If you get Scribe Scroll there's a very real risk I'll become very pesky about also getting CMA&A. I've got an interest in spell-scribed armor that borders on unhealthy. :-)
I'm still hanging about as well.
Still here. Thank you for volunteering to keep us going!
So...I'm beginning to worry that GM Paladin may have reconsidered and might not be coming back to GM the Hell's Rebels campaign. If that's the case and I need to take over the GMing reins, well...I've got some work to do.
I have some limitations as a GM, not the least of which is that I've never run any truly high-level games, even in the 3E/3.5 era (the highest one of my campaigns ever got was 12th-13th level). Add to that that I've only gotten halfways serious about the Pathfinder Rules by running and playing in low-level PbP games on these forums over the past two years and, well...I'm no rules master. As such, though, I'm not afraid to ask for some help from my fellow players.
Kiri sent me a proposition for a new sorcerer bloodline, which I looked at and didn't notice any glaring issues...at least at lower levels. My inexperience at high-level play mechanics, however, makes me wary of accepting it outright. If any of you players have experience at high-level play, could you look at the bloodline and tell me any issues or concerns you might have with it? Kiri: Would you be OK sending the bloodline to other players for examination?
Otherwise, I'm good with your change of PCs as described in this post. I had concerns about her having too much info about the past history of the Silver Ravens, but the memory loss suggestion seems to alleviate that.
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Although I was originally leaning toward rejecting Leora's request to swap out her teamwork feat for Scribe Scroll (as it was an extra 'boon' feat to begin with), having Jessibel relegated to a part-time GM-PC does kinda make the feat next to worthless. Unless everyone else is going to ask to switch out their feats, too, I'll allow the change.
I love my boon! I ain't swappin' s**t!
/hugs_VMC
Ahem. Uh, I mean, hey, anything I can do to grease the rails for you, feel free to ask. Especially if it's anything like, "Play a big galoot looking to hack guys up with a sword."
If anyone wants to review the bloodline that was mentioned I have it spoilered in this alias for easy reference.
Thanks, Kiri. I'm already kicking around ideas on how to introduce your in-stasis PC into the game.
I have no need to change anythin' (my boon effectively being getting to play a drow).
The only thing that spooks me on Fiila's bloodline is the energy drain at level 9. A creature with as many negative levels as hit dice dies. This is not a big problem for a boss fight, but it means that Fiila may be able to bypass some unconventional encounters - e.g. a critter with low Hit Dice but powerful innate abilities, such as a quickling with a couple class levels, simply by using touch attacks while everyone else in the party uses total defense. But, that's kind of an edge case, and it would require multiple touches anyway, so unless she's also hasted it's unlikely to come up in a short combat. It would be brutal if she specializes in enchantment and takes the 2nd-level spell unnatural lust, which compels the target to kiss or caress you.
GM, I really appreciate you taking the time to run a game. I know it's time consuming and the rules stuff gets complicated. I'm always happy to help if you need a hand, though I'm no rules lawyer. One huge advantage of a PBP game is that you have all the time in the world to look stuff up!
Maybe this is a pessimistic way of looking at things, but will high-level play be an issue? We played for about a year in the original game and only got to level 2. We've been playing Madness in Kintargo for almost a year and are still level 2!
Good catch on the feat being a boon, I was just getting sad that I've had the teamwork feat for a long time and never even used it once. If you feel scribe scroll isn't appropriate, I can pick something else. Whatever you decide!
As for the bloodline, it looks okay to me. It follows the same sort of structure and types of abilities of other sorcerer bloodlines as far as I can tell. Like T'chazzar said, you can get into some weird corner cases with some enchantment and level drain spells but we could add house rules if it becomes an issue.
Leora makes an excellent point about how long an AP takes to run using the PbP format, so I'll accept Kiri's bloodline for now with the caveat that the energy drain part might get revisited if/when you get to 9th level. Also, Leora's boon feat was any non-combat one, so the switch to Scribe Scroll is fine (I thought she'd got a teamwork feat boon like Jessibel).
