Where It All Began: Dragoncat's Rise of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master Dragoncat

Good lord, how long has it been...?

Wow, we are just a week shy of three years to get through book one. Impressive.

I don't think I need to do that math on how many years it'll take us to finish the whole AP...

But I'm sure having fun!

I agree. This is one of the best play-by-posts I've EVER played in! :)

GM, Rise of the Runelords has been sanctioned for organized play. Could you maybe give those of us who'd like it a PFS chronicle sheet for this book?

I'd very much love to have one, and I've been present during all of Thisletop. That's exactly the part one needs to have played to qualify for the sheet! :)

I agree. This is one of the best play-by-posts I've EVER played in! :)

I was a bit late to the party, but I'm very glad I joined this game! :D

How do I get you that PFS chronicle sheet? The link you gave me just goes to the campaign's main page.

Well that's odd...

You should be able to find the sheets on this page. It's near the bottom of all the text.

OH THANK GOD IT'S STILL HERE I WAS SO WORRIED WHEN THE THREADS DISAPPEARED TODAY!!!

The threads what now?

The entire IC and OOC threads disappeared for several hours yesterday, leaving only the recruitment threads visible.

Well, I've got the sheets. Now what do I do with them?

Sorry if this sounds like a silly question, but I've never dealt with PFS sanctioned stuff before.

@Eostre: It was going on while I wanted to make my posts yesterday. Glad it's all back up! :)

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@GM: There are a few steps. This post will explain most of it, though you won't need to follow every step.

Following the steps in the link, create an event, choose for it to have 6 sessions (bottom of page when creatign the event) and check all of the Rise of the Runelord boxes for the event.

You don't have to input an event schedule, nor do you have to input a location. Just check the box that says the event takes place online. You don't have to download session sheets either.

Once you created the event I'll help you with the following step, which is reporting book 1 as a session for those who want a sheet. Just let me know if you run into any trouble creating the event, and I'll help you! :D

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@Teammates: Anyone else wants a sheet? The sheet for book 1 is for a level 3-5 character. If you post your reporting info, then I will help our kind GM Runecat with the reporting thingy! ;)

I'm working on setting up the event now, but I think I've hit a snag. I'm trying to input 6 sessions and the event editor keeps telling me I have 0 sessions.

Whoa, there's been a huge overhaul since I last created an event... Okay, let me take a look...

Did you select the scenarios of Rise of the Runelords already? (Check the RPG boxes, not the PFC boxes.)

I did. And I un-ticked the PFC boxes.

I think either Steph or myself (or anyone else who GM's for PFS) could report under our own events. I have a PbP event number that I could report under for you, Cat.

But whoever reports it, Runecat will need a PFS number for reporting as the GM, right?

And I might make use of this chronicle also, so I'd be happy to do the reporting if it makes it easier for a non-PFS person like Runecat. I've already added the AP to my list of scenarios, so it would be easy.

That would be very much appreciated. My experience with PFS is limited to picking up pregens to run through scenarios at conventions.

Yeah, that would indeed be easier! I don't mind doing it either, if everyone who wants a sheet could just post his reporting info here I'll do it! ;)

GM Runecat, I'll indeed need your PFS number so I can add you as the GM of the session. The only other thing I'll ask of you is to add some nifty signatures to the chronicle sheets of those who want one, after I've filled everything else out on them for you!

I think I'll apply my chronicle to a fresh level 1 character, whose PFS number will be 80015-15. As my former venture-captain (Pirate Rob, for those who know him here) explained recently: "Gold for 3xp modules is reduced to 1,398 gp for level 1 sheets. Also you do not benefit from any boons until your Roleplaying Guild character reaches the minimum level listed on the Chronicle sheet, unless otherwise noted."

Hope that is clear and doesn't make it more complicated for Steph or Runecat.

So what benefit does all this PFS stuff do? I'm not quite sure what's going on!

PFS (Pathfinder Society) is Pathfinder's organized play version. There are special scenarios that you'd usually play with your PFS characters, and at the end of each one you get a chronicle sheet with rewards for the character you played in the scenario.

There are a few ways to get chronicle sheets outside of PFS, like when playing certain Adventure Paths. It's a kind of promotion thing.

@Nicat: I'll leave the "Character Name" and "Faction" fields open then?

@Nicat: I'll leave the "Character Name" and "Faction" fields open then?

Yes, please. When you're reporting, that PFS # will just show up as 'Runelords blob', as a placeholder for when I create the character and apply the chronicle.

Thanks

My PFS number is 197866.

Come on Nuffle papa needs more hit points.

1d10 ⇒ 2

Conner, for HP gain you can take either the best of two rolls on level up or the average.

HP: 1d8 ⇒ 8
HP: 1d8 ⇒ 2

See, Desna does smile on him!

May take a couple of days for me to get to leveling up.

HP: 1d6 ⇒ 5
HP: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Okay, I think I've gotten everything finished. Eostre can now cast fireball! While it won't be as effective without being an Admixture wizard, Dazing Spell will give it some extra oomph! And starting next level I can begin the Cyphermage prestige class, at last!

Please correct me if anything's wrong with my math, or if I forgot something.

Eostre, how did you get so many 3rd-level spells in your book? When you level up, you're only allowed to pick two spells to add to your book.

