I've been wanting to run this for a loooooong time now but the fact remains that my usual group isn't up for it and I don't have time at the moment to comment to 4-5 hours a week to add in to my regular table top gaming. So I am moving the game to here. A test bed of my own ideas and the brilliant ideas of others, whether it be campaign related or house rule related.
So whats on offer?
A Carrion Crown Play By Post that needs 5 players. I say 5 because in PbP, best intentions aside, the attrition rate is about 20%-30%. I may go a 6th but its unlikely.
I'll run combat maps and encounters via Roll20 and there will be very detailed Obsidian Portal support site set up as well. I'd like to keep the game here but you can zip over to the OP site to check all sorts of additional materials, clues, house rules etc.
The game should be RP intensive. I want thinking players who can get into the gothic horror theme. I want players who can handle themes of prejudice and can accept Lovecraftian themes(and accompanying 'house' rules on sanity), and I want players who can accept lower powered games and restrictions on magic. I am looking for players who are willing to accept lower powered games where leveling is capped at 7.
I am looking players who have a track record of involvement in PbP games.
Finally I am looking for players who are willing to be guinea pigs for the above and a bunch of other house rules.
What I want you to do now?
Don't give me a character :) At this point I am interested in players not characters. Post if you are interested in an E6-E7 game, that has a high component of house rules*.
Tell me how long you've been playing PBPs and how many campaigns you've played in as well as the average number of posts you can do a day. 1-2 is an acceptable amount but more is better. If you've dropped out of PbP games before, what made you drop out? If you are light on PbP experience, tell me so - its ok.
Tell me what you are looking for in a horror PbP campaign and how you think both GM and players alike can keep a game moving and active, and above all, enjoyable.
You can also tell me what character concepts interest you and why. Again, don't throw up a character or a huge bio. Just a few sentences.
I don't even mind if you've played or run this before. I'll trust you not to metagame and trust that I have enough twists in mind to keep it fresh
I'll look over this for a week or so and then move a number of you over to the Discussion thread for character submissions. Thats where the nitty gritty of character creations will be and I'll show the players a bit more.
* Campaign and House rules include:
15 pt builds. Again I don't want characters... just warning you now.
E7 play (with some rules attached for Post level 7 play)
Rules on mental stability (sanity). Seeing 'stuff' will mess you up!
Evil Lincolns Strain/Injury system (that reduces the need for healing spells)
Some rather involved rules on supernatural 'superstitious' defenses commonly used by the people of Ustalav.
Tweaks to Rogues... yeah, nice stuff for rogues.
I didn't even know E6-E7 existed until I read this. Sounds amazing!
I've been in four campaigns so far. Two died because the GMs either lost interest or bit off more than they could chew. (One of these was a Carrion Crown game that ended during the will reveal after the funeral. I'm extremely fond of the character I created for it as he started off as a fop in my head and quickly turned into an autistic Rorschach / Sherlock Holmes crossbreed who had trouble understanding human niceties.)
My posting habits depend on the game. If everyone in the game is posting heavily, I post heavily. If it takes an entire day to go through a round of combat, I'll probably just post the one time as there's not much for me to play off of otherwise.
You had me at Lovecraftian.
I would probably use my character from the past Carrion Crown game if at all possible. He's a detective (Investigator Advanced Class Guide class if at all possible) who was raised by a church of Abadar and worships the idea of culture and society, but doesn't quite understand how it works at the same time. He is inquisitive, curious, and rude. The whole time I roleplayed him, I couldn't help but think of a detective in a Lovecraftian story.
I have been doing pbps for a few months now, but I have been playing pathfinder much longer.
I tend to post as frequently or infrequently as the others in a group do. I check my pbps multiple times per day and post if it seems appropiate to.
