[OutPost I] GM Ladile & the Pathfinder Society Present: Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible (Inactive)

Game Master Lady Ladile

Welcome! All Out of Character (OOC) discussion goes here. Please check in here as well as in the Gameplay thread. In case you didn't know, you can do a dot-and-delete there, in which you post some sort of a silly, short post (such as "Dot") and then promptly delete it which will add the campaign to your Campaigns page without cluttering up the Gameplay thread with pointless posts.

There'll be more instructions (as well as a little about me and how I like to run my games) to follow but for now feel free to just settle in and get comfortable :)

Hi, this is Redelia's character. She's not quite up to date, because we just finished a scenario. She's an elf druid who uses a bow and worships Erastil. She adores her little dinosaur, named Blarg.

Here's the dinosaur. He is sweetnatured, unless you threaten to hurt his Koani, in which case he will happily shred you.

GM Ladile, Koani's handle animal skill is low enough that she needs to roll to get him to attack. Are you OK with me controlling what silly thing Blarg does if she doesn't make the roll? (things like sniffing at a butterfly) Also, how do you handle animal companion initiative?

Wow, that was fast - hadn't even had a chance to post the official muster in Flaxseed yet :)

A druid, eh? Good choice, for reasons that will eventually become apparent :3

I just happened to be on the boards doing my evening update of all my games, and this appeared in the recent posts. :)

Hehe, nice!

And okay, the way I handle companion critters is this:

I allow the player to control any companion critters they may have, which includes animal companions, eidolons, familiars, and summoned creatures. Anything capable of making its own decisions, such as eidolons and familiars, may act on their own initiative in combat or they may act on their master's initiative, whichever is easier for the player - but whichever option you take needs to be declared before the game starts and can't be changed without a good reason. Summoned critters and animal companions, which need to be given commands, act on the same initiative as their master. Since I know some companions by their nature may have a much higher initiative than their masters, I'm happy to take the average of the two as the initiative that both will act on - which is hopefully enough of a happy medium that everyone is satisfied.

Otherwise, I fully encourage people to roleplay their companions as they see fit - though if you play them in a disruptive manner there might be some consequences in certain situations! Separate aliases for your animal friends are also fine and something I encourage if you're not too worried about alias bloat.

While this doesn't really apply to most ACs and eidolons, who are usually up in the thick of combat with everyone else, I'm generally not going to have any sort of halfway intelligent bad guy target a tiny familiar or weak-looking animal companion over a PC unless there's a very good and apparent reason to do so. Mindless foes might be a different story, of course.

Does all of this make sense?

Blarg is useful for smelling things and tracking, combat (when he rips and shreds the enemy, of course he becomes a target), and for judging the character of people, especially Venture Captains, by how they react when a little dinosaur tries to make friends.

I will roll initiative for Blarg if it might make sense, but feel free to tell me he's not smart enough for a particular perception check.

Alrighty, sounds good!

That does remind me though, I generally will roll all initiatives as well as certain perception checks but feel free to speak up if Blarg isn't going to be participating in a particular combat or something :)

Gummy Bear checking in. Good to see you Ladile! STOKED FOR ANOTHER GAME WITH THE SHIIIEEELD BUUUGGG!

Haha! Hello again Gummy Bear, it's great to be in another game with you! Plus, we have Abraham Z. due to check in here as well, so it looks like we're just one Licktoad short of a warband. :)

ShieldBug here with a brand new character. So new, in fact, that I still haven't decided on an avatar image. He's a naive, but enthusiastic young halfling Paladin. As a 'Chosen One' Paladin, he doesn't know a whole lot about his patron deity, but he does get a nice familiar to help guide him in the ways of Shizuru.

Several familiar faces, some new, and an awesome GM... I can't wait for this one to start! :)

Hey everyone!

Styrian here is a half elf occultist, he's curious and likes his gadgets and poking at the magic things. Hopefully no one gets blown up. He's got a big glaive for when things get rough.

