Post setting up our discussion and out of character talk about the adventure.
Alright everyone here we are. Figured it would be easier for me to build a singular post where we can discuss the game here as well as the creation rules that I just hammered out for the most part.
Setting
For simplicity the game is going to take place in a highly fictionalized version of Ancient Greece; we're talking the Hollywood version of Ancient Greece. This includes the Pantheon as well as some other real-world cultures clashing (with of course the Hollywood trope of time being compressed to allow for it).
Think of it as Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, The Illiad, Sindbad (yes I know), and of course The Odyssey all smashed together.
Magic is very low and the universe will be adjusted for that of course. This means that teleportation is very rare (if even possible), flight is only for those who are very studied or blessed by the Gods, etc.
Character Creation
Pathfinder System (Epic 6)
3rd Level Starting, you're experienced in your life so far and above the average.
Humans only, each Human gets a free "Heart of the..." ability built in to represent their background.
20 Point-Buy
Maximum Hit Points for your class at each level
Unchained Background Skills System
2 Character Traits of your choice
Power Attack, Deadly Aim, Combat Expertise, Piranha Strike, Improved Unarmed Strike are free!
You can perform any combat Maneuver without provoking by taking a -4, unless you have the feat to do so. You can always choose to Provoke to take it without a Penalty as well.
No Favored Class Bonuses that grant extra spells known!
Characters should have been away for war, whether they were a sailor, soldier, prisoner, thief, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that your character is willing to go on this adventure back home and wants to deliver the Golden Box of the Gods.
Magic
Low Powered Magic due to Epic 6 and the setting. Players get 1 less Spell per level (minimum 0, and then only with Bonuses).
No Prepared Casters. Paladins and Rangers use the Bloodrager CL and spells known/per day chart.
Witch, Cleric, Druid and Wizard can be used but it is swapped to Spontaneous (using the Sorcerer Spells Known and Spells/Day).
All standard action spells have a 1 Round Cast Time.
Spells are automatically Heightened if cast with a higher slot.
Initiative
In order to speed posting up, Initiative happens in blocks. Players all roll Initiative and add it up, then enemies do. Higher Initiative block acts first to expedite combat.
Surprise rounds can be taken like normal, you may have to perform two actions at once if it goes Surprise -> Your Turn. If this is the case don't be afraid to pre-post your next action.
Additional Rules for Survival
Treat Deadly Wounds (Heal) recovers 1d4+Level HP by default instead of just Level. Only takes 15 minutes or so.
Players can rest for a 15 minute break to heal an amount equal to their level + their Con Modifier. This can be done a number of times per day equal their average Hit Die they have (rounded down):
Average D6 - 1 time per day
Average D8 - 2 times per day
Average D10 - 3 times per day
Average D12 - 4 times per day
Long Rests at the end of the day heal twice your Level + your Con.
Epic 6
This campaign will use the Epic 6 rules. This means that the world is limited to 6th level, however you will continue to become more and more heroic past 6th level, gaining special signature abilities (such as a 7th level feature, a 1-2 level feature plundered from another class, a Prestige Class feature, a single 4th level spell, strange rituals, etc) as well as just more feats to allow you more breadth of skill.
Epic 6 does not take Path of War into account. We can have a discussion about it here though.
Posting
Just keep it moving! I'll do my best to get one a day, if we can do that it would very much let the game flow and not stagnate. If you can't for whatever reason, shoot a message in the discussion or whatever and I can bot you based on your character's prior actions and choices they've made.
Weekends are whatever.
I'll definitely get one up on the weekend so we have a fresh start Monday with new stuff to work with.
Oh and of course, if you aren't feeling it for whatever reason, no biggie! It's definitely not for everyone but I absolutely love the storytelling and internal monologues and description you can do with this.
I'm tempted to make some sort of witch....
If so I might axe the Slumber Hex as a basic feature due to its insane power (or change it a little), just a heads up. Probably would roll it into an Epic or Signature ability.
