GM SpiderBeard's Fall of Plaguestone: Group Two (Inactive)

Game Master Barvo Delancy

Discussion thread for group two!

Hey, this is Nosh reporting in! I kinda assumed I wouldn’t get chosen so I haven’t made an alias or even completed a build yet so I will finish that up tomorrow and report in. I’ll have to look back over everyone else’s backgrounds and see what connections there might be as well!

Thanks for the opportunity!

I hope this wee goblin won't stir as we lay down next to him
Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

(bump crash!)

"Aw crikey - sorry there. Wait let's not wake anyone else up" (Whispering now)
"Eh mister goblin you got any idea where this thing heads to? Oh an by the way I'm Laurel and this 'er is me ma"

Hello group! Glad to be selected. I am brand new to Play by Post and going to try and figure it out as I go...

Annnd you just woke up the goblin.

I was kind of excited to have a goblin in the group since I want to test out some of the new parts of PF2. I'll pm the rest of the group so they know they're selected.

For now, work on characters, feel free to discuss rules and the like if you need to. I have an eye for starting on Monday but once everyone has checked in I will open the gameplay thread for free rp.

Also I can help with character creation and/or rules questions if folks need an assist

By the way, can I use Darthmarth28’s autosheet for my character? I can put all the quick access stuff in my profile header but I like the character sheets that do calculations for me.

On another note, GM, do you have a vision for how other races view goblins as a whole? I was kind of thinking, on average, people would be mildly distrustful with quite a few that hate them and a smaller group that were cautiously excepting. That being said, I’m ok with what ever you say and I don’t even know how much it will matter.

@Laurel Awesome! Many hands makes light work. I'll dig up some good links for you to read on how make PbP work.

@Ithe absolutely I'm a fan of his autosheets.

I agree with you on goblins. I see them as impoverished and mistreated with their advocates and haters. In Isger after the Goblinblood wars there are people who hold very ill will to goblins as a result of that, but you can still get around without being attacked.

Oh I found them. Doomed Hero. Always wondered how dice worked for PbP, but found out the "Preview" function has that covered. Let me know if you need anything from me in terms of character info. I always create my own shorthand for stuff - you can see it in the profile.

Here's a couple of great posts on how to thrive in PbP!

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2nr91?DHs-Guide-to-Play-By-Post-gaming#1

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qciy?Building-a-Better-Doomed-Hero-Painlords# 1

On what to put in your statblock, I'm going to check and see what folks are doing in other game sand get back to you. One thing I'd like to see from players is reactions so I'm aware of what everyone's reactions are all the time.

Also some useful online P2 resources.

Archives of Nethys have all the P2 rules here:
https://2e.aonprd.com/

This excellent android app lets you make a character in a snap: http://pathbuilder.x10host.com/

Here's an ability score calculator that let me know Osveta's build is a-ok: https://pathfinder2abilitycalculator.com/

Is Pathbuilder 2nd edition compliant?

Hi everyone, Zurkha here (the half-orc barbarian). I haven't yet made a profile for this guy but as I was saying to GM I suspect it won't be too hard; my basic plan is to just, as I put it to GM, "file the serial numbers" off Amiri, change her Instinct, and make the sword normal-sized.

Coming soon! Like tomorrow I hope!

Woo! And yes Pathbuilder does 2nd edition, I was playing with it earlier and it really makes putting a character together a breeze.

Woo! And yes Pathbuilder does 2nd edition, I was playing with it earlier and it really makes putting a character together a breeze.

OMG you weren't kidding! I just put it on my mobile and flew through statting out Zur. Profile to follow tomorrow, I'm fading fast here. :)

Got the basic stuff down, working on equipment and spells and feats.

Nosh was taken as an alias so I had to add the periods, also I'm always frustrated at the lack of decent options for Avatar. None of them seem to ever match my concept.

Man, I've wanted to try Pathbuilder but I work mainly off my iPhone so there goes that option...

On what to put in your statblock, I'm going to check and see what folks are doing in other game sand get back to you. One thing I'd like to see from players is reactions so I'm aware of what everyone's reactions are all the time.

I do know that attacks of opportunity are no longer automatically a thing, except for fighters. In that case, is it conceivable that one might not actually have a reaction to use at the outset?

hello all! checking in as Galen Taldane!

I do not have my character built yet, but will hopefully have time to finish that today. what is the deadline for finished characters/aliases?

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for selecting me for a group, I'm very excited to get to play some 2e. I'll be adding my stats to this alias as I find time today.

@Redblade8: It is very possible that some of us won't have reactions yet, yeah. I think at first level the big ones are AoO, champion strikes, and shield blocking.

Yeah reactions become more common as you go.

