Welcome! This will eventually mature into a full-fledged Discussion thread for our game but for the time being, we'll chat here about what everyone wants to play, character build stuff, and other stuff!
Please feel free to introduce yourselves and share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. I'll give a more proper introduction of myself a bit later, for I work nights and I am very tired and in need of sleep :)
Also feel free to go ahead and begin kicking around ideas of what you'd like to play! A suggestion was passed along via Hawthwile that we start out with a short PFS scenario (for no credit) just so everyone can get their feet wet and decide if PbP is ultimately for them or not. I think this is a great idea and depending on what sort of characters people would like to play I can probably come up with a scenario that would be fun and easily adaptable for the group :)
Woo! Thanks again for being willing to GM for us, Lady Ladile!
About me: I’ve been playing Pathfinder for about 2.5 years, first in a home campaign and then Society. I started playing here on the forums about a year ago, which was where I started to change from more of a “power-gaming” view to a character-driven storytelling approach. A friend also introduced me to Critical Role, which has been an inspiration for this new style of play for me.
Outside of games, I’m sad that I can’t cook for everyone because bringing food to game sessions is one of my favorite things. I also would be very happy to show you pictures of my cats (they’re the best) and coo over pictures of your pets (they are also the best). My biggest regret in life is that I lost all my hair before I could dye it fun colors (I was really hoping for premature grey instead).
Regarding characters: I would rather wait to see what other folks want to play and fill in holes in the team.
Regarding adventures: I would love to do a full Adventure Path (lvl 1 to 15-17), but I know that’s a huge commitment over several years. I will warn my fellow players that I am the goodest gooder that ever gooded, so a decidedly amoral campaign will be tough for me. I have no problem being the group’s conscience, but I don’t want to be a dissenting voice that everyone else finds annoying and tries to ignore.
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Hi there! Evie here. I’ll just copy Hawthwile’s format
About Me
I started playing tabletop when I was 11 and 3.0 came out, prompting my friend’s dad introduced us to it. That was twenty years ago, and I’ve been playing 3.X ever since. I regularly do PFS and some SFS and am closing in on 3 stars. I’m a happily married graduate student in creative writing who is finishing up her thesis (a novel) this semester.
Regarding Characters
If we do an AP, I have concepts in-mind for a few of them (ones that particular interested me). I tend to prefer playing characters with some combination of the following: social skills, lots of skill points, dumped wisdom, access to magic of some sort, strength-based melee. Also, all of my characters I’ve made since I came out are gay women like their player :D
Regarding Adventures
I’m good with homebrew or AP. Like Hawthwile, I am a goody-goody, so I have the most fun playing good characters or characters with a planned arc of becoming good. I also a particular fondness for Iomedae (as evidenced by my profile pic) and could simply not bring myself to enjoy Hell’s Vengeance.
Rise of the Runelords—Barely any before petered out, have character I’d like to re-use
Curse of the Crimson Throne—Never played, have concept in-mind
Second Darkness—Never played
Legacy of Fire—Never played
Council of Thieves—Never played
Kingmaker—Played the video game extensively
Serpent’s Skull—Never played
Carrion Crown—Joined group beginning book 3
Jade Regent—Just started this
Skull and Shackles—Never played
Shattered Star—Read and skimmed, but never played
Reign of Winter—Read and own book 1, never played
Wrath of the Righteous—Almost to book 3, currently active
Mummy’s Mask—Played from beginning to end!
Iron Gods—Did book one and part of book 2 before GM disappeared
Giantslayer—Never played
Hell’s Rebels—Got up to the beginning of book 4 before everyone moved in different directions
Hell’s Vengeance—I cannot bring myself to play this
Strange Aeons—Joined group at beginning of book 3, currently active
Ironfang Invasion—Never played, have concept in mind
Ruins of Azlant—Never played, have concept in-mind
War for the Crown—Reserved for a friend to run when they have time
Return of the Runelords—Own and skimmed books 1-2, have concept in-mind
Tyrant’s Grasp—Currently active
Hello everyone, call me Merle or laughableRogue! I'm a friend of Hawthwile's who's been lured in by the promise of RP and good times.
Who's this stranger?
