

(This does not include mustering, so if you have a character to apply credit to who is in a gameday game that is just about to finish, you're fine)

Well I guess that limits me down to only one option toe apply the credit to then.

GM Turmoil
Rogan Bloodaxe
62803-6
Exchange

In a normal game I'd take the chance to look over the PCs at this point (going into the weekend, starting on a Monday.) This isn't a normal game though :-) Instead I'll try to get links up to the characters today.

Ready to pick? You can find the pregens for this game HERE. Look them over. I'd like to have the party picked out and ready to go for Monday if at all possible.

To save you the trouble of writing an alias from scratch, please feel free to use THESE!

And, as a reminder, please don't be shy about posting questions in here. A good GM can anticipate things, but don't rely on me to guess what you want to know!

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One other aside about me. How I run a pregen game isn't quite the same as how I run a normal scenario. And THAT is not how I run an AP either. The skills sets overlap, but they're not wholly the same. If anyone is ever interested in looking at an AP, I did run the entirety of Curse of the Crimson Throne on paizo.com. Obviously there are spoilers...

I'd like to take the sorcerer if there's no objections.

Thanks DMS!

I usually steer clear of rogues, but since this game is about learning new things, I'd like to give Fazgyn a try if no one else had their heart set on him.

Blanket post for all my PbP games:

My schedule through next week is iffy at best.

I'll be offline from this afternoon until Monday morning, likely not checking games.

I'll be hear at full strength Monday until Tuesday afternoon.

I'll be pretty much completely offline from Tuesday 21 November until Monday 27 November.

Then I return to normal until winter break.

I'm interested in either the alchemist or the cleric. I'd prefer to give the alchemist a try. However, if someone has their heart set on him. I have no issues playing the cleric.

I recommend simply calling it. Everyone is polite and I don't think anyone would mind.

^ Yes, go right ahead and take the alchemist if that's what you really want to play! Right now I'm waffling between the bard and the fighter. Decisions, decisions...

Also, thanks for the schedule notice DM!

Alchemist it is.

I'd like the fighter if Lady Ladile does not choose her...

If you want to take the fighter, that's fine Otha! I'll take the bard since bards are something I don't have much experience playing :)

Here's the list I see:
Turmoil-Sorcerer
Shieldbug-Rogue
Carimac-Alchemist
Otha-Fighter
Lady Ladile-Bard

Testing, I think I've got my pregen alias set up and ready to go!

Hey guys, I hate to do this for the one day we're supposed to actually get started but I'm working all day tomorrow and then immediately coming home and playing in my group's home game; I *might* be able to sneak in a post but otherwise please just bot me as needed and I'll catch up on Tuesday. Thanks!

Don't worry. Real life always comes first!

Opening post is made! Some quick formatting things for PbP:

Walls of text are hard, and honestly should be avoided. Succinct and flavorful posts are ALWAYS better than a long and rambling post. In PFS some posts are pretty much decided upon by the scenario. I strongly recommend spaces between paragraphs.

I also recommend a push, hook, or check point. For example, in this opening post there's a skill check for everyone. This means I can make a note on who is here, checking the thread, and ready.

Here's my Pregen alias.

Here's a technique I use in PbP and F2F. Some of the needed description isn't "boxed text". Word crafting my own version would take time, and there's already a solid block available to the DM side of things. Compare this:

"The PCs arrive at Hats’s lair unchallenged. The otyugh’s hideaway is a partially collapsed vault off one of the sewer’s less-traveled sections."

To what I've posted:

"The trip is quiet, well, quiet except for the ribbing, plotting, and snickering. Eventually, you arrive at Hats’s lair unchallenged. The otyugh’s hideaway is a partially collapsed vault off one of the sewer’s less-traveled sections."

Additionally, this is when I start getting a feel for who posts quickly, who posts often, and what parts of characters make players happy. I try to always make sure there's SOMETHING for everyone, and an opportunity to shine.

