|
The Golden Fields Farms are a placid and beautiful place, rolling fields of wheat, corn, and other crops for as far as the eyes can see. Your life has been this for as long as you can remember and though the rest of the frontier might be a harsh and unforgiving land this small patch of it has always been kind to you and yours. Now, deep into the colder months of February you are weathering the chill with the hard work of the fields and the exotic crops your family/employer is testing to increase his yield this year even during the February chill. All in all it's an ordinary day, just like all the rest...
That is the start of this little experiment, a one shot meant to prologue some of the events about to transpire in my home game on Sunday and instead of just blocking out the events myself I've decided it would be fun to see how it would look if I let other players decide how everything would play out? As players you are going to get to play as members of the Golden Fields surviving through what is probably the single worst week they will probably experience. Now before I get into requirements here I want to warn that this is meant to be a very tough game with a play style far closer to that of Call of Cthulhu than the standard Pathfinder game. You are not playing the heroes here, you are farmers suffering through incredible hardships and trying to figure out how to survive. Life is cheap and easy to lose if you aren't careful but if you succeed will be all the more rewarding. Now with that out of the way time to throw up the requirements
1. Everyone plays an NPC class: You are all farmers or members of the farms work force and it is your primary source of income. Your people are not adventurers and are more likely to run from those encounters than actually engage in them. If trouble ensues that you can't handle with a simple pitchfork, crossbow, or good old outsmarting you can always send a runner to town to get aid. It's better to get the Imperial guard and have them help handle it rather than risking your friends and family on some of the more dangerous creatures and threats that live out here in the wild frontier. Now all that being said I think most characters should be commoners. This is a large but rather normal farm that grows corn, wheat, and other staple crops to take to market in the large town of Lowerborough about half a days walk south of here. Their need for aristocrats is probably low.
2. 3 point buy: Normal NPCs are built on a 3 point buy and I'm looking to repeat that. You are normal people not adventurers, hell you might literally be commoners working the fields. The other upside of this that it lends itself to...
3. Make a few characters: If you couldn't tell from above, you might want to make a few characters. All of them will be active workers on The Golden Fields farm and somewhere around the grounds while events are going on.
4. Playable races: The common races for this region are a bit different than what core assumes. All playable races are listed here under the common races. Feralfolk use the skinwalker stats presented in blood of the moon.
5. Crits & Fumbles: I use the critical hit and fumble decks paizo puts out and considering it can be a make or break for some people I think I should mention it here. If you fumble you have to roll to confirm the miss, you hit on the second roll and you just miss, fail again and the card gets drawn. On a crit after rolling to confirm you roll d%, if you roll 5% or less you not only get a crit but get a critical effect from the crit deck. High crit range increases the chance of crit card by 5% per point in the range, high multiplier gets you an extra card per multiplier point over 2. So for example a crossbow has a 10% chance of getting a crit card while a spear gets 2 crit cards thanks to it's high crit.
Resources: The players guide referenced above is a good place to start if you are looking for insight into the world you will be playing and I'll repost it below along with other pertinent links.
here under the common races. Feralfolk use the skinwalker stats presented in blood of the moon.
5. Crits & Fumbles: I use the critical hit and fumble decks paizo puts out and considering it can be a make or break for some people I think I should mention it here. If you fumble you have to roll to confirm the miss, you hit on the second roll and you just miss, fail again and the card gets drawn. On a crit after rolling to confirm you roll d%, if you roll 5% or less you not only get a crit but get a critical effect from the crit deck. High crit range increases the chance of crit card by 5% per point in the range, high multiplier gets you an extra card per multiplier point over 2. So for example a crossbow has a 10% chance of getting a crit card while a spear gets 2 crit cards thanks to it's high crit.
here under the common races. Feralfolk use the skinwalker stats presented in blood of the moon.
