OK folks! Welcome to the discussion thread.
First things first, everything that happened in the recruitment thread, actually happened. You can consider that a Jr. gameplay thread. It’s how you’ve all met, it’s an introduction to poor Abdur, everything. We’ll start the gameplay thread in a bit, in Abdur’s office.
Second, I’m serious when I say I don’t care about your builds. I do care, they should be reasonably done naturally, but role play is far more important here. We’ll make the party work, though I think you’re pretty well balanced.
I’ve reviewed your builds and have some minor comments/questions.
A note about familiars since two of you have them. If you keep them tucked away, I’ll not go after them in most cases. Bring them out though to make attacks, carry spells, etc. and they’re fair game like any other PC. Benedictus, I suggest you get a familiar satchel or the like for their protection.
Do you know the class well? Is this a problem, or am I chasing ghosts? I love your character, and am fine if you want to change class or archetype. Just keep that boisterous character! :)
Daring Champion might be a decent archetype, though some of the swashbuckler deeds can be tricky in the PbP format. I think we can manage if you want to head down this path - possibly changing some of the abilities you get to simply things. Or a whole other class - up to you.
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Your drawback is fine, provided you plan to do some Diplomacy, and from our conversation I’m sure you will. :)
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Your drawback is fine, I like the addition of Pyrophobia. How do you feel about continual flame spells? They’re ‘cold’ but have the appearance of fire.
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And don’t hesitate to ask a question if you don’t know something, however minor. I assume my players have a certain knowledge base which you may not have - so I apologize in advance if I say something that doesn’t make sense to you. Feel free to ask questions direct to me in chat, to the group in the discussion thread, PMing another player, whatever makes you comfortable.
Also, I don’t like rebuilding much - decisions matter - but as you learn the game, I’m fine if we tweak your character from time to time as things become clearer to you, with my approval of course. You’re new, and there should not be a penalty for learning. Now however is the time to build and rebuild to suit your plans.
Take some time and think about how you’ll contribute in combat other than assisting others with your inspire courage. Combats generally last a 3-10 rounds, though some will be even longer. What will you do in those rounds to help take down the opposition? If you’re to be an archer (a good choice), what feats might you need to make that work better? Might take a look at the precise shot feat which has a feat prerequisite as well.
Let me know if you have any questions about bard builds too. I’m currently running a bard/archer in another campaign. A great combo!
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Next, please check the following spoilers for accuracy. Ignore the ‘good folks’ line. That’s just my notation for your opponents. Let me know if you have any special abilities that might effect these rolls (like Benedictus’ surprise round action).
Augustus
Benedictus (always acts in the surprise round)
Florence
Nidhi
Zilchus
Good Folks
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Augustus
Benedictus
Florence
Nidhi
Zilchus
Good Folks
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Finally, the Treasure Sheet. Everyone can ‘see’ it, but only I can write to it currently. I’d like one of you to take over, at least temporarily, as the treasure tracker. I’m fine if you trade off over time, but there should always be one person, not me, in charge so I know who to nag if it gets behind. :)
I’ll add the first few things and teach whomever gets the gig how it works. It’s pretty automated, so the biggest problem is usually just cut-and-pasting the loot over and looking up values for things I don’t already provide. I do not worry about appraising non-magical gear. i assume you’ll get professionals to check it over before selling anything to ensure you’re not being taken advantage of. No need to play that out each and every time you sell a trinket. There will be some role play of loot naturally, but I don’t want to get bogged down in it. You’re heroes not merchants. Uh, probably.
Hey all! I'm so glad to be here! My thanks to Euan for the selection. I'm looking forward to share this adventure with you all!
Treasure Tracking I volunteer for keeping the treasure sheet up to date. I'll need some instructions from Euan, but I'm willing to do it at least for the first module.
As for my build, I'm going to change my stats as decided as soon as possible. I'm fine with your way of managing initiative Euan. No problems at all about that. As for drawback, Ive chosen my traits accordingly to it. So much potential in that drawback! I took student of philosophy (trait) just to ensure I will actually use Diplomacy and fail my checks every now and then.
I'm definitely buying the familiar satchel.
Benedictus - great. I’ll do some of the data entry initially, so you can see how things work, but I’ll share it with you shortly.
Florence - your spell selections are fine for now. Keep ‘em both. I don’t think they’ll be unbalancing.
Hey all, nice to meet you.
I hope we have a rocking good time with this. Forgive what may be some jiltedness in my early posts for Zilchus, his voice and mannerisms are still new to me. They will come in time.
I look forward to this; let's have fun.
Checking in and very glad I was accepted for the campaign.
As for my steed, It shouldn't be too much of a problem to not have him all of the time. I planned on building the character to not rely on mounted combat. I just get some extra bonuses when I am mounted. I will look at the archetypes though and let you know if I see anything that works better for the AP.
