Alright, so welcome in our discussion thread! In the next months (hopefully!) we’ll have a lot to discuss in here, but for now simply use this thread as a place where to post everything that is not actual gameplay.
So, first of all, as I had announced, before we start we need to improve your characters and ensure that there’s nothing out of place in your back stories or statistics. Take what follows not as a critique of your work, but as a way to make sure that you as players and your characters as PC can enjoy the game the most.
The only other thing I have to discuss about is the motivation that lead you to Eleder: is never easy to find a strong justification when tailoring a PC to a specific AP, but I feel yours is especially weak and I fear that could cause you troubles, so we’d better discuss it now. Just to be on the sea and to follow Ishirou is not enough, in my opinion: try to find something stronger. Maybe you want to reach Eleder to join one the expeditions that ventures into your homeland and discover more about it; or maybe you just want to see a great city for the first time (perhaps Hakeem didn’t like Senghor). I’m sure you will find something ;)
Let’s change completely perspective and let me suggest you to raise your Con score to 12. Due to the party composition you’ll end up being a front-line warrior, so maybe you will need some extra HP when not raging (especially after you had to change your feat). This is a mere suggestion though, feel completely free to ignore it.
Lastly, faith is not really a thing in Sizara’s story and personality: I suggest you to add this aspect, since it provides some great RP options. In particular, I’d suggest you to attain to the elven tendency to worship a pantheon, maybe substituting Gozreh and Desna (both of which are great for your character, due to their ties to storms and travel respectively) with Shimye-Magalla to gain a touch of originality. Ketephys, also, is very appropriate for Sizara.
Well, I said all that I had to. Now, apart from working on your characters’ refinement, I would ask you to link me a full picture of your characters: if your avatar is just the way you imagine your PC, just let me know in which source it’s contained so I can work on it. I plan to create some beautiful tokens for you, so I need a full picture of your PCs.
I also would like to know if you have some contacts which I can use to show you pictures for our game: they can be maps, NPC portraits, and so on. I use Pinterest, and if you’re willing to make the effort to register on that site I could invite you to my private gallery where only the campaign’s pictures will be shown. Otherwise we can create a group on facebook, if you all have a profile. As a last resort, I can upload pictures here on the campaign thread.
I’ll soon send you a PM with the link needed to access our campaign on Roll20. Please forgive me if I’ll make some mistakes initially, but this is my first PbP campaign as a GM. I promise I’ll improve myself constantly during our adventure. And please be patient if I’ll make some mistakes while writing since I’m Italian and even if I’m a Pathfinder translator, English is still not my native language.
Let me know when your PCs are ready, so we can start off. Brace yourselves for a long first post, because you are going to describe a lot of things, but don’t worry, this will be the case only for the very first post ;)
Hey, first off, thank you for selecting me. I will strive to make participative Alexite an important part of this game.
I've adjusted the character sheet; please let me know if this is what you want.
His avatar is from the Inner Sea World Guide (pg 139).
With regards to religion, I hadn't really thought much but re-reading Alexite's story, I think it's best if he 'goes native' all the way. Gozreh would be a good choice except that it is tied more with the sea and I picture Alexite more of an inland person. Would it be OK for him to be a worshiper of the 'Green Faith'? He would want to have everything be 'as natural' as possible and turn away from civilization and its trappings.
Thoughts?
Sure thing. However I was just called into work (yes we are open on Labor Day >_< ) but I get off around 3:30 pm est so I'll be able to make the changes then. Also I know that later in the adventure path the gm chooses everyone's spirit animals but is it okay if mine is predetermined? Just want make sure that's okay. And sorry about the Ultimate Campaign feat. Didn't realize it wasn't legal in this game.
Thank you for picking me and I look forward to the adventure!
Thanks for choosing Hakeem!
Also, solid English! If you hadn't mentioned it, I don't think I would have ever noticed it wasn't your native language. This looks like it'll be fun!
