For a Sip o' Chelish Wine - Skull and Shackles PBP

Game Master Rafael Bronzatti

Any luck should I beg for a dm.

Currently on vacation I am.
Look for DM you must.
Gratitude be yours.

Yoda you are wise.

We have our first nibble. Please if you check in reply so that I can be supremely confident when I tell him we are still active and raring to go.

Just stumbled across your plea for a GM in the recruitment threads. If you are still interested in continuing this game, I could step in as GM. There are a few things that I need to know before agreeing, however.

1. How many players are still wanting to play and who are they? I looked at the campaign thread under characters and players and I couldn't figure out who was in or out. This is to ensure I do not inherit a mostly empty campaign and to help me figure out who my players are.

2. Is 1/day posting accepted as the norm? I could post 2-3 times some days, but not all.

3. Are players fine with non-canon side treks, like encounters with Squidwhistler Goblins and other such things? My home game has a LOT of extra stuff for this campaign.

4. Would players be amenable to, at a certain point in the campaign, use the kingdom-building rules from Ultimate Campaign/Kingmaker? Not wanting to say at what point, due to possible plot spoilers that could ruin the story for you. I can provide the rules for you guys, if needed.

5. If I take over as GM, could I have up to a week's preparation before we begin? I want to acquaint myself with the players and make sure everything is in order.

Seems odd to ask these questions, but it helps to know these things. Oh, and as for my experience, I've roleplayed since my early elementary school days, mostly as a DM/GM. I did run two campaigns on these boards, but had to drop them due to issues in real life. Although things are much more calmed down now. I still don't have time to run 2 homebrew games, but I CAN play as a PC and GM one Adventure Path. I'm currently a player in 'Brain Eaters from Space!' and have no campaigns to GM, hence my desire to rescue the campaign you are in. No need to begin recruitment for a new game if you can simply take over another and still deliver the same awesome experience! Just PM me the answers to the above questions if you are interested and any you may have as well! I hope to hear from you soon and if not, I wish you the best with your campaign in any case.

Regards,
The Silver Prince, but not the Pathfinder one :)

...
...

Can we keep him? :D

Trying lets keep the spay and nueter talk low.

So, Terz and Satinder are still interested. Who were the other players, so I can try PM'ing them to see if they are still interested?

Also, what are your answers to the questions I posed? It helps me gauge how adventurous I can be in setting things up through the campaign and helps me with other miscellaneous things as well. Not being pushy with the questions or anything, but it helps me to help you, so that's why I ask. :)

Satinder, that depends. Are you willing to share with my goblin sea-wives and their jewel-encrusted peg legs? On a more serious note, I don't plan on splitting if we still have a game. From my understanding, multiple GMs have split, which I imagine is due to the adventure's somewhat cluttered opening. Having run this adventure in my home game, I don't find it to be any more challenging than making game scenarios for Masque of the Red Death, which was considerably more challenging due to the fact that gothic horror investigation adventures and my own desire for as historically accurate of a setting as possible made planning those games an insane endeavor! And yes, with explanations I tend to ramble a little. :)

Also, is everyone ok with firearms being slightly more prevalant? Not to the point where everyone has one, but this is The Shackles and pirates love the boom-booms!

Bohd still here and interested. As for the questions:

1: Human Storm Druid here, the divine aspect of the group with a bit of a 'crazy storm-chaser' mentality.

2: 1/day is fine, though 2-3 times a day may be a bit too much for me. We'd have to see.

3: Being all too familiar with the canon stuff of S&S, some things that I *Dont* know about will be very welcome, so I'm all for it. I like surprises.

4: Yes. Yes. YES. ER MAH GURD YES. *Ahem* Yes, I'd like that very much, including the Downtime rules if possible. I have no idea what I'd do in such a situtation given I didn't plan for it originally, but I'll come up with something. Perhaps a professional weather forecasting service and stormchasers. :3

5: Considering how long we've waited so far, another week won't kill us.

So yes, this guy sounds good to me.

I am wide open to your inclusions.

I hope to god that Skaldi is still there. Don't know about the others, think they jumped ship a long long time ago :(

1. Independent Soul right here. And it looks like you have 3 players right now, maybe 4 is Skaldi can be reached somehow. He was amazing!

2. I think once a day is the "norm", but nobody will shoot you if you don't. Just gives us time to have longer posts :)
Everyone has their off-days, so no worries!

3. Bring it! I want to roleplay, not play by the book. If it's cool, Satinder will love it!

4. Would be cool, although now you have given me hope and I will have to do everything I can to have Satinder survive that long.. DAMN YOU!! :D

5. Sure, no problem. But after a week, we're sending bounty hunters to where you live. If you could provide us these details right now, would save us a quite a bit of work ;)

Oh, and the guns would be nice, as long as everyone and their horse doesn't have one!
Satinder might have to become involved with the guns, damnit!

