OK, guys, if you would please finalize any crunch and whatnot, I'll take a look at that. We'll start the game thread sometime in the next couple weeks, depending on when that's all done (though feel free to do it to get it into your campaigns tab if you want).
Julio, if you want to play Philgor, I think that works for me. Or you can play Julio as a different class if you'd rather.
Here is Philgor. Let me know what needs to be updated. Backstory? Traits?
If you'd like to tweak the backstory, it might make a little sense. I think the basics are fine, but there are obviously going to be a lot fewer giants here than in Giantslayer.
I'll take a look at traits for everyone at some point in the not-too-distant future.
just wanted to check with you, was there anything in the crunch etc for my character that needed tweaking or anything before the game starts?
Drus, sorry for the confusion, but I'd prefer for you to play Garett. You seemed to have a good handle on him and Julio said he would play Philgor as a fighter.
hey, cool either way, as long as I get to play I'm psyched :-)
Dot. I will have to build the alias from scratch though.
Thanks again :)
any idea when the game itself will get under way? No rush or anything, I'm just wondering.
Garett, I have a question for you. I was considering taking the Trap Breaker archetype for Argus, but you're the rogue, so I don't want to steal your thunder if you see your Bandit as being trap-inclined.
Otherwise, I'll consider Mindchemist.
My guess is we'll get started by the first Monday in May (May 4?) at the latest. Hopefully all the characters will be done this week and I can approve them. What I don't know is what next week will be like. I usually try to post around noon, while my wife's at work, but she'll be off all next week prior to leaving the country, so I expect I'll be spending more time with her. That said, it's not unheard of for me to post from work as well.
Ross Byers Since the concept I'm going for is more of a classic highwayman/gentleman bandit/robin hood-ish thing, I'm probably not going to focus too much on trapfinding/disarming so if you want to take your character in that direction, it's all good with me.
motteditor Ok, cool, I just wanted to get an idea, cheers :-)
Great. I'll take Trap Breaker and put ranks in Disable Device.
Motteditor, I know you're picking traits for us, but I'd appreciate Mathematical Prodigy being one of mine. I couldn't find any that grant Dungeoneering as a class skill that make sense for Argus. (Scholar of Ruins makes sense mechanically, but not flavorfully. It would have to be 'Scholar of Geology'.)
Argus is partially completed. Still need to run down gear (mostly alchemical items, I think) and I have one more skill to pick out. But choices of feats and discoveries have been made.
I added a bit of background to get him into the town. I think everything else is ready to go.
Re: Argus's last skill -
Heal is more in character, but not very useful.
Use Magic Device is useful, but not particularly in-character.
Or I could just invest in another Knowledge skill. Or do something a bit more silly like Craft (Glass) so he can make his own alchemy tools.
Opinions?
Outside of potions, I don't think Argus is going to have much magic gear. A good amount of money is going toward his mithral armored coat.
GM, I know I can brew potions of spells in his formula book for half price. Can I craft alchemical items for 1/3 cost?
Oof. Nevermind. I misread the mithral price chart. Argus can't afford a mithral armored coat, and a regular one would have just awful armor check penalties since he isn't proficient.
A chain shirt would be optimal, but I'll be taking studded leather - it's a full-body armor that makes more sense for someone who is worried about shrapnel from an accidental detonation than a chain shirt - which only protects the torso.
Ross, where do you see the half price for brewing potions? I'm not seeing that ... or the rules for 1/3 cost for alchemical items.
Hoping to look through Argus, Philgor and Garrett tonight/tomorrow. Ingrid and Lyra, I'd like you guys to post your characters by end of Friday, please.
Argus looks fine. Mechanical prodigy is fine as a trait; for the other, how about something like mine training: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (engineering) and Knowledge (dungeoneering) checks. One of these skills (your choice) is always a class skill for you.
Philgor also looks fine. However, I think I'm going to tweak your traits. I'm going to take away natural-born leader and give you militia veteran instead. Because all three skills are already class skills for you, you can get a +1 trait bonus to two of those skills.
Garett, can you please add your character sheet to your profile. To do so, go to your alias and click on Edit My Profile on the top right. You have too many traits, so please lose fencer (I'm assuming you took vain as a drawback, but I'd rather not allow that).
Half price for potions because he has the Brew Potion feat. That is, assuming that if Argus is carrying a potion of cure light wounds it's because he brewed it himself for 25 gp instead of buying it for 50 gp.
Likewise, Crafting an item yourself costs 1/3 the item price in raw materials, so assuming that he used Craft (Alchemy) to make any alchemist's fire, acid, or what have you he's carrying.
If you'd rather I just 'pay retail' that's fine too. Just trying to figure out how much my gear costs.
'Mine training' sounds fine. The trait bonus on Knowledge (Engineering) overlaps with the one from Mathematical Prodigy, but that's fine by me. I'm not trying to squeeze out every last bonus, I just want those Knowledges as class skills.
Ah, yes, that makes sense for your potions. And that's fine for alchemical items too.
Ahh... Olive, look at we are almost to the nice town we'll be staying at for the next couple of days!" Olive lets out a long slow grumbling groan.
"Of course not, but dad did liked this place."
New alias created, profile started, but not quite done.
Feats & stats are done, much more to go :)
Oh, FWIW, guys, the module actually starts on the road to Arwyll Stead, so none of you will be in town yet.
Updated traits and background with the latest information.
I'm going to make Argus's last skill Heal: he has skill points to spare but I don't think our cleric will.
Argus is completed
Ingrid's last edit didn't save, though most of the basics are there. I have to redo inventory and spells though.
Anyone have a spell preference? :)
Not in particular. Cat's grace and fox's cunning are the buff spells that would help Argus the most, and they're the two <animal>'s <attribute> spells that clerics don't get.
