Flaxseed Lodge (PFS1)

Game Master Redelia

"now miss... as the ancestors cried at the orc horde.... 'don't judge a dwarf by his tale.'"

Any "sub-optimal" class can still be just as effective as the more popular, advanced classes.

I don’t mind people taking less optimal pathways, as long as they then don’t complain about not being able to do as much (or start bring a massive resource drain).

Everything is fun until someone is a liability to others.

It’s a team game and it’s expected you can contribute to the team, not hinder it.

I have a Level 1 Commoner hitting for 2d6+6, +6 to hit, 17 AC. Not quite up to snuff with a fully optimized Fighter, but he could pull his weight. He’ll have to wait for a non-PFS game to shine!

"If it pleases you, Ms Masked Lady-in-Red Venture-Captain who says 'DOOM.'" *bob*

"Mister Rhuul Irontoe is a dwarf and a bard that tells pirate jokes."

"Though apparently, he doesn't dance." :(

I don’t mind people taking less optimal pathways, as long as they then don’t complain about not being able to do as much (or start bring a massive resource drain).

Everything is fun until someone is a liability to others.

At that point you should turn on them, and kill them like a pack of rabid hyenas. They might have useful stuff. Better yet, get some use out of their hit points first. Shove them in front of threats. It's survival of the fittest after all.

It’s a team game and it’s expected you can contribute to the team, not hinder it.

Remember: your character doesn't have out-run the owlbear; just the slowest member of your party. ;)

^^ I think I almost swooned ^^

"now miss... as the ancestors cried at the orc horde.... 'don't judge a dwarf by his tale.'"

Any "sub-optimal" class can still be just as effective as the more popular, advanced classes.

Having GM'd for Rogar in Salvation of the Sages, I can vouch for this :)

Shifty wrote:

I don’t mind people taking less optimal pathways, as long as they then don’t complain about not being able to do as much (or start bring a massive resource drain).

Everything is fun until someone is a liability to others.

At that point you should turn on them, and kill them like a pack of rabid hyenas. They might have useful stuff. Better yet, get some use out of their hit points first. Shove them in front of threats. It's survival of the fittest after all.

I'm sure this was meant as a joke, but we do have new players asking questions here, and we don't want to give anyone the wrong idea. This is still Pathfinder Society play--no PvP, no stealing each other's stuff, no throwing your teammates to the wolves. Explore, Report, Cooperate.

But if they are a liability.... I mean fun, right? And who said anything about actually throwing PCs to wolves. It was an owlbear. Just one. All good, clean fun.

That, and every now and then because of lack of advertising skills and group planning you might end up being part of a four-PC team of frothing Charisma 5 dwarven armored hulk barbarian fanatics (or similar) sent on the mission to infiltrate the Archduke's ball and negotiate a far-reaching peace settlement in secret. While a group of Strength 5-7 pencil-neck arcananists attempt a month's long wild magic mountain climbing expedition into a long and twisty dungeon. Who is to say who the liability is then? Can it be fun to fail forward, or just frustrating? What's the GM's roll? The players? And in the end, whose fun is more important?

Well, mine obviously. ;)

...every now and then because of lack of advertising skills and group planning you might end up being part of a four-PC team of frothing Charisma 5 dwarven armored hulk barbarian fanatics (or similar) sent on the mission to infiltrate the Archduke's ball and negotiate a far-reaching peace settlement in secret...

In all seriousness, I hope that players are reading the scenario description before signing up! Why would you send your 5 Cha barbarian on a social mission? You only get to play each scenario once (twice if you also play CORE); why waste the play?

(Unless you're really trying to challenge your roleplaying ability, which hey, sometimes that might be fun, but I'd hope you'd get your GM and table to buy in on that plan first.)

Bobbi hugs her owlbear close. "Look, Hoot may be adorably incompetent, but I pull enough weight for the both of us!"

Owlbears that are based on bears rather than grizzly bears are not the most powerful of animal buddies, alas. Hoot's main role is too look scary and flank with party members since he can rarely land a hit of his own, poor thing. I could have made him better with substantial investments in equipment, but I decided to mainly invest in Bobbi instead. Hoot's a pet. He delivers things, flanks, and does stuff out of combat, but his chassis is horribly underpowered.

Though... I must be doing something right with Hoot. The one time he died, the entire party volunteered on their own to help bring him back to life. Hoot's antics have been a continual source of amusement wherever goes.

**hic!** You gonna finish that drink? And does anyone here know how to 'pounce'?

"What'dya mean I don't dance? Ever since that little escapade up in the River Kingdoms I've been practising my 'Pirate Shuffle'." sighs the elegant looking dwarf.

Did I say eledgant? Well, if he didn't have quite so much ale in his beard... Did I say beard? It looks like it might still be growing back after a too-close-encounter with something that was hotter than anticipated.

