To wake the Runes for Wrath

Game Master Wrath

Well, this is the thread to get your characters into and discuss the objectives for the game.

I get the impression most folks just want to play. As scuh, I'm happy to open this up to all classes if you'd like.

If you want to run this as the martial only party and see how we go, I'm all for that as well.

20 point buy. Standard equipment.

2 traits as per standard.

You can use traits from the AP if you'd like (free aniversary players guide has these). However, you don't need them at all. Take any traits from an official Paizo source and I'm good for it (just provide a reference).

For simplicities sake, let's assume you've all met before, if only as passing aquaintances or completing a job together somewhere in the past.

Those familiar with the AP and Sandpoint setting, feel free to make your characters locals so you can use some of that knowledge without fear of metagaming too much.

My firm belief is that PbP is more about playing than data gathering. I believe with the time investment required, we should be getting enjoyment from this. I will enjoy it as DM no matter what we do, I leave it to you guys as party members to determine what the overall goal should be.

A house rule I use is for potions- healing potions always give max bonus for the + mod. So a cure light is always d8+5. This is because they are so expensive compared to wands I want them to be a meaningful investment. If you guys don't like that homerule, let me know now and we'll run with standard.

I'll run monsters as the Module states, and apply my judgement based on their nature and responses as per setting and bestiary as needed. I don't necessarily believe in everything being tactical geniuses, as some members of the boards seem to think.

Righto, post your characters and lets see how we fare.

cheers

I agree that fun should be the priority, though any data gathered is a bonus, of course. ;)

I kinda still want to play a smashy guy because I have never actually PLAYED a full BaB class (My classes have been Monk x2, Cleric, Alchemist, and Sorcerer).

I may try that Scythe Barbarian I posted...or Grawrgsmash the Unstoppable Warrior, an Orc Fighter I made to take advantage of the Deathless line of Feats so he could be ultra-tank. That's assuming a hilariously stupid Orc character is fine with you, of course.

Thanks again for GMing this by the by. I keep hearing RoTRL is one of the best APs to this day, but I've never even opened my copy of the PDF.

I like your house rule. I may even implement it myself next time I end up with a party who doesn't want to make a healer.

And what's your stance on magic items? Mostly the buying/selling/crafting of them. I know some people like to go with a "drops only" sort of experience.

You can take craft feats, and as time permits and the places are available you can craft them.

As for buying and selling, I use the rule of selling at half value. Purchasing up to GP limit of a town.

This is going to be particularly true if the party ends up fighter type heavy as it means sharing the same type of gear across multiple characters.

Given that DMing is quite time intensive on PbP I'm not planning on subbing any gear specifically for party tailoring. As such, if it drops and you use it go for it.

In my home games, I let folks respec up to WBL when the opportunnity arrises (mostly in cities). This also takes the workload off me as DM ensuring people are roughly where they should be.

It rarely becomes such an issue in PbP though.

I'd like to avoid custom items though. I find balancing for them can be difficult to judge, particularly long term balance issues.

Having said all that, I'm open to suggestions and ideas for this game. I believe the players we have signing up for it are all quite mature and have a good idea of balance and gameplay about themselves. It will be educational to get input from all of you as we go.

Cheers

Gotcher.

Here's my proposed level 1 char right quick:

Grawrgsmash the Unstoppable Warrior (name subject to change)

I wasn't sure on money so I just went with average for the class (175), tell me if it's otherwise. Same with any Feat/Race/Archetype choices you don't think are kosher.

I resisted the urge to go with a stat array of:

Str: 22
Dex: 14
Con: 16
Int: 5
Wis: 5
Cha: 5

Because as funny as that would have been it likely would not have been a good idea in the long run.

hehe, those second set of stats certainly would have proven interesting indeed. I like the idea of Grawgsmash. He must be buttugly with his charisma though :)

How bad are the smoked goggles on perception checks? I thought I read a thread earlier where that could be nasty.

Ok, we'll get some others in and see how this progresses.
Cheers

They're usually just going to be sitting on my head or something, because everyone has 50% concealment if you're wearing them.

