Hello everyone and welcome to the The Borallas Rebellion discussion thread. On this threat I will inform you of the rules of the campaign as well as how I plan to run things as your GM. Pretty much all of you have your alias’s down so that’s a start. There are a few rules that I need to go over with you about how I GM
1. Leveling:I believe I have mentioned before that leveling happens as you complete main plot objectives. They also increase for every five subplot objective you complete. There are a lot of both main plot and sub plot objectives and in this particular campaign it is easy to miss a lot of them. So be sure and keep your eyes open for them. There are a lot of opportunities for preplanned combats, but I am open to peaceful solutions if you can manage to persuade the problem away. You don’t have to kill everything you encounter. Get creative. More fun that way.
2. Combat: Okay. In my short time I’ve spent on these forums, I’ve noticed that combat is one of the trickiest aspects of PBP. So I’ve come up with a system that seems to work best. Once a combat breaks out everybody posts their initiative and their first two round actions. Here is an example of how combat will look:
I will move to engage the closest foe and then swing my sword to attack. For:.
If the foe is still standing I will take a full-attack against him swinging with both weapons.
Attack one: For
Attack two: For
If he is dead, then I will move to the nearest enemy and attack him.
: For
This is how your combat rounds should look. Feel free to get wordy if you really want to get into character. I will wait for everyone to post before I move on. Once everyone has posted their round one and round two actions, I will arrange all actions in initiative order and make changes as necessary. Then I will post the results and we will move on to round three and four. This will make combat go by quickly and efficiently.
There will not be many random encounters, these have a bad habit of slowing PBPs down and I’d like to keep this campaign moving.
3. Posting: Now, I like roleplay. Very entertaining. How ever, some of you may be on more often than others. If that is the case, I’d like to limit most folks to about three or four posts a day. I’ve been in a game recently where I wont be able to post for several hours, I come back and suddenly there are ten pages worth of posts to read. It’s a pain to get left behind like that so again, please keep your posts to at the most three or four a day. I myself will only post one to three times a day. Also, I will not fill out any progression in the campaign until Everyone is ready to move on. I want this to be fun and not a chore so hopefully we are all ok with this pace. No one gets left behind.
4. Player/Character interaction I’m not a huge fan of PVP. Unless merited, I’d prefer we don’t fight each other. Now I’m big on character development and when people really get into character. This might produce some really irritating characters for some people. Now, I know some people might be annoyed with someone’s character. Please understand that they are most likely playing the role they gave themselves even if it is annoying. This is like life and in life, people don’t always get along. So. As a player, respect your fellow players. If you have an issue with a particular character, don’t take it out on the player, resolve it in game. If it leads to a PVP (Again please try and avoid this) then so be it. I like diverse character’s so don’t get upset as a player, get upset as your character’s personality would.
5. Rulebreakers Now not every rule is set in stone. I am willing to make modifications to certain rules as it pertains to a character or a situation. Also, roleplay always wins out over the rules. For example. (My favorite example) You’re trying to convince someone to see your point of view. You don’t always need to make a diplomacy check to do so. You can make an in character argument to try and convince someone to do what you ask of them. I will usually yield to a reasonable argument. Also, get creative in everything you do. The rulebook doesn’t cover everything, and if you have a creative way to improve rolls or lower DCs, then by all means make the attempt. Also I don’t always give in to natural 20s. In combat yes, but certain skill checks, I would have set DCs high because I don’t want you to succeed. Thus in those scenarios, I will also take away the natural success. Finally, I reserve the right as the GM to make some serious augments to the rules if I need to. Usually this will be to help keep my campaign or plot intact. If there are loop holes, I will likely keep you from using them by making such changes. This wont happen often I promise.
6. Notes on GM Okay, I have been running games and players like you for over 12 years now. While this would mean I am very experienced, it doesn’t mean I’m perfect. I have one major weakness that I’ve been managing to cope with for all that time, it’s Ironic considering how I’m trying to game right now. I am not good at reading. Not sure why, but I am very scatter brained when I try to read and usually do not retain all that I have read. As such, I may forget rules often. I read the rulebook daily to try and keep learning but if anytime in game, I miss something, please remind me. Also, It is possible I might miss certain details in your posts. I apologize in advance for that and please note I do not mean any harm by it. For these weaknesses, my strength (Very ironically) is writing, I love to write and I am extremely creative (As I have been told by many others). I’ve spent a good amount of time on this campaign and it should be very fun.