GM
Yeah I admit the background is lacking in a particularly strong tie to the AP. Initially I was going with the campaign trait that was involving ancient ruins in the Mwangi expanse, and was going to put in something about Hakeem having visited the (taboo among his people) abandoned ruins and taken a liking to them. But I ended up going with the nature-oriented trait and background.
Perhaps I'll keep the trait and still but in a few lines about his curiosity about the taboo structures. Furthermore I can expand on him wanting to see the bigger settlement of Eleder on his pilgramage, and the opportunities that the expeditions out of Eleder would provide to someone with Hakeem's curiosities .
I've got work today too, but hopefully not very late, then I can get down to making some changes.
@Alexite:
@Sizara:
@Hakeeem:
Cool and thank you! I wanted to make sure so I don't step on anyone's toes. In regards to religion, I was thinking of a goddess I had created for another campaign. She would fit in here although she would have to be altered a bit to fit the jungle theme a bit more but otherwise she would make perfect sense for a warrior who likes to travel and adventure a lot. Wiwneas. Or I could have Sizara worship both Shimye-Magalla and Ketephys since you mentioned that I should go the route of worshipping a pantheon so that works as well. Either option works for me. And I get off in about two and a half hours. On my lunch break at the moment.
@Sizara: I'd like to keep things limited to Golarion-only deities.
In regards to pics, I might get a pic of her done by an artist friend of mine. I'll have to double-check though.
That would be great Sizara! In the meanwhile, can you please tell me the source of your current avatar?
I should have a picture of her ready for late tonight, if that's okay! I can't find anything I really like anywhere, so I'm going to make my own.
Now, I don't and will never have facebook for security reasons (I got stalked hardcore a few years ago on there and had to close my account), but I do have a Pintrest account so that works for me.
As far as feedback goes, ty so much for the kind words! I'll probably take your suggestion, but I'm going to give a peek over the other options one more time just to ensure I'm not struck with a sudden bout of genius for another route.
Thanks for the invite. I think I'm going to stick with the map instead of trying to reflavor it. It's grown on me the more I think about it. I'll try to get my inventory figured out some time tonight and hopefully I can google up an image I like.
@Kali'da: Don't worry, Pinterest works even better ;) Tonight is ok for the picture.
@Jesari: Alright Jesari!
Tomorrow I will open the gameplay thread and write my first post. I will ask you to describe briefly how you interacted with the NPCs detailed in the Serpent's Skull Player's Guide. Then we will quickly move to action ;)
My current avatar is from here. I think it was one of the npcs from the Second Darkness adventure path. Let me check...ah yes. Perelir was her name. It was the only avatar I could find that match (somewhat) to my character.
Now the pic I'm getting will be of her after she gets her tattoos if that's okay.
@Sizara: I'm fine with that ;)
I don't know if you need to be a registered user on Pinterest to see this: try to open it and let me know. It should open our gallery.
I don't know if you need to be a registered user on Pinterest to see this: try to open it and let me know. It should open our gallery.
I can see it just fine.
I don't know if you need to be a registered user on Pinterest to see this: try to open it and let me know. It should open our gallery.I can see it just fine.
Phew, so problem solved. Thank you for the confirmation. Pics are so important for me as a GM, so this is a good news. I'll update the gallery regularly as you'll meet new characters.
I opened the gameplay thread. Feel free to post anytyme you want, even if you're still working on your characters.
As I said in the Recruitment thread, I expect you to post at least once per day, since I want to keep things moving and don't let the game stall.
Have fun!
Sure thing! I also updated everything. Increased her Constitution as much as possible, but I took Toughness as well, although I'm wondering if I should have taken Endurance instead. Hm...?
Ah what the heck! I'll wait until I get my next feat to get Endurance.
BTW, how detailed do you want the descriptions of how we interacted with the NPCs?
Sure thing! I also updated everything. Increased her Constitution as much as possible, but I took Toughness as well, although I'm wondering if I should have taken Endurance instead. Hm...?
Ah what the heck! I'll wait until I get my next feat to get Endurance.
BTW, how detailed do you want the descriptions of how we interacted with the NPCs?
As I said, you can add the detail level you wish to your description.