I first dipped my toes in Pathfinder in 2013 in convention games, and started regular gaming a couple years later. Before that I poked around a bit in D&D 3.5. I've grown up on things like the Baldur's Gate series (Played that with my bro before I could speak English, which was An Experience), Arthurian legends, folk stories, every dragon book ever, and I've generally always had an interest in roleplaying and fantasy. These days I play both PFS and SFS at our local organized game days as well as 3 campaigns (Iron Gods, Carrion Crown and Emerald Spire).
I'm a food technology student at university who is currently struggling with their master's thesis. I live with two housemates and sadly no pets. Hobbies include art, cooking and baking, Pokemon Go and singing. I also read a lot of fanfiction, watch let's plays and care for a horde of pet dragons over at Flight Rising.
On the technical side of things, I am a non-native English speaker and have not used the paizo forums beyond keeping track of my society characters. I have done text-based roleplay on forums, but only in Finnish and never incorporating stuff like dice rollers. I will most likely fumble around the mechanics for a while if accepted in. My British/American spelling is mixed and inconsistent, and my grammar is not perfect. I might also express myself in ways that are clear to me and completely obtuse to anyone not currently inside my head. (I'm far from bad at English, mind you, just a person who has learned it as a third language)
On Characters: I've mostly played characters who hit stuff and make the numbers come out, but have no special preference. I have some full casters, but haven't taken those far enough to really see what they do on higher levels. I confess to a liking of paladins, but I already have two of those so I'll probably do something else. Skill points are lovely but not a requirement, same for social skills and charisma. I never dump Con and only ever have high Dex on archers. Some kind of magical ability is cool, but I prefer buffs and nerfs over direct damage most of the time. I am not a min-maxer at heart, though I tend to pick races whose bonuses fit the class.
I'm fine with AP and homebrew both. So far all but one of my characters have been society legal and I can keep going with it, though I am cool with branching out too. I've been taking some considering looks at the Warlord class from the Path of War system for a while now, but I don't know how it would actually work in a non-related system. Also I don't own that book so all my knowledge is from the pfsrd. The class itself seems to be something I'd enjoy playing.
On Adventures: I'd love to try a smaller game first before committing to anything long term. It's been years since the last time I've done PbP and have no idea if it's still for me.
I am super bad a being evil, and I like being in a team and playing well with party members. Character tension is fine, but it should never get in the way of teamwork. I am absolutely the person who likes keeping a shared adventuring fund. That said, any of my characters will become A Horrible Goose with very little prompting, so mischief and shenanigans are totally up my alley.
Hey, nice to see that some of you have already checked in! Time for me to share, as I promised to do earlier:
About Me
I've been playing Pathfinder for the last 6 years or so, when my home group made the jump from AD&D 2nd Edition. Prior to that, the bulk of my gaming experience has been with AD&D2e with a smattering of other systems such as AD&D 3.0/3.5, Vampire, Dark Conspiracy, Champions, Deadlands, Call of Cthulhu, and Starfinder.
(And now Pathfinder 2e but that's a whole different story!)
For Play-by-Post specifically I've been a player for 5 and & 1/2 years but I only really got into Organized Play in late 2016/early 2017. It wasn't too long after that that I tried my hand at GMing and I've been trucking along with that for a little over 2 years now.
When I'm not involved in PbP shenanigans I moonlight as a medical lab tech in a hospital laboratory. I also enjoy cats (!!!), video games, long walks on the beach, and dill pickles. My husband is awesome but also an intensely private individual so I generally don't talk about him much online, per his request.
Regarding Characters
Since this'll be my first rodeo on running a game that isn't actually bound by the rules of Organized Play, I'm probably going to...largely stick to the rules of Organized Play, at least where character generation is concerned. That said, I'm generally not inclined to be a big stickler on races - provided the backstory is good/makes sense.
Regarding Adventures
I'm glad to hear that at those of you who have checked in so far are inclined to be good guys because that makes things easier for me! I'm decidedly not interested in an evil or heavily amoral campaign and also couldn't really get into playing Hell's Vengeance as a player.
As far as my own personal tastes of what I would be most engaged in GMing...well, I definitely enjoy most anything with plenty of roleplay opportunities. I really enjoy horror but I also understand that it's not to everyone's liking - though I also enjoy silly and a silly 'Scooby Doo' style horror romp could be fun with the right characters!