I should also mention that Epic and Signature Feats are listed in the Campaign Information tab. Since E6 was made just for 3.5, we can build custom abilities. So if you want to get a look at what kind of Signature Abilities you can take, take a peek!
If you're worried about spells/day, you get enough Feats later on for everyone to basically be semi-competent in combat or to spend on more Spells. E6 is all about being clever with how you approach battles and combat so keep that in mind!
I'll think about a character concept. Likely something melee focused. The style suits me.
I'm expecting at least one person with a sword in this sword and sandal adventure.
We have a surprise 5th player as well. Stay tuned for further information.
Also any starting Magic Items need to be okay-ed, obviously with low magic and the emphasis on rests and the Heal skill I wouldn't allow for a Wand of Cure Light Wounds or whatever. I want Magic Items to feel special so don't worry your heads about getting magical items.
Also no item should cost more than 25% of your wealth (so 750 GP).
Also I should mention as well, there is a 1 Hour Editing Window for posts and that's it, so bleh.
You can find some guides on how to format posts and such in the Campaign Info tab.
I'll try to make this as easy as possible for everyone!
I'll try to make this as easy as possible for everyone!
Added a PBP Alias Template in the Campaign Information Tab, just copy it into a new Alias and fill it out with you're own information.
Greetings mortals...
Welcome!
I'm going to be capricious like a Greek God and change my mind regarding the -1 Spell/Level. The Spontaneous Casting with the full round cast times are enough of a nerf to casters.
Rejoice! For you may need that extra slot when you lose concentration!
Greetings mortals...
If it wasn't explicit you can add your Patron spells to your spells known for free at the appropriate levels.
This is a very old school, flying by the seat of my pants kind of game so I don't have hard rules for a lot of the classes as they didn't exist in the 3.5, E6, low magic conversion.
So we have 2 out of 4 pretty much ready to run!
Correct me if I'm wrong but:
EnglishTony on a debuffer Witch (Hecate as a Patron).
Christoast on a utility Alchemist (Daedalus inspired).
I would love to have this rocking by the end of next week at the latest while Hephaestus' flames are hot. Even if you're not fully done the crunch we can get the introductions and cold open going.
Have a great sunny weekend and please remember to add relevant details to your character page... Most importantly in the Class section as that creates a banner that can hold your AC, HP, Saves, Perception, Initiative and other bonuses for my quick access. You can check out some of my aliases to see what I mean. It helps a lot and looks snazzy under your posts (you can also link to images and sheets directly there too)!
Hallo peeps!
Welcome!
This brings us to our 3rd character, BeanBeanery on a Slayer who's focus is on mobility through Spring Attacky stuff and Trickery. I believe a worshiper of Hermes.
Also @Christoast: I got your Sheet updated and bought you some weird and esoteric items.
Alrighty! Let's do an Alias check here.
To make an Alias, go do the following:
- My Account > Account Settings > Create New Alias
If you got your character alias, give it a post here and make sure it has the following information in it:
1) A link to the sheet, a pasted in sheet, relevant info (there can be an infinite amount of ways to do this, you can look at some of mine to see how people do it).
- Slap it into the About X section
- If you made a Google Doc with me, that can work too
2) A bit of background.
- You can basically put anything in the About X section
- Doesn't have to be super in depth, just enough for me to add in some spice that can pertain to you
3) In the Classes/Level section of the Character Profile, the following information (this creates a neat banner under your character that shows other people the info quickly)
- Class
- HP Current / Max
- AC, Touch AC, FF AC
- Initiative
- Perception
- Fortitude, Reflex and Will
- Any other information you want (I sometimes put X/day abilities, Sense Motive, special bonuses, etc)
4) An Account Icon for the character, it makes it easier to follow who's saying what. It's only fixed images sadly but you can definitely link a picture in your Alias' description as well.
5) Read the How to Post in the Campaign Info tab, it shows how to format to do things like bold, italics, roll dice, etc.
Once we're all set up, we can get going!
Oh, hi...
