[PbP Gameday VII] GM Ladile & the Pathfinder Society Present: Treacherous Waves (Inactive)

Game Master Lady Ladile

Hello! The bulk of OOC discussion should happen here! :)

I've dotted in! I'll dot in with my real character once the rest of the party decides what they are playing.

I've got two fighters at level 5, an Asmodean cleric at level 7, and a Sarenrae Cleric at level 4.

Same here, I got a cleric 3 (Abadar) and a bard 4

Dotted in! (Thanks Ladile for the help with the PbP lingo! ;) )

It's kinda neat playing in a different capacity. I'm excited to see you GM! (Maybe you should GM in the lodge in person sometime!)

I can bring to the game... *takes a deep breath*

vishkanya unchained (double stab) rogue 5
kitsune alchemist 3
oread elemental annihilator kineticist 6
human fighter 7 [crits for days]
ratfolk swashbuckler (mouser) 4
changeling witch 4
vanara wizard (spellslinger) 5

Hi people. I have a level 3 sorcerer, a level 3 fighter, or level 6 samurai I could bring.

Dotted in by my girlfriend (confetticles)

Would like to bring my level 4 vigilante, Frank Seamoor, merchant extraordinare!

Welcome folks! Glad to see that nearly everyone has checked in already. For those new/relatively new to PbP I'll link some how-to guides for you later this evening once I get home from work. Until then, please feel free to ask questions and I or one of our experienced players will do our best to answer :)

Between Lil Eschie and OrikladMatt, it looks like this will be low tier! Unless we end up without a divine caster of some variety, I'd like to bring Imperia Rex (my Grey Maiden Fighter 5) to the table. Otherwise I'll bring my cleric 4.

Hello everyone. My name is Oriklad, or Matt. This will be my first PbP so I do apologize if I seem a little off with it. This is also my first time I would be playing my character, so I do apologize if some of the actions seem a bit wonky. I have been looking at this character for months though, so I have a good grasp on what he should do.

I would like to play Guerro de la Mouser (my level 4 swashbuckler mouser), but he works well with others if you do decide to play your fighter.

Lil Eschie could bring her cleric and Threecopper could bring a sorceror to even us out some. Of course, they have say in what they play, but this is just my two copper pieces. :P

Thats how I got my name because my threecopper is worth more than everyone elses two :p I would love to play my sorcerer. He is an aasimar with the solar domain.

Hello everyone. My name is Oriklad, or Matt. This will be my first PbP so I do apologize if I seem a little off with it. This is also my first time I would be playing my character, so I do apologize if some of the actions seem a bit wonky. I have been looking at this character for months though, so I have a good grasp on what he should do.

Imperia is a character who I am still working out too! Most of her credit is AP and GM sheets so I haven't had as much time to really figure out who she is as compared to my other characters.

Hokay! For our three new/newish folks - I have lots of handy links for you to check out as you're able! I know, it looks like it'd be a lot of reading and on par with a homework assignment but I promise that there's a lot of useful information to be found on how PbP works, how to get set up, and how to make the most of the format :)

The Flaxseed Pathfinder Lodge - This is the current hub for all PFS games that happen here on the Paizo forums. GMs will often post recruitments for games and the Discussion tab is a good place to ask questions. And Gameplay is where you can go to post IC (in-character) roleplay to kill time between missions!

Doomed Hero's Guide to Play-by-Post Gaming - A great guide that covers a lot of the basics of how PbP in general works. Some of the information is geared a little more towards folks who are looking to join non-PFS games but it's still a great resource!

Painlord's Advanced Play-by-Post Play - This guide was written to build off of Doomed Hero's guide linked above; highly recommended reading in order to add more nuance to your writing.

One GM's notes on how they run their games - While I don't necessarily adhere to every single point that GM Damo notes on his GM profile, there's enough really basic information there such as instructions on how to format your text for different situations and how to make use of the forums built-in dice roller!

Tagline Template - You might've seen references made in previous links about posting your vital stats in a 'tagline'. This link shows you an example of how you'd format it so it looks all nice and pretty.