Please no Mummy's Mask. I've already played through it once with my home group and I've been playing it via PbP for the last couple of years. I also have to admit that I don't enjoy political intrigue in the slightest so I'd prefer to stay away from offerings like Kingmaker or War for the Crown.
My free time IRL is somewhat limited so I prefer to run written adventures (and modify things as necessary) rather than homebrew. For running an AP, if we eventually go that route, I'd prefer one that either has no fiddly subsystem bits or one where I can easily change/excise the fiddly subsystem bits without drastically changing the story.
Hello! This is Jessica. *pushes up sleeves* Let's do this introduction thing!
About Me
I started playing Pathfinder at the same time (~2.5 years) and with the same group as Hawthwile. I have been peeking over his should for some of his PbP games, but until now I have stuck with homebrew and my local society games (Pathfinder 1st and 2nd edition, Starfinder). My characters so far have been mostly comedic caricatures with little to no back story/character development, so I'm looking forward to using a written format to help bring out more nuanced aspects of my character.
IRL I'm learning how to work as a self-employed creative while gearing up to launch a company that develops and produces episodic games that are a combination of LARP and video games. *wide enthusiastic smile with a hint of terror glinting in the eyes*
Regarding Characters
My go-to alignment is chaotic neutral and I enjoy playing impulsive characters. I am thinking to do a catfolk bard for this campaign. (At last! My years of crazy cat lady experience will be put to good use!)
Regarding Adventures
I find it really interesting to explore why groups form and how they develop organically. If possible, I would like our in-game party-forming reasons to not be "well, we all work for the Pathfinder society and we got handed this job!". (I'm envisioning my character as a recently escaped slave.) I would like there to be "breathing space" within the game play for us to build our party relationships and do some character development.
I don't really care too much what type of adventure we do, though pirating sounds like a good possibility for some shenanigans!
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It sounds like we are leaning towards an AP, in which case, I’d say it might be a good idea to have one in-mind so we can pick a scenario/short module we could use to get our feet wet and maybe even test out character concepts to see if we are happy committing to a whole AP with them
I’m gonna to wear down my list of available APs based on what other people have said they are looking for. I’ll cut out anything with an especially onerous subsystem (that I’m aware of) or that would require extensive rewriting (either because of converting from 3.5 or because it’s not good as written—*stares at Serpent’s Skull*)
Rise of the Runelords
Curse of the Crimson Throne
Council of Thieves—Don’t know much about this one, so cant say whether it’s intrigue-y
Skull and Shackles—I hear this one is more suited to amoral characters, so might not be the best fit
Shattered Star—this one has the PCs as pathfinders, so may not be ideal for ChaosChild. It’s also dungeon crawly, which isnt ideal for PbP
Reign of Winter
Iron Gods—depends on whether you want to deal with tech rules
Giantslayer
Ironfang Invasion—I think there might be a subsystem, but I’m not sure
Ruins of Azlant—i think there might be a colony management subsystem, plus underwater rules, so maybe not the best? Idk
Return of the Runelords
Ironically, I enjoy political intrigue immensely (War for the Crown is my dream AP), but the associated APs are generally off the table for me.
From the list above, I'm fine with any option except for Iron Gods, since I'm already playing that. Don't know so much about the rest.
I would also toss in Strange Aeons as a possibility, I love horror adventures and lovecraftian stuff (with the understanding that I am playing Pathfinder, not Call of Cthulhu, and the whole existential horror and meaninglessness does not really translate well to the stuff I do in games).
I am not good at political intrigue. Not in the slightest. I appreciate the people who can do that, but I don't have the brain or the patience. Testifying in court or something like that is about the extent of my non skill-check based social dealing.
I will also warn you all that I can get way, way into all kinds of kingdom-running or settlement building side quests. Like nope, the adventure is on hold, Merle is now planning the crop rotation and public schooling. I am entirely incapable of being cruel to underlings or any kinds of other tiny, imaginary people who put their lives in my hands. I just need to make sure the innocent little NPCs are well cared for, guys.
Having played the first two books of Shattered Star via PbP before the group fell apart I can confirm that it's very dungeon-crawly in its setup.
