GM Henry Fortuna's First Steps (Session 1) [Group 2] [Completed] (Inactive)

Game Master Signore di Fortuna

BTW, Illias from Group 1 is willing to come in as your 5th party member. He wants to know what class he should play to balance the group.

I still need Elross' PFS number and I need to know if Aesantiel or Elross will make day job rolls so I can send these Chronicle sheets out.

erp, sorry. Aesantiel will not be day-jobbing in the usual sense. She'll spend free days/time gathering information and social perspective from around the city. If possible, she'll draft Rodrigo as a guide and additional pair of eyes.

Aesantiel's day job is 'reconnaissance' for her people. This city is a great crossroads, and affords great opportunity to observe and gather information about many peoples from many lands, so she's content to pursue her primary mission. but it doesn't exactly pay...

If the Lodge makes any indication that she should earn her keep, then Aesantiel will do whatever chores present themselves.

I was really referring to the technical aspect of it, so that I could add gold totals to Chronicle sheets :P

Hey guys, here is my conundrum. I have not been feeling it with Cedrick. He is not coming alive for me as a character and thus I will be rebuilding him before next session. I have several options and I am curious if any of you have thoughts on what I should do.

Option 1: Rebuild Cedrick as a Human Druid. Has a Roc Animal Companion. The younger son of a Mwangi who was taken into slavery and ended up becoming a ruler in the River Kingdoms. Basically, the son of my character from a Kingmaker Campaign.

Option 2: Rebuild Cedrick as a Tiefling Alchemist. Basically a somewhat crazy Alchemist that really likes to blow stuff up.

Option 3: Switch to playing my Fey Sorcerer. A Tian woman who tells stories and is good at improvising when needed.

Option 4: Switch to playing my Cavalier. Son of a Qadiran Horse Lord. He's thinks he's hot stuff and great with the ladies. That may or may not be actually true.

So, any thoughts on the options I have laid out here?

If my opinion counts for anything, I like the sounds of Option 3.

RE: Illias

He should play anything he want to play. We have a Healer and a Fighter. There is no other party role that we need for First Steps. For a regular scenario it would be nice to have an Arcane Caster and a Skill Monkey, but they are not necessary for completing First Steps.

Also, is there a particular reason we are getting a player from the other group to make another character and basically be playing the same game twice? I ask because there was just a thread in the recruitment section where several people expressed interest in playing in a First Step group that did not get in to said group.

Of course your opinion counts. The only sad part about Option 3 is that it is the one option where I don't come out with a level 2 character in the end.

The funny part about whenever I rebuild Cedrick is that I can change anything about him, except for his name. That has to stick.

True, rebuilding Cedrick would be the best way to go about it.

About Illias, I think it's because Group 1 has been more "roll playing" than "role playing" and he's fairly new to Pathfinder as a whole. He's been consistent and, honestly, I don't think he'll flake.

Side note: recruiting is getting to be a drag.

Here's my crazy rant and I apologize for it now: PFS isn't really my bag. I enjoy playing with you guys and the lack of leeway in these sessions kinda kills it for me. I'd rather do homebrew or even an AP. Character exploration is a second thought in PFS (understandably) but I'm not fond of the encounter-encounter-encounter aspect of it. That being said, I fully intend to finish up First Steps but I'm hesitant to commit to further Season 4 scenarios. I'll give it some thought as we keep going, but I wanted to get that off my chest.

In that other thread, I thought the loreweaver's Paladin Baru looked interesting.

I should probably say, I have nothing against Illias. I just know that demand for PFS PBPs is high on these boards, and if we can give someone else a chance to play, it would be nice of us to do so.

I get your point, Cedrick. I'm willing to give other people a chance...just the constant ditching has gotten my goat.

Edit: And it wasn't in this group. Krygmar was polite enough to notify us about dropping out.

Dude, if you are bothered by the string of encounters in PFS scenarios, I feel bad for you. Have you read First Steps part 2 and 3? They have significantly less RP in them than the part 1.

I have found that many of the earlier scenarios are like that. There are some good exceptions in Season 3. Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment has tons of RP opportunities with NPCs. The Haunting of Hinojai has many opportunities for the PCs to react to the setting and RP with each other. Basically what I'm saying is, RP heavy scenarios are out there, you just have to pick and choose them. I think the writing keeps getting better as time goes on.

That's cool. If you have already talked with Illias and he is on board, then he is welcome.