This campaign will start with all of you in jail together. Same cell but chained to the walls. Also, I made a couple of changes. The king will have been slain while you are all in prison and the castle is under attack by an insertion force from an unknown enemy. You will have no gear to start with and you will have to escape with the rags and chains you have on. This campaign is a bit of a sandbox but there will be a constant reminder that you all have a job to do in the game. Your character's are special.
Also those of you that took the nobility trait, Your home and family name will make you a target for sure from your enemies. You will also not be able to claim your benefits until you rejoin your families. (There will not be much of them left as your notoriety mixed with your arrest has pretty much destroyed your family name. Worse than what is normal.
That said, post here with all your questions and concerns. Once you all have confirmed your ready to go, then we will start this thing.
I am ready to commence with the festivities, these chains shall not hold me for long ;)
Yay, I'm here... =) Character conflicts are interesting, to say the least... but I will try to avoid PVP... =P.
Here and ready.
The Baron is ready My good sir! *bows*
Okay, this picture is somewhat closer. Unfortunately, women are drastically under-represented on the avatar pictures listing.
And I'm pretty sure that natural 20s do not succeed by default on skill checks anyways, so you won't have to worry about that either way.
I was reading your Aridia game thread, Shanosuke, and it looks like you play with critical fumbles? I just want to know as clarification--I've never personally played that way, but am not opposed to it at all. Could create some interesting scenarios :P
It's interesting to note that because he dropped the shortsword, he became MORE effective as a two hand attacker. :P
-Critical fumble. Your fighter is sucked into the portal and trades all his class levels for wizard levels and all his strength for intelligence-
Rock & Roll!
Also Retech is correct.
Yeah.....okay this is an example of me the GM not knowing or remembering all the rules. I run things where if you roll a 1, I draw a card or roll a dice to determine the effect....cause its fun. So yeah. Okay, I think that is everyone. Confirmed. YAY. Once I finish writing out the first part then I will post the start of the game.
Yeah.....okay this is an example of me the GM not knowing or remembering all the rules. I run things where if you roll a 1, I draw a card or roll a dice to determine the effect....cause its fun. So yeah. Okay, I think that is everyone. Confirmed. YAY. Once I finish writing out the first part then I will post the start of the game.
Sounds good to me, I have never played with the critical fumble deck but I imagine it will make things rather interesting. Do you also use the critical hit deck?
Always up for the fumble and critical decks to be in use hehe!
** spoiler omitted **
I am probably the opposite from you. I like reading, not a huge fan of mass writing, and love reading the rules. :)
The Borallas Rebellion starts Here And now. Yayness!
Shanosuke, would there be a chain or rope or manacles that I can use as I have listed in my stat block?
Sorry, been really busy today and yesterday with camping and friends visiting from out of town. Will post an update tonight.
I wanted to let you know so you could make the proper preparations: I'm more than open to having my character DMPC'd or even run by a willing PC who won't be gone, to keep it from bogging you down too much, but I also understand if you'd prefer to find a replacement character because I'll be gone for so long. I would be sad, but no hard feelings :P
Let me know how you'd like to handle it, and then I'll post a public post on the thread to let the other players know before I mysteriously disappear.
My sincerest apologies for the long delay. I have been moving over the past couple days and my internet was supposed to be set up right away but ended up taking a few days...
I will be catching up on posts in a couple hours and then will likely have a rather long post for all of you.
Again, I apologise for my absence.
Sadly, I have some bad news. I am leaving on a road trip tomorrow and will be gone for just over 2 weeks. I won't have regular internet access at all and will probably be silent for at least 2-3 days at a time, maybe more. I wanted to let you know so you could make the proper preparations: I'm more than open to having my character DMPC'd or even run by a willing PC who won't be gone.
I'll leave it up to Shanosuke what he'd like to do, be it have my character run while I'm gone or finding a replacement PC. Either way, I think the campaign is going great and I'm having a blast! I'm sorry to slow things up like this.
