The Way of the Wicked (Inactive)

Game Master spinningdice

Out of game talky thread...

Hello everyone! I am honored to have been selected for this.

This is only the third PbP I've joined, and it's been well over 20 years since I've played a bad guy as a PC. I've run many deliciously evil villains as GM over the years, so I do think I'm up to the task. It's fun to play the bad guy from time to time!

I am very much looking forward to a great campaign with you!

Just a note on the forum rules (which take some finding, I mean you think they'd be somewhere prominent)

"Users who participate in our message boards agree to not: post any content that infringes and/or violates any patent, trademark, copyright, or other proprietary right of any third party; use profanity or any type of vulgar speech; make any bigoted, hateful or racially offensive statements; defame, abuse, stalk, harass or threaten others; advocate illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them."

Hmmm, I can't see anyone stomping down on the thread, but I'd rather not descend too dark on an effectively public forum.

Also as mentioned in recruitment, while I've GM'd for decades in the real world I'm not experienced in the way of forum GMing, so feel free to call me up on anything I could do better/differently and I'll try to adapt to fit.

I have a question for our esteemed GM:

I know that Way of the Wicked is a third-party publication, and as such does not use the Pathfinder campaign world as written.

Is this campaign set on Golarion? (For example, is Talingarde one of the islands in the Steaming Sea?) If so, are there any trade connections with the nations of the Inner Sea?

Just curious. I don't imagine that it will come up in play.

I am steadfastly ignoring the rest of the world, otherwise I'll try and plan more of it out.

I am for now assuming that it is part of Golarion, and the steaming sea is probably the only logical place to put it, Talingarde has a navy and as such trade links will exist.

The campaign is limited to Talingarde however, and if things seem like they may stray outside I may change this.

For gods I'm assuming that Golarion gods exist, but the nation is so steeped in the conflict of Asmodeus and Mitra that others have fallen out of favour.

Checking in! Hello to the lucky few and GM spinningdice!

Glad to have been picked, and I'm definitely excited to get started. I've not run an evil character before, so this'll definitely be quite a bit of fun.

I always ask this in every PbP I've joined...

Where is everyone (i.e. the players) physically located? Knowing about time zone issues and interruptions of national holidays can be helpful.

I'm in central New York State, USA, about 30 miles south of Syracuse, or about 230 miles west-northwest of New York City.

And on national holidays...

I hate to say this just a couple of days after staring a new campaign, but I may end up going silent tomorrow for a few days due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I am traveling to the old family homestead in New Hampshire tomorrow, and will be away from home through Saturday. I'm not sure what level of WiFi or cellular data I'm going to have at the inn. If I do have connectivity, I'll probably manage a short post or two during that time.

As mentioned previously I'm UK (GMT), I have family in America so am more than aware of Thanksgiving.

I'm not planing on being away for any holidays until Summer (excepting maybe the odd weekend).

I'll generally be doing main updates on an evening after my kids are in bed, though I can check through the day a bit to answer questions etc.

Given Thanksgiving would it be worth leaving the session as introductions until next week, or shall I crash on regardless and let those who can't keep up catch up later?

I live and work in Washington, DC. So I am at GMT-5. For whether to push on or keep it to character interactions until after Thanksgiving, I am fine with either one. Though I will be celebrating Turkey Day with family, there is reliable internet where I will be so i don;t see too much issue with posting over the holiday break.

As another quick note, I'm pretty flexible to changes for the first level or so, if anyone realizes that their character should really have a particular skill or ability.

To answer Zed's question, I'm in Michigan, so I'm GMT -5 as well.

North Carolina here, GMT -5

Hmm, I've got family in Raleigh.

Question for the GM--

In both of my other PbPs on these boards, the GM was able to link the map in the campaign description fields, so that the links appear at the top of every page in our campaign forum. Would you be able to do that? That way, we all won't have to go looking for the post with the link to the map.

Apparently so.

See - learning experience, works out better for everybody.

I've also added an appropriate Avatar, since I'm struggling to see my posts when I need to check what I've told you.

As another quick note, I'm pretty flexible to changes for the first level or so, if anyone realizes that their character should really have a particular skill or ability.

Mr. Dice: I just noticed that I neglected to give Zed the Slight of Hand skill. (I so rarely play rogues, and this is the first evil character I've played in two decades, that I pretty much never pick that skill.)

I am switching the skill rank I spent on Knowledge (religion) to Slight of Hand. His profile is updated.

Fair enough.

A question - Reading the Grapple rules, ir seems that even if I am able to successfully perform a Grapple, that guy would still be able to sound the horn, is that correct?

Jericho: you might want to try a Disarm maneuver to grab the horn instead.

Very good option actually. But on the other hand, I am thinking of simply trying to put him down - my first attack (unarmed) is 1d3+7 dmg, ranging from 8-10 hit points (should I hit, of course). I'd say simple guards should be somewhere in that range, eh?

I've moved Jericho's token and placed him in front of the guard. Actually, he should have enough movement to exit the cell, but I am not sure if that is doable? If yes, please move Jericho one more square diagonally, placing him between the "horn guard" and door at the room 17.

I re-moved Jericho and moved Rei as well. Didn't seem like your move had taken Jericho. Seems like you need to hit return after moving to save the changes.

