Ruins of Pathfinder: The Quest for Arcadia (Inactive)

Game Master Robert Brookes

 
 
            Ruins of Pathfinder
    THE QUEST FOR ARCADIA
            Discussion Thread
 
 
 
 
 
 
Welcome to the Quest for Arcadia campaign, set in the dark future setting Ruins of Pathfinder. The Quest for Arcadia Play-by-Post will incorporate fan-speculation regarding the mysterious land of Arcadia alongside officially cited information regarding Arcadia. New monsters, magic, races and exciting encounters await you in this structured sandbox campaign!

POSTING

So that all players are on the same page, I have included a guide as to what is expected to appear in the discussion thread, and what is expected to appear in the gameplay thread. These expectations include the content of the posts, frequency of posting, and what will occur in the event of player abandonment or absences.

DISCUSSION THREAD

The discussion thread should include any and all OOC chat and conversations between players and GM that does not involve a present situation in the gameplay thread. Plans for future character builds, feat suggestions, announcement of absences, plot speculation and the like all belong here.

GAMEPLAY THREAD

The gameplay thread should include all in-character interactions, gameplay actions and questions regarding immediate situations. For example: if the party was in a desert ruin, all new ooc discussion in the gameplay thread should be pertinent to the exploration of the ruin or what has been happening in it, not previous locations/events. This is largely to keep the gameplay thread from being cluttered and making it easy for people to miss content or posts.

FORMATTING

Posts in the gameplay thread should be formatted as follows when possible:

In Character Content, descriptions of actions, dialogue, etc.
_____________
ooc commentary
Move Action: Move to E23
Swift Action: Smite evil @ zombie kitten in square C23
Standard Action: Attack zombie kitten in square C23
Attack Roll @ C23 Zombie Kitten: 1d20 ⇒ 12
>> Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
End Location: E23

Note that in the above, the dice rolls are clearly detailed with what you're rolling for. You can do this by typing [ dice=Description ] instead of just [ dice ]. Outlining your actions line by line makes it easy for me to see who is doing what, that way nothing gets missed or overlooked. In combat you should always be sure to include what square you are ending your turn in at the bottom of your post.

GMING STYLE

You'll be able to see from my posts that I do a lot of heavy description. Posts will err on the long-ish side and may require more than one read-through just to be sure you got all the pertinent details. This is one of the reasons why I have a 48-hour posting window, to accommodate people who may need to take time to read what's been written and consider their actions.

I will also be making some autonomous rolls for you as well. If presented with a creature/situation/etc that you could make a knowledge check for, I will make the roll automatically for you and supply you wish a spoiler-tagged block of text showing your roll and what your character would know after the check. If you have an exhaustible ability to improve rolls or otherwise modify these results, you may opt to use them even after I have automatically made the check for you. Doing these automatic rolls is designed to expedite play.

If I forget to make a knowledge check for you automatically, or if you feel you would like to make one for any reason, please feel free to make the check yourself and I will provide the result.

INITIATIVE

I will automatically roll initiative for the entire party at the start of combat. The same rule applies that if you have something that allows you to re-roll or otherwise modify your initiative (that isn't always active) you can use it after I make the roll for you, regardless of whether or not you'd normally be allowed to use it after a roll is made.

There is a level of GM/Player transparency that I uphold as well. Any check an NPC or creature takes in secret will be contained behind a spoiler tag marked as "private rolls." I do this in the event that something outrageous happens, like a hidden sniper gets a critical hit that kills a player. I want there to be transparency to ensure everyone that those sorts of things aren't done arbitrarily and rolls aren't fudged.

MISCELANEOUS

I ask that if you play a prepared spellcaster, you list what spells you are preparing at the start of each day (and any spell slots you are leaving open) in the discussion thread. If we're doing a long stretch of overland travel and you plan on keeping the same spells, feel free to list a range of days you have the available spells for.

Player spell research is allowed and you will have the time/availability to do such things. On the same token, player magic item creation will also be available and there will be sufficient downtime to allow for this.

We can discuss spell research/crafting as it comes up.

We are using the medium experience path, and PCs may level up their characters as soon as they gain enough experience to reach the next level. If you could make a post in the discussion thread with what class you are leveling in, your HP roll, and any elective feats taken, spells learned, etc it would be appreciated. Any other static scores (like BAB or Saves) increasing don't need to be listed.

