Flaxseed Lodge (PFS1)

Game Master Redelia

"nahauf cker hnlieto eiehernali hi ina cineli ladinare iny seodce edeeleh wwefa rogtnoeseh?"

Tyce looks at the man behind him.

"Yup. Sure did, but I heard it was the kobold and not the manticore," Razka answers the man who appears to be talking gibberish.

He takes a seat at his table.

"And what brings you here? Looking for a job so you can get some money for the finer things in life, too?"

Tyce nods.

He appears to be able to understand common, but he can't speak it

Mely's attention jumps between the rambling Tyce and Razka's slightly drunken responses. She's clearly confused, and despite giving Tyce a rather narrow-eyed stare it doesn't seem to help her figure out what he's been saying. Defeated when it comes to the whole event, she gives Razka an admiring nod. "How are you able to understand him? I don't recognize the language at all. It's rather quite foreign." Though a lot of things were for her.

"ytg sdadiy haldro sii itlyf, owd ycem."

Tyce directs this to Mely.

"gomn esiane ruhidoon iedfunlee."

"In vino vertebrae...in wino winterbrake...if you get drunk you know things," Razka replies with a grin at Mely as he salutes her with his chalice.

"Drink a little more and you'll be able to understand my pal Ruhidoon here, too. Isn't that right, Ruhidoon?" Razka declares, giving his new, incomprehensible pal a good pat on the back.

"And it's worth it, too. He's saying some really deep stuff, like how we're all just lights and lights are like...bright and so we're also smart, too, but don't always know it."

Tyce looks at the man wierd.

"viswavtr cbweetli nborpe af? o asfeahe usiitrad cenhfa."

Mely's frown deepens when Razka spouts off his alcoholic academics, and the salute has her doubting his suggestion. If Tyce didn't keep speaking and appear to be having a full conversation with the sorcerer she likely wouldn't have believed his words. "That really works? Very well, I'm willing to try this trick of the tongue... or ear, as the case may be."

She leans across her table and grabs an abandoned bottle of unmarked liquor which she gives a good whiff that leaves her coughing. With one dubious look for the bottle she takes an unladylike swig that causes her tail to curl and her face pinched up like she swallowed something vile. She lets out a breath and stares at Tyce. "Gaaaah, okay now say something, please. I will see if this worked."

Tyce shakes his head and tries to gesture that it's not true.

"TOCHHI NDE IFEHYAN THEOABFE!!!!!!"

The messenger gnome enters again in haste.

"Folks, an expedition into Numeria's area of Scrapwall needs a replacement member! News has reached that it was the frontline healer of the group.", a worried expression is on her face.

"If anyone is able to pack right now, follow me!"

Iron Gods Lords of Rust sanctioned content. As per above, our healer died, not getting up any time soon. We're still in early. Lvl 5-6. I'll take the 1st to fill the role of semi/healer. Without the need of UMD would be ideal.

Discussion

"Theoabfe is right, my fine finned friend," Razka says with a grin. "That wasn't nearly enough for you to understand him. You can't sip a potion and expect to fly. You have to drink it all."

"And you should probably start with something a little more palatable. You have to learn to walk before you run."

He blinks a couple times then looks at her tail then laughs uproariously for half a minute.

"Now where is that guy who makes the fruity drinks?" he asks, mostly himself as he wipes tears from his eyes and looks around.

New player doting in

An aasimar apparently quickly stands next to the gnomish lass, and they leave.

Spot's been filled.

Tyce rolls his eyes and mutters.
"rtrereit drgeod layiachhi..."

A grippli with perfectly manicured fingers and a pink bowtie on her head steps in. "Did you hear?!? Did you hear?! I'm just sooOooo totally excited about this seventh 'Game Day' gathering! Do you think they're going to award those super cool gifts when recording our chronicles like last time? If so, there'd better be Sparkly Pink Rhinestone Slippers to be won!" Her eyes widen to the size of a wizard's dancing lights. "Oh my, I can see it now! Tiffany, the most fabulous of all grippli, prancing through Absalom, her millions of fans in tow, hitting the local markets for some even more gorgeous glamour! A little glitter, perhaps? A cute summery dress to go with the shoes? Ugh! Too. Many. Choices!!"