I generally keep them around because I like the idea of them, and they can't hurt when a basilisk shows up.

Heh. And maybe I WILL go with the second set. As long as nobody minds changing my diapers every now and then.

I think as far as skills go I'm going to just snag Perception/Survival/Intimidate.

It depends on what everyone else is doing. I may end up swapping my Wis and Int if we get somebody that's skill monkeying it up or something.

I was going to go with the monk I posted in the other thread, also name subject to change since the name was, well...Ira Monk....

I came down from the Abbey for the festival, and also as a way to start my journey through life toward seeking perfection, as formal training is complete. Lawful Neutral, I am a follower of Irori and am looking for adventure to guide my on the path to perfecting myself.

Yes, classic trope. But hey, this is in part a test of the classic trope viability.

Also open to playing any other class not represented, or a martial class if we are trying to keep it martial only.

They're usually just going to be sitting on my head or something, because everyone has 50% concealment if you're wearing them.

I generally keep them around because I like the idea of them, and they can't hurt when a basilisk shows up.

Heh. And maybe I WILL go with the second set. As long as nobody minds changing my diapers every now and then.

I think as far as skills go I'm going to just snag Perception/Survival/Intimidate.

It depends on what everyone else is doing. I may end up swapping my Wis and Int if we get somebody that's skill monkeying it up or something.

I am going to try and see/stealth everything. One of the advantages Fighters can have over other martial classes is thanks to armor training they can actually us stealth in heavy armor.

YMMV.

I would suggest going Barb with the concept you have, given 1) I think the others are going fighter and we need a barb baseline, and 2) Conceptually the low charisma half orc who smashes sounds more barb, but not my show.

You would likely lose toughness, but Barbs already get more hit points so it will be a wash. With rage you get the bonus hit points, and Orc Ferocity you when you come out of rage at less than 0 and need to drink a potion.

And you would have less gold, so you would adjust that, obviously.

But again, not my show.

Well, as I've been given the go-ahead to play a non-martial, I'm probably going to do just that. I'm debating on what, just at the moment...I sort of dread the long fragile period of pure arcane casters, especially in a game like this, though they can be a blast by mid-levels.

Oracle is pretty tempting...especially life oracle...or battle...a lot tougher, and that would give some healing to the group. Magus is another tempting possibility...and he'd have UMD, even if it might be a few levels before becoming dependable. :p

The other class I'm seriously contemplating right now is bard. The songs of this great adventure need to be sung...and no class is a better support class for a bunch of martials, IMO.

I'd really love to get people's input on all of the above. I'd be happy with any of the three...or even a pure arcanist, if I can keep him alive in this. (I know the first module a little too well, but won't metagame...except to be a bit paranoid!)

Ok...after that little diatribe, I'm thinking of going sorcerer. Celestial bloodline. Conjuration specialist.

Hmmm...something confusing...the skill associated with the bloodline...I thought that became a class skill, but I see no mention of it, and PCGen doesn't add it, either.

While I'm at it, I'm looking for a trait that adds stealth as a class skill...

Ok...after that little diatribe, I'm thinking of going sorcerer. Celestial bloodline. Conjuration specialist.

Hmmm...something confusing...the skill associated with the bloodline...I thought that became a class skill, but I see no mention of it, and PCGen doesn't add it, either.

While I'm at it, I'm looking for a trait that adds stealth as a class skill...

It does become a class skill

"Each sorcerer has a source of magic somewhere in her heritage that grants her spells, bonus feats, an additional class skill, and other special abilities."

So we have a party face. And we will need it traveling with an Orc with 5 Charisma :)

EldonG wrote:

Ok...after that little diatribe, I'm thinking of going sorcerer. Celestial bloodline. Conjuration specialist.

Hmmm...something confusing...the skill associated with the bloodline...I thought that became a class skill, but I see no mention of it, and PCGen doesn't add it, either.

While I'm at it, I'm looking for a trait that adds stealth as a class skill...