5. RP heavy: If it hasn't become clear yet this is not going to be an encounter in which combat will be as viable as the normal game. It can and probably will happen but the odds of it going well for any player involved are not good. Your greatest tool is your brain, your allies, and your ability to outsmart the situation rather than trying to pummel it apart.
6. Crits & Fumbles: I use the critical hit and fumble decks paizo puts out and considering it can be a make or break for some people I think I should mention it here. If you fumble you have to roll to confirm the miss, you hit on the second roll and you just miss, fail again and the card gets drawn. On a crit after rolling to confirm you roll d%, if you roll 5% or less you not only get a crit but get a critical effect from the crit deck. High crit range increases the chance of crit card by 5% per point in the range, high multiplier gets you an extra card per multiplier point over 2. So for example a crossbow has a 10% chance of getting a crit card while a spear gets 2 crit cards thanks to it's high crit.
Players guide: This is the aforementioned player's guide to my sunday game. This should give you a good working idea of the world you will be playing in.
Religions of the Frontier: This is a solid working list of the major religions populating the area nearby. Some are good, some are bad, and some are boogeymen that haunt campfire stories. Help you get into character and maybe get some ideas. Adepts of a particular faith get 1 domain offered by their chosen faith.
Now I'm hoping to hear from all of you soon, I would like to get this started as soon as possible and finished quickly in order to have the results ready for my regular party. Hope to be hearing from all of you soon ^-^.
Cool idea! If there is more interest, I will make a character!
will their be advancement into pc classes if this pans out? i like the gritty p6 stuff but this is really low...and interesting.
|
|
will their be advancement into pc classes if this pans out? i like the gritty p6 stuff but this is really low...and interesting.
As far as I know not yet. The idea with this is that the actions of the players here will directly effect my home games story going forward. That being said though if people do really well I could do a sequel or something that ties into that narrative.
First and foremost though I want to get the players I need to run this and get it set up asap. Sooner I get the players and knock this out the sooner I can level the results at my players and determine if I'll do a second one (which I might already have a story for).
My suggestion though is to bat out a character and tell your friends. I would love to have this started as soon as tonight if I can pull it off.
Hmmm... could I be like some sort of horticulturist, with a little skill with chemicals (Expert)?
I know, I was just asking if the character concept was sound, a person skilled in everything related to plants and chemicals (Pesticides, acids used to clean rust off of metal, ect.).
|
|
Hmmm... could I be like some sort of horticulturist, with a little skill with chemicals (Expert)?I believe that would be profession (herbalist) or craft (alchemy). Probably the former.
As for class you could actually do that with a commoner considering both are class skills for them. An expert is more like an educated and college trained kind of character or someone who comes from a specific guild. A commoner though could be one as well, someone trained through years of community handed down knowledge or family tradition and what they learn from their own experience.
Actually I could see the latter rendered as an expert as well. Like a horticulturalist who has been collecting all the info his town has to offer and studying whatever lore he can get his hands on.
|
|
I know, I was just asking if the character concept was sound, a person skilled in everything related to plants and chemicals (Pesticides, acids used to clean rust off of metal, ect.).
Yeah dude I can get behind that. It's a farm in a world with alchemists so I can totally see the need for someone who can create pesticides, high grade fertilizers, and hardier plants totally makes sense.
Ok, because I imagine being able to mix up acids and such could prove... useful, no?
Should I go ahead and create a character now?
EDIT: Well, characters, plural lol?
EDIT 2: And how many?
|
|
Ok, because I imagine being able to mix up acids and such could prove... useful, no?
Yes that would prove very useful. This is a game that is thematically much closer to a Call of Cthulhu game than a standard Pathfinder game so having characters with diverse out of combat abilities should pay out a lot more than those that focus exclusively on them. This is a game where brawn will likely get you killed and brain will likely be what you need to survive.
|
|
Should I go ahead and create a character now?
EDIT: Well, characters, plural lol?
EDIT 2: And how many?
My knee jerk answer is as many as you want but to keep people from feeling too overwhelmed by the chance to make like 26 characters so lets say like 3-4.
ohh as for cash lets say 260 gp to work with per character.
