@Janeder: Wow, I can't believe they haven't updated the forums yet! It's been about a month since GenCon and the Season 6 release now. Tsk. Apologies - didn't realize they were so slow to update.
@Gunari: :-) Makes sense. No problems.
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We have a good vibe going and I didn't want to derail it in character so here is Finarin's inner monologue:
After spending so much time listening to Gunari and Miro singing; inevitably, one of their songs gets stuck in Finarin's head. Silently cursing, and against his better judgement, he begins to mouth some lyrics to a catchier song "Seventy-eight bottles of beer on the wall,seventy-eight bottles of beer, take one down, pass it around ..."
Shechera begins picking it up at "Sixty-six bottles of beer on the wall..."
When she catches herself doing so, she shoots Finarin a withering look.
Man, these mega-posts are killing me! I hope you're finding them helpful, though. I don't see any reason to drip-feed information in a PbP situation.
Took me almost an hour, but that included the map update. Phew! Man I wish the Paizo writers had more of an interest in describing monsters. They seem to have a massive mad-on for rooms and inanimate objects, feeling no need to describe the cool monsters and NPCs that have never even been seen prior to this season! Those they can leave up to the GM. The presence or absence and variety of reddish metal wall panels, though, need to feature prominently!
Oh, and voting time! There is an optional encounter in this scenario. Like all optional encounters I've seen in PFS thus far, it adds nothing to the scenario except some filler. I think they're designed to ensure a group of players can play for at least 3 hours (since most say "run only if there are more than 2 hours remaining" or similar). This doesn't really apply to a PbP, since we've almost always got another 2 hours available... and simultaneously have always "run out" of time, since we've gone well over the PFS standard maximum of 5 hours!
I can also say that the creatures encountered are not new to this season (or I wouldn't give you the option, I'd just run it - who doesn't want to experience more new stuff?). They're not even new to anyone who's played since AD&D 2nd Edition (probably earlier). If you enjoy PbP combat and want to see what the optional encounter is, then please do let me know. If not, I'm happy to completely waive it. There will be absolutely no change to your chronicle sheets one way or another.
So, votes? Yay if you want the optional encounter (whatever it might be) or Nay if you don't.
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I would say Nay to the optional encounter. I would agree that they rarely, if ever, have a positive effect on a scenario, and are often the most deadly encounters. At Gen Con, I planned on not running the optional encounters in any of the scenarios I ran (including this one).
I would suggest describing what it would have been, just so folks know, but no big deal. Note: please only use my vote as a tie-breaker, if there is one, since I do know what the encounter is.
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Question on use of "Happy Sticks" (ie., Wands of Cure Light Wounds). While I am happy to use mine, as needed, I was wondering if others had wands as well. It has been suggested in other PbPs that I have played in (as well as IRL games), that we just total up the charges used at the end, and divide them out among everyone's wands.
Also, a question to you all. One variant I heard of at Gen Con, and that I am starting to use in my tabletop games, is to allow (out of combat) two charges from a CLW wand to heal 11hp of damage. Apparently a lot of GMs around the country do this (including some 5-stars that I very much respect). Saves a lot of time rolling, and, in the end, evens out, statistically.
Opinions?
For the CLW wand, 11 hp seems excessive... I think you're talking about a CMW. ;-)
For a CLW, there' s no number that doesn't work out a little better or a little worse statistically. I would fully support the idea of spreading the charges. It seems the fairest way... of course, beginning characters have no access to such wands, so it would also be fair if folks wanted to "save" the CLW uses for themselves.
Does anyone else have such a wand? Otherwise it may be a moot point...
:-) Fair enough. Since most people have fewer than 11 hp, I think we'll keep rolling randomly. I like the idea, though... especially at higher levels. My mathematical brain wasn't functioning, either, since a CMW would be 12. Sigh.
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Nay to optional encounter
No to CLW (jealous)
Please let me take my turn as after the skeletons move I have lots of different options.
Quick rules questions, so with the Magus Arcana I transform a weapon into a +1, according to the PRD:
Overcoming DR: Damage reduction may be overcome by special materials, magic weapons (any weapon with a +1 or higher enhancement bonus, not counting the enhancement from masterwork quality), certain types of weapons (such as slashing or bludgeoning), and weapons imbued with an alignment.
Ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an enhancement bonus of +1 or higher is treated as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Similarly, ammunition fired from a projectile weapon with an alignment gains the alignment of that projectile weapon (in addition to any alignment it may already have).
