[Gameday IX] Sky Key GM Thread (Inactive)

Game Master Dennis Muldoon

Use this space for planning, discussion, resource sharing, etc.

BTW, the two new specials this year (SFS 3-00 and PF2 2-00) have both replaced the term 'Overseer GM' with the term 'House GM' (IMO a good change). If you see me use the term 'House GM', that's what it means.

Sub-tier 10-11 discussion thread. Haven't made the gameplay thread just yet.

Methinks this will be my 10th special...

Can one even get a 5 star rating anymore, with the switch to 2nd edition?

Yes you can, I'm also creeping in that direction.

This is my first time GMing a special. It looks like I should create the Gameplay thread now. Is there anything I should do differently from when I create one for a normal game?

Is there a common slide deck that we all use, or should I prepare my own?

Someone usually shares their slides with the rest of the house. If you’ve got one started, you’re welcome to finish it up and offer it if you don’t mind. Someone might already have it handled if you want to wait a bit.

Here is my GM Deck work so far. Please feel free to copy and use, or let me know if anything is incorrect!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iroVxcw3AyqUUvEYLEEyNhHBsThdyqUQ7lL _8z-Gjyk/edit?usp=sharing

In case it matters to anyone (coordinator, maybe?):
Over on Myth-Weavers, we're lowering the table subtier from 7-8 to 1-2. We've only got two signups, and while the recent blog post makes that legal, we'd like to grab a couple more actual PCs.

Two questions:

1) Will a list of links to tables go up once we start?

2) Is there going to be an easy way of determining which tables currently have/need aid tokens? Aside from manually going through everyone's gameplay.

Links should be posted on the signup spreadsheet.

Typically token passing is posted in the receiving tables discussion and here in the GM thread, so you can see every change by looking through here.

It's a huge headache though to try to trace things back and see who's got tokens currently - and who hasn't gotten tokens yet. I had a spreadsheet for tracking that for another multi-table special - let me see if I can find it and make it fit this scenario.

If you'd like. We generally use the recruitment thread for that, so that is the only traffic on there. We don't actually have that many tables (only 10 for this one, as compared to the 20+ we've had for some recent specials), so it shouldn't be too hard to tell who's had one recently.

As for the table links, compiling that list is among my tasks for this weekend, along with building out the reporting sheet.

In case it matters to anyone (coordinator, maybe?):

Over on Myth-Weavers, we're lowering the table subtier from 7-8 to 1-2. We've only got two signups, and while the recent blog post makes that legal, we'd like to grab a couple more actual PCs.

That's fine, as long as the people who signed up are on board with the switch.

I currently have 3 players listed for the 3-4 tier, I think that's technically a go, with pregen? Seems rough though.

Yeah, that's a go as long as your players are good with it.

I've posted a tentative schedule. I'll get the reporting form up and aid tokens distributed shortly, then launch the intro text in your campaigns so you can begin part 1.

*Looks at calendar, realizes tomorrow isn't September 1st, wonders why we're starting this con on a Tuesday*

...by which I, of course, mean that I will launch Part 1 tomorrow night, roughly midnight EDT.

Tomorrow IS September 1 for me!

Time for me to get to musterin' my adorable (careful they bite!!) little 3-4's

PS: Thanks for the Slideshow, Doug!

Good to know I have a bit more time. :)

I've created a SLIDE DECK with the aid token benefits in a clear format. Feel free to link your players to it if you'd like. I've also linked this at the top of the page ("Aid Token Benefits") and in the Recruitment thread (which is reserved for Aid Token business).

I've added the success reporting form to the campaign info above, and will add it to my header as well. It's fairly simple for this one, with only one type of success for the whole middle part. I'll get a progress tracker up eventually, but all our milestones in part 2 are time based, so it won't matter much for a while.

You should all have the launching post from Kreighton Shaine in your Gamplay/IC threads. Please let me know if I missed anyone. I'll move us on about this time tomorrow.

I don't see any info on ceiling height or light conditions in the caverns (unless I missed it).

I assume with Huge beasts moving about in the zoo these ceilings are pretty tall, even the corridors. Also since the dinos have low-light vision and the Serpentfolk darkvision everything should probably be dimly lit.

Let me know if I missed a callout about this, though.

Question on how to interpret the language in the scenario. When it says something like

.

Victory Points: Once the PCs defeat the serpentfolk

and their guard animals, they may opt to make useful
notes on the beasts’ anatomy. The group can attempt one
Easy skill check using one of the following skills: Craft
(painting), Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (nature),
Profession (clerk, farmer, scribe, shepherd, or stable
master), or Survival. If they succeed, they earn 1 Victory
Point. If they fail, their illustrations and notes are too
flawed to assist the Society.

Does that mean each PC can try the check, and if at least one of them succeeds they have a nice drawing? Or does it mean only one PC can try? If only one PC can try, can others Aid?

Question on how to interpret the language in the scenario. When it says something like

.

Quote:

Victory Points: Once the PCs defeat the serpentfolk

and their guard animals, they may opt to make useful
notes on the beasts’ anatomy. The group can attempt one
Easy skill check using one of the following skills: Craft
(painting), Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (nature),
Profession (clerk, farmer, scribe, shepherd, or stable
master), or Survival. If they succeed, they earn 1 Victory
Point. If they fail, their illustrations and notes are too
flawed to assist the Society.

Does that mean each PC can try the check, and if at least one of them succeeds they have a nice drawing? Or does it mean only one PC can try? If only one PC can try, can others Aid?

Given that it says the group can attempt one check, I take that to mean one person making the primary check. I don't see any reason other people couldn't aid, though.

I don't see any info on ceiling height or light conditions in the caverns (unless I missed it).

I assume with Huge beasts moving about in the zoo these ceilings are pretty tall, even the corridors. Also since the dinos have low-light vision and the Serpentfolk darkvision everything should probably be dimly lit.

Let me know if I missed a callout about this, though.

It's described as a massive cavern, so I think it's safe to assume the ceiling is pretty high up. It could vary by tier a bit too; the fiendish tyrannosaurus is probably kept in a bigger space than the comsognathus. Low light makes sense to me, too, but since it's not called out anywhere the specific details for your table are up to you.

Yeah in my tier the enemies are lizardmen who don't have darkvision, so I went with normal light.

Yeah in my tier the enemies are lizardmen who don't have darkvision, so I went with normal light.

Same here. Depending on the area, you might even have impromptu skylights that used to be tunnels.

What are the rules about playing out of subtier for this special? I just noticed that one of my PCs is level 8 for my 5-6 subtier (wizard 7/loremaster 1; didn't notice the loremaster level at first). Can this PC play at my table? Something in my head is thinking it's only adjacent levels that can play out of subtier (4 and 7), not the entire adjacent tier.

What are the rules about playing out of subtier for this special? I just noticed that one of my PCs is level 8 for my 5-6 subtier (wizard 7/loremaster 1; didn't notice the loremaster level at first). Can this PC play at my table? Something in my head is thinking it's only adjacent levels that can play out of subtier (4 and 7), not the entire adjacent tier.

See page 11 of the Guide (v10.0)

For scenarios with more than two subtiers, characters must be in adjacent subtiers to play together.

The 5-6 subtier is adjacent to the 7-8 subtier. Thus, a level 5 PC may play with a level 8. However, a level 7 could not play with a level 4, despite being the same number of levels apart. Subtiers can be weird.

Perfect, so characters in either of the adjacent subtiers are legal, but not *both* adjacent subtiers.

Paging GM Greenclaw, