Hobgoblin Kineticist 9 | Init +4 (5), Senses Perception (Darkvision) +20 | AC 29, 16 Touch, 25 Flat Footed| Fort +14 (15), Ref +14 (15), Will +8 | HP 106/106 (97/124) ( Non-lethal) | Burn 4 |Active Conditions: None
Now that the fight is over Malgrim closes his eyes and seems to relax as the sweat disappears, leaving only signs of dampness on his clothes.
Once he is ready, Malgrim moves in to the new room and begins looking around for any signs of the gnolls he was told were here. "I wonder if those fire creatures were the original defenders of this temple, or a trap left by the gnolls. If they were the original guardians, how did the gnolls pass through without having to defeat them?"
Perception:1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25
I am mainly just looking for any signs that a group of gnolls passed into or through here. Secret doors or other forms of exits would be good to find as well.
Shaking his head at Malgrim's question. "No Gnolls here, gnolls came after Kelmarane abandoned. What caused Kelmarane to be abandoned locked here in temple by Packmasters long ago. We sent here now to kill it."
As he talks he moves to the raised dais in the center of the room bearing a ceramic cask with the elaborate topper capped by a figurine of Sarenrae. Curious, he carefully inspects the whole apparatus while Malgrim scours the room. If he doesn't find any traps he lifts the topper and looks inside.
Hobgoblin Kineticist 9 | Init +4 (5), Senses Perception (Darkvision) +20 | AC 29, 16 Touch, 25 Flat Footed| Fort +14 (15), Ref +14 (15), Will +8 | HP 106/106 (97/124) ( Non-lethal) | Burn 4 |Active Conditions: None
"Ah...I thought some had fled in here when you retook the city. So it will likely be mystical defenses and summoned creatures that defend this place. Or undead...those can last forever as well." Malgrim muses as he watches Gnasher open the cask.
Human Fighter 5 // Init +2/ HP 53 / 53 // AC: 19/T:13/FF:16 - Percep: +5// F +7/R +4/W +2/CMB +9- CMD 22 (23 disarm/sunder)
As Mei enters the room just behind malgrim, she takes in everything.
I usually find it best to leave the dead lie in peace. What we seek is most likely not there.
Taking notice of the scratches Mei investigates the sconce with the scratch marks. interesting She ponders to herself. Looking to see why the scratch marks are here.
No traps are discovered. Mei realizes that the sconce wiggles a teensie bit and can probably be made to rotate, though it is resisting her efforts to do so right now.
Gnasher examines the cask and finds it decorated with images honoring some long dead cleric of Sarenrae. Inside hw sees ashes, presumably the remains of said priest since the place is obviously a burial chamber.
So the question is, does Gnasher sift through the ashes or respect the dead? And does Mei follow up and try any experiments with the sconce.
Listening as Mei's comments about leaving the dead 'lie in peace' Gnasher only nodded. He didn't have the reverence for the hallowed dead that many humans did. Dead meat is dead meat. Having been raised by humans, he knew it was anathema to eat 'sentient beings' but he still didn't understand what all the fuss was about with the dead bodies. However he did enjoy teasing his human friends about it. Nodding he sagely agrees "Dead should stay dead."
Turning to answer Urah's question, Gnasher shrugs in a very human like fashion. "Gnasher not know." He gestures around the room, "Does firestarter detect magic residue?"
Having finished looking into the ceramic cast, Gnasher calls to the others. "Just ash." Putting the elaborate topper back on the cask he smiles a toothy smile. "No good bones to chew."
Moving closer to the Mei, while she inspected the lose brick he looked at the stones. "Gnasher not think fire things make scratches. Tribe need to be careful."
Hobgoblin Kineticist 9 | Init +4 (5), Senses Perception (Darkvision) +20 | AC 29, 16 Touch, 25 Flat Footed| Fort +14 (15), Ref +14 (15), Will +8 | HP 106/106 (97/124) ( Non-lethal) | Burn 4 |Active Conditions: None
"How old do the scratches seem to be? Could it be something that passed through recently?" Malgrim asks Mei as he continues to scan the room for anything else of importance.
Looks like they were made by swiveling the sconce.
And Tarak gets an aura coming from the cask. Unfortunately, not having any training in Arcana, he can't determine the school. Only that there is magic inside. Magic dust?
Joining Mei, Gnasher observes the scratch marks on the empty sconce. Putting his own claws in the grooves, he smiles a toothy smile. "Gnasher think sconce swivel." He then latches hold of the sconce and tries to turn it.
Male Human Druid 7 | Init +2, Senses Perception +16 | AC 19, 14 Touch, 17 Flat footed (+4 armor, +1 Shield, +2 Dex, +2 Def,) | Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +12 | HP 17/48| Lightning Arc 6/7 | Beacon 0/1 | DL 1/1 IL 1/1| Med 1/1 | Active Conditions: Barkskin: AC 22
”Magic here, not sure what… Tarak notes, and calls to Urah ”wanna take a peak, sorcerer?”
At the mention of torches Tarak drops his pack and rummages inside, ”Sure I’ve got one in here somewhere … ah, yes, here.” he mumbles, eventually brandishing s torch.
knowing he didn't have any torches in his pack, Gnasher watched as Stormblessed dropped his pack and pulled out a torch. Moving towards Tarak, he reaches out and takes the torch. "Thanks Chief." He quickly puts the torch in the sconce and then tries to turn it the directions of the claw marks.