Cool. I'll get right on it!
BTw, I noticed we don't have a rogue. Are we going to be alright without one?
Also I should point out something for everyone. While this isn't in the sourcebooks, I figured adding a little cultural confusion would spice things up some RP wise that is.
When Sizara says she's attracted to someone, that doesn't mean she's romantically attracted to them. Among her people, saying you're attracted to someone means you want to become that person's best friend.
Now if Sizara says that she's deeply attracted to someone, then that's when she's romantically attracted to someone. However, according to her customs, she has to see how they hold themselves up in combat as well as get to know them better. A cowardly lover is no lover at all.
She might become deeply attracted to one of the NPCs or one of the other PCs, but only time will tell. ;)
I'm still not sold on the Green faith or Gozreh. I want Alexite to celebrate local customs and local people but not be a 'let's get rid of all humans and bring nature back'.
I think Erastil would be a much better fit for that but I'm not sure about his LG alignment. Erastil is also Ulfen.
So how could Alexite have learned about an Ulfen God down in the Mwangi Expanse?
Thoughts?
Hm...well even Erastil is a Ulfen god, there could be a Mwangi variation of him in the Expanse. Same name but he appears differently. Also according to what I've read both Gozreh and Erastil are friendly to one another. Plus it's possible there's been some conversions going on where Sargava colonists who worshipped Erastil converted some of the natives into worshiping him although the natives will have altered him to look like what they think is appropriate: for example he'll have the head of a gazelle instead of a stag.
Plus you don't have to lawful good to worship Erastil. You can be neutral good.
I hope that helps.
Oki doki!
I cheated and mushed together a few pics that I thought combined to give her the right feel, then put a bit of my own spin on it when I was drawing it up in SAI. I'd like to get something more original done, but I didn't want to hold up the token making process!
For anyone interested, I used Who Do Voodoo by zatransis and Dancy Gone Wild by nosredna1313
Great work Kali'da! I love the result, that will make a great token ;)
Alexite, as far as I know, both Erastil and the Green Faith shares a common feature, which is to promote acting as intermediaries between nature and civilization, assuring that civilization use nature without arming or destroying it. The refusal of civilization, as I see it, is a sort of 'radical' interpretation of the Green Faith, not the standard one. Civilization, after all, is nowadays a matter of fact in Golarion and the Green Faith is ancient enough to need to be readapted to the new world.
Erastil is not only a Ulfen deity, I would say that is quite widespread. It's the god of community, but it also have a strong tie to nature, all tenets which are easy to be shared throughout Golarion. So, it'really up to you. I always appreciate when not only his faith shapes a PC, but also the PC tailor his faith to fit his needs and his experience, so of course I don't see Alexite taking on radical interpretations, due to his origins. In the end, both faiths seems fitting to me.
Oh, and also great first post guys!
Great work Kali'da! I love the result, that will make a great token ;)
Alexite, as far as I know, both Erastil and the Green Faith shares a common feature, which is to promote acting as intermediaries between nature and civilization, assuring that civilization use nature without arming or destroying it. The refusal of civilization, as I see it, is a sort of 'radical' interpretation of the Green Faith, not the standard one. Civilization, after all, is nowadays a matter of fact in Golarion and the Green Faith is ancient enough to need to be readapted to the new world.
Erastil is not only a Ulfen deity, I would say that is quite widespread. It's the god of community, but it also have a strong tie to nature, all tenets which are easy to be shared throughout Golarion. So, it'really up to you. I always appreciate when not only his faith shapes a PC, but also the PC tailor his faith to fit his needs and his experience, so of course I don't see Alexite taking on radical interpretations, due to his origins. In the end, both faiths seems fitting to me.
Thank you for your thoughts.
I will go with Erastil then but it will be a 'local' Erastil as taught by the 'natives' so you'll have to excuse me if I switch 'images and such' on you guys.
So after some more reading, I do think the best route is to take your suggestion. I figured it would be, but I wanted to make sure there wasn't a gem hidden under a rock somewhere. So yes, I like the idea of the slavers carrying a badge or some other symbol that identifies them as being connected with the Aspis Consortium. It should be fun the first time she runs into someone with that same identifier.
