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Welcome to my PbP game for the three-parter Gallows of Madness. Hope you would have a blast!
Before we start, I would to share some of my ground rules. (In spoiler tag 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 weekday, and at least once over the weekend. 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 everyone else. Thus, a good idea is to leave botting instructions for combat (with dice rolls) and non-combat in your profile page beforehand. However, I also must admit the next few months I would see some disruptions and might need to pause or slow down the game occasionally. I’ll definitely inform beforehand though.
3. If you have any disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the rules, please take it to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this module before, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know (if you have not done so in the sign-up sheet).
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 google slides, you might want to reconsider playing via PbP, especially for PFS as there is always combat, and thus map dependent.
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. (Game mechanics-wise, it is effectively people delaying for each other.) However, if you want your action to take place after another character’s, just indicate accordingly. Also to speed up posting rate, I group the enemies’ initiative block together.
Rolls and Skill Checks
7. I would do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any).
8. 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 knowledge checks. As for knowledge checks for monster lore, I would put the most basic information in spoiler as well, i.e. identity and one important info. If your roll would reveal more, I’ll provide in the next post what I feel is most relevant for your character. If you wish, you can ask for what information you want.
9. 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 assisting. (And take note of the pros and cons of either. For example, a poor diplomacy aid roll has no ill effect, but a poor diplomacy roll would worsen attitudes.) There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to assist) – I’ll state so explicitly if that’s the case.
10. 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
11. 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.)
12. 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. Minimally please have your current hp vs max hp, AC (normal, touch and flat-footed), all three saves and movement. Feel free to include others. If you have read up to here, include the name of a comic superhero surreptitiously in your muster post.
13. 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 dot.
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.)
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. We’ll leave character descriptions and introductions to the gameplay thread later when we are about to start.
D. If you've not decided what character to play, you can discuss it here, too.
I’ll start as soon as everyone is mustererd.
Fantastic!
Hey all! Looking forward to this. That said - I don't have a specific character in mind, and am happy to build whatever the group is lacking. If most of the bases are covered, I am probably most inclined to build a cleric or an oracle.
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Yeah, Krennel, I'm fine with that. I figured that with this module out for so long, many people would have played it already.
One person hasn't checked in yet. I'll send a pm in case they don't check Flaxseed regularly.
So far, we have
- alchemist
- druid (melee or ranged)
- druid or bloodrager
By the way, if you have not done so, please look through the guidelines I've spoilered above. Yes it's quite long. :P Not that I rule with an iron fist but would like to put my expectations upfront. Thanks!
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I'll hold off on making my decision until everyone else checks in.
Seems like we are missing anything arcane. I suppose I could always roll a sorc or wizard instead of the BR. I am not a huge "party balance" guy, but it seems silly to be unbalanced when one of the reasonable options on the table is creating an XP zero character.
Yea, I can do an arcane caster too. I just recently started a Wizard, so I'd probably make a Magus. But if RxGus is willing to jump into the arcane, it seems like the divine casters kind of want to do non-healy things, so I think a Cleric would be warranted.
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Alright!
I’ll do something Arcane- considering either an arcanist or witch since I have never played either class. I’ll have something concrete by tomorrow evening?
Our f2f group is meeting right after work today and we are trying to squeeze in a long session- so character creation may be a little limited for me tonight.
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Great! So looks like we have a
1. Yen Wu: Vishkanya Swashbuckler
2. Rithon: Elven Exploiting Wizard
3. GAB!: Oozemorph Shifter
4. Krennel Halfstool: Half-Orc Alchemist
5. Kebro: Half-Elf Desert Druid
So once Yodadragon has decided, we can be off. Anyway, don't worry too much about divine caster. There we have a wand of CLW and a druid, so whatever strikes your fancy.
And looks like only one person read my Guidelines in detail? :) *wink wink at RxGus*
I still think I'll go with a cleric... dont have a pure divine caster in PFS yet. I'll get him made up today and check in later today.
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Alright first post is up. Not quite a usual post if this is your first module. But you'll get the chance to do the usual questions. For now, just introduce your characters.
Separately, just curious how many caught the sneaky line about superheroes? I spotted RxGus' not so subtle reference to Elastagirl but you might have been so surreptitious that I missed the rest. :) And did you catch mine?
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Rithon, I still need your character details in the forms and handouts slide.
Rel, think you're still doing up your character sheet. Let me know once it's ready and also to update the stats line.
Also, everyone, let me know your preferred marching order position, from 1-6, assuming 1 is the front.
Thanks!
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Sorry guys but the first disruption. I would be on vacation from tomorrow for a week until next Sunday. My posting is likely to be intermittent, so best if I just put the game on pause.
You have found out what you can from Drummandy also, so can decide where else to go next.
I've created a blank page on the maps and handouts in case you want to actually take notes.