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Wow, I expected it would take longer for people to notice the thread and respond. I'm glad to hear you are all still willing and able. It also seems that everyone wants to jump right back in at the very moment we left off, which works for me.
We have 12 people who have responded so far, which is enough to make 2-3 parties. I'll reactivate the campaigns, then spend a day or so reading up on where we were, contact any stragglers and we'll be up and running in no time.
Whoohoo :P
-Posted with Wayfinder
Wonderful. This is the most fun campaign I've been a part of. Props to you Mardavig.
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As my strong allies I would like to ask you all a question. GMs and players both, is it worth starting a homebrew campaign for play by post? I've been nursing an idea, and it requires less investment than my previously mentioned Azlant campaign, but does necessitate some backstory.
In my home games I have learned not to bother with such materials because while people whom I call friend are willing to schlep themselves out to my house once a week they are generally not willing to sit down and read 3000 words prior to the beginning of a campaign.
This of course is where published materials gain their edge, we all know what the rules are and have some degree of investment in the common setting, and no one has to bother taking the time to learn the succession of wars that shaped the world and led to their character dousing their sorrows in this certain tavern.
PbP does have the advantage of basically selecting for players who are willing to read a fair bit in order to play in the first place and maybe even excited to do so. I'd say go for it.
Are you thinking of a lot of mechanical changes in your homebrew or more backstory and thematic world building?
I have a home brew. Its a bit slow. Mostly blame myself. But i say go for it
-Posted with Wayfinder
I started a homebrew back on april the 19th.
Some preparation will be required obviously.
Depending on how complex you are willing to go with the classes factors in.
I took core and base classes only, since it was 1st time.
I stuck to Golarion, but situated the first part within a fictional city.
I had a general idea and it keeps developing as gameplay goes by, the players might inadvertadly provide nice ideas too.
Give the people a general idea what adventure they'll jump into, have some stuff prepared and steal some ideas from anything they might be discussing. For example, the group suspected a (was meant to be a generic) cat to be a witch's familiar. Sure, i'll have the nice innkeeper be a powerful witch NPC ally in the future for some drastic encounter.
Personally i find giving out loot the obstacle, some NPC would logically not carry much loot.
All in all, i'd say you can run a homebrew. There's been plenty around the board.
Regrettably few of the homebrew games I've been in have survived.
^
Sad to hear. I've been in 1 that stranded after the entire original team was gone, by death, sudden disappearance and a curse from the Deck of many Things.
Love that deck!!
-Posted with Wayfinder
Yeah, my insane oracle was luck, she drew the unicorn that grants the chance to change something in the personal past.
Nah. Ive had ups and downs. Too many to name
-Posted with Wayfinder
We used it in a game once. For some reason, literally everyone that drew got "summon outsider of your alignment/hitdice 1/day."
And 3/4 got "you'll be betrayed by someone at a crucial point."
I'm leery of joining homebrews that go nuts with mechanical changes. It's hard enough for me to keep track of 'vanilla' pathfinder. I do enjoy some twists on the concept like the Crit deck that's being used here but after a certain limit it just becomes too much to handle for me.
Homebrews that rely on interesting worlds and histories with some sort of unique hook to start the adventure of though are awesome.
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I love me some deck of many things. I bought the Madness of Guardmore Abbey specifically so i would have the physical deck to use. I aslo bought the Harrow deck. I'm kind of a sucker for a fake pseudo-tarot deck.
My campaign would feature three custom races and two custom gods the players would have to choose from. A brace of campaign traits would be available. Maybe a page of history to choose from.
Like always I enjoy taking on a collaborative relationship with players, where they feel free to build on the established material and add ideas of their won.
That was the only time i ever encountered the deck.
Incidentally, it was held by a non-hostile lich/reaper. We had to refrain the unfortunate bard from attacking him after she drew the curse card.
I might let my players encounter a deck in the future.
There's this little backwater town called Ravenmoor i'll send them to in the future, a traveling shady varisian carrying the deck sounds good to me.
I agree with Jenya, the PbP medium is a good one for a homebrew if you can get the buy in from the players, and a lot of that is the initial recruitment post as that in and of itself selects for people that are interested in the material!
I kind of cheated with the quasi-homebrew I'm running, as it's based in Golarion but with a twist that turns the standard fantasy RPG tropes on their heads somewhat rather than being a completely 'from scratch' environment.