DEATH AND DISAPPEARANCE

Bad things happen to good dwarves. In the event of character death without feasible possibility of resurrection, you will not be given an opportunity to create a new character. If the party drops below 4 PCs, I will choose a character from the recruitment thread and see if they would like to join the campaign, already in progress.

If you go 48 hours (2 full days) without posting, I will take control of your character to keep the game moving along until you return. If you go 96 hours (4 days) I reserve the right to remove your character due to inactivity. Characters removed for inactivity will be replaced in the same manner as dead characters.

Players who need to have absences (vacations, busy work, lots of life stuff happening) just need to let me know as soon as they can. Give me an estimate of how long you'll be gone for, and we'll work things out! Life happens, and as long as you aren't just bailing without any word, I'll totally do my best to accommodate as long as you need.

QUESTIONS

If at any time you ever have questions for me, don't hesitate to ask (in a thread or in a PM), I'm usually always available!

Dwarves who have been selected to join the expedition, please report in here and begin making any final alterations to your character. If you would like communal assistance in gear crafting from other expedition members prior to the start of the game, you may coordinate that now. You will have 6 months in-game time to prepare for the voyage before the ships leave from Absalom.

I will be posting the beginning of the story sometime Sunday as well as doing final review of character sheets. Please have everything in order as soon as you can.

Oh and...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
STRIKE THE EARTH!

Roger that, and well planned on the game style. I'm taking notes, as I'm also a would-be GM in the future, but my perfectionist side wants to make absolutely sure I'm ready for it, heh.

I'll look over my sheet for corrections or possible changes, though I don't foresee any at the moment. My character will likely not be the single most optimized character, nor deal out the most damage, but if it works out, I'll be able to hit like a truck when the situation calls for it, and I hope to be a boon to the expedition/founding/whathaveyou with crucial crafting. Please hit me with any questions, errors, or suggestions for better formatting, whatever will make it all work better.

I have a +7 to craft weapons and armor, +9 for metal or stone, and I do equipment of said materials a little cheaper than the average due to traits, so melee boys especially should feel free to come to me for gear.

I plan to make use of open spell slots during trips, such that I can adjust as needed, so long as we're not pressed for time. tough spot? 15 minute break and I'll probly have the right spell for it.

Oh and...

CLANG!!!

BANG!

I'll like come to Maven in the future for crafting sword and fire-arms, but for now I am content with my purchases, from both an ooc and IC standpoint. I'm very curious how you find the Forgemaster class as well.

Checking in! I work tomorrow so I'll do longer check in then.

And so it begins.

Rob, will you be making a 2nd Gameplay thread (If it is even possible) so we can start fresh for the actual campaign? Theres definitely a ton of pages in that thread, and the campaign might get a bit lost in 'em eventually.

I too am curious about forgemaster - I considered it at first, but the abilities felt more annoying than beneficial to me. But theory is just theory, and it might be better in practice than I was thinking.

Rogath has no crafting abilities to provide to the group, but can give one round of "Roll 2d20, take the better" to people 8 times a day. I don't think that usually helps with crafting, but if Rob want to allow it, its there.

I might want to get a starknife enchanted, but I probably can't afford it. I do want to spend more cash on mundane gear. Can we assume we have things like basic travel supplies and such? Or do we need to explicitly have "Bedroll, flint & steel, 5 days rations, ..." (or a kit which contains them) on our sheets?

Looks like we've ended up with a pretty good party mix :) Glad Mineko made it in as well, be interested to see where thing will go between Quint and her :p Dwunderbran... *groan* (that's Quint's opinion anyway :p) should also be interesting to see what happens there given Quint's initial impression of Dwunderbran. The whole thing should be interesting though I suppose. Can't wait to get into this.

All the rules stuff looks fine, fits with my normal style anyway (my normal formatting's not quite as detailed as that but shouldn't be too big a deal, as long as you'll forgive me if I mess it up at first).

Ouch, perma-death eh? (or uhh, the player equivalent for that). Different, but hey it's your game and you've got no shortage of good players wanting a spot, so I guess it's only fair. Just hope Quint doesn't kick it too soon :s

Reporting in for duty, sir! Or whatever it is the soldiers of the surface dwarves say these days.

.... Crash!

Anywho, Angrin may want a stone sap at some point, Maven. He'll pay full price for it! :D And if wood is more logical, well... he's not too familiar with wood. >_> I can't wait to have him react to a forest. xD

Also! Booze! Angrin can make some. :D

And so it begins.