Hey Galen and Findlaine!

The deadline is end of day Sunday. If you fail to meet the deadline I'll have to uh, start the game later. But please have them done by Sunday :D

As everyone has checked in I'll start the free RP in gameplay shortly.
During the free RP time nothing of material consequence will happen, although events of storyline importance could happen if you will it so.

----

Here's what I'm looking for from your characters crunch-wise:

- A completed statblock formatted in whatever way you find easy to read.
- A copy of your background within your character profile so I can find it easily.
- Within the statblock a list of special actions and particularly reactions your character can take.

A tagline for your character formatted in this style. It makes things consistent and easy for me to read.

You can see what it looks like in action on this post from my character Hugo.

Are we doing Hero points or anything like it?

Also, I post a lot on my phone so keeping running tabs of spells used and active conditions might be difficult for me in the profile section but I can include active conditions in my posts (especially during combat).

Okay, started getting my profile together. More to come.

Is it alright if I leave my reaction spoilered like it is? I want to keep the feat reference in there but if its not spoilered it takes up a lot of space.

ok, I have my character built in Pathbuilder, just need to add the relevant info into my profile. here is my Alias for this game, as well.

@Nosh - Yes hero points are in. Honestly I don't expect people to constantly update their taglines during combat because it's a pain. Just keep track.

@Findlaine - Yeah absolutely fine. Thanks for the hyperlink!

And as for all of you - gameplay thread is now live!

@Laurel - Something I'll look for is some details on Marin. How old? What does she look like? What's she like? Are you running her or am I?

I'll be going over stat blocks in a bit.

I've attached a google slides document to the campaign short description (at the top of the page). This will serve as the primary battlemap where you'll be expected to move your own tokens. If connecting on mobile just indicate where your token needs to be moved and I'll move for you. I'll also be pasting game art into the slides doc.

Just as a note for my stats, I took the optional flaws that are totally never worth it for the extra con boost.

Ancestry
Boosts: Dex, Int, Str
Flaw: Con
Optional Flaws: Dex, Int
Optional Boost: Con

Background
Str, Cha

Class
Str

4 Boosts
Str, Con, Wis, Cha

If connecting on mobile just indicate where your token needs to be moved and I'll move for you.

Crom and Mitra bless you for that part.

As for the rest, I uh, I guess I'll get around to actually putting Z's stats in his profile, then. :)

my stats are built, but this is the first non-playtest character I've built, so please let me know if anything looks off

Google slides is good for me. I should be able to move around while on my phone but if I need help, I’ll just ask.

I think I’ve got everything finished on Nosh for you to look over.

@Findlaine-Wait, doesn’t that all equal out to a +2 Str for race?

@Laurel - Something I'll look for is some details on Marin. How old? What does she look like? What's she like? Are you running her or am I?

My intent/assumption is for Marin to be as "off-screen" as possible, meaning that I'll defer to your better judgement, else run her "outside" of the main story as makes narrative sense. (Unless the preference is for quite the opposite!?). I know nothing of the game we are playing beyond the details you have provided here or in the Gameplay thread - and what I can glean from the title "Fall of Plaguestone" - thus am unsure how to completely answer your question in the "big picture" sense.

Marin: I imagine her as a younger mother - having had several children in quick succession starting in early- and ending in mid- adult maturity, probably putting her just before middle age. As for looks, typical Varisian: Khaki skin, reddish-brownish hair, large golden-brownish eyes; all of which she inherited to Laurel. Per their backstory, she is worried her other children didn't survive the attack that made them Refugees, and will likely toil with this worry, with Laurel (unintentionally?) providing needed moments of light-heartedness.

Final note on the backstory: Details left intentionally vague. The intent is to be flexible while at the same time providing a solid-enough foundation to use the Background to link directly into the Adventure.

Got it! Purpose behind my questioning is just as a, well, adult woman she'll have a presence in scenes I'll need to have NPCs and the like respond to and acknowledge. Thanks. :)

I have a quiet Friday night in so I'll get to reviewing everyone's character sheets.

@Laurel - Good to go.

@Nosh - EDIT: I'm an idiot. You're good to go!

@Galen - Good to go.

@Findlaine - Good to go.

Zurkha looks like he's still cooking so I'll follow up later!

Yes, it's really just a matter of copying data out of Pathbuilder. Hell, the toughest part is making the formatting to my satisfaction. :)

I'll pick up the pace.

No sweat, deadline is Sunday. But had the time lol

Okay, my sheet has gear now. S/b legal assuming what's on Amiri's pregen sheet is, because I used her as a starting point and adjusted as I went.

You're legal! I'll start the game tomorrow or late today depending on if everyone has posted.