The word count for my initial recruitment post was 1300, and there were a number of questions asked in the thread that added to or enriched the initial world-building, so people seem quite willing to invest their time in reading background material.
Some folk go with pre-emptive 'interest check' threads, but ymmv on how valuable they might be.
Long story short, I say go for it!
Other than echoing in the above, all I can really say is that if you run it, I'm in.
-Posted with Wayfinder
I have my own homebrew but have yet to use it. Bit of a work in progress but alot of hooks. Anyways go for it, personally love a well done homebrew. ;-)
I used to run homebrews exclusively, and got out of that racket because of the time involved. I firmly believe that there are plenty of talented writers out there, and I am perfectly willing to pay them for their efforts and run their stuff. That said, I've never tried one on PbP.
All of which is purely personal opinion.
I'd say that if you have the time, go for it, but keep the group small - say 3 to 4. And let me know when/if you get it started, I'll submit a character!
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What do you folks think of this?
The history of the world.
Once there was nothingness.
A lineage of Princes and Princesses Regent arose, creating an established monarchy who ruled, ostensibly in the name of The Creator. Most of these ruled well and all were kindly enough. It was the final prince who truly broke the mold
He had two daughters, one light and one dark, each miraculous in their own different way. Age and rulership had granted considerable magic power to the Prince Regent and as the years passed but he grew no older he saw it as a form of divine favour. His rule became stern and forbidding, his decrees increasingly demanding. His daughters, both kind and loving in heart, came to him and tried to reason with him, trying to show him the error of his ways.
He turned his eyes beyond the homeland of the three people and began conquering his neighbours. The two princesses were miserable in their confinement, they could not bear to see the pain and suffering their father had brought to the land and their people. They prayed to The Creator to set right what had gone wrong. The Creator visited them and told them that he could not oppose the Prince Regent for he had stolen some of his power and was now something of a god himself. But he could give all that he had to the two princesses, more than enough power to free themselves and lead their people against the unjust rule of their father.
The Creator would make this sacrifice on behalf of his Three People, and on behalf of the two princesses whose hearts were good and pure. The princesses agreed, and vowed to make good on the faith given to them. They freed themselves with the power of The Creator, now as powerful as goddesses themselves, although not powerful enough to challenge their father.
So began the war of the Three People, with some remaining loyal to the Prince and some following the two princesses. The elder sister fought under a white banner, she was a cunning tactician and an inspiring leader. The younger sister fought under a black banner, she was a fearsome warrior, never matched on the field of combat. The war raged for years, going around and around, incredible victories and terrible losses one after the other. The princesses steadily gained power and support, whereas their father had to rely on his power and intimidation to rally his loyalists to his side.
In the end the two sisters were victorious, they destroyed their father’s army and took his capitol. When they entered the palace they found him alone, deserted by any who used to follow him. They ordered their own followers out and spoke with their father for the first time since he had imprisoned them. None knew what was said between them but only the princesses emerged from the palace. Some say they slew their father, other claimed they exiled him or imprisoned him, but all they knew for certain was that the princesses swore to the crowds of the liberated city and their assembled armies that the war was over and that the Prince Regent had received his justice and would never trouble them again.
Which is where you come in, your people need you, your Queens need you
20 point Creation
Must choose one of the Races of the Three People (see below)
Must choose from the Basic and Advanced classes (Core Rules and Advanced Players Guide only for now, nothing newer or third party)
Any Cleric must venerate one of the aspects of the two Goddesses
I run my games here on the Paizo forums, from Monday to Friday during business hours EST.
I use Ditzie for mapping, but I plan on running this game map lite, in an effort to reduce fussing over minor tactical matters and emphasize roleplay
no abilities below 8 after adjustments or above 18 before adjustments, no evil characters, average gold, maximum hit points at 1st level and then half+1 (d8 is 5, d12 is 7, etc.) for other levels, one regular trait and one campaign trait.No drawbacks. character submissions must include some idea of character appearance, background, personality
Mark of The Creator, all of the three people are born with a birthmark that is said to foretell their destiny and provide some hint as to their vocation. While not always obvious once a person has deciphered their birthmark it provides a lasting pillar to their identity and destiny.
