I'm not bothering with crunch as much as fluff. Recruits will be announced tomorrow with recruitment ending tonight at midnight, US Eastern Standard Time. I'm really enjoying the entries so far and already know it will be a tough decision.
updated my profile with a personality description
Hopefully Roondar will be let out to play, she's got an itch she needs scratching! :D
You're not the only one Roondar, been wanting to play a monk for some time now. Not counting my one level dip I did.
It's too soon to say of course, but I can see a few faces with whom I could form a bond.
Toritaka here. Background and such done, still working on the story for extra super special bonuses, but I like him. As a point of interest: I had briefly looked at running this AP, so I do know some of the overarching story spoilers and as such, wrote implications in my character's history without him actually knowing anything. I am also running Rise of the Runelords and as such have done a lot of character research on Ameiko and Shalelu since they both have pretty nice roles in RotR. The story I write will actually include a little bit of that for Ameiko. That will be posted in a bit. Probably around 8:30EST, maybe a bit later.
The suspense is killing me. When he opens that envelope and reads out those names, will I have to put on a brave game face or be pleasantly shocked. I have an acceptance speech ready just in case.
@GM Beazy Do you need the crunch to be completed before the deadline?
I ironed out some of the inconsistencies in my character background earlier today, though I seem to have missed the part about the extra benefits. I'll pass on superior training since it's probably too late for that, but the one where you get do a story or ballad about the character does seem somewhat tempting as well as the extra wealth one. I might take a crack at the story before recruitment ends.
That said, good luck everybody.
Looking in, looks like a lot of good options are posted. I don't envy the GM in
making those last choices. Good luck everybody!
One more for you - György Badžo, Desnan Cleric (Evangelist) and one day perhaps a Tattooed Mystic.
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Recruitment is closed.
Recruits announced tomorrow at 11:59PM US EST.
Good luck all. May Desna guide your paths.
Roondar is waiting patiently, her hands folded in her lap and her eyes fixated on the fly on the wall.
No, you can't come out to play Shlezt. Not yet.
Patience is one of the virtues you need on the road to perfection.
Patience will help focus your mind and focus your hand to victory.
Irori's teachings, scripture 1
Patience is indeed a virtue. You cannot imagine how BORING it is to hide in the closet all day waiting for the bugger to fall asleep! I mean, what the heck? How long does a guy have to wait to murder another guy in his sleep?
Alright everyone, this is the moment you've been waiting for! Here in a few moments, I will announce the winners of the First Annual GM Beazy Jade Regent Play-By-Post recruitment contest! Before we do that, however, I'd like to say a few words to each of the participants. I cannot begin to describe the amount of enthusiasm you guys brought to the table. For that alone, I could thank you but there's a lot more I'd like to address. I received a few messages throughout this recruitment and had quite a few of you openly confused and/or wondering how this system of creation worked exactly. I'd like to be honest with you. I had no clue how it would work out.
It was my first time using this new system of character development and, in my opinion, it worked out beautifully in the end. It was, as with all experiments, not without faults of its own. I see now places where I could've been more concise, more thorough. Thank you for bearing with me throughout this social experiment. I am impressed with how it turned out and plan to use it again in the future after some revision.
There were places where I listed specific systems that could play a role in the game (such as fame, prestige, trust, etc.). I included this because I like to be open with the people who apply to my game. Maybe that was one of the reasons I drove so many people away. Maybe it was the aforementioned development system (okay, I know part of it was the development system). I won't be changing that though. I want you to know when you sign up for one of my games exactly what you can expect out of it especially since you're volunteering for the long run. I don't differ this at any of my game tables either when running for Pathfinder Society or when running my own personal home games. You know what you're getting with me whether its via word of mouth or just by sitting and talking with me. I hope I get to play or GM a game for each and every one of you one of these days. Believe it or not, but despite 12,000+ Pathfinders (and that's the unofficial Facebook page like census) the world of Golarion as it appears on planet Earth is a small world. I surmise I'll see quite a few of you.
