May I submit my oracle of stone female dwarf? Can adjust stats and background.what exactly is Max start cash?
@ Ensu and E-Terah - thanks for the submissions!
@ E-Terah - max starting gold for all characters, 25 point buy, and no traits please :-)
" Don't get tentacled!",
You just had to bring naughty anime into it, didn't you? ;)
Still interested; crunch will be done tonight, ran out of time last night.
Grigore is definitely still interested and ready to punch some gobbos.
Definitely still interested.
You just had to bring naughty anime into it, didn't you? ;)" Don't get tentacled!",
I'll be sure to bring that up when you get grabbed by an otyugh. :-P
Okay, and that's that! Thanks to all who submitted characters for consideration, recruitment is now closed.
I'm going to go over characters and make a decision shortly. I'm still waiting on stats for one of the characters (Annalya) so I may wait a bit to see what she's looking like before finalizing anything.
In any case, it looks like this party is going to be low on arcane spellcasting, and I have concerns about the number of heavy hitters who were put forward. Once selection is complete, we may need to discuss builds a bit. This module - this whole AP, really - has some vicious combat in it. I'm updating everything from the original to pathfinder, which means even the gobbies have gotten a bit tougher. It's going to be interesting to see how a party without some of the familiar, heavy damage types will fare.
I'll have selections up by tomorrow morning. We'll then fine tune builds a smidge, followed by a mock combat, so that everyone can get comfortable with how it will work, using the gorgeous online maps, and so forth. I'm hoping to have you in Sandpoint, ready for a day of fun and frolic at the Swallowtail festival, by next tuesday or wednesday.
As always, any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know.
With my mutagen I can do a decent amount of damage, at 1d8+6. And if I use enlarge person as well that will increase to 2d6+7.
Remember that I am a melee focused cleric. I could always do my Paladin levels before cleric if you want
First level characters are fragile anyway you look at it, even a fighter or barbarian is one crit away from negative hp's. With a few levels of development, any class can better focus itself for combat. A bad run of dice rolls can fell even the most optimized party.
If it's a real concern I can change my submission from Inquisitor of Erastil to Paladin of Erastil with almost no difficulty thanks to HeroLab; wouldn't even have to touch my backstory much.
I've always wanted to run a Paldin in a PbP group that already had one; happened once (briefly) at a table game I was in and I thought it rocked.
True true. Eventually, I become a self buffing melee beast with truly masterful spellcasting, great saves and exemplary healing. For now, Im a gimped fighter who knows a couple spells and a 1d6 heal ability
@ Brevyre - taking a few levels in Paladin probably wouldn't do a whole lot for the group as a whole, and in fact, would cost you higher level access to some of the great cleric spells. Choosing the crusader archetype already weakens your most useful ability - your spellcasting - for what looks to me like a dubious payoff (weapon focus and a few feats). If we could have you focus a bit more on traditional cleric-ing, then I could take Thorjar up on his offer and feel a bit better about the party's capabilities.
@ Thorjar - thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it!
Regardless of your decisions regarding your builds, I'd like to invite you both, along with Grigore, as the first three players into this game. Congratulations, and welcome! I'm going to choose another three players shortly.
P.S. Does anyone know what happened to Digger?
Awesome! Thanks. I might drop the crusader Archetype, but I will see. I would still like to keep him as a Melee Cleric, but that leads me to a question. Would you allow us one trait? I could keep my CL up with the magical knack trait. I understand if you dont want to.
@ everyone - I think I underestimated the value and importance of traits, as it's been brought to my attention four times now. I'm not going to be stubborn about it, so going forward, everyone can choose two traits, with only one stipulation - no 3rd party traits, all must be from paizo products.
I'll present the rest of the choices for the party tomorrow morning. Good night to all!
Wohoo! Traits! Here is What my build looks like now GM
Level 1 Will be Cleric, Dropping Crusader Archetype
2-3 Will be Paladin, Picking up more Melee while MK keeps CL up
4 onwards will be Cleric
Well, sadly I don't think that Scoria would multiclass well into any Arcane spellcasting class. Int and Cha are both her low scores. I'm really hoping she'll get in here - I've been anticipating her debut.