At first it doesn't budge, but then he twists the torch and you all hear a click. After that, he is able to make the sconce rotate, though a little stiffly and the wall behind the dead in the alcove grudgingly swings away a few inches. The dry bones prove no obstacle to the determined gnoll and he shoves them and the door out of his way as he forges forward up to an elbow in the revealed corridor. North of him is a plain stone-worked chamber that looks a bit ransacked.
Sorry folks, I remember reading this on Friday, but I don't remember why I didn't post a response on Sat. morning. LOL, I went to the map and someone had already moved Gnasher into the hallway, thanks :)
Seeing Tarak head towards the newly revealed door open, Gnasher lifts one paw while gripping his bardiche in the other. "Chief let Gnasher go first, makes sure it is safe." He then heads into the corridor first stopping at the elbow carefully inspecting the passageway, then pressing onward into the ransacked chamber carefully inspecting it as well.
Ok, taking 10 (18) on perception for the corridor and the chamber
The two rummage about and find that there are a few items that look whole, including a number of necklaces, rings, and brooches, and even a circlet or headband or something.
Dc 15 knowledge appraise:
None of the items look to be made of any precious metals or to be worth anything
Hobgoblin Kineticist 9 | Init +4 (5), Senses Perception (Darkvision) +20 | AC 29, 16 Touch, 25 Flat Footed| Fort +14 (15), Ref +14 (15), Will +8 | HP 106/106 (97/124) ( Non-lethal) | Burn 4 |Active Conditions: None
Appraise:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
"I think they look nice. But I am not sure. they could be fake items meant to distract." Malgrim says as he scratches his head and is not sure what if anything should be done with the items.
Urah kindly defers that he go forward to take a look. He had no spell available that he could make light with given that he could already see in the dark.
The items could be of interest and Urah does a minor cantrip to see if any of them are magical.
A few of the items light up for Urah, including a neckless of shiny red beads, another neckless of shiny white beads, an embroidered headband (expectedly, the embroidery depicts that ever present templar of the five winds, Vardishal), and a funny little box with long straps the others overlooked as it does not look like much.
Shaking his head, as he roots through some of the items. Turning to the group, he shrugs in a very human like manor. "Nothing here worth anything, unless magical." He looks from Urah to Tarak, knowing they both have different means of learning things.
Smiling a toothy smile when he hears Urah using his magic, Gnasher turns towards Mei, "It clear. After Firestarter does magic tribe will go down pit."
While Urah continues with the things in the hidden room, Gnasher takes off his pack, getting his rope out. Wanting to have it ready for their decent.
Urah has some success and determines that the necklace with the white beads is a strand of prayer beads with one bead of blessing and another of healing. The odd box thing is something a cleric uses to know when she is deviating from the faith.
Passing Urah on his way to the shaft, Gansher asks, "Firestarter find anything interesting?"
As they reenter the round chamber lined with quartz stones Gnasher walks over to the large gong, tying his knotted rope to the small pedestal. Tugging on the rope to test the strength of the pedestal, he grunts with approval then drops the remainder of the rope down the 30 ' shaft.
Sliding the bardiche into his pack so he can climb down the rope, he turns to the others. "Gnasher go first." Turning to Mei he asks "Spear killer follow." Gesturing to the others, "When tribe below, we go." he then takes the rope into both paws and swings out against the well's wall and begins to repel down.
Once he lands he draws his bardiche, looking down the open door.
knotted rope with a wall, Gnasher will take 10(14) on climb. At the bottom he will take 10(18) on perception.
Anyone going to do something stupid? No? OK, you all make it down without injury.
The chute opens into a small antechamber with more rough hewn walls. To the north is an old rusty portcullis that looks like it may give you some problems moving forward. There is a lever near it but the rust has done it's job and robbed it of all usefulness.
If you try stuff on it, make the roll you think will be useful.
With all the grace of a fat cow clambering down a steep hill, he slowly and painfully makes his way down the chamber. Luckily due to his time spent as an insignificant thug, his luck still holds allowing him to make it down safety.......
Moving near the portcullis, Gnasher looks at the bars then moves over to the lever. Shifting the bardiche to on paw, he takes hold of the lever with the other, testing it gingerly. Releasing it he gestures towards the handle. "Gnasher think lever will break if Gnasher pull too hard." Turning back towards the iron bars he asks, "Can bars and gears be disabled or should tribe try and lift?"
Hobgoblin Kineticist 9 | Init +4 (5), Senses Perception (Darkvision) +20 | AC 29, 16 Touch, 25 Flat Footed| Fort +14 (15), Ref +14 (15), Will +8 | HP 106/106 (97/124) ( Non-lethal) | Burn 4 |Active Conditions: None
Malgrim shakes his head in regards to Gnasher's question and then asks,"I have no means of cleaning or lubricating them. Did anyone bring oil? If not I do have a crowbar."
Human Fighter 5 // Init +2/ HP 53 / 53 // AC: 19/T:13/FF:16 - Percep: +5// F +7/R +4/W +2/CMB +9- CMD 22 (23 disarm/sunder)
Mei moves up to gnasher,
perhaps the two of us could force the gate open. But be aware that. Usually things like these are built for a reason, whoever built it may want us to stay out for a good reason. We should proceed with extra caution
Mei looks ready to assist in forcing open the gate.
Urah is definitely able to determine that this rusted monstrosity is not going to yield to finesse. The only way past it is through it the good, old-fashioned way.
Smilng a toothy smile at Urah, "Fortunatly, gnasher attuned to brute force." Reaching out toward Malgrim Gnasher accepts the crowbar. Jamming it under the rusty portcullis he pulls his own crowbar out from his pack handing it to Mei, "Use on that side." As Mei jambs the crowbar in he nods. "Heave!" and presses his crowbar down, trying to lift the gate.