Hokay! We've still got plenty of time before we'll be starting since OutPost is a couple of weeks off yet, but to save time I want to get some information from each of you now:

***Basic Information Form***

Player:
Character:
Pathfinder Society Number:
Faction:
Slow Track or Normal:

This Chronicle #:
Starting XP:
Initial Prestige:
Initial Fame:
Prestige Spent on this Chronicle:
Starting Gold:
Day Job Roll:
Gold Spent on this Chronicle:
Anything else you want me to note on your Chronicle:

The above shamelessly stolen borrowed from the fantabulous GM Hmm!
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Please fill out the above once you've decided on which character you'll be playing and worked out any purchases you might wish to make :)

Here ya go

Here are my details. :)

Player: ShieldBug
Character: Tupp Thistledown
Pathfinder Society Number: 210803-7
Faction: Silver Crusade
Slow Track or Normal: Normal

This Chronicle #: 1
Starting XP: 0
Initial Prestige: 0
Initial Fame: 0
Prestige Spent on this Chronicle: 0
Starting Gold: 6.35
Day Job Roll: N/A
Gold Spent on this Chronicle: 0
Anything else you want me to note on your Chronicle: Nothing

I need to spend some time figuring out what to buy for Koani before I can provide all the information you requested.

Thanks for the kind works folks and no worries if you're unsure on purchases just yet - once we begin, you'll have a chance to do some shopping after your mission briefing so you can wait and post that part when we get to it if you prefer :)

And now it's time for a little additional information about me and how I like to run my games!
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Who is GM Ladile?

My name is Kristin and I've been playing tabletop RPGs for the last 20 years or so. The bulk of my playing experience has been with AD&D 2nd Edition with a smattering of other systems such as AD&D 3rd/3.5, Dark Conspiracy and of course, Pathfinder. My home group switched to Pathfinder a little over 4 years ago and we've been hooked ever since. I started participating in PbP here on the Paizo forums maybe 6 months after that and then PFS PbP maybe a year and a half after that.

Yeah, that's a great story. What about your GM experience?

I'm still newish to GMing, with a grand total of 8ish games (one being a multi-table Special) under my belt at this point in time. Luckily for you, if you're interested in reading to see how I roll, you can find several of them linked under a spoiler tag on my main (Lady Ladile) profile. I'll be working to add this to my GM alias profile as well in the future.

What does GM Ladile need or want from me?

For starters, I'll (eventually) need all of the information that inquired about in my last post - but there are also some additional things!

Okay, like what?

Something I'm trying to get into the habit of doing when I'm gearing up to run a new game is to get an idea of what sorts of characters I'll have at my table. To this end, I ask you to tell me this: What does your character do that's cool? Do you specialize in combat maneuvers? Are you a beast that crushes Diplomacy checks with the greatest of ease? If your character has a 'thing' that they do or otherwise utilizes unusual things or specific circumstances then please let me know! This will make it easier for me to account for such things during combat and other sections where they might apply.

Got it! Anything else?

Yes, actually. Sometimes a player might find themselves temporarily unavailable to post in the game but, alas, the show must go on, especially if the GM and other players are still present and participating. To this end, I ask that you give me some basic instructions to follow should I need to 'bot' your character for you during combat or other moments. They don't have to be elaborate. For example, you could say something like this:

'Okay, immediately prior to combat I'm going to cast SuperBuff on our melee guy if I can. Then, if things are going well, I'll stand behind the melee guy and use my Longspear of Butt-Whoopin' to help him kill the bad guys. But if someone gets really hurt or goes down I'll use my Gloves of Awesome to heal them up again.'

Generally when I bot PCs I don't use consumable resources such as spells, abilities with <X> uses per day/round/whatever, potions, alchemical items, etc. unless explicitly given permission to do so via botting instructions *or* the situation is dire and I suspect the PC would use them to save himself or an ally.

GM Ladile, are you super strict?

I suppose it depends on what you consider to be a 'super strict'. I will run the scenario and the encounters within as written, to the best of my ability, as all Society GMs are expected to do. But I also try to utilize my own common sense when I run my games. I'm not going to have my monsters deliberately eat your familiar when (and if) there are more dangerous threats to target. I'm going to assume that the collective group is smart enough to utilize light sources when they need them, without me making you state so every single time you enter a dark place. If you have the time and aren't threatened by anything, I'm going to assume that you'll probably Take 10 to ID items via Spellcraft, that sort of thing. You're Pathfinder agents who are assumed to have had at least a little basic training before being sent out on missions and so I don't personally see the point in dithering around on minor things - it's boring and in this type of medium, it only slows things down even further.

May I bring my tricked-out guy, Archer O'Doom to just blow things away? Or my witch to Slumber Hex everything in sight?