Are we doing milestone XP?

Yeah, it's one less administrative thing for me to bother with lol

Fine with me, for what that's worth. :)

Okay, we are now in our first combat. Most of you are veterans to PbP but some aren't. Here's how it goes:

A note on my style:

- PbP can lose days of time waiting for someone to post. Because of that, I like to push along wherever possible.
- I will run your character if you miss a day or two.
- I roll player saves unless the save has dire consequences.
- I may roll reactions depending on the context.

How to use google slides:

The link at the top opens a slides document. Slide two is the battle map. When you act, either move your token or tell me (or another player) where to move it. Unexplored terrain will be under spoiler blocks. This is a trust-based system so I expect we'll all reward that trust. :D

I'm assuming the cart is difficult terrain to get in and out of? I'll change where I moved to if need be.

I jumped the gun on granting you your initiative but you can re-take. Getting down from the cart is a single action.

I'm curious about the shield spell/shield block question as well.

my reading of it would say that casting shield gives you the bonus to AC, but in order to actually use the reaction you have to have the feat. it just indicates that you can use the force shield in order to use that feat. but i could see it both ways.

The text is clear enough on this (thankfully):

SHIELD ACTIONS
The shield spell works like a raised shield, and it also
gives you the ability to use the Shield Block reaction.

SHIELD BLOCK [reaction]

Trigger While you have your shield raised, you take
damage from a physical attack.

You place your shield to ward off a blow. Your shield prevents
you from taking an amount of damage up to the shield’s
Hardness. You and the shield each take any remaining
damage, possibly breaking or destroying the shield.

Question One
Re: Getting down from the cart - any way to attempt an Athletics or Acrobatics check to get down the cart as part of a Stride action?

Question Two
How do you want us to handle critical hits? For example, should we assume it's always possible and include the extra die rolls just in case? (In my redux first round post I rolled a natural 20 but the "exceed by 10" situation is not always clear if we don't know the numbers).

Question Three
What is the Hero Point recovery situation? One per game? One per "scene" in the adventure? One per day (in-world)? One per month (out-world) - Perhaps the 1st of the month?... It's usually once per session but PbP is like one giant slow-burning session!

...

@ Galen: As far as I know, the Shield Block decision is made once you know how much damage is incoming ("Trigger: You take damage..."). This means you basically get to decide whether to use it or not after you know how much damage your shield (and you) will take (and if it will break or destroy it). That said, adding a feedback loop to PbP is probably too slow. Probably won't come up until well into the game, but if there are moments you'd rather take (healable) damage than destroy your shield completely (I noticed you didn't take the Crafting skill; but see Mending), I would consider adding a "threshold" to your Shield Block declarations. Food for thought.

1 - Yes, absolutely, I encourage that kind of thing.

2 - Right now I'm going to feel out players assuming natural 20s are crits, and then rolling crit damage for them on crits beating the AC by 10. IF that's awkward I'll just post the ACs.

3 - This game would take around six table sessions to complete. So I'm going to do hero point resets at some points I've predetermined and see how that works.

On shield block, I hope to use everyone's reactions as they get attacked unless its otherwise specified. So if someone casts shield, or raises a shield, I can expect thye'll wanna block.

1 - Cool! Laurel will likely want to try this on round two. So, how do you want to play it? Do we post two possibilities (One in the event of a success; another in event of a failure)? Or create a "hazard" or "obstacle" of sorts (the Cart)? For example *puts on DM hat*:

2 - Cool.

3 - Makes Sense.

That all sounds fine to me. I'll try to be specific about what I want done if I want something else on the shield block front.

Laurel that's fantastic and I endorse it wholeheartedly.

I love that taking an action to vomit may expunge the "Sickened 1" condition if you make your Fortitude save...

Given your greenlight, and for the good of the order, I'll re-post the Cart hazard here. This is on the table folks - Let's see some heroics!

Leap Up or Down from Cart
You gracefully mount or dismount the cart with a quick athletic or acrobatic maneuver
(Free Action)
Trigger: You are Striding and move through a square up into, or down from, the cart. Roll an Athletics or Acrobatics check.

Critical Success: You treat the square as normal terrain, and can continue your Stride normally.
Success: You treat the square as difficult terrain, and can continue your Stride normally.
Failure: As success, but your movement ends after you enter the square.
Critical failure: As failure, and you immediately fall prone.

Special: If you have the Catfall, Combat Climber, Nimble Crawl, Quick Climb, Quick Jump, Powerful Leap, or Rapid Mantel feat, increase your result threshold by on step (cumulative per skill feat).

Going to hold until I know whether or not Zurkha just incinerated the wolf between us, which man does that look likely!