Shattered Star

Game Master Zesdead

Is anyone submitting an item in the open call for RPGSS Season 9?

I don't think I'll be able to enter this year. I work in higher ed, and back-to-school is my single-busiest time of year-- I'll probably be putting in 50-60 hour weeks shortly, so even if I somehow made it into the Top 32, there's no way I'd be able to do my best work for Rounds 2 or 3.

I'm still tempted, though, and I do have an idea for an item. Maybe.

Did they change the contest again? Doesn't that usually start in like December?

Also, has anyone heard anything from our GM, it seems like it's been a little while since he posted?

I'm here - just had a really hectic end of last week and then, when I thought I had a quiet weekend ahead of me, someone ploughed into the back of our car... Fun times!!! Everyone's okay - just loads of insurance hassle to sort out...

Gameplay post coming a little later tonight - I spent a little bit of time closing down one of my GM'd games so that took a little bit of priority today...

As for RPG Superstar, I'd like to but still struggling with turning concept / visuals into something I'd be proud of!!!

BTW I am going to use the, far more interesting / 'realistic' PF Unchained rules for Poisons... Sorry Teldon!!!

Also, I had a few ideas I kicked around for RPG Superstar but, in the final analysis, nothing that really blew me away when I had it written down - so I think this year / Season, I'll just enjoy it as a voter rather than a participant...

Folks,
I am away on holiday for a week as of tomorrow and, right now, I have no idea as to whether there will be any internet access at the cottage we are staying at – therefore, it is possible that there will be no GM posts through until about the 24th August. However, if there is access, I will keep things moving along.
Cheers,
GM Zed

No worries Zed, enjoy your vacation! :)

Hey all- so, all that craziness that had me (mostly) taking some time away from the boards here has pretty well settled down (and looks like it will even more so in the next couple weeks, hopefully). This development has me contemplating possibly running a PbP game... I'm mentioning this here for two reasons: to get feedback on my potential campaign idea, and as sort of a preliminary interest check... I definitely don't want to take anything away from this game, but I'm hoping/trusting you wouldn't want to join unless you have enough time to really do both.

So, getting to the actual idea... I'm thinking about reworking RotRL into a truly epic adventure... Instead of starting at 1st level everyone would be 11th level with 1 mythic tier (possibly gestalt to keep everyone a little more well-rounded) and by the end they would be over 20th level (with probably 3-5 tiers). I know that can be a difficult power level to play at but I have a ton of IRL GMing experience, so I'm not too worried about that part, but do you think people would be excited for something like?

Definitely interested. I even have an idea for a character I want to try.

I can definitely say that you would get a fair amount of interest if you decide to take this to an open recruitment thread; higher-level pitched game always seem to get a healthy response and just about every gestalt/mythic game I've seen proposed gets a ton of interest.

As for myself, though I'm definitely intrigued I don't know whether that would be something I could commit to at this point. Though some of my games have died/dropped off lately, I just picked one up that seems to be fairly fast-paced and so I'm not sure if adding anything else would be a good idea right now. Even so, I'll definitely keep an eye on it should you decide to go for it!

Definitely interested. I even have an idea for a character I want to try.

Lol- ok, that was fairly enthusiastic. Before you get too excited I should say that if I do this I probably won't allow any 3pp stuff at all (I find they can cause balance issues in gestalt and I'm not familiar enough with them to feel comfortable using them in a high power setting). Also, while I'd accept applications of any Golarion race the world is predominantly human and I'd like the party to reflect that, unless there's a really good reason not to. However, I would give each of the base races a little buff to bring them a little more in line with the power level of some of the less common races.

Oh, don't worry, what I had in mind was an Arcane Trickster, but if you're doing Gestalt, I'll just go for a Rogue/Sorcerer instead.

Well, far be it from me to tell anyone else what to make but (if I do run this, and if it is gestalt) slayer might be worth considering over rogue, just for the added survivability (d10 hp and gets you all good saves... Full BAB doesn't hurt either).

That is a point. I had forgotten about the slayer class to be honest.

Intrigued, but I'm having trouble keeping up my posting commitments on my existing games right now.

As a matter or personal preference, I tend to have more fun with low-to-mid-level games. I think the sweet spot in Pathfinder is level 5-10.

I feel like 5-10 is kind of the sweet spot for reasonable games, but then there's like a secondary sweet spot around 13-19 for gonzo games...

I'm not into Mythic stuff, sorry.

well, based on the original 'going on holiday' post i think we can expect a GM post tomorrow...

i for one am looking forward to finally finding out what's going on upstairs :)

Me too! I've missed this game and when I'm hit with a realization like that, then I know it's because I've found a good one :)

Same here!

Totally agree.
Great GM, great players (and me!) =good game

Back from holiday – somewhat predictably there was no internet access at all in the village we were staying at and we had to head inland a mile or so to get mobile coverage – it was like the twentieth century all over again!!!! Anyways… Back now so – actions?

And, just out of interest (without saying what you may have submitted) did anyone enter RPG Superstar this time around?

I didn't enter anything. I wasn't paying any attention to the dates (plus, as you may have seen, I've found a new pet RPG project)

Nope. I've also got a pet RPG project that I'm slowly working on. Speaking of which, I got to go ask for some recipes and stuff from the forums for it.

Somehow I couldn’t quite muster the enthusiasm for Superstar this year – I haven’t really bothered with the item voting either although I’m sure I will enjoy all of the later rounds – It’s the summer holidays which obviously eats into free time (in a good way) plus I spent most of that Open Call week proof reading the Legendary Games intro adventure, ‘The Assimilation Strain’…

…speaking of which, I’ll post a link to a recruitment thread for the Legendary Planet Adventure Path fairly soon – I have a thread open for getting my Emerald Spire games back up to 5 players and, once that’s done (or sooner), I’ll start recruitment for my next big adventure!!!!