Well, technically yes. But my real answer is a bit more nuanced. If your character has a 'Thing' that they do, whether that be something cool for combat or something cool for social situations, then that's wonderful! My own sense of fun isn't contingent on me 'beating' the PCs - I want you guys to succeed! And so if you mow down my monsters with the greatest of ease or crush those diplomacy checks no problem then I'm not going to get butthurt about it. That being said, it is important to also consider your fellow teammates. While I'm happy to try and make sure that you'll get a chance to do your 'Thing' during the course of the scenario, please consider whether or not it'll be fun for your fellow players to sit by while you destroy everything. Everyone deserves a chance to participate and an opportunity to shine, so maybe consider toning your 'Thing' down a little so others have a chance to do their own 'Things'.

What about the posting rate?

Glad you asked! Some of you have played with me before and know that my own posting habits and times shift depending on when I'm working and such. On the days that I work I'll likely only manage 1 post myself but on my off days I can usually manage more. In general, I try to post as much as I need to to keep the game moving along and people from getting bored. From you, the players, I would really like to see at least 1 post/day though more is certainly encouraged.
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I think that's everything that I wanted to cover, but if there's something I missed, something that's unclear, or something else that you want to ask about then please do so :)

I need to review Bon Jon's current gold etc. before posting all the info requested. Will work on getting him updated.

Okay, sounds good! We're almost two weeks out exactly from our start date; about a week so prior to starting I'll open up Gameplay so people can begin introductions and some pre-briefing chatter (if you like) :)

How soon do you need the info you requested on characters? I think I'm going to apply my GM credit for Runecarved Key to Koani, but that can't officially be applied until the special ends, which will probably be less than a week before OutPost starts. I can give you estimates, if needed, since I do have access to the chronicle sheet. :)

You're good Koani; I mainly asked to get a head start on chronicles but I know some things like purchases and the like might change once the scenario starts so there's no huge rush :)

Player: Gummy Bear
Character: Bartimaeus Verstand
Pathfinder Society Number: 74244-11
Faction: Silver Crusade
Slow Track or Normal: Normal

This Chronicle #: 5
Starting XP: 4
Initial Prestige: 4
Initial Fame: 7
Prestige Spent on this Chronicle: Currently None
Starting Gold: 681gp
Day Job Roll: N/A
Gold Spent on this Chronicle: Currently None
Anything else you want me to note on your Chronicle: How awesome I am, to start! Nothing I can think of.

EDIT: Naturally, I come up with a purchase right after I type this up. I'll be spending 2PP on a Wand of Heighten Awareness to be used as soon as a briefing begins.

Hey hey! The sleepies caught up with me a bit sooner tonight than I wanted but I will have an opening post up in Gameplay either tomorrow or Friday so we can go ahead and start with some introductions and the like. Don't forget, we officially start on Monday! I know site navigation and PMs are still a bit borked but I'll also send out reminder PMs to everyone too.

I hope everyone is excited - I'm excited :)

Hooray! :D

Woop woop! :)

***Basic Information Form***

Player: Redelia
Character: Koani
Pathfinder Society Number: 184425-6
Faction: Grand Lodge
Slow Track or Normal: normal

This Chronicle #: 6
Starting XP: 4
Initial Prestige: 3
Initial Fame: 8
Prestige Spent on this Chronicle: 0
Starting Gold: 919.4
Day Job Roll: none
Gold Spent on this Chronicle: 2 gp for 40 mundane arrows
Anything else you want me to note on your Chronicle: nope

(sorry it took me so long to get this info to you)

Alrighty! Apologies for the delay, again, but I've now officially opened Gameplay - get in there and get to mingling :D

Also, no worries Koani :)

My sincere apologies that I haven't gotten this information to you sooner:

Player: Abraham Z.
Character: Bon Jon Bovi
Pathfinder Society Number: 100198-12
Faction: Liberty's Edge
Slow Track or Normal: Normal

This Chronicle #: 8
Starting XP: 5
Initial Prestige: 6
Initial Fame: 10
Prestige Spent on this Chronicle: 0
Starting Gold: 87
Day Job Roll: none
Gold Spent on this Chronicle: none
Anything else you want me to note on your Chronicle: n/a

Not a problem; gotcha updated now :)

GM, I forgot to mention that I have this trait:

Defensive Strategist

It prevents me from being flat-footed during a surprise round or before I have had my turn in combat. I don't think it will matter too much at this level, but it is worth noting.

Thanks for pointing that out, I appreciate it!

