This is the place for any out-of-character discussion.
Please take a moment to introduce yourselves while I prepare the first post to kick this off!
I am going to be reviewing the characters in more detail (mainly for bookkeeping), and I'll be posting any questions I have about the character builds here.
Hey everyone! Checking in and dotting.
Kinda curious how you plan to start us off. Are we going to start off doing our own thing and then roleplaying until we can get everyone together? And kinda along that same train of thought...I took a look at everyone else's backgrounds (I'm nosy) and thought it'd be appropriate if Sarya and Aishe at least knew each other since they both grew up in Heldren. Maybe Caelia as well depending on how long she's been in Heldren. Just an idea but I'll leave it up to the GM and other players as to whether or not they want the PCs to know each other.
Checking in as well! Excited to be on board!
Hey, I also wanted to pop it and introduce myself to the group. Echoing some of Sarya's questions, I'll wait on Yagello's first appearance until the GM posts their preferences.
As for real life, my name is Frank, and I live in West Chester, PA (one of the western suburbs about 30 miles outside of Philadelphia). I'm married and a father of two kids (5 y/o and 1 y/o) and also have 2 dogs. I've been roleplaying since about the age of twelve starting with the red Frank Mentzer basic set. I cut my teeth on those sets playing exclusively in the Mystara D&D setting for quite some time.
I've played in a Jade Regent PBP game which ended very prematurely on these boards last year, so this will be my second PBP game. Since moving to the Philly area in 2010, I haven't had the time to find a new tabletop group, but I'm involved in a one-on-one Skype game with my brother playing Serpent's Skull.
Look forward to meeting all of you and having a great time tackling Reign of Winter!!!!!
Hey everyone! Checking in and dotting.
Kinda curious how you plan to start us off. Are we going to start off doing our own thing and then roleplaying until we can get everyone together? And kinda along that same train of thought...I took a look at everyone else's backgrounds (I'm nosy) and thought it'd be appropriate if Sarya and Aishe at least knew each other since they both grew up in Heldren. Maybe Caelia as well depending on how long she's been in Heldren. Just an idea but I'll leave it up to the GM and other players as to whether or not they want the PCs to know each other.
The first post is going to start with a rider coming into town bearing news, and the gossip carrying to all of the characters where they naturally happen to be.
I'm going to try and connect people as much as possible. In particular, the three travelers just passing through town (Igmar, Arkady and Yagello) will be at the only tavern/inn in town. Caelia and Aishe, both living in the small town of Heldren, should definitely know each other, but will hear the news through different channels.
Sarya's been away for awhile, so I want to set her up as a bit of an outsider. Things have changed since she's been out in the wild, although Caelia and Aishe can certainly be familiar faces. Does Sarya still have family in town?
GM, quick question: Would you allow a last-minute change? I took the Reactionary trait (+2 initiative) and just realized I would have been much better with the "Harrow-Born" trait from Humans of Golarion (+1 initiative and begin play with a family harrow deck). It makes sense for his background and his Fortune Teller feat. Also, I realized I didn't purchase a way to carry my familiar around; I thought an 8gp "Pocketed Scarf" would be appropriate for a Varisian gypsy.
All:
My name is Tony, I'm 45 and have been playing RPGs for over 30 years. I live with my wife and teenage daughter in Redmond, WA, where I teach college math. I first played PbP on 300 baud dialup, and really enjoy the medium. My previous PbP here ended just after it started when the GM had a sudden attack of life and couldn't continue. FtF, I play in a Rise of the Runelords game and a weekly PFS gathering at a local game store.
As for Arkady, obviously GM has a plan for us to meet in the opening scene, but I will give a pronunciation guide: I intend Arkady Szriakou to be pronounced "ARK-ah-dee shree-AH-koo".
Also, with Arkady's insane initiative bonus and his "always act in the surprise round" class feature, I expect he will occasionally go first before there is anything to even react to. That's his hereditary precognition kicking in, which I'm calling "the gitchy feeling". He'll have to choose something to do without even knowing why. I expect a lot of time it will be either to go total defense or cast a protective spell. :D
I'm excited for this game!