Races of the Three People:
- The People of the Earth:
Type:Humanoid
Size:Medium
Language: Common
Mark of the Creator: Bonus Feat: Skill Focus+2 Strength, +2 Constition
Speak with Animals
Speak with Plants
Dual Minded
Toughness - The People of the Air:
Type:Humanoid
Size:Medium
Language: Common
Mark of the Creator: Bonus Feat: Skill Focus+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom
Wings
+2 Perception
Cloudwalk - The People of Magic:
Type:Humanoid
Size:Medium
Language: Common
Mark of the Creator: Bonus Feat: Skill FocusArcane Focus: Magic Mark
Mage Hand
One other spell
+4 intelligence, -2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom
Skill Bonus: +2 Spellcraft
Once they obtained their divine mantle the sisters were able to share some of their powers with their followers. It didn’t take long for cults to spring up around them. It’s important to note that the sisters were born mortal and at heart still see themselves this way. As such they do not endorse their own worship. They see the power they lend their clerics and paladins as no more than empowering those who would serve them. They do not actually inform the doctrine or the cults that worship them, preferring to let each decide for themselves what is true and what is divine. In their hearts they regard The Creator as the only true deity of the Three People. As the only living creatures to have met The Creator in person, and the last, they are saddened that so few keep faith in The Creator and often feel awkward about being worshipped themselves.
Aurora as wise ruler Sophia LG
Community
Knowledge
Nobility
Aurora as Infernus, the devastating fire LE
Fire
Magic
Glory
Umbra as Arma the defender CG
Protection
Strength
Luck
Umbra as Terririx, bringer of fear
Darkness
Destruction
War
Armies:
White legion
You served under the white banner during the war.
+2 to bluff and you do not provoke OAs for the first square of any movement.
Black legion
You served under the black banner during the war.
Proficiency in one weapon of your choice and low light vision.
Red legion
you served under the red banner during the war.
+2 vs fear and intimidation effects (either to roll or dc to resist). One suit of armour of your choice. This armour clearly marks you as a former member of the red legion, which does not automatically make you a pariah, but it doesn’t help
Rank:
Soldier
You know where the old soldiers gather to drink and talk. You are always welcome there and given an hour’s time you gain a +2 bonus to diplomacy for the purpose of gathering information.
Officer
Yous commission had yielded financial rewards, perhaps from connections to other officers or high society, you begin with an extra 500gp. You still command some respect around former and current soldiers and can expect to be obeyed, but you yourself will ultimately have to answer to your superior.
Dignitary
your position was slightly beyond the normal military context. Perhaps you were a diplomat, merchant or scientist. Your position was important but did not often bring you to the front lines. You still retain your contacts and can at any time deliver a message to some powerful connection. the benefits of their aid are up to the gm, but could potentially be far reaching
Speciality:
Medic
+2 heal, always a class skill
Combat
+2 cmb
Chaplain
1 extra divine spell slot of first level per day
Scout
+5ft movement speed with in light or no armour
Assassin
+2 stealth, always a class skill
Magister
1 extra arcane spell slot of first level per day
Armies:
White legion
You served under the white banner during the war.
+2 to bluff and you do not provoke OAs for the first square of any movement.
Black legion
You served under the black banner during the war.
Proficiency in one weapon of your choice and low light vision.
Red legion
you served under the red banner during the war.
+2 vs fear and intimidation effects (either to roll or dc to resist). One suit of armour of your choice. This armour clearly marks you as a former member of the red legion, which does not automatically make you a pariah, but it doesn’t help
Rank:
Soldier
You know where the old soldiers gather to drink and talk. You are always welcome there and given an hour’s time you gain a +2 bonus to diplomacy for the purpose of gathering information.
Officer
Yous commission had yielded financial rewards, perhaps from connections to other officers or high society, you begin with an extra 500gp. You still command some respect around former and current soldiers and can expect to be obeyed, but you yourself will ultimately have to answer to your superior.
Dignitary
your position was slightly beyond the normal military context. Perhaps you were a diplomat, merchant or scientist. Your position was important but did not often bring you to the front lines. You still retain your contacts and can at any time deliver a message to some powerful connection. the benefits of their aid are up to the gm, but could potentially be far reaching
Speciality:
Medic
+2 heal, always a class skill
Combat
+2 cmb
Chaplain
1 extra divine spell slot of first level per day
Scout
+5ft movement speed with in light or no armour
Assassin
+2 stealth, always a class skill
Magister
1 extra arcane spell slot of first level per day
Need to add domain powers to the Aspects and Translate the Races back out of Race builder-speak.