His claw slipping of the crowbar, Gnasher looks embarrassed that he didn't move the gate. Nodding to Mei, "Again"
The gate not moving, he growls, "Again"
Not feeling it move, he shifts his feet, "Again"
Cursing at the gate under his breath, in a very human fashion he wipes the sweat from his brow and repeats, "Again"
HE turns and looks at the others, "Maybe Gnasher should chew through the bars." Very frustrated he begins to rage, becoming larger, his eyes red, drool falling from his muzzle he roars "Again."
str:1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 = 10 str:1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 2 = 15 str:1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 4 + 2 = 9 str:1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 4 + 2 = 8 str:1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 = 10 str: enlarged:1d20 + 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 4 + 2 + 2 = 24 Don't know if we can count Mei's as an aid or not, hopefully the last one worked.
Hobgoblin Kineticist 9 | Init +4 (5), Senses Perception (Darkvision) +20 | AC 29, 16 Touch, 25 Flat Footed| Fort +14 (15), Ref +14 (15), Will +8 | HP 106/106 (97/124) ( Non-lethal) | Burn 4 |Active Conditions: None
Malgrim will tell Gnasher, "Hold onto that in case we need to force another door while we are down here. That door was much sturdier then it looked with it's rusted appearance. This place was apparently built to last."
In spite of the crowbar, Mei finds a loose spot and leverages her strength better. Just about the time Gnasher starts raging and growing, Mei wrenches the gate loose with a horrendous screeching sound one could only appreciate growing up around chalkboards. Her hands are a little scratched up and red from the rust, but the deed is done and the way forward is open.
Nodding to Mei, Gnasher agrees with Urah as hi puts up the crowbar. "Yes well done Spear Killer." He nods towards the long hallway. "Tribe go."
Picking up his bardiche, he Turns to Malgrim he gestures towards tehe dark and probably dangerous hallway. "Ghost, come help explore darkness?"
Since the hallway is 10 ft he's asking Malgrim to join him using his perception moving up the hall. Gnasher will move forward slowly using perception. taking 10 (18)
I am planning on starting said AP and I need players. Unlike most recruitment I am not interested in interviewing your characters. Instead I am interested in interviewing you, the PC. Here is what I want:
1) Dependability
That's the most important thing to me. Tell my why you would be dependable. How awesome you are at keeping up with the posting and how you have never, EVER, been sidetracked by real-life and amaze me. Tell me that you have posted over 100000 times on this forum to really blow my mind. (Is that even possible?)
2) Creativity
I like interesting characters well role played. I do not need my players to be writing geniuses, but I want you to surprise me with something new! Brag on a few of your favorite character concepts you brought to life.
3) Flexibility
I have some house rules I want to try and if you don't like trying something new, well, you won;t want to play in this game anyway.
House roles located here in Google Docs
So, let's see if I can get some takers...
Oh, one more thing. If you have GMed this and have the slides available for the encounters, even if you do not want to play, I sure would appreciate them. I have the books but my scanner sucks.
1) Dependability... Yeah, I show up and post. I'm on a computer every day except when I'm on vacation... When I do that, well, you get something like this:
https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivktp/gameplay&page=6#265
Do I promise you that I will never be sidetracked by life? No. Life can, and will, happen to everyone sooner or later...
2) Creativity
Well, I try. I also try to avoid stories that smell of BS ("all of his relatives are dead", "he's a perfect moral human being with no vices"). Some previous builds:
https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivkw8/recruiting&page=2#82
https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivkw6/recruiting#48
https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivksp/recruiting&page=5#210
https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivks9/recruiting&page=4#178
(and the line of patter : https://paizo.com/campaigns/v5748p75ivks9/recruiting&page=4#177 )
3) I can live with all the house rules written in the document- but Build Points is going to make things very, very, busy for character mechanical development. I mean each character submitted theoretically needs 3 votes (2 traits and 1 feat) by all the participants... I would suggest just letting the GM rule on point values (although that does put the onus on you...).
I'm hoping the value of feats will be something easy to agree on, but the GM always has the final call if it's debatable. If the idea becomes burdensome, we will drop it. I've always wanted to try, but its more important for everyone to have fun.
As for dependability, it can happen, yes, but some folks are less likely to let real life intrude. I've never quit a game because of real life. And the most I've ever been delayed in posting is by a couple of days. Even when I was hospitalized I found a way.
That being said, I don't know that I will find anyone as 'dependable' (or maybe you are thinking obsessive ifs a better word?) as me. But I know that attrition is the worst enemy of APs and this is my way of trying to get together a group that really wants the AP to have legs and is used to staying committed. If you have ever made it through a whole AP in PbP, whether as player or GM, that would be a glowing recommendation to me.
1) Dependability
I’m fairly dependable on posting. I played Peter in a recent game we shared, as an example of this.
2) Creativity
I’d like to think I bring concepts to life. Recent PbP games of mine include the characters Peter, Mal, and Ograk.
3) Flexibility
I’m flexible. The point system looks complex. I suspect that you’re going to have to rule on values and this will be hard to adjudicate. You might consider simplifying it by assigning a fixed value to high value feats, and lower value to others. There are systems that deal with feat gating already and a tweaks of those may be easier to implement.
1. I've not nothing to lose. I've been itching for a chance at RPing on this site for a while now, and I won't throw away my shot. BTW, I'm at CST.
