First off, thank you all for being willing to come on an adventure with me! Now, to business.
- I will post every day. I hope everyone can post every weekday and at least once over the weekend, but stuff happens - which leads me to:
- I will bot you if we haven't heard from you in 24 hours. Please include botting instructions in your character profile, or I will have to get creative in the most entertaining (for me) way possible. Please also let me know if you are expecting an extended period of absence so I can PM you and preemptively hash out major decision points to keep the story moving. On a related note:
- I will make "reactive" rolls to keep the story moving along. If you want to make a roll as part of an action/decision/etc, please do so. I might modify the skill used or add circumstantial bonuses/penalties based on circumstances. Which brings me to my final point:
- I will happily add circumstantial bonuses (or penalties) for roleplaying. I hope, for example, that you will accompany your diplomacy check with what your character is actually saying. It makes it so much easier for me to respond if you give me material, and we make such a more fulfilling and exciting story together.
If you're worried or concerned about something, post it here or PM me. We can figure something out so you have a good time.
In addition to making “reactive” rolls for characters, I also like to roll Knowledge checks for players so I can tailor what a character might remember about a creature. If this will be a problem for you, let me know (either here or via PM) and we’ll work something out.
We’ll be using block initiative during encounters. Actions will be resolved in the order that they were posted in. While this can do some weird things with a single character acting "twice" before another, it is easier for both players and GM to track the sequence of events this way. I highly encourage tactics such as:
McSwordFace waits until her friend Blessings Galore has a chance to cast a buff before she attacks the horrible people kicking puppies.
This helps us work effectively as a team even if posting schedules don’t line up in a beneficial way.
I've found it incredibly helpful to have a Google Hangouts or Discord channel during games as part of an online convention with a hard completion date. I can use the channel to alert players to posts, and players can ask quick questions without having to delay their posts while waiting for an answer. Which program would you prefer to use?
If your post is entirely out of character , let’s put it here instead of in the Gameplay thread.
About Me: I’ve done a bit of PFS and PbP GMing, but I am certainly not perfect. If you have ideas for how I could do something better, a disagreement with a decision, or confusion over what I’m saying, please let me know via the Discussion thread or PM.
For your first post here, please use the Reply option on the following post and fill in the provided fields.
Player Name:
Character Name:
PFS Number:
Faction:
Slow Tracking? (Y/N):
Day Job (please roll now):
Special Notes/Abilities:
Yay, I’m looking forward to this game! Do we expect to go low tier or high tier?
Nobody had a character lower than lvl 5 on the signup spreadsheet, so I would assume high tier. Of course, we can always change that if folks want.
|
Player Name: Pirate Rob
Character Name: Kronug, the Raven
PFS Number: 757-43
Faction: Dark Archive
Slow Tracking? (Y/N): No
Day Job (please roll now): N/A
Special Notes/Abilities: Kronug has a giant vulture animal companion. Kronug also has an extremely high perception, breakdown below.
|
Player Name: Mage of the Wyrmkin
Character Name: Xilt Sphinx
PFS Number: 115226-7
Faction: The Exchange
Slow Tracking? (Y/N): N
Day Job (please roll now): Minimum 50 gold(Exchange).
Special Notes/Abilities: Xilt is a Lord of the Tullian Family.
While he does not discuss it he is quite proud of his adoption into this noble family.
Sammy who is Xilt's imaginary familiar (Figment,Sage) will be accompanying him on this adventure. He can understand and read Taldane.
I am very excited to play with you all. Now to try to answer your questions and to ask some of my own.
1. I do not have any experience with either Discord or Google Hangouts. I would prefer text over voice if possible.
2. Does block initiative mean that your initiative bonus is not relevant in this game at all? If this is the case would it possible to have contingent actions prepared that would trigger in actual initiative order. This is especially important for the first round of combat for control/buffing purposes.
1. I do not have any experience with either Discord or Google Hangouts. I would prefer text over voice if possible.
Oh goodness, me too. Given how many time zones these games can cover, it would be a nightmare trying to find a time everyone was online at the same time. In PbP, I communicate exclusively by text.
2. Does block initiative mean that your initiative bonus is not relevant in this game at all? If this is the case would it possible to have contingent actions prepared that would trigger in actual initiative order. This is especially important for the first round of combat for control/buffing purposes.