((sidenote: we had a musketeer, so we already know about guns, just nobody that used them seemed to have "survived" ;) ))

Bohd, trust me when I say that I intend to implement a good bit of new material, I mean pretty much enough that could accommodate another book or two. Not enough to off-rail the campaign, but to make it feel more unique. I also intend to take the campaign into MYTHIC LEVELS after the canon material! That's likely a year or so away, but who cares, it's awesome! :)

Terz, that's wonderful to hear! Also, no worries about the neutering. We dragons have a high AC and you're unlikely to find appropriately sized scissors anyway! :p

Satinder, again that's wonderful to hear! I will be PM'ing Skaldi/Twilsemail to see if he's still interested. A solid party of 4 would be exceptional! If need be, one of my PC's would probably be interested in using his Aquatic Elf Ninja that got kind of... dead after an unfortunate accident with a lightning bolt! Not everyone is going to have a firearm, but there will be enough to satisfy people who want to have a shootout. Also, MAGIC firearms as well! As for the bounty hunters, just say Dawntown on Verces! Better watch out for my bodyguard, Truffluffalous, the Half-Celestial Dire Boar Godling(Mystic)20 who will be makin' some bacon out of those bounty hunters! :p

To many smiley faces? WELL TOO BAD!!! :D :D :D
:D

I think there are plenty of druid spells aimed at screwing up firearms.. so firearms are fine by me. As a druid, I have no plan on using them, though.

Plus I'm in another S&S campaign (As I figured this one was dead), where I'm a Gunslinger/Wizard, which meets my firearm quota.

Still there, still interested.

Edit : Answers to questions 2-5 is "yes" ;)

Bohd, that is understandable. Any particular weapons you are interested in that are not standard? Scythes, sickles, bolas, ect.?

Maeleg, that's good to hear! And yes, there will be magic firearms, just so you know!

So, once Twilsemail/Skaldi posts, everyone on board for the game, as if I needed to ask?

Yeah no need to ask. Looking forward to it.

Well.. silly question but : are guns emerging or commonplace ?
Because if guns are commonplace I would ask if I could change Maeleg from a musket master to a "standard" gunslinger. ;o

<<< YES!!! >>>

Terz, glad to hear it!

Maelag, I usually rule that guns are commonplace, but still have full cost, even at lower levels, but classes like Gunslinger can start with a basic firearm at the beginning. Seeing as how everyone starts off with no equipment anyway, that's no issue. You WILL be getting one soon enough, however, so don't worry about that. And yes, you can change your Gunslinger to an 'Archetypeless' version.

Also everyone, if you would like to change your Archetypes, you have until gameplay, which will be a week from today, unless everyone votes to extend this time.

Hope Twilsemail/Skaldi is still interested in playing, as a 5-person party would be awesome!

Satinder is who Satinder is, so no rebuilding, though it sucks that I've lost my meatshield :D

Gideon, where areth thou?

You've still got a hunk of cat flesh to go between you and your enemies! Just joking Terz!

Forgot to mention it earlier, but you will have maximum HP per HD, so that should help survivability rates! Not sure if that was an already implemented rule, but I made it one. :)

Also, would everyone rather stay on the pre-existing campaign thread or make a new one that is not as... cluttered as this one? This is a constitutional monarchy, so cast your vote and if it's a tie, I decide!

I don't mind if we keep the same one :)

Whatever works for you silver

Waiting on your crewmates' responses! Respond ye swabbers! :)

Also, would everyone rather stay on the pre-existing campaign thread or make a new one that is not as... cluttered as this one? This is a constitutional monarchy, so cast your vote and if it's a tie, I decide!

New one, absolutely. If the DM is unable to modify his own campaign tab, it won't go as well. I say we start fresh in that regards. Makes things easier, and hopefully we won't lose another DM due to clutter.

Bohd, that is understandable. Any particular weapons you are interested in that are not standard? Scythes, sickles, bolas, ect.?

I'm more of a caster druid, so none really.

You lost a GM to clutter? That wouldn't make me split, but it would make my job more difficult. Does anyone object to me making a new thread, since most say it doesn't matter or a fresh start is needed? And you made an excellent point about the campaign tab, Bohd! I will link the old thread to the new one if no one objects to a new one.

Well to be honest, we don't know exactly *Why* we lost the DMs. They just kinda poofed. I'm assuming it is due to the disorganization of the very first DM. Dunno.

Bohd, your CrustyPeanut profile wouldn't happen to be a reference to the peanut Captain Jack Sparrow finds in every Pirates of the Carribean movie, would it? I just now thought of that lol!

On a more serious note, it is daunting to start S&S for many GMs because of the sheer number of characters to deal with at once, especially once PCs begin to interact and shift attitudes.