Getting into the World of Play-by-Post: A Slideshow - This is a great visual guide to basically everything you'll be looking at during the course of a PbP game with explanations as to what certain 'pages' and 'tabs' mean and how to make use of them!

We could need someone with Disable Device. Neither of my character can do it. I know nothing about Vigilantes, do they have that skill?

So the party could be
Lil"Eschie-Cleric 3
Confeticle-Swashbuckler 4
Gummy bear Fighter 5
Threecopper-Sorcerer 3
Oriklad Vigilante 4

Lady L, do you have a character sheet template to use? I'm looking for one.

Not off the top of my head; I use HeroLab to generate my characters and then just copy + paste them (formatting and all) over to their profiles :\

And yeah, vigilantes get Disable Device as a class skill :)

Here's the template I use most commonly.

I have a Medium 4/5 GM baby, and I think my paladin is level 3.

I don't want to push us into High Tier if we're not already in high Tier.

EDIT: Well, technically, the GM baby can be whatever I want him or her to be. I've just been planning on this Medium next. I have a few other concepts that have fallen down the list since the announcement of PFS2.

If I'm doing the calculation correctly, if everyone brought the characters listed by Eschie and you (BT) bring a 5th level, the APL would be exactly 4 - which puts the group playing low tier. So feel free to bring whichever character you'd like :)

By the way, I know several of the group will be at GenCon over the weekend but will an official start date of August 13th (same day PbP Gameday actually kicks off) work for everyone or do I need to push it back a week or so for everyone to have their characters ready?

I'll be good by the 13th.

...mostly, I'm dragging my feet on a name.

No pb for me-and thankies for the Template Tyger!

I'm ready to go now! This is Gummy Bear, would you mark that alias inactive please? :)

This is Baied , Lil"Eschie's cleric of Abadar

Howdy! Glad to see characters beginning to come together for this :)

Confetticles, Three, and Orik have indicated that they should also be ready and able to start on August 13th so unless something changes that's what we'll go with :)

I'm nearly level 4 (8 XP on 9), and I still have some money to spend (1000+ GP), so I'll probably buy some minor magical item, either a wand or something

OK. The portrait search function is a mess.

Player's Name: Tim M (Blake's Tiger)
Character's Name: Karabo the Spirit-Eater
PFS#: 230524-7
Faction: Dark Archive
Track: Normal

Other Documentation: 1st Level Rebuild prior to applying GM credit. Renamed Karabo the Spirit-Eater from Shesh the Hinterlander.

It sure is...the only way I managed to get one set for my playtest character was because I knew what I wanted and the parameters for it were thankfully pretty small :|

Hey folks, it looks like we'll be starting Tuesdayish instead of tomorrow as confetticles and Orik have been pretty busy IRL and need just a little more time to get their character sheets in order. BUT! Fun will soon be had, so never fear :D

No worries. Hope they get thier rest and Tuesday we will get rocking :)

It's confetticles.

Character sheet is up (I think I have everything)! Dotted in with the character I actually plan on! If you want to mark my other alias as inactive, that would be neat.

Player's Name: Amber H (confetticles)
Character's Name: Guerro de la Mouser, aka Guadaloupe
PFS#: 178817-18
Faction: Soverign Court
Track: Normal

Chronicles on this character:
Pathfinder Quests: Honor's Echo
Master of the Fallen Fortress
#7-10 Consortium Compact
We B4 Goblins!
#5-08 The Confirmation
#8-16 House of Harmonious Wisdom
#9-06 The Shores of Heaven
#35 Voice in the Void
#9-08 Birthright Betrayed
#2-13 Murder on the Throaty Mermaid
#17 Perils of Pirate Pact

Character sheet is up!

Player's Name: Matt H. (OrikladMatt)
Character's Name: Frank Seamoor
PFS#: 261662-12
Faction: Liberty's Edge
Track: Normal

Scenarios on this Character:
#2 Hydra's Fang Incident
Gallows of Madness 1
Gallows of Madness 2
Gallows of Madness 3
Gallows of Madness 4 (bonus chronicle)
** #3-01 Frostfur Captives [will be finished by the end of the night.. playing a game at our apartment]

If you need anything else, let me know.