I may want to change my teamwork feat though since I took it to pair with my friends character.
Is anyone in here planning on or willing to take a teamwork feat though?
Is anyone in here planning on or willing to take a teamwork feat though?
Zilchus shakes his head, having little teamwork within him. He has often acted alone, so working with others will be new for him.
It's good to see you're up for this, Zilchus! I'm sure we'll have some fun together! Also, Florence, Augustus and Nidhi...it's nice to see you here!
A couple more things...
To speed things up, if it's agreeable, I'll assume any magics you encounter will be identified with Detect Magic, taking-10 by your most skilled character. I think that means Benedictus, with a +8 will be the lead identifier.
The upside is that it speeds up the process of identifying items, but the downside is it does count as his attempt for the day, so if he fails, he cannot then roll that day to ID the item more closely. Others of you of course can, and Benedictus can check the following day as per standard rules.
Further, there's a prestige class in the AP that is available to you. The Living Monolith (link) is a little different, and takes some doing to achieve. As with most prestige classes I'm not sure it's worth it, but it is rather keen if you're interested. Please chat with me though if you're planning to head down this road so we can coordinate.
That makes perfect sense to me GM. Also, if the first check fails, I could cast identify in order to learn more about the properties of a particularly powerful magic item.
Hello everyone! I’m excited to be picking up this new hobby! I’m probably the most novice in this campaign so advice and suggestions are always welcome!
Statistic bonuses (?) to your base saves? Do you mean Statistics from Traits like Indomitable Faith?
Fort: +0 (Bard 1st level +0, Con +0)
Ref: +3 (Bard 1st level +2, Dex +1)
Will: +4 (Bard 1st level +2, Wis +2)
So is this correct: Bard Saves (According to Level) + Ability Modifier + Utility Mod (???) + Magic Mod (???) + Misc Mod (Given from Traits)
As far as combat is concerned, I think ranged is best for Nidhi. Nidhi’s Constitution is only 10 and she isn’t wearing any armor.
So you think I should switch out one of my Feats like Alertness in exchange for Point-Blank Shot? Doing additional damage sounds wonderful. Zilchus and Benedictus both have 4 or more points towards Perception so I don't feel bad about swapping it.
Changes with switching Alertness for Point-Blank Shot:
_2_= _2_ + ___ + ___ Perception (Wis)
_2_= _2_ + ___ + ___ Sense Motive (Wis)
AC: 10 + 1 (Dex) +1 (Point-Blank Shot - up to 30ft) = 12
Light Crossbow (35gp) Damage 1d8 +1 (Point-Blank Shot - up to 30ft), Critical 19-20/x3, Range 80ft, , Piercing
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Are you double-classing as Bard and Archer? Will I eventually need to? I don’t know how multi-classing works.
For my first character, I’d like to do something somewhat vanilla (at least early on) so I can get the hang of roleplay, combat, etc.
You are correct for saves as well, though I'm not sure what a utility mod is.
You should get some armor when you can afford it. Just because you're in the back row doesn't mean you won't get attacked. :)
I'd swap alertness for point blank shot, and extra bardic performance for precise shot. Without precise shot, you have a -4 to hit anything someone else is in reach of. That will happen a lot.
Point blank shot doesn't modify AC. It only modifies your attack.
For attack, you have your BAB (which for a first level bard is '0'), your Dex (currently +1) and then point blank shot within 30'.
'Archer' isn't a class, just referring to my character generically. I did multi class with fighter, but you certainly don't need to. Stick with bard, and you'll do just fine. :D
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Checking in for the day. I plan on posting when I get back home tonight. I just moved to a new place yesterday so I'm still getting things settled here.
Florence, thank you!
Personally, I'm fine with flashbacks on the main gameplay page. I feel the same way - there have been 2 instances (so far) where I wanted to add a line or two but I felt as if I missed the time frame for opportunity.
No worries Augustus, I hope you're able to get settled in okay!
+1 to this. I'm usually a fast poster and oft-pusher, but have been trying to go slower to allow the group to find their pace and get accustomed to checking the thread.
I've been playing with GM Evilan for a long time and respect that his greatest skill is consistency: you know you'll get an update in the morning and there is almost always more posts in combat.
More of a general question for the group: in other games that sometimes move quickly and/or have a lot going on, I sometimes do a 'flashback' of sorts and tag it under a spoiler if something happened that my character would've responded to but the action moved on before I had a chance to post. Would that be okay here or would it be too confusing, even with spoilers to keep it less cluttered?
+1 to this. I've been known to have spoilered flashbacks and side chats as well.
I'm totally fine with spoilered flashbacks as well, provided we don't get too carried away. With luck, I'll get our game-flow perfectly balanced and everyone will have time to post to everything in it's right place and time (hahahahahaha).