At the far end of the bar lurks an inhumanly pale young man with Kelish features, who comes around to the Lodge often enough for the free drinks, and has been known to be quite good at holding his liquor. This time, however, for some reason...

"BLEEEUUGH!!!"

Mely stares hard at Tyce as his words continue to be little more than a jumble of unintelligible syllables that pair rather poorly with the taste in her mouth. "Oh... I'm sorry Mr. Tyce, it appears I'm... bleh, not very good at this." She gives the bottle what could be an offended look when Razka suggests she needs to drink more to have any hope.

When the sorcerer starts laughing at his joke she's left to her own devices for a moment, faintly blushing from his choice of words. Then Sirius starts vomiting... loudly, and she gives her own bottle one more glance before subtly pushing it further from herself. With some efforts she tries to hide her own desire to gag. "I don't think this is going to work very well... I don't think I could drink it all."

Then after a moment. "But I do like a good fruit juice. We will figure this out, Mr. Theoabfe. And then I shall greet you properly." There's a grippli in here as well, and she has to fight being distracted by the new conversation. There were a lot of curious people at this lodge.

A young half-orc with long, thick scars on both cheeks walks into the bar, water streaming off of him from the downpour outside. His cloak looks new, albeit drenched, but the rest of his clothes are simple and well-worn. He peers around the room for a minute, then stalks over to a table by the fire, stopping at the bar only to order a tankard of warm mulled wine to take the edge off of the cold and wet.

He drops his pack onto the table and collapses into a chair. He pulls his boots off one by one, dumping water out of them onto the floor, then casts a cantrip to start them drying before using the same magic - over and over - to pull the worst of the damp from his clothes. By the time the barkeep brings over his wine, the half-orc is mostly dry and beginning to warm up from the fire. He pulls a small book out of his pack, takes a long swallow of the warm wine, and begins to read.

Seeing the half-orc pull out a book by the fireplace, Wulthur rises from his seat and heads in the direction of the apparent scholar.

"Have you not been warned about what you should be reading?" Wulthur asks. The glow of the fire accents the scars that cross the man's face--the effect renders his face looking not unlike that of a lava field. It almost as if molten rock was seeping forth from fissures on his face. The effect makes Wulthur appear somewhat sinister. "Doing so can be quite dangerous, particularly in public."

The Andoran peers at the half-orc trying to gage his response, before adding with a smile, "How else do you think it is that I got these scars?"

Looking for a low-level scenario. Wulthur is among a few of my PCs (in Standard and Core) that are hoping to get faction cards started before the end of the season.

A half-orc woman enters the lodge and quietly approaches the bar, her eyes darting around the room as if making sure she knows where are the exits are. Give me something cheap and strong she says to the bar maid in a quiet and gruff voice.

Following closely behind the woman is a cheetah dressed in studded leather armor. After getting her drink she mutters Come on Tuk, lets see if we can find a nice spot and see what the evening has in store for us.

I'm looking for low level scenarios.

I want to get "Roy" here to level 2 myself

"aprateyg sie aedspe i weopal tajtenelaj edhasap!"

A lanky Elven man dressed in dirty traveling clothes enters the room, scanning the varied crowd before announcing loudly "Friends, SharrowSmith Exports seeks brave souls willing to travel the Bandu hills. All interested parties should see the captain of The Sharrowsmith's Wake at the
eastern end of the docks. We aim to arrive in Nantambu before the 13th of Arodus.

With his message delivered the Elf departs as quickly as he arrived.

Recruitment Thread for PBP Game Day! Scions of the Sky Key Part 1.

"Some Pathfinders are in need of one more for a mission of the utmost importance! Inform me at once of your availability to assist them and that indolent suli Ashasar!" clamors the Taldane crossbowman.

Discussion thread is here. Looking like low tier? Maybe? Anyway. Tyranny of the Winds, part 3; having played the other two parts is not necessary, tier is 3-7. Will make a decision on who gets the seat based on party composition/tier.

Krog approaches the crossbowman, I'll join your expedition.

"Hello, I'm running PFS Scenario #05-08 The Confirmation."

This is great for 1st time players or 1st level characters but it is tier 1-2

Sign up sheet

I posted in recruitment then realized it was supposed to be done here. Also the sheet is now editable as it was not earlier for some unknown reason.

"Happy gaming!"

