The Flaxseed Pathfinder Lodge: Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Game Master Redelia

I could not tell you. When I ran it IRL, my party did not survive the first encounter.

IMO, I would only call it two, because the way I was going to run it as the big fancy gala, as one huge social encounter. So if they had not made it through that. Then no.

Social missions are hard as it is. Props to you for trying to run it in PBP.

Wait, they died in the first encounter? I thought there were terms of surrender and such, and I've run in before in Classic, face-to-face, and played it twice.

Perhaps a good solution would be to treat each day of social events (1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5) as their own encounters. Still, I'm just going to wait for more consensus.

Thanks, I've heartily enjoyed the scenario thrice before, once as a GM, so I decided to run it as my first PbP. I'm not in love with the bandits part and the replacement of items afterwards, as it gives the scenario next to no chance of death (still of failure) unless the party starts killing people in Kerse. But it's still one of my favorites.

If the player has not died, then grant them the full 1XP, and whatever amount of PP and gold they have earned at this point in the scenario. (In this case, likely 0PP and gold for the first encounter.) I parse the language as the 'three encounters' rule only being for those who die and come back from the dead.

Yeah...they did not want to. Only 1 truly died. 3 were left unconscious and, I did not think it necessary to kill them. And the remaining ran away.

Breaking it into days may work as separate encounters.

TBH, I'd rather get a 0/0/0 than a 1/0/x since it puts you behind on wealth vs level. Just go by your reading and fairness, don't worry about punishment or leniency. If they've your job harder already don't waste too much time splitting hairs. Go with your gut, move on.

Having suffered through a 1xp/0pp/minimal gold sheet myself I can say they are a pain. To be fair that was an almost TPK in QfP3.

That said (and to be fair, I am a player in this game), some folk are more into the rolling dice than the role playing, and this scenario won't be fun for them. I'm guessing the character in question is actually a priest who could have a bit of fun in this scenario if they wanted to.

My suggestion would be to tell them they can have a chronicle at this point with 1xp, appropriate fame and gold (which maybe no PP, I'm not sure about the conditions and how close we are to meeting them) and walk, or keep posting and get the full credit. Just make sure they know what the options are and can make an informed choice.

This is PBP, I'm not sure how used to it they are (I've not looked at their posting history at all). So helping them make choices so they hopefully come back in the future for other PBPs would be a kindly move.

Yea, just go with your gut on this one. Give them 1xp and whatever PP/gold(if any) they've earned. Don't stress yourself over it. It seems like this person isn't interested in participating in the scenario so just cut your losses. Even if they decide to keep posting, it will most likely be the same frustrating posts going forward.

Question for Ironhelix and/or hmm I think.

With online now a region, does that mean we qualify for the
regional support program?

"Online a region? But that's impossible. How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?"

"BEER! BEER will keep them in line... BEER, and this amazing community!"

Agraic... Oh dear. You've spent so much time with us Minnesotans that you've imbibed our organizing philosophy. I am clearly not an organized person by Minnesota standards, since I do not have beer to keep people in line.

Eeek. What is a teetotaler to do?

Hmm

PS Aerondor, we don't know yet. When we find out, we'll be sure to tell you!

"It's okay, GM Hmm. The Drunken Hero understan's tha' some people eith'r don' like booze or get evil when they drink. No judgement, everybody gets to pick their own path. And then we all c'n come t'gether when things push t' shove."

Like punchy elementals.

Speaking as someone whose eldest son just grabbed a beer from the fridge and provided it to me insisting I have one... Beer keeps children in line?

I know this is probably a longshot, but is there any chance there's a Society-legal way for some races to be able to take Archetypes normally exclusive to other races? I'd love to be able to play an Oread Cleric who combined Dwarven Runeforging magic with Oread Gem Magic.

Only way I know of is the Racial Heritage feat, but you have to be a human (or half-elf or half-orc) to take it.

EDIT: Yes there is. As an oread, take the Mostly Human alternate racial trait, and Racial Heritage (dwarf) as your 1st-level feat. Your oread now counts as an outsider (native), humanoid (human), and humanoid (dwarf) for all purposes.