But I'd rather have more role play than less, and will adjust the campaign to allow for it. For example, we haven't started on page 1 of the AP quite yet... we're still in the pre-AP stage, and with the addition of Tephu, will be for a while yet.
So stretch your creative legs, and if we move too fast, spoiler away! :)
Benedictus - Lirgala is Osirion, and well known in the Wati pub scene, a city in Osirion, so the +1 definitely applies.
Indeed it is, but there was no way for me to know the check was about Osirion without reading the spoiler XD Any thoughts on how we can solve this issue in the future? Perhaps an asterisk (*) in the spoiler title to let us know that the check is about Osirion or its people?
Yes, as I think a few of you have that feat, or will, if it's an Osirion question, I'll asterisk it so you know to apply the bonus. Easy!
Yes, as I think a few of you have that feat, or will, if it's an Osirion question, I'll asterisk it so you know to apply the bonus. Easy!
Cool, thanks!
It's a pretty big bummer to try and engage another PC and not get any real response so I try very hard not to let things like that slip by me.
Totally.
Along the same lines, if Zilchus ignores you, it's probably because he(I) missed it. Feel free to bump it again or call me out. Sometimes I miss things or read things wrong...lemme know when that happens!
Benedictus stats have been updated. He has now 12 Con, 10 Str and 12 Wis. I updated all the relative modifiers accordingly. Also, I removed his rank in Craft (alchemy) in order to put his FCB into his hp. I shall put a rank in that skill as soon as Ben reaches 2nd level.
Also, there's something I've realized only now. Thanks to his familiar, Ben gets the benefits of the Alertness feat, giving him a +2 bonus to both Perception and Sense Motive. These conditional modifiers are calculated in brackets in his stats line, next to his Perception and Sense Motive modifiers.
Question 1: Can I make a Perception (Wis) roll if it is a class skill but I haven't put a point into it? If yes, will my Perception be capped at 10 until I put a skill point into it?
Question 2: What does FCB stand for?
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Nope. Only knowledge skills are capped at 10. Check the individual skill descriptions (link) for more information.
Perception is not capped. If you have a +1 and roll a 20, you get 21. :)
FCB - Favored Class Bonus (link)
I suspect you have not yet applied your free skill bump for being human, or your Favored Class Bonuses. Let me know if you have further questions. :)
Ugh, first days of classes finally over. Sorry for the late post today guys.
I missed your character's comic relief!
Agreed, post when you can, but don't worry so much. We're still getting into a rhythm and there will always be interruptions. ;)
There's a mistake in my last post. I thought that Abdur had pointed us to the Purusha's Inn to sleep, while that Inn is in Tephu instead. As such, I believe we spent our night at Milki. Sorry for the mistake ;)
GM, a few questions about money and treasure tracking. Am I supposed to put the money we spent for mundane things like transport in the treasure sheet when they amount to more than a few gp? Also, should I note down other mundane purchases such as the familiar's satchel and the souvenirs in the treasure sheet or is it enough to subtract the amount spent from my character's sheet?
The treasure tracking sheet is only for large group purchases (like wands, buildings, etc.) and income (mostly income). You should track your own income and expenses on your own sheet, or wherever it makes you happy so long as it's tracked independently of the treasure sheet.
I'm also not worried about a gold piece here and there, meals, residence, etc. I don't want to worry about that level of tracking, to free you up for more role play and less a game of Papers & Paychecks. :)
Do track anything that runs a few gold or more, and I do expect you to track arrows and arrow purchases (as those accumulate) and the like. It's a little inconsistent as they are also cheap, but you should know where your gear is coming from.
Don't sweat things like rations/water when you're in/near a community. However, should you decide to head out into the wild, you'll want to track that carefully so you know when you start dying...
The treasure tracking sheet is only for large group purchases (like wands, buildings, etc.) and income (mostly income). You should track your own income and expenses on your own sheet, or wherever it makes you happy so long as it's tracked independently of the treasure sheet.
I'm also not worried about a gold piece here and there, meals, residence, etc. I don't want to worry about that level of tracking, to free you up for more role play and less a game of Papers & Paychecks. :)
Do track anything that runs a few gold or more, and I do expect you to track arrows and arrow purchases (as those accumulate) and the like. It's a little inconsistent as they are also cheap, but you should know where your gear is coming from.
Don't sweat things like rations/water when you're in/near a community. However, should you decide to head out into the wild, you'll want to track that carefully so you know when you start dying...
Perfect, thanks!
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I'm also not worried about a gold piece here and there, meals, residence, etc. I don't want to worry about that level of tracking, to free you up for more role play and less a game of Papers & Paychecks. :)
Dude, I'm a subscriber to the Accountants supplement product line. Do you mind if I bring in some material from the recent Actuairials and Abacii recent release? It has some nice feats for tracking compound interest on crocodile teeth.
Also, would you look over the 'Spreadsheets of Power' section? Will you allow that in this game?