Actually, now that I think about it, I GMed First Steps Part 1 a little bit ago and gave the credit to my Cavalier. I have not actually played him yet. I could just switch that GM credit and be good to go with my Sorc. That is, if that's what people want to see.

*facepalm* Well, I already PM'ed him and brought up the spoiler fact about playing in both groups so I'll go fetch us another player when I get back Tuesday or Wednesday.

Scenario 2 and 3 do have a few RP moments in them, but you guys mostly inserted the moments in this last session. Maybe it's because you can't really veer left when you're told to veer right. It's not a play-style that I'm used to.

Well this might be a bad time to bring this up, but I have to drop out for the rest of the month. I am setting up our yearly haunted house over the course of the next few weeks. It's part of the PTA, and I play a huge role in preparation, planning, construction, and acting. So regrettable I will have no time to spare till November. I hope you guys have fun without me, and thanks for making my first PFS a blast.

Lol! And another one bites the dust!

Ok well, in that case... I would be changing characters. I know Simon and I are getting a little burnt out on the First Steps series as we have both played/GMed them before. I see Utopia27 is involved with several other PBP games. Given all that, I would be ok with just hanging our hats here and letting everyone go their merry way. Aesantiel could perhaps join Group 1 if she was really interested in continuing.

What are your thoughts on the matter, GM? Simon? Aesantiel?

I'd like to continue - I've been looking for an opportunity to play Aesantiel for quite some time. But I understand other folks have obligations, and I very much understand burn-out factor.

Well, if this does end here, I may have an alternative option for you.

I am good to continue on, or forge ahead with alternate plans. I have been in a few PBPs at this point and this is actually the first one I have participated in that had a drop out. I believe this has more to do with the nature of First Steps than anything to do with your ability to DM, so do not take that the wrong way Fortuna. I thoroughly enjoyed your portrayal of the scenario, but due to how First Steps is set up, your hand is kind of forced.

To back up Cedrick here, there is actually a pretty good mix of scenarios. It is kind of necessary to do a little research before purchasing them to figure out whether you bought a dungeon crawl or rp scenario. I personally ran a group all the way from Master of the Fallen Fortress through part 4 of Eyes of the Ten. My group leaned very heavy towards the roll-play side of things over role-play, so I tried to run 75% dungeon crawls and throw the occasional role-play scenario in there to spice it up.

No matter what we decide to do from this point, I would like to thank you for taking the time to run this scenario for us Fortuna. I am usually behind the screen and any opportunity to get to play a character is greatly appreciated, thanks!

^^ that ^^ :)

Well GM? Looks like it's your call.
I will stick around if you want to continue.

Oh right, you're out of town. Forgot that for a moment.

why cedrick, it appears someone's set you on fire and all the hair on your head has already burned off...

Yeah, and I'm no longer green!

It's actually really weird to look at old posts with the new avatar.

Well, I just got back home an hour ago and unpacked and now this...lol

Mrgh.

I really don't know what to say about all this. I've spent the last two hours debating on stopping or continuing. This isn't really an easy decision so that speaks volumes for you guys as players. I have enjoyed running this and I appreciate all the opportunities you've given me to deviate off the "main road" and the effort you've put in to make this session enjoyable. Before I make a concrete decision, I'd like to hear your alternative option, Cedrick.

Tangent thought: It's funny how we identify people as the character's they play online...

Ah yes, well, Option 2: I am forming a PFS PBP group soon. I will be GMing. I already have 5 players interested. If we end now I could extend Aesantiel an invitation to fill the sixth slot, allowing Utopia to continue to play her. Simon is already playing in another group with me so he would not be left out in the cold either.

Well, I've always thought that the internet is the best looking glass to one's soul. And ya haven't been jerks, so...

Well, if Aesantiel and Simon are fine with that, we'll close up shop here.

I'm amenable. Fortuna, I've really enjoyed your game and all your good efforts (and cool maps!), but I understand that you're running this twice, and aren't a tremendous fan of the scenarios.

Alrighty then. Chronicle sheets have been sent.

@Fortuna - mind if I snitch Rodrigo as a PP-Vanity-fueled contact in Absalom? I haven't quite grokked all his implications, but I really like the character Lalo the Limner from Thieves World, and I see some similarities.

He's all yours :)

Oh and the event # is 17929, in case you need to know.

Tangent thought: It's funny how we identify people as the character's they play online...

part of the appeal of Aesantiel is that she's very counter to type. :)

Okay, I've finished my reporting (though I never got Elross' PFS #), so I'm going to set this to Inactive. If you need me, just send a PM. Thanks again for the fun, y'all.