Marcos Farabellus sets the correspondence he was reading upon his desk and folds his arms, deep in thought. This one will be tricky.

Over the Master of Sword’s shoulder, a well-dressed half-elf speaks. “Well, this is quite a mission. Who shall we send?”

Farabellus turns to the half-elf. ”I know of some capable agents who could do the job...”

The half-elf shakes his head. ”You and I both know that this runs far deeper than it seems, we need agents capable of handling themselves. Besides, despite not having a lodge yet, I AM the Venture-Captain of that area, so it’s my jurisdiction.” The half-elf pulls out multiple dossiers from a satchel and hands them to the Master of Swords. ”And I know just the agents.”

As Farabellus reads his eyes widen. “Seekers?!”

The half-elf nods. ”This could change the Inner Sea Region for years to come, AND affect how the city views the Society; we need our best.”

Marcos sighs. ”You’re right,” he hands back the dossiers. ”Take these to Thuvia, Kahlvet, and I’ll get the agents here, wherever they are.”

The half-elf takes the dossiers and leaves. Marcos Farabellus turns to his desk, inkpen in hand, and begins to write the first of the correspondences.

Recruitment for the All for Immortality trilogy run in hard mode has begun. Sign up if you dare.

"Oh, hey! Looks like the lights finally came back on!" shouts a small, plump gnome. "The name's Azra, and I'm looking for adventurers that may be in need of healing!" she shouts gleefully.

New player doting in!

Azra, I have a spot in my game.

LINK to Recruitment where you can include your details.

Victoria walks into the tavern, her hips rythmically swaying as they always do, though she never seems to realize it. She takes a seat at the bar and adjusts the finely crafted rapier at her side.

Wow, it's been far too long since I've been here! The church had me running all over the place over the last year! I'm so glad they finally gave me a break so I can get back to my duties for the Pathfinders!

She looks around at the crowd and giggles.
So many new faces! I wonder if any of my old friends are still around?

GM Evil, returning from a loooong hiatus! It will be a week or so before I'm back in enough capacity to start running games again, but for now just looking for something for this character, a CORE paladin of Shelyn. Glad to be back, and hopefully some of my old adventuring buddies are still around.

Welcome back GM Evil!

Welcome Back GM Evil.

A Tiny Gnome finishes up nailing a notice with judicious use of summons and Mage Hand.

The Notice goes;
Seeking GM to complete a run of Emerald Spire Book 2?

Originally we would have liked to play through the entire thing but I messed up. So anyone would like to picked it up?

Hola and aloha!

Back from a 1-year hiatus with the PFS burnout quelled and a desire to get a bit of RPGs back into my life. I imagine I've probably missed a lot- -ducked out right as Starfinder was debuting, certainly have no knowledge of the playtest material- -but would love to get back to stabbing Aspis and getting paid for it.

I gather there's a gameday going on, currently (or in the near future). Any big changes to the PbP system or is it mainly still 'wait for a spot' and 'first come first served'?

And thanks in advance for any answers.

A three-foot-three halfling with unkept hair and a smile that barely fits on her face strolls back into an old haunt from her younger days, footsteps creating a beat that she unconsciously raps over in a slangy mix of Common and Halfling tongue.

"Jilly-to-the-T, back from the dead
Took a step back to get clear in the head
Ground I walk on, mammoths fear to tread
Pay me in gold and I'll paint Aspis in red.

Back for a taste of the Flaxseed Ale
Peep these rhymes while I'll tell the tale
Three-Three halfling, rhymes never stale
Skills like these mean I never fail
To impress the best lest they confess
JT singin' so effortless, yes~
Stand tall on any precipice
Accept no other, Jill-Tenn, no less!"

Hola and aloha!

Back from a 1-year hiatus with the PFS burnout quelled and a desire to get a bit of RPGs back into my life. I imagine I've probably missed a lot- -ducked out right as Starfinder was debuting, certainly have no knowledge of the playtest material- -but would love to get back to stabbing Aspis and getting paid for it.

Welcome back

Does this mean the return of Diri is nigh?

Good to be back!

Does this mean the return of Diri is nigh?

"As with all probabilities on any half-open interval continuously increasing with respect to the assumed-to-be-constant progression of time the incidence probability of further research on and investigation into the logical and ethical terminuses of thermodynamics and conflagrational theory have a recurrence factor which asymptotically approaches one."

