Flaxseed GM lounge (Inactive)

Game Master Redelia

Ladile, is there any Scenario you really want to run but don't own yet? =)

Well, I was meaning the Specials - regular scenarios I try to pick up as I have the money and I also keep watch for Humble Bundles too. Thanks to those I've got all of Seasons 4, 6, and 7, plus a smattering of others that I've bought individually :)

The ExtraLife Bundle was a BEAST!! I got two copies of the top tier to raffle/distribute with my local GM's, kinda regretted it after the fact, I could've gotten 5 of the low tier one to make more peoples happy xD

But still the question will stand, if at any point there's a non-special that you want to run, shoot me a PM =)

EDIT: I took a dive in your profile (because I've found a few tips and treasures doing that before) and the personality/background links you have there are super awesome, thanks for passively sharing those =P

^Those slides and the like for Race will be a great help Poblano - thank you!

As a sidenote, I noticed that there's starting to be a nudge for GMs to all work together to help prep stuff for specials - and I don't mind that in the least - but it's kinda hard for folks like me who are trying to rely on scenario support since I usually won't get the scenario until maybe a week or so before start time and by then a lot of the work has already been done :\

O Lady Ladile don't worry to much about that. I believe every GM involved understand where you are coming from. Don't get to worked up over it. What you may not be able to do right now you can definitly make it up by doing what you are doing and running a game.

@Khaoz - Happy to help! I don't always make use of those but they're handy when I'm feeling stymied on fleshing out a PC's personality. And thank you for the offer, I will certainly keep that in mind :)

@Pepper - Thanks for the reassurance! I wasn't really worked up but was a bit worried that it might look like I'm being a slacker - good to know that isn't the case :)

JAF0, Carimac, EwokBanshee, Nomadical, and Woodenman, please check in here. For those who are just observing or want to observe the game they're not it, please wait to dot it until I post here about it.

link to game

Merry Christmas/Holidays/Monday everyone! :)

JAF0 and Otha, please dot into your games, or let me know if you won't be able to play after all.

I think I signed up for one of these back in June and have yet to start :(

JAF0 and Otha, please dot into your games, or let me know if you won't be able to play after all.

I posted in the Discussion tab a while back. Since the GM said we wouldn't be starting till after the holidays, I haven't dotted in the Gameplay thread as I've got a few characters finishing up and not sure which I'll use as yet...

I dotted with my main account, because I was not sure of the PC either.

I think I signed up for one of these back in June and have yet to start :(

Tervalis, you may have responded to the interest check, but never responded when I asked for players for a specific game. I would suggest that you dot and delete from gameplay here so that you get a notification the next time I'm setting up tables.

Hi everyone! I've recently joined the SFS PBP community here and with my first couple of PBP games finishing up soon, I'll be looking to start GMing a game or two myself.

However, I've got an initial question before I start GMing: What is generally the best method for mustering players?

For example, I've seen some GMs accept players on a first come, first serve basis. And I've seen other GMs make an announcement, accept sign-ups for a set number of days, then select players by lottery.

Any suggestions/thoughts on what method is generally the best way forward? Thank you!

I really like weighted lotteries.

For me, a weighted lottery is:

If I have you on my blocked list, you're out.
If I have a GM applying who has GMed for me, or is a Venture-person, they're in.

After that I do a random lottery, switching out players if I have three of the same class.

(For Starfinder, I make sure there is either an Envoy or a Mystic. Simply because I don't see many of those.)

I tend to do a mix of lotto + personal invites. Usually I'll try to fill at least 2 seats with people that I enjoy playing with and/or who have GMed for me before. After that, a lotto system to fill the remaining seats. But in consideration that sometimes the random number generator can be unkind, I've tried to keep a list of people who have applied via lotto but didn't get in. Then when I plan my next game, I hit up some of those people to see if they want in on the newest game since they didn't get into my last one.

Perhaps it's a bit convoluted, but my reasons for it are:

(1) I like knowing that I've got at least two or three people at my table that I know I can rely on to be good players, good RPers, and generally enthusiastic.

(2) It still leaves spots for new players or even just players that I've not personally been in a game with yet. As much as I enjoy playing with certain faces, I don't want to miss out on other potentially cool people to play with or worse, give the impression of being super cliquish.

(3) It sucks to apply to games and have trouble getting into them because the RNG happened to not be in your favor. So I try to give everyone who wants a game or wants one of *my* games in particular an opportunity to play - it might not be right away depending on what my bandwidth happens to be, but I *will* make it happen in time.

Welcome, bigboom!

To answer your question, I don't like random recruitments (just as a matter of personal preference). I either just take the first 6 to apply, or I choose from the first X to apply (often 9 or 12) or I choose from all those to apply in the first X hours. My choice is partly based on giving spots to those who have gMed for me or I have enjoyed playing with, giving spots to new players, and party balance.

I have historically gone for a first come first serve type recruitment, but I found this was causing a few wrinkles. Generally, I had a very small pool of people that would claim seats so I was seeing a lot of faces over and over again. Sometimes this was a good thing.. other times not so much.

I have recently been experimenting with a weighted lottery system like what Ewok explained. If a person has made it to my naughty list, I will remove their name and PM them. If I owe you a favor or like your playing, you will move up in the list. The only exception to this is that I have started to reserve seats for new players and give them a chance to get into the game prior to running the lottery.

Does anyone have the BB code of the Goblins characters from the We Be Goblins Series?

We Be Goblins Folder

That's the folder you're looking for CariMac =)

Got it. Thanks for the responses to my mustering question everyone!

We Be Goblins Folder

That's the folder you're looking for CariMac =)

Thank you!!