A character's initiative bonus is still important, but I love the idea of contingent or "held" actions (see my first post for an example). In practice, how I implement block initiative will look something like this:
Initiative:
Round 1! Bold may act!
Pathfinder 2
Pathfinder 3
Pathfinder 1
Big Bad Boss
Pathfinder 4
Minion 1
Minion 2
Minion 3
Pathfinder 5
Once Pathfinders 2, 3, and 1 have posted their actions, they are resolved in the order posted. This helps keep the retconning to a minimum, which helps keep the game moving. (And since pacing can kill a PbP game, I want to keep things moving as consistently as possible.)
After the Big Bad Boss takes her turn, the initiative tracker will look like this:
Round 1! Bold may act!
Pathfinder 2
Pathfinder 3
Pathfinder 1
Big Bad Boss
Pathfinder 4
Minion 1
Minion 2
Minion 3
Pathfinder 5
This is where the Hangouts/Discord channel can come in handy - if Pathfinder 4's player isn't checking the forums regularly, the game might have to wait up to 24 hours before continuing.
Then, once the minions have taken their turns, the initiative tracker will look like this:
Round 1, 2! Bold may act!
Pathfinder 2
Pathfinder 3 (-15)
Pathfinder 1
Big Bad Boss (Dazed 1/1)
Pathfinder 4
Minion 1
Minion 2
Minion 3
Pathfinder 5
Does that make sense? I'm always open to suggestions for improving.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hi everyone! I just need to update poor Dolph to his current level (6.33). Sadly, he doesn’t come across as well in pbp since I cant do the voice, but I at least know Kate will be able to hear it when she reads my posts.
Player Name: Evie T.
Character Name: Dolph, Son of a Shepherd
PFS Number: 99807-10
Faction:The Exchange
Slow Tracking? (Y/N):N
Day Job (please roll now):
Special Notes/Abilities:
Dolph has the divine hunter archetype, which means his animal companion—Victor—has the celestial template and he has the growth domain for swift action enlarge. As he gets to add the spells of growth domain to his hunter list and he has share spells, he can use enlarge person on Victor. Dolph uses a dorn-dergar (the weapon of his ancestors!), which he defaults to the reach setting. He always power attacks yadda yadda yadda
|
|
I can see how your block initiative will work now and considering the format I approve. A few more questions for you.
1. When will animal companions or familiars act in the turn order?
2. Are our characters actually resting overnight in game or is the tavern merely a roleplaying mechanism? I ask as I generally like to long term buff before going to bed for extra magical goodness in the morning. Also will we be able to purchase spell casting services the following day as we are in a town?
|
Player Name: Zin Z'arin (Rob Riemersma)
Character Name: Robyyn
PFS Number: 192785-5
Faction: Scarab Sages
Slow Tracking? (Y/N): N
Day Job (please roll now):
Special Notes/Abilities: Robyyn (via a Chronicle boon) has the Gravewalker archetype; he's a burgeoning necromancer. This is my first scenario with him after a rebuild to gain this archetype, so I'm not quite sure how it will work either. Please review his profile for the details of this archetype and what it allows him to do. We'll figure this out together, but expect him to raise some defeated enemies to use in later battles.
1. Familiars and Companions act on their master’s turn. Let’s not make this more complicated than it already is. ;-P
2. This is a roleplay mechanic - the scenarios haven’t dropped yet, so I don’t have more details beyond my fuzzy memories of playing it. That being said, Karr Maga is a large city and spellcasting services should be readily available. (Assuming you stay within the city...)
|
Player Name: Wydroe
Character Name: Orst Tilboar
PFS Number: 165069-7
Faction: Silver Crusade
Slow Tracking? (Y/N): N
Day Job (please roll now):
Special Notes/Abilities: Orst is a pretty plain ol' paladin. He is the 3rd son of a weapons master in Lastwell. He left to find his calling and to help the greater good. He is doomed to end up in the Worldwound or some other horrible place, but keeps getting distracted with pathfinder society missions.
He sadly has no animal companion. This aught to be interesting, sort of like visiting the zoo at feeding time.
He sadly has no animal companion.
Unacceptable Thank goodness - it's going to be crowded enough as is.
Also, I have some sad news: The start date for Gameday VIII has been pushed back two weeks to Sept. 9. The folks at Paizo are swamped with recovering from GenCon and rolling out 2nd Edition, and they haven't had time to get all 100+ scenarios out to the GMs for this convention. If this would cause you concern, please let me or the VA team know.