Also, me reading the exchanges so far :3

I'm going to give it just a bit before moving you guys along to the introduction/briefing proper since Koani/Redelia hasn't hopped into Gameplay yet. I'm assuming she had a busy weekend/day but will try and flag her down and get her attention if we don't hear from her soon :)

Hey folks, I'm working tomorrow so it'll likely be another late-update night for me. Thursday and Friday should be much better as I've got both days off with no plans, so I should be around and more responsive on those days :)

Hello to you all. I hope you are well.
I saw that you are missing a player and just wanted to ask if you would be ok if I joined your game.
I am a long time PF player but just started with PFS.

I could join with a first level character - my ID is # 314670-3.

I hope that would be ok and I wish you a great day!!

Welcome, Setare! While we had originally planned to run some of the older PFS scenarios with only 5 players I've gotten the go-ahead to welcome you aboard as our 6th player.

I'm currently at work but please give me some time and I will introduce you into the game with the others a bit later this evening - sound good? I'll also get some links and information posted for you that you might find useful as a new PFS player :)

Thanks for your effort but I just saw that this game has progressed quite far already and it is ok - I will not join your game and wish you a lot of fun! ;-)

Are you sure? They've only just gotten the mission briefing so the meat of the scenario has yet to begin. But if so, then thank you and good luck! :)

Apologies for the nearly two days' worth of silence guys; I went to bed sick Wednesday night and basically spent all of yesterday in bed. Here's hoping we can make some progress today and make up for lost time :)

Hope you're feeling better now. Hug.

I am, thank you! :)

Styrian, what convinced you to choose the illusion implement for your occultist? I started off with abjuration/transmutation too, but went necromancy because I think it is freaking cool. Even if I took cool out of the equation, conjuration would likely have been my next choice. I am very new to the occultist though and have only seen low level play, so most of my opinions and experiences with the schools are quite limited.

I'm pretty newbie to it as well. School selection is a tough decision heh. I almost went with the Curator archetype for more schools used in a very limited fasion.

For me the call at level 2 was between divination and illusion. I liked illusion because it seemed like the most fun utility. The Unseen focus power at level 3 looks awesome (it's basically greater invisibility if you can feed it) and frees up vanish for retraining. Unseen and the base Minor Figment focus powers handle the core spells like vanish, invisibility, greater invisibility, and minor image, so I can pick more freely from the illusion list.

Conjuration looks sweet too, it will be a tough call between that and divination next time I get to pick. If I was going stronger casting / less melee I would probably take conjuration right away.

If it seems that I'm being deliberately vague re: Knowledge checks, there's a reason for it. Later scenarios are good about giving notice up front as to what checks the characters can make to try and learn more information about the task at hand - usually Kn. Local/History checks or Diplomacy/Gather Information checks. In such cases where it's clearly stated that <PCs may make X checks for more information> then I'll clearly spell that out in Gameplay - because I don't like pulling 'gotchas' by saying, "Well you didn't *say* you wanted to make a Kn. History check to learn this obscure but relevant fact. You made a good Kn. Local check but that wasn't what the scenario wanted. Too bad!"

In these earlier scenarios, things are not laid out quite as clearly or as obviously, so it's more necessary for me to ask as to what you're wanting to learn more about. Hopefully that makes sense and explains things a bit.

Thanks for the explanation! Sorry for pestering you about knowledge checks. To your point, I think I'm probably used to being asked for checks at the beginning (due to the format of newer scenarios, as you point out) and I also wanted to avoid that "gotcha" scenario :) Not that I thought you'd spring one on us, but some scenarios are almost stingy with the way they want players to learn stuff.

Not a problem! This is one of my first times running one of the earliest scenarios published so it's proving to be a bit of a learning curve to adjust for how they used to be written and laid out, but hopefully the ride won't be that bumpy :)

We can reserve this conversation for after the scenario has concluded (dont want to spoil anything!), but I find that when I run earlier scenarios I am injecting some serious amounts of RP/fluff to flesh them out more and hopefully be a little more personable then "go here!" then "do that" and "GET THE THIIING!"

Sorry for the delay in posting - I've had family visits for the past week - life should be returning to a more normal pace tomorrow.

No worries Bon Jon; weekends are slower and I myself am working tonight and tomorrow night so updates on my end might be a little slow too.

Just wanted to say that I hope everyone is enjoying themselves and that the current pace isn't too slow. We're about to start getting into the meat of scenario and some action soon, so if you're finding this opening part a little tiresome - hang in there :)

I'm sorry, everyone, if I've been very slow to post yesterday and today. I've been caught up in some very messy venture officer business.

It's okay Redelia; I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about and I hate that you and Hmm and Shifty had to jump in and clean up someone else's mess like that. Take care of business and pop in to Gameplay when you can and feel up to it :)