Hey everyone, this is our new home, the place where we should discuss OOC contents. Please feel free to dot the Gameplay Thread in order for this campaign to show in your Campaign Tab. After dottin, please make sure to delete your own post as to not flood the Gameplay Thread with dots.
If you have any last questions on character creation before we start, this is the right place to ask.
As a reminder, I confirm that we're going to start this game on July, the 1st. Posting rate will be 2/day. We'll be using Roll20 for map and such, and I'll make sure to provide a link to the campaign as soon as possibile.
|
I have a character creation note: I'm thinking of switching out my arcane bond from an amulet to a ring. Since arcane bond allows me to enchant my item, I was looking over the different options and I thought that the ring enchantments were more Faustinia's style. But it's also the difference between being able to enchant it at level 3 versus level 7.
I haven't played many full casters before, and I haven't played mid to high level Pathfinder much either. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I don't know if one is definitely better, or if it's more a matter of taste.
Personally, I've never played a mid to high level arcane caster either, so I'm afraid I'm not the best one to give you a suggestion on this topic. One useful thing I can tell you, though: Council of Thieves ends at level 13. Perhaps this makes some difference in your choice.
I have a character creation note: I'm thinking of switching out my arcane bond from an amulet to a ring. Since arcane bond allows me to enchant my item, I was looking over the different options and I thought that the ring enchantments were more Faustinia's style. But it's also the difference between being able to enchant it at level 3 versus level 7.
I haven't played many full casters before, and I haven't played mid to high level Pathfinder much either. Does anyone else have any suggestions? I don't know if one is definitely better, or if it's more a matter of taste.
Not much practical experience here either but I would go with the amulet. It allows you to craft sooner and there are plenty of options of amulets to make.
|
|
I think I'll stick with the amulet. I can get to the built in crafting earlier if I need or want to. Plus I think cameos are more stylish than signet rings. :)
With our start date approaching, I did have one other question/concern. With Faustinia's theme of adapting to the new Cheliax to restore the old ways, I'm presumably going to get into some fiendish summoning. So I was curious, how will summoning evil creatures (and therefore casting spells with the [evil] descriptor a bunch) affect my alignment? I know different GM's handle it in different ways. I think part of what will make this character interesting is whether she can resist the influences and temptations of infernal power or not. I definitely don't want to be disruptive to the party, but I think there's a real chance of Faustinia going from lawful neutral to lawful evil. Maybe acting heroically to protect her city will balance out her infernal methods so that she ends up staying neutral anyway, but I thought I'd bring it up to get people's thoughts on it. I want to make sure things are interesting and engaging for us while avoiding too much conflict that would disrupt the game.
I think I'll stick with the amulet. I can get to the built in crafting earlier if I need or want to. Plus I think cameos are more stylish than signet rings. :)
With our start date approaching, I did have one other question/concern. With Faustinia's theme of adapting to the new Cheliax to restore the old ways, I'm presumably going to get into some fiendish summoning. So I was curious, how will summoning evil creatures (and therefore casting spells with the [evil] descriptor a bunch) affect my alignment? I know different GM's handle it in different ways. I think part of what will make this character interesting is whether she can resist the influences and temptations of infernal power or not. I definitely don't want to be disruptive to the party, but I think there's a real chance of Faustinia going from lawful neutral to lawful evil. Maybe acting heroically to protect her city will balance out her infernal methods so that she ends up staying neutral anyway, but I thought I'd bring it up to get people's thoughts on it. I want to make sure things are interesting and engaging for us while avoiding too much conflict that would disrupt the game.
The only one suggestion about your amulet is to make it unique somehow: maybe it consains the portrait of someone Faustinia loved in the past or something along that line.
As far as summoning evil creatures is concerned, I must say that my usual way to handle it is a bit philosophical. My main assumption is that if a spellcaster uses evil creatures to pursue good or neutral tasks, the summoning won't affect his alignment. I.e., if you summon a devil to fight against a monster that it's otherwise going to kill you, I would consider it as a way among the others to defend yourself, therefore not representing an evil act in itself. The intention is what rules if an act is evil or not. Of course, for a roleplay perspective, it could be interesting to play this "resist the evil" theme anyway, even though summoning evil monsters would not immediately cause Faustinia's alignment to shift.
