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Welcome to my PbP game for SFS 1-22 The Protectorate Petition. Hope you would have a blast!
Before we start, I would to share some of my ground rules. (In spoiler tags to not take up space.)
PbP Matters
1. This discussion thread is open for all OOC matters, so no ooc tag needed. For OOC matters in the gameplay thread, please use the [ ooc ] tag.
2. Please post at least once a day. If you would be away, please let me know in advance where possible, and we can work something out. Otherwise, if you go missing, where necessary, I will bot your characters for the sake of the rest of everyone else. Thus, it is a good idea is to leave botting instructions for normal combat (with dice rolls), space combat and non-combat in your profile page beforehand.
3. If you have any disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the scenario, please take it to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this scenario before, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know.
5. I would have thought this would go without mentioning until I encountered this, so… It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of the game, including referencing the map on google slides. I understand that there are times where it is inconvenient to do so. In that case, please be as specific as you can as to where you wish your character to move, what actions to take, etc. If you regularly have issues with accessing the google slides, you might want to reconsider playing via PbP PFS/SFS, as there is always combat, and thus map dependent.
Normal Combat
6. Once surprise (if any) and initiative is determined, for the group of characters who can take actions, I would resolve actions in posting order, NOT initiative order. I used to do the latter but it doesn’t work that well in PbP, so am going with the former instead.
Space Combat
7. (There’s no space combat for this scenario but leaving this here for your reference in case you play with me again elsewhere.) I run space combat somewhat differently from the RAW to facilitate posting rate. I’ll roll the initiative at the start for all ships based on the respective piloting checks. Then, once it reaches your ship’s turn, everyone will post but I will resolve the actions in the Engineering – Helm – Gunnery phase order. As such, while you can declare your actions in the open, please have your dice rolls in spoilers. The one exception are the gunners. Gunnery phase might need to wait for all the ship movements to finalise to determine which weapons are available for firing. So Gunners might want to hold your posting until then or set up a series of contingency actions depending on the final facing and positioning.
Character Choice
8. (Again, the following not really an issue here since no space combat.) In PFS, I’ve pretty much left the players to sort out what characters to play because only in very rare scenarios do an unoptimized party spread have a significantly adverse effect. And players do generally sort it out among themselves. However, due to the nature of space combat, it is beneficial that there are characters who can cover each of the following: (1) charisma-skills, (2) piloting, (3) engineering, (4) computer, and (5) BAB/piloting rank + dex. Of course, it is not detrimental to be lacking in one or other, but if there are 6 mystics, then we might have a problem.
Rolls and Skill Checks
9. I would do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any).
10. On knowledge checks for general information, I would usually put them in spoilers with the necessary DCs. Just go ahead to roll, and I'll trust that you would resist reading them if the roll fails (or least not to metagame). (Don’t forget that you can make knowledge checks untrained for DC10.) There might be exceptions for plot-critical information though, where I would explicitly ask for checks and only reveal based on what was rolled. As for knowledge checks to identify creatures, I would put the most basic information in spoilers as well, i.e. identity and creature type, as well as one piece of useful information. If your roll would reveal more, I’ll provide in the next post. If you wish, you can ask for what information you want, e.g. DR, resistances, special attacks, etc.
11. On skill checks where there could be team effort involved, e.g. finding a hidden trail with survival, influencing attitude of NPCs with diplomacy, please be explicit when making the rolls whether you are attempting the check on your own, or whether you are aiding. (And take note of the pros and cons of either.) There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to aid) – I’ll state so explicitly if that’s the case.
12. On skill checks in general, if I feel you have roleplayed well, e.g. gave a good description of what your character does to search for a trail, came up with creative ways to befriend a hostile NPC, gave a very rousing speech, I would give bonuses, or even waive the DC altogether. :)
Roleplaying Matters
13. The maps and handouts link (at the top of the page) would display all the maps, handouts, pictures, etc as the scenario progresses. The most current page would be right on top, while previous ones would be left there for your reference. (Incidentally, Android and IOS has the Google Slides app in case you work off mobile devices.)
14. Please have your full character information up on your character's profile page for my vetting. Also, please have your stat block updated with the key information. I’m most inclined towards this particular template.
15. Finally, playing by pbp provides many advantages compared to face-to-face games, the chief one being having the time and space to flesh out your thoughts and actions. So please make use of this and have posts that are more than simply dice rolls. :)
Getting Started
Ok with that out of the way, a few tasks before we kick off.
A. Go to the Gameplay page and ninja dot, i.e. submit a post then delete it.
B. Go to the maps and handouts page and fill out the table there. (Don’t worry about the 3 boxes below the table, i.e. token, initiative and perception. I’ll take care of that.) For those coming from the previous game, I’ve ported some of your data over. Please update the rest.
C. In this Discussion thread, do your day job rolls (if any), and share whatever OOC information you would like the rest of the party to know about your character e.g. class, level, special abilities. If you have not decided what class to play, you can discuss that here as well. We’ll leave character descriptions and introductions to the gameplay thread later when we are about to start.
Fantastic!
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Thanks again for taking over the game, kuey. I'm looking forward to this. People on the boards seem to really like your games.
A complete.
B Complete
C No saleable skills.
First level bodyguard soldier. Burn's hired muscle, pure and simple. He's not much use other than standing with a big gun between the rest of you and trouble.