Don't worry, as long as you let me know when your gonna be gone, I wont drop you. I will usually run your character in a sort of Silent NPC mode choosing the actions I think best suit your character. Just a note. I plan on using all of your backstories in this campaign, so try and make sure you keep up with everything if something happens that involves your past. Like what I am doing with Veronnia at he moment, each of you has a role in this campaign.
Remeber: I only drop players who disappear for more than three days without any word. A warning keeps this from being a problem.
Thank you for the heads up
Woohoo, I'll post when I can. Thanks.
Warning! I'll be out of town August 5th - 8th. Internet connection is questionable, but I will post if I can. If anyone wishes to NPC me during that time, it's perfectly fine.
Same here, Gen-con calls for that weekend!
Using both of my hero points to add a total of four hp.
(d8 from hit dice, +4 from hero points, +2 from constitution)
--
Dangit! :)
Sorry everybody, moving is becoming a lot bigger hassle than it should be, I will be able to post properly tonight.
Using 1 hero point for +2 hitpoints.
+1 BAB
+1 Will Save
+5 skill points
Diplomacy +1, Intimidate +1, Knowledge (Arcana)+1, Knowledge (Religion) +1, Bluff +1
Spells per day: 4 1st-level
Spells known: 5 0-level
Sorcerer favored class bonus: +1 hitpoint.
Okay, level 2 goes to Fighter. I get:
1 Favored Class Bonus: +1 HP
1 Bonus Feat: Combat Expertise
3 Skill Ranks: Climb, Diplomacy, Ride
Rolling for HP, using 1 hero point and favored class bonus:
So... if I want to use my other hero point to re-roll, do I get to keep that +2 bonus from the first one? :P
Alright, moving is finally finished so I should be much more dependable again.
Level 2! More bardy goodness for Jarcal!
HP : (+2 from Hero Point) (Lady luck smiles upon the bard!)
Skill Points : +9 (6 class, +2 Int, +1 FC)
Spells Know : +1 0 level (Detect Magic), +1 1st level (Disguise Self)
Spells Per day : +1 1st level
Abilities : Versatile Performance (Act), Well Versed
3 Skill Ranks: Climb, Diplomacy, Ride
I'm actually going to change something here, and replace the rank in Climb with a rank in Swim, if that's okay.
I'm gonna use my 2nd hero point to reroll my level 2 HD.
oops, scratch that, accidentally did d20 :P
sweeeeet. hero points worth it :P
Alright, it is evident I need to clear up a few things with you all. I am human. Prone to errors and mistakes. One such mistake was adapting this campaign to Pathfinder and expecting it to be played without PVP. Now an explanation:
I wrote the Borallas Rebellion back in high school, over 8 years ago, for another RPG system. When I had first designed it, it was with a friend and we made it to be highly manipulative. Origionally, the plan was to run several groups of player though the same timeline. These groups ranged from one player to four. There were a lot of actions that took place where players were forced to make difficult decision that, on some occasions, forced them to turn on one another. Hence, there were a ton of PVP scenarios. This was highly popular among my gaming club and many of them took it seriously. Few years later I redesigned the campaign to fit a different system and changed the story a bit so only one group would run through it. I ran this game several times and have had quite a few PVP instances. Mostly from a difference in beliefs and having to make quick and rash decisions.
Now I have readapted this campaign to Pathfinder and changed some of the plot to fit the setting. However, I have not rooted out, nor am going to root out all the difficult decisions this campaign forces players to make. I know I said I don't want PVP, but that was obviously a foolish request concerning character behavior and allowing such extreme viewpoints such as good versus evil. This campaign is mean to those who follow black and white alignments and I forgot to mention that. That said, I am not going to ask you to change anything. The scenarios are too important to the plot for me to throw out. So what I do, is I will try to push you all to a common objective. I know this is kind of forces you all to make the choice I want you too, but it is what I have to do keep the players from fighting each other.
I have run this AP several times, over ten for sure. But this is the first time I have adapted it to Pathfinder. It is a really fun ap and I hope we can all enjoy it.