From the above list Iron Gods would have been my top choice to GM, based on what little I know about each AP - but we definitely don't want to do duplicates! :)
For Skull & Shackles, I'll try and do a little searching on the forums to see if it's genuinely an 'amoral' campaign or more of a 'you can be good but don't play lawful characters' campaign.
I've heard others describe Reign of Winter as sort of 'dark fairytale' in style, which might be promising.
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Unfortunately, I am already in a Strange Aeons game, so I left that one off the list. Reign of Winter is absolutely a dark fairytale type setup from what I saw reading book one. Between that and Skull and Shackles, I’d prefer Reign of Winter. I adore fey and I want to play book 5 so baaaaaaaad
If the party leans more Skull and Shackles, then I do have the beginnings of a character concept in mind based off The Princess Bride (with my own twist, of course)
From what I've heard from friends who've played it, Skulls and Shackles isn't necessarily evil, but definitely leans toward chaotic. Lawful Goods might have a problem.
Reign of Winter could be interesting, dark fairytale theme sounds pretty cool.
Reign of Winter might have some weird subsystems in the last two books - GM, maybe you would prefer to check that so the rest of us don’t spoil things for ourselves?
Skull and Shackles sounds fun to me, as does Reign of Winter. I’ll try to get a doodle up later today so we can collate our opinions/preferences between the various APs.
@Hawthwile - Quick forum search indicates that RoW doesn't feature any unusual rule subsystems, which is a nice bonus. Pretty sure something like Curse of the Crimson Throne wouldn't have any either :)
Also a Doodle sounds like a great idea!
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I’m good with Curse of the Crimson Throne, Skull and Shackles, or Reign of Winter. My preference would probably be 1. CotCT 2. RoW 3. S+S, but I’d be good with any of them. I have a vigilante idea for CotCT and a rogue for S+S. Still messing around with RoW concepts, but I’m leaning towards a sage bloodline sorcerer.
Finding an initial adventure to get our feet wet should be easy for any of those. There are a few low level scenarios in Taldor (where RoW starts), low level pirate themed ones, and probably ones around Korvosa
I was reminded that S+S has a not-insignificant amount of naval combat from what my friend who ran it told me. Like half the player’s guide is naval combat rules.
Curse of the Crimson Throne might also require some extra work with the "conversion" from 3.5 to PF, but that's a question for our GM.
Doodle is up! I tried to remove the APs people have called out as non-options, but obviously I missed some (like Curse of the Crimson Throne and Strange Aeons). Just don't vote for them, I guess? Select as many adventures as you want - you can indicate "Yes" or "Yes if need be" for the options you're not as excited about, but still interested in. A blank response for an option counts as "No".
Bonus points for Skull and Shackles - I bought the AP a year back and could loan the PDFs to the GM for this adventure.
Threw my own votes in, I'm good for most of the stuff. At the moment it seems that Reign of Winter and Skulls and Shackles are the ones with the most 'yay' votes.
Shackles sure had a lot of info on naval combat, but it didn't seem to be much more difficult than starship combat in Starfinder, so it's probably manageable.
Reign of Winter's theming is still very cool.
I'm pretty lost with my character still. I'll probably have to wait to see which path we take before I'm able to nail down anything halfway concrete.
I have a half-baked idea for a Cayleanite who specializes in throwing drinks in people’s eyes if we go pirate. But only the bad ale - never waste a good drink on someone who won’t appreciate it, after all!
Not really certain on a winter character. I’ll need to read the Player’s Guide for some inspiration.
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My Reign of Winter idea is a disinherited young Taldan noblewoman who has taken up the patronage of one of the fey Eldest (Ng in this case). She'd be a sage sorcerer with the seeker archetype (so she'd have disabling traps covered) who would eventually go into the Feysworn prestige class. She'd specialize in transmutation with some evocation and self-buffing, so she can periodically hold her own in melee. She'd be a bit haughty and sensitive about the fact that she is a sorcerer and not a wizard like the rest of her family, and may in fact pretend to be a wizard. She protests that she is an objective, disinterested wizard-type, but she is too much of a goody-goody at heart.
My Skull and Shackles idea is a member of the Gael crime family, which--if you follow PFS Sczarni/Exchange plotline--means her family hasn't been doing so well. When her sister Imelda died, she finally took her chance to cash out and go to the Shackles to make her fortune so that she could provide for the girl she loves back in Kaer Maga. Basically, think Westley at the beginning of The Princess Bride. The rest of the campaign would be her time as Dread Pirate Roberts Robin :D She'd be a swashbuckling rogue-type.