Also, getting in the mood to put together this campaign listening to Phantoms of the High Seas. :)

No it doesn't have anything to do with it, but that is pretty hilarious. Its from World of Warcraft.. one of my main character names over there from back years ago when I was a regular.

And yes, I know that all too well.. I'm DMing a S&S campaign here on the forums in addition to have ran it up to level 5 IRL. Its pretty daunting, although it went well IRL as I made up their personalities on the fly.

A simple spreadsheet can be a livesaver when it comes to attitudes.

Indeed it does, Bohd.

Also guys and gals, I will be posting some slight rule changes that we will be utilizing. Only one rule change is major, and I'm willing to drop any of these if everyone decides such in a vote.
The major change is point buys not featuring a scaling system. That essentially means that to take an ability score to 18 from a base of 08 is 10 buy points. Starting ability score cap of 20 including racial mods is still in place. Yay or nay to this? I've found that it only bumps party strength slightly and is mostly used to allow them to not become Scooby Snacks as bad as normal.
Minor changes include scaling bonuses to social skills and checks based on roleplay. Really good RP can provide up to a +5 bonus. Poor RP doesn't add a penalty, but neither does it provide a bonus. Yay or nay to this?
Random encounters will be replaced by GM set encounters to keep enemy variability controlled, thus ensuring maximum fun and minimal 'Oh, look, the fourth Sargavan Military Ship with the exact same crew members!' style situations. Yay or nay to this?
Next is alternate rules on naval combat and spell casting. Essentially, this makes spell effects logically interact in an aquatic environment. Electrical spells for example, dissolve into a 1/2 damage, spread effect when cast into the water, whereas cold spells freeze the water around the point of impact into ice with a hardness, thickness, and hp equal to the spell level, potentially trapping opponents in ice which obviously can prove lethal if used correctly. You know, spell effects like that. Yay or nay?
And lastly, this has little to do with rules, but would you like me to describe the effects of your attacks/abilities when used? To use an example, you could score a critical hit with your weapon, which I could describe as "You swing your saber upwards at the pirate with a furious roar, carving a gaping wound across his chest." or something similar, which will be PG13, unless you want to hear a more graphic description, which may not be for everyone. PCs in the past have rather liked that, but you guys/gals may not. Yay or nay?

The major change is point buys not featuring a scaling system. That essentially means that to take an ability score to 18 from a base of 08 is 10 buy points. Starting ability score cap of 20 including racial mods is still in place. Yay or nay to this? I've found that it only bumps party strength slightly and is mostly used to allow them to not become Scooby Snacks as bad as normal.

I do not like this at all, to be perfectly honest. I prefer the standard point buy.. its standard for a reason. In fact, it encourages more min/max. Say we all start out with 8's - Now, my character's attributes are invalid. In fact, in order to get this, I would have had to spend 30 points to get what I had. It encourages people to focus on one or two skill points and leave the rest to be lower. For people who like an average set of abilities, it doesn't work out. In this case, my character would have an 18 in wisdom (with +2 modifer from human), and a 14 in dex and con while having 8's in strength, intelligence, and charisma. So no, I absolutely do not agree with this major change whatsoever.

Everything else I can live with, though I'm not hugely fond of the changes to spellcasting. I don't mind either way with the description of attacks/abilities - I can do it myself, or you can. I would assume the DM would do it, normally, as they're the ones who'd be in charge of what happens based on what the players do.

Fair enough. Since you're the only primary caster, because Bards and Summoners are secondary casters and if I remember correctly from all my books, have few spells which could benefit from these effects,I will scrap the 'altered spell effects' and leave those normal.

As for the ability score changes, that was an option which some PCs prefer, and usually what I run, which is why I was offering it. Seeing as how you definitely do not want this and how I don't want a player to be unhappy about this somewhat odd rule, I will scrap the idea if one more person agrees, which they likely will. If no one agrees to scrap it, then I will let each PC choose whether they want to use it for their own character or not. Sound fair?

I apologize to all of you for the walls of text I have posted! Just read through them all and give some comments, answers, ect.. Also, I apologize for including a Bard earlier in a post, because for some reason I thought there was a Bard in this group! :)

Not sure I understand your propsed stat system but I think my secobdary stats are stretched thin so I think I am happy where I am

Narration sounds cool.

Spell effects if properly explained and understood how they would change seems interesting. Though I only cast axes.

Hey, I'm a bard! I talk a lot, I dance well and am friends with everyone :D

I understand perfectly that you want to put your own mark on the campaign, and we love you for it.
Here are my replies!

So...
- I don't object to a new thread
- Point buy : No opinion. I confess I don't really understand your proposed system :o
- Bonuses to social skills and checks : same as Satinder
- GM set encounters : Sure, I like it.
- Spell casting : Usually, that opens a whole can of demon worms from the Abyss, I'll back Bohd on that point.
- Describe the effects of attacks/abilities : Sure.