Also I'm not 100% content with the flying mechanic of the Air people. I've seen where some people attach a level based penalty to the fly skill. So inherently skilled fliers (stacked characters can fly very well at the beginning, but others who do not invest in it are not so skilled. This way a characters flying ability increases with level, or rather the penalty decreases.
Hah some formatting oddities there but I like the setting. I guess maybe a little bit more information on the Red Legion and how come the goddesses allow the worshippers of their evil aspects to share their power?
I guess the reason the Goddesses need help will be the driver of the plot?
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Another threat will soon be rising to threaten the Three People, before Absolus, the final prince regent, turned his was inward he was on an expansionist drive that angered many that he sought to conquer. The Three People in One are not the only people in the world.
In order to fight monsters you must sometimes become a monster. So Absolus left behind him a legacy of people who became awful in order to fight him. Those people cannot be put back in their bottles. They turn their eyes to the Homeland, where the now peaceful people are rules by two gentle Godesses. Very soon the players will be called upon to defend their kingdom from without.
But I'm glad to hear that what I've written seems overall cogent. I write too much in my head when I'm writing longer than a paragraph, so that it seems incomprehensible to other.
I understand your plight all too well. There are times when I continue finishing a sentence in my head and forget to actually type it out...
-Posted with Wayfinder
Interesting, I will note that the races are a bit unbalanced in my opinion. Also needs a little smoothing out but very intriguing I'll admit. Makes me wonder what the hook is exactly. xD
Personally I find the hardest thing is getting stuff from your head out on to text. Maybe that's just me. >.<
Will rwad when im at home and have time
-Posted with Wayfinder
Hope you don't mind the slight critique but I was thinking about the setting and trying to come up with a character and I don't know, I just didn't feel inspired. The custom races are great but I think the lack of familiar racial tropes to hook onto is kinda stymieing me.
I allready have a character idea :P
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Which race did you find most under/over powered Lorald?
Jenya, other races would become available later as players venture into neighbouring kingdoms. Beyond that The People of Earth are the Tough Guy, The People of the Air are Fragile Speedsters and the People of Magic are Squishy Wizards.
I wanted to see what would happen if players were forced to winnow their race choices down to a few careful points. They are forced to share a similarities which allow them to draw into stark relief their united bonds and their differences. Of course this does not mean it's a game for everyone. Personally I enjoy having a large panoply of races to draw from, so I understand the reluctance to step into such a restricted arena.
Well to be honest all three are unbalanced. But more because they are in the same boat then in and of themselves, except maybe the people of magic and air being at opposite ends.
The people of earth are the most balanced. Good melee potential and one save based stat along with a saved based trait and extra hp via bonus feat. Nothing overly unbalancing as they have weak points that can be exploited easy enough even at low levels. Being able to talk to animals and plants is not in itself powerful and controlled via DM.
The people of the air are a little overpowered. Both their stats are save stats. Again not a huge issue but it does give an edge, throw in the ability to fly and sit on a cloud. Not to mention bonus to perception and you have a built to form sniper that is unreachable. Make your skill focus perception and your in even deeper mud. The only time they would be on even ground so to speak is when their ability to fly and stand on clouds is moot such as caves and inside buildings. But then you pretty much cripple their flavor and abilities so why have them at all. So their ether really good range types when denied their air abilities or unbeatable ranged types when they have their air abilities.
The people of magic got the short end of the stick it seems. Mixed feelings about the built in arcane focus, nice that it can never be taken away or lost but bad that it's not something you can upgrade or replace sense a good acid or fire burn will ruin it. The big boost to intelligence is simply not as useful or worth the other two stats loss. It restricts spellcasters to certain types only, not a boon to all spellcasters and even counter productive to some. Again to two stats that take a hit are save based and pretty important at that. While intelligence only gives you more spells if your stat is Int and two skill points per level. With a low hit die and a negative stat you can get one shotted by anything at low levels and you suffer for it the rest of the game unless you take steps to counter it. Then their is Wis, not as hard hitting to spellcasters with their will saves but still hurts if not as much. I would suggest you keep the same theme and give them two stats at +2, like Int and Wis sense those are the main stats for arcane and divine magic in my opinion.