Okay, added my votes!
Thus far, it looks like (unsurprisingly) Skull & Shackles & Reign of Winter are the current leads with Legacy of Fire, Serpent's Skull, Shattered Star, and Ironfang Invasion being 'maybes'.
I think ChaosChild is the only one left to vote, that's checked in here on the thread. Do we still have two more people that will be playing? Are they abstaining on voting?
Oh man, I’d forgotten about this character idea - a gnome illusionist sorcerer who doesn’t always know if what he just creates is real or not (homebrew drawback or trait that he has to save against his own illusions). Could fit into any campaign easily enough, but not tightly bound to a campaign either. I don’t know if illusions are something that would work better or worse in PbP - thoughts, GM?
As far as our other two players, they’re still sorting out moving across the country and all the fun things that entails. I’ll try to check in with them this weekend, but as far as I know they don’t have strong preferences on the adventure.
Sorry people... I am not as familiar with the adventure paths that are out there so I had to do some poking around before I could make an informed vote.
(Also, how have you all been coping with this terrible website??? The loading times on here are horrendous and don't get me started on finding a specific product.... *disgruntled web developer sounds*)
I have now voted! And we seem to be unanimous on Skull and Shackles.
I sent Chris and Annie a message yesterday, but I haven't heard back yet. Like Daniel said, they may not be able to join us for this round. :( If they aren't in, are we feeling good about a 4 person party? Or should we dig up another player or two?
Guess you'll need to loan me those PDFs, Hawthwile :)
Being that I myself am going to be moving house sometime next month, it'll be some weeks yet before I feel ready to begin our adventures together so that should give your friends plenty of time to get settled and plugged back in before we start.
That said, I've already been perusing the S&S forum a bit for information and ideas and I think I've found a good idea/suggestion for a 'lead in' adventure prior to starting the AP proper. Not a scenario, not a module, but something that I hope will give folks enough time to get a feel for their characters and for the characters to get somewhat-used to each other.
And should we wrap that up and anyone wishes to bow out before the 'actual' AP starts, it wouldn't be too hard to write them out and write new characters/players in.
(Or continue onward with other NPCs stepping up a bit to provide extra support where necessary.)
Oh okay, then we have plenty of time still!
@GM Ladile: Besides race/class/stats, what sorts of things would you like to know about our characters? (Also, best of luck with moving!)
@TheParty: How much information do you want to reveal about your character before we start playing? It looks like everyone is on board for sharing classes and party roles, which means we'll end up with a fairly balanced party (or not! but we'll know going in lol).
@Everyone: As this is my first time playing asynchronously and not with everyone in the same room, do you have any tips, tricks, "I wish I had known when I started" advice that you can share with this n00b?
(Or continue onward with other NPCs stepping up a bit to provide extra support where necessary.)
Hah! That’s how our first Pathfinder game (homebrew) ended up with a kobold oracle trying to keep a pair of barbarians, two rangers and their pets, and an elven wizard alive so we could feed him more cinnamon rolls. And spending the majority of one encounter summoning water to create a pond so he could summon a shark because he thought it would be helpful. Good times.
If we’re going pirate, I think I’d prefer the Cayleanite. Or would someone else want to fill that role?
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@TheParty: How much information do you want to reveal about your character before we start playing? It looks like everyone is on board for sharing classes and party roles, which means we'll end up with a fairly balanced party (or not! but we'll know going in lol).
I'm personally a fan of letting everyone know everything up front. It helps keep everyone on the same page in regards to expectations, and I find that communication is important in keeping group rapport strong, and strong group rapport keeps the game alive.
@Everyone: As this is my first time playing asynchronously and not with everyone in the same room, do you have any tips, tricks, "I wish I had known when I started" advice that you can share with this n00b?
Here's the big ones for me:
1. Anything that makes the game run more smoothly is a good idea. Prerolling AoOs for reach characters in spoilers, setting standard practices. For example, my cleric's first two questions when IDing a monster will always be "damage reduction?" and "what is this thing known for?" so that the GM can give that information out right away. Everyone is on their own schedule--likely in different time zones--in PbP, so the fewer extraneous posts the better.
