Discuss out-of-character stuff here.
I will also accept fan-mail or hate-mail (provided the latter is within the Community Guidelines; otherwise you'll have to send it the old-fashioned way).
I'm a brand new PbP GM, so please bear with me if I hit a few bumps along the way. If you see any issues or have any suggestions, please definitely let me know - it would be much appreciated!
The following instructions are taken, whole cloth from a fantastic SFS game I played with GM Bigboom. They worked brilliantly in that game and so I’d like to try them here:
The expected posting frequency is a minimum of once per day, ideally.
Of course real life intervenes and our availability to post may get hampered once in a while, which is fine. If you know you'll be absent for a few days or more, please let us know in this discussion thread along with any instructions regarding how you'd like your character to be handled in your absence. If I know I'll be absent, I'll be sure to inform the group as well.
In combat, the goal is to have at least one round of combat finish every 24 hours. Therefore, if a player does not post within a 24 hour period, I will bot the character. If you have any specific instructions with how you'd like your character botted (especially with respect to spell or consumables usage), please list them in your character sheet. Otherwise, I'll bot your character using my best judgment.
With starship combat, the goal of completing at least one round every 24 hours remains the same. To keep things moving along, I'll execute the piloting 'initiative' rolls before each round. Over the next 24 hours, each player should declare their crew action and take their rolls. Once that's done, I'll string together and list the outcomes of the engineering, helm, and gunnery phases, as well as provide the piloting 'initiative' rolls for the next round. Again, if a player does not post within a 24 hour period, I'll bot the character per character sheet instructions or using my best judgment.
Out of combat, if a player has not posted within a 24 hour period, I'll assume their character remained silent and took no action, then I'll try to move things along as best I can depending on the situation. In some cases, if it helps move things along, I'll roll Perception skill checks or other 'mandatory' rolls for the group (such as saves). When taking any action, if you believe a roll may be relevant, go ahead and include it in your post. If it applies, I'll take it into account.
Please provide the following info for your characters, which I will use for the Chronicle sheet that you will each get at the end of the game. If you have any questions about what I am seeking, feel free to PM me or post here:
Player Name:
Character Name:
Class / Level:
PFS No.”
Faction:
Day Job Roll:
Standard Advancement or Slow?
Once you've posted your info, feel free to make character introductions over at the Gameplay thread.
Please le me know your preference for start time.
I am able to start Monday, 3/26, if you want to get started earlier than planned with the caveat that between next Thursday night through Sunday morning, I will likely not be posting due to the holiday as we are entertaining family. Otherwise, we can start at full-speed on Monday April 2nd and I will put up the briefing around 11 am US East Coast time.
If you have a preference, one way or another, please let me know.
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Player Name: Caro Cogitatus
Character Name: Ozei Berrnshaw
Class / Level: Solarian / 1
SFS#: 106336-707
Faction: Exo-Guardians
Day Job:
Advancement: Standard
Homeworld: Castrovel
Thanks for having me!
Oops, the Advancement is a carry over from PFS and can be ignored. I couldn't find any reference to the slower track for SFS. (In PFS, it allows your character to advance more slowly; I suppose so that you can play more scenarios with a single character since it would not level out of tier as quickly).
I've had a request for a seventh player. He is a skilled GM and currently holds the fate of my favorite android envoy in his hands.
That being said, I wanted to leave the choice up to you all. If you have an objection to a 7 person table, please PM me stating that you'd prefer a 6 player limit. I don't need more than that. If one person objects, I will cap at 6 and offer the player a spot in my next table.
I will keep your request confidential. I don't want anyone to feel they may be penalized for their choice. I want to be inclusive, but I also respect the various reasons for table limitations.
If I receive no objections by Monday (3/26) at 8 am, US Eastern Time, then I will let him know he is good to join us.
Enjoying the interplay between the PCs. I get the sense folks are ready to get going so I'm planning to start with the briefing Monday morning.
I plan to have some fun with Zapp's ... idiosyncrasies as well as the others.
Also, this is my first time setting things up in Google docs. Let me know if you can't access them.
We may be joined by one more player, so I may postpone the initial briefing a little bit if he doesn't appear before then.
Thanks for the invite. I'll check in the thread in next couple of minutes with my Mechanic.
Great! Reading over Watdem's description, I think that she will fit right in (of course, it may be a tight fit)!
Heh, that's what I said. But it looks like everyone is playing along. Perhaps we'll all be Exploring, Reporting, and Cooperating in Space in no time!
This table is certainly not turning out like I expected, but (as I hope is evident) I am more than willing to role (get it? "roll" & "role"? see what I did there?) with it as long as everyone else is (which everyone appears to be).
Also, sorry for the delay in wrapping up the briefing. Got sidetracked with real life for a moment (I will try not to let it happen again in the future, but it likely will).
@ JJ - Still with us?
If so, please let me know. I want to make sure that I give everyone an opportunity to participate and play.
If not, that's okay too, but please let me know. I hope to get an opportunity to play with you sometime in the future!
That means that there will be starship combat during at least one of the quests. You guys probably have a bit of time, I suppose, although I am expecting any moment for a few of you at least to run and jump out an airlock, which I suppose could put you quickly into starship combat. What I am trying to say is that you may wish to use this Discussion area to discuss/assign starship roles.
Just a reminder that I will be unavailable to GM from later this evening through April 3rd. I realize that I had initially said I'd be available on April 2nd, but I didn't realize the kids had that day off, so posting seems unlikely before then. Sorry for any inconveniences.
You should all be able to edit slides now. Please let me know if you can't.
Some reminders/bookkeeping as we finish the first of the five quests and prepare to go into the second:
You may switch your character for the next (and/or subsequent) quest(s), but there are some caveats (from pages 3-4 of Into the Unknown with emphasis added):
“A player who plays through one or more of the quests receives a Chronicle sheet for Into the Unknown, noting which specific quests he played. He can later play the rest of the quests in the series, earning greater rewards (see the Variable Rewards boon on the Chronicle sheet at the end of this series). If the player created his own 1st-level character, he applies the Chronicle sheet to that character. If he instead used one of the 1st-level Starfinder Society pregenerated characters, he can apply the Chronicle sheet to a 1st-level Starfinder Society character. If that character gains XP from another Chronicle sheet, he can no longer earn additional rewards for that character for playing the other Into the Unknown quests.”
If you want a chronicle sheet for just the first quest (because you want to level characters up quicker, because you want to play this PC in another scenario, etc.), please let me know. The chronicle sheet does award XP, Fame/Reputation, and credits for completion. However, there is no boon received for completing just one or two of the quests.
If you so choose, you may rebuild your character at any time prior to reaching level 1, which presumably means in between quests. But, don’t go changing to try and please me because I ‘m glad that you are the way you are. You may already know that, but I really wanted you each to hear it.
Into the Unknown can be replayed for credit, but the credit must be applied to a different 1st-level character each time.
I should have asked earlier, but please let me know if you have played any or all of the Into the Unknown quests before.
I ask because, as you may have gathered, I have been sticking pretty closely to the written tactics in the quests. I understand that the quests were written primarily for people brand new to Starfinder so the tactics may be suboptimal, but serve a teaching purpose.
However, if you have each played these quests before and do not object, I would like to take some greater license with the tactics in one or more of the remaining quests. One objection (or one first timer) is enough to keep me, strictly, to what tactics are written. Post any objection here or PM me.
Hello, I have never played this before. :-(
Thanks for the prompt reply. I am honored to be your introductory GM to this replayable scenario! I will continue on then as I have been.
As for the others that have played, I commend you for not revealing any spoilers or meta-gaming. Well-done!