Welcome to Outpost II's multi-table special.
Here is the place for all discussion.
Yes, you can play once each of A, B, C, D. The only one currently open for play is D.
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Cool stuffing. To verify I haven't done this one before, is this...
Solstice Scar version D – The story so far
The Pathfinder Society received a call for help from the Blakros Museum, where intruders tripped the many defences and barricaded themselves inside the building. Upon overcoming these safeguards, they encountered Medda and her Twinhorn warriors. Medda was willing to discuss the Kellids’ reason for attacking. Valsin was angered to learn that museum agents resorted to theft to gain relics and promised Medda that Pathfinders would accompany them back to the Tusk Mountains to return the hilt.
The Pathfinders secured passage for their convoy through the Hold of Belkzen and fought off renegade tribes’ raiders.
However, they arrived at the Twinhorn encampment too late; Eshimka’s forces had begun flooding through a portal at the standing stones. The Pathfinders needed to fight back the undead and close the rift. Once sealed, they learned that the attack left an extraplanar scar. Expecting an even greater invasion the next solstice, the Pathfinders must prepare to defeat Eshimka and end the threat forever.
The Society members followed in the footsteps of the paladin Ivvora, seeking the place where she died battling a powerful white dragon. There, Medda hoped to commune with Ivvora in the afterlife, learning how to reforge the broken dagger or create a new weapon to destroy Eshimka. In the process, those present had to fight the new generations of white dragons and their kobold servitors who inhabited the area.
Now preparations are being made to travel to an ancient battlefield where Ivvora and her comrades fought against an overwhelming undead force.
I will post something in the near future to gather the information I need. Thank you for asking.
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Welcome, all.
I believe we now have a full table.
Feel free to use this discussion thread to introduce players and characters, plan equipment and spells and possibly tactics before we begin the story.
I ask that you all have clear botting instructions before we begin to play and that your character sheets and headers are up to date.
I will also be asking for your standard marching order both single file and two abreast. If you want to consider other formations, that can't hurt either.
Deciding any Standard Operating Procedures such as for doors, or entering new areas, may help keep the game moving.
With a multi-table special, more than ever it is important to keep our group to a good pace. You will need to be ready to post at least once a day during the week and at least once on weekends. More than that is better and I will endeavour to keep a faster pace if the table indicates it is able and willing.
If you know you will need a brief break, or even that you will be entering a period that your usual play may slow down, please indicate that here so we can all be prepared. Similarly, I will be notifying our backup GMs if I may need them so as not to be the one who slows us down. Life does happen though and is more important than the game. My intent is to bot, or have another player bot, anyone who has not posted in 24 hours, or sooner if a shorter timeframe is established and agreed upon.
Also, to keep things moving, I will generally use the rule of 2. That is, for most in-game decisions, such as where to proceed next, once there are two party members in agreement we will proceed. If a decision has a more significant impact or seems to warrant more discussion than I will wait to hear from everyone if possible. I will make group initiative rolls and some group perception or other relevant rolls, also with the aim to avoid delays.
If you believe I have made an error, or another player has made an error, please approach this in a friendly and supportive manner here. I understand I am fallible, we all are. My goal is to facilitate fun play and story building while staying within our agreed upon ruleset.
If your character is built around shenanigans or has special abilities, etc, please use this pregame discussion time to let us all know. Shenanigans can be fun but having the game grind to a halt while we discuss them and agree on what really happened is not.
If at any point something makes you uncomfortable or concerns you, please let me know either here or by PM.
I look forward to playing with you all as we and the other Pathfinders rally to defeat the evil and make Golarion a safer place, forging heroes on the way.
On a quick glance, this looks fine. I'll try to take a closer look sometime in the next few days.
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Volsung is a bit of an experiment in a number of different ways. It’s my first swashbuckler and also my first occult/psychic magic character. In terms of RP, Volsung is also my first nonbinary character, being modeled after the gnome in
So, Volsung was created in part as an opportunity to learn some new class mechanics and new approaches to RP. That being said, I think Volsung is a very neat character all on their own. I particularly like their backstory, even if it is a little over the top. Their Rapier of Iridescent Bubbles comes from me GMing
In terms of “shenanigans,” I think the trickiest part of Volsung when doing PBP is all their immediate action and similar opportunities that can take place during an opponent’s attack. These include:
1) Swashbuckler parry and riposte – They can parry 4 times per turn (spending 1 AOO and 1 panache each time) and riposte once as an immediate action
2) Dodge – can be done any time any enemy attacks by spending 1 panache
3) Burst of Adrenaline – immediate action spell to gain a +4 on a Str, Dex, or Con based d20 roll, such a Fort or Reflex save or parry attempt (however, I couldn’t use this for a riposte as a riposte is also an immediate action) and fatigued for the following round.