2. When using the dice roller, try to be as transparent as possible, as it makes it easier to keep track of bonuses and penalties. If there is a buffer in the party, it makes it easier for them to tell when you have forgotten to include their buff. What I do is use base roll from your stat block and then split up your modifiers and lable where they are coming from, like so:
[ dice=Attack with +1 Adamantine Longsword (power attack, inspire, flank)]1d20+12-2+1+2[/dice ]
[ dice=Damage (power attack, inspire)]1d8+6+4+1[/dice ]
(I added spaces in the first version so that you can see both the input and the output)
As you can see, I wrote each of the modifiers in the parentheses, and then wrote out the modifiers in the same order.
3. Feel free to write what your character is thinking! When I started, I felt like I needed to try using objective third-person to write my posts, since the other characters wouldn't know mine's thoughts, but (at least for me) it just makes the posts boring to read and unfun to write. PbP is like collaboratively writing a story, so have fun with it! I tend to write my posts in free indirect style as it makes it feel a little less like people are directly reading my character's thoughts, while still being interesting and showing character.
4. Also, to reiterate above, communication is everything! If you are waiting for someone else to take a turn before you do your thing, say so. If you are going to be busy for a while and can't post, say so. I'm in a discord server for a couple of my games that is really useful.
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(Or continue onward with other NPCs stepping up a bit to provide extra support where necessary.)If we’re going pirate, I think I’d prefer the Cayleanite. Or would someone else want to fill that role?
Like a cleric? I'm good with that.
I'm having a bit of a dilemma because on a closer look, swashbuckler is looking more apropos to what I'm looking for, especially since I can stack dashing thief with shackles corsair. I'd still have disable device, but I'd lose trapfinding, though, so I might have to dip rogue or investigator or something to get it back to completely fulfill that niche
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Eh, we can always use dispel magic for the magic traps. Or find a wand of Aram Zey's focus. And I've wanted to see a Dashing Thief in action for sooooooo long! You should totally do it!
I'm actually thinking Warpriest for the Cayleanite (maybe with some Evangelist thrown in there too), but I haven't fooled around enough to know for certain. Hopefully I"ll have a better idea after this weekend.
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Dashing thief it shall be! Now I just need to figure out feats....
Evangelist is my favorite prestige class, particularly for how it adds flavor and skill points to a bunch of deprived classes like warpriest, so I’m fully in favor of that if you go that route.
Oh, and gotta find out the houserules/character-building guidelines, when you get the chance, GM <3
Just showing up so you know I'm reading this. I'm on a trip this Weekend and hate making long posts on phone. I'll make a better post about my character ideas when I'm back home.
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Hokay!
Level: All characters start at 1st Level.
Classes: All Paizo classes are permitted except for the Paladin. Summoners are allowed but must be of the Unchained variety. Barbarians/Monks/Rogues may be Chained or Unchained; your choice. Keep in mind though that you'll be at sea *quite a bit* so some classes like the (mounted) Cavalier may have a harder time than others!
Stats: 20 Point-Buy with no stat lower than 8 / higher than 18 AFTER racial bonuses / penalties.
Races: The Shackles are a pretty cosmopolitan place so I will allow just about any available race as long as you've got a good backstory for them. Except drow. No drow.
HP: Maximum starting HP for your class to start; further levels will be average rounded up.
Traits: 2 Traits, one of which must be selected from the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide. I will allow a 3rd Trait if you select a Drawback, but you better be prepared to RP your drawback if you choose one :)
Gold: Average starting gold for your class.
Alignment: No Evil.
Other Stuff: Paizo material only; no 3PP.
As far as our 'prelude' adventure goes - for the sake of transparency - I am planning to run a modified version of Book 1 from the Serpent's Skull AP. If anyone thinks they might end up playing this at some point in the not-too-distant-future please speak now or forever hold your peace :)
If there are any questions, please let me know!
Oh! I knew I was forgetting something.
Background Skills are a go :)
I *might* also implement Automatic Bonus Progression but I'll need to read up more on how to best implement it and adjust treasure/gold values.