Are you planning to go shopping for scrolls to justify having those spells?

I thought it was 2 spells plus your Intelligence modifier. Am I remembering that wrong?

You gain a flat two spells per level up. That's it.

A wizard begins play with a spellbook containing all 0-level wizard spells (except those from his prohibited schools, if any; see Arcane Schools) plus three 1st-level spells of his choice. The wizard also selects a number of additional 1st-level spells equal to his Intelligence modifier to add to the spellbook. At each new wizard level, he gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that he can cast (based on his new wizard level) for his spellbook. At any time, a wizard can also add spells found in other wizards' spellbooks to his own.

Shoot. Fixing that now.

second try

1d10 ⇒ 5

Spending a moment working on leveling up, had a few thoughts and questions:

1. DMCat, I had asked earlier about trading in my +1 sling for a +1 composite shortbow. I'd obviously have to pay the difference in cost between the sling and the bow base item, but was hoping some nice person in Sandpoint who's always had great respect for Nicat (just play along here, okay?) would offer the hero a free trade on the enchantment, since I was so dumb to start him off with a sling rather than a bow.

2. Do we know how much money we have?

3. Team - I'm considering what additional 2nd-level spell I should pick up. Given the persona involved, I had to think hard about taking Deflect Blame or Distracting Cacophony but, as fitting as they both are, they're not especially useful. Spells I'm considering are: Blur, Contagious Zeal, Gallant Inspiration, Hypnotic Pattern, Invisibility, Perfect Placement, Rage. I already have Glitterdust and Heroism.

Nicat: Sure, I imagine someone in Sandpoint would be happy to trade your sling in for an enchanted shortbow. :)

Excellent!

And how about our financial status? I don't know that we've been tracking that.

Behindish...
time to catch upish

Rolling hitpoints

ish

roll #1 1d8 ⇒ 3

roll #2 1d8 ⇒ 8

+2 for Con, so 10 points this level, can't gripe about that. Woot!

Now it'll be harder for monsters to one-shot you!

Nicat: I was operating under the assumption that one of you would be handling loot division...

There was the treasure cache you recovered from the goblin fort level of Thistletop, the secret trove with the crab, and the bunyip's treasure...

Let's see what we can get for it all in character first, then figure how much of their shares people have already taken in claimed gear (shield ring, bastard sword, etc) and divide up what's left after that.

There was the treasure cache you recovered from the goblin fort level of Thistletop, the secret trove with the crab, and the bunyip's treasure...

Okay, I'll take a look if I have a moment and see what those totals were.

Edit: also Nualia and Tsuto's stuff, right? Oh, and the stuff on Ripnugget! I somehow missed that there was a +1 short sword in his treasure, per this post. It should be small-sized, right?

Another edit: a while back (last time we didn't know how much treasure we had), GMCat just had us get enough gear to bring us up to appropriate wealth by level. I would love to just do that again, as I find the tracking of treasure to be a real pain. Could we please, DMKitty?

Sure. Please, by all means, be my guest. :)

Okay, if we just go the straight WBL approach, each of us should have gear totaling 10,500 gp.

I like this approach, so much simpler! One of my other games, which I enjoy very much (we've been going over four years), gets bogged down in accounting when we run into this question - we're currently fighting our way out of such a bog right now, in fact.

Wow, that's... 6,895gp to spend.

Armors and shield to +1 and masterwork, 1150 gp each.
Silver masterwork heavy pick, 398 gp
Cold Iron masterwork war hammer, 324 gp
Belt of giant strength +2, 2000 gp
723 left

Currently in the process of checking how much gold I get. GM, I kind of assume/hope I don't have to count all the scrolls and potions I carry for the party as part of my own wealth? I think we purchased the wand of CLW together, and I have about 1000 gp worth of scrolls/potions.

Scrolls and potions are party loot, so they don't count against your own wealth.

Neat! That gives me 6,337 gp more to spend, bringing my gold total to 8,023 gp 1 sp 5 cp! :)

Now... what to buy...

Sales:
Masterwork Breastplate (175 gp)
Masterwork Buckler (77 gp 5 sp)

Money: 8,275 gp 6 sp 5 cp

Purchases:
+1 Mithral Agile Breastplate (5,400 gp)
+1 Mithral Buckler (2,005 gp)

Money: 870 gp 6 sp 5 cp

What should I be buying? This is the first time I've gotten this far in a game that I should start thinking about buying magical gear...

Well, the classic items, also known as the Big Six (some of which Nicat is picking up) are:

A headband or belt to boost your primary stat
A cloak of resistance +1
A magic weapon +1
Magic armor +1
Amulet of Natural Armor +1
Ring of Protection +1

In Eostre's case, I'd go for the Int headband to raise your save DC's, give you more spells, and even boost your Intimidate bonus! The cloak wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Nicat is 250 gp shy of the 10,500 gp mark, and I'be he happy to contribute that towards party items. Things we might want:

Scroll of lesser restoration
Wand of CLW (not sure how many charges our current one has)
Other low-level wands or scrolls

Thoughts?

Nicat's alias is updated. I swapped out my sling for a +1 bow, also bought a +1 cloak of resistance, a +1 mithral chain shirt and a +2 Dex belt.