A small ratfolk smelling of motor oil and isopropyl alcohol pulls out a notepad and sketches for a bit before tugging on Diri's coat to get her attention. She withdraws a few vials of acid and alchemist's fire from her cheeks before answering.

"So... if what you say is right, then if you attend to a fixed number of conflagration-related investigations... we'll call that n... over a fixed period of time... which we'll call t... and the probability of a follow-on investigation uses this same increase in probability that you indicated..."

She thinks and scratches more notes...

"Does that mean that if I pick any interval... lets say 2 weeks... I should be able to estimate how many conflagration investigations you're likely to undertake? If my estimates are correct... the probability of you undertaking a new fixed number of conflagration investigations... we'll call that P(k)... would be equal to n divided by t... the quotient of which is multiplied by itself k times... then all of that needs to be..."

This goes on for a while....

Hola and aloha!

Back from a 1-year hiatus with the PFS burnout quelled and a desire to get a bit of RPGs back into my life. I imagine I've probably missed a lot- -ducked out right as Starfinder was debuting, certainly have no knowledge of the playtest material- -but would love to get back to stabbing Aspis and getting paid for it.

"Step over here into this dark, quiet, secluded booth, and let me hear all about it friend." says a smiling half-orc.

A slender elf walks in, longbow strapped on his back.

"Back from my first mission . . . I like this!"

Endir sits down at an empty booth.

"Ready for another!" Endir smiles.

Looking for another game, level 1 fighter (with a longbow) here.

"wedoh leomok eaysvi diet oot dahsi amt oos tifviuddw edehe?"

A tall, dark and usually moody Elf pushes the door open with a stylish boot and hollers to the crowd "The Siege is beginning! Grab your weapons and your pathetic excuses for spellbooks and follow me! To Arms!" He lets the door swing back closed and heads off.

The young human woman sitting at the bar turned to watch the elf enter and then suddenly storm off again after yelling something about a siege. She turned to those still in the room, "Uh... did he just say... Siege?"

"Do not fret young lady" says Aldebert as he combs through his mustache with an ox-horn comb. "It would seem as if there are some minor activities taking place outside. Stay put as I do, and you should be fine; unless of course fog, gerbils, a stealth force of elite duegar or operation "Silent Tide" are in play. In which case, we should prepare to defend this apocryphal lodge and or taproom. But I am certain it will pass, much like that case of hair lice during the Taldane summer campaign of 4692."

Lynn leaned over the counter and looked at Aldebert with a bit of confusion. "The Taldane summer campaign you say, did you yourself participate or are you just speaking from tales? Can't say i've read much about it but a lice epidemic would certainly cause a bit of issue in an army."

She orders a small cup of wine for herself and the man bringing them both over and pulling a notebook from her waist along with a piece of charcoal, after having a sip from the mulled berry wine. "Any information would be useful if you're willing to share sir...?"

"I was a participant my dear! Aldebert Dunitee, of the highland Dunitees. Late of the third Legion, fifth Cohort of the invincible Taldane Phalanx. And it was a minor inconvenience; members of the Phalanx are well known for their incredible vigor. Only a few minor cases of sunstroke due to the lack of hair after command had us shave it all off.We were in tip top fighting shape only mere weeks, nay, days after the outbreak. No matter what the treacherous historians will tell you" replies the man bombastically.

"Facinating, remakable that your enemies didn't attempt to taint the lice further with disease and it is good to hear that the Taladane Phalanx are hearty fighters indeed." She scribbles down in her booklet a bit jotting down some details. "You know i've participated in a large campaign like that once. Well I suppose it wasn't quite as grand as anything that went down in actual history books, but who knows, maybe someone is writing about the siege on the society."

She placed the charcoal lightly on the table and took another sip at the wine, "I'm sure a man with such a grand title as yourself has many epic and harrowing adventures to tell about yes?"

"But I am certain it will pass, much like that case of hair lice during the Taldane summer campaign of 4692."

"Bertie, did 4692 find you and the Phalanx on the Qadiran front combing lice out of your hair at the time King Aspex the Even-Tongued declared Chelaxian independence?"

A warrior in black full plate removes her helm, looking confused but eager to get storytime rolling.

"Maybe you could tell her how bravely you primped and shaved while Cheliax liberated Andoran, Galt and Isger?"