Kiri: If you can get your new PC worked up over this weekend, I'll try to get Hell's Rebels restarted on some level next week. Oh yeah--you rolled for boons already HERE.
I'm on board with the change. Leora has a point about the speed of play by post. I think this one was just slow, and this adventure was a side quest so maybe once we get back to chasing the rat around the Nest we can level up. :)
Basically have her done but she's at home and I'm at a small con til tomorrow. I'll get her up asap. As for the drain there is a proc that gets it as early as 6 I believe even with the preq's for the class but I can accept that.
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My replacement for Kiri.
Don't have any equipment, considering how things are starting for her I'm fine with that. I figure that while whatever has kept her trapped all this time kept her alive and intact, well mostly anyway, it didn't do the same for anything she was wearing or otherwise wasn't physically a part of her.
Welcome!
T'chazzar will have some suspicions about her at first, but I will work to make sure it doesn't disrupt the group.
Understandable and it should be fun.
I'm doing some work behind the scenes toward the "Hell's Rebels" restart. We'll need to review and again start to implement the weekly Rebellion Upkeep/Actions rules from the HR Player's Guide. Our old spreadsheet is located HERE. I'll likely just skip ahead 3 weeks or so on the game calendar and just assume the organization neither gained nor lost any members for the period it went dark or underground.
Forvian's Fighters team (humans) doesn't have a manager yet; the Fushi Sisters (tengus) are currently managed by Kiri, so it wouldn't hurt to start planning who'd like to take over that task.
I'm not very familiar with the rebellion team management yet, but T'chazzar has the Natural Born Leader trait and a high Charisma, so he can manage 4 teams with a +4 bonus to all of them.
Dom's rebuild also upped his Charisma. I mean, it's not huge, but I'm at least into positive territory.
You think maybe we can take Rebellion Upkeep cost back down to the lower level the Player's Guide lists for it? At higher levels Paladin's increased formula was really going to hurt, especially since (IIRC) there are several actions that require expending gold equal to your current Upkeep cost.
You think maybe we can take Rebellion Upkeep cost back down to the lower level the Player's Guide lists for it? At higher levels Paladin's increased formula was really going to hurt, especially since (IIRC) there are several actions that require expending gold equal to your current Upkeep cost.
Probably. The thought of chasing houseruled stuff across the MBs doesn't really appeal to me.
I'm trying to get some RL issues ironed out and will be offline both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. I'll pick things up again on Monday, however.
I'm assuming Kiri will remain with the PC party until they find her new character; that should give me a little more time to look over Falina and try to get to know all the PCs and their abilities better.
Okay, good luck! Dom will spend the weekend pondering Rexus' news, and I'll post as soon as I'm coherent.
EDIT: and to build on Rexus' point, isn't the dove also the sacred animal to Sarenrae, another enemy faith of the state?
Yeah, kind of figured I would keep her going until then.
GM, feel better.
And to everyone, have a great holiday!
Yes do feel better. I'm fighting it myself.
I was the spy master.
Alrighty, I found our old rebellion sheet and copied a new version to my Google Drive. Please take a look and refresh yourselves with where we were at! Is everybody okay with the roles they have? Anybody want to switch?
Rebellion sheet
GM, could you please add a link either to your signature or to the Campaign Info tab? It's too long to fit into my signature with my stats.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aqQb9dty2Dymq-y7UPKmclN4TVD71FJXqOY 4kJpMzLw/edit?usp=sharing
T'chazzar, are there any particular roles you are interested in? Lucius was a former PC who is no longer part of the group, so he can probably come off the list. Lydia is an NPC, so could move her elsewhere too. Other than that, we could swap roles around if anyone feel strongly about something in particular.
T'chazzar, you mentioned you can lead extra teams. Are you interested in leading the Forvian's fighters group? They are freedom fighters as classified in the rebellion rules. I believe they were Kintargans who protested against Thrune, got arrested, and forced to work in a salt mine. The PCs rescued them at some point.