Now, I know it will be tricky, especially since there will be many choices that try to provoke PVP action but I ask you use your best judgement in figuring out what your comrades will do. I will try and make some of the answers as obvious as possible. I will also allow you to confer with each other on the OOC before making the posts in the play-by-post board containing your decision.
Now I would also prefer you not insult me. I am not perfect and am prone to make mistakes. That said. Please politely correct me if you see a problem. Thank you again for choosing me as your GM, I hope the rest of this dark and unpredictable campaign will be fun and go smoothly.
Now is everything clear? Do you have any questions or concerns?
Wasn't trying to insult you, but if I did, I was probably too wrapped up in playing the character... lol. (First evil character I've played in a long time.)
Most of what I said in OOC was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, thats why I stuck out my tongue at the end :P
I have no concerns with the occasional bit of party conflict. In fact I really enjoy these types of situations with a dilemma like this. As I said before, I had every intention of betraying Tairas at some point anyway. Not necessarily in this fashion though, thought I might try to sway his men at a later date and overthrow the captain that way, once I was sure how things worked with the other cells in the organization ;)
All good to continue, party conflict can be interesting and, when it comes down to it, it's just a game in the end.
So basically, you want party tension, but not outright direct interparty violence?
Okay. As long as there are no real issues with these lind of situations
@Veronnia: I apogize too for over reacting. Sometimes when I read for communication, it is difficult to properly percieve anothers intent when they say something. I really wasn't quite sure if you were serious at all. I did try and srug it off at first but it kind of bothered me a little. Sorry if I took offense to easily.
Perhaps we should take advantage of the OOC thread when there appears to be a situation that could cause in-party conflict. It may seem metagame-y, but there's a lot that can't be easily conveyed in full-on roleplaying, but would be perfectly reasonable to assume in a real-life environment.
Bascially what I'm suggesting: if there appears to be some sort of conflict of interests, first person to notice it (or has opinions opposite the group) calls it out and we hash it out here?
REMINDER: I'll be out of town for 4 days. Will probably have net access, but not much time to post. Will post as I can. Should be back to normal by Tuesday.
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Okay. As long as there are no real issues with these lind of situations
@Veronnia: I apogize too for over reacting. Sometimes when I read for communication, it is difficult to properly percieve anothers intent when they say something. I really wasn't quite sure if you were serious at all. I did try and srug it off at first but it kind of bothered me a little. Sorry if I took offense to easily.
Sometimes I'm not too good at communicating, so watch for emoticons... The tongue one is a big one that I'm not really being serious. Or if I thought I said something funny. :P
Other times I might say something critical, but I'm not angry or defensive. And this is said with a smile :).:( Means I'm sad about what I just wrote, even if only a little. Sometimes its a pretend sadness. :P
And If I'm angry, I won't talk at all... :P
It's like Tamagachi stardust!
Perhaps we should take advantage of the OOC thread when there appears to be a situation that could cause in-party conflict. It may seem metagame-y, but there's a lot that can't be easily conveyed in full-on roleplaying, but would be perfectly reasonable to assume in a real-life environment.
Bascially what I'm suggesting: if there appears to be some sort of conflict of interests, first person to notice it (or has opinions opposite the group) calls it out and we hash it out here?
That sounds like a good plan. I think as long as we can communicate here we should be able to avoid any party implosions during these kinds of situations.
Everyone ready to continue?
Everything is cool now, and I had mentioned in the previous post that you can confer in the OOC before you make a choice. I am at game night so I wont be able to post until I return home.
Hey, just letting everyone know that I will be gone on a canoe trip from Saturday through to Tuesday and will be unable to post.
Please NPC Jarcal wherever appropriate, if any of my party members wants to take him over personally while I'm absent just let me know.
I'll be around till Sat morning though...
Nearly forgot! I'm going to be out of town Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I'm not sure if the hotel has internet or not. NPC me as needed.
Alright, back from my trip. Sorry, I was just totally wiped last night so I didn't get to post.
I'll have something up for the campaign thread in just a bit.
Sorry everybody, I just had a hellish day of school yesterday and I'm off to Seattle now for the night to see a jazz concert. I won't be able to post today, but I'll be back tomorrow.