Player's Name: Tim M (Blake's Tiger)
Character Name: Karabo the Spirit-Eater
PFS#: 230524-7
Faction: Dark Archive
Track: Normal
Day Job: Perform (wind): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Starting XP: 12
Starting Fame: 18
Starting Prestige: 17
Starting Gold: 16.04

Other Documentation: 1st Level Rebuild prior to applying GM credit. Renamed Karabo the Spirit-Eater from Shesh the Hinterlander.

Note: I burned a Grippli race boon to use with Racial Heritage to gain access to the archetype. I really do need to save that OPC post...

Hokay! I'm about ready to kick us off properly but before I do, it's time for me to post the usual greeting and about-me stuff that I like to post before I begin each game :)
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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've only been GMing for a little over a year now but I just recently achieved my first GM star! If you're interested in reading to see how I roll, you can find several of them linked under a spoiler tag on my GM alias.

What does GM Ladile need or want from me?

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. The same goes for unique or interesting character quirks or backstory information.

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 one of those super nitpicky GMs or are you more laid-back?

I suppose it depends on what you consider to be 'nitpicky' or 'laid-back'. 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 - though I might need to know what kind of light source for mapping purposes! 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.

GM Ladile, can I just mow your bad guys down with my tricked-out Archer of Doom or Slumber Hex my way to victory?

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 may 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.

Is that all?

Almost! The most important thing of all that I'd like you to do is to bring a good attitude and plenty of enthusiasm. I consider it my job to make your playing experience an enjoyable one but it helps when my players seem like they're excited to be at the table and are willing to participate - it makes me happy, which means I usually write better posts, which makes you guys happy, etc. A positive feedback loop, if you will.

However, not all playing styles mesh. If you're not having a good time or otherwise have an issue with the way I'm running the game, please let me know and we'll try to work out a solution together. I can't help to fix problems if I don't know that a problem exists, so communicate. Talk to me. I promise I don't bite.

Last of all, I am by no means a rules expert or guru and the majority of my playing background is rooted in rules interpretations being flexible - to a point. So if I forget something or seem like I'm overstepping my bounds in what's allowed, please point it out but I also ask that you please don't be a jerk about it either :)
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And if there's something that I didn't address in the above post, please ask and I'll get an answer for you!

Last but not least, I also have a basic information form for everyone to fill out for when I do chronicles later. Some of you have already given me all or part of this so you don't have to repeat what you've already shared, just the new stuff - and for the sections about PP/gold expenditures, I know that sometimes it's possible to buy stuff mid-scenario so you can wait and give me those values at the end if you like.
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***Basic Information Form***

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:

And okay! The opening post is up now in Gameplay so go check it out!

Beware, I have a pretty high acro cause I'm quite a dexy character. I also have diplomacy.

In case you don't know much about swashbucklers....
I have parry and reposte, so if you attack me, I may choose to parry your attack. If I roll higher than you, I have the chance to repost it and attack you back. I suppose I'll roll these in the next post?

Also, as a Mouser, I will be sharing your square with you. As far as I know, you do not have to worry about squeezing rules, but you WILL take a -4 to attacking anyone other than me. I don't like personal space. Just a heads up. Bahahahaha! :)

The usual SOP that I've seen for swashbucklers in PbP is to go ahead and post parry + riposte rolls under a spoiler when you post your combat actions; that way if my bad guys are silly enough to attack you I can go ahead and resolve whether or not they get parried and stabbed for their trouble right away instead of waiting for you to post again :)

And yes, thank you for the other notes since I don't believe I've GMed for a swashie until now :3

Especially for the newer players: Imperia can be unpleasant, but she isn't necessarily trying to be mean. Also, please know that as a player I am NOT upset with an action another character takes if a character I am playing openly has issue with it.

If the snark, attitude, etc. EVER becomes too much, please let me know (through the GM, a PM, a post on this board, carrier pigeon, whatever). While I like to RP how my characters would respond, the fun stops when I'm damaging someone else's fun and will dial it down without question.

^I appreciate the notice, Imperia. I've GMed for/played with you before so I trust you to play a more abrasive character without being disruptive but with that being said, I do still encourage anyone else to speak up if your tolerance for snark is less than mine is!