Finally, the real reason you came to check back up on this thread and the reason you read - or skipped - through my previous two paragraphs. The contestants. Let me say that this decision was not an easy way at all. Even before I closed recruiting, I was sifting through applicants, checking and re-checking numbers to ensure attention to detail (even Hero Lab makes mistakes, folks), and was sitting back reading what could very well be short stories featured in the next Pathfinder Chronicler Anthology or even Paizo's own fiction blog. Some of you I took with me to meetings to read while I waited. You all were great and put a lot of heart into it and that's what I wanted to see most of all. Crunch was just icing on the cake. I wanted to see players that would come out of their shell and help create a tale of epic proportions alongside their fellow players. I had very worthy applicants. Unfortunately, and I may be a jerk for saying it, but I'm a small town country boy that was raised to believe that not everybody can be winners. I set out to recruit four players and a trio of stand-bys and that's what I had to do. For any of the above, recruits or stand-bys, if you feel as if you no longer want to participate, please let me know and I will choose a separate individual to take your spot. For stand-bys, I will contact you if a spot opens up or we need a temp. If no stand-bys are available at that point, I'll re-open recruiting.
Corvus
Corvus had the strongest entry when it came to opening my imagination. It wasn't the cleanest or most concise, but it certainly kept me entranced. Her ability scores, statistics, skills, and every other bit of crunch was spot-on and I was impressed right off the bat with the amount of knowledge she possessed. However, what cemented her place in the party was her background which was, for me, was a compelling tale of a young girl turned adventurer. When I closed my eyes, I felt as if I was trying to keep in step with the dance of Corvus. It was as if I was a cameraman filming her biography and watching her grow up and into a deadly yet graceful warrior. She made me feel her character's force of personality through her words and left both my wife and I wanting to more of the character when we were finished reading. As such, Corvus is the first recruit to my Jade Regent game. Hope you have that acceptance speech handy.
Treygan Gorski
Treygan came across strong in the running early on though he was matched in some areas by one of his fellow applicants who I will leave nameless until later. In Treygan's background, if you haven't had the pleasure of reading it, a pair of young children dare each other to be brave and head out of town to play at being adventurers. To their dismay, they encounter none other than the famous goblins of Varisia (specifically Sandpoint, of course) and during a series of escalating dangers are brought into what can only be a harrowing experience to a ten-year old. Maybe it's the dad in me that pictured my son dangling from a cliff with his childhood friend that left me on the edge of my seat, expecting a tragic end to this "boys will be boys" charade, but Treygan threw me for one helluva loop. I won't spoil the story, but I wanted to share my personal experience and reason why Treygan is the second recruit to my Jade Regent game.
Gyorgy Badzo
A late comer to the recruitment thread, Gyorgy had probably the cleanest and most concise character application I have ever seen. In terms of pure detail, his was the strongest entry. If you don't believe me, just check it out. After reading link after link, I was blessed enough to just get to read Gyorgy's entry. It did not disappoint. Every link, whether picture or page, is elegantly placed in just the right spot to help hammer in the last bit of detail that I needed to really realize who and what Gyorgy is striving for. It helped paint a picture of the struggles of a Desnan clergyman and, if I wasn't a devout follower of Besmara, nearly convinced me to convert to Desna. It was a strong entry without a doubt, but it also lets me see who the person behind the keyboard is and that person's dedication is what led Gyorgy to be the third recruit to my Jade Regent game.
Toshiro Kato
I don't want to embarass anyone and I pray you forgive me when I say this, but Toshiro almost didn't apply. The unclear parts of the development system nearly pushed him away, but a friend convinced him to apply. I'm glad he did. Again, numbers were spot-on as were the numbers with most of the other players, but Toshiro's fluff truly compelled me. As with Treygan, my father in me kicked in and I felt the emotional weight on Toshiro's shoulders and he felt solely responsible for caring for his dear friend's child. I'm not saying appealing to the dad in me will work every time. Just in these cases. Still, I felt the weight of an old man who felt as if he'd gone too far in his life and was incapable of going any further when he finally found that reason to continue going on again. I felt the guilt as he felt he'd failed at his responsibilities. For his unsurpassed ability to convey such emotions through text, Toshiro Kato is the fourth recruit to my Jade Regent game.
Sir Gavin D'Monteforte
Sir Gavin was the character in strongest contention with Treygan. In my personal opinion, they matched each other blow-for-blow in the Edge of My Seat Department. While true that the two had different styles when it came to writing, they both made me feel as if I was a part of the action. Sir Gavin made me feel the pang of regret as he was informed of the dishonor he'd brought to his family and the sense of duty and sheer courage it took to swallow his pride and agree to leave everything he'd known behind. In the end, I had to choose one of the two though and it pretty much came down to a flip of the coin for me. You did a damn good job, Gavin, and for that reason, I offer you the first spot on the Jade Regent standby squad.