"Of course not, you mean-spirited moldering hag! Cheliax stole our rightful dominions long before that, you sub-standard Abadarian substitute; and do not get me started on bravery, you prune-brained tart: the Empire bravely took on the scourges from the East AND stoically accepted the losses treacherously inflicted upon it in the West. You didn't see US succumbing to devil-worship, or whatever morbid pastime you Chelish boors have come up with of late" sputters and seethes the man, shaking at the implied insults and going a distinct shade of red in the face as a result. Turning to the other woman, he continues: "Do not pay any mind to anything agent Navhelan has to say in any capacity; she holds a position in the society only due to hardened nepotism, luck, and an admirable ability to carve people in twain, and the capacity to inflict that outcome repeatedly."

Hi Eadie!

"Uh oh, Eadie, I think you made him mad," says a man a few tables over, raising his overflowing tankard with a grin. "Maybe you oughta buy him a drink."

"The Empire ... stoically accepted the losses treacherously inflicted upon it in the West."

"True." The young warrior's head bobbles up-and-down like her neck is spring-loaded.

"If there's one thing you Taladans are good at, it's losing."

"You didn't see US succumbing to ... whatever morbid pastime you Chelish boors have come up with of late"

"It's called 'drinking beer', Bertie. Or 'bere birra' in Old Chelish."

Eadie continues nodding sagely. "Old Chelish being the basis for the language you call Taldane."

"Uh oh, Eadie. I think you made him mad."

"Yeah, for some reason I always have that effect on him, Gunner."

Eadie *clinks* glasses with the priest and sighs. "No idea why."

"Maybe you oughta buy him a drink?"

"Good idea, Gunner. COME HAVE A DRINK WITH US, BERTIE! Hopefully the ale isn't too cold for you and you'll be able to keep up."

She pulls out a chair hospitably. "And as Cayden teaches, what you said before is spot on, Bertie."

Eadie takes a long pull of ale, covering her upper lip with froth. "I'd much rather be lucky than good."

Hello, GM Upaynao & GM Dennis! Are you playing any of the Retrocon specials in the New Year?

All this discussion about RP expecations, leads me to a question that's been on my mind recently. How do other GMs handle a player not meeting your expectations, when the expectations were laid out before the game began? I have a player that continually posts just dice, and every now and then maybe a few words, but never more than a very short sentence. Do you PM them and ask them to reread the expectations that were laid out? Do you not allow them in future games you run, but suck it up for the current one?

Personally I would try not to disrupt the game by removing a player if at all possible.

I agree, something would have to be quite extreme to remove them mid game, and I would not advocate that for just a lack of roleplay. They would have to be repeatedly offending the group or some other extreme infraction for it to be taken that far.

Generally, I'll just keep it in mind for future games. I always like to open my recruitment for at least 24h to get a nice spread of applicants from all over the world. This invariably leads to more applicants than seats. If I have a player who consistently has been way behind post rate or generally obstructive to a game I'll likely just ignore them from consideration. As long as they haven't been in full violation of rules though I'll let them in to make a legal table, but I often like to extend personal invitations to players who have stood out in other games of mine, or people who have GM'd for me lately.

I try to suck it up, and have them play as they would like to play. Unfortunately, I am not as eloquent as others when it comes to others when describing what my characters do, but I am getting better, as it is more of a learning experience for myself, since normally I can by quite curt with my responses and whatnot. Play by post has helped me expand my characters, which has helped in face to face games as well.

Maybe offer examples of what one would like for a bit more immersion, but not be overly stringent on how one plays their character?

All this discussion about RP expecations, leads me to a question that's been on my mind recently. How do other GMs handle a player not meeting your expectations, when the expectations were laid out before the game began? I have a player that continually posts just dice, and every now and then maybe a few words, but never more than a very short sentence. Do you PM them and ask them to reread the expectations that were laid out? Do you not allow them in future games you run, but suck it up for the current one?

I generally just let them be, shift focus to the other players, and remember the "bad apple" for my future games. There isn't anything wrong with that play style, but that doesn't mean that it fits your GM'ing style.

So what types of players do GMs find more problematic?

Those that post once or twice a week and when doing so have not read what's going on and make tactically unsound decisions?

Or those who post on regular basis but do so briskly and rarely do anything to move the game along?