Happy New Year, guys! :)

Hey guys, I have one more seat that has become available for the current round of mentoring games. Is anyone interested? (this offer also includes our lurkers)

Hi everybody, I've got a new question. CRB pg 325 list the rules for scanning a starship target. When a player has successfully scanned enough to get all details, should the target ship's 'special abilities' also eventually be revealed? Not sure if scans should reveal the text of special abilities.

Because of the last line, I read it as give out EVERYTHING not previously listed. And by statistics I assume it's the Statblock.

Gotcha, sounds reasonable. I'll go with your interpretation...thank you!!

So here's a question for the masses. Say your PC's are in the middle of a fight, and another group of baddies is supposed to join in later.. IE Round "X". How do you handle this when combat is still occurring and you can't reroll everyone?

Do you roll initiative for ALL of the group at the outset and then just insert the new crop of baddies on their initiative on "X" round when they show up?

Or do you have them show up and act at the top of the initiative for the round they appear in?

Ex: If the alarm is raised, Big Bad John reaches the PC's on round three of combat with Mini Me.

I roll everyone in the initial fight for the initial fight then roll anyone arriving later when they arrive and then slot them into the order at their newly rolled initiative.

I don't like keeping track of everyone's initiative roll after we start, so I just roll everyone who will join, and leave them as ??? in the initiative listing. It's not ideal because it gives the players extra information, but I haven't found anything better.

Hey guys,
I think after the current mentor games, I'll wait a while before scheduling others. I will leave this thread going as a place where we can talk about questions, though. Please feel free to use this as somewhere we can ask for questions from other GMs for unclear parts of scenarios, but please use spoilers when needed.

Sounds good to me! :)

Told my wife...and she didn't seem to care...so I'm going to shamelessly pat myself on the head here.

REACHED 2 STAR GM STATUS! YiPEEEE!

Thank you for your time. :-P

Told my wife...and she didn't seem to care...so I'm going to shamelessly pat myself on the head here.

REACHED 2 STAR GM STATUS! YiPEEEE!

Thank you for your time. :-P

Congrats Repete!!!

I'm shortly following behind you. Only 5 games left to get there.

If I combine my Starfinder and Pathfinder games, I'm at 1 star... *Cries in corner*

Seriously, congrats! I'm sure all of your players have appreciated the time you put in!

Yay, RePete! (gets out party hats, and puts them on everyone's head she can reach)

Ewok, it will happen with time. (hands Ewok a hanky, hoping it helps)

Congrats RePete! :D

That's awesome RePete. Congratulations!!!! (Blows a party horn in celebration.)

(looks at hats in her hands, seeing if she can find one that looks like it would stay on GM Ladile's head...)

One with a chin-tie should work...or there's always tape :3

Or maybe a paperboy-style hat?

*Digging around in a backpack this dwarf pulls out a roll of Duct tape.*

Might work :)

To me, all you guys are five stars.

Hugs
Hmm

The floating skull dips to each of you in turn, as if too bow. 'Thank you. Thank you.'

'To be fair, I owe it to all the little people I devoured along the way...a halfling chucked here or there...a sacrifice to the god Asmodeus in Kintargo...'

GM Ewok, you'll get there. I didn't really get big into GMing until last April (or was it the year prior...). Anyway, I'd only ran a couple games here and there...and a local con was desperate for GMs. So I did the three day drunken stretch to get my first star.

Shortly there after...I got sucked into the wonderful abyss that is the Flaxxseed Lodge and never looked back. :-P

GM Hmm, Redelia, and all the team, I really appreciate the lodge you guys put on here. The couple in my area just don't work with my availability.

Just checking. Has anyone else noticed that the 'bigger' tag seems to be making words smaller instead of bigger?

For example:

Just checking. Has anyone else noticed that the 'bigger' tag seems to be making words smaller instead of bigger?

For example:

Normal font

Bigger-tagged font

Smaller-tagged font

I have noticed that, and it is even more pronounced when coupled with the bold function. However, I figured that the web team already had so much on their plates that I could wait a while before bringing that up. Those guys have to be mainlining straight caffeine into their veins at this point!

What I envision the IT room has been looking like recently...

Haha! Agreed!

Question for everyone:

What do GM stars signify to you?

Hmm

I'm nearing the end of my first PBP PFS scenario. One thing I haven't gotten down yet, however, is how to distribute the chronicles. I don't have any fancy .pdf writers or anything like that. Any tips on how best to go about that? Are there any programs you guys use to fill in the chronicles?

I guess I need an event code for Flaxseed as well, unless we're supposed to just report the games on our own.

Hi, Netherpongo, for normal PbP games, you do indeed make your own event. Most GMs make one event and use it over and over again. (convention or special games are handled differently)

I use Adobe Reader to prepare chronicles; I plan to prepare a document showing the details of this, but I don't have any yet. The one key thing is to sign it last, since the signature 'locks' all your other input. If no one else links to a helpful document for you, I can see what I can find.

I believe GM Granta has a slide show detailing how he does it with Adobe, but I don't recall for certain. If I get a chance I'll see if I can find it later.

Personally, I like to use Foxit, which is available for free. I use the 'typewriter' function which is essentially used to type in 'annotations.'

Using this, I open up a blank chronicle sheet PDF and fill in all the required information (player name, character name, etc.). Then I print the document 'as an image' to a PDF file, which produces a flattened PDF with all the information I just typed in.

I then throw this newly filled out chronicle sheet PDF document up on Google drive where the player can download a copy for themself.

I'd also be interested to see how GM Granta's method. Always happy to learn a better way of doing this!