Anyway, there's one thing I would take into account before worrying too much about disruption and summoning evil creatures: as you can imagine, the AP will put you against evil foes, mainly. As such, since Faustinia is a gifted spellcaster and knows the tools of her trade, I would deem unlikely that she does not realize the advantage of summoning good monsters against evil foes: therefore, she also has a gameplay reason to stay neutral, otherwise she wouldn't be able to summon good monsters anymore. As far as the summon monsters spells are concerned, I think that you'll end up summoning good creatures anyway, due to their superior efficacy against evil foes.
I can see the dark theme of summoning evil monsters to aid in Faustinia's cause will come around later, when she'll be able to cast planar binding spells. But I suppose that, at that point, if she's still alive of course, her relationships with the party will be clear enough to allow her to understand immediately the consequences of requesting the services of an evil creature and know if that would cause disruption or not.
Hope that helps :)
|
|
Yeah, that all makes sense. Certainly for the first levels, celestial animals will do well against evil foes. Like you said, it may become a more interesting factor once I can summon actual devils or call them with planar ally/binding. A summon monster spell used to get a fiendish pony or something for a few rounds hardly feels like an infernal pact.
A summon monster spell used to get a fiendish pony or something for a few rounds hardly feels like an infernal pact.
Ahahahah XD
OK guys, I declare this campaign officially started!
I've made a post for each one of you. Please read it carefully. I've also made a last post with some details on how to gather information about Vizio's Tavern. That post also includes my expectations for your next posts.
As always, I'll post again this evening.
Happy gaming everyone!
|
|
Woo! Glad to get started!
I had a quick question, though:
Your post should end with your character's arrival at the door of the tavern, which is closed. No one is waiting outside, regardless of your arrival order.
Does this mean we should assume that none of our characters see each other when we arrive? So we shouldn't react to seeing anyone else outside the tavern?
Exactly.
Apologies to start off with missing the first 'deadline' for posting already. Somehow, Giuseppe's link to this thread had gotten by me, and I was quite unaware that we had already started. :*( I've caught up, won't happen again.
One last question on character creation from me: I totaled the started equipment I had written down, and it turns out Catina would have 55 gp left over in cash, starting with 140 gp that a cleric has in average wealth. That doesn't really fit with the idea I had for her; Could I ask for a late addition of one scroll of Sanctuary and one of Cure Light Wounds, as gifts from the temple? That way I end up with a remainder of 4 gp and 7 sp, which is more in line with her being down on her luck and having to struggle to get by in life...
Apologies to start off with missing the first 'deadline' for posting already. Somehow, Giuseppe's link to this thread had gotten by me, and I was quite unaware that we had already started. :*( I've caught up, won't happen again.
One last question on character creation from me: I totaled the started equipment I had written down, and it turns out Catina would have 55 gp left over in cash, starting with 140 gp that a cleric has in average wealth. That doesn't really fit with the idea I had for her; Could I ask for a late addition of one scroll of Sanctuary and one of Cure Light Wounds, as gifts from the temple? That way I end up with a remainder of 4 gp and 7 sp, which is more in line with her being down on her luck and having to struggle to get by in life...
No problem Iff. As far as your starting gear is concerned, you have my permissiob to add those items to your equipment ;)
@Catina: Is your hood still on at the table? If so, would Lorenzo recognize you?
I'll post once I hear your thoughts on the matter.
Yes, the hood of her cloak us still up, but I have little doubt that Lorenzo would recognize her: she's wearing the same clothes as she did back then, as the same voice (although talking softly) and her long fingers are a dead giveaway if nothing else is...
Maybe a sort of 'warning' for everyone, I guess: I'm normally all for pushing the action in a PbP, to get things going. However, Catina will be quite insecure and passive at the start. If it's not working, I'll ramp up her change to be more pro-active, but for now I'll mostly take a backseat and Catina might need some prodding now and then. Let me know as we go how you feel about that.