Those who don't catch up would be the most problematic, I would say. As for tactically unsound decicions, I can say that some of my characters have done them, which had become quite an advantage, or just plain humorous. Kyra trying to jump the river in The Confirmation was one of my better "bad mistakes" decisions, as it made the whole table laugh.

I've only GM'd one PbP game, but for me the most frustrating was the one who said he would be out for a few weeks, and then simply never returned. I botted him through several combats, expecting he'd come back and not wanting him to be left behind. This only added to my workload, for what turned out to be no benefit.

So I guess the core problem was lack of communication from the player. If he had said he wasn't returning, it would've been fine.

I find those who only join my games to participate in combat alone to be the most problematic, and I admit that I do keep track of those who do this and they're that less likely to be chosen when I run a subsequent game. This is a story-driven game. If you're ignoring all of the NPC interaction and opportunities to roleplay with them (and with your fellow players), you might as well be playing Baldur's Gate on fast forward, pausing only for combat and combat alone.

That said, my experience playing PFS on these boards has been almost entirely positive, with most players being pretty darn good at consistently impressing me with their unique, well thought out characters and antics. Seeing such deep backstories and rich personalities always inspires me to invest more heavily into my own characters.

My experience with PFS *as a whole* has been:

Those who try to push the party into pure death vagrant mode unless the GM specifically notes that yes, indeed, the scenario is a death vagrant scenario with little variation end up disrupting the table, causing difficulties with the roleplay mode of the side of the table.

Unfortunately, these problems haven't arisen until after the second or third encounter, when it has become mechanically and mathematically difficult for the rest of the party to suffer the loss of said given player and their character.

I cannot say that the *opposite* is true, though.

Every scenario where someone has attempted some form of roleplay has either led to interesting reactions from NPCs as well as the other players, and in some cases did things for the GM that the GM wasn't expecting the party to address.

Please note, the third rail itself (roll-play vs. role-play) isn't being discussed here, but rather the personal anecdotal experience that I've had at tables over the past couple of years.

Others may have had different experiences, but I'm pretty confident on mine.

For the most part, I think this is just a fact of life for RPGs. If a table has participants who enjoy different playing styles, somebody is going to have less fun. Unfortunately, the only way to build a homogeneous table is to exclude people, and Paizo has explicitly said they want to "Acknowledge different styles of role-play and their presence in the Pathfinder Society." We're stuck with each other, for better or worse :-)

A lot of it has to do with maturity, as anyone who has played with kids knows. No-one plays a murder hobo like an 8 year old (or someone who thinks like an 8 year old)

Sometimes it is lack of time. Posts get terse and the player may only engage in combat because the posts for that are usually less demanding.

Then again sometimes a player just wants to play a muscle headed barbarian. I've seen players that could turn on a dime from a 'grok hit you' mentality to the quintessential bard face.

Sometimes I come through the character creation process with an adequately fleshed out persona, sometimes I've managed only to put the crunchy bits together and have to work that out during play. PCs that fall into the later bucket usually lead to shorter posts on my part as I haven't quite figured out how they would think and act.

I also tend to be more mechanical and less narrative in combat. That's probably more habitual than anything else. Growing up playing D&D around a table whenever we got into combat it mostly became a numbers game. Roll dice, announce AC, announce damage. We never really tried to flesh out a narrative for our combat actions. That has carried through to my play style today.

Another possibility for sparse narrative is that I'm too busy to write something longer but don't want to hold up the game.

A final possibility is that I've started to lose interest in the game for one reason or another. If it were a long campaign I'd take that as a sign that it is time to drop out. But for PFS scenarios they are usually short enough that I just slog through them.

I find it interesting that you say that, Michael, because Chak is one of the most charming RP characters I've had the delight to GM for.

I will admit that I'm an unabashed story GM. I love to play up the roleplay in my games, and I recruit for that in the PFS PbPs that I run. Play-by-post is a long haul. If I'm spending three weeks or longer with you, I want a group that will be silly with me.

What I love is that there is a wide range of play styles here, and lots of different options to embrace them.

Vive la difference!
Hmm

Chak was one of those PCs I fully fleshed out a personality before playing him. Some characters take a few sessions for me to figure out (my kensai magus for example), others, like my vishkanya bard, I still haven't found her personality yet.

