[PFS2] GM Steinkrug's The Sandstone Secret (Quest #1) (Inactive)

Game Master steinkrug

Thread for discussion.

Question for the experienced GMs:

Should I set up an event in my organized play in advance of the quest starting? I’ve found some posts here about filling that out but I suspect there are some difference for PbP?

There's no requirement to set up the event/session in advance before you start playing the game. You can if you want, but you can also wait and do it when you report, and plenty of people do. I'm saying this from the viewpoint of an in-person GM but I don't see why it would be different for PbP...?

You also have the choice to either create 1 event, e.g. "Steinkrug's PFS2 Games" and report all your various games under it as different sessions, or else create separate events for every single game. That's a matter of preference. For in-person games I think keeping the same event code makes it easier to just memorize so you always know what it is when filling out Chronicles and reporting sheets, but for PbP where time isn't an issue, that isn't really a big advantage.

(The above doesn't apply if you're GMing for a con or someone else's event, in which case you'd obviously just report under that event code).

That's helpful, thanks!

We won't really get rolling until Monday at the earliest, but those who are ready can introduce/describe their characters in Gameplay in the meantime.

What Logsig said.

I have one event for in-person games and one for play-by-posts games. As may start another for virtual-table-top games as I prepare to begin GMing there.

Each to their own.

I just have to carve out the time to register my character and post her here.

Still have some work to do on the character sheet, including her name but here is the beginning of my Barbarian.

So, my plan at the moment is to kick things off tomorrow morning. Those who haven't had a chance to introduce/describe their character or just want to wait can do so as a part of their first post.

Players - please remind me who has played/GM'd this before? I want to make sure to give decision-making opportunities to the correct characters while also avoiding a bunch of us all waiting for each other.

Also, what is our healing like in this party?

I am debating between items to requisition.

I have played and GM'd once each, so I'll definitely be deferring to others.

Kazikli has good healing. He prefers to attack but will probably fall into the support role most often. I took a scroll of heal as one of my free items.

I usually default to the healing potions for my free item, unless something else is really useful. Like my pickaxe-wielding goblin barbarian would do well with an owlbear claw.

My default is usually healing and antitoxin but I am considering options.

I have prepped this, but not played.

Lusinel has Battle Medicine and requisitioned 2 minor healing. With Myra (bard) in the party, a scroll of Soothe would be the highest potential healing item there, but we seem to be fine on healing either way.

Hoping to get an introductory post up tonight when I get home. I also need to iron out the last couple of details on Myra.

Looking forward to this. Sorry I'm starting out just a bit behind.

Sounds good, thanks for checking in.

I've never played not gm'd this, and Koruk is not great at healing, but I chose a healing potion.

I think I'm going to stick with one healing and one antitoxin.

Did we lose Lande (MrStr4nge)?

GM, did you want to maybe ping the player before we move on out to the site?

Thanks for asking. Yeah I sent them a message last night, so I’m thinking if we don’t see them today, we can move on as 5.

No word back, so we'll continue onward with 5.

No need to, but if you wish to it is early enough you could open recruitment for one final player. Continuing with five is fine too. Just letting you know your options.

Thanks. I guess since it's just a quest, we can just continue with five rather than wait for a sixth.

Question for those who have GMed this before on the rewards:

Thanks to you both. That’s what I thought, but wanted to double-check.

GM: as written, the Nimble Dodge reaction triggers on an attack, not after a hit, so to avoid any possible complications in the PbP format, assume Lusinel will always use her Nimble Dodge reaction on the first attack against her in any round.

Seeing as I post on a different schedule than most of you (different time zone, I guess), please don't wait too long for my posts and feel free to use the Botting guidelines I put in to keep fights going quickly.

Sounds good, Lusinel.

No problem, Mognolar. We'll play it by ear. Since it's a short quest, I'm not too worried about hold ups.

I’ll have a post up in an hour or so.

Curious, what time zone are you in, Mognolar?

What about everyone else? I like learning a little about my fellow players.

I am west coast USA

Midwest U.S.--Indiana.

I live in Vienna, Austria. So 6 hours to Eastern Time, I think.

I’m east coast NY

West coast, same area as you, Numbat.

West coast, born and bred.

Thank you for the bot, I was suffering from analysis paralysis. wanting to cast Magic Weapon but not burn all my spells too early.

No problem. Hope I waited long enough before doing so.

So, the statue you fought, like objects, has a Hardness value. Its hardness is 6, reducing damage by that amount. When hit by a critical hit or reduced to half HP, it breaks. That actually happened at the same time: Barb's critical hit reduced it to half HP. I wasn't clear in the case of these Animated creatures (Animated Broom is another) if the Hardness goes away when broken. At the time, I decided to continue to apply it, but after reading the relevant bits again, I think this was a mistake.

Fortunately, it didn't make too much of a difference. If I hadn't applied it to Barb's second hit, it still would have been "alive." And it still would have been destroyed on Barb's next turn.

But, I just wanted to let everyone know!

I will say, some of the rules take a bit of extra reading to really take in all the little details. I find there is also a lot to track as a GM. I am becoming better at it and much of this will become habit with time and practice.

For those who have GMed PbP Society: personal preferences for putting together the chronicle sheets? I know there are several PDF editors available.

I use Adobe Acrobat. It works well. Really, whatever you have available and are comfortable using. Just make sure to have them fully completed before signing.

For those of you who don't have it on your character info, I'm going to need your character's PFS # and any faction you have slotted.

I've got:
Lusinel - 2373590-2002 - Vigilant Seal
Koruk - 2378966-2001 - Envoy's Alliance
Barb - 267966-2008 - Vigilant Seal

Need info for Kazikli, Lande and Myra (sorry if I missed it).

My number 150618-2006, faction is Verdant Wheel. Thanks, I thought I put it up somewhere!

278101-2002 Envoy's Alliance

Does that mean it's already over?

Just about, yeah. Quests take about an hour in person and have one combat encounter. I believe you did pretty well with that encounter too.

We can play out the conclusion here a little bit, but in the meantime, you can roll for downtime.

Quests grant 2 days of downtime.

Once downtime is rolled, I'll get chronicle sheets to you ASAP. Let me know if anyone has a pending game and needs it by a certain time.

----------

I welcome feedback! Especilaly since this was my first time GMing PF2 and PbP (and first time GMing in general in a long time). You're welcome to share feedback here or PM me if you'd prefer.

----------

Assuming I didn't mess up too badly, I'm considering running the other Society Quests: #2 Unforgiving Fire and #3 Grehunde's Gorget. Let me know if anyone would be interested in one or both. Unlike Sandstone, these are not repeatable.

I'm absolutely interested in playing those other quests. I had fun playing and think you GM'ed very well.

Since I'm not all that experienced in PbP I'd be happy if anybody had some feedback for me too.