As for a character, I was thinking a skinwalker (a part lycanthropic race paizo release a few months ago) beastmorph/vivesectionist alchemist. I have had this character in mind for a carrion crown pbp for as long as I have heard of carrion crown and its gothic horror aspects. He'd be a scholar of magical creatures and beasts (and is part one himself). He'd be focused on trying remove the monster inside him. With E7 it wouldn't be possible, but this character would eventually become a master chymist, the alchemist prestige class based on jekyll and hyde, having partially succeeded in his quest. It would be similar to the character in this alias.
I do have other concepts in mind, like a dhampir vampire hunter or a necromancer wizard.
Just out of curiousity. What is E7? Evil Lincolns Strain/Injury system (that reduces the need for healing spells)
Ahhh. Good questions. When someone spends a lot of time thinking about things they also tend to think everyone knows what they are talking about.
E7? Its a variant of E6.
Whats E6? Its a system when you get to level 6, you are at the limit of your leveling - instead of going to the next level, you instead gain a feat, so at that point you spread your growth out rather than up.
Your feat choices will now include stuff that allows you access to upper level class features and so on but it won't result in more BAB/HPs etc.
You can google E6 dungeons and dragons or E6 3.5 etc
There is also a thread here that has it.
I use 7th level as the upper cap. I think it fits Pathfinder better. 6th fits 3.5 better.
The game will be changed by myself to accomodate this but it should lead to an overall 'lower powered' feel to game play.
Evil Lincolns rules on Strain/Injury?
Basically the concept is that damage is merely strain from parries, twisting your body to avoid blows, glancing hits that bruise and shock but doesn't penetrate armour and so on. The removal of hitpoints may be something like having your armour knocked out of position or your helmet being knocked off, or being so tired you can't parry a blow in time - abstract damage sets you up for the final blow that ultimately really does serious injury.
You really haven't been injured as much as you are winded and need time to reposition your armour, take a brief rest and recover. This is all recovered with a 10 minute rest or so. No healing spells needed.
But damage taken from criticals, failed saves or damage that drops you to 0 or less hit points is considered an injury. That final hit is the one that got past your fatigued attempt to parry, or maybe you were unable to move your feet in time to dodge or so on, but the effect is, that (or the critical or failed save) is the attack that actually does real damage.
This does not heal on its own and needs the heal skill, or magic to recover.
Upside is out of combat healing is not required for much of the time and players can focus time and resources in other areas. In combat healing still has the same positive effect.
The full thread and its document can be viewed
here.
I like it because there isn't the same reliance on healing and clerics/oracles and other classes don't feel like they need to be healing focused.
Cool Concept.
Personally I'm a frequent poster in a bunch of games; including a lot of games that failed for one reason or another.
Always loved the idea of E6, never had the opportunity to try it out.
Huge fan of Lovecraft and associated lore, character concepts rise out that.
1. A burglar who on his jaunts over the rooftops sees many things that open his eye on the reality that lurks just outside of consiousness. Drawn unconsiously to the unknown, he goes out night after night looking for something....
2. The scholar, completely unworldly, who stumbles upon an ancient manuscript that has partial mention of a prophesy or ritual of a nature completely outside the orthodoxy of his standard learning. Both facinated and horrified, he is compelled to investigate.
The Strain/Injury sounds like a nice organic way to describe damage and healing....
I know your not looking for characters yet, but here is an Orc character I designed for Carrion Crown. If you are remotley interested in him, I would like to readjust him for your parameters. If you arent interested I am happy to design something new, I know not everyone is interested in full-blown Orcs. I lean toward role-play centric gaming myself and I would have a blast RPing this guy.
I am new to PBP but was recently accepted into my first campaign so I will be around often. I can post daytimes once or twice and checkback late night for additional posts as well.
I've been table topping for about a year, and GMing for most of that, so Ive turned to PBP to get my player fix. Im currently develpng my own home brew world so I am particularly interested in what other GMs do with thier homebrews. E7 sounds fun and Im totally down to try it out. I honestly like the low levels because the players are forced to think creativley to solve problems, and those unexpected moments are usually the most exciting to play out. Its cool doing 1000 damage but teamwork and improv are usually cooler.