"Bahh, the younger generation." A keen look enters his eye. "Did someone say 'Bar'?"

Owlbears that are based on bears rather than grizzly bears are not the most powerful of animal buddies, alas.

Nah use the Grizzly, you know you want to - they give better hugs too! It took a long time to get the Grizzly made a legit choice - embrace...embraaaaaccce...

I want to do so, but there was never a clarification that stated lunar oracles can get Grizzlies, alas. If I could get a grizzly, Hoot might actually become competent.

Just as a heads up, I've posted in my games that my power was possibly going out and I would lose contact for a few days... posting from mobile at my work after hours because... power is out at home. Se yall in a few days.

I want to do so, but there was never a clarification that stated lunar oracles can get Grizzlies, alas. If I could get a grizzly, Hoot might actually become competent.

Well, there is this line: A grizzly bear animal companion can qualify for and be subject to boons as though it were a bear animal companion.

But I don't think that helps. We all know that crocodile is the best lunar animal companion anyway :P

I see some players in multiple campaigns at once, what are the rules on that?

I see some players in multiple campaigns at once, what are the rules on that?

As long as you're playing in multiple campaigns with different characters, you're good...

Recommend you start with one PC in one game. Once you think you've got the hang of things, look for a second session, and so on, until you reach your personal sweet spot.

The number of games someone can handle simultaneously varies from person to person, and depends to some extent on the GM and players' style and compatibility with your own preferences.

PbP is as diverse as face-to-face play. One person's awesome session might be another's nightmare for any number of reasons.

I got lucky. A few experienced folks steered me towards like-minded and good GMs and players early, and I've largely stuck with them ever since.

The PbP cons, like the current PbP Gameday VIII, are good ways to meet new GMs and players.

And your personal number will vary from time to time. I used to do a lot more than I can handle at the moment, but in the future I expect my personal value is likely to flex back up again.

"Suboptimal? My Lady, I may be small, but that can be easily remedied!" The halfling leaps onto the bar, draws his rapier, and raises it in a salute. "And after all, am I not the finest swordsman on or around the Inner Sea? In fact, I am!"

He bows, somehow keeping his footing on the wet surface of the bar. "Jamir Montajay of the Cassomir Montajays, at your service!"

Welcome, Headbutt! If you're interested in how an AP volume plays out under PFS rules, as you have already played Rise of the Runelords, I recommend reading GM Irish202's Spires of Xin-Shalast. I wasn't involved in it, but started reading it a couple of months in and followed along in real time for the rest of the run once I caught up (it took about 9 months, starting during last year's PbP GameDay). Lots of fun, and you can see at few points how the PFS rules interacted with the way the game was played.

I wonder just how long a full AP run lasts when it is ran via PbP. I'm sure that varies by the people involved, but I've never gotten to play one all the way. I got to play the first two sanctioned sections of Runelords a couple years ago on Roll20, but we just never picked it up from there.

I haven't had an AP go the full distance yet, but I have been in a couple that got pretty far. Second Darkness started in March 2015 and got to level 9 before we agreed to end it in May of this year. So that's 4 years for less than half of the AP.

Before that, we had Wrath of the Righteous that started Jan of 2014 and went through Aug of 2017 and level 12 before the sheer scope of the power level became so much the GM wasn't enjoying the 45 minutes it was taking him to resolve and post a single combat round. (The mythic stuff gets really ridiculous by mid levels.) Again, 3.5 years and we were just passing the midpoint.

AP's are tough online, but if you get a group of regular posters and commit to it, they can be a lot of fun. You can take time to craft a nice speech, or roleplay a philosophical conversation that took place around the campfire in spoilers while the main story continues.

AP's are a bit tough just due to the length. I have been in a few to completion now. A rough estimate from what I have seen is it takes around 6 months per book to complete at 1 consistent good push post a day.

I'm in a great group that's been playing the Hell's Rebels AP for just over two years.

We're playing it in campaign-mode, level 7 now, and well into the third book, #99: Dance of the Damned.

It's a lot of fun, with a great GM and terrific players.

Not for PFS, but I've been playing in The Shackled city on these boards as a PBP. It is the granddaddy of APs

We started beginning of 2016, so have been going close on four years. We are now up to level 12. I think story wise we are slightly over half way through (which given I imagine it maxes out at 20, seems about right).

I need to run that again some day.

Many AP's never even get through book one. It's really a shame, as there is so much opportunity for character growth and development. I've been part of one failed attempt that never actually got to an encounter. But I've also been incredibly fortunate to have groups that run scenarios back to back either via GM swaps or just one awesome GM doing it all. That allows for a similar level of group dynamics and is a bit easier to keep going, with more built in breaks.

Yes, if you actually want to run the entire AP and not just the sanctioned-for-PFS-parts it's very much an undertaking that should not be underestimated due to the length of each book. They can be super fun to play in (or GM) but they require a lot of work to keep going.

