I really liked the bit along the lines of "Is manipulating them to do good things a good or bad thing?" It's very deontology vs utilitarianism.
And this is why true democracy with large groups of people doesn't work. We can't even agree on survival haha
When all else fails, Rock Paper Scissors
So, we're all together now, we're going to be splitting up into tables. Any thoughts on splitting based on tasks?
I see two early options, exploration, and kingdom/hamlet building.
Might also give an easy method of letting people move around a little?
Building?
I think tracking down Kao Lor comes before anything right?
And this is why true democracy with large groups of people doesn't work. We can't even agree on survival haha
Well, we're rather limited on what we can do/what we know right now, which makes agreeing on a course of action basically impossible. I think most people will want to know what's in our immediate vicinity before choosing a long term plan.
^ +1
Thanks Cave Toad for the update. I look forward to getting in our tables to role play further.
We lizardfolk shall rise up and reestablish the little-known lizardfolk empire!
Seriously, it's awesome to see the three lizardfolk together, and I can't help but wonder who else we'll be grouped with, if anyone at all.
You three are so Cold Blooded! :-)
Cheese into witch for the mad coven bonuses.
There will be no sliding in my group, profligates!
So yeah, who wants to be the Jack McCoy to my duergar police officer? ;)
LAW and ORDER indeed!
Bum Bum!
So yeah, who wants to be the Jack McCoy to my duergar police officer? ;)
LAW and ORDER indeed!
Well, we're both maxed in Intimidate, Perception, and Sense Motive....
Bad Cop and Worse Cop?
The tables are just initial breakdowns, there can be fluidity, during or after trial. Some of it will depend on how far the groups split off or if you all plan to meet up and/or communicate frequently.
I would imagine some may choose to move around. Also, although I hope no one disappears, sometimes real life steals people away. One reason why I wanted to stack the tables a bit. Right now I have 6 person tables set up, and have 4 of them.
Bad Cop and Worse Cop?
In high school I wrote and performed a skit with that title. Let's just say the worse cop had more brutal interrogation techniques than Batman.
So yeah, who wants to be the Jack McCoy to my duergar police officer? ;)
LAW and ORDER indeed!
Well, we're both maxed in Intimidate, Perception, and Sense Motive....
Bad Cop and Worse Cop?
I'm down with this. ;)
|
Cheese into witch for the mad coven bonuses.
O M G
You just blew my mind. Sly is already a witch.
And yes, thanks for the update, DM CaveToad.
/me still reeling at coven idea.
Can we have a cavalier? Haha!
Too bad we'd need an actual hag though.
Hmm, that's a good idea in theory, I don't know how we'd get a real hag to join along, unless....Leadership, maybe?
I just realized Grobly is the green goblin... how does one favorite an alias?
theres a button in your profile.. I forget where.
With all of this talk of Law abound, outta curiosity, who are the Chaotic members of our merry band?
EDIT: in your account tab, where you manage your aliases you have the option.
<--- CG, Do the right thing even if it means you have to kill everyone in the process.
I am True Neutral, but thinking of heading CN.
Not murder hobo evil, but enjoying fights and destruction a little too much.
theres a button in your profile.. I forget where.
With all of this talk of Law abound, outta curiosity, who are the Chaotic members of our merry band?
EDIT: in your account tab, where you manage your aliases you have the option.
I didn't mean set an alias as default.
Grobly is Anti-Law, but most of his chaotic tendencies come from his racial heritage- fast metabolism and short attention span.
dot dot dot dot
Lawful, Good, here. She believes strongly that without laws, no one is free, for they are all a slave to themselves. :)
Grubgullet is True Neutral. He believes strongly that without food, he is hungry.
I was really hoping to see our Ogre pop his head into the game, what with his eating habits. Seeing your intro posts I was hoping we could work out some sort of 'you ate me, then I tried to eat you' rinse and repeat backstory.
Lawful, Good, here. She believes strongly that without laws, no one is free, for they are all a slave to themselves. :)
That's interesting because as a recovering alcoholic/drug addict Tavros is all about not being a slave to yourself. Although I'm not sure he would agree with you about the laws, even though he is also lawful.
It's actually a concept I picked up from an Orthodox Jewish friend. I don't know if it's a staple or anything like that, but it was a statement that he very much believes in... and it just seemed to fit with how I was running Makoto: Before she was taught restraint, she very much used people, and very much used her magic to control others. She was addicted to power. Now... she's keeping a tight reign on herself.