4) Mesmeric Mirror mesmerist trick – can be triggered “when the subject is attacked or becomes target of a spell that requies an attack roll,” creating one mirror image illusory image
Note that starting the use of the mesmerist ability Hypnotic Stare on an opponent is a swift action, so if I use an immediate action for one of the above, I need to remember that counts as my swift action for the turn.
In terms of how this will work in PBP, I don’t think it will be possible to provide an exact and complete sense of trigger condtions for these immediate actions, but I will try to log in and check the action of the game during combat as often as is possible. If there are potentially obvious trigger conditions such as an enemy that I know I want to parry, I will specify that in advance. I’d appreciate any and all suggestions from the rest of you, who all probably have more PBP experience than me.
As a mesmerist, Volsung is obviously weaker against opponents that are mindless or immune to mind-affecting effects, though Volsung did just get Psychic Inception so they’re not totally powerless against such enemies. I think I’ll have the best Diplomacy, +11, in the party, so I can act as our “face.” I spent 2 Prestige to get a Wand of Burst of Insight which Volsung will generally try and use whenever possible to get a +4 bonus for out-of-combat Int, Wis, or Chr-based d20 rolls. I don’t see using this in combat because a) it’s a wand and b) being dazed in the middle of combat is bad.
We look like a very melee heavy group, and in this context, Volsung will probably be as valuable for their spell casting and very, very limited healing ability (mesmerist ability Touch Treatment and UMD +8 Wand of CLW) as they would be for melee. I suspect we’ll want Makon and Angie to be up front in terms of our march order. I’m fine with Volsung bringing up the rear because they have a good initiative and combat reflexes so they’re least likely to be hurt by a surprise attack from that direction.
Lastly, I have been playing around with the various Occult Skill Unlocks, in particular Automatic Writing, Hypnotism, Prognastication, Psychometry (after identifying a possible target using detect pyschic significance, and Read Aura. However, these are mainly for fun and laughs rather than having any major mechanical effect or advantage.
That’s it for now. I’ll probably think of more down the road, and I’d be happy to answer any questions about Volsung and how they’ll fit into our party.
The game will begin within hours. Please start to introduce yourselves in the gameplay thread.
I apologise that I have started the pregame a little late. I will soon provide a link to the slides.
Also, I ask again that you each have botting instructions clearly available.
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This character has an example of basic botting instructions.
In the combat section, I have deliberately left the additional instructions from a recently completed MTS where a different weapon was provided.
Botting instructions are handy, not only for when you are not available, they can save a lot of time for the player too. It is easy to copy and paste from your own botting instructions making modifications as needed.
That looks like a great start Volsung. I usually start with something small and basic then add to it as I find things that I wish to consider in character, particularly anything I do multiple times. As I said, it makes my life easier as a player if I have most things ready to copy and paste.
I have sent PMs to the three who have not yet started play. A previous PM to PJP (Leepo) has gone unanswered and they have not yet dotted into this game. Hopefully, the other two at least will make an appearance shortly.
If any of you know the players, please check in with them to make sure all is ok.
Please work out your default marching order for outdoor terrain.
There will be occasions that you can present two abreast and others that require single file.
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It looks like there are five of us - Angie, Covadil, Khana, Makon, and Volsung, correct?
May I suggest the following.
Two abreast:
Angie & Makon
Covadil & Khana
Volsung
Single file:
Angie
Makon
Covadil
Khana
Volsung
I'd be fine with Volsung being up front if folks think that would be a better approach. However, since Volsung has combat reflexes and parry, I think it makes sense for them to be watching/bringing up the rear.
Tofang, I have put out a final call for our missing player and there is a level three fighter on the waitlist I just gave a head's up to.
Please put yourself on the waitlist so either I or one of the other GMs will know to contact you if a spot is available.
Khana, would you please be kind enough to fill in a tag line with basic stats. If you look above to where I posted as Taniian, you can use him as a model or use this template. It helps me as a GM, it also makes it easier for your party members to know if you need healing or other assistance (if you keep it up to date).
Botting Instructions
I just had a PM from someone asking what botting instructions are. I thought I would share my response here as it had not occurred to me that they were not standard practice in most games.
What are botting instructions?
Basic instructions to allow the GM or another player to take action for you if you are absent when the game needs to move on (such as in combat or for saving throws).