2. I love to get into my character's head and play them out. I have played beings such as a relunctant oracle of lore, a war-ready cleric of Gorurm and an Ulfen spy working for the Lion Guard.
3. I've read the House rules and will adhere to everything that has been stated.
Thyste Fox-Tailed here! I’ve got a PC that I’ve been dying to make work—a Picaroon, basically—and I adore your house rules. You can probably judge me from our existing game, but let me know if you’d like me to fill out the questionnaire anyway!
1) Well, I have posted more than 15,000 times on this forum but I hardly believe that this is measure that is of importance. :-) I had to take a leave for a couple of months but I am back and eager to join a great group.
2) We have played a couple of games together so I hope that you will be able to judge this for yourself. :-D
3) For me the system is only a possibility to play the game but the most important thing is that the group is playing their characters and that we have a fun time with GM!
Sure, why not? I'd love to give this campaign another shot.
1. I'm currently running several campaigns, and making a solid effort to post every day in each of them. I'm currently in my final semester of school, so my posting may be affected by schoolwork. That being said, you'll never have to worry about me dropping a campaign--once we get going in earnest, I tend to stay committed.
2. I've got two favourite characters at the moment. The first one is my longest-running character, Carina Viera. She's my character for a long-running Age of Worms campaign being hosted here on the Paizo boards.
My second favourite character is an aasimar rogue I'm playing in a Wrath of the Righteous campaign--her name is Alexa Dorne. I created her as a way to reflect the moral ambiguity of the earlier Crusades against the demons of the Worldwound. Currently, she's more concerned with reuniting her lost family and making sure they escape the war.
This interests me. As for your points (questions?), here are my responses:
Dependability: I have always committed to my PbP games with only one exception: Pathfinder society games. Now, I have never (as in not even once) failed to keep up to posting and game pace. But I found PFS boring, as there's no character development, just some random missions with strangers that change sooner than you can build anything. It's the board game version of RPG, which I particularly dislike.
Now, for the games I do enjoy, I keep up with a smile on my face, and if I have something coming up that will disrupt my posting, I let people know beforehand. I consider these games a commitment and have had my fair share of leavers, and it would require extraordinary circumstances to keep me from posting at a healthy pace. I post at least once per day on weekdays. It varies on weekends.
Creativity: I play very much character focused. I don't particularly enjoy building weird character concepts, such as a rogue that can turn into a giraffe or anything, but I am usually very sure of how my character feels. I like to built them over time, so that I act the way the character feels, and this usually results in their personality being formed from their actions.
I don't have anything new for you, as I like to keep my characters simple mechanically. What I can offer is steady and consistent characters, for whom I grow affectionate over time.
I can also say that the AP in question makes me think of Diablo II's second act. I am very unfamiliar with Muslim culture in general, in which the AP seems to be inspired, so my references are few. And for some reason it makes me want to make a character related to air magic.
Flexibility: I consider myself to be a flexible person. I am willing to learn any new system, but I have to admit I didn't really understand the proposal. Are feat/trait costs supposed to be discussed and agreed upon? I admit I don't have an amazing sense of game balance, so I probably won't be able to contribute a lot to this discussion. Also, I tend to make characters who are light on feat demand (read: non-martial).
About everything else in the Google document, I'm perfectly fine with it.
Dependability: I only have about 2k posts, and I admit in the past I have allowed myself to become overcommitted, mostly after the birth of my second child. But I love Role Playing, and having 2 young children prevents me from playing a local game. That inability to play locally gives me a strong drive to keep up with my PbP games.
Creativity: The one off the wall concept that I have built but not yet had the chance to play is a Witch with the deception patron and a monkey familiar. The twist is that he is wrong about who his patron is, he is basically a good man with a desire to do good things, but his patron through his familiar, wishes to force him to a fall from grace. I don’t know if I could pull something like that off.
I do my best with all of my characters to know who they are, to let that understanding drive in game decisions. That and a general “Yes And” philosophy to keep the game moving.
Flexibility: I have never played with build points before but I am not opposed to trying new things. Looking over your rules they seem well thought out and I agree with your points.
> Dependability
I've been playing on the forums here for years (including hosting some games) and I guess a good amount of people already know me or played with me at some point (or is playing now). I can't say I never paused during this while - I had two major breaks of some months, before which I communicated the games I was being part of (real life happens - especially when you have kids and whatnot). I usually keep my parallel games to a certain point - at maximum about five, usually less than that to accommodate quick PFS games here and there.
> Creativity
I know some people like going really crazy with races and whatnot - but, being honest, I like creativity on clever, subtle ways (as in, mechanics that simply click well together). I like cleaving-focused corsair Dwarfs, for instance. But the thing I like the most is finding the archetypes/classes that people say are just crap, D-rated, and get them to work and be somewhat effective in something. For instance, in a recent game, my character is an oozemorph shifter - and between multiclassing with bloodrager and some other combined mechanics, I feel it's actually fairly dangerous as a damage dealer. On my table ("real life") game I play a half-orc druid (plain, no archetypes) that is absurdly durable due to a combination of the deathless feat chain and regeneration.