…also Teldon if you do run it, count me interested for a wild ride on Rise of the Runelords!!!

Man, why do you guys keep tempting me with games??? I'm already anticipating (eventually) apping to a Hell's Rebels game (in general, not run by anyone in particular) and I've been trying to not apply to any others... ;_;

But I'll definitely give your recruitment for LP a look when you post it, Zed!

In other news, I have PM’d Nalathi’s player and sadly it doesn’t look like they’ll be re-joining the game – I think they enjoyed it to begin with but I guess it turned out to not be the game they were looking for in the long run… It’s a shame as I really enjoyed their character – anyway, not the end of the world as we are still a nice rounded party of five (I’ll write Nalathi out soon enough – I already have plans for that!!!)

Bummer; I really enjoyed playing with Nalathi but everyone has to go with what's most fun for them. She'll be missed :(

Also sad to see Nalathi go, but I totally understand dropping a game that isn't giving you what you want.

I'm kind of glad that Zed has been on vacation. I'd rather not get into details, but last week was not any fun at all.

His vacation actually came at a great time for me too- I was pulling 12+ hour work days all last week, plus trying to get registered for a specific class I need for my masters (that I need to drive over 2 hours each way once a week to take), and dealing with a stupid speeding ticket I shouldn't have gotten...

I am excited to be getting back into the game now too though :)

Sorry for disappearing again. Life is a little complicated for me now. One thing that had been discouraging me from posting was guilt over my stalled Ravenloft campaign. I just pulled the plug on that game, so I should hopefully have more mental capacity for this one. I plan to catch up on the Gameplay thread soon and resume play.

Thanks for understanding!

Sooo... I just discovered a major plumbing issue where I live... My posting is going to be sporadic for the next couple days. I'll try to keep up, but feel free to bot me if necessary.

Sorry to hear that things have been rough Zee; I hope things continue to settle down and that you feel more up to posting! You've definitely been missed.

Teldon, that stinks with the plumbing issues. I hope you can get it fixed soon and without a huge hassle or expense!

A few weeks ago, I got trolled by an Internet mob, which really lowered my desire to turn on my computer. Just when that dust was settling, I realized I'd pretty much run out of time to get my house in order for an exchange student who will be living with us for the next few months... and while I was getting his bedroom ready, I broke a window pane. I managed to get that fixed the night before he arrived. Now that he's here, I don't really feel comfortable paying too much attention to my computer while he's around. (Well, at least until we all get to know each other a bit more.)

But I think I'm pretty much back in the saddle for now!

No internet at home (or from time to time only..), hope to get it fixed by midweek

last night Sleepy Hollow was on and I just had to laugh... Johnny Depp plays an investigator who falls for a good witch (shaman?) and investigates a creepy little village in the middle of nowhere... somehow it all seemed very familiar, lol.

^Awesome movie and yes hehe, what timing :D

I like Sleepy Hollow, but I'm a big fan of Johnny Depp and Tim Burton.

Folks, I've spoken about it in the past but I have finally put up a recruitment call for a Legendary Planet campaign...

The recruitment thread is Here - please check it out and, if you fancy stepping into a crazy adventure between worlds, feel free to propose a character.

Well, it looks like our whole party has checked in on the lost planet recruitment, lol.

No kidding, hehe! There are plenty of familiar faces and great players in that recruitment :)

Okay, I submitted a character for Legendary Planet. Let's see how this goes!

Man, awesome job with the (star)knife throwing contest everyone - that includes you too, GM Zed!

@Zee - I saw! I submitted one too. Good luck to you and anyone else that makes a character for it; looks like it will be a good group no matter who gets selected :)

Proper Gameplay Post coming shortly - Joanna, you posted something for your Rise of the Runelords game (I think?) in this game... Unless poor old Joanna's now suffering from a split personality... I flagged it but I don't know whether the mods will move it to where it should live!!!

Nope I just got the names confused. >_< It's supposed to be Joanna saying that.

Joanna, where did you find the "Weapon versatility" feat?

I'd like to use it maybe for another character of mine.

weapon versatility is from the undead hunters handbook iirc

Thankies!

Just need to vent to friendly gamers about something that just happened in my homebrew Tuesday night face-to-face game. Feel free to ignore this post otherwise...

So, a few weeks ago, I informed my gaming group that I was planning to try out the new afflcitions rules from Pathfinder Unchained. Tonight was the first time anyone actually failed a saving throw vs. poison, and got hit with the Weakened state from a Strength-affecting poison.

When I explained the game mechanic, the player of the party healer pretty much stopped the game and asked for a clarification. Apparently, he totally didn't remember that I said we'd be using the Unchained poison rules. He basically stopped the game while he pulled up his PDF of the rulebook on his laptop, and then proceeded to FREAK THE HELL OUT over the rules and that they were "completely broken". I'm chalking this up to him having a bad day, but I was really shocked-- I've been gaming with this guy for 20 years on both sides of the GM screen, and I've never seen him react that way! He was really angry that I'd pulled this on him!

His argument is that there basically is no defense against the effects of the poisons: normal remedies don't apply. Honestly, he's the kind of player that tries to be ready for any contingency, and I think he was simply surprised to find himself without a good defense strategy against it other than "Don't get hit!" and "Make your save!"

I'm guessing that cooler heads will prevail and that everything will be copacetic next time...

Thanks for letting me vent!

Yeah, I've gamed with/known a few people that have a hard time finding themselves in situations where they really can't do anything besides rely on the dice to roll in their favor. I'm pretty sure your friend will have calmed down by the next time you guys play :)

It's been a while since I last played face to face, but I think every player/GM can have a bad day.
Things can only get better next time!