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Nice! I'm actually in a strange aeons game at the start of book 3 that is using automatic bonus progression, and I'm liking it. I like not having to worry about all of the "must haves" and focusing more on flavorful choices. It also lets you use weapons with named qualities earlier, in exchange for giving up the +1 to hit and damage.
It does add extra work since you are supposed to halve treasure, which means picking and choosing items in the adventure.
Yep and a problem with some of the earlier APs is that they were published before later classes were added and so there's no class-specific loot for them unless the GM makes sure to put some in there. The Gunslinger is what readily comes to mind for this but I'm sure there are a couple of other classes that suffer from the same situation too.
So right now I'm leaning towards a Magus or an Alchemist. Probably a sylph, I like my windy children and they like to hang around the Shackles anyway. We seem to have a Warpriest and Swashbuckler (?) already, so some high Int might be cool. A Magus would provide arcane talent + frontline ability, and Alchemist would be an alchemist. I'd probably go the bomb route with the alchemist (As a bonus, they'd be able to brew the BEST grog).
I'm really on the fence, I like both choices and I believe I would have fun with them. An alchemist would have some crafting potential (maybe) and the whole mad scientist vibe, but a Selfish Neutral thrill-seeker Magus would be flashy too.
Someone also please educate and tell me what is a background skill?
Oh yeah, and how does the exp progress? I have to admit I hate 'scrounging' for experience points, since it makes me feel nervous about missing any and falling behind. I am more of a fan of the GM just telling us at suitable points that 'yeah you leveled up'. I'm willing to go with the popular opinion though.
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Classes
Yeah, I'm doing swashbuckler! Of magus and alchemist, I would suggest the latter. Bomb alchemist would give us some ranged capability, which we don't have yet. Ships are also all made of wood, so you could do quite a bit of damage setting enemy ships on fire. Though you would need to be VERY careful on our own ship(s).
Background Skills
Basically, background skills are extra skills that are there to make it so you aren't sacrificing your mechanical effectiveness in the name of being true to your character. Background skills are an optional rule from Pathfinder Unchained that has become one of the most common house rules that I see people adopt. It basically gives people two extra skill points per level, but they can only be used on certain skills that are of less use to a general adventurer: things like craft, profession, perform, and less useful knowledge skills like geography and nobility.
Here's a link to a full breakdown of the rules
XP
APs basically always have an "XP Track" that tells you when players are supposed to level at certain points through the story in addition to giving XP amounts for individual encounters. Most GMs seem to just use the track, but that's up to our GM!
And here's the rules on automatic bonus progression, if other folks are curious like me. I will admit I've never this rule set implemented, but the ability to use your shoulder slot for something other than a cloak of resistance sounds like fun!
Here's the big ones for me:1. Anything that makes the game run more smoothly is a good idea...
Thank you, Hrothdane! This is really useful advice. :D
Traits: 2 Traits, one of which must be selected from the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide. I will allow a 3rd Trait if you select a Drawback, but you better be prepared to RP your drawback if you choose one :)
Yaaassssss!!! I love drawbacks! lol But I need to see if any of them are a good fit for this character...
Where can I find the Skull & Shackles Player's Guide?
I am more of a fan of the GM just telling us at suitable points that 'yeah you leveled up'.
I am a fan of this as well.
You can get the player's guide as a free PDF download here!
And yes, I'll be leveling you guys up at the appropriate story points because tracking XP is tedious and boring!
(For me, anyway.)
:)
Of magus and alchemist, I would suggest the latter. Bomb alchemist would give us some ranged capability, which we don't have yet. Ships are also all made of wood, so you could do quite a bit of damage setting enemy ships on fire. Though you would need to be VERY careful on our own ship(s).
Good point on the ranged ability thing. I was going to pick a crossbow or something for distance anyway, but some super oomph might not hurt.
...who set the ship on fire? It sure wasn't me |'D
Background Skills
Basically, background skills are extra skills that are there to make it so you aren't sacrificing your mechanical effectiveness in the name of being true to your character.
Oh, I see! That's super neat, I'm all for this!
@GM Ladile: Speaking of backgrounds, would you be cool if I said my character has done freelance loot appraisal and pay calculations and other such things for the local crews for a living? I was thinking of throwing my background skills into appraisal and maybe profession (bookkeeping) to support that.