-Posted with Wayfinder

EDIT: Yes there is. As an oread, take the Mostly Human alternate racial trait, and Racial Heritage (dwarf) as your 1st-level feat. Your oread now counts as an outsider (native), humanoid (human), and humanoid (dwarf) for all purposes.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Since the elemental races (and Aasimars/Tieflings) are allowed to come from non-human backgrounds, I wish that "Mostly Human" were allowed to be "Mostly Dwarven" (Elven, Halfling, etc.) and thus bypassed the need to go through human and spend a feat to do these things.

EDIT: Yes there is. As an oread, take the Mostly Human alternate racial trait, and Racial Heritage (dwarf) as your 1st-level feat. Your oread now counts as an outsider (native), humanoid (human), and humanoid (dwarf) for all purposes.

Huh! Thank you so much! I may have to actually try that now.

Given Tonya's most recent post on specials, we received a whole bunch of inquiries from eager PbP GMs who want to run Bonekeep.

Alas, Bonekeep is *still* not authorized for PBP because of the strict time constraints. I have confirmed this information from Tonya herself.

However, Through Maelstrom Rift has opened up for ordinary play, so long as you have the requisite number of four GM stars.

Hope this helps!

Hmm

I don't think Bonekeep will ever open up for PbP, and frankly I think that is a pretty reasonable idea, the time restrictions don't really line up well across the medium.

I've not played Bonekeep so I don't know why the strict time constraint is different from other specials with limited time.

There was one game that I know of played in a PBP format where the PCs' time action was closely tracked. I believe they had 30 rounds of actions to escape a dungeon. Apparently that worked well in the PBP medium.

I've not played Bonekeep so I don't know why the strict time constraint is different from other specials with limited time.

Bonekeep is intentionally too long, and the PCs' success is determined by how much of the scenario they complete.

I've not played Bonekeep so I don't know why the strict time constraint is different from other specials with limited time.

There was one game that I know of played in a PBP format where the PCs' time action was closely tracked. I believe they had 30 rounds of actions to escape a dungeon. Apparently that worked well in the PBP medium.

As GM Granta said, the timed aspect is more important for Bonekeep. The specials are also timed but for the most part that's to keep everyone moving at the same pace and to allow the tables to work together. And it has been established that they can be converted to PbP with similar time restrains based on days rather than minutes.

But Bonekeep has more in it than most groups can complete in the allotted time and your rewards change based on how much you complete. It's hard to translate that into PbP where one group might post once per day and another group might sit on the computer at the same time and rattle off a hundred posts in a couple hours. It wouldn't be fair to the slower groups; they would complete less because of their posting speed regardless of their abilities and tactics.

I think the 30 round thing was something in D&D 4th edition. I remember playing with a 10th level character that you could create and bring to the game. Dungeon Assault? I forget what the concept was called.

It's hard to translate that into PbP where one group might post once per day and another group might sit on the computer at the same time and rattle off a hundred posts in a couple hours.

Correct.

I think it was GM Feral who ran a PbP Scenario that was completed in full at around six hours. It was a freakish post rate.

Prospective GMs:

If you've been wanting to get into GMing, but have been nervous about where to start, I am going to be running a GM 101 for Play-by-Post using Phantom Phenomena. Everyone gets to GM one quest in the series, and you all take turns as players, providing feedback to the others.

Everyone gets a chronicle. Everyone gets a GM credit. If you're interested, feel free to reply to my recruitment thread.

Hmm

Too much going on right now, but I'd be interested in this if you run it again, GM Hmm.

Yeah, I think I'm going to have to! There was more interest than I expected.

Hmm

I might be interested some other time, too.

So when someone says "classic play" does that mean standard or core?

classic = standard

Ah, thought so but wasn't sure.

Has anyone run the Phantom Phenomena series of quests through PbP? I just picked it up and was wondering if that could be a good 6 story arc to run through via PbP or if it would be too hard. I have some games finishing up and have the extra time to devote to another PbP game to run. Was just curious. Many thanks.

Never done quests through PBP, but I'd assume they would run just fine.

I've lost track - did they ever change the rule saying that you can only play pregens in quests?

ive played it via pbp....and yes they changed the pregen rule

Has anyone run the Phantom Phenomena series of quests through PbP? I just picked it up and was wondering if that could be a good 6 story arc to run through via PbP or if it would be too hard. I have some games finishing up and have the extra time to devote to another PbP game to run. Was just curious. Many thanks.