Hmm, every time you hit enter it 'saves' it as another copy, with it's own URL, maybe another solution is in order, or we could just repost the map after each move?

Suggestions?

In one of my other PbPs, the GM uses a Google doc, that allows anyone to manipulate the image map dynamically. Not sure exactly what he uses-- I can PM him if you'd like. Downside is that it doesn't have any snap-to grid settings, and there are no token ownership settings: we've all accidentally moved map elements we didn't mean to at some point.

In my other PbPs, the GM makes note of everyone's position, and posts a new static image of the map to Flicker at the start of every round, updating the "Current Map" link on the campaign site accordingly. Those maps always have grid locations, so that players can say, "I take a move action to G7 and attack," or "I 5-foot step into H2 and cast a spell."

I'm not going to worry about it for this combat, it's essentially over, but I'll probably use Google Docs next time.

In case you still want to take the ditzie - we just need a bit of cooperation from the players and it will work. Here's what to do.

A quick ditzie tutorial (shamelessly stolen from another game)

1. Click on ditzie link (posted by GM)
2. Move your character.
3. Hit "Enter" to save the map.
4. Copy and paste the new URL created into your next post.

This is how we could handle movement in the game. Players (and GM) should always use the last ditzie map posted when making their moves.

As an example, here's a new map, where I moved some of the players:

New map

Guys, sorry for my absence, just a brief FYI - someone has broken into our home (while we were away for 1 day) and ransacked it thouroughly. I have some issues while I put everything back in place, please expect me to start posting again in 1-2 days.

ouch, best wishes to you, hope they didn't take/wreck anything too personal.

Hey folks-- My posting rate is going to be pretty low for the next two weeks because of Christmas, New Year's and holiday traveling.

I'm going to try to get a post in every other day or so, but I don't know whether I'll be able to actually do that.

Have a great holiday season everyone!

Finally back. Sorry for being offline for so long girls&boyz, I had some serious issues related to identity theft attempt and such, as a result of burglary. Anyway, I am on my way to Africa (where I work), I'm writing this from Frankfurt airport. I will be reading all your posts and start posting regularly from tomorrow.

Merry Christmas everyone!

And Merry belated Christmas to you and the others here. I have nothing extra to add in the IC thread, so I am ready to move along when everyone else is.

Sorry Christmas fallout limiting time, will try to update tomorrow.

The holidays are a difficult time to post. I'm looking forward to getting back on track. :)

Apologies for the delay, xmas-new year was unexpectedly busier than I anticipated, should be back to regular posting again now.

Map is also updated.

A question for the group:

I'm currently trying to figure out which way to take Rei build-wise and have three ideas I'm kicking around at the moment:

1) Rogue/Wizard/Arcane Trickster (Touch Attack focus)
2) Rogue/Assassin (Dual-wielding)
3) Rogue/Master Spy (Dual-wielding)

Trickster would be weakest in skills, but probably most effective in combat/utility. Assassin would be effective in combat and skills, while Master Spy would probably end up being pretty weak in combat while having the strongest skill set. I think thematically Trickster and Spy both fit her quite well, but I'm worried spy might give away too much combat ability, while Trickster gives up a significant amount of skill points and will take quite a few levels to get up and running.

I'd like to know what y'all think would work best for the group. I'd be open to other suggestions as well.

Well, with her background story (i.e. trying to assassinate the king), if I were playing Rei, I'd probably go with the Assassin prestige class, or Master Spy as a close second choice. Between Lukasz, Angelica, Zed, and Jericho, we're not hurting for spellcasters.

And once we take over Talingarde, you could be Commandant of the Secret Police! (I'm intending to become Minister of Propaganda.)

But it sounds like you have your heart set on Arcane Trickster. If that's the case, go for it! I'm always for playing the character you want to play, as long as that choice doesn't cause unnecessary friction in the group.

Actually I think I like Master Spy most, but I'm pretty concerned about being functional in combat. It gets assassination as well, although a bit later than pure Assassin, and there's quite a bit more flavor in it than straight Assassin.

Sorry I've been absent, guys. Had some internet issues, but I'm back!

Been travelling over the weekend. Just got back, tired as hell. Will try to think of some plan and post tomorrow. For sure it will include Rei (and maybe someone else) going down the chimney, should they want it, of course.

Just FYI - I have added one longsword (since now we have 4) to Jericho's inventory, only to "round up" his guards uniform. In case anyone else needs it, tell me and I'll be happy to pass it on (although, currently only 2 out of 4 are taken/assigned, still leaving 1 free).

Sorry for disappearing... life tossed me a curveball the other day.

I'll hopefully be able to post sometime this afternoon.

Really sorry for missing that guard :-( I hope you guys can "fix it" somehow. Maybe we get Initiative before them, if this is a surprise round...

Don't worry about it too much, after all "The best laid plans of mice and men [and incarcerated criminals] oft go awry" :p

Also, y'all have four versus two, and with the hall being 5' squares now, the nearer guard is actually in range for Angelica and Lukasz.

You're effectively in a surprise round, anyone posting any further actions before I move to resolution?

I'm really hoping that Elijah will see this on time and strike one of the guards (unlike me).

Also - Lukasz, Angelica, any spells or long range attacks maybe?

Just dawned on me-- it's the third encounter, and we've already split the party!