Here's Thorjar as a Paladin (no archetype). One of the traits I took was a RotRL Campaign trait (Monster Hunter); I wasn't sure if that was a requirement or not (I'm happy with it or I can swap it out for a generic if you'd prefer).
@Scoria: I wouldn't multiclass your Monk. One way to compensate for lack of arcane power is to increase the groups "beat-down" power. It can be kind of a bummer when you don't have that Sorcerer or Wizard to alpha strike but lots of melee characters means lots of durability and flanking. Besides, sometimes a group is more interesting when it does have both a strength and a weakness in certain areas.
@ Brevyre - taking a few levels in Paladin probably wouldn't do a whole lot for the group as a whole, and in fact, would cost you higher level access to some of the great cleric spells. Choosing the crusader archetype already weakens your most useful ability - your spellcasting - for what looks to me like a dubious payoff (weapon focus and a few feats). If we could have you focus a bit more on traditional cleric-ing, then I could take Thorjar up on his offer and feel a bit better about the party's capabilities.
@ Thorjar - thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it!
Regardless of your decisions regarding your builds, I'd like to invite you both, along with Grigore, as the first three players into this game. Congratulations, and welcome! I'm going to choose another three players shortly.
P.S. Does anyone know what happened to Digger?
Great, thanks and congrats Thorjar and Brevyre!
I'll add my traits back in a second...
Erynion has a bit of arcane skill, and I can always switch my spells around. I went with CLW though as I figured a bit of extra healing ability never hurts.
I'll go trait diving if Erynion is selected. Either way it shouldn't have too much effect on his abilities.
Wohoo! Traits! Here is What my build looks like now GM
Level 1 Will be Cleric, Dropping Crusader Archetype
2-3 Will be Paladin, Picking up more Melee while MK keeps CL up
4 onwards will be Cleric
You might want to consider cavalier, with emisary archtype you get your d10, good bab, mount companion, challenge, free mounted combat and no movement reduction in med armour (think mithril heave later on) and with order of the star you add 1 (half the cav levels) to your channel energy.
Ensu could probably reworked as a bard or something along those lines with little difficulty and no changes to the basic concept. He's already halfway there fluff wise, and he's definitely inclined in that direction in how he's built currently. I am not wed to a specific class or mechanic as long as I can retain the same basic feel.
low on arcane spell casting, i would think even having one arcane regardless of the class would negate that, after all each arcane ends up doing a fair amount along with utility in the prepared caster case. summoner/bard buff party, magus buffs and blows up, witch, wizard, sorcerer control, blow up, utility. but that is just my thought.
and even from the looks of what you said, it being a combat heavy game, having control will make the fights much easier even if there is no big bruiser in the party.
You're right. Sometimes people still get panicky if the don't have their base Cleric or Wizard/Sorcerer. But with PF coming out with so many additional base classes, plus archetypes, the traditional party roles have become scrambled a bit.
I think part of it is, when 3.0 came out, everything was based around a 4-member party with each of the traditional roles filled: Fighter, Cleric, Rogue, & Wizard. Sure, you could swap out a Barbarian for the Fighter or a Sorcerer for the Wizard but it didn't change the party much as a whole. Now, you could make a solid party of 4 without taking a single class from the core book.
So what makes a "balanced" party is more difficult to judge. Also, depending on the game, it might be better to not be "balanced" but rather be strong in a particular area. "Balance" is like trying to find the end of the rainbow; even if you can get there it ends up not being what you think.
Here is Calkin Wildwind
@ Scoria - don't worry about multiclassing, just focus on seeing whether you or Grigore can punch out more goblins :-) Welcome to the game!
Two more choices coming up, have to run out and do errands with the boss first, though, so it'll be a little bit. Apologies to the remaining applicants on the additional wait.