It might also work as a plot hook. Someone could have stolen his books during the press-ganging, and he should get them back before everyone gets pissed he lost their docs. Or he finally rolled that Nat 1 on his appraisal and gave an absurd value to some piece of plunder, and now that the captain has found it out there is an angry pirate after him for the interest. Or maybe some pirate-hunting authority has figured out he actually has some rather incriminating information on a few people (even if the worst of it is written in code and using innocuous terms) and is interested in Having A Few Words with him.
I am torn on race, sylphs and ratfolk are both lovely. Sylph was my original idea and they are cool. The negative constitution adjustment hurts me but I can deal with it, I'm not aiming to go frontline anyway. They also have an alternate racial trait that lets them predict weather accurately for 24 hours (excluding magical effects), which is fun on the fluff side and has the potential to actually be useful in a sea campaign. As a con, I already have a sylph character (and again I like my HP, curse that -2 CON).
For ratfolk, I don't have one in organized play and will probably never have unless they become a free race. The idea of being a rat on a ship is funny. They would also work as alchemists on the mechanics side. As a con, a ratfolk bomber alchemist seems to be like. THE most common way to play one and I hate being the millionth person to play the same record.
Personality-wise the sylph seems to be more of a butt than the rat (Neutral or Chaotic neutral vs. Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral with good leanings more or less). They both are magpies around shiny stuff though.
Another thing that comes to mind, do we want to go super IC with stuff like knowledges and social skills, or do we meta a bit and coordinate? It is always a little bit frustrating when there are three people with religion and no one with arcana.
I am also seriously considering taking either bluff or intimidate as an int-based skill with a trait, because I like having at least something I can do in a social setting. Bluff is a classic but on the other hand I enjoy the idea of freaking people out by describing exactly how I am going to turn them into alchemical ingredients while they are still alive.
I will also begin the game without a single rank in swim. Fun times to be had.
Question to GM: Can my character have semaphore flags as a language? The thought amuses me. I am fully willing to sink a point into Linguistics to make it happen.
Alright, I have an idea for my Cayleanite. He's a saltbeard dwarf, born on the docks and raised at sea. He's an... uh, enthusiastic worshiper of the Accidental God and holds two things most important - good ale, and the freedom to find it on one's own terms. And to those who try to restrict the freedom of others to choose their own paths? He will be the rock that their chains will break upon. And maybe put some stale beer in their faces - might as well use it for something.
Mechanically, I'm looking at a warpriest/evangelist build. Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom as important stats, rather skill-starved for the first 5 levels until evangelist kicks in at lvl 6. Background skills will help out significantly with that - thank goodness! Sword-and-board for decent AC (not certain about how heavy of armor, but probably medium armor at least). He should be able to put out reasonable damage when needed, but I'm trying to make him a debuffer as well with Dirty Trick and some fun spells.
I like to plan things like skills out slightly with the rest of the group - more just checking who can cover what. I'm planning to take Profession (sailor) as one of my background skills and the Besmara's Blessing campaign trait. Gotta have someone sturdy to manhandle the boat's rudder, after all. GM, would background skills count towards the skill-rank prerequisite for the evangelist prestige class?
LaughableRogue, have you looked at any of the alternative racial subtypes from the Plane-Hopper's Guide for the element-kin races? It sounds like a Rimesoul undine might be just the flavor you're looking for.
Hey guys, I'm headed off to AVL Scarefest tomorrow and won't be back until Monday. While my time isn't booked solid I have no idea what the internet situation will be so my posting here may be slow or nonexistent until I return - though I'll try and get answers to your questions sooner rather than later!
(I wanted to try and make one round of updates tonight but noooooo, internet is not being cooperative and my patience is limited.)
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Alrighty! I finally finished my write-up of my character. Feast your eyes upon Robin Gael. I ended up diverging a bit more than expected from the inspiration, but the differences in plot required changes in motivation.
Also, in trying to come up with a name, I stumbled upon the full name of Princess Buttercup’s actress: Robin Gayle Wright. Being familiar with the Gael storyline in PFS (one of my only character kills was from Imelda as a matter of fact, RIP Imelda), my mind just ran from there.
Robin is a fine lady -b I'm mostly finished with my character too, I'm just faffing around with skills and traits and such.
Rimesoul undine was just what the doctor ordered, thanks for pointing it out Hawthwile!