Welcome to the campaign. As I mentioned in the recruitment thread, this will be my second time GMing through pbp. With that being said, please be patient with me. I have played in multiple games and have sought the advise of many of the GMs that I respect.
I plan to start the campaign a little different than I have ever seen done before. I am going to begin with some group and one on one encounters so I can hopefully help merge each character with his back story. I am also going to try and attempt to have the characters meet naturally, not the "you meet and you are all best friends" way.
I will soon post my plans for mechanics ie. Initiative, maps, save rolls, etc. Please use the next 24 hours to post a little bit about yourself and get to know the other players. I hope to get started with the actual campaign either late tonight or tomorrow night (I am in EST US timezone).
Thanks again for the time you spent on your submissions. It was my pleasure to read them and to imagine where to take your characters in the world of Eberron! I will roughly be following a couple Eberron modules, but plan for the campaign to go where you lead!
Mechanics
Initiative:
I will roll everyone initiatives. I will then post them like this:
Uriah <<
Servitor<<
Bad Guy in Cloak<<
Tierney<<
Other Bad Guys<<
Adir<
Jarot<
The less-than-sign will indicate what round it is and who has posted their actions for that round. Any hero that goes before the next bad guy can go at anytime. You do not have to wait for your party member unless you would start a new round. In the above example, Jarot would not have to wait for Adir to post unless he wanted to, but Uriah and Sevitor would.
Saves/AOOs:
When I attack, I will roll your saves for you. I have had multiple GMs tell me that this is what slows their games down the most. I will also roll your AOO for you should my bad guy draw one during his actions. If I miss one, feel free to roll it instead.
Action Points/Hero Points:
By rule, you are not supposed to roll damage until you decide if you want to use an action point. This is just not feasible in pbp. Instead, we are going to go with Hero Points instead. Here are the rules for Hero Points. The exception will be that I will actually give two hero points per level (and one additional to a player who writes a journal entry of their character's perspective of the day's events to post in the discussion thread each level!)
Maps:
All of my combat maps will have coordinates. I will update each characters movement on the map ASAP. The maps will be posted at the top of the campaign.
****There may be a few other things I mention about mechanics later. Do any of you have questions about how I will GM?
Dotting for now. I look forward to the campaign.
Rhorn's gameplay intro has been posted.
Arcavic, Gyro, and Chetiin's is coming up.
Greetings and salutations! >takes a flourishing bow< Olyvvar Merriman: actor, poet, legend at your service.
I must say, I am most pleased at being selected to entertain, lift the spirits and chronicle the feats and exploits of this merry company! Although we have not yet met, I am certain that will be a tale worth telling in and of itself! And then, the deeds we shall accomplish! It shall truly be a grand endeavor!
SUPER excited to get in on this one.
should be no questions regarding GM style from me.
how many Hero Points do we get to start?
Arcavic and Chetiin's intro post is up! Two Hero Points!
Gyro's intro post is up.
Lady Harika's intro post is up.
Playwright Olyvvar Merriman's into post is up.
Just need to make a profile :)
'Rise of the Vampire King'? There's a certain king of Karrnath who might object to that. ;)
I'm very excited to play. Eberron is my favorite setting and this is my first non-dragonmarked noble in this world. And I don't think I've ever played a game where the Blood of Vol wasn't assumed to be bad guys. Also my first necromancer. So a lot of firsts for me.
Also, while Rika is Evil (yes, capital-E evil), she isn't stupid evil and she isn't going to turn on the people who are helping her and who keep watch while she's sleeping. Let's just say she's a practical sort of person; 'doing the right thing' isn't going to get in her way.
Gyro is true neutral. Merc. In a way. He does what is asked of him. Evil or not. Orders are orders. He might feel bad if he has to raze a town. Literally. But he will still do it if ordered too.
Interesting for tactics :
Gyro counts as an object. So spells like Light etc may be cast on him. So later when we have invisibility, we can make it permanent if cast on him :P it has its plus side sometimes to count as an object :P
-Posted with Wayfinder
Arcavic is similar to Gyro. He has a bit more flexibility is accepting jobs, but once a contract is accepted, he basically follows the same principle. Complete the job as quickly as possible while sticking as close to the provisions of the contract as possible. Anything else is secondary, and will be dealt with as necessary according to the circumstances and how they interact with his primary objective.
Haha. You said flexible...
:P sorry. adamant construct :P Nah, he's just a "good" soldier in a way.
This is going to make character interactions very interesting.
Fun times :P
-Posted with Wayfinder
I will be on from 7-11 US CST tonight. I'm having a crazy day at work. If anyone is available, we can have some back and forth posting then. Either way, I will advance the stories at that time.
Thats about 3am where I am. :P so will catch up in morning
Im GMT+2
-Posted with Wayfinder
I'm EST and post mostly from work, so probably not. But maybe.
I'm CST as well, but work fast food, so evenings and late nights are when I am at work. I tend to post either early afternoon or very late nights.
US EST for me. I should be available for a good chunk of that time.
Normally I post throughout the day (6am-11pm), so shouldn't be a problem. Today is just one of those days.