GM, quick question: Would you allow a last-minute change? I took the Reactionary trait (+2 initiative) and just realized I would have been much better with the "Harrow-Born" trait from Humans of Golarion (+1 initiative and begin play with a family harrow deck). It makes sense for his background and his Fortune Teller feat. Also, I realized I didn't purchase a way to carry my familiar around; I thought an 8gp "Pocketed Scarf" would be appropriate for a Varisian gypsy.
Sure, no problem. These changes are no big deal, and fit the character as well.
I see that others are introducing their real-life selves, so I'll do the same.
I'm Eric, and I live in South Bend, IN, where I just (less than two weeks ago) graduated with a Masters degree in Theological Studies from the University of Notre Dame. I'm an aspiring editor, and I also coach baseball at a local high school. I have only been role playing for just over a year, but I have played some PbPs before (on other sites), and I also play twice a week with friends from high school and college.
I'm still not entirely sure how Igmar is going to work, but I'm excited for him to try to find his niche in the party. He's still rather depressed from the loss of his best friend, and he's been traveling alone for quite some time, so he is certainly starved for companionship.
Excited to start!
Yes, Sarya does have family in Heldren. Father, mother, and two younger brothers. I haven't given any of them names yet because that's always been the hardest part of making characters for me. Anyway, she's not in any hurry to see them again and would probably prefer to get in and out of town as fast as possible to avoid any awkward family reunions.
Thanks, profile has been updated.
I envision the scarf as being formed into a sort of sling going across his chest, with the hare riding near his hip.
Thanks for the invite! Just checking in. This is my typical time of day to post, though sometimes I will late in the evening as well.
To your question above Sarya, Caelia will have been in Helden for about six or seven years at this point, so would be likely to know any characters living in the locale since it's a small town.
As for me, I'm a family man and a teacher. I've been playing D&D for about 20 years off and on. I absolutely hated 4ed, so I migrated over to Pathfinder a few years back, and subsequently got into participating in PbP's here on the paizo forums. Looking forward to gaming with y'all.
Just in case you missed it, the game-play thread is open, with the first introductory post.
Hi everyone. I'm a bit late joining in due to today being my last day of labs before the end of semester here. Just FYI I'm in Tasmania, Australia so my posting times will usually be out of sync, although thanks to my eccentric sleeping habits, I can end up posting any time. However I won't have to imagine the cold in Heldren, as tomorrow is the official start of winter down here.
Despite playing a female character I'm a guy, real name Matt, ex-army engineer turned geology student. I'm very new to PbP, having signed up for a Rise of the Runelords game here about three weeks ago, due to having withdrawal symptoms from roleplaying since moving to Hobart last year. So if I make any mistakes regarding PbP etiquette let me know, I'm still learning the ropes, so to speak.
Aishe has lived in Heldren her whole life, probably never having traveled more than dozen miles from the village. Her family farm is probably to the north of the village, where her half-elf father, human mother and two elder half-elf brothers still live and work. Since it's been established that Caelia and Sarya both know Aishe, then they will know of her weird habits as a child, and Caelia at least will know Growler, Aishe's wolf companion. Beyond that I'm entirely open to suggestions as to what the three know of each other.
I'm just going through the character sheets to setup my tracking, and I noticed a few things missing from some of the characters.
- Yagello - I don't see any current wealth (GP or otherwise)
- Aishe, Igmar, Arkady - I don't see any rations or food/drink of any kind
If I have made a mistake, or the omission was intentional, just let me know, thanks!
I'll be posting a story update later tonight (in about 12-14 hours for Aishe down in Australia).
Aishe, Igmar, Arkady - I don't see any rations or food/drink of any kind. If I have made a mistake, or the omission was intentional, just let me know, thanks!
I'll be posting a story update later tonight (in about 12-14 hours for Aishe down in Australia).
No mistake. I had not purchased any rations for Aishe as yet, since I was thinking that she would be living in the village, so wouldn't need them at first. That's been corrected now, and I've added (and paid for) trail rations to go with her other gear.