By the way, I also want to note that Escharid (Baied) lives across the pond so you'll likely see their posts at much later/earlier hours than everyone else's :)

I'm thoroughly enjoying Imperia and plan to pick on her more. That's what Guadaloupe does. He's quite the comedic relief whenever I play him. He's just weird.

I think it's easier to look past you being mean on a message board compared to in person. That's just me, though. I just remind myself that we're basically acting out a story. It's easier that way.

Also, ThreeCoppers tends to stay up late, so he may also post different hours. Mine/Oriklad's will be around the same time since we get off work around the same time and junk.

^That's fine. It's sounding like the bulk of our posting activity will likely happen during the evenings CST/EST (or MST/PST if anyone here lives out in the western part of the US) which will work for me :)

Player: Daniel Truelove
Character: Orym Phoenixsong
Pathfinder Society Number: 84446-8
Faction: Silver Crusade
Slow Track or Normal: Normal

This Chronicle #:
Starting XP: 7
Initial Prestige: 12
Initial Fame: 14
Prestige Spent on this Chronicle: 2
Starting Gold: 4387
Day Job Roll: NA
Gold Spent on this Chronicle: 0
Anything else you want me to note on your Chronicle:

Now that the information form is out of the way, thanks again for running and inviting me. I'm excited and hope to learn a lot about online play :)

Orym is an aasimar sorcerer with the solar bloodline. RP wise He was born and raised in Vigil. During the third crusade a solar took the form of a mortal knight to help defeat the whispering tyrant and Orym is a part of that bloodline. On his 18th birthday he was visited by his father in his dreams. The fiery angel revealed to him a prophecy great disaster that one day rise to threaten Golarion. The power of heaven in his blood was no coincedence and he must prepare himself for the trouble to come, strive to do good always and spread the light of Sarenrae to all the dark places of the world.

As for standard combat stuff and mechanics to worry about... If there is a group of bad guys he likes to burning hands. He gets +1 damage per die from his bloodline on fire spells. Big tough single enemies or creatures that people are having trouble with DR or resistance that are proving a large threat to the party are good targets for searing light. Normal combats he uses his light crossbow.

He has an above average diplomacy (+14 at level 3) that I attribute to a powerful, commanding voice rather than flowery dialect or flattery (similar to Solars themselves). He prefers to talk than fight, but his moral code is basically along the lines of a paladin of Sarenrae. He has no issue bringing redemption by the blade as necessary. If I'm leaving anything out let me know!

Glad to see you checking in, Threecopper! Orym sounds like a fun character and I look forward to seeing him in action :)

At some point, preferably sooner rather than later, I'd like for you - as well as Guerro and Frank - to post the rest of your character sheet information to your respective aliases in a manner similar to what Karabo and Imperia have done. It doesn't have to be formatted all fancy as long as it's where I can find it and read it. This is for cases where I might have a question about something your character can do and want to take a peek to see what feats or other class abilities you have, instead of having to ask directly and then wait for you to get back to me :)

I'm french, as Lady Ladile might remember, so not in your time zone.

Baied is a capable healer and cast mainly protective spells, but not much of a fighter.
She's a good diplomat, and a law-abiding merchant at heart; worshipping Abadar

Player: Escharid
Character: Baied Eldhoura
Pathfinder Society Number:
Faction: Exchange
Slow Track or Normal:Normal
This Chronicle #:
Starting XP: 8
Initial Prestige: 12
Initial Fame: 16
Prestige Spent on this Chronicle:
Starting Gold: 1252 (-1000?)
Day Job Roll: Profession Merchant: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
Gold Spent on this Chronicle:
Anything else you want me to note on your Chronicle:

Re: Sheets, I have a Google doc template that I can post for you guys once I'm at a computer.

I'll get the information for reporting up soon!

GM Ladile, how do you want me to do my transformation sequence? Should it just be one post or what? Just dont want to slow or skip something important

The base template I use for my online profiles.

I tweak it here and there depending on the character, as experiments, or various things I find on other people's profiles that like.

Fixed.

Thank yooooo! Updates when I get home from work in about an hour, hour and 1/2 :D