OMB's Tome Teaching Game (Inactive)

Game Master James Martin

Moving this out of Gameplay =)

Bock, it conducted the grapple normally and moved you to the nearest adjacent square. It also has the Constrict special ability, so it dealt damage. Because this was my mistake in not applying the Constrict damage when I rolled the Grab ability the first time, I did not penalize Bock by applying the damage later. If I make an error that would cause harm to a character and the error is my fault, I personally don't penalize the character; I feel it's unfair to retroactively do nasty things to a character, especially in PbP where it could have happened days ago.

I was only asking to be clear, because I didn't see my token moved on the map, and I'm with on not penalizing players on, let's go with, whoopsies xD (Constrict can get confusing)

Not taking into account the damage that was not rolled, Bock is at 2 hp.

Just to satisfy my curiosity and make sure I'm not screwing up names right now, who is adventuring with us right now, Aric of Havlon or [sparkles] The Red Raven [/sparkles]?

There's no way the developers would add a sparkle tag to the code, is there?

Bock, no worries. I've been running PFS now for years and I have 170+ table credits and I still mess up routinely. If you're not learning, you're not trying.

And knowing is half the battle...

Sorry for my disappearance this weekend. The unfortunate confluence of a busy schedule and getting hit with a cold and cough took me out.

I'm posting this in my games first thing today, then I'll be catching up in gameplay; I should be caught up by the end of the day.

No worries. This season especially, sick happens. Thanks for letting us know!

website has been acting up.

It was down for me all day yesterday.

I'm not sure what to do here, folks. Estra has a silver weapon, which might get past the DR/? but it's not magical, so isn't going to get through the DR/magic. All of the spells that she might use need living humanoid targets.

If someone has a way to enchant her silver dagger, call it out and she'll offer it up. But I don't see Estra or Honaire making much impact here, if at all.

I will say you're nickel and diming the monster to death, slowly but surely!

It's not silver... I hit it with a silver arrow via my magic bow and and didn't do full damage...cold iron the same...my blunt arrow missed so I'll try that again but doubt it does it either... I am guessing it's DR5/Good and I don't have a good aligned weapon....

Are we sure it is a demon?

Funny thing about that. No one rolled to ID it.

I didnt think so.

Could be a construct...it has DR5/-

I thought it was DR 5/unknown

It was unknown, because you guys didn't roll any Knowledge checks to know it. If you had, you would have found out it was DR 5/good.

LOL, would it have been a know planes or dungeon check?

Knowledge Nature on this guy.

DM, with a scenario that has so many options how do you pick which one you will do?

Please read my first post in gameplay for the answer.

How far in advance would you build the maps that go with this scenario?

The maps are set, but as for placing monsters and treasure? I'm of two minds:

1. You can set everything up in advance and let the players find it through the course of their wanderings. This is probably more honest, but it may also lead to a lot of opening doors, finding nothing, searching rooms. In face to face games, this isn't a problem. On PbP, it can be a killer.

2. You can place things on the fly, as players enter rooms and choose their route. This is more dynamic, but it does require you to know what monsters you have and which ones make sense to be in the rooms they are in. In this playthrough, I placed the boss monster and the sealed monster, but I left the other random monsters in flux until I saw which way the PCs were headed. It means there's probably going to be some unexplored parts of the dungeon, but that's not a bad thing necessarily.

It's up to you to choose which model works best for you and your style of GMing and preparation.

Would you normally give players the choice of which location to go to?

You can. In a PbP, you have the luxury of time before you start a game and can tailor it to the players. In face to face, I'd probably just have chosen it in advance, since placing monsters on the fly and having the right handouts requires a bit more prep work.

Do modules take more prep?

Because of their length and more complex story, most do. Keeping all the plot points in mind and knowing where the PCs need to be in the storyline can be a bit more work. So long as you read through the module thoroughly and make sure you understand where all the pieces fit, you'll be okay.

For example, I'm running House on Hook Street right now, which is a complicated murder-mystery to start with, that segues into becoming a Stop the Evil Cult story after the first chapter. The murder mystery is always more complicated because of its nature.

It seems like some scenarios/modules might not be best for PbP.

So much depends on your tolerance for it, I think. If you enjoy a good role-playing heavy experience and have the players who do as well, modules can be a lot of fun. I think you just have to be aware of your style and know your players.

A mysterious woman joins the conversation.