Also, me loves the horror.
I am currently involved in two games. I am still active in both. I started pbp in October and enjoy it very much. I have played RP games since AD&D. I can post as much as needed (3+ posts a day) since I have multiple electronic devices. I am new to Carrion Crown.
I was a huge fan of Ravenloft and Carrion Crown looks a lot like it! What really won me over was your desire for intelligent players who focus on RPing!! One way to keep a game going is for players to post open ended posts that include the whole group. Of course, there is nothing that beats just being consistent.
I haven't begun to work on this yet, but I will. I need to reread the player's guide. I usually like to play bards, clerics, and rogues! I would be fine playing whatever made the group balanced. I am more interested in the RPing!
I am new to E7, but look forward to learning more about it.
Tell me how long you've been playing PBPs and how many campaigns you've played in as well as the average number of posts you can do a day. 1-2 is an acceptable amount but more is better.
I've been PBPing for just over two years. I've played in countless games, racking up almost 14k posts in that time. Unfortunately 95% of games die over time in my experience. I'm currently running five PBP games (including one Carrion Crown for full disclosure), and playing in around a dozen more? I can post multiple times per day, nearly every day. I'm the most frequent poster in almost every game I'm in.
If you've dropped out of PbP games before, what made you drop out?
I drop out of games when the DM is not participating, if the DM makes up houserules on the fly without asking the players first and sometimes if the game is just really really slow. There have also been a couple times in the past where I left a game because of RL getting really busy, but that shouldn't be an issue for the foreseeable future.
Tell me what you are looking for in a horror PbP campaign and how you think both GM and players alike can keep a game moving and active, and above all, enjoyable.
The main thing to keep PBP enjoyable and moving is that people post everyday, especially the DM. Ideally there will be a system in place for people to decide what to do without waiting for a posted consensus every time. I've seen seconded systems work before, where if one person suggests something and another seconds it, then no one naysays within 48 hours the DM goes with that. Party leader is another way to do it (which I don't really like, but it works). I've also had DMs who are just very proactive and push things forward trusting the medium itself to provide the RP opportunities. All I know is nothing usually slows a game down more than a DM saying "okay RP amongst yourselves" or not updating combat for days on end. It also helps to have a DM who is willing to DMPC or kick people who are holding things up.
As for horror, I want it to be, scary, gritty, and nasty. I want to fear for my character constantly, but still triumph (unless I do something stupid). Things like hero points help to make the game feel risky without being totally deadly.
House Rules
I love E6 and I use insanity rules in some of my games. I do think the AP would take some tweaking to be playable "low magic" due to the number of incorporeal baddies. Without magic weapons or damaging spells, they are a death sentence. I am also curious to try out the Strain/Injury rules, as they seem like a better version of Wounds/Vigor.
You can also tell me what character concepts interest you and why. Again, don't throw up a character or a huge bio. Just a few sentences.
An Ustalavic human girl whose parents were killed by a vampire. Her uncle was a priest of Iomedae who sent her to Vigil to be raised by the Knights of Ozem. After finishing her training in Vigil on how to fight undead, she took up permanent patrol along the Hungry Mountains. She'll take the chance savior trait, due to having helped Lorrimor fight off a pack of fast zombies and ghouls after coming across their battle while on patrol.
Mechanically the build will be Ranger 1/Oracle of Life 1/Paladin (Hospitaler) 5 of Iomedae. The build will use the life link oracle revalation and lay on hands to act as an HP battery for the party, while also fighting in melee.
Happy to talk specifics on house rules and making the game better with the players once we are down selected and headed to character generation. I want to make it fun for you guys too - that means a collaborative experience.
Answers!