Ok, works for me. Can I be somewhat creative with what I buy? I will not buy any magic items, assuming they are that cheap, just some things that may not initially make sense. Some of the concepts require a bit of knowledge with chemistry and such, so I can explain those to you if I need to. Yeah, went to college for psychology and know just as much, if not more, about chemistry lol.
|
|
Ok, works for me. Can I be somewhat creative with what I buy? I will not buy any magic items, assuming they are that cheap, just some things that may not initially make sense. Some of the concepts require a bit of knowledge with chemistry and such, so I can explain those to you if I need to. Yeah, went to college for psychology and know just as much, if not more, about chemistry lol.
Lol sure man, you want to grab up an alchemist's lab go for it. Rule of thumb is if it's in Ultimate Equipment I'm usually pretty cool with it. Just make sure it makes sense with your character and you should be fine.
Sounds good! My thoughts for the 4 characters: alchemist/horticulturist expert that works for the farm owner and has a crush on the farm owners eldest daughter, the farm owners youngest daughter (About 18-ish,) who is mentally unstable and a commoner, a simple farmhand with a lot of mental handicaps and deformities who is a warrior, and some other unspecified character. Are those concepts fine?
|
|
Sounds good! My thoughts for the 4 characters: alchemist/horticulturist expert that works for the farm owner and has a crush on the farm owners eldest daughter, the farm owners youngest daughter (About 18-ish,) who is mentally unstable and a commoner, a simple farmhand with a lot of mental handicaps and deformities who is a warrior, and some other unspecified character. Are those concepts fine?
They all sound pretty cool though tread lightly with the mentally handicapped character. That can walk a fine line between interesting and offensive really quickly and I'd rather the former than the latter.
Also did you see the playable races for this?
He's not going to be played in a cruel way. Think a gentle, simple soul like Tom from The Stand, but deformed and really strong for a regular person.
I looked at your link earlier and the campaign info tab was empty. Let me check again.
Also, any info on the family running the place?
Nevermind, checked your other link! I feel I can best convey the feel of a Lovecraftian game by playing a human, since I'm obviously more familiar with that psychology.
Man these threads get silent about this time lol! Maybe I'm just too hyper at the moment lol.
|
|
He's not going to be played in a cruel way. Think a gentle, simple soul like Tom from The Stand, but deformed and really strong for a regular person.
I looked at your link earlier and the campaign info tab was empty. Let me check again.
Also, any info on the family running the place?
Ohh whoops it seems that one of my links does head to the wrong place
The players guide link should throw you to the right one but I'll throw it up here as well.
Link to the Player's guide and the common races
I will state again this players guide is for the larger sunday game that this is an expansion of rather than this particular game but should give you a good idea of what the world you are playing in is like.
|
|
Man these threads get silent about this time lol! Maybe I'm just too hyper at the moment lol.
Lol I feel you man. But yeah humans work well here as do halflings and feralfolk who are pretty common in the area alongside half-orcs.
Trust me I'm just as excited to get this going as you are. I'm interested to try a game with a more intimate setting and theme with only one key area to worry about and...
S*!@ it is not easy to avoid talking about development stuff when you know the person on the other end of the line is someone who will be playing it.
I hear that lol. I love some exposition, so when I'm GM'ing, I have to be pretty careful!
And what about the family running the farm? Since one of my characters is one of the daughters, I think it could help with some BASIC information lol.
|
|
I hear that lol. I love some exposition, so when I'm GM'ing, I have to be pretty careful!
And what about the family running the farm? Since one of my characters is one of the daughters, I think it could help with some BASIC information lol.
Well right now I had left those slots open for players to fill but assuming they don't here in the next day or 2 I was thinking an older father probably in his mid 30's or 40's and human. Don't know what the wife is quite yet but I think she helps maintain the home, food stores, that kind of stuff. Number of kids is probably quite a few thinking at least 3+ probably closer to 5.