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
|
Lorenzo barely nods when Janiven refers to him as 'Sir Mancini'. Noting that he was by himself, he asked, "So, ma'am. How is it that you know about me and my family? Are you the one that gave me the book with my family history?'
Just for reference, I believe Faustinia was the one that gave Lorenzo some of those books. I think I posted about it in our character creation thread, and it's also in my profile under "Recent History":
Among the tomes she pulled down, Faustinia also found a humble book bound in black leather. Not recognizing it, she skimmed the inside and discovered a forgotten history of her family: a relic from before Thrune, unedited by the redactors, and very illegal. In a rush of excitement and terror, she shoved a stack of books into Lorenzo’s arms - histories, family bloodline records, and an ancient copy of The Acts of Iomedae - before shooing him from her library and locking herself in for a night of study. This was too important and too dangerous to simply lock up or make copies of. She would simply have to keep it with her at all times.
That's just what I remembered about Lorenzo's books and stuff, anyway. And the books that Faustinia gave you don't even have to be ALL of the books that you got your hands on, between Janiven and I. But I was going to incorporate some of this into my post, since Lorenzo is the only one that Faustinia has properly met so far.
@ Catina: I think that makes sense for you, to be a little withdrawn at first. I think Faustinia and her will certainly have some interesting interactions (interesting for us as players, but probably very awkward for the characters). :)
Lorenzo barely nods when Janiven refers to him as 'Sir Mancini'. Noting that he was by himself, he asked, "So, ma'am. How is it that you know about me and my family? Are you the one that gave me the book with my family history?'Just for reference, I believe Faustinia was the one that gave Lorenzo some of those books. I think I posted about it in our character creation thread, and it's also in my profile under "Recent History":
** spoiler omitted **
That's just what I remembered about Lorenzo's books and stuff, anyway. And the books that Faustinia gave...
Yeah, that's what I thought as well.
So this is important and we need to get it right.
I feel like we are redacting history ourselves. :)
Giuseppe, do you want to weigh in on this issue?
Ok, so here are the options as I see them:
a) Faustina gives Lorenzo everything (family history books and Acts of Iomedae) as Faustina wrote
b) Faustina gives Lorenzo some family history books but Janiven gives Lorenzo The Acts of Iomedae.
I think the GM wants to go with option b), which means that Faustina just needs to re-write part of the scene where she only gives Lorenzo family history books.
Thoughts?
Yes, I would like to go with option B.
Hey guys, I'd like you to push a little bit more in order to facilitate some roleplay dynamics. Try to interact a little more among yourselves, so that your character can get acquainted with the others before I push the story forward ;)
Okay guys, I'll give some additional time to roleplay before I move things forward tomorrow morning ;)
Faustinia, forgot to mention that I really liked your touch of being startled when the light came on, and your description of said surprise. Like Catina, I myself hadn't given it any consideration. :)
-Posted with Wayfinder
So, I'll post a reminder about this when it gets closer but I figured the earlier I give a heads up the better.
From August 1st to August 8th I'll be out camping. My phone will be with me but since we'll be in the mountains I don't know what kind of service I'll have, and I will also have no way of charging it, so if I am able to get online in the evenings it will likely be just for the first couple days of the week.
Catina's avatar is from Bastards of Golarion.
Lorenzo is said to be Jhofre Vascari from Pathfinder Adventure Path #35: War of the River Kings (Kingmaker 5 of 6) (PFRPG)
Sev is from Pathfinder Module: Wardens of the Reborn Forge
I'll be out of town until July the 13th. I'll try and post regularly with my tablet though.
FYI: I have two days of 'field work' ahead of me but I'll still be able to post in the mornings (brief?) and later in the evening/night. However, don't expect anything from me during the day for the next two days.
Sorry for not beaing able t post guys, but I had no source of decent internet connection during these days away from home.
Giuseppe, I think the point of physic damage would be negated due to Catina's DR. She would only take one point of acid damage from the torble's attack, is that correct?
-Posted with Wayfinder
Giuseppe, I think the point of physic damage would be negated due to Catina's DR. She would only take one point of acid damage from the torble's attack, is that correct?