> Flexibility
I'm open to new rules - Every game I play has some sort of different rules. One thing I'm always concerned about is power creep just for the sake of "insanity". I understand the cool factor about it, but as far as customization can go, I need to feel some level of balance in order to have fun. Obviously characters have niches and situations they're just plain better at - it's fine. But if something is just simply unbalanced because of excessive customization, it starts not being fun to me anymore. On your set of rules, I like the part of leveling based on accomplishments (as it's very similar to how I level my players as well!). The point #4 might be a little tricky to implement like some people mentioned - I saw some point based systems like "build your own class" etc. that were cool when they worked (but tough on the GM to balance). Also, in my mind feat costs are a matter or synergy with other aspects (race/class/other feats/etc.) so the official "approach" resolves it by trying to cost them in a generic way. I'm open to try something on this matter, but maybe we could keep feats as they are and instead approach the game using the racebuilder+"build your class" type of thing and let the GM be the final judge instead of opening all builds for scrutiny to all players. Just my two cents!
Unlike most recruitment I am not interested in interviewing your characters. Instead I am interested in interviewing you, the PC.
I don't have time for another PbP, so I'm not applying. However, I wanted to call-out and support the interview-the-player-not-the-PC strategy. I've always thought that the relationship between the players make a good game, not what PCs they create. Kudos.
Creativity: I play very much character focused. I don't particularly enjoy building weird character concepts, such as a rogue that can turn into a giraffe or anything, but I am usually very sure of how my character feels. I like to built them over time, so that I act the way the character feels, and this usually results in their personality being formed from their actions.
I am much the same way. A lot of my characters start out with a rough concept but develop depth over the course of play. I envy those who can bring a fully thought out and developed (personality-wise) character from the get go. But even those folks, I expect, also get ideas and add depth as a game goes on.
Anthorg wrote:
Flexibility: I consider myself to be a flexible person. I am willing to learn any new system, but I have to admit I didn't really understand the proposal. Are feat/trait costs supposed to be discussed and agreed upon? I admit I don't have an amazing sense of game.
That is right. You might come to me and say, "I want to have goblin blood but the goblin feats suck royally and it takes a whole feat to just have goblin blood." My response would be to say "hell yes, it does suck. What do you guys think it should cost to have goblin blood. I suggest one build point." At which point the players may say, you are figgin' crazy, it should cost at LEAST 2 points and convince me that 2 points makes more sense, or the players might say that sound fair enough and we go with it.
Flexibility: I have never played with build points before but I am not opposed to trying new things. Looking over your rules they seem well thought out and I agree with your points.
Not surprising. Nobody has, including me. It's an idea I've wanted to try so the whole team will be a bunch of guinea pigs.
The nice thing is that if you stick to a 10 point race and don't want to bother negotiating a lower price, the build process is identical to standard play. So you don't HAVE to deal with build points if you don't want to.
Unlike most recruitment I am not interested in interviewing your characters. Instead I am interested in interviewing you, the PC.
I don't have time for another PbP, so I'm not applying. However, I wanted to call-out and support the interview-the-player-not-the-PC strategy. I've always thought that the relationship between the players make a good game, not what PCs they create. Kudos.
I'm surprised more folks don't do that. I have seen GMs say don't bother doing the crunch, but they usually want the character description. Which is understandable. I do like reading a good character concept and it does give an idea how well they write, which is also important. But then you sometimes get a stellar writer who leaves the game in a month. I'd rather have an OK writer that sticks with the game than a writing genius that depresses you when (s)he leaves.
That is right. You might come to me and say, "I want to have goblin blood but the goblin feats suck royally and it takes a whole feat to just have goblin blood." My response would be to say "hell yes, it does suck. What do you guys think it should cost to have goblin blood. I suggest one build point." At which point the players may say, you are figgin' crazy, it should cost at LEAST 2 points and convince me that 2 points makes more sense, or the players might say that sound fair enough and we go with it.
Cue collective applauding for anyone that needs to take Combat Expertise!
Combat expertise is not toooo bad. It does provide flexibility, but since to hit is about as important as damage, there is no net gain. I'd rate it as a mediocre feat. A meh feat in most situations, but in some situations it can be a life saver. This is definitely one of those feats that Archlich described as needing synergy and if you can find it, the feat can be really good. The trouble is that it is a prerequisite to so many other feats and you might want to go a different route that build your character around making the feat work. Makes it a tough one to attach a number to.
1) Dependability
I get very invested in my characters, particularly when I really connect with them, and have been known to do things that are very sub optimal at times because it fit with the character. As an example my principle character in GM ShadowLord's Rise of the Runelords Jessica DuMorne. Early in the campaign, the end of book 2, I swapped out characters because she had so much trauma happen to her, losing her entire family and the man she fell in love with (and got knocked up by) that she left the campaign for an extended time period to recuperate. She only recently got brought back in now that sufficient time has passed. Getting as invested in her as I have has kept me very interested in the game and consequently helps keep me going strong.
I will be the first to admit that I rarely manage a post a day after the initial start of a game but I do make it a point to do my best to keep up with everyone. This can sometimes be a challenge given my work schedule (10 hour shifts at a call center 4 days a week where I can't always post) but I do tend to sneak a fair number in mot days. That being said when I do get caught up I do a thorough job of responding to everything I need to respond to.
While I can't boast anywhere near to 100000 posts but I have made 12,713 of them.
2) Creativity
Well, as mentioned above there is Jessica DuMorne. She's one I have connected strongly with and greatly enjoy playing. From losing her family, her love, and then having a child she has been one of my favorite characters even though I put her aside for quite a while in the campaign due to these things happening. They seemed to all lead naturally one to the next and helped the character develop significantly. None of those things were planned at all and they made for significant character development to occur in ways I didn't foresee.