Rob, will you be making a 2nd Gameplay thread (If it is even possible) so we can start fresh for the actual campaign? Theres definitely a ton of pages in that thread, and the campaign might get a bit lost in 'em eventually.

Nope, I'm keeping the funeral as is. It is essentially a part of the narrative and an important introduction to all of the characters. After all, it's the prologue! :>

I too am curious about forgemaster - I considered it at first, but the abilities felt more annoying than beneficial to me. But theory is just theory, and it might be better in practice than I was thinking.

Rogath has no crafting abilities to provide to the group, but can give one round of "Roll 2d20, take the better" to people 8 times a day. I don't think that usually helps with crafting, but if Rob want to allow it, its there.

I might want to get a starknife enchanted, but I probably can't afford it. I do want to spend more cash on mundane gear. Can we assume we have things like basic travel supplies and such? Or do we need to explicitly have "Bedroll, flint & steel, 5 days rations, ..." (or a kit which contains them) on our sheets?

It will be extremely beneficial of you to have whatever basic supplies you believe you would need to survive in the wild listed on your person. Later on in the campaign I may not be as strict, but for the beginning definitely.

Looks like we've ended up with a pretty good party mix :) Glad Mineko made it in as well, be interested to see where thing will go between Quint and her :p Dwunderbran... *groan* (that's Quint's opinion anyway :p) should also be interesting to see what happens there given Quint's initial impression of Dwunderbran. The whole thing should be interesting though I suppose. Can't wait to get into this.

All the rules stuff looks fine, fits with my normal style anyway (my normal formatting's not quite as detailed as that but shouldn't be too big a deal, as long as you'll forgive me if I mess it up at first).

Ouch, perma-death eh? (or uhh, the player equivalent for that). Different, but hey it's your game and you've got no shortage of good players wanting a spot, so I guess it's only fair. Just hope Quint doesn't kick it too soon :s

You've got a couple competent clerics who will eventually get raise dead and later on resurrection and true resurrection. You just need to survive long enough, or avoid getting turned into a vampire or some other form of horrifying undead abomination.

Undead... You didn't say undead, did you? >_>

Omigodundeadhide: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

*Hides very sneakily*

The Quest for Arcadia, while a sandbox game, has six "acts" in it that function much like the acts of an Adventure Path. They are not reached by achieving a linear narrative, but rather by achieving other campaign-specific milestones.

As such, the "books" of the campaign are as follows:

Book I - A Wayward Dawn
Book II - Accursed Stone
Book III - The Foreigner
Book IV - The Valkyrie's Call
Book V - The Temples of Syrinx
Book VI - In Blackest Night

The opinions I've seen on the forgemaster AT are, at best, a little grim. Losing channeling is apparently not a popular choice, but when this character started emerging in my head, it spoke to me. It just made sense. I felt a bit relieved when Rob told us he'd be picking EIGHT dwarves though. I figured SOMEONE will be able to out-heal me if need be, and I am still a cleric. Smithing is Maven's forte and her meditation, though. My mundane gear is cheaper, almost guaranteed to come out as extreme quality, and later on I'll be able to make it in a fraction of the time. The expedition will NOT be short on combat gear as long as I have my say. We do need materials and gold, of course.

Oh and remember I get craft magic arms and armor at 3. Let the +1's roll.

@Maven: You have short-changed yourself 1 point of attack in your character sheet. Base Attack: +1, Str: +3, Masterwork Weapon: +1 = +5

Everything else is good!

So in the next level, we can get magical arms and armor. How nice... I like this development! :D

In any case, I'm most certainly going to be skill-full, so I could potentially pick up some random stuff like cooking and whatnot, for food. If no one else does, we could be sure to have some grub - albeit experimental stuff, when we get to Arcadia. Assuming we don't all sink on the boat (another thing I'm so looking forwards to introducing Angrin to).

Hm. I dunno what's going on lately. I swear I had a +5 there...letters disappearing from words hours later, numbers comin up wrong...weird.

@Quint: Everything looks perfect on your sheet to me

@Everyone: Languages.

So, something I'd like everyone to bring in line. I'm a strong proponent of the importance of language selection, especially in this setting. As such, "common" isn't always the same across national borders. Everyone who has a character from Avistan will need to choose which of the two variations of common they have. The most prevalent is "Taldane" which is spoken in almost every nation in Avistan. The second is "Varisian" which, logically, is spoken more frequently in Varisia but also is spoken in neighboring countries.