You can. In a PbP, you have the luxury of time before you start a game and can tailor it to the players. In face to face, I'd probably just have chosen it in advance, since placing monsters on the fly and having the right handouts requires a bit more prep work.

I have made all my build-your-own-dungeons in advance, so that I can create a coherent story from them. When I do it for in person play, I try to ask folks what character they are bringing, and what that character likes to do. (We have advance signup, so I have that luxury.) I then tailor the dungeon to them, trying to give them fun challenges and interesting story moments.

When I make up something for a convention, I go with a strong overall story with something for everyone in terms of challenges. But yes, prep in advance is the strong option here.

It seems like some scenarios/modules might not be best for PbP.

I love modules with their longer and more complex storylines, and all their roleplay options. That said, I think that GMs should go with their strengths. If you are good with complicated storylines and quirky NPCs, do modules. If you are not, go with something a little more straightforward.

Hmm

AP's would be an entity unto themselves correct especially for PbP. Would you play the whole thing or only the sanctioned part?

That's up to you. A lot of them have the Campaign Option, where you can play the whole thing with a non-PFS character and apply the credit to a PFS character. Or you can play the sanctioned part with your PFS character.

AP's would be an entity unto themselves correct especially for PbP. Would you play the whole thing or only the sanctioned part?

I'm currently playing in 4(!) APs, but only one for credit. In all cases we're playing homegrown rules (so, essentially, PFS campaign mode). I imagine that there are likely some high level PCs out there that just want to play the book 5/6 sanctioned parts to level beyond 12, but I much prefer to play the whole story. Finding a group online that can keep up with that is a sizeable challenge.

That said, one of my goals is to run a complete Reign of Winter on these boards, but I would try to recruit only strong RPers with good posting rates. If you're shooting for the long game, you have to be picky about your PCs.

The first campaign I ever started as a GM on these boards was an AP. I'm still running it, but I would have certainly done the recruiting differently if I'd known then what I know now.

Not to be unfair in anyway, but Hmm has the right idea when it comes to recruiting. You need to find the right fit. Forget the created characters. Recruit the people behind them. It's not as big an issue when you are playing a scenario. Just have to deal with 'that player' for a little while. But if you're going to make a commitment of a year + for an AP...you need to enjoy it too.

As for keeping a group together from start to finish? I've found that difficult in F2F games too. Was playing RotRL and managed to make it into book 5 before it dissolved. Life got in the way for several of them, which happens. Was a lot of fun!

What is that thing?

Did we win?

Don't think so...while we discovered there was a ritual, the GM mentioned that we needed another clue to renew it...I think that clue is in the tomb we're currently exploring. We had good rolls so I think we have a good chance to find it but won't know till the GM posts again...

That is what I was thinking.

Sorry, I lost the thread in the forum changeover and only just this morning saw it reappear in my games!

I am not too sure that I am liking the change so far. There seems to be no indication when we receive a private message anymore.

Estra has no skills eligible for a Day Job. All other reporting info was previously submitted here. The name of that PC is Feero.

Thanks for the game!

He should be complete.

Estra has no skills eligible for a Day Job. All other reporting info was previously submitted here. The name of that PC is Feero.

Oh, and that PC is a brand-new level 1. I will be applying the Chronicle immediately, so you can adjust the Chronicle to 500 gp for that.

And Feero will be Silver Crusade.

Thanks!

No dayjob for me.

Thanks for running. :-)

I had fun with this. I like Vigilantes now.

Since we're running with low tier now, here's my character:

Forum User Name: Otha
PFS Character Name: Daedîn
PFS Number: 239913-6
Faction: Grand Lodge
Dayjob (if applicable): N/A
Anything else you need me to know: 4th Level Sniper (Rogue)
Ranged support, scouting, thieving abilities

Thanks again for running this and thanks for the insight... enjoyed playing with everyone...

CHRONICLE SHEETS! If I made any mistakes, let me know and I'll correct them as soon as possible.

Hiko!
Bock!
Feero!
Jazk!
Grey Son!
Daedin!

If anyone has any questions about reporting for this, let me know. Basically you get access on the chronicle sheet to anything you find or encountered in game, so there's an incentive to play multiple times in order to get access to more loot (as well as the bonus boons.)

Got it. Thanks again!

Looks great! Less filling.

Mine's good... thanks!

Mine looks good as well! Thanks!