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@Smek, I'm sorry but if you have played in the Protectorate Petition even with another character, you can't play in it again. By default, each scenario can only be played once per player (not character), unless they are repeatable, e.g. The Commencement, in which case, you can play them once per character. Hope to play with you in another game soon though. I like your past postings.
@Everyone else, I'll offer the place to another applicant.
It's all good.
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Great! Let's get started!
Ok, would also like to sort out your default marching order. Most times, you be placed in files of 2s, but occasionally in single file or more spread out depending on the terrain. But you can take it that the higher you are, the more likely you'll be near the front and vice versa. The following is my proposal. Let me know if you wish to change.
1. Chk'tarlsh
2. Burnham
3. Ivan
4. Zez'ka
5. Savoy
6. Archaius
Look at it this way. If we have to retreat, you'll be point man, er-- point-Ryphorian.
Kuey added a handout with brief profile of Tabrid planetary info.
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Exo-guardian's Champion is the only boon Burn's got. So that's easy.
Kuey, I want to do a little shopping. I had 50 units left from character creation, plus 735 from Burn's first Chronicle. So 785. I'd like to sell my ceremonial plate (110 --> 11 units) gets me to 796 and buy a set of iridishell, 755. And a consumer backpack, 3. I tihnk that leaves me 38 units.
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Oh yeah, boons! I got a few.
Ally: -
Faction: Exo-Guardians Champion
Personal: - Dwarf Admittance
Promotional: -
Social: AbadarCorp Augmentations (Limited Use)
Starship: Hero of the Stars (Limited Use)
Slotless: Marked Field Agent, Starfinder Insignia
FYI, I have two Dwarf Admittance boons, on different characters. The first one doesn't matter now that they're open for play, but the second gave Ivan a +2 Intelligence.
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Hey everyone,
Not sure if any of you are interested in Kickstarters, but my brother's gaming company just launched a Kickstarter today for a fun new gaming book that's Pathfinder 1st edition compatible! He's been published in some Pathfinder books before and written some PFS modules, so you might already be familiar with some of his work. I had the chance to do a lot of freelance work for the new book, which is really exciting. It's gonna be great! If any of you are interested you can head on over to the Kickstarter and help make this project a success!
Seems to me that if he's grappled, the monster is extending part of itself into his square, so there must be something within Ivan's reach to attack. If I was running a home game, I'd make something up to let him attack the claw, but SFS ties your hands. Hardly a useful comment.
Unfortauntely I agree with your interpretatoin of RAW. If he can't attack because he's still 10' away, then, yeah, all he can do is try to get away or gain control of the grapple. If he can grapple successfully, it would be a nice debuff that we could take advantage of.
I observe that nothing says that Roll-4 can't advance and attack as normal.
Edit: I see nothing prohibiting a ranged attack or spell or special ability.
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I read it the same way.
The can't attack the limb that's holding you seems odd, but that's how it works in the rules
Also..it says you can't move..not you can't be moved. So I think that if we could reposition Ivan outside the creatures reach we could in theorie break him loose. Which would be against Ivan's KAC instead of the creatures so should be easier to manage. Which seems odd...since we would be trying to knock him out of the creatures grasp, but does seem to be how it works. Unless the creature counts as an obstacle for purpose of bull rush and reposition combat maneuvers
Also....what happens if we move the creature?. I think it would leave Ivan behind.
The spell or ranged attack should also work, but I think those will provoke so maybe that's not the wisest move to make since you'd clearly be within the creature reach while you are grappled.
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Looks as if that's true, makes sense, I suppose. Even back in 1E you needed feats to do that sort of thing. I don't feel confident in my ability to reverse the grapple, though. So we'll see how it goes.
If you were trying to move me, I do have a +4 against such things. My ranged attacks aren't so good and special abilities here aren't very useful.
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I hate to say it, but I read it the same way. And as Burn and Savoy mention, the rules don't allow attacking the grappling limb (although from memory there is a feat that allows this?).
Savoy, you have present some interesting ideas about repositioning the grappler/grapplee that I hadn't considered.
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I hate to say it, but I read it the same way. And as Burn and Savoy mention, the rules don't allow attacking the grappling limb (although from memory there is a feat that allows this?).
Yes, strike back. So it would seem that by default you cannot strike a limb from a creature out of your reach, even if it could reach you.
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Ok guys, I'm be going for a short vacation from Fri to Sun, and would likely only be able to check my games intermittently. So I think it's best if we pause until I'm back. Meanwhile, you could get ready for the next room... :)
Oh yes, the other special abilities of the crab. It has actually has solarion's graviton abilities. Once Ivan went down, it was going to use black hole to draw as many of you closer to it as possible. But you guys went right up to it! And it also has this cool ability to paralyze you at a distance, in case any of you tried to flee I guess! :)
ENjoy that vacation, Kuey! See you on the flip side.
I know Burn brought up hiding the magic from the copaxi, but a couple factors have reduced the need in his eyes.
First, the first rule is stay alive. We needed Archaius' firepower against the undead.
Second, the cat's out of the bag.
Third, Burn's a lot less paranoid now. The copaxi government may have organized a lie about the ancient mages, but Therseis and company seem OK, harmless even.
Fourth, a little good magic might start changing copaxi minds, and if they're a going to be a protectorate, they better get used to it.
Fifth, if the copaxi turn on us, Burn's pretty sure he can mash them into a gritty smear. And he'll do it before they hurt either of our casters.
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Zez'ka cracks me up.