Hope I was not overstepping my bounds about your game but hey you asked. x)
On the one side I agree with Lorald.... on the other. Why does everything have to be balanced? It is every players choice to take one race... one class. I envision the people of the earth as the dwarf type, rugged and healthy. The people of the air as elves quick in mind and wise in the years. And the people of magic as the melnibonee, like elric. After inbreed to reach mental perfection they are frail and despise common sense for logic. Maybe I would give them the a bonus against spells and SLA to compensate for it.
Who decides what is 'balanced"? Balanced vs NPCs? Balanced vs other PCs? Isn't that what the CR is for? To balance the encounters? The argument of balanced vs unbalanced is a tired one, because it is based strictly on personal opinion. So in that case, Lorald's opinion is perfectly acceptable because it is his opinion.
A moment regarding the CR system and 'balance': remember that the purpose of the CR system is to provide ~5 encounters that use 20% of a party's resources, thus providing them with a new level after the 5 encounters are complete. Regardless of level, mythic tier, etc., according to the system 5 encounters and you should level. By that very fact, those 5 encounters are NOT balanced (the PCs being overpowered). If you think on it, PC heroes are 'unbalanced by their very existence - that's why they are heroes.
My point is this: it's up to the GM to 'balance' his encounters regardless of race, class, tier, whatever. And by 'balance' I mean 'make an enjoyable story'.
Just letting you guys know I will be out of town the next few days, back on Tuesday. I will continue to post as I can, pending decent Internet access, but if necessary, Raven will simply continue her usual death and war to enemies, life and love to friends attitude during that time.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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@Lorald, I did ask and I am grateful of the PEACH. I see your points and am going to try to re-balance the people of Air and Magic. I suddenly realised I was putting the Magic's Will save at a disadvantage and that was not my intent. Using a strictly Race builder approach they did come out one point shy, so there's room to work with.
Ok, Raven. Will take that into account.
You need a shovel?
Non, he needs a safety bell.
In old times, graves would have threads attached to a bell, that lead into the coffin. If people were buried but weren't quite dead, they could ring it to get excavated.
Non, he needs a safety bell.
In old times, graves would have threads attached to a bell, that lead into the coffin. If people were buried but weren't quite dead, they could ring it to get excavated.
hence the term "for whom the bell tolls"
Also "dead ringer."
All good Mardavig, thanks for letting us know :)
Chief White Eagle, sorry to correct you but years ago (at least in England), the church bells were rung when someone died. They would ring a number of times equal to the age of the person, leading those listening laughing if the number got up high and saying that person had a "good innings", and if the bell rang only twenty times or less, then a hush would come over the fields. Asking 'for who the bell tolls' was the equivalent of asking 'who died?'
The quickest etymology reference I could find was here for anyone interested enough to want to know more!
yup...I'm wrong again...
oh well...
CWE: I expect there are a thousand things you know that I am misinformed about, take your research for CWE for example, I imagine 90% of the things I think are true about 'the people' are incorrect whereas you will know the truth of it!
And around the bells, I grew up in the equivalent of a 'country village' in the UK, if I didn't know the source of that phrase then no-one should ;p
I knew John Donne's quote from Hemingway, but not the age relation.
It's probably something specific to England, since at least in Italy there are a lot of different traditions about bells (almost every region in Italy had his own tradition about how to ring bells... but those are now almost forgotten since the use of modern bell, too bad).
Thank you Natalya!
A wise man realizes he knows nothing while a fool thinks he knows everything.
Just something that comes to mind. We never stop learning after all. ;)
Speaking of origins of words, allow me to share the tale of the word "handbag."
In medieval times, the archers were the poor men among the ranks.
After the battle was over, they'd scour the fallen, especially the richer.
Because those might be wearing expensive rings. They carried with them small axes and, since after a battle regrouping or marching along left little time, they chopped off any hands wearing those rings and put them into a bag.
I've heard this in the UK among trivia at a medieval re-enactment.
The ladies actually carrying one were looking with big eyes. ^^
Not sure who is still following this thread or whether the campaign is still active, but regardless...
Big Sister Natalya wishes you and your loved ones a wonderful festive holiday, wherever you are I hope you're having a good time :)
I'm still here. I imagine with GM's new job and the holidays, things have been kind of slow. Hopefully we will get going again in the new year.
@Nee-san Natalya, it's 01:02 am, the 2nd evening like the 1st was good. Though we lacked proper snow.
Well next wishes on the agenda within a week, when it will be itadakimasu on the goodies new year's eve.