I usually have a general backstory for my characters, but I find their personalities really reveal themselves when they begin their adventuring career. So usually the first several scenarios they play in decide their personality for the rest of their career.

I build backstory at the table.

I try to have a basic backstory, but I usually end up regretting it if I come up with too much prior to the game.

I tend not to worry too much about backstory in PFS, but what I do like is to find a "voice" for my characters.

Sometimes this is easier than others, and generally the longer they have been played, the stronger the voice gets. Thus Iso always refers to himself in the third person, Rhuul is always making jokes, Fargrim thinks about motivations etc.

Some of these have happened in game as a consequence of a scenario, some just by choice at the start and others just happen through interactions. Worrying too much about the in-depth motivations of my first level characters is often more work than is required. In PBP I tend to find that if I can get a single "trick" that makes the character memorable and stand out from the twenty other barbarians armed with a greataxe you are doing pretty well. The rest of the personality grows with the character.

I have to try very hard to make my characters Roleplay and not just ROLL play. Its something I struggle with.

I try to add more flavor as a GM though, especially adding to combat.

I tend not to worry too much about backstory in PFS, but what I do like is to find a "voice" for my characters.

Sometimes this is easier than others, and generally the longer they have been played, the stronger the voice gets. Thus Iso always refers to himself in the third person, Rhuul is always making jokes, Fargrim thinks about motivations etc.

Some of these have happened in game as a consequence of a scenario, some just by choice at the start and others just happen through interactions. Worrying too much about the in-depth motivations of my first level characters is often more work than is required. In PBP I tend to find that if I can get a single "trick" that makes the character memorable and stand out from the twenty other barbarians armed with a greataxe you are doing pretty well. The rest of the personality grows with the character.

This is a very legitimate strategy. I often do this with my characters of I can't think of a backstory/personality/quirks. Sometimes my best characters end up being done like this.

^Yeah, the two things I consider with a new PFS character is their reason(s) for joining the Society and a very general idea of their personality, usually something that can be summarized with a couple of words. Then I go from there, adding to the character as I play them and discover their voice. Characters for non-PFS PbPs are much more likely to get a fleshed out backstory before I begin playing them.

I go as far as to make a personality/ voice note to myself in each of my character's profiles.

I start with a base character from book or movie and then note key phases, idioms or quirks to their speech. This with at least a couple sentences of why they joined. I recall one of my players or GM's had a who/what/where/why template for details on all their characters. Very well done.

Posting from my nephews cell. My internet is completly kaput. Will be back hopefully Thursday. Maybe not till Friday. If you are in one of my pbps could you share the news in discussion. Thanks

^ This is the sort of GM notification that I like to see.

Thanks, Pirate Rob, and I hope your internet comes back soon.

Hmm

I'm not the greatest at the roleplay thing, though I have managed to give a few of my longer-standing players some personality when they talk (namely Bizzle, Quiven, August and Jaysin). I never got a great feel for Faldoc, despite him being my highest. I've gotten better with Nivik, though I'm not too sure with him sometimes.

August is my favorite BDF I have played with. And GM'd for.

Posting from my nephews cell. My internet is completly kaput. Will be back hopefully Thursday. Maybe not till Friday. If you are in one of my pbps could you share the news in discussion. Thanks

I've spread the word a bit, Rob, hope you get it all sorted out soon

Posting from my nephews cell. My internet is completly kaput. Will be back hopefully Thursday. Maybe not till Friday. If you are in one of my pbps could you share the news in discussion. Thanks

Noted. Think you're in one of my games. lol

Hey, it's stopped raining and I have some internet again. (50/50 if it'll be up, gotta make sure to copy and paste before posting)

With the rain having stopped, even though they haven't gone to fix it yet I suspect having the internet junction merely wet instead of under 15ft of water has gone a long way to making it work some of the time.

I'm slowly making my way back through things this morning. Just north of 100 unread posts, eek.

Get yo'self the Lazarus extension, Rob.

Lazarus saves posts!

Lazarus extension?

Lazarus (links to both Chrome version and Firefox version)

Has saved my posts SO many times.

Awesome. Thanks!

Does Lazarus work on mobile devices like ipads?

Hmm

Well, they've fixed the wires and patched the box, they say they are going to go back underground sometime in the next 2 weeks because the box needs replacing.