It's a delightful story arc. You just need to fill in setting details and it becomes awesome. It's my favorite quest series.

Has anyone run the Phantom Phenomena series of quests through PbP? I just picked it up and was wondering if that could be a good 6 story arc to run through via PbP or if it would be too hard. I have some games finishing up and have the extra time to devote to another PbP game to run. Was just curious. Many thanks.

I ran it during the games-day and it went fine. Best to pick your order though as deciding which quest to do next may take some time over pbp [/ooc]

Has anyone run the Phantom Phenomena series of quests through PbP? I just picked it up and was wondering if that could be a good 6 story arc to run through via PbP or if it would be too hard. I have some games finishing up and have the extra time to devote to another PbP game to run. Was just curious. Many thanks.

Should you decide to run an open recruitment here on Flaxseed, I would absolutely love to apply for that arc. I have an occultist that I very much want to run through PP! I was planning on GMing the entire arc myself once I wrap up one of my games. Should I get into your game and you decide you want to run a PC through it, I'd gladly reserve you a spot when I run it, Qwerty.

Has anyone run the Phantom Phenomena series of quests through PbP? I just picked it up and was wondering if that could be a good 6 story arc to run through via PbP or if it would be too hard. I have some games finishing up and have the extra time to devote to another PbP game to run. Was just curious. Many thanks.

Oooh, pick me! I have a lvl 1 mesmerist that would love to join this arc.

Has anyone run the Phantom Phenomena series of quests through PbP? I just picked it up and was wondering if that could be a good 6 story arc to run through via PbP or if it would be too hard. I have some games finishing up and have the extra time to devote to another PbP game to run. Was just curious. Many thanks.

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Interested as well ^^

Starfinder Society has been announced!

Attention, field agents! Looking for Starfinder Games? Don't worry, you can still come here and use our dedicated portal to the Flaxseed Docking Bay of Absalom Station!

Will we be able to use the same character in both PFS and Starfinder Society?

They are two separate systems and campaigns. You can have PFS characters and Starfinder characters going out into the field.

Will my GM stars cross over into Starfinder Society?

There’ll be separate GM “star” system for Starfinder. (I am using stars loosely here. They may be stars, moons, planets or some other shape.) You can earn GM credits in both!

When will we know more?

We’ll keep you posted with updates as we get them. I suspect more details will be announced in the upcoming Know Direction Podcast interview with the Organized Play Team on March 22nd!

Will my GM stars cross over into Starfinder Society?

There’ll be separate GM “star” system for Starfinder. (I am using stars loosely here. They may be stars, moons, planets or some other shape.)

Pots o' gold and rainbows?

They're magically delicious!

Hmmm say it ain't so on the Stars, that 1-5 grind will suck with the very limited stream of content and having to 5 star it all over again...

I also don't want to encourage my GM's to have conflicting priorities:

Continue building PFS Stars and an delicious RSP

Or

SFS Stars.

I know! I am within kicking distance of Star Number 4, and the thought of starting over again in SFS is daunting. I won't be trying to earn 5 stars and 5 planets (moons, rockets, whatevers) but I may go for 5 stars and a planet or two. Still, I think I understand why they want to start fresh. With Starfinder being a new system, mastery of Pathfinder may not mean instant mastery of Starfinder.

Still, I am looking forward to shiny spandex and ray guns. Beam me up!

Hmm

Green clovers, pink hearts, purple horseshoes. They all want me Lucky Charms.

YOUR lucky charms? I'm the one that looks like a leprechaun!

I won't be trying to earn 5 stars and 5 planets (moons, rockets, whatevers) but I may go for 5 stars and a planet or two.

I'd get on board with that thinking, but then they release a pile of content requiring 4 or 5 stars to run, and then it gets tedious.

In Australia, you could fit all our 5 star GM's in the same taxi.

"I's me tha' carries th' lucky charms. Lady Luck 'erself - tha's th' godd'ss Desna t' mos' folks - she tol' me to spread th' luck aroun'. An' tha's wha' I be doin' e'er since."

[ooc]My leprechaun wannabe PC. Halfling cleric of Lady Luck who spreads the luck around, and has an Irish name and accent. And yes, I often say "They're after me lucky charms!" when he's attacked in a game.[/b]

YOUR lucky charms? I'm the one that looks like a leprechaun!

I would, too, if the lights were on.