Also I've created a separate alias for Aishe's animal companion, Growler. Something I read on one of the threads somewhere here suggested that could be a useful thing to do if a companion creature would be participating in any combat. Growler's alias is linked from Aishe's page.
And thanks for the qualifier on the time difference. It's 23:15 hrs here as I write this, and I'm about to hit the sack. Goodnight folks.
I made a minor mistake IG; Growler is a female wolf, not a male. I'd changed it for cosmetic reasons and forgotten that I'd done so. Sorry! :)
Rations and water are a part of the bard's kit (a waterskiing and 5 days rations). I'll buy more when we have a better idea of how long we'll be gone.
Hah, Aishe... it just dawned on me, we're in two games together now.
Oh good grief! I didn't realize... Hi Miri! :)
I'm afraid the lack of gold pieces or any other kind of personal wealth was intentional for Yagello. I spent the entire budget on his equipment, leaving him completely penniless. Hopefully, this will change soon in the course of the adventure... :)
@Sarya: Where's your animal companion, Zev, while we're all meeting each other in the village square? Aishe would certainly be curious about, and comment on, the presence of another wolf.
Just posting to let everyone know I am still here, I just didn't want to skip over the introduction posts people are writing and railroad the story.
"Grrrr..."
I kinda assumed he would have been asked to hide somewhere outside of the town. I doubt many people would take kindly to a wolf walking inside their homes and leaving him outside on his own would cause a whole different set of problems.
Buying winter clothes and a winter blanket for 8.5 gold. If anyone else needs or wants a regular blanket, it's yours. If not, I suppose I'll just sell it if the general store is buying.
Makes sense. Since Aishe is apprenticed to Old Mother Theodora in the village I didn't really have any choice but to have my animal companion with her. The assumption must be that the villagers make an exception for weirdos like a half-elf sorceress with a wolf companion. :p
Sorry for the delay folks, I'll be posting later this evening... I'm just taking care of some marking this afternoon.
Use the stairwell method... you know; you stand at the top of a flight of stairs with all the papers, then throw them down the flight. Any that land near the top are 'A's, lower down are 'B's, etc...
Although since my reports have to be marked F, TP, P, C, C+, D, D+ and HD it's a bit harder to use that method here. I remember an American exchange student freaking out over being given a 'D' on a report, until someone explained to her that in Australia it means 'Distinction'. :p
Wow, a bunch of teachers in one game? I just finished writing my last final exam and sending it to the print shop. I give my exams Tuesday evening then Friday afternoon, then have to grade them before I am done for summer.
I can imagine someone expecting what we would mark as an "A" would freak about a "D". *I* would be one of them! :D
Just for the record, I'm not a teacher. Just a geology post-grad who helps out with labs and marking lab papers. In previous lives I have been a combat engineer, library/research assistant, antiques auctioneer, geological field hand and an air dispatch controller. But not a teacher. :)
As we get into some of the parts of the game that require rolling, I will be starting to roll for some of the details. I am not talking about rolls in combat, or saving rolls, but for example, I recently rolled offline to determine the availability of some of the cold iron weapons available at Isker's store.
I feel like posting these rolls are just noise, so I didn't bother putting them in the post, but I don't know how you feel about this as players.
I'd like to put out a question to the group: would you mind if I kept these out of the posts? Or would you rather I keep everything in the open and in the posts?
I have no problem with anything that would normally be "behind the screen" not being posted. I trust you are not being adversarial, and like to have the game flow better.
For that matter, I'd be perfectly happy to have you roll initiative for the group. You could post those, rolling for each character and save a back-and-forth with nothing besides establishing order. If you roll init, then as we check we can see our order and post our first action knowing where we are in the sequence.
For that matter, I'd be perfectly happy to have you roll initiative for the group. You could post those, rolling for each character and save a back-and-forth with nothing besides establishing order. If you roll init, then as we check we can see our order and post our first action knowing where we are in the sequence.
I was planning on doing something like this for initiative, and for any other mass rolls. For example, something that will be coming up a lot in this adventure will be fortitude saves for exposure to cold - I'll post more details on how I will be doing this once the situation comes up.
I trust you to do those things. I can't image that you wanted to GM a PbP so you could screw the players, and it just makes things easier and more cohesive.