Arcavic is similar to Gyro. He has a bit more flexibility is accepting jobs, but once a contract is accepted, he basically follows the same principle. Complete the job as quickly as possible while sticking as close to the provisions of the contract as possible. Anything else is secondary, and will be dealt with as necessary according to the circumstances and how they interact with his primary objective.
i think Chetiin and Arcavic will get along just fine.
Arcavic is similar to Gyro. He has a bit more flexibility is accepting jobs, but once a contract is accepted, he basically follows the same principle. Complete the job as quickly as possible while sticking as close to the provisions of the contract as possible. Anything else is secondary, and will be dealt with as necessary according to the circumstances and how they interact with his primary objective.i think Chetiin and Arcavic will get along just fine.
You are up in initiative.
Everyone please put your stats under your avatar either like Gyro or Arcavic. ;)
Im looking at play style etc. 2 very formal characters. 2 buddies on the field. And gyro. The clanker :P so much fun to be had I think
-Posted with Wayfinder
well, i royally goofed up.
i for some reason thought the drow moved forward, so i did, and now im at 2hp.
really kicking myself, as i am not likely going to live through this combat.
you might, bad rolls happen. and you wont die. if you're down, im sure you wont die. besides... gyro might break protocol cause he likes the little pointy bits pointy ear monster :P
I did move up, or at least I thought I had. He should be at G8.
For all that the dice could have been kinder, this is actually a very good setup for Arcavic character wise, as it shows off a lot of his personality that usually he works to keep hidden.
For all that the dice could have been kinder, this is actually a very good setup for Arcavic character wise, as it shows off a lot of his personality that usually he works to keep hidden.
Cool. So many GMs do the "you all meet and are best friends. You are hired to do ___". I wanted to build relationships and personality in my players/characters. It is a little more work, but it is worth if it causes the players to love their characters.
The good thing about a module/home brew is that your characters can do anything they want to do. There are just consequences! ;)
For all that the dice could have been kinder, this is actually a very good setup for Arcavic character wise, as it shows off a lot of his personality that usually he works to keep hidden.Cool. So many GMs do the "you all meet and are best friends. You are hired to do ___". I wanted to build relationships and personality in my players/characters. It is a little more work, but it is worth if it causes the players to love their characters.
The good thing about a module/home brew is that your characters can do anything they want to do. There are just consequences! ;)
As long as there are ways to work around the factors beyond the player's control, such as any combat when dice can go cold at any time, to keep the story moving as needed, it's all good.
Remember, hero points can revive a dead character. As a player, I am careful in combat sometimes due to fear of the dice. I will be as flexible as possible, but character's decisions could have permanent negative consequences on the campaign and themselves. I see GMs all the time bail out players who continuously make boneheaded decisions. Without a little fear, it's not "real".
In the situation with the caravan, that's not a big deal. Thanks for complementing the encounter earlier. I can't wait to see Chetiin carve these fools up. :)
FYI, I could present challenges that are too great for the party. Running is an ok option sometimes.
only if we realize in time its bad idea
I probably will consider it in other circumstances, but this seemed like a good time to see how he would actually do in combat, so I could figure out the best direction to develop him, since there are a number of ways he can go right now.
only if we realize in time its bad idea
There will be plenty of clues. I think Harika knows better than to attack King Kaius ;)
I'll be fair and I am very flexible.
i know :P
my old gm said same thing, run is also an option. our game got power games quickly... deck of many things
anywho, lets just say the game died due to player politics
I probably will consider it in other circumstances, but this seemed like a good time to see how he would actually do in combat, so I could figure out the best direction to develop him, since there are a number of ways he can go right now.
This is intro anyway, so that line of thought is perfect! Until 2nd level, I am cool with approved changes (even a complete rebuild). You guys fun/escape from stress is my #1 goal!
With this system heavily skewed towards focusing on offense in combat, and anything even quasi defensive is very difficult to pull off without a thousand feats, not much I can do but wait for feats and better gear.
Arcavic: Your build is very solid and I am very generous with gear. I like to do a "signature" item. I also give an extra feat to allow 1st level characters to have a little umph.
Gyro: I've played with multiple characters on these boards who would attack Kaius at first level and then get pissed at the GM when they are slaughtered.
I like the character as is as well. Just need to figure out the best focus going forward. His combat style, in particular, is very much up in the air right now.
I'm leaning toward crossbow or two weapon fighting (with him grudgingly, but effectively, using the longknife he still has from his days as a slave in his off hand) right now.
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Don't worry, guys. If your PC dies, Rika will just Animate them so they'll be around forever. It's called recycling. ;)
Just as soon as she gets the spell, anyway. Or a scroll.
Surprise 24 hour trip out of town. I'll be checking, but can't add any significant posting until tomorrow night.
Chetiin isn't going to be doing much carving when he has no one to flank with besides a dumb dog
You can still show off their poor lack of tactics, though. Given that many employers are looking for more than brute strength, that is itself a victory.
Impressive Chetiin and Arcavic. Good job drawing them both into danger with the goblin dogs. You each dropped one of them. I didn't take it easy on you. The Gnoll had two good opportunities to drop Chetiin and was unable. Cheers!
yeah i was pretty worried up in there, but the dogs did the work for me!
that and the gnoll's wild fighting style. was he a barbarian? he took 12 damage and kept fighting haha