Fortunately, clerics have an easy time adjusting their spells later when it becomes more apparent what we need.
I hate when the edits don't save. I learned a long time ago to always do a select all-copy before I try to save changed to my profiles.
Will give Ingrid a look over in the next couple days.
I'm not 100 percent sure when I'll start up the game. As mentioned, my wife's leaving May 1 for the Caribbean so I want to spend as much time with her as possible in the next week (and she's finished with work and will be free during the days, which is when I often post).
That said, I can usually post from work in the evening as well, so I *may* try to get us started and just expect very slow progress until probably May 3-4, where I expect to resume my normal posting.
So to sum up, I'll either start and post slowly in the next week or not until May 3-4. :)
I hate when the edits don't save. I learned a long time ago to always do a select all-copy before I try to save changed to my profiles.
I was working on Argus in a Google Doc.
I also downloaded at home an add-on -- Lazarus, maybe? you can find links to it on the messageboards -- that stores text from these type of windows in case you mess up.
Beyond messageboard glitches, I'm often switching between tabs and have no few times inadvertently closed pages with long posts in progress. Used to drive me crazy, but now it's not a problem (unless I'm at work).
I highly recommend it.
I sorted Argus's impressive inventory list to better reflect the current allocation his gear. 'Alchemical luggage' would be on a cargo wagon, while his 'personal luggage' would be in the passenger wagon with him.
His 'demolitionist kit', other than his belt pouch and money and other such day-to-day odds and ends, is probably also on the cargo wagon unless he has a reason to fetch it out.
Lyra Greenshell is done, though she still has 310 gp. (I rolled randomly and got Boots of the Cat :) I did not buy any consumables or common tack so if you have suggestions for a woods-ranging archer please say.
I have started on Olive, would you like a separate alias? I know eidolons are a problem for a lot of people. I kept with a theme, but if anyone (player or GM) feels there is an issue, you will not offend me to say so. :)
I've created my character profile and I removed the trait and drawback requested, so hopefully everything is set for my character. Just let me know if any other tweaks need to be made.
Garett could probably do without the Thieves' tools, since he doesn't have Disable Device. But he should probably buy a Gunsmithing Kit to go with his pistol and feat.
Argus now has a background, and has his own set of thieves' tools. (Even if I imagine they get more use as fine manipulators for installing fuses and building timers.)
I think I would prefer Olive be under her own alias if that's not a huge problem. I think that helps me keep track of things a little bit.
And for the final traits, let's go with:
Lyra: Devotee of the Green: Your faith in the natural world or one of the gods of nature makes it easy for you to pick up on related concepts. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (geography) and Knowledge (nature) checks, and one of these skills (your choice) is always a class skill for you.
Grief-Filled: You are no stranger to loss and intense emotions. You gain a +2 trait bonus on all saving throws against emotion spells and effects.
Ingrid:
Guardian of the Forge (Torag): Torag's sacred duties are to protect the faithful, take lessons from the great craftsmen and strategists of the past, and prepare against dark times. You receive a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (engineering) and Knowledge (history) checks. One of these skills (your choice) is a class skill for you.
Tireless Logic: Your curious mind figures out even the most complex problems. Once per day when you make an Intelligence-based skill check or ability check, you can roll twice and take the better result.
Would you go over how you do maps for us?
Yup. I'll take about that and how I run combats once we get started. Which should be soon. (I appreciate everyone's patience. I assume we're all eager to get going.)
I am eager to get started, but don't let us pull you away from your last few days with your family.
So, Philgor asked about maps and combat...
Once we get into combat, I'll put up a link at the top of the page to the combat map, which I'll manipulate. It'll look, more or less, like this. There may be some combats that are map-less, since I usually take what's provided by the module(s), but if I can, I'll try to find something I can use.
Combat
I'll roll initiative for everyone. You'll post your actions, with rolls. I'll then post with the resolutions of all your actions, plus what the antagonists do. I like to run combat by round, which means I'll want each of you to post what your character is doing every round. Please don't wait until your "turn." I will run combat in roughly the initiative order, but I like everyone to post at once. If your action doesn't make sense (i.e. you attack someone who's already dead), I may change it. I tend to have you act conservatively if I'm DMPC'ing you, though once I get to know your characters better may be more inclined to have you use up resources.
Feel free to also post alternatives -- i.e. Lyra attacks character X, but if he's dead, she'll look through the satchel he dropped.
It's possible, depending on initiative results that combat could start with a "Round 1/2." That means whoever rolls higher than the antagonist gets to act, I'll resolve those, and then we'll go to full rounds where everyone gets to act.
Here's an example of me running a combat (minor Reign of Winter spoilers for one fight) that started with a Round 1/2.
Please feel free to ask any questions!
Sounds good. I'm pretty trusting of GMs to make action judgments with characters.
Regarding the traits, they are passable. Tireless logic fits better than Guardian of the Forge though as Ingrid did ditch Torag for Abadar after her dismissal from the region.
Ingrid, I thought you were Abadar, but then I looked and got confused. I'll check for Abadar traits too.
Expecting to start either Sunday or Monday.
:)
And, since it doesn't look like everyone's dotted the actual game page yet, we're active!
Map access should be granted now.
I can view the map, but I can't move my own token. If that's deliberate fine, but I wanted to point it out in case it was accidental.
Thanks. It is intentional. :)
Did we lose Garett?
Did we lose Garett?
Fair question.
It is a weekend (and sort of a holiday weekend at that in the States), so I'm not inclined to worry too much yet. That said, I'll DMPC him for now and if he doesn't turn up, we'll see about bringing someone else in.
On another note, Lyra, can you please get your eidolon in its own alias ASAP. I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
Oh. Good. Immune to fire. Argus will love that.