I think it makes the GM's life easier, and the game more exciting, when the GM decides on the genre of a scene. It's not just the genre of the scenario, but individual scenes. The best movies and books contain a little bit of multiple genres. It makes the mood stick out more, to be more dynamic and less monotonous.

I'm shooting for comedy here. The NPC is ridiculous, as is the scene. So I'll play it up with mannerisms and a schtick (Hat's shouting random words.)

That being said, comedy is a tricky one in PFS/SFS. Not everyone likes it. As a teen playing this in the early 90s I didn't. I liked my Dark Sun, Dragonlance, and Greyhawk. I feel like it's safe here given the scenario.

^I like this note about the genre and tone of scenes (or really, of the game itself). I enjoy comedy and being ridiculous, depending on the setting and the people that I'm playing with, but as you said not everyone does. When I was gearing up to start running Reaping What We Sow, I asked my players if they wanted something that was lighter in tone or a bit darker since the scenario can go either way depending on what you focus on. They opted for darker and so I tried to put a lot of emphasis on the spookiness of the settings and show that the NPCs were really unsettled and out of sorts over what was happening. If they'd wanted lighter then I would've ran the monsters and NPCs in a goofier tone, stuff like that.

My posting will be spotty at best, nonexistent at worse, over the next few days due to the holidays. I expect to be quite busy through Sunday afternoon, so bot me as needed.

I think our DM will be largely out of pocket for the next few days as well so you may not miss much :)

For those celebrating, Happy Thanksgiving! And Happy Thursday to everyone else :)

Happy Thanksgiving.

@DMS: My sleep deprived past self didn't realize that Redelia made such an obvious link to this campaign, I was supposed to chime in here over a week ago, and I kept looking for the campaign's start date everywhere... except the right place xD

Can I still jump in with the last Pregen? I'll make the alias tomorrow in case you give me the go ahead =)

(Yes, I read you would be offline when I sent this)

Absolutely! Don't sweat it. I've been mostly off line due to the holiday anyway.

Going to be out and about for the morning and part of the afternoon, will catch up on Gameplay later this evening~

I didn't fill this out yesterday so here it is =)

Player Name: KhaozKnight
PC Name: Bock
PFS#: 124455-6
Faction: Sovereign Court
Day Job: N/A

Perception and vision/senses: For the kobold? +5 Darkvision
Initiative: +5

Next up... the mission briefing. We've all been there. Wondering what questions we ought to ask in order to get the key information. In order to make sure something important doesn't get missed, I take a solid look at the answers and make sure that the quest-giver gives anything that really OUGHT to be given. Some scenarios turn into a slog without relevant information here. So long as the question is close or I can make it work without ruining verisimilitude, I'll give the reply.

^ Me too. I don’t see any reason to withhold information from the briefing.

By the way, Khaoz, your Denture Captain line.... I am DYING here. That was magnificent!

It is also really interesting to see both GM styles at work. DMS and I have different styles, but both really fun. I come here to read ONLY after I’ve done the hard work of putting together my own posts. Otherwise it would be too tempting to steal from the brilliant Mr. Marsh.

Hmm

By the way, Khaoz, your Denture Captain line.... I am DYING here. That was magnificent!

Maybe this is a note as both player and GM, once it's evident the tone a scene is taking (and DMS made it clear over here) I feel that being able to provide a short line, quip or quote that can help with that mood will enhance immersion, player/GM to PC/NPC, and characters to story.

On the few games I've run here the players have told me that they appreciate the humor injected in some scenes. But I fear that if overdone it can derail the experience of the scenario, so just a pinch of sugar every now and then to the adventure's pound of salt?

Sorry for the silence yesterday, ended up pooping out before I could finish making the rounds to all my PbPs last night >.>

The humor thing kind of varies for me. I don't mind humor in a game being over-the-top *if* everyone is on board for that (such as the game of Overflow Archives that I just recently finished playing in) but if I'm running a game I usually either ask or throw out something small to try and get a feel for what the group enjoys (or doesn't).