Same opinion here as Igmar and Arkady; I have no problem with you rolling initiative or leaving some of the "background" rolls out of the thread. Anything that makes our game run smoother and more fun sounds good to me.
Ditto the above; as a player I don't need to know about background rolls made by the GM. Posting such info isn't necessary and just clutters things up, as you said. :)
I don't mind you handling whatever rolls you think are necessary. The dice don't like me anyway.
Keeping in mind that I've never actually even seen a real wolf, since there aren't any down here, I have no idea of how wolves behave. What would happen if two strange wolves were suddenly forced into close proximity because their mistresses are travelling in the same party?
I'm choosing to assume that Sarya, being a druid, will have far more say in how Zev behaves than Aishe will have over Growler's reaction. So if Sarya wants to use her Wild Empathy on Aishe's companion, feel free to do so, if you want a bit of a roleplaying opportunity by way of revealing that you are a druid, that is.
Maybe I should've gone for a Thylacine companion after all... since they're presumed extinct, I could've roleplayed one any way I wanted to without fear of being contradicted...
Speaking as *a* GM but not *the* GM for this game, I'd say that since both Zev and Growler are Animal Companions, they won't behave exactly as they would in the wild. You have a certain amount of influence over their personality and behavior.
Yes, Arkday has it right. Additionally, since both wolves have "down" as a learned trick, and the DC to handle animals in only 10, I assume Aishe and Sarya are taking 10 in most circumstances to keep the order.
Sorry for skipping over your post, Yagello. I guess we were writing at the same time.
No problem, GM, everything's good. :)
I did have a general question for you since we're making a lot of rolls right now in game. What's your opinion on Taking 10 for knowledge rolls? I've seen two schools of thought on this issue.
When I've Gmed, I usually haven't allowed it, since to me this would mean a character would have a degree of unlimited knowledge on a given subject. I've preferred the role playing aspects of rolling the dice and going with it. This happened in our game earlier when Yagello failed his knowledge (geography) check and we discussed him being unfamiliar with the Border Wood.
Just a heads up to everyone, I am a bit busy today, so I won't be posting until later today (in about 12 hours from the time I am posting this).
I did have a general question for you since we're making a lot
of rolls right now in game. What's your opinion on Taking 10 for knowledge rolls? I've seen two schools of thought on this issue.When I've Gmed, I usually haven't allowed it, since to me this would mean a character would have a degree of unlimited knowledge on a given subject. I've preferred the role playing aspects of rolling the dice and going with it. This happened in our game earlier when Yagello failed his knowledge (geography) check and we discussed him being unfamiliar with the Border Wood.
I agree with you, but for different reasons (although you make a good point). My concern is allowing everyone to take 10 on knowledge rolls effectively neutralizes a part of Igmar's Bardic Lore Master ability, which gives him the same ability.
Turned out I had a bit of time after all. :)
Turned out I had a bit of time after all. :)
:D
This is my first time running combat in a play-by-post environment, so if anyone has any feedback, please feel free to share it with me!
Looks pretty good to me so far. The only thing I can think to recommend is to not go strictly by initiative. It's a lot less confusing if everyone posts in order but it's also a lot slower.
I saw something on here once about grouping the PCs based on initiative and allowing each group to post whenever they can.
Since I'm absolutely terrible at explaining things...I shamelessly stole this:
Another method I used before was a slightly altered take on the same principal. Enemies remain grouped, players remain on their own initiative. There are times where a few players would have their initiatives together.
In those circumstances, it is "the order you post in is the order those actions resolve."
i.e.
[21] Player 1
[19] Player 3
[16] Player 5
[13] Goblins
[10] Player 2
[08] Player 4
[07] Skeletons
I'd say "1/3/5 - go!" If 5 posted first that he tossed a fireball, that happens first. I'd give the first group 24 hours to post. Once 24 hours were up (or they all posted), I'd post a mid-fight update with the enemies' actions/reactions. It would then be Player 2 and 4's turn.
Hopefully that makes sense.
That's the system I would recommend, too.
Yeah, that would seem to be an efficient system in a PbP game.