It does become a class skill

"Each sorcerer has a source of magic somewhere in her heritage that grants her spells, bonus feats, an additional class skill, and other special abilities."

So we have a party face. And we will need it traveling with an Orc with 5 Charisma :)

Cool. Any help on the stealth trait?

Also, Heavenly fire only works on Good creatures...I'm neutral and I'm only guessing as I don't see the alignment listed, Rynjin is an orc...

If you want to go stealth, Shadow might be a better option. Particularly the Umbral variant.

And I don't know how Wraith runs, but I've found Conjuration specialist are great conceptually, but challenging in actually application because of the casting time.

YMMV.

Also, Heavenly fire only works on Good creatures...I'm neutral and I'm only guessing as I don't see the alignment listed, Rynjin is an orc...

If you want to go stealth, Shadow might be a better option. Particularly the Umbral variant.

And I don't know how Wraith runs, but I've found Conjuration specialist are great conceptually, but challenging in actually application because of the casting time.

YMMV.

Actually...I may rule out the Sorc...and go with Bard instead...I had some ideas...it's not casting time that kills me, it's duration.

Did we ever get a 4th? I know Shallowsoul was interested, but I didn't see him come over.

Also, as I'm off time-zone with the GM, Wraith you can feel free to take liberties with moving me around if need be.

Ok...building prince charming. :p

Raimos the Speaker
Male Human Bard1
CG Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +2; Senses ;
Languages Common, Elven
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13
    (+2 Dex, +3 Studded Leather)
hp 9 (1 HD)
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +2 Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee Dagger +2 (1d4/19-20) or
Melee Rapier +2 (1d6/18-20) or
Ranged Shortbow +2 (1d6/x3) or Dagger (Thrown) +2 (1d4/19-20)
Base Atk +0; CMB +0 ; CMD +12
Bard Spells Known (CL 1st)
    1st (2/day)—Charm Person (DC 15), Sleep (DC 15)
    0th (0/day)—Daze (DC 14), Lullaby (DC 14), Mage Hand, Read Magic
Abilities STR 10, DEX 14, CON 12, INT 13, WIS 10, CHA 18
Traits Charming, Focused Mind
Feats Armor Proficiency, Light, Extra Performance, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +8, Diplomacy +8, Knowledge (History) +6, Knowledge (Local) +6, Knowledge (Untrained) +2, Linguistics +5, Perception +4, Perform (Oratory) +8, Stealth +3, Use Magic Device +8
Possessions Shortbow, Outfit (Entertainer's), Studded Leather, Arrows (20), Backpack, Bedroll, Caltrops, Lantern (Hooded), Oil (1 Pint Flask)(3), Rations (Trail/Per Day)(2), Soap (per lb.), Potion of Cure Light Wounds, Waterskin (Filled), Dagger(5), Rapier

He recites heroic poetry for performance, often ad-libbing when it feels right. His day-to-day existence involves finding audiences wherever he can, dropping his hat for coins, and going into a stirring piece of poetry...many surrounding the heroic deeds that brought the birth of Andoran, or the likes. He recites in the markets, the taverns...any private affairs he can finagle an invitation to...all the festivals he can get to...

Thoughts?

Oh...and the Sorc was going to specialize in Grease. :p

Ugh...I meant to take Detect Magic and ended up with Read Magic. Bleah. I need to look over what I'm doing better than that.

The joy of PbP is time. It can also be a bane.

You have time to make sure your characters are exactly what you want. I'll give Shallowsoul a pm sometime today in case he missed the link in the thread.

Eldon, you've got time to adjust spell lists etc as much as you want at this stage.
I figure I'll give it till Friday at the latest to get all the characters sorted, then I'll launch a game thread.

Ciretose, the way PbP run, I usually post then give everyone 24 hours to reply. This should give all time zones what they need to get actions in. It can mean games are slowish, but it allows great posts and character development.

Not sure how I'll run combat yet. I've done both mapless and map intensive games. Mapless is great for narrative and saves me time. Maps are great visually and allows more tactical players something they're after.