May also want to start thinking about who will lead the Fushi sisters if Kiri is taking off soon (pun totally intended).
Thanks a million, Leora! I have Excel on my home PC but not on my laptop (where I do all my PbP stuff from), so I was trying to make a similar sheet using Tables in Word. It wasn't working so good. :)
I added a few things to the spreadsheet (such as the team events used during the Madness in Kintargo interlude) and a possible action for the two "off weeks" prior, while the Silver Ravens were in temporary disarray.
I'm in agreement that Lucius and Lydia should be removed from the officers roster although Lydia will remain on the Allies List.
Leora nailed who Forvian Crowe and his fighters are; now we just need someone to become their team manager. And we need to decide on team actions for the week, do the Upkeep Phase, iron out the officers roster, and decide the Silver Ravens' next move. It seems that searching for Sabrina/Nicolae and dealing with the Red Jills were the two most popular ideas.
Hopefully, I'll be able to post something re: this game week's Upkeep Phase a bit alter this afternoon.
I'm fine with managing Forvian's Fighters. I can take over the strategist spot when Kiri leaves if we don't plan to do a wholesale shuffling of positions.
Retconning Actions a bit from Week Three (Paladin never fully updated the old spreadsheet, and I changed an action from Gather Information to Recruit Team to add Forvian's Fighters to the mix).
EDIT: OK, it seems GM Paladin used a custom rule for the Supporter Attrition step in the Upkeep Phase (see this post). Unless anyone objects, I think I'll scrap that customization along with the added costs system and just use what's in the HR Player's Guide.
I'm still trying to figure out how many supporters the Silver Ravens currently have. If you're indeed at 23 supporters, that would bump the rebellion up to Rank 3 and earn each character a boon (Gift--potion [value 300 gp or less]); start picking your potions, but I'll likely hold off the increase on the Rebellion Rank until the following game week as I continue to do some math.
Cool, if you need me to edit anything specific in the Google Doc, let me know, but anyone who has the link can edit! Looks great! I really like the "Rebellion in Play" at the bottom, so we can keep track of what happened each week.
GM, would the tables starting with 2nd-Level Potions and Oils here in Ultimate Equipment be ok as long as they are less than or equal to 300gp?
I'm considering potion of invisibility since Leora isn't particularly sneaky!
GM, would the tables starting with 2nd-Level Potions and Oils here in Ultimate Equipment be ok as long as they are less than or equal to 300gp?
I'm considering potion of invisibility since Leora isn't particularly sneaky!
No problem. If it's not more than 300 gp, it's OK.
OK, I've added a few things to the Campaign Info tab: An NPCs Google document link and spoilers containing the Activity Phase Actions currently available to the Silver Ravens and a related piece detailing the organization's current teams and the actions they're capable of taking.
I'm hoping to add some more stuff (maps, maybe a loot list, etc.) a bit later.
We should probably decide on a Silver Ravens' Actions standard operating procedure now so the weekly checks don't bog down the game unnecessarily. Here are some possibilities:
1. I can make the organization's weekly Upkeep Phase Secrecy check to determine how many supporters are lost (or possibly gained) each week...or you folks can designate someone to make the check.
2. One player should probably take the lead for organizational checks, perhaps making the Upkeep Phase Secrecy check and throwing out suggestions for the week's Activity Phase actions as well. If there's agreement (or no posted dissent), we'll move on to the rolls for those actions. Again, maybe the same player can make all rolls or each team manager can make the necessary roll(s) instead.
3. Let me know if you can think of any additional aids I can whip up for the Campaign Info tab or if I missed anyone in the NPC Document.
Since we are Rank 2, we can take 2 actions (see the right side of the rebellion sheet). My vote is for recruit supporters and gather information.
We can't recruit any teams yet since we are at our max until we hit Rank 3. And seems like we are pretty good on gold.