She believes that it is natural for people to look out for themselves, so it is necessary to create social constructs that force society to look out for others. Again, her view is quite probably flawed, but speaking from personal experience, in her case... she thinks it's true. Then again, it may be flawed in that she doesn't want to really feel like she was a monster. :)
In conjunction with that: She retrained Hypnotism into Identify. :) It just kind of fits that she'd have used it... and would have done her best to get rid of the ability, now that she's 'better'.
So yeah, who wants to be the Jack McCoy to my duergar police officer? ;)
LAW and ORDER indeed!
Gunther, NO!
I can't wait to see who I end up with :). While I would have preferred 6 tables of 4 over 4 tables of 6 I understand that attrition is a concern and it would not be nice to have the game slow down to a crawl or stop because someone disappears. Let's hope no one do. Xanya is obviously one of the chaotic members of the group. I am not sure I want everyone to be exactly the same alignment as that gives smaller range of possible interaction. On the other hand, generating too much conflict in the group internally could cause problems as well.
For example I think it could be cool to be with Maks, but our characters draw in different directions. Light vs darkness, law vs order.
I just saw that Maks picked Spirit summoner and looked over the archtype and I must say WOW, how can I have missed that? I will miss none of the abilities it replaces! Summon Monster might be nice to have to summon a backup mount in case Cryxial somehow dies, but I truly hope to never have to use it and I could replace it with spells anyway. A bit sad I can't use offensive hexes, but it's better to have than the abilities it replaces anyway. I will add the archtype asap.
Mlinzi's Neutral Good. It's the alignment I'm most comfortable playing, and for the story I'm telling with him, it makes a lot of sense. The law wasn't always kind to him, but he also believes in living by moral principles that would reign in any chaos. Of all the group, he may have internalized the "be good" messages the most, despite philosophical differences with both Lawful and Chaotic alignments.
Also, holy cow! I leave for a few hours to hang out with my girlfriend and you guys have written pages of stuff already!
@Mlinzi: Since Tavros didn't move, he should still be right next to me in the middle of the darkness.
:> Maks is mostly an arm because:
Paladin: Lay on Hands, Mercy, Channel Energy, Auras.
Bard: Cure Light Wounds, Morale Bonuses, Buff Spells.
Summoner: Rejuvenate Eidolon, Lay on Hands (Agathion), Channel Energy, Healing Hex (eventually), Buff Spells.
Giving up Summon Monster, all by itself is a big deal. Some players don't even care about the Eidolon by comparison. I felt that the vibrancy of Life fit more for Maks than magicking up pouncecats. :)
It's also important to note that she came from a humanistic, tribal society... So it was chosen significantly more for fluff than power. (Special mention to heavens... but it didn't fit her background, only her hopeful foreground.)
Yeah, but giving up summon monster is not a big deal for me since I plan to stay mounted pretty much all the time.
Can you get channel energy from two different sources? It makes sense that the rounds per day would stack and the non-stacking stuff is only meant for static bonuses like SA.
Maks role being so different and complementing to Xanya is one of the reason I want to party with her. If we do end up together, I would have wished I picked battle over life.
@Mlinzi: Since Tavros didn't move, he should still be right next to me in the middle of the darkness.
Didn't see that till just now, and I can't edit it apparently. :/ Whoops.
Oh, Cave Toad, is there any chance that, as Mlinzi advances, his hammer could become a monk weapon?
In the interest of openness: I don't feel Maks and Xanya are good fits together. Perhaps mechanically, yes, but not personality-wise. I think Goivan will make a significantly better rock for you (pun intended!) As a bonus, he's already expressed interest in continuing to interact. So you're already desirable and loved!
A major reason is kind of OOC. I've been having a bad go of things lately in being completely unable to reach people who are close to me, due to personality problems. I really feel like I can't argue with crazy anymore unless it's vital... And doing so in character may well be very frustrating. Sorry!
As for which way to go: I feel very strongly that at least for now, we should focus on making the character who they are. I think from statements you've made, battle is actually probably something she would care a lot more about. But! That doesn't necessarily mean that the spirits that follow her have to feel the same way. Maybe your spirits are specifically trying to guide you on a different path... Or maybe your spirits are a portion of your insanity (from memory, Lore could really play up that concept! I could be wrong and just be thinking of Oracle, though.)