For more detailed information please check out Bot Buddy’s Guide to Play-by-Post Character Botting
Taniian is one of my characters with some basic botting instructions. In fact, the character sheet currently reflects extra botting instructions added during the last game as a different weapon was provided.
Botting instructions are not only sometimes needed to keep a game moving on time (particularly important for multi-table specials) but can save a player a lot of time as they have somewhere with their most common actions ready just to copy and paste (modify as needed at the time).
I guess my introduction to PbP was such that I have played at tables where botting instructions were expected. I thought it the norm. I have certainly adopted it as a standard for games I run.
OK Tofang, let's catch you up with the party.
Please provide one of Acrobatics, Climb, Handle Animal, Knowledge (nature), or Survival. Alternatively, you can attempt a slightly easier wild empathy check. Anyone with the woodland stride class feature (or a similar ability) receives a +4 bonus on any of these checks.
Just in case, I also request a Reflex save or a more difficult Fortitude save.
Everything is low light so let me know your light source and/or special senses.
Finally, I need an initiative roll.
I notice you have some active conditions listed in your tagline, where do these come from or are they just not updated from a previous game?
When you have a chance, read through the discussion and gameplay to inform yourself of what's gone before and the story associated with those rolls.
Welcome to the party. :-)
Sorry, I missed your question, which is why I asked mine. How long do the extracts work? You may certainly have used them this time.
That perception check would have made a difference to how close the Dire Wolves were when seen but as you were not with the group when they arrived in the clearing, perhaps it explains why you hurry in to help.
I'll add you into gameplay ASAP.
Did Volsung make their readied action against the Blue wolf? If not, I'll roll it here. If they did, please ignore it.
Yep, I had made a note to do it and thought how it would affect play order and then in the mess and chaos of yesterday I missed it. My apologies. The posting was also complicated by the way the system handles the order of rolls, which is why your parry ended up under the GM screen so it was applied as initially rolled.
I have held applying your round two actions until the appropriate time.
Your reflex roll was more than sufficient however I am not counting squares with less than half coverage for the purposes of the hazard.
Volsung - question on Hypnotic Stare - are you able to automatically maintain that? As GM it would be great to know if it is maintained or dropped.
Everyone -My apologies for the initially incorrect token size for the Dire Wolves. You should probably be aware that this is my second time as PbP GM so I am still learning the tricks to keep things running smoothly. Please do offer corrections when appropriate. I believe games are a team effort to enjoy the best story the dice and scenarios allow. I am prepping ahead of time as much as I can to ensure fewer errors but I am sure they will still occur.
For readied actions - go ahead and place the action under a spoiler so that I can apply it as needed. This can also be done for things like Parry, cleave or other actions that are conditional.
I also really appreciate when damage type is spelled out such as magic/piercing damage. It makes it easier to apply correctly and leads to a smoother game.
It is important that we try to keep pace with the other tables and the goal is at least one full round completed per day during encounters. I will do my best to provide sufficient structure to assist in that goal.
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Volsung - question on Hypnotic Stare - are you able to automatically maintain that? As GM it would be great to know if it is maintained or dropped.
It can be maintained as a free action. It's a swift action to start or change the target. I will note whether I am maintaining it in future posts.
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An alchemist can utilize spell-trigger items if the spell appears on his formulae list, but not spell-completion items (unless he uses Use Magic Device to do so).
So Tofang can use a clw wand.
Cool, I did not know that, having never played an alchemist. Next time, I'll ask you for help rather than rolling UMD check after UMD check.
Tofang, I double checked with the other GMs and Overseer before responding to your request for an hour break. Unfortunately, the nature of this portion of the story does not allow for it.
Rule of two applied and the test of speed has begun.
If we complete this test quickly enough there may be time to try the test of might as well before the game moves into the next section. Completing both successfully counts as a success. There is no pressure or obligation to try for both, however.
Volsung, no flying was specified in the instructions given by the fey.
Keep thinking creatively, though.
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Volsung, no flying was specified in the instructions given by the fey.
Keep thinking creatively, though.
Cheating isn't thinking creatively? :)
Volsung doesn't have the necessary knowledges, but I can use the Wand of Burst of Insight on anyone who wants to try one or more of the knowledge rolls. I think it would be best to get all of the knowledge checks done first before attempting anything physical.
Mechanically, not everyone has to pass, though each character needs to try. Using the wand to aid knowledge checks is definitely allowed.
As a benchmark, Tofang currently succeeded in all his checks. (Only just for one of them.)