So for the last encounter I spent 1 point from my arcane pool to give my bow a +1, so shouldn't my arrow have overcome DR? And then shouldn't any weapon I enchant with a point from my arcane pool also overcome these creatures' DR?
Having a blast!
It overcomes the case when the damage reduction is overcome by magic. Each DR block is written something like:
DR 5/bludgeoning (as these guys are). In this case, they ignore the first 5 points of damage dealt to them, except for bludgeoning damage.
The bit about "any weapon with a +1..." in the parentheses refers to what defines a magical weapon. That overcomes the case where The damage reduction is: DR/Magic
The rules are here, but I think you've found them already: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/special-abilities#TOC-Overcoming-DR
Oh, and the machine man had hardness (tee hee) not damage reduction. An entirely different kettle of fish (that operates in a very similar way to DR/adamantine).
Back to the earlier discussion, I'll add used wand charges to my tagline. We can divvy them up between Miro and Gunari at the end.
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I didn't vote on the optional but it looks like the majority has spoken, I was ok either way.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Classic. Yeah, no need this time: you guys wiped the floor with those mopes.
I just hope the BBEG provides you with a little more of a challenge than the last two fights!
Now, can someone please pull that lever? It looks so enticing!
Alright guys, let's keep it moving. This room is tapped out. No traps and the other doors aren't locked.
Sorry to ask to keep things moving and then not post last night. Things got busy for me.
Gunari, don't worry about spoiling things per se. The coming challenges will happen regardless. I'm also certain you can't remember the access code. ;-)
By the way, just noticed this, if you zoom in enough on the map (top right room) you can see a little skeleton slumped at the desk with a glove on one hand. At last, evidence that the writers and artists have, at one point, communicated!
Hey all! Almost done. Some book keeping...
Inventory tracking is now done off the chronicle sheets by the players themselves, so no need to get me to sign any of that. This adventure ends in Absalom, so you can buy pretty much whatever you like within the PFS rules.
I've already completed as much of your chronicle sheets as I can, and sent you a PM if I needed more info. I filled in some non-GM bits where I had that information, but please do let me know if I got it wrong and I'll fill in a new sheet for you. Otherwise, when it's all done, I'll put a date in and scan them all out to you. If you haven't already sent me an email, please make sure I have some way of getting the sheet to you. My email, again, is found by knowing my username is wilmann and that I use Gmail. If that's unclear, please PM me.
I'd like to keep running season 6 scenarios, but the next ones of an appropriate tier aren't out until September 24. Should give us enough time to wrap things up nicely and have a little break. Also, don't expect the next one to run this quickly! It was a combination of very good combat results, some excellent player response times and an unusual amount of free time on my behalf that led to this quick a scenario.
Let me know (again) if you're interested in playing another scenario with me. Also let me know (PM or here) if you have any comments about my GMing style. This was my first PbP, so I'm very open to feedback.
Also, I need to get another player in. He's a friend of Jaender's and I promised to let him play in my next scenario. I'd rather get a volunteer to pull out, but I'm okay if I need to pick someone to "leave behind".
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Mors has no day job.
That was a quick scenario, and prolific, as I'd go offline for a couple hours and come back to find 11 posts to read.
As for GMing style, other than maybe playing up the complete strangeness of the technology more (naming things like keypads and holograms helps players understand what you're describing, but it's a bit meta-game when taken from the point if view of the characters), everything had a good flow to it. Some things were confusing me (why we were bothering doing certain things) but I think the blame there lies with a scenario that felt a bit more railroady than normal, even for PFS.
Why did we go to all the trouble to align whatever it was with whatever it was? Did I miss our exit being otherwise sealed behind us at some point? Were we just exploring these lower rooms for the sake of exploring them?
Definitely interested (read 'always') in another scenario.
Oh, yeah, day job rolls. I knew I forgot to ask for something! Please roll away (if you have a relevant skill).
As for GMing style, other than maybe playing up the complete strangeness of the technology more (naming things like keypads and holograms helps players understand what you're describing, but it's a bit meta-game when taken from the point if view of the characters), everything had a good flow to it. Some things were confusing me (why we were bothering doing certain things) but I think the blame there lies with a scenario that felt a bit more railroady than normal, even for PFS.