I think I'll try the first one map free to see how you guys like it and then roll from there.

Also, when combats start I usually roll initiatives for everyone and organise into blocks to allow the game to flow. I'll sort that with you more when a combat comes up but it works really well and keeps the game flowing.

Cheers

Okay, so we have a Fighter, Monk, and Bard.

I thought we were all playing human, I didn't know other things were allowed.

I can either bring in my melee Urban Ranger or my Archer Fighter, or even my two handed brute fighter. I have a Magus as well that I could play, so many choices.

Which should I choose?

I am going to try and see/stealth everything. One of the advantages Fighters can have over other martial classes is thanks to armor training they can actually us stealth in heavy armor.

YMMV.

I would suggest going Barb with the concept you have, given 1) I think the others are going fighter and we need a barb baseline, and 2) Conceptually the low charisma half orc who smashes sounds more barb, but not my show.

You would likely lose toughness, but Barbs already get more hit points so it will be a wash. With rage you get the bonus hit points, and Orc Ferocity you when you come out of rage at less than 0 and need to drink a potion.

And you would have less gold, so you would adjust that, obviously.

But again, not my show.

Barb was my first choice, but I'm not sure how long it would take to get even Deathless Initiate going as a Barb. Though the BaB restrictions give me a bit of leeway. Let's see.

1.) Power Attack
3.) Endurance
5.) Die Hard
7.) Deathless Initiate
9.) Ironhide
11.) Deathless Master

Hm. Only delays everything by a level or two. Alright then, I'll try it out. It makes me feel a bit better about rearranging mys stats a bit too. And I need a new trait since I'll have Perception as a class skill already.

Though the one major downside to Barbarian is I lose out on the Fighter FCB (add 1/2 to your negative Con score to not die) which I always thought was pretty cool.

I was thinking going either Armored Hulk or Invulnerable Rager for the true tank experience. Anybody got any opinions on which might be better?

I thought about going with Scarred Rager instead, but we already have a face (and thus have no REAL need for an Intimidate monster) and I don't particularly like what the archetype has to offer either beyond the potentially significant Intimidate bonus.

I may rewrite a bit of this to accommodate for the Without a Past trait.

Also, I was never very clear. Do you know one language per Linguistics rank spent, or one language per the Linguistics BONUS?

To be honest, the ranger may be a waste since we already have a skill monkey.

Also, Ciretose, I think we're ALL off timezone with Wrath. The only reason I was able to respond within a reasonable few hours of his post last night was because I'm effectively nocturnal.

I took linguistics and PCGen gave me squat. I'm gonna have to look at that, too. Thanks for reminding me.

Whenever you put a rank into this skill, you learn to speak and read a new language. Common languages (and their typical speakers) are listed below.

I have a language coming. Hmmm...

To be honest, the ranger may be a waste since we already have a skill monkey.

Well, I have 'Party Face' covered...there are other things I still suck at.

Got the linguistics thing fixed...IN PCGen...

To be honest, the ranger may be a waste since we already have a skill monkey.

It would be ironic if there were no actual fighters after all that :)

@shallowsoul - My suggestion would be a switch hitter fighter who can bother two hand and range.

As a smart ass I would recommend this. But I also like proving people wrong when they say things can't be done.

So we've got:

Your usual uber-charismatic Human Bard.

A (Human?) Monk searching for enlightenment.

An extremely ugly Orc Barbarian who fancies himself a Linguist.

And an undecided (Possibly Ranger, possibly not).

I have a good feeling about this party.

I'm also thinking that something like Crokus might be the Barb's name. His friends may still call him 'Smash if they wish.

"Grawwrrrg! Smash!" will be his battlecry.

Well I can either give my archer a greatsword instead of a longsword or just give my two handed brute a longbow.

My archer has way better skills though. I could go with an elven curve blade eventually and take weapon finesse with my archer.

We don't seem to have anyone specced into ranged combat in any case, so the archer might all around be the better option, since he wouldn't step on any toes and would fill a bit of a gap.

But ultimately it's your choice, whichever sounds better to you.