Jessica's followup character, Krysta Amethystra, is a crystal dragon that was taken in by the temple and has a most un-dragon-ish horde. She started off by claiming all of the artwork in the temple as "her's" and spent a lot of time straightening every...last...piece of it so that it was perfect. A pair of NPCs (the twins) always took delight in shifting everything when she wasn't looking which drove the dragon nuts as she started fixing it all again and raving about what she'd do to the pair. Beyond the artwork though Krysta collected people as part of her horde. If she found herself attached to someone they became a part of it. Jessica was the first and as aggravating as they were so were the twins, she ended up adding most of the party to her horde, a rescued nymph, and may the Gods have mercy on your wretched-soul if you hurt one of them. Currently she is having her grand finale as I shift to Jessica by fighting the attacking red dragon in the skies over the town.
Another favorite was Nessa Meretrix, a tiefling sorceress (priestess) of Calistria from a Second Darkness campaign. The original game she was in (which died young) was the better run of her so far Second Darkness game 1 She starts off as pretty much as slutty and b%+$~y as you'd expect of a Calistrian, particular a demon born one, but when they meet the little girl, a random npc that has nothing to really do with the story she began to change. She was the only one willing to take the girl in and as things progressed she came to change a little, becoming a more responsible person as she took care of the girl she adopted as her own. She moved out of the temple and into a home and it caused a lot of drama in the party as some wanted to abduct the girl and send her somewhere else to live where they felt she would be safer.
My final example is going to be Emalliandra from Ruins of Azlant. An amnesiac woman who remembers nothing before a few years before and could only, at first, speak the Azlanti language. She eventually became a spellcaster and joined the colonists. While on the island she has slowly begun to gain hints that she is actually very old and was possibly even there during the Planet Fall that brought on the Darkness. She has begun to have a lot of interactions with her allies, her new family, in particular with the character Simon who is the big brother she never had. The two get into some major fights because of their different viewpoints but in the end they are family none the less.
3) Flexibility
I'm more than happy with the house rules, though I've been a huge fan of the background skills since they came out as they seem to me like something that always should have been there to encourage people to put those ranks into some skills that are often flat ignored because mechanically they are nearly worthless 90% of the time. That being said they aren't make or break for me either.
The build points are a very interesting idea I would like to try, I think they have a lot of potential to balance out the stronger races (I'm looking at you drow!) and can be used to make various builds more viable.
@Drogeny
Keep in mind that the skills like lore only take one skill point and you forever have ranks equal to your level. In some ways that is even better than the background skill system as you can be an expert in a lot of non-essential skills. I hope it encourages folks to take some skills in things that add depth to the character. I'm thinking craft and profession will work similarly and others depending on the class (like perform for non-bards).
One of the reason for the build points is for race balance, as you suggested. It's hard to pass up an Aasimar in order to play a Kobold when you have to sacrifice so many abilities to do so. But, if that actually nets you an extra feat? Now you have a reason to play the sucky race.
Probably a good thing this is most important to you because I would say dependability is one of my strongest qualities. I've been doing PBPs for around 6 years now and in that time I have yet to drop a game or disappear from one (the closest I've come is the DM and players mutually agreeing that it might be best to end the game for one reason or another). I consider that a point of pride and have no intention of breaking that streak. You can verify that by looking at any of my previous games, but probably the clearest indication of that is the last game I ran*. The game ran about 3.5 years and I was consistently updating it at least 1/day during the weekdays for it. I do a good job of notifying my games if I expect to be unable to post for more than a day, say because I'm traveling/expect to have limited internet connection/plan to be busy at a con. I have a strong sense of responsibility and believe that when I commit to something, I should see that commitment out. As such, I'm careful about what I commit to DMing, and I'm careful about not trying to join too many games.
* For this game, my promise was to run Crypt of the Everflame with the potential for continuing and running the full Price of Immortality series. I met that promise, running the entire trilogy. When the players finished, they were interested in running another game and one player suggested Cult of the Ebon Destroyers. I agreed. Unfortunately, the player who suggested that disappeared, and the remaining players weren't enjoying the challenging combat encounters (the player who suggested it was also combat-focused, which may have been why it was suggested), so we decided to wrap the module up and part ways there.
You also mentioned having completed an AP; I completed a run through of Mummy's Mask on the boards. That being said, the game was run at a kind of accelerated pace that skipped most of the role playing and kind of turned the game into a series of dungeon crawls/combat encounters. But I was there for the entirety of the game (which lasted about a year).
Creativity:
If you want role play examples, Kaoru Miyamoto is probably your best bet for me (though that's also a Masks game rather than Pathfinder).
If you want PF examples, typically I build characters around one central idea and then everything kind of stems from that.
Sometimes it's a crunchy idea, like Tatsuo Arashi is built around not liking to roll poorly and trying to find a way around that. My answer was to focus on evocation spells that require saves and then in my effort to make those save DCs really high, he wound up focusing on electricity spells. That then resulted in me deciding that the village he's from has 4 main clans, each focused around earth, fire, electricity, or water. Each of those clans has their own fighting style and specific views on the other clans (all detailed in his profile). None of that has ever come up in gameplay, but they were fun to create as a background.
René Treize is less of a crunch concept and is instead built around the question "Can I make a spell caster who pretends not to be a spell caster?" He's a witch, so most of the time I rely on hexing things, but I try to be careful about what kind of hexes/spells he uses. Typically he goes for luck-like affects (Fortune, Misfortune, Evil Eye) that otherwise have no outward indication that he's doing anything. But there was a case where we were about to go into a fight against a really tough enemy who had previously kicked our asses, and I decided that Summon Monster might be our best bet of survival. As a result, 1) he interspersed his spell casting words with a prayer to various gods to try to mask what he was doing and 2) he bought a smoke pellet (which at the time was pretty expensive compared to his actual wealth) and, with GM permission, threw it down at the same time his spell finished in at attempt to make it look like he was actually using a magic item to summon the creature. I will also note that with his +1 Bluff, it's far more important to me that he continue to insist he's nobody (for now anyway) rather than being able to actually convince people that he's not doing spell casting (though for that particular Summon Monster trick, I want to say I rolled really well on my Bluff).