If you (the player) have played this scenario before, please let me know via spoiler or PM which storyline you played so I can try to avoid a repeat.
I'm not certain how to set up a Discord channel, but I know how to create a GoogleHangouts chat and link it to the top of the campaign page. Would that be acceptable for everyone? Alternatively, does someone want to teach us all about the wonders of Discord?
Alright, can folks give a holler here or in the Gameplay thread so I know everyone’s still ready and excited for the game? Thank you for your patience during the two week delay - gameplay will begin in earnest on Monday!
How wide are these corridors? It will matter for the Dewberry(who is a large creature) and for marching order.
Also will we be using maps or just a description for combat situations?
Map is coming once everyone enters the vault. You're still outside on the Halflight Path currently (which is wide enough for a large creature at its smallest.
Everyone watch out GM Hawthwile's dice are rolling hot!
A 20 and a 19 so far. :)
|
GM, I should have asked for a ruling on something earlier! The Core Rulebook is not terribly clear on animal companions getting reach as they get their size boost. The big snakes in Bestiary 2 have reach, so GMs I've played with have normally ruled Dewberry as having reach as a large constrictor snake. If you rule that more conservatively and say that she doesn't have reach, Lis won't call in Dewberry for this fight, since she can't get adjacent.
Sorry, I haven't played this character in a while and I forgot about the dreaded table variation!
Lis: You might want to remember that your constrictor snake can climb the walls if she wants to as she has a climb speed. Considering that the ceiling is 15 feet high you can fit her over the other characters.
Climbing the walls for your snake should be near automatic as she will be able to take 10 (even in combat) for a 29.
Dolph: Maybe you can have Victor 5' step (SE) next round so that Orst can get in there? He is much better in melee than through the party with his bow. Just a thought.
Since Xilt could move between those two squares, it would make sense that Victor could as well. But that's a bit beyond the reasoning of most sheep (even the celestial ones), so he'll need to be directed to do so.
Since Xilt could move between those two squares, it would make sense that Victor could as well. But that's a bit beyond the reasoning of most sheep (even the celestial ones), so he'll need to be directed to do so.
Would that be a move action Push action Handle Animal DC 25 (27 because Victor is wounded)? I do not know of any tricks that allow you to move a creature to a specific square.
Flank would make sense to me - nothing says the flanking has to happen immediately, and even an ooze has self-preservation instincts.
Orst, you can always move to the space Victor was intending to move to. It’ll likely provoke an attack of opportunity, but it would get you into melee range.
Also, Kronug - how are you casting adhesive spittle? It doesn’t appear to be on the occultist spell list, nor a Feather domain spell.
|
|
That's a really good question with I think an embarrassing answer.
I just spent the last 30 minutes crawling through HeroLab and my notes trying to find an answer. The short answer is I can't.
My guess is back when I was still finalizing the character in HL I had an archetype that gave access to it and never bothered to double check my level 1 spells after removing it
It's kinda hilarious I've been casting that since level 1 back in early 2017. Although I'm a little frustrated with myself for not double checking after spending years explaining to people the dangers of relying on HeroLab.
(HL doesn't pop an error for having it, but doesn't include it on the list of possibilities if I remove it)
I'll likely replace the spell with Barbed Chains.
Is it possible that the Dice Roller changes when you go back to edit a post? I remember my save originally being a 17 and being switched to an 18 on an edit. It is all good as both rolls are passes but has anyone else noticed this?
Of course when I experiment repeatedly here on this thread it works perfectly. It figures. ;)
@Kornug - Well, let's go ahead and swap that spell out now. Go ahead and post new actions. Shame - that's quite the handy spell.
@Mage of the Wyrmkin - I'm not sure, and I'm somewhat keeping myself ignorant of any possibility of manipulating the dice rolls. I'd hate to tempt myself into doing something so unscrupulous - wouldn't you?
@GM Hawthwile - Absolutely. Fear of death or failure is a large part of what makes the game fun in the first place. If you knew what would happen the game would be a lot less fun for everyone. It is also just wrong IMO. :)
@Robyyn- Good to hear.
@Orst - The monster was Dazed and could not take Attacks of Opportunity. You could have just moved through the party as a double move. :)
Guys start rolling better! :)
I thought we would be taking him down this round.