I finally found what Dom and GM were talking about with the treasury stuff. I updated cell G4 from =[Rank]^2*10 to simply =[Rank]x10, per player's guide p22. For our current rank of 2, this changed our treasury minimum from 40gp to 20 gp :)
I'm not super-familiar with the Rebellion system yet - I'm reading the PG to try to grasp it, but I am really dizzy and disoriented today.
Are we using the rebellion boons? Do I have a bonus skill rank from reaching rebellion rank 2?
I'm not sure if I need to be making die rolls m'self, or if our rebellion just takes two actions and those are rolled by... someone? Don't know who?
I agree with Leora, I believe we need information, and more followers. Even if there is dissension in the ranks more followers can't hurt.
Let's go looking for Sabrina this week.
Are we using the rebellion boons? Do I have a bonus skill rank from reaching rebellion rank 2?
My initial feeling on this was No, since your PC wasn't part of the rebellion at the time they earned that boon. In retrospect, however, I'll allow it for two reasons: 1) It's probably not a stretch to say that Kiri's new character would have received a similar boon during her run with the first iteration of the Silver Ravens back during the Chelish Civil war, and 2) It's easier for me if all the PCs have the same boons, so both T'chazzar and Falina can take the extra skill point.
I'm not sure if I need to be making die rolls m'self, or if our rebellion just takes two actions and those are rolled by... someone? Don't know who?
Yeah, I was kinda hoping that someone would step up and become the unofficial/official Rebellion Roller, but that doesn't seem to have happened. If no one objects (and you should, because most of the time my random rolls are only marginially better than poor T'chazzar's!), I'll make the rolls during the upkeep phase and ask for each team manager to make the Activity Phase action checks where required. I'll roll non-team-related actions as well.
Also @T'chazzar: Was your Diplomacy check in the Gameplay Thread to bond with your new team or to address the Dissension in the Ranks event?
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The Rebellion in Play subsystem has a lot of subtle little rules and modifiers to keep track of, and I've found a few things we got wrong earlier and that I missed previously.
- Dom (as Sentinel) provides a flat +1 bonus on the Silver Raven's two secondary Organization checks. I'm guessing these were the +1s in the "other" column on the spreadsheet, and I've removed those.
- Dom (as Sentinel) is able to provide a bonus on Organization checks during events; I believe those bonuses may have been what was originally on the spreadsheet.
- I added Lydia back in as an officer (recruiter); she'll now provided a +2 bonus to the total during "Recruit Supporters" actions.
- I've returned Kiri to the Strategist position and made T'chazzar another Recruiter (another +2 to the total on "Recruit Supporters" actions) until Kiri leaves and falina joins the party.
- Laria Longroads provides a +2 bonus to the Loyalty checks for all "Recruit Supporters" checks.
- I need to complete the Upkeep Phase before moving on to Actions/Events in the future, since if during Upkeep you gain an Organization Rank, you might gain additional teams and/or actions. So I'm gonna go make those rolls now and will report the results on the Gameplay Thread.
I was attempting to mitigate the penalty, but failed.
OK, HERE is the post wherein GM Paladin lays out his alterations for some of the rebellion rules, including multiplying by 50% the goal number of supporters needed to attain each rank. I think what I'll do is remove Lydia as a Silver Ravens officer but keep her as a Unique Ally. That should slow down the supporter run-up at least a little.
I'm going to roll the Recruit Supporters action check now, and I assume the Gather Information check will be in regards to Sabrina's whereabouts (I'm pretty sure the group's already got intel on the Red Jills, most importantly that they've become more daring and active since Thrune took over and that their hideout is somewhere on Temple Hill).
So we get 2 more actions to finish out this round of events. I vote for
- #1 Gather Information (on anything about Sabrina's location)
- #2 Reduce Danger (Forvian’s Fighters)
- #3 Earn Gold (Fushi Sisters) if people don't like the 2 above options.
GM, good catches while you were scouring the rules, and thanks for finding that old post! Do you want to go back to the rules as written for number of followers, or you want to use what GM Paladin wrote? I can update the spreadsheet Wed. evening if you want it changed.