Other ideas that I've had but may or may not have gotten to play include:
- How do I justify making an evil character who's primary role is to heal/buff/otherwise take care of the party?
- How can I make a pacifist who is still a useful, contributing member of the party/whose pacifism doesn't get in the way?
- Can I make a character who likes to run around grabbing enemies and using them to whack other enemies?
Flexibility:
I'm relatively flexible, but it depends a lot on what specifically you want me to be flexible about. From your doc
1) Team Effort and 2) Loot and leveling: Sound fine.
3) Crunch: This is already how I structure things (PBP games take forever, so I find it important that when I look at my character months from now, I can figure out where exactly I got my numbers from and if they're out of date).
4) Build Points: I'm up for trying this. I will, however note that I'm not big into negotiating things; I'd much rather just have the DM tell me what the cost of something is and build from there. If you want someone to try this out with, I can do that. If you want someone to help you try to make this system balanced and to debate balance with you, I'm probably not your person.
5) Classes and Archetypes: I'm generally pretty happy with Paizo classes. Since you're not outright opposed to 3pp stuff, I might take a look at them since you don't always get a chance to try them, but I'm not going to be crushed if I get a "no" to my 3pp proposals. Honestly, one of the characters I keep trying to play (but then the games keep dying) is a vanilla human fighter.
6) Skills: Sounds fine. No background skills is slightly sad, but unless I'm playing a skill-deficient character, I might use that Lore rule a lot. I don't typically make Intimidation-based builds anyway.
7) Suggestions: Generally fine/Mostly things I do anyway or can easily start doing. I will probably not use your template though because I like mine (you can see it on both René and Tatsuo's sheets above).
1 Dependability, This is where I have the least evidence. I've yet to participate in a PBP Arc or campaign so I can't bost much about that. But I can guarantee to post at least twice a day and checking more often than that, with the exception of a few times for a weekend or two when I won't have internet (Which I would give at least a week's warning of) and if there has been no progress that I would comment on since my last post.
2 Creativity, I like to think I'm fairly creative. I do my best to create interesting characters story-wise and also Mechanics wise. I tend to like characters more in the magic or mystic side, I haven't gotten to play much on here but some of my favorites in home games include a Cartographer whose goal was simply to map out distant lands as quickly as possible and well if that means he has to help out some adventures for protection so be it and a Politiation (3.5 Noble) who was making connections with the group for political and monetary gain. most of my characters have either the preposition or the goal of political or social power.
3 Flexibility, I don't mind house rules at all looking through yours they seem fine. I play in games and run games with completely homebrewed magic systems and things of that nature so the house rules seem pretty tame by comparison, Which I like its been a while since I've been able to play in a near-standard non-PFS game.
@Anon A Mouse
You sound like just the sort of person I'm looking for.
Don't worry about the suggested template. Of all the things I suggested, I figured that one would be largely ignored. Most folks like what they like when it comes to that. And I do like your current character sheet format except that in some cases the attacks do not have all the bonuses listed. Almost perfect.
If you want a sheet with all the attack bonuses listed, Takeshi Yoshida is a better example. Both René and Tatsuo are spellcasters who typically don't make attack rolls/have very simple attacks when it happens, so I tend to skimp on those details.
1) Dependability
That's the most important thing to me. Tell my why you would be dependable. How awesome you are at keeping up with the posting and how you have never, EVER, been sidetracked by real-life and amaze me. Tell me that you have posted over 100000 times on this forum to really blow my mind. (Is that even possible?)
1). I've only GM'd here -- if you look at my games, you'll see I have 5,000+ posts and one of them has been running almost 2 years now with 3,200 posts. Yes, I have issues sometimes keeping up, but I've come back to and revived games that were lagging as well.
2) Creativity
I like interesting characters well role played. I do not need my players to be writing geniuses, but I want you to surprise me with something new! Brag on a few of your favorite character concepts you brought to life.
If you look at my campaigns, you'll see that I write quite a bit, and make a complex story. Sometimes, honestly, it seems like too much to absorb for players, who have a hard time keeping all the lore straight. For my Dark Sun game, I'm particularly proud of a set of Lawful Neutral antagonists I created, who are a set of rules-oriented philosophical quasi defilers (they think they're 'Gray Mages' who combine defiling and preserving, but they're really just odd defilers). They originate from a cynical philosophical school of totalitarian idealists from Balic who have decided they should be running the city-states instead of the sorcerer kings. They're breeding anti-psionic and magic beetles with the help of extra planetary travelers to accomplish this end (borrowing from Merchant House of Amtech and some homebrew of my own). I think my maps also get a lot of attention.
3) Flexibility
I have some house rules I want to try and if you don't like trying something new, well, you won;t want to play in this game anyway.
House roles located here in Google Docs
3) I basically made up my own version of Pathfinder I use for all my games. I'm actually interested BECAUSE I'm intrigued by these house rules. I'll need some more details to decide if I'm a good fit. I'm interested in the feat purchasing method if that would make it possible to make a feat heavy rogue or fighter at a lower level.
1) Well, I have posted more than 15,000 times on this forum but I hardly believe that this is measure that is of importance. :-) I had to take a leave for a couple of months but I am back and eager to join a great group.