(1) I've been participating in PbPs for about a month now; I currently play in 2 homebrew games and one Serpent's Skull game, with another homebrew game about to start once the DM gets some technical issues sorted out with the gameplay thread. As far as posting rate goes, I can generally post at least 1-2 times per day on my days off, possibly more if the thread is very active. My work days make posting a little more erratic, but I can still manage at least one or two.
(2) Haven't dropped out of any ongoing PbP games, though I have withdrawn interest in one or two recruitment threads for purposes of not overextending myself. The "kid in a candy store" mode concerning PbPs is starting to pass, so I'm trying to make sure that I only submit to games that I *really* want to play in.
(3) Honestly, I'm just looking for some good old-fashioned horror romps. Some of my earliest experiences in gaming involved the Ravenloft setting and I've always been a fan of going up against the undead and other critters that go bump in the night.
(4) Concerning house rules and such, I've never played an E6/E7 game but I'm happy to give it a go.
(5) I'll likely resubmit my character from the last CC recruitment thread, which will be modified as needed to fit these new requirements. Basic concept is an Ustalavic changeling hedge witch. Follower of Pharasma and serves as a village healer and midwife. I originally built her with the Chance Savior trait but I might change that to Subject of Study or Making Good on Promises since any of those three traits could work for a native witch character.
As far as mechanics go, I originally envisioned her functioning as utility and as a back-up healer to another character. Owing to the changes to how healing will function, I'll likely downplay the healing aspect (especially if the party were to contain a character like DM Jelani's concept) and focus more on a utility role.
Helaman, I am very excited about your ideas for the game. CC is soooo up my ally for roleplaying and I've been trying to get myself involved in it since it first came out. I'm also a big fan of the concept of e7. I like grittier fantasy and e7 is a great vehicle for that. I'm very excited about serious roleplaying and I think I'd do well getting into it with a good group to play off of.
I've had an unlucky history in the pbp realm. I started running Curse of the Crimson Throne once for friends (that petered out quickly when people lost interest) and once here on Paizo (which I sadly had to bow out of because I was starting an independent study grad school that was basically a second full-time job). I also joined a CC pbp once that didn't make it through the first encounter before people wandered away. I hope you don't think I'm the source of the bad luck here. I'm really excited to play, but I just haven't found the right opportunity. Recently, I have been working on preparing a Serpent's Skull pbp. I'd rather play in one that run one, but I'll run it if I have no alternatives. I've applied for a lot of games, but there just never seem to be enough GMs for all of the players who want to play.
Now that school is nearly over, I'm anxious to get involved in a game again. I have access to the boards at work and at home and I could post 1-2 times per day easily.
I've long wanted to play an inquisitor of Pharasma. I'm thinking of a Chaz Kramer type personality from the Constantine movie (but not Shia LeBeouf). Bright, enthusiastic, but possibly unprepared for how truly dangerous it will be.
I've always always wanted to play an undead bloodline sorcerer...maybe even sanguine. I'm smitten with the show Supernatural and (SPOILER ALERT!) I like the struggle that Sam is having. I think that would lead to some great roleplaying.
Let me know if I left out anything you'd like to know. I'd really be so excited to play in this game.
Thanks for submissions so far. Please keep them coming. Again, more interested in the player than the character - that comes later. So, stuff like Wildebobs, two sentences that paint a broad picture?, works just fine.
This will be a gritter game and definetely with tones of 'grim-dark' for those who like that sort of thing. You guys will be the heros and you can be how you want but the setting has little that is good in it and there will be much that is negative. Its hard to do horror at the best of times, harder to do it via PbP but I'm going to have a good crack at it, and having a dismal setting helps.
I'm interested, I'm willing to deal with homebrew AP's. I'm fairly active, one or two posts per day, can handle playing several games at once. And to give you an idea. I've played online mafia party games for 3 years, 2 at once with 15 to 35 players at once and remained active every day for 3 years. So just because I'm new to PBP, doesn't meant I'm one to give up easily and I do have a limit as to how many games I play. And I'm definitely not new to roleplaying games as I've played those for 5 years.