:D Hooray! She made it! Now she can get to her lifelong goal: Amassing enough wealth to make the greatest sculpture in the world. It'll require a mastery of stonemasonry. Enough that she'll be able to punch a slab of rock and create the visage of Irori himself. :3
Edit: On a mechanics note, discussing the Monk of the Sacred Mountain build with my friends pointed out to me that sacrificing evasion for a little natural armor and the Toughness feat seemed to make the monk a much easier target when it came to area of effect attacks. I picked it because it fit her thematically, though I understand I'm sacrificing fluidity for a tougher, more tank like monk. Just wanted to know your own opinion of the build, and if you think I should pursue a different option.
Welcome Scoria. With all of This Melee, I might change my build from a Melee focused build to a more traditional support cleric build, buffing my allies then running in with my Longsword on the side
MotSM is a Solid (Pun intended) choice. One thing you might want to look at is Monk of the Four Winds, scaling elemental fist, time stopping and some high level goodies.
I've looked at MotFW, it's all nice - except for the whole aspect mastery. It just doesn't fit Scoria's character to get to a point where she suddenly grows monkey or owl or tiger features like that. <.< Student of Stone fits her thematically as well, but it limits her mobility even further.
Really, she fits best either as a plain monk or a monk of the Sacred Mountain.
Have you considered Quingong monk? Replace High jump or slow fall for Barkskin. Make yourself even harder to hit
Welcome aboard, Scoria!
I wouldn't worry about too many build changes now, at least until we see who else is in the game. For example, now that you're in and you and me can punch stuff, Thorjar might want to switch back to a ranged Inquisitor. ;-)
As for archetypes, I think Monk of the Sacred Mountain fits your character very well in terms of how you have portrayed her so far. Plus, I think it's hilarious that an Ancient Dragon could try to make 8 trip attacks against you or bull rush you, etc, and nothing happens, hehe.
I can always tweak my build if it's necessary, but I feel like we don't need to be fully prepared for every eventuality. We're going to have some "holes" as a party, but that can sometimes lead to memorable encounters where we need to think outside the box, you know?
Like, my Dragon's Delve party does ridiculous damage but has pretty poor healing. So we try to kill stuff as quickly as possible before we all die. Conversely, the Skull and Shackles party that I DM has a ton of healing, but not that great damage output. So they try to outlast opponents as they do steady damage and keep healing.
Mmm. True. And with any party, magic items can make all the difference in supplementing their weaknesses. Don't have a dedicated healer? Get someone to invest points in UMD and get yourself a wand or two of CLW. Same with casting utility magic, just with scrolls on a case by case basis. Then there are some nice wondrous items, like necklaces of fireballs, to shorten the gap that we would have without arcane spellcasters.
As for Scoria, yeah, I've had my doubts, but you've help to alleviate it. Sacred Mountain suits her just fine.
Heck, wands of cure light can be even better while in combat, if you've got a free hand...wanding doesn't provoke.
Heck, wands of cure light can be even better while in combat, if you've got a free hand...wanding doesn't provoke.
I think that a wand of CLW is the single best item (bang for buck, obviously) in the entire game.
So, I can buy one wand of CMW for 4,500 gp, or I can buy 6 wands of CLW? Um, yeah, I'll take the six CLW.
Well, this was a very difficult decision. I wish I could run a game for everyone who applied, but to do justice to my players I can't spread myself that thin. To those who didn't make it, I'm certain there's a game out there for you - persistence is key, sometimes!
Having said that, I'd like to welcome Erynion Orvir and Calkin "Wildwind" Milliciny to the party. Having a bard and a sorcerer will be useful in the trials ahead!
So, here's the makeup of the party:
Grigore the Grim - CG human male fighter
Brevyre Silverkin - LG human male Cleric
Thorjar Falconclaw - LG dwarvish male Paladin or Inquisitor (your call, Sir Jolt!)
Scoria the Stalwart - LN oread female Monk
Erynion Orvir - CN elvish male Bard
Calkin "Wildwind" Milliciny - NG halfling male Sorcerer
Congrats to all! I'll let you know about our next steps shortly.
Congrats Erynion and Calkin!
Seems like a solid group.