Ah ok. If no one posts, flesh one or two out for me to read up on.
Hey there, Princey! :3
How about I play your love interest for your brainiac character?
|
|
Ah ok. If no one posts, flesh one or two out for me to read up on.
Ask and you shall receive man. Here is Aluric Aurelian, Patriarch of Golden Fields Farm.
Few more should be coming including his brother and a Kept fieldhand.
|
|
Ah, OK, I guess I'll just jump on in here then. I have a couple loose ideas for two or three characters but I've never played PF before so I'm not really familiar with knowledge and skills and all that? (also money?)
skills are basically d20 rolls you make to represent your characters acumen in a particular field.
A good place to start trolling for quick answers is the d20pfsrd.
Link here
as for money you start off with 260 gp to "buy" all your gear. This is not so much a list of a bunch of stuff your character has just gone out and bought so much as the total value of all the stuff they own. So even though you paid for an item you can still have a story of how you got it passed down to you as a family heirloom or a gift from your master etc.
|
|
OK, got it. Couple of character ideas: Orc woman who works as a carpenter on the farm, her bastard half-orc daughter who works in the fields (maybe also helps sell the crops at the markets) and a feralfolk man who also works the fields, but maybe has some basic healing skills. Sound good?
Sounds good thus far. My question is who's bastard is the half-orc supposed to be? Is it like a particular member of the Aurelian family or no one in particular?
Sure RVT! Glad you got your Internet fixed!
Yay!
|
|
Sounds good thus far. My question is who's bastard is the half-orc supposed to be? Is it like a particular member of the Aurelian family or no one in particular?Oh, I guess I didn't make that very clear, the half-orc would be the daughter of the orc woman
Ahh! Caught it on the second read. So you are building a little family tree then?
|
|
Ahh! Caught it on the second read. So you are building a little family tree then?yeah, just a small one. The feralfolk is a family friend, but unrelated. Also are we cool to roll our ability scores? If so, which method are we using?
For this you use point buy method. Basically you buy your stats with points.
this is a super low 3 point buy. To help out check out the point buy calculator Here.
Scroll down to the point buy calculator (it says Pathfinder RPG Ability Calculator above it), select the other tab and fill in 3, and then do all your buys. System should be pretty intuitive but if you have any questions let me know. If your race is not covered there in the options select "other" and fill in the mods. If you need the feralfolk I'll shoot you the link to it on the pfsrd.
I think my fourth character will be an adept who is the local priest.
Still interested obviously, just waiting until you give the green light that there are enough players, doc!
|
|
Thanks for responding Silver! Right now with you, cardinal, and velvet I'm looking at 3 so if I could get 1 more we'd be golden. So if you have one more person you know of who would be interested show them the thread and see if they would join ^-^.
In the meantime I would say start building out your characters and start linking them here so I can take a look. Also if you have any questions about any of the characters I've built feel free to ask me here as well.
Ohh in case it wasn't made clear before this is a 1st level game.
dotting .... sounds fun ...but gotta read it all through to get an idea ... will look when I get home from work.
Have an idea of an elderly clerical type, looks after the wellbeing of the community, with an interest in butterflies and other botanical things. A bit of a scatty guy ... would be human...wears glasses... has a net for catching butterflies ...
|
|
dotting .... sounds fun ...but gotta read it all through to get an idea ... will look when I get home from work.
Have an idea of an elderly clerical type, looks after the wellbeing of the community, with an interest in butterflies and other botanical things. A bit of a scatty guy ... would be human...wears glasses... has a net for catching butterflies ...
Cool that could be an interesting character as well. Also if anyone is looking to build a rogue like character or vagabond character that could help as well here since most characters so far have been very academic like. Having things like stealth would be very helpful here as well as knowledge skills.
Also sorry about the late responding a bit late to your ideas. Message me or hop on the discussion board and start posting some of your ideas. The sooner everyone is ready the sooner I can start.