Something to consider in actual gameplay rather than theory craft is the competition for gear that you find. This is particularly true in remote locations where selling gear and purchasing what you're after becomes more difficult.

If you have four characters who overlap in the equiment they use too much, it tends to crimp everyone's style.

I find the same with skills interestingly. One of the points many folk throw out there is the lack of fighters skills. In an all fighter group that is actually going to hurt quite a bit unless you build around it (which is possible).

In a party with lots of skill monkeys then you end up with so much overlap that rolls become pointless for some folk. We have that in our current RL game. Druid, Monk, Inquisitor all have good skills but so many of their knowledges overlap at the moment, to the point where we regularly all roll above the requirement needed. Part of that comes from building characters without knowing what others are doing (something our group has always done). We're growing organically to help mitigate some of the weknesses, and it makes the game a better feel for us.

This might be something to consider in your choice Shallowsoul. I like the idea of the ranger, but that's me talking as a DM and thinking party balance. If you want this more as comparitive success, then the choice is yours

Rynjin, love the background. Made me laugh.

Eldon, I liked the insight to your Bard too. Easy to see him travelling to Sandpoint at this stage, purely to make cash from performing.

- As for advice on Barbarians, I'm partial to DR so invulnerable rager is the one I've alwys been tempted to build. My current RL game fighter is an Amour Master archetype who has DR 3/- at level 6. It gives him amazing staying power the others in my group just can't compete with.

- I always thought it was language per Rank. Will check it again soon.

As for backgrounds and tie ins to the game, so far we have three wandering spirits. (Monk, Bard and Barbarian). Shallowsoul, if you go for a similar idea in your background I'll make it so you've all met up on the road and are heading into town together.

If you go for more the local guy, I'll make it so the other three are heading into town on your invitation, and assume you've all met in the past some time. It saves almost two pages of posting in a PbP if we assume everyone already knows each other at least a little. Heheh.

Looking pretty good so far folks. Im going to just run with the four of you at this stage, as the guys who showed the interest in the first place.

Let me know when you all feel you're ready and I'll launch the game thread.

Cheers

Any time, Wrath. :)

Any time, Wrath. :)

Same here.

Oh...a couple more things, for fun. Raimos has been in town long enough, I figure, to know where he can stay the night for free...he gets a bonus with the ladies (Charming trait) so he usually has a warm bed, if you get my drift. He knows love poetry, as well. :p

Raimos has had many women, but never one that was loyal. He's not terribly loyal in that sense, either...but he's slowly starting to get that longing in the back of his head...for something more permanent...something familiar. He's heard that pets are very loyal, especially dogs. He's reasonably good with animals, but has never had a pet, so no direct experience. He's been thinking about finding a good pet, a long-term friend...someone who will wake him at night if a stranger tries going through his stuff. (some nights he's on the road, after all) :p

He's never been on a proper adventure, and knows he's no fighter...but he does figure he would never pass up the opportunity to set into immortal words the actions of brave heroes...ones he witnessed first hand!

I will bring in my human archer.

Standard gold?

Standard gold?

Yep, standard gold it is.

shallowsoul wrote:

Standard gold?

Yep, standard gold it is.

Er...standard as in average per core book, or that PFS 150 gp? If it's 105, I'll lose my potion. :p

I would assume 150.

I would assume 150.

I'm a bit anxious with just it, to be honest. If I could finagle a wand with a few charges, I'd be happier. Not trying to metagame...honestly...but I can't help but remember how friggin' deadly this can be. :[

If it's 150 I can haz my goggles back.

I like my goggles.

*offering to swap a potion of CLW for a wand with a mere 5 charges...* :p

Oooooo I can't wait to play now.

Yes, I foresee that the campaign will be quite...smashing.

Yes, I foresee that the campaign will be quite...smashing.

You guys have nice shadows. I'll guard your backs. Just don't turn around too fast. :p

I'd personally prefer average gold. Sure it means I have almost no gold, but that is book and that is what we were testing.

At first level Fighters, Rangers and Paladins get a boost.