Of course, you must always take into account the GP limit of every town and city. Perhaps in Magnimar you could get several CLW wands, but sometimes all they have available is one CMW wand with perhaps ten charges left.
The idea that you can walk into any town with a big bagful of gold and purchase any magic item you need has always seemed unrealistic to me, unless it's a metropolis or capital of a nation.
Edit: Congrats to everyone who made it! I hope that all the rest of you who submitted will find themselves another game shortly.
Say welcome to the seventh member of your party - Digger Chandler! So, the party is now:
Grigore the Grim - CG human male fighter
Brevyre Silverkin - LG human male Cleric
Thorjar Falconclaw - LG dwarvish male Paladin or Inquisitor (your call, Sir Jolt!)
Scoria the Stalwart - LN oread female Monk
Erynion Orvir - CN elvish male Bard
Calkin "Wildwind" Milliciny - NG halfling male Sorcerer
Digger Chandler - CN human male Rogue
Congrats to all! Seven players will be a challenge logistically, but I really feel confident that this is a GREAT party with a bunch of dedicated players. I'm really looking forward to playing with you! Errr, I mean, GM'ing for you! Yeah, that sounds better :-)
Anyways, like I said above, I'll post soon about our next steps forward.
Of course, you must always take into account the GP limit of every town and city. Perhaps in Magnimar you could get several CLW wands, but sometimes all they have available is one CMW wand with perhaps ten charges left.
The idea that you can walk into any town with a big bagful of gold and purchase any magic item you need has always seemed unrealistic to me, unless it's a metropolis or capital of a nation.
Edit: Congrats to everyone who made it! I hope that all the rest of you who submitted will find themselves another game shortly.
I completely agree-- I meant it more from a comparison standpoint than a practical standpoint. Buying 6 wands is a bit much (of course, crafting two or three wands...hehe)
Welcome Digger!
Good to be here.
Woohoo Digger is here! Looks like a solid group . Welcome everyone
I completely agree-- I meant it more from a comparison standpoint than a practical standpoint. Buying 6 wands is a bit much (of course, crafting two or three wands...hehe)
Welcome Digger!
That's one of the greatest benefits of the item creation feats - aside from being able to craft using basic materials bought through GP nearly anywhere, you're only limited by how much downtime you have in what you can make. In my first Eberron campaign, the artificer was queen, because she supplied probably half of the magic items we used on a regular basis.
Also, congrats, Digger! Should you feel it necessary for him to try and woo the only female party member, remember he'll have an uphill battle to get her to really care. ^_^ Heh. 'Uphill'.
Oh the puns are only going, downhill, from here.
@Scoria--in my aforementioned Dragon's Delve game, I have a gnome alchemist who makes potions a lot, but I also have the Leadership feat with a warforged artificer cohort. Cheesy, I know, but I swear I try not to abuse it, hehe
Glad to be a member. And congrats to everyone else who made it.
Oh the puns are only going, downhill, from here.
Whoa now. Whoa.
Well this should certainly be fun. Guess I'll need to go find a couple traits now :D
I think I'll stick with Paladin. The biggest hit comes in skills but with a Bard and a Rogue in the party that's not a concern. Some versatility is lost losing the judgements but my melee and survivability is way better, ranged just as good, and once Divine Bond and spell use kicks in, it should be golden.
However we do initiative is fine with me but I thought I'd share a way I saw another DM do it when he (or she, I don't know) had a large party. Combats can take a long time in PBP, and it can be frustrating when you're going dead last behind 6 other players and 8 enemeies. He called it clump initiative.
For example, in our group the three highest initiatives in our group would be clumped together, then the next two and then the last two; similarly with the enemies. Within your clump you acted in whatever order you posted in. This cut down on wait times between actions pretty significantly and made combats go a lot faster without bringing in some of the wonkiness that full group iniative creates.
However you want to do it is fine with me; it's just an idea to help larger combats from taking 2-3 weeks to resolve.
One thing I have seen is the GM roll everyone's init, everyone post their actions, then the GM describes what happened afterwards. That seemed to work pretty well for PbP combat.