For our one character from Tian-Xia, you'll need to choose which Tian language is your common. I will assume Minkian given her region, but the choice is yours.

For our Garundi dwarf, the common language there is either Taldane, Osiriani or Kelish.

If you could all edit your languages to reflect this, and make any language selection changes you may want to based on this, I'd appreciate it.

So a good example of how to display it would be: Common (taldane)

Language barriers are going to be important in Arcadia, and some native languages there may have commonalities with other Avistani/Garundi/Tian languages. So knowing which dialects you speak will help :)

@Mineko: Did you put your favored class bonus into skills? I can tell it isn't in HP, I just wanted to make sure you didn't forget to give yourself those additional skill points (or to find out if you chose another dwarven racial option of +1/4 natural armor bonus to the AC of the summoner's eidolon.)

@Mineko: You appear to be short-changing yourself 1 evolution point on Komainu: I see Claws (1), Pounce (1), Scent (1), but you should have 4 evolution points at 2nd level.

@Dakun: Your unarmed damage is at 1d8, however monks start at 1d6. I couldn't find what bumped your unarmed dice up, is it a typo or am I having difficulty finding the ability that raised it?

]quote]The opinions I've seen on the forgemaster AT are, at best, a little grim. Losing channeling is apparently not a popular choice, but when this character started emerging in my head, it spoke to me. It just made sense. I felt a bit relieved when Rob told us he'd be picking EIGHT dwarves though. I figured SOMEONE will be able to out-heal me if need be, and I am still a cleric. Smithing is Maven's forte and her meditation, though. My mundane gear is cheaper, almost guaranteed to come out as extreme quality, and later on I'll be able to make it in a fraction of the time. The expedition will NOT be short on combat gear as long as I have my say. We do need materials and gold, of course.

Oh and remember I get craft magic arms and armor at 3. Let the +1's roll.

I have a forgemaster in another game and I definitely miss the channeling and thus far haven't had much use for the rune powers. Granted, I am also still second level so it may improve.

I too selected it primarily for flavor.

Regarding languages, I think I selected my languages specifically by name.

@Angrin: Everything on your sheet looks good to go.

Excellent! :D

@Rogath: Everything on your sheet looks good!

Despite my recent surge in PBP experience and brushing up on my reading, I'm not intimately familiar with the geography of Golarion (and geography remains a personal failing of mine IRL as well) For a Dwarf that basically hasn't set foot out of Highhelm, is there a specific variation Maven would speak?

Taldane would be the most logical, it is the most widespread of the common tongues.

I almost considered not getting Taldane and keeping Undercommon instead, but... I figured Angrin's father wouldn't have neglected such an important skill as speaking a language that might potentially come in useful. xD

The song sung in the opening is a variation of the song Sovngard.

More details about the campaign start to follow.

So, as detailed in the gameplay thread, the dwarves of Vigar's expedition had been hand-picked under the premise of settling Arcadia with a dwarven colony to serve as a fall-back point for Highhelm and its people and all dwarves, should the catastrophes of Avistan and beyond continue to escalate. The hopes is that Arcadia is a yet unspoiled land where the dwarves can freely settle. No one knows the truth about Vigar's mission, that there may be a sister weapon to the axe of the dwarvish lords, an artifact that could unite all dwarven peoples.

Your journey has been a long one, fraught with perils. You journeyed from Absalom in the Inner Sea, west to the Arch of Aroden, north along the western coast of Avistan and through the Steaming Sea into the frozen north. When the dangers of the north proved too great, the ships cut back south and followed the destroyed northern coast of Azlant, finally hitting the western Arcadian ocean before becoming mired in fog and rain for nearly a week.

All of the PCs are aboard Torag's Anvil, the flagship of the expedition. All of the other characters who were in the recruitment can be presumed to be present aboard the other two vessels, along with hundreds of other dwarven settlers.

Please take the next day to introduce yourself anew and react to the excitement and jubilation of land having been sighted. Monday, things will change.

As usual, if you have any questions to ask of me, please feel free!

And most importantly; have fun!