2) We have played a couple of games together so I hope that you will be able to judge this for yourself. :-D
3) For me the system is only a possibility to play the game but the most important thing is that the group is playing their characters and that we have a fun time with GM!
Hello GM, due to the fact that I am playing in a Giantslayer campaign I would like to withdraw my application.
Gratz for the guys already picked! I had the chance to be in the same tables as then before (and currently!) so I can tell the GM already made some right choices. Crossing my fingers here for the next spots, but if I don’t get in - have fun!
I'm getting anxious about this so I'm gonna actually fill this out instead of relying on my reputation as Thyste ;D
1) Dependability
Never dropped a game, I check the boards religiously during my waking hours.
2) Creativity
You've met Thyste already, but other concepts:
-Uwu, halfling ninja who talks like that "Hewwo?? Is anyone thewe??/Then perish" s***post and I'm proud to say has been a large success in making my fellow players laugh in her first Confirmation scenario so far.
-Kasumi and Sayuki, a pair of irreconcilable kitsune tricksters-- the former an illusion sorceress who prefers creative solutions and once, while visiting a haunted mansion, used Prestidigitation to create and hide little statuettes of her party members for them to find, each of which with a red splotch over a vital area. (Coordinated with the GM on this, it was very fun :D)
-Vixie, a halfling adopted by the above kitsune tricksters with the intent of seeing how long it would take a halfling child to realize that they were kitsune in human guise. Hints grew increasingly blatant and bets kept getting raised, but Vixie (whose heroes are all kitsune legends, whose moms own a bakery called "The Nine-Tuilled Fox," whose name is Vixie, and who has "caught" them in kitsune form before they quickly excused themselves and came back in human form pretending not to know anything about the kitsune) has no idea. Vixie has a Perception and a Sense Motive of -4 due in part to the "Oblivious" drawback.
-"Lucky" Linna Goblinsbane, a halfling who carries a knife and fork into battle, who swears "Goblinsbane" is a family name to any goblin she meets, and definitely is selling legitimate snake oil, not like that guy down in the marketplace.
EDIT: BONUS EDITION: -A rogue who locked herself out of her house and has been trying to get good enough to pick her way back in ever since. Lawful Good.
3) Flexibility
As mentioned, very excited to use the rules you're playing with!
Actually the more I think about this character, I think he's turning into an occultist instead of a bard. The singing and dancing in combat thing has always seemed a little inexplicable to me, honestly.
Broad strokes, he's a young human man (I usually play humans) from a privileged background looking to find his own identity in the world, outside the shadow of his family. He's a good, intelligent, civilized idealist who's coming to terms with questions of moral growth and responsibility. He's pretty clear in my head, but I don't have the numbery bits jotted out yet. I can submit a character if you feel he's worth a further glance.
Second choice, I also have an idea for a cleric of Pharasma who focuses on the prophecy part of the portfolio. She has a sort of Varisian Harrower feel as she uses Harrow cards in her devotions and spell casting, but that's just flavor. She would be a sort of mysterious and theatrical presence. My first thought is that she's an undine, oddly enough for Katapesh. So if the campaign needs a healer, I'd offer her. Honestly I love playing clerics, they might be my favorite class.
@VixieMoondew
I'll put you out of your misery. Go ahead and check into discussion. the fact that you have never dropped a game put you over the threshold.
With the predetermined Grandlounge that puts us up to 4 players now.
Oh shoot! I wish I had decided to get back into Pathfinder last month! I guess I missed out on this one. Well I wish all of good luck in this adventure!
So, we need fresh blood. We are mid way through book one and a number of our players have been unable to post regularly and eventually decided to quit. So now I need 2 new players.
Unlike the original request, where I went for players with a track history of never quitting a game, I would like to try to get people that will post daily. I've learned my lesson and I'd rather have an active player than one who is bored or busy that is too tenacious to quit.
So, if you are interested, here is what I need:
1) Read the house rules (link at top) and create a character sheet at level 2. We use WBL so your total wealth should be 1000 gp. The house rules should answer the usual questions about background skills and feat taxes.
2) Your character builds will be affected though only if you want them to be and you can gain or lose build points by taking weak feats or tailoring your race. I will need a section on your character sheet labeled Build Points that shows where your build points are allocated.
3) I want numbers on your sheet. If you have a Fort ST of +5, I want to know where the bonuses came from. If you have an attack, list where you got your to hit and damage bonuses.
If you can get a decent character sheet together quickly you will probably get in. We have one front liner and one rogue/thug ATM.
The frontliner is an evangelist cleric. If that helps. He has been functioning as a frontliner, tank, sometimes healer, but is a buffer, utility caster that can hop into roles as needed.
Curious, Honestly I've not read through the house rules and such, so will need to do so. I created Gnasher several years ago for Legacy of Fire and have not found the right game for him, so a couple of questions before we continue.
miteke would you consider letting a gnoll in the game?
Lupe Fiasco, were you intending on playing the primary frontliner, or would a bloodrager be something you'd like to work with?
Lupe is a melee character and designed to be but if you miss manage resources on a cleric as the primary front liner you can get beat down pretty quickly. So short answer long is this is how I intended to play him but with inspire courage, and cleric spells he is made better with a more melee oriented group. That said arcane magic is welcome I'm cool with buffing a ranged character.
Cool, Gnasher is definitely melee oriented, I will read up on the game rules and change him as needed. Looking forward to hearing if miteke would feel a neutral gnoll raised by humans would be appropriate. His background does explain how that happened...
