Please ask any questions or make any comments here.
During the time before RetroCon, I am going to be running a quick training program for those who have not GMed a special before, or never GMed a PbP special even if they have in person experience. I'd invite any of you who are interested to come join us here. Please either dot and delete or else introduce yourself if you're joining us there.
This is optional, but strongly encouraged if this is your first special.
I believe there is a slide deck already prepared and shared with me. I'll tweak it a bit and post it for GMs to copy later today.
Is there anyone already working on resources to help run this special?
Specifically, I would make use of any of the following:
* Slide deck of maps
* Preformatted box text in BBCode for Paizo boards
* Monster avatars for the various creatures
I would be willing to contribute to the effort, but currently do not have the bandwidth to lead the creation of the content.
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(Uggh, my response got eaten by the forum)
I believe GreySector has made a slide deck, which he shared with me. I'll tweak it a little and then share it with everyone, hopefully later today.
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Checking in! Now that I've got the scenario I'll probably start working on some pre-formatted posts (box text, monster ID spoilers, etc.) and will be happy to share them :)
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Here is a maps deck that GreySector prepared. If you like to gather player information on slides, you'll need to create a first slide to do so. It's read only; please make your own copy for your players to use.
A few expectations I want to make clear at the beginning:
It's very important to keep up a quick pace for a special. Please make sure that you as GM are posting every day. If you have something come up so that you can't, or you don't feel well, let us know and a backup can cover your table. If you're travelling and might or might not be able to post (or even think you will be able to, but aren't sure), please let us know and a backup can check in on your table and post if you don't.
If you're unsure of how something works, please ask here so we can talk about it.
I don't yet have the success reporting form prepared, but I will post it when it is ready. It is important to report successes promptly, and to move your table on as soon as you are instructed to.
Let's work together to make sure that our tables have a great time, including us.
If you see a player with multiple signups at your table (other than a second signup, if one is Cosmic Captive or at a different lodge), you could gently remind them of the rule by private message. Otherwise, send me a PM and I'll contact them privately. (also, note that ACG tables don't count for this)
Ladile: Have you already been working on the pre-formatted text? I was thinking of doing this as well, so we can divide the labor if you'd like.
^Not yet since I've been busy with work the past couple of nights but after tonight I'll have a few days to hopefully get some stuff done. I don't mind dividing the labor at all; any preference on how you want to split it up?
(I'll try and get some work done on tokens too, unless someone else is already on it!)
That sounds like a pretty good idea to me.
I made a Google drive folder here; it's currently set so that anyone with the link can edit. I think you should be able to create documents there as well. I set up a spreadsheet to list out all the parts of the scenario, so if you are working on something you can claim it.
For the formatted text I propose the following: for a single act or sub-act I'd prep all of the DCs and box text that are the same across all tables, and then have separate sections for the monster ID spoilers and anything else that varies by subtier and needs to be pre-formatted. Then if we have time, once all the parts are done I (or somebody else) can separate the whole thing out into individual subtier docs for ease of reference during the special.
Does that make sense?
Hey guys, I got started on tokens and found the process of working on them kind of relaxing soooo....ALL of the tokens for each of the subtiers can now be found here! The only 'encounters' that I didn't make tokens for were the couple of trap encounters (that didn't summon monsters) but everything else should hopefully be there. Feel free to double-check my work and let me know if I missed something or got anything wrong, though!
Thank you, Lady Ladile, for taking care of the tokens.
At this point, maps and tokens have been made available to everyone. Copy and paste text has not.
Not sure if you guys will find this helpful, but I did last time I ran a special on PbP...
Nice tokens! All separated out by subtier and everything.
I started on the copy-able text but realized I'm not sure how I should be presenting the trap perception DCs. Is there a consensus for how to handle traps in pbp, or for specials specifically? Is it acceptable to just put them under spoilers or do we need the players to actively search? If it's up to the GM I might as well include them and folks can choose whether or not to use them.
I think you can go ahead and write the spoilers. They will be there for GMs to use if it fits with the agreement their players have reached.
On a similar matter, for monster identification, please include the facts known at various results as various DCs. That way GMs who do not use the 'you get to ask X questions' and those who believe that the GM chooses the facts known both have available text they can use. (My opinion is strongly that the rules imply that the GM is supposed to choose the facts known, but I believe this is grey enough I cannot insist that everyone run that way.)
Traps generally have to be specifically searched for, so I wouldn’t normally put them in spoilers.
That doesn't mean the spoilers won't be useful to some GMs. Most parties in a dungeon crawl like part will have at least some characters say they search for traps on entering every new room. Some GMs will respond to that general set of instructions by rolling perception for those party members as soon as the party enters each room/area, and others will just post a perception spoiler. Either one works, but something like that must be done.