Choosing to give up Summon Monster was a big deal for me, because summoning lots of critters somewhat fits 'the beauty of all things'. But, on the other side of that, Maks was quite tribal, and her patron spirit (reflected in many of her abilities and traits) is life. Shifting her form would have also been in keeping... So it was a really difficult choice.
As for stacking, it explicitly states with channel energy that channels form separate pools with separate strengths. Of note, the Channel ability is not the Channel Energy ability, as such, I don't have the class feature until level 4 (paladin) to take feats that require the class feature specifically. In addition, my paladin channel doesn't even have its own pool, instead eating Lay-on-Hands like candy to function. :)
Thanks for sharing. This is a game and we should optimize for fun and enjoyment for all involved. I would rather play with someone who likes the way I write and want to play with me like Goivan rather than somone who gets frustrated and feel bad for doing so like you. No matter the mechanical synergies or implications.
If I flavor the spirit gifts as part of Goodwin's legacy then life is certainly possible. Our characters are multi-faceted after all. It could be an attempt to show her that she can do good and heal others, not just cause pain and suffering.
Oh, Cave Toad, is there any chance that, as Mlinzi advances, his hammer could become a monk weapon?
It could be conceivable. I have let some room open in the special weapon advancement framework. I have also had you all choose a Theme for your character to possibly help facilitate other powers that are synchronous but don't really fit in anywhere.
Any weapon can be used in martial arts, you just have to train with it and develop techniques for it. Firearm disarm and marksmanship is part of core True Krav Maga.
Any weapon can be used in martial arts, you just have to train with it and develop techniques for it. Firearm disarm and marksmanship is part of core True Krav Maga.
Perhaps in the real world, but not in PF RAW (or even RAI). You can't flurry with a gun or a Dwarven Longhammer, mostly for game balance reasons, but since this is gestalt and our GM is being very generous, I figured it would be worth asking.
Oh, I also revised Mlinzi's theme a little. After playing him a bit and getting a feel for the character, I've decided that "Agile Defender" works as a better theme than just plain ol' "Defender." Sure, he's an Invulnerable Rager, but he's also a Martial Artist, and a rather cunning sort of fellow.
Mmhmm. Thanks for understanding. I don't know that I'd be suffering, only that I might enjoy it less when an avenue to fun might (at some point) be a little close to home.
And definitely! With the flavor you've already built for your character, you could have your spirit slowly transforming your character as it changes your focus. As you've framed your eidolon as a combat monster, you can also express literal growth via evolutions. It actually plays really nicely with your setup! :) You could possibly even flavor the spirit as being a bit of spark that will grow into a third personality (fragment, or what have you), one more inherently good than the rest of you!
There's a lot of space for flavor in all of our characters, and a lot more space for growth (even than a standard character :p)
I now have five tables of five people each. Continuing to refine as I review builds. I have not emailed anyone personally yet about changes or questions, but that will come soonish.
I think I have reasonable synchronicity, flavor and skillsets for each table. Most people's builds have some decent melee power so I didn't focus too much on that. Made sure to have a rogue on each table, spread out the clerics and other healers, bards, arcane casters and buffers and support, while still honoring other grouping requests.
We may get a few more additions so some tables may jump back to 6 people, if we get an influx in the next few days, maybe a 6th table, but I see that less likely. I think there are only 1-3 serious contenders waiting to finish builds yet.
So again, at this point you can gather wood, make a little camp or whatever, but don't get too far off. I am toying with several possibilities as I observe the group dynamics. I like to keep options and flexibility. I won't call it true sandbox, but I also don't like to railroad people into a storyline and not allow freedom to explore the world.
Shaeyl is TN and likely to stay there. His flexible morale compass means that he isn't above justifying the means for the desired end.
When you consider how much of the summon table is evil, and how little is good, that pretty much means that just about any summoner is willing to use evil against evil.
Summon good monster could help unless you just want to be neutral
|
|
On the Lizardfolk page, it says:
The lizardfolk presented here dwell in a swampy environment. Lizardfolk tribes can exist in other environments as well, but they lose their swim speed and instead gain a climb speed of 15 feet.
Is this substitution okay, or would you rather keep things as they are?