-Posted with Wayfinder
Of course. For future reference, I will not decrease your DR from the amount of damage you take; I'm just going to tell you what's the damage, and then let you subtract your DR from the total.
That works for me. :) If I'm in doubt, I'll make an ooc note to state whether I did or not not apply DR. That case, you can correct me if I'm wrong.
-Posted with Wayfinder
LOL, we're having issues with torbles. I can't wait to see how we'll fair when we're really tested. :)
|
|
This reminds me of some math analysis I heard about D&D 3.5 regarding the CR and lethality at level one. Apparently, your typical house cat from the Monster Manual had such a high AC from Dexterity and size that it was about a 50% chance of a four-person level one party losing to it.
And torbles are rat catchers, so they're basically slimy sewer cats. Still, I think we've got this! :P
Still, I think we've got this! :P
Says the older lady who can't hit the side of a barn. :)
Giuseppe, how would you like to handle things if one (or more) of us act after the opposition, in a round? The instructions in your profile say not to post an action in that case, and to wait for the next round. However, in practice in our previous campaign, everyone posted and you applied the actions in order, adjusting if necessary for the 'board state' after NPC actions in that round. What's your preference?
-Posted with Wayfinder
Giuseppe, how would you like to handle things if one (or more) of us act after the opposition, in a round? The instructions in your profile say not to post an action in that case, and to wait for the next round. However, in practice in our previous campaign, everyone posted and you applied the actions in order, adjusting if necessary for the 'board state' after NPC actions in that round. What's your preference?
-Posted with Wayfinder
It's OK if you post later ;)
Lorenzo, I've noticed that you sometime adds "tag?" as text in roleplay posts. Probably to denote a break in the action, or invite others to react to the previous part of the post.
If I'm honest, I find it a bit jarring to see those tag?'s, breaking up an in-character post. It pulls me away from the scene, as it were. Could you maybe experiment with something different, like a double dash if you would want to separate parts of a single post?
Lorenzo, I've noticed that you sometime adds "tag?" as text in roleplay posts. Probably to denote a break in the action, or invite others to react to the previous part of the post.
If I'm honest, I find it a bit jarring to see those tag?'s, breaking up an in-character post. It pulls me away from the scene, as it were. Could you maybe experiment with something different, like a double dash if you would want to separate parts of a single post?
Yes,you are right. That is my way to 'invite' other players to participate in the RPing. I always (or intend to) leave it with a '?' because I don't want to 'make' anyone have to reply.
It's just my way of saying, 'here would be a good spot for someone to join'.
I'm picky in that I always try to come up with ways to involve either PCs and/or NPCs in my posts to encourage roleplaying and I ask that of the players in the games I GM. So I explicitly ask them to tag me or others in their posts.
But I understand if it takes a way from your immersion. The inherent format of PBP games (single, broken posts by players) does not help either. And breaking up the big post in little posts is not much better because you have the 'PC tag lines' to contend with.
That being said, would you prefer I leave the 'tag?' out?
I'm with Iff on this matter. Also, for omogeneity's sake, I would prefer you to use present tense instead of past, just to give our whole gameplay post a sense of narrative coherence.
Yes, I would like it better without. I can understand that for some games players and GM might need a bit more direction, or some prodding to engage in back-and-forth. For this game, I hope everyone feels free to join in and contribute where they see fit.
|
|
Does anyone else want to take some of the crossbow bolts from the Hellknights we fought? There are 60 total, and I'm thinking of taking at least 20. If no one else wants any, I don't think I have the carrying capacity for many more, and I think Faustinia would just toss them in the sewer water so our enemies couldn't find them once they woke up. :P
Taking 20 on Perception checks - I usually allow players to take 20 on their Perception checks when they have plenty of time to investigate the area where they are. For the current situation, though, I wouldn't allow it for both a narrative and mechanical reason. The narrative one is that allowing you to take 20 will prevent me from actually giving certain encounters a chance to truly happen in the game; also, it would force you to spend an unreasonable amount of time searching the mark. From a mechanical point of view, given the conditions, it would take almost an hour to look everywhere in the intersection for a sword mark: it would force you to remove the garbage, clean the walls, examine closely every inch of the tunnels and so on.