Perfect! I'm currently waiting for Jesari and Hakeem to post before I can do answer in the gameplay thread.
K. Got my inventory as full as I think I can get it without going overboard and did what you suggested and made the leftover money into platinum. Thought I'd use this picture.
Sorry guys, I had a crazy labor day and a slightly busy Tuesday. I'll get a post up tonight or early in the morning.
I've updated Hakeem's history slightly, changed the appearance and avatar, and found an image.
It's on the profile, but here it is too, Be sure to click the "Hakeem's Appearance" link at the beginning to see the image I'm going with!
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[b]Hakeem's Appearance
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Hakeem towers over most he meets, , at 6' 7" the pugilist is a sight to behold. He has a thick but athletic build that is often on display. In Senghor, he took to wearing the clothing of the Chelish colonists, but found the shirt and shoes restrictive, opting to keep these parts of his body bare for fighting. He has a square goatee that frames a confident smile, and his thick and ritualistically dread-locked hair hangs wildly down his back nearing his waist .
He wears a bundle of three spears across his lower back, and the perceptive eye might spy the dagger he keeps hidden at his waist. The wary might note the man's thick knuckles and strong jaw and rightly assume he doesn't need a weapon to do real damage. He leans on a long walking staff with a large knob at the top. The club is made of one solid piece of a dark wood and the head showed signs of it's violent use when peace wasn't possible.
He sometimes uses a silken blue sash to wrap his hair back and cover his head..
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Prologue
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Hakeem was born on the plains surrounding Kalabuto twenty-four years ago to the Bas'o tribe. Raised communally by the matriarchal society on the Savannah, Hakeem was taught of their relatively peaceful ways of self-sustenance. His was a warrior culture, but only as a last-resort when threatened, challenged, or deeply insulted. They used simple weapons and their bare hands, wearing no armor into battle, preferring mobility to steel-skin. He was taught the basic skills in his youth that would aid him in surviving the Mwangi expanse in his later years, following the antelope herds through the plains. The young Zenj boy developed a deep respect for these creatures, and also the other dangerous jungle creatures that hunted the antelope. Particularly the Jaguar, whose fierce hunting techniques awed and inspired Hakeem.
Hakeem was a bold child who often defied orders and went against that Mwangi taboo against ancient ruins within the jungle. On several occasions, the boy would sneak off while his tribe made camp near these ruins and simply meditate on the silence he found there. Although he used it as a conduit to nature, he had a natural curiosity for the ruins that would bring him back to the deep jungle in his later years.
In his teenage years he was developing into a strong hunter and gatherer, true to his tribal upbringing. The next wrinkle in his story came when he befriended an old hermit and worshiper of Gozreh. This elder member of his tribe further refined the young Hakeem's practical skills in the natural world, as well as introduced a philosophical angle in quiet meditation and lessons on Gozreh's teachings from Hymns to the Winds and Waves which the old hermit orated from memory.
A life of survival still demanded a fierce physical regiment, that Hakeem supplemented with the prayers, rules for personal behavior and the respect of nature that Gozreh taught. Through either divine intervention or sheer force of will, the self-taught 'monk' of the Mwangi expanse has developed techniques that allow him to channel the power of storms, and imbue his strikes with electricity. The technique is taxing on the young monk, and he seeks out adventure partially to grow in his connection to the Wind and the Waves. Hakeem bid his friends and family in the Bas'o tribe farewell, and embarked on a wandering pilgrimage into the wild.
While on his journey , he passed through the town of Senghor for several days coinciding with the Jenivere's stay in port. During this time, he bartered for clothes in the style of the Chelish colonials, and some other basic "adventuring" gear. After learning that the Jenivere will be headed to the larger city of Eleder, he decided to go along to embark on the next leg of his journey. He had heard stories in Senghor of expeditions out of Eleder that ventured into the deep jungles and ancient ruins therein. Deciding to follow this curiosity led him to board the Jenivere when she left port a few days ago.