'Oh, look, the fourth Sargavan Military Ship with the exact same crew members!'

Sneaky Sargavan using twins and triplets on their war ships..

we don't know exactly *Why* we lost the DMs.

I knew it was a bad idea to give their name last time an unknown horror from the outer planes came at my door...

Ok, let's go over these posts!

No changes to ability score system. I am fine with this, especially since the players all have great builds anyway!

No altered spell effects, due to the primary caster's choice, though if he ever wants to use these in situations, I am fine with it.

Random encounters are replaced by GM chosen encounters whenever a random encounter is rolled. This helps keep ECLs in check better and allows for more memorable scenarios than just 'you are attacked by Squid X, roll for Initiative.'.

Social skill bonuses for good RP are in effect. And Satinder, don't worry, a +5 maximum bonus to a social skill roll or check will not allow a character with low charisma and social skills to surpass a person with a lot invested in charisma and social skills, it will merely allow players to get higher bonuses if they roleplay good. I have seen a lot of PCs with high ranks in social skills fail checks occasionally because sometimes the DCs are just impossible to reach unless every trait and feat you have goes towards maxing those out. This helps offset that and besides, everyone likes a good reward every now and then, yes? :)

GM narration of attack/ability descriptions are in effect. I assume that everyone wants the PG13 version, right? Or does everyone want more detailed, lurid descriptions? I consider it in good taste to post PG13 versions rather than have splatterfest descriptions, but I will leave that up to all of you to reach a consensus.

Satinder, I KNEW there was a reason I thought there was a Bard! I looked through the gameplay section and saw the singing, dancing, and Bard-like speech and had a moment where I was thinking you were one! :) Sneaky, wall-of-text-counterer! :p On a more serious note, yes you can provide descriptions if you want them.

Maeleg, I know those Sargavans and their cloning programs! They're desperately trying to give their country some significance beyond a player's guide and 1 book out of an old adventure path, those Fourth Wall breakers! How dare they have knowledge of their own insignificance to gamers?! :p Also, try not to give my name to Eldritch abominations from beyond the stars. Enough Flumphs already know it as it is and my doorstep stinks of their propellant gas! :p

Terz, I like how you are a caster of axes! Never heard it put that way before, but still, it works. :)

I'm fine with either a PG13 version or a more detailed and bloody version. I generally tend to lean towards the latter, but I'm fine with whatever the others prefer or whatever you're more comfortable with describing.

I have no preference, it's just some people are rather sensitive to graphic violence. I ran a campaign where PCs were using Book of Vile Darkness material in 3.X where they committed sadomasochistic orgies to honor their dark masters, became involved in gratuitous amounts of torture scenes featuring full descriptions, and other such things, so believe me when I say that graphic depictions do not bother me in the least. :)

I have nothing against more detailed descriptions as long as those are in good taste.

No objections then, everyone?

Don't mind a bit of blood and gore, as long as it doesn't cross a certain line.
For example I would very much like to avoid gangrapes and objects places into holes that were not intended to be used as such :D

Blood and gore yes!
Rape, stuff with children etc i'd rather avoid :)

No worries Satinder, no stuff like that! Even in a Way of the Wicked campaign I would be hesitant to include that! We're pirates after all and pirates have a code! A code of convenience, but a code nonetheless!

Also everyone, MANDATORY QUESTION! I have not heard a response from Twilsemail/Skaldi yet, but I'm hoping he can join in. How long is everyone willing to wait? I'm thinking at least another 3 days, but I'm willing to wait the remaining 6 days until the campaign resumes. THOSE IN FAVOR OF WAITING THE WHOLE TIME SAY YAY, WHILE THOSE ONLY WANTING TO WAIT 3-5 DAYS AND START THE CAMPAIGN EARLY SAY NAY. Also, if anyone can contact him and convince him to rejoin the campaign, all the better!

Almost done with my notes on what the group has already achieved, formatting the whole first adventure, and adding a few sidetreks to it. This is why I posed the question to you all, because I would imagine that you are all very eager to play, due to the long wait you've already endured!

Skaldi has been active on numerous accounts since at least yesterday. When did you send him a message?

I sent him a message yesterday around noon. I just looked on his profile and the posts on pretty much every alias stopped in May. Which was he on? I checked his regular profile and a few of his aliases and found nothing beyond May.

Yesterday afternoon, I meant.

I'm going to get the the new gameplay and discussion threads up tomorrow and link them here so we can go ahead and put our aliases up. This will save some time for us all. Also, we're still going to wait on Skaldi a bit before we begin to see if he wants to join in.

Sounds good!

Indeed it does! FOR SKYRIM! Wait, what? How did that get here? :p