@Lucent: First off thanks for inviting me to join in this campaign. As you know I am in the military. In the last year since we have started to do pbp’s I have not missed a regular post, but due to variances in my connection during deployments I want you to know that I might miss a week’s worth of posting at some point if my unit loses internet all together. I’ll understand if you need to drop me, but if I am not posting in any of my other campaigns, I would ask you to consider something might have happened.

On the topic of my Eidolon, Komainu his evolutions are correct. His evolutions are Claws (1), Pounce (1), Scent (1) and Improved Natural Armor (1). I picked the Natural Armor to reflect his stony exterior. I changed his languages to reflect the free ones that he gains via Mineko. I also removed the point in Linguistics and applied it to Acrobatics. Between his scent ability and a +13 in survival he should be one heck of a tracker.

For Mineko, she has a total of 6 languages. She started with Dwarven and Minkaian. She gained two from Intelligence: Terran and Undercommon, and spent two points in Linguistics to pick up Celestial and Common (Taldane). Her favored class bonus was applied to skills. The ¼ bonus to natural armor is tempting, especially so with Komaniu’s flavor, but I am not sure that it is worth it.

Ahhh! I couldn't figure out where the last point went. Thanks for pointing that out.

And, as with how it's been in Reign of Winter for you, you have my total understanding during deployments. I'll make sure Mineko is either NPCed or working off-camera during any downtime you may have.

@Dwunderbran and @Logem: Both of your sheets look fine, no questions!

Adding to the list of things Angrin Does Not Like: The Ocean.

Brain...reeling...eyes...racing...stop...the epic...TOO EPIC. STAHP. ROB! WAT R U DOING! STAAAAAHP!!! TOO EPIC!!

Translation: you gotta stop blowing us away with your work, Rob. Gonna overload the inspiration circuits and cause a blowout.

Heh. ain't it funny how character quirks just kind of emerge on their own? Poor Maven. She can handle the waves, the rocking, the food and the trip, but her achilles' heel? Skysickness.

Hah, glad you guys like it! My Reign of Winter players had the same reaction to an epic seige of a lodge they're undergoing right now.

Great post Rob. Quick question: Will I be allowed to bring along my inital group of followers I have listed in Minkeo's character sheet?

For our Garundi dwarf, the common language there is either Taldane, Osiriani or Kelish.

Same goes for me, as I'm from the Mana Wastes, aye? I should probably grab Kelish, considering I spent a few years in Katapesh.

Yep, everyone who has followers has them aboard.

And if wood is more logical, well... he's not too familiar with wood. >_> I can't wait to have him react to a forest. xD

As a former subterranean dwarf, who has since had extensive surface experience, I'll volunteer to be your mentor, if you want one :)

It will be extremely beneficial of you to have whatever basic supplies you believe you would need to survive in the wild listed on your person. Later on in the campaign I may not be as strict, but for the beginning definitely.

Roger. I'll get started on converting that useless cash to useful supplies!

The opinions I've seen on the forgemaster AT are, at best, a little grim. Losing channeling is apparently not a popular choice, but when this character started emerging in my head, it spoke to me. It just made sense. I felt a bit relieved when Rob told us he'd be picking EIGHT dwarves though. I figured SOMEONE will be able to out-heal me if need be, and I am still a cleric.

I certainly can't argue with that - it fits a very interesting (though quiet) character very well. Between the two of us, I think we can keep the rest of these dwarves on their feet, even with only half a cleric's worth of channelling (I took a variant).

...

Now to go read epic-travel-montage-post-goodness.

Ok, gear updated (coincidentally, it comes to exactly my maximum load) and Varisian selected as my form of Common. Good thing we have Dwarven as a common tongue.

I may pick up Varisian next time I level up.

-----

Edit: Actually, scratch that. I moved a skill point from Spellcraft to Linguistics to get both Varisian and Varisian, since the latter is likely what he would have been taught to Harrow in, but the former is what he would have learned while traveling.

Never enough skill points to go around...

I still need to figure out exactly where all my gear will be carried. I need to split it between myself and my two donkeys. XD

Ahh yes, thanks for the reminder Dr., I need to do that too... I bought a mule :)

to get both Varisian and Varisian

Wait, what?

Rogath Silvertarn wrote:

to get both Varisian and Varisian

Wait, what?

Copy and paste error. Taldane and Varisian. It was late.

That's what I figured, I just wanted to make sure. Haha, I've done the same thing in combat descriptions before and then woke up the next morning and was like, "wait..."