Alright, I can see where that could work.
I prefer that if they are doing something like that they give me a procedure and I roll it in a spoiler for every room. That way the group gets used to seeing it and they don’t get any meta knowledge of something special in a particular room.
That makes the most sense to me. As a player it can be hard pretending not to notice when there's a big spoiler notifying everyone that there's something there to be spotted. As a GM I'd prefer to roll them secretly myself.
But it's not very difficult to write out a set of brief spoilers in the document, just in case.
^I would write out the trap DCs just so it's there and handy for the GM and then let each one decide how to actually present them - in a spoiler, making a secret roll, following a set of SOP, whatever works best for their GMing style.
Came here for the prep help...
I've been writing out some monster identification spoilers, but I'm not sure about the formatting or the types of info revealed. I'm hoping someone could take a look, if you don't plan to use the question-asking method of monster ID. (link for easy reference) Also, maybe you all know this already but there are some documents at pfsprep.com that have compiled monster stat blocks and applied templates.
Pro tip for the Google doc: if you go to View > Show document outline (or for mobile the option Document outline) you get an outline that makes it easier to jump to different sections of the large file.
Unless something changes, Lady Ladile's table is going to be the only one at subtier 10-11. There's one common encounter in Act 3 that I might just leave to you since it has rather a lot of odd traits and special abilities. I'm really not sure what you would want to let people knowledge for that.
^Okay, that's not a problem! Anything that's really weird or specific to my table's subtier I can make a note of myself if it's easier for you :)
Whoops, sorry that I missed checking in on this thread sooner. GM Abraham also reporting for duty. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I'll be traveling until Jan. 1 but should have time after that.
OK, everyone, we're getting close.
Can everyone please make sure that the signup spreadsheet has a link to your game play thread? That is where people will look to find a link if they need to send you an aid token, or anything of that nature.
If any of your players have not checked in, please give them another nudge by PM, because we want to make sure everyone is settled in before we start.
(GM Khaoz, GM Bret, and GM Abraham, I can't find your campaigns)
I had to double-check but it looks like all of my players have dotted in and/or responded and confirmed their awareness of the campaign page so my table is full and should be good to go. As always, I'll send out PMs about a week before we start to remind folks of the start date and such since I know campaigns sometimes get weird about not showing new posts...
Done - sorry for the delay - holiday hecticness.
GM Bret, I can't find your campaigns)
I have not had a chance to create it yet. I will create it by Thursday.
I have been very busy with some personal things that should clear up over this weekend.
I also plan to set aside some time over the next few days to fill in whatever's left to do for the text prep.
My players have all checked in. The day approaches!
I've had 5/6 players dot and have sent the 6th a second reminder. :)
I've got to take a moment to go looking for a game I was probably mustered to, myself, so I can totally understand things getting crazy!
Uh oh, Hiyami is using the same icon as me. I'll have to go change my GM avatar again. XD
Ahahahahaaaa, I actually did notice that we had the same icon! It got a bit confusing for a while. @___@
esp. because "Elinnea" is almost an anagram of my name!
Also, my sixth member showed up! :D
One week left, everyone!
A few things I want to note:
-The links for reporting and seeing progress are at the top, in the campaign description. The progress sheet also has approximate dates. One thing that is unusual about this special is that it gives the overseer quite a bit of leeway to call a success early or late to make the timing work.
-There is one part of the adventure I'm still puzzling as to exactly how we will convert to PbP, the 'puzzle' where only one player can touch the pieces, even though everyone can offer suggestions. I'll let you know when we get closer how that is going to work.
All but one of my players have checked in. The straggler (Beat It Flat / Cernan) has not responded to multiple PMs and posts in Flaxseed. Time to bump and replace from waitlist? If so, should I do this, or is this something for a VL to handle?
We do have 5 players checked in, so it's no big deal if I run a 5 PC table, but I don't want someone on the waitlist to miss out.
p.s. It looks like there's only 1 person currently on the waitlist.
Send one more PM with a clearly stated deadline (probably 24 hours) to check in, or he will be replaced. Then you can go ahead and replace from the waiting list, or else recruit from Flaxseed. The limits on number of games per player hav NOT been lifted.
I have one player who hasn’t reported, Magabeus.
I have posted in Flaxseed and sent them two PMs.
Given the above, I will send one more PM giving a deadline. After that, do I remove their name from the spreadsheet before posting in Flaxseed for a replacement?
If a player does not respond to your PM with a deadline, then yes, remove them from the spreadsheet before looking for a replacement.
Thx. Sent a PM and one more Flaxseed recruitment post and will remove them from the spreadsheet if I don't hear from then in 24 hours.