The GM did an awesome job to kick off SC. We had a bit of a character contest, to pick fun characters and form different groups. Then only one group was selected. So we were quite vested in the characters right from the jump off. Knowing there would be drop outs, he started with seven characters rather than the recommended six.

We still have four of the originals even after well over three years.

I want to acknowledge a milestone here.

Lady Ladile has passed 30,000 posts. Whew!

Hmm

What can I say? I love PbP and the community here :)

Nice. Congratz Lady Ladile

Junkie! Nice one Marigold.

Congrats, Lady Ladile!!

Congrats, m’Lady!

I haven't had an AP go the full distance yet, but I have been in a couple that got pretty far. Second Darkness started in March 2015 and got to level 9 before we agreed to end it in May of this year. So that's 4 years for less than half of the AP.

Yeah I'm in a Reign of Winter one and we just finished book one after 2 years.

That's a lot of posts Lady Ladile. Keep up the good work!

I had a group get through the first three books of Ruins of Azlant in a bit less than two years, but by that point, people's circumstances had changed and not everyone could post reliably, so we stopped it there. (Incidentally, the end of Book 3 is actually a very satisfying ending point!)

Well if there’s ever an AP opening, keep me in mind! I think I’d like playing with a single consistent group over a long period.

I just got a spellbook in an adventure.

It contains a spell which is not PFS legal.

I am confused. Can anyone clarify if I can copy the spell or not?

Sorry, I mentioned that in a hurry, didn't realize it was illegal. Now my assumption is that it's off the table. Considering it was just in the spellbook, instead of on the Chronicle. Which is strange, considering the wizard who had it couldn't cast it!

Anyone else have a ruling for sure?

If it is not in additional resources, then it is not open for PFS characters to use.

So, my understanding is you can copy it into your spell book, but cannot ever use it - unless there is some specific boon out there that lets you.

Another query.

I just got a boon which recharges when you complete adventures on hard mode.

The adventure I got it for was 'hard mode': can I add an extra use straight away?

EndlessForms ran a group all the way through RotR in less than three years, overlapping with the group he was running through Shattered Star in a comparable amount of time.

Has the Starstone Trial ever been put to page?

@Gerint - given you probably didn't get the boon until after completion of the adventure, I'd suggest "no".

@Headbutt - To my knowledge no, at least not in terms of playable content such as a module or AP. It might have come up in one of the novels or comics though?

APs are a long haul commitment, for sure. I have not yet run one to completion, although I am currently running 5 tables (yes, 5) in 3 APs (2 Giantslayer, 2 Rise of the Runelords, 1 Carrion Crown). I have had to let 1 others drop away in the past.

This is really at about 2 over my practical limit right now, but I inherited 2 of them from other GMs who couldn't complete, and they are all good groups. Luckily, my players are patient with me, although this makes for a slow game, and a very long haul. I was planning to only help them finish out the book they were in, but now I am going to try and let them get to the end.

Both of the Giantslayer tables are in book 3, and they started at the same time - Jan 2017. I got so many good applicants, I tried to handle 3 tables thinking I could combine them as players dropped off. Attrition rate on these has been extremely low - in fact, I think both groups are still just the original players (with one or two character changes). So after book 1 I had to pare down to 2 - I still feel guilty about that. :(

So, if you can find a good game and a patient group, you can weather the ups and downs of personal schedules, but it likely won't be as fast paced as PFS scenarios for the duration.

As a player, I have had many AP starts that never got too far, but a few lasted pretty good. I even was able to complete Giantslayer, where I came in at Book 4 as a replacement character, but I think a few of the characters were original, so it can happen. (Thanks again, Tyranius!)

Has the Starstone Trial ever been put to page?

Nope. Part of the problem is that the test of the Starstone is extremely customized depending on who is taking the test. According to the Guide to Absalom, "The Test of the Starstone is mysterious; the only publicly known part of the test is that hopefuls must cross the bottomless pit surrounding the Starstone Cathedral without using a bridge. Crossing the pit is a necessary first step, but not sufficient to enter the cathedral and continue the test, and what has worked for one hopeful may fail for another. Hopefuls have leaped across, flown with magic, or used tightropes, and the spectacle of an attempt nearly always draws an enormous, attentive crowd"

The other problem is that, similar to extremely powerful deities and creatures, once you give something stats, or a scenario in this case, someone finds a way to beat it.

I've said over the years that it would extremely cool if Paizo ran a test of the starstone for various important figures in our community, like Hmm for example. She would need to submit her specific character in advance so they could write the scenario for them specifically, but I imagine it would be awesome to watch someone try it. Might be hard to try and fairly invite people to participate and I doubt they would officially print your character becoming a deity, although they might mention your characters name for someone that attempted the test.