Aliver Magravi
Aliver is a halfling who's learned to make the best of a bad situation. His parents died at a young age - something that's almost become a prerequisite for an adventuring career - and he was taken to a temple where he didn't take to the life. Instead he got a new family and learned to function despite being a fish out of water. He found his niche and stuck with it. Aliver made me walk every step of his life and I eventually got in step with that. I pulled together an image of how I imagine Aliver appears through his description and I liked it. What made me like Aliver the most though was his quirks. I used to play baseball and all of us players had little rituals or traditions that we'd do before or even during a game. Aliver's rituals reminded me of those moments in my life. For appealing to my quirky side, I offer Aliver the second spot on the Jade Regent standby squad.
Lukas Halvson
Lukas had by far one of the best stories I read. It wasn't because it appealed to my emotions or because it reminded me of an event in my past and it certainly wasn't because it appealed to the dad in me. Lukas' story stuck out with me because it just outright confused me. I literally had to do a double take when I got finished reading to even understand what was going on and even then I was still confused. Who the heck is he talking to and why the heck isn't anyone looking at these guys like they're nuts? That's where his crunch came into play. The answer to my questions lied in a small little tidbit labeled Weakness. Then I honestly laughed for about five minutes straight. I laughed so long and so hard that my wife's hand was hovering over her phone like she was about to call my taxi straight for the loony bin. I suppose now that it does remind me of a story I heard told by my wife about a Carrion Crown game she ran where they had an oracle who was haunted by the ghost of his mother. During their downtime, the oracle's mother would bake cookies and prepare fresh meals for them. I laughed at that story about as long and loud as I laughed at Lukas'. Congratulations, Lukas! If you'll have it, I offer you the third and final spot on the Jade Regent standby squad.
Finally, all applicants have been deemed eligible, should they so choose, for the bonus package and the perks that come with.
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And that's it, folks. Thank you again for volunteering for this and if you weren't one of the chosen, know that it's not because yours wasn't good. The decision to cut some of you was not made lightly. I consulted with my pre-existing players and received their opinions on the matter without letting it influence my final decision. If you didn't make it and you'd like to either know why, what I thought about your entry, or just want to chat, feel free to send me a PM. I highly suggest to those of you who didn't make it to take these characters to the next play-by-post that interests you because I guarantee you have good entries. I just had to make a decision. If I felt comfortable running two games, I would probably have most of your names up top by now, but I like to be realistic in my time management. I just don't have the time to run two PBPs. Again, thank you, and please be civil and respectful and congratulate your fellow applicants.
In addition, please continue to talk amongst yourselves here in the recruitment thread. I'll be here as well to answer any questions you may have if you choose to ask it in public. All I ask is that you refrain from posting in the Discussion and Gameplay threads unless you're one of the aforementioned folk.
For those of you who made it, I've opened up the Discussion thread. Please swing by, read another long-winded post from me, and get your game faces on.
Ah well, back to the drawing board.
Congratulations to all those that got chosen for particpiation or stand-bye.
Roondar kicks the dust and walks away... Sad..
Good to know you liked it. I'll assume the standbys will get a pm if for whatever reason you need more players. Otherwise I just might take you up on the idea of finding another game for Aliver(it'd give me an excuse to finish that anecdote of his I started). I actually tend not to reuse characters very often, but he's the first alias I reused(although all the recent alterations made him barely recognizable).
Let me know if there's anything that could use elaboration in any case.
Your assumption is correct. I'll send a PM to the stand-bys if they're needed at any time. We'll work closely together to draft a believable reason as to how you're joining the party. That said, I don't expect (and certainly don't encourage) folks to sit around waiting on word that may not come. Alivar is a great concept and I think if you can get him into another game elsewhere, he'd be a welcome addition.
The same thing goes for most of you. Whether you feel comfortable modifying a character for another game or not, if you feel your concept was strong, I encourage you to actively pursue other avenues. If you need help, I'll be glad to offer what advice I can. I'm not an expert nor am I perfect in my concepts, but I'll be glad to lend my eyes and breadth of experience to the field.
As I said, all you got to do is ask.
Congrats to everyone who made the cut, and thanks for the selection GM Beazy! Hoping for a good adventure for you all!
It is very cool to be selected as a runner-up!