Sorry guys, I had a crazy labor day and a slightly busy Tuesday. I'll get a post up tonight or early in the morning.
I've updated Hakeem's history slightly, changed the appearance and avatar, and found an image.
[b]It's on the profile, but here it is too, Be sure to click the "Hakeem's Appearance" link at the beginning to see the image I'm going with!
** spoiler omitted **...
Looks like I messed up that spoiler, but that info is in the profile!
Currently at work and trying to compose a post for that gameplay thread!
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Hakeem if you won't post in the next 3 hours I will be posting in the gameplay thread anyway. I'm sorry about it, but as I said I really want to keep things going and as I explicitly mentioned in the recruitment thread I need at least 1 post per day from each player.
Hakeem I'm sorry but I had to post to keep things going. Don't need to worry, though: you can always do your first post after my post.
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Hello y'all! I just wanted to let everyone here know something: this morning my mom called me this morning around 8:30 am to let me know that our dog Deedee was bitten by a snake last night (I live separately from my parents in my own house but we had Deedee before I moved out). She called me about an hour or so ago to let me know that the vet thinks Deedee will make it but she'll be swollen up a good bit for a while. The snake bit her on her upper lip. But she seems to be doing okay from what my mom said. Deedee is on a great deal of medicines to help the swelling and all. We have to take her back his Friday so the vet can check her again just to be safe.
So I'm emotionally drained a bit so I apologize. Since we are just starting I'm going to try and keep up and hopefully I'll be able to post. Again I just wanted to let everyone know. Thank y'all for understanding.
Post up, sorry for lagging behind!
Sizara, sorry to hear that, never fun dealing with injured fur-babies. I hope everything works out.
Thank you! I appreciate and I hope she does okay too.
Hello y'all! I just wanted to let everyone here know something: this morning my mom called me this morning around 8:30 am to let me know that our dog Deedee was bitten by a snake last night (I live separately from my parents in my own house but we had Deedee before I moved out). She called me about an hour or so ago to let me know that the vet thinks Deedee will make it but she'll be swollen up a good bit for a while. The snake bit her on her upper lip. But she seems to be doing okay from what my mom said. Deedee is on a great deal of medicines to help the swelling and all. We have to take her back his Friday so the vet can check her again just to be safe.
So I'm emotionally drained a bit so I apologize. Since we are just starting I'm going to try and keep up and hopefully I'll be able to post. Again I just wanted to let everyone know. Thank y'all for understanding.
Sorry to hear that Sizara. From now on posts will be significantly shorter by the way, since we are heading toward our first combat! ;)
Alexite, I suppose you're staying prone while attacking, which impose you a -4 penalty to your attack roll. In addition, your sickened, and as such you suffer a -2 penalty to your attack roll and weapon damage. I will subtract those penalties from your total.
Alexite, I suppose you're staying prone while attacking, which impose you a -4 penalty to your attack roll. In addition, your sickened, and as such you suffer a -2 penalty to your attack roll and weapon damage. I will subtract those penalties from your total.
Seeing the the creature seemed scared (retreating?)...
If Alexite can get up without invoking AoO then he will. If not, then he will attack prone and see what the results of waking up people are.
Hey everyone, would you mind adding your stats recap to your characters? This would facilitate me a lot of things :)
@Alexite: No, you couldn't get up without provoking an AoO.
More 'unsolicited' advice... :) (feel free to ignore)
DM, are you going to wait until everyone acts 'in order'?
What if Hakeem can't post until the evening but the next person can't post until the morning? We would all still post 1 per 24 hours but this would take forever (1 action per person per 24 hours). Granted that the above scenario is pessimistic but it could happen.
How about you let everyone that can act in round 2 to post their actions? You then sort out what happened because there may be conflicts. For example, the person that goes last may have his 'monster' killed by the time it's his action.
You can then provide us with a 'recap' of the combat round (what actually happened) and then ask for actions for the next round. This way, we get one round per day and we all get to act when it's the best time for us without having to wait.
Thoughts?