3) In the Classes/Level section of the Character Profile, the following information (this creates a neat banner under your character that shows other people the info quickly)
- Class
- HP Current / Max
- AC, Touch AC, FF AC
- Initiative
- Perception
- Fortitude, Reflex and Will
- Any other information you want (I sometimes put X/day abilities, Sense Motive, special bonuses, etc)
Take a look under my name here to see an example of this. It definitely makes things easier for quick reference. You basically stuff the section with more than just your Classes to get it to work.
Also please note that the Campaign Info tab has information on formatting (how to bold, spoiler, roll dice, etc); and you should be able to move characters on the map. If someone could test the permissions and let me know that would be swell.
moved my avatar on the map, made a comment below image... seems good?
moved my avatar on the map, made a comment below image... seems good?
Int is Init (Initiative)! I can see how that's a muggy difference on first glance.
Add a Perception score and boy howdy!
Also where are the rest of you silly geese?
Test for under the name reference thing
Clearchus stands ready for adventure!
Ok so some formatting information. Feel free to test here! I recommend copying your post before you post it in case the forums hiccup and swallow your post. Nothing feels worse than making a real cool text and then having it vanish. Sometimes you might have to refresh the page after a post for it to actually settle in.
Surround the text with the tags you want. Just remove the periods for the formatting stuff.
Bolded Text is conversation
[.b] [./b]
Italics is usually internal thought
[.i] [./i]
[.ooc] [./ooc]
[.spoiler=Name of Spoiler]
[/.spoiler]
[.dice=Name of Roll] 1d20 + whatever [./dice]
Posting as a test.
Here's a test post
Chirp
Going to move this ahead come Friday I think. If you want to chat with each other and stuff, now will be the best time.
Also because I got asked this by a couple different people now, assume that you can use any of the Ancient Greek Lore. If you want to incorporate a character from the mythos into your story or whatever feel free to, but leave their major points intact.
IE: Don't have Daedalus not build a labyrinth or have Prometheus fail to steal fire.
Alright first combat! If you have any questions give me a shout somewhere.
So because you can preview your rolls, make sure you always roll in order and try not to doctor them!
What I mean is if you get hit by a tentacle that has disease, make the disease save at the start of your turn, before doing any actions. Basically just do things in the order they occur. When it comes to Knowledge Checks, always try to do them on the first turn of combat as your first roll; as it would be the first thing you would do before anything would happen.
So a couple of things:
1) Sorry to our lumbering friend. I had to move it ahead so everyone can post and act, feel free to take double actions now to make up for it.
2) Sorry if you wanted it to have a little more of a chatty start, I wanted to get some action going because I need to ensure things don't stagnate. It's the number 1 killer of play by posts.
To help with 2, don't be afraid to post and interact, I'll usually do 1 a day, or 1 per weekend, so don't feel like you're hogging the spotlight too much. The more of a story we weave, the better it becomes and the more people can play off of and it basically makes itself propagate. Use this as a way to flex your writing chops, I enjoy reading everything here as much as playing.
I'll roll saves when it makes sense to me (based on some arbitrary rule), generally to expedite things. I'll always go alphabetical when possible. Hopefully that's okay with you all.
Thankfully PBP allows us to do flashbacks and other cool narrative things to do conversations and monologues, so don't be afraid to add them to your posts before or after.
The witch, I had seen her once before we boarded... I had a suspicion when I saw her talking in some strange language. Was she what caused the tentacles to come? Did she bring the ire?
I had no time to think on it and made a note to discuss with her later, should we survive.
Attalos went into the fray, charging with his battle-worn sword.
Also if I can get Ariadne's information that would be swell, either linked through Gdoc, FB or here. Thanks!
Updating this evening if Ariadne and Polymetus don't post.
I'll probably have you both Aid the Crew otherwise.
If you don't use your second action that is saved up, I'll aid the crew with you. I won't allow you to save up more than 1 action, so I'll generally 'bot' you and do something I feel like you would do.