Thanks for the feedback! I tried sometimes with describing the strange stuff, but gave up other times. Sorry about that. I will do more in the next scenario (should be more of it, since we're playing season 6). As for the railroady nature of things, it was very much so from my perspective also. When the adventure is over, I'll have some more to say about the adventure design in general... and ask for advice on what to do given the restrictive nature of running for PFS sanctioned play.
Why did we go to all the trouble to align whatever it was with whatever it was? Did I miss our exit being otherwise sealed behind us at some point? Were we just exploring these lower rooms for the sake of exploring them?
You must have missed the bit about being sealed in. No-one investigated to explicitly discover this fact in reality, but the hologram showed it (as did my map - all that Photoshop!). The lower rooms were explored to discover clues for how to activate the elevator shaft... and probably also just for exploration's sake.
I'll read all that as mostly my fault for rushing through it. I'll slow it down a touch next time. I won't let it slow to a crawl, but I will revisit the "rule of 2" somewhat to also incorporate a certain passage of time for the sake of players who log on less.
Dance away, buddy! Day job checks don't care why you have the skill!
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Feedback: Wow, such speed! Finished the scenario in almost two weeks... Thanks GM and also thanks to all the players, you kept the game running smooth!
I had moments when I did struggle to figure out the surroundings. Maybe partly because of the so-far unusual setting, and party because waking up to 22 new posts and skimming through them :) So I had to go back and forth to find out what's going on...
The scenario was railroady, but I think it suits pbp-games. On sandbox-scenarios the decision-making can take quite a long time.
Anyway, thanks for an excellent game!
(And no day jobs here)
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Just wanna toss my 2 copper into the pool...
I figured the railroady-ness was the nature of PFS. from what I have played so far, that seems to be the way it goes, since the scenarios are generally intended to be played in 1 sitting IRL, and there is typically a few encounters that the players have to do exactly as written.
(Like the encounter were we had to use a swim check to break down a door in another scenario... why swim? I dunno... but its part of the rules)
In other news, I took a skill for a day job with this character! (not sure why....)
And rolled terribly... :) oh well.
Please let me know if there is anything else you need from me for this! Excellent job GM Damo, I really enjoyed it!
Thanks for the extra feedback. Great to hear you all enjoyed it!
It definitely sounds like everyone could use a slightly less break-neck speed. I'll do some more in the descriptions to help with the surroundings, too. The Red Redoubt is a pretty alien place, but it sounds like there will only be more of that as season 6 goes on.
In adventures to come, if we keep the group together, some of you will eventually be playing a little out of tier (I have no idea why Paizo hates 3rd level so much). Gunari from the very next adventure! Feel free to swap out to lower level characters when/if this occurs (or whenever you like, really). I'm even happy for you to play pre-gens if that helps. I'll move on to tier 4-5 so you're playing up as soon as I can - and we'll probably throw in some tier 3-7 adventures once everyone at least dings level 3 (again, assuming we last that long as a group).
I'm also open to running a module. Let me know if you have any preferences.
In all sincerity, for this scenario, you probably could have played the tier 4-5. Some knockouts would have occurred, but probably not any player deaths. Given you're all mostly 1st level, that's quite an achievement. You definitely punch above your weight. Well done with the builds. :-)
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GM Damo, When we run the next scenario I will be bringing in Cyrus instead of Jaender. He should be finishing up his current scenario within the next couple of days. Once that is done, he will have enough exp to ding to level 2. I am going to make slight modifications to his build, (rogue to ninja) but the core of his concept and personality will remain unchanged. I will make sure I send you all of his info so you have plenty of time to review what you need to review.
Also, just as some personal insight, I am always up for a challenge. Our table IRL has started playing with 15 point buys (or lower) simply for the challenge it can present. I say that to say, if you feel like we can take something on a little above our weight class, bring it on, I am game :)
Very much looking forward to the next one, and hopefully lots more after that!
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I am not personally against playing up or down... especially now, that it doesn't have too much of an affect on a character's WBL.
Damien (to break out of the old alias only thing...), would you consider running something other than a Season 6, since we're waiting for the September stuff?
I know that I have not played The Horn of Aroden, or The Merchant's Wake (both later season 5's).
At some point, for sure, I'll want to step in and run some PbP... this seems like a fun group to do it with!
Really, the only thing I'll need to figure out is dealing with the maps, and all... and, really, that shouldn't be that tough!