I don't mind rolling, just didn't want to start rolling stuff since I'd already been posting a lot lately! I am also usually only available in the evenings so didn't want everyone to have to wait on me if I wasn't around.
GM, good catches while you were scouring the rules, and thanks for finding that old post! Do you want to go back to the rules as written for number of followers, or you want to use what GM Paladin wrote? I can update the spreadsheet Wed. evening if you want it changed.
Yeah, we might as well use the rules as written in the HR Player's Guide; that way we can all learn/relearn them from the same source. I think I see why GM Paladin wanted to pump up the number of supporters needed to gain a rank, but if this indeed becomes a problem I'll house rule something then.
REMINDER: Your third and final rebellion action is the one gained by having someone in the Strategist officer's position: As such, you gain the neat +2 bonus on the check roll. I'll assume the Ravens used Turl's Troupe for the failed attempt to Gather Information about Sabrina's whereabouts (since that's the only action they can take at this point); that leaves the Fushi Sisters (Earn Gold, Gather Information) as an available option for the final action.
Lastly, while the rolls I made yesterday were half-decent, the ones I've made offline at home weren't. The first bad roll resulted in the Dissension in the Ranks event; the second led to a different situation that will come to the Ravens' attention later in this game week.
Partly due to the fact that I'm badly out-of-practice with Excel and partly because I don't quite trust myself not to edit the same thing on the spreadsheet multiple times (or not at all), I created a document with the Silver Ravens Organization Advancement Table at the top followed by weekly tables detailing important stats/conditions/actions/events for that week. A link is posted on the Campaign Info tab.
Oh yeah--still waiting on Weekly Rebellion Action #3 (at +2!).
GM, I'm an Excel wiz, if you need anything done let me know! I updated the supporter numbers to reflect the player's guide. If you prefer, we could make a tab for each week in the spreadsheet. Whatever is easiest for you.
Alrighty I'll decide and roll for the last check for this week. Will post again in the gameplay thread in a minute since my dice are on fire!
Hey GM,
Inner Sea Intrigue introduced the feat, Masked Renown. Then in a subsequent release, there was Obscurity, sort of the "mirror opposite" of renown. Do you think this feat could be used for Obscurity?
I'm still trying to figure out how to best represent the Domitius/Dukkan duality, and that might be the ticket (said ticket will cost me a feat, but whatchagonnado).
/singing
"You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar,
When we dumped Thrune..."
That's been going through my head all day. Friggin eighties...
The allusion to Second Darkness was particularly amusing considering that I'm in an S.D. game in which I play a tiefling bartender who was hired on specifically after she showed up in exactly the fashion described by our "friend" Saul here.
That's a freaking awesome reference! God I miss the Second Darkness game I was in. Was having a lot of fun in it, even if we did slow way down for a while. Sadly our GM had to drop all, or most of, her games.
I wondered if anyone would catch that; totally forgot that Jesse's in the other table of an ongoing Second Darkness game I'm in. I'm not above pirating urban adventures or building maps to repurpose into Kintargo's landscape.
Not sure that I'll be able to get online tomorrow or Wednesday; also, I'm iffy for Wednesday and Friday of next week. Let me know what (if anything) you folks want to do for the Christmas and New Years holidays.
I had gotten in a Second Darkness game, but it died a very quick death. It looked awesome.
It has some interesting elements. Also, some... questionably racist elements (kinda like some of Serpent's Skull). I hope if they ever do a hardcover collection they take a long look at how to reshape it.
Let me know what (if anything) you folks want to do for the Christmas and New Years holidays.
For the holidays, I want to drink eggnog and go ice skating! Oh wait, that's not what you meant...
I'll be around for Christmas. Going to Florida on vacation for New Years (Dec 30-Jan 4) but should be able to post from my phone, would just need help moving tokens if we are in combat. It's still 60 degrees here in Ohio, so not that big of a change, weather-wise!
I'll be around except for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I have a holiday break from work, but nothing big planned.