Heck yeah, I'm interested.
PbP experience: I'm running two games on here that are about to start their 4th year. I'm actually using a modified sanity system for my Freeport game and considering using an E8 system for the same. I'm in a game that is in its 3rd year.
I've dropped out of a couple games due to lack of GM support or only weekly updates or worse after giving plenty of notice. One game actually has come back with a new group of players that can post more than once a week. I usually post twice (AM and PM) each day.
Expectations: I actually think PbP can work fine for building suspense because the GM can really work on a detailed description that sets the ambiance and leaves enough mystery to set the players stewing over what the heck is about to happen to them!
I think the most important thing is having reliable players that will notify everyone when they won't be able to post for a few days now and then, but the GM should keep things moving.
Character concept: Osiriani undead hunter. A black robed exotic Pharasmin priest who failed to identify a case of ghoul fever which destroyed his temple. He has the temperament of a healer, but is driven by equal part shame and fear/hatred of the undead. or something like that.
As far as what I'm looking for in horror, undead, blood guts and gore, vivid scenary, creepy twists and puzzles. If I was running a horror game, you would think you were in a town of humans, but all along the town was filled with wooden puppets made with an animate object permacy spell or even worse demons who were in disguise all along. I am okay with an E7 game
I am currently involved in a Savage Worlds' Rippers campaign on Roll D20. I very much enjoy the horror genre. A few months ago I ran a home group through Carrion Hill. It was my favorite Pathfinder module by far. The mental hospital portion got down right creepy! If selected, I will jump in with both feet! I am willing to play whatever role is needed!
Obsidian portal is done. Again, apart from looking things up like house rules or keeping clues or maybe a running log (not a bad idea) game play will be on these forums and the combat maps on Roll20.
I'm not making any decisions for a few days yet so there is still time for new applicants.
I am always interested in Carrion Crown. I'm presently in an E6 PbP which, while enjoyable, has bogged down a bit recently so the opportunity to have another go would not be remiss.
My gaming history (total & PbP): I've been playing since the late seventies, played almost every system & every edition. Got started with PbP a year or two ago on these boards and am enjoying it immensely. Posting at least once a day isn't generally a problem & I give advance warning when I know there will be occasions when I can't access the internet.
Concept, well I've loved the Changeling ever since I first read about them in the Carrion Crown Players Guide & I had the idea of a Changeling Paladin, struggling with the knowledge that her mother was one of the monsters & the uncertainty that she could keep from becoming one herself.
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I'd definitely be up for an E7 game. I think PbP is a great vehicle for experimentation with the system, so I'm totally fine with whatever house rules you'd think would be interesting to try.
I've been doing PbP for the past year or so and loving it for the most part. I'm currently in 3 active games on these boards, and another 4 on another site. I'm also DM'ing a game on that other site as well. On average I can get 1 or 2 posts in per day, possibly more if the posting rate is high.
Personally, I think the key to a good horror game is description, but not exposition. Being vague enough to let a player's mind fill in the gaps in a description lets you envision whatever it is you think would be most terrifying. Character death, though a valid source of suspense, should take a back seat to character disability. Going insane at the sight of something that is impossible to comprehend seems a more immediate threat, and therefore a more potent source of tension. Also, it seems to me that would present better opportunity for roleplay and things for players to bounce off of each other from, rather than just the DM.
As far as characters go, I had been considering making a studious colleague of Professor Lorrimor. He'd have been a student of his at some point and decided to travel in search of research into all sorts of subjects both arcane and mundane. As a result, he's well read, diversely educated, and can handle himself in a scuffle. If you say you have some improvements for rogues, he might turn out to be one.
Will give it a few more days before the weekend, make my decision on the weekend and move people over to the discussion thread for character generation.