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I can play anything PFS but The Disappeared In the middle of that one PbP. Module or PFS doesn't matter to me. I just want to play.
Vote to keep the band together, until Miro being the lead singer gets a big head and we boot him David Lee Roth style. Working on an epilogue to this adventure. Will post in a few days when I am done. Swamped at work now. RL sucks!
Sammy Hagar was better than David Lee Roth anyway (saying that, I fully realize I open myself up to argument, mocking and ridicule).
As for running something prior to Season 6, we've only got a week to wait. There's a bit of bookwork to do, and I'd appreciate a small break. I'm also a bit of a weirdo when it comes to running things after stuff has moved on. I'm not the biggest fan of fantasy mixed with sci-fi, but I am enjoying it. So, to keep it current, in the absence of any strong objections I think I will just keep on running season 6.
Also, with Ibid. (Jaender's friend) confirming that he is still up for it, I must sadly exclude a player from the next scenario. Unfortunately, I have to pick Amaranti to leave behind. I would really rather not pick anyone at all and run with 7, but rules are rules and promises are promises (even online ones).
@Amaranti: To explain, essentially, the timezone difference means you're out of the conversation a little, and that leaves you out of the play loop. It's not a big problem by any means, but it's about the only distinguishing thing I have to go on. You have been a great part of the game, and I have really enjoyed roleplaying with you - as I have with everyone in this group. If someone drops out at any stage, you'll be the first person I ask to fill the gap. Best of luck with getting another group, and I really am sorry I had to do this. Again, nothing to do with posting frequency, or style of play - both of which were great. Just the timezone.
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A weeks rest would be fine, as well.
I will look for a decent scenario that I can run, and would enjoy,
I will throw a couple out there that are great RP scenarios: Murder on the Throaty Mermaid, or Gods Market Gamble. I've run both in face to face mode, and loved them both (I have run GMG three times already!)
Let me know if you all would be interested in either of these. Scars of the Third Crusade would also be fun in PbP mode (though I have not run that one before, which is no biggie).
Another I love to run is 3-01: The Frostfur Captives!
And, GM Damo, you did a great job pulling off a difficult and "not quite finished" scenario... Just pleas, next time, slow a bit. ;)
I think the rule of two is ok, but allow for 24 hours before invoking,
And so we have finished (fully). We have also hit upon the bit that grinds my gears more than any other - he chews you out for successfully completing the adventure! If you'd done as he suggests (and I think you could reasonably have done exactly that), you would have received 0 XP, 0 PP and minimal GP for the whole thing. It is frankly ridiculous. If he was happy with your continued investigation (not a hard stretch) it would have been possible for me to have had Vaslin send you back in upon your return (if you did so) to complete the adventure. As it was written, though, I had no good hook to draw you back in and get the rewards you deserved (ie. finish the scenario yourselves). Poor design, or should I have been able to figure out a way to send you back if you decided to (reasonably) leave when you discovered the machine soldier and/or security complex?
Gunari, are you offering to run a scneario simultaneously with mine, after mine or would you like to take the GM's chair next? I'm up for either (and so is Lort...). I have absolutely no preference.
Also, are you sure you want to play Gunari in the next one? I've had a re-read of the rules for out-of-tier characters, and based on my understanding of it, the gold awards go based on APL not CL, so you would be getting the lower amount of gold (missing out on 600+ GP for those sessions). As always, please feel free to point out if I'm wrong here.
As for my next season 6, I will definitely slow down a bit. Rule of two + 24 hours for important decisions seems much more reasonable. I'll probably have an internal "sliding scale" or something like that (2 + 24 hours, 3 + 12hrs, 4 + 6hrs, 5 just go). For unimportant decisions... we'll see what my itchy trigger-finger does. ;-)
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@Amaranti: To explain, essentially, the timezone difference means you're out of the conversation a little, and that leaves you out of the play loop. It's not a big problem by any means, but it's about the only distinguishing thing I have to go on. You have been a great part of the game, and I have really enjoyed roleplaying with you - as I have with everyone in this group. If someone drops out at any stage, you'll be the first person I ask to fill the gap. Best of luck with getting another group, and I really am sorry I had to do this. Again, nothing to do with posting frequency, or style of play - both of which were great. Just the timezone.
No worries, I understand your reasoning... It is hard for me to contribute more than once per day when the action happens on timezones across the ocean :)
Once per day is fine, and please check your inbox. :-)