@Alexite: My biggest concern is about movement. What if a creature moves away from a PC's range? And what if, in the meanwhile, a creature does something that prevents a PC from attacking, moving or otherwise take his established action? Suppose that the creature hides somewhere, puts a hindrance between it and the PC or casts a spell. That PC's turn would be completely lost, and he will be forced to post again or to watch his action have no effect. That would be really frustrating.
By the way, I like the idea of pacing-up things, even if every solution that I take into account seems to involve a lot of problems that dramatically change the game and especially the combat system. Now I know that PbP is not meant to exactly work as a standard Pathfinder game, but I can't see no way to really change things without disrupting the rules significatively.
I would give a try to your proposal, maybe allowing all the players who can act before an hostile creature to post in whichever order they prefer and then recapping personally what has happened, but still I have some doubts about the practicality of this solution. What you other guys think? How does PbP combat normally function based on your experience? Is there a method you would propose?
Just so you know, I've been also taking into consideration the option to resolve combat in a "narrative" way, without maps or such.
Well, I'm running my own right now and I've got a system going based on some other successful PBPs I've seen and been in.
Basically, I roll for everyone's initiative at the start of combat after surprise round shenanigans. Then I let people post in whatever order they can.
For example, yesterday I had Player2 post first and attack a specific creature, and Player1 posted later but was first on initiative attacked and killed that same creature. That meant that Player2 could not attack that specific creature. After everyone had posted, I resolved the round by assuming that Player2 would have instead hit the next nearest creature.
I'm also talking to each player about creating their own "tactics" and "morale" blocks for their stats (much like some of the NPCs and creatures in the APs) so I can more accurately resolve the combat rounds when people are posting out of order.
So far using this method has flowed really well and speeds things up in combat, and the players don't seem to mind the occasional GM hand.
Your system makes sense Kali'da and I'm willing to give it a try. So, for this first combat, let's try to do it this way.
If you have time (and desire), take a look at my current game. For combat, I ask players to give me an 'well-described action and intended result' and also a 'simple contingency' in case their 'action' is not possible. It's really not that hard because you are only predicting one round at a time.
I take all intended actions and roll according to initiative. I then write the outcome in a turn recap (chapter like story).
I know a turn recap is not to everyone's taste but I found out that it really allows creative players to be really involved with their PCs and story.
Just my $0.02
I won't be doing turn recaps: as I said English in not my native language and it would take me a lot of time to make good descriptions. Actually I'm starting to think that this is turning way too complicated for me to handle...player tactics as though they were NPC, GM controlling player actions, turn recaps, intended actions...I'm not sure I like any of these things onestly.
Thinking again about the system you guys propose I have still a lot of doubts about it. The examples you take into account are only the simpliest situation (PC1 attacks creature 1, but creature 1 has already died, so PC1 attacks creature 2 instead). What if attacking creature 2 provokes an AoO? And what if a spell selected to target creature 1 it's not good for attacking creature 2? Should I have to choose a more appropriate spell for the player? I wouldn't like it. Should I wait until the PC rewrites his post or answers in the discussion thread? But this way things slow down anyway. What if creature 2 is a bigger threat than creature 1? And what if after entering melee this way with creature 2 the PC dies? And this is only the simpliest of the possible situations. I think that this system can get things flowing only when combats are easy and linear but when things get complicated I fear that it won't prove that effective. Say that the opponent is a caster. He can cast a lot of different spells that can force the player to take into account too much. Suppose the opponent casts a wall of fire. What does the player do? Does he pass through the wall or does he stop? How can the player foresee this? His post would become an hell of contingency and I might find myself handling too directly the PCs for my tastes.
I appreciate very much your suggestions and thank you for giving me such advices, but still I see this method as a way to over-complicate players' posts and changing the combat system too much for my tastes and abilities. For now I'm going in the traditional way, even if this means slowing down the game a bit...I'm not convinced about the bew method and even if I was I doubt I have the experience, linguistical mastery and ability to make it work.
I'm sorry if this is too slow for you guys, feel free to drop if my choice leaves you unsatisfied.