Whaaaaaaat? I feel like everybody knows everybody else except for me and Augustus. It must be a small community?
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My name is Carol and I live in Richmond, Virginia. I'm a cat-person as well and always had a cat growing up (although I don't currently have a cat.) I mainly play games like League of Legends, Diablo 3 (I love Blizzard games), and Pokemon (Go, 3DS, console.)
My boyfriend plays video games with me and we built both of our towers. We met playing Magic: The Gathering but I don't play much anymore. (He still does.) All the gaming stores in our area (5-6) also have Pathfinder and DnD but I wanted to try something I could do from home in my pajamas.
I recently graduated from college. (Sounds like Augustus is still in college.) I may be going back for my masters but I'm not sure yet.
I’ve been gaming in the world of D&D since 1977 with the ‘blue box’ basic set. Picked up Pathfinder when I moved to California in 2010 or so having joined a game with Painlord as another player. He suckered me into Pathfinder Society and that lead naturally to Play By Post where I spend my time these days.
This is my third campaign as a DM on these boards, but I’ve been a DM of one game or another more or less nonstop since ’77. I feel old now…
I know Benedictus only a little as he DMed a game I was in for a short time, and Florence I know even less as we’ve been in a game together but also only for a short time. So yeah, it is a relatively small community. :)
I’m living in the Bay Area, CA now with my wife, as well as a cat and dog who mostly get along. By day I part-own a company that helps folks do probate without an attorney, saving thousands. Luckily, as owner, I can take my breaks in my hobby - PbP is great.
Anyway, I better get back to the gameplay thread before you lot take over my library!
I sent some private/public stuff to Nidhi & Florence, but will elaborate on that here.
I've been playing D&D forever as well, but got into Pathfinder in 2008-9 when I failed to find fun in 4e. I had played a lot of Living Greyhawk (the 3.5 living campaign) and started PFS play in the Bay Area and grew out region to one of the biggest.
Yes, I was able to dupe convince Euan to come play PFS after we both joined an infinitely awful Curse of the Crimson Throne game.
Euan eventually helped me organize some of the biggest PFS conventions on the USA (at the time), including Kublacon and Pacificon.
But after getting really sick of bad PFS policy encouraging bad play (and despite my ability to try to train better players), I've mostly left PFS play for PbP play. Yes, even again suckered convinced Euan of the benefits of online play, and I've never regretted it.
I still want to be a better player and encourage better players around me...and I am in the process of slowly collecting ideas for another guide. But mostly, I like PbP play as a creative outlet during the day.
Outside of this, I enjoy my wife and cats and live in the Bay Area.
Why don't you like PFS? What do you mean by bad PFS policy? You get to play your character basically wherever you want!
Why don't you like PFS? What do you mean by bad PFS policy? You get to play your character basically wherever you want!
Oh, I don't want to discourage you from playing PFS. I encourage you to enjoy it. :)
We can have a discussion of the policy and the merits of such as you wish, but it should happen via PM.
PFS is good for many things and I encourage you to go enjoy.
Hey all. Checking in finally! Just got done with a bunch of school/school work and its not fun. I'm going to take care of some non related school stuff and I promise to post before I go to bed tonight.
I've been gaming for 6 years now. I discovered the game very late, when I was 20, but since then it has quickly become my favorite hobby.
Unlike all of you, I'm based in another continent: Europe. I live in Italy, where I work as a translator for the Italian version of the Pathfinder RPG and earn my living through a scholarship. I'm currently studying for my PhD, and simarly to Benedictus, I plan to become a Professor one day, although I already made some lessons. Next year I'll move to France, where I'm going to continue my PhD at the Sorbonne. I'd love to come to the U.S. and work as a professor there, either at high school or university, but I don't know how things work there. But that's definitely something I will at least try. My primary areas of interest are late medieval & early modern history and philosophy. I'm not married yet, although I live with my girlfriend, and I have no pets with me currently.
I don't like PFS either, especially in PbP; we don't have PFS IRL at all, here in Italy. As for its PbP transposition, well...I'm not going to go into the details now, but I don't think it suits my tastes.
Ben, were you born in Italy? Your English is excellent if you're not a native speaker.
Yes, I was born in Bari, southern Italy. I'm not a native speaker, so I thank you for your praise Nidhi!
In the library checks may be made untrained with no limits.
Further, the library itself adds to your checks, in some categories, if you are trained.
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Figured i'd introduce myself as well.
I've been gaming since i was pretty young, D&D 3.5, 4th and 5th edition as well as Pathfinder. I've never tries PFS and this is my first PBP game ever. I live in Las Vegas and until a couple weeks ago worked in a Pharmaceutical Research Company. I decided to go back to school though. I'm currently not married but I have a 4 month old son.
I hope that this game really helps get me into the PBP community and that I can become friends with you all.