What I'd ideally like is for the discussion thread to be where characters are generated, where the players get a chance to look over the supporting rules and to talk about what they think is more workable.
Much like the process at your table top game when the GM pulls out a Paizo AP and talks about running it. I expect that process will take 2-3 days to finalise and we can begin.
I will not force the issue of classes and will let you guys work it out for yourselves at that point but it would be best if everyone thinking of playing put aside the mechanical process of character generation for the moment (one of the reasons I mentioned not doing characters) and instead come ready to be part of a group of players.
Think of what you genuinely want to play as a concept, think of what you will have fun playing, think of what you will play if push came to shove and think of what you don't want to play. Think of concepts that fit how you see a horror game playing out.
I suppose I am asking for some flexibility from the applicants and being ready to work as a team at the player level rather than fishing for roles and characters.
I like that if selected we'll all have a say in the house rules and party composition. I'm very flexible with what I'm willing to play, as I'm in a lot of games and have a good system mastery. I don't like prepared casters, or characters that feel like they can't do anything in combat though.
I'm happy to play whatever is needed, though I do have more experience playing casters as opposed to melee. I'm also with DM Jelani in that I'm discovering that I prefer spontaneous casters over prepared ones.
(Hi guys - This is the user alias of Ulam Bone-Cracker.)
I'm really attracted at your approach to putting this group together and character creation. Personally, at the table, I mostly GM - and this is similar to how I try to get my players to set up their characters.
Also, as a player, I find that I am really flexible. I like playing many different roles and I think there's something awesome behind every class available. So naturally I'm attracted to this type of group forming.
Sounds like a horrifically good time.
I think we got a good amount of players here.
I'll close down recruitment in about 12 hrs. Take a day to pick as well as set up a backup slot for a possible loss in the first 2 weeks... Sadly happens all too often, and have something up Friday (Aust time: GMT +11) so players can toss around character creation and concepts.
Once that's done I'll likely start a fresh thread and have guys move over to that and kill this one off.
Anyone have an issue where they cannot view Roll20? Tablet users, I'm talking to you. Let me know if you only have a iPad and cant get in.
Tablets may not be properly supported on Obsidian Portal as well.
I prefer google maps because it loads much faster and I don't have to type in a login, but roll20 works for me.
I'm ok with either.
I meant google docs in last post, not maps. Whoops!
not familiar with Roll20, but I have a notebook so no access issues.
I'm pretty sure I can handle Roll20. Of course, years of 'tabletop' play without a map, (sometimes without a tabletop...), has led me to more of a 'What's there again? I edge forward until I can swing & then I'll whack 'im!' style of play...
Thanks for some really enthusiastic replies and a willingness from you all to try something new.
I've ummm'ed and ahhhh'ed over this. I think you all had something to offer, but can't take you all. I am thinking of a 'one off' horror game and if I do post for that, tell me you missed on my Carrion Crown and I'll give you a preferential slot (FCFS). I'll also recruit from that game for gaps in this one. Gimme a few weeks and keep your eyes peeled. Irnk and Lady Ladile (in particular), I really hope you apply for that one - Will have a think on how best to execute. I think I can run you guys and the other party out of Lepidstadt (book 2 location).
For the moment, I have chosen the following 5 players in no particular order. Wander on over to the Discussion thread.
voodoo chili
Bathmat Djinn
DM Jelani
Spazmodeus
Eminem80
And this player as an back up.
Wildebob.
As the backup player Wildebob, also wander over to the discussion thread if you want and review the information but hold off character creation for the moment... Likely I'll ask you to fill any glaring gaps in the party that may happen. If not then you have 1st place in the above mentioned game.
Thanks all.
Thanks anyway GM and I'll be looking out for your next game.
Have fun all!
Excellent. Merci Buckets, Helaman.... to the Discussion Thread .....
Have fun guys and I'll certainly keep an eye out for a future recruitment thread, GM Helaman :)