So if it rains again will their patch hold, will I still have internet? Find out next episode, same Pirate time, same Pirate channel.

PS

Also thanks for the Lazarus recommendation, I've installed it, hopefully it saves me some trouble in the future.

I will certainly look into that extension as well.. sounds helpful.

Bah! So many good games that I want in on, but I am still too overloaded from GD, and with Blood of Absalom coming up, I don't dare take anything else on!

I took over a game, which is now finished. I seem to recall there is someone to mail to get the game closed out. Can someone remind me who that is?

Actually, an FAQ for how to take over a game would be an excellent addition to the "Campaign" header tab.

I mailed all my info off to Jesse (Iron Helixx). His email is ironhelixx@gmail.com

There is also this link to the reporting page:
https://pbpgameday.com/reporting.php

That's a good idea - Thanks for the suggestion.

I took over a game, which is now finished. I seem to recall there is someone to mail to get the game closed out. Can someone remind me who that is?

Actually, an FAQ for how to take over a game would be an excellent addition to the "Campaign" header tab.

I am very excited to announce two new members of the PFS Online VO corp

I took over a game, which is now finished. I seem to recall there is someone to mail to get the game closed out. Can someone remind me who that is?

Actually, an FAQ for how to take over a game would be an excellent addition to the "Campaign" header tab.

Scribbles note. Adds to to-do list.

__

QUICK OVERVIEW of your current Online Venture Team

Venture Captain Jesse Davis aka IronHelixx
In charge of all PFS Online Play

Venture Lieutenant Jen McTeague aka Iammars and GM Mars

Venture Lieutenant Hilary Moon Murphy aka GM Hmm

Venture Agent Mike Tuholski, aka Endless Forms of Flaxseed

Venture Agent Michael Hallet, aka "Son of Meepo" on Mythweavers

We're here to help, answer questions, and keep things moving smoothly. I hope that all this helps! I'm primarily assigned to the PBP communities. Jen is split between PbP and VTT. Mike Toholski is the VA for all things Flaxseed, and Michael Hallet the VA for all things Mythweavers.

All of us are here for you, should you need it.

Hugs,
Hmm

Actually, an FAQ for how to take over a game would be an excellent addition to the "Campaign" header tab.

How to Adopt a Game

This is a quick draft. I'd love for suggestions and feedback on how to make it better!

Mike has offered to add a link to this to the Flaxseed Campaign Tab.

Hmm

Many thanks. That looks good.

Is there a PM location you can use for Paizo boards, or do you need to send a real email?

OOOh an expansion of the Online VO team!

That's awesome to see!

GM Humm, you may want to add a note that it may take a little while for the game to be reassigned. In my case it was about 2 weeks from when I sent the request.

1) Introduce yourself in discussion as a potential replacement GM. Take the game's pulse. Ask who's still here. Mention your preferred posting rate.

Introduce yourself, and if applicable, the party member who put out the request you are responding to. Verify with the party that they are also of a majority opinion that they are happy for you to pick up the game. Should they not be ready/waiting for the old GM still, let them know what your best means of communication are for when they make a decision.

***

I have had a few groups where players hummed and hawwed and just didn't have their act together, and it is pretty frustrating to be honest. By all means, dick me around when I'm volunteering my time to help out...

Many thanks. That looks good.

Is there a PM location you can use for Paizo boards, or do you need to send a real email?

You need to use a real email to contact Paizo for transfer of play-by-post games.

GM Humm, you may want to add a note that it may take a little while for the game to be reassigned. In my case it was about 2 weeks from when I sent the request.

Oh! With all the filk that I do, I love being called "GM Hum!" That's a really cute typo!

I've now edited it to indicate that there can be a wait. I've seen a time of anywhere between 2 weeks (slowest) and 2 hours (fastest) for transfer. The two hour one happened when I included a screenshot of the other GM's PM saying 'Please take this game from me!'

It's really variable, but removing their need to investigate can speed things up.

Introduce yourself, and if applicable, the party member who put out the request you are responding to. Verify with the party that they are also of a majority opinion that they are happy for you to pick up the game. Should they not be ready/waiting for the old GM still, let them know what your best means of communication are for when they make a decision.

I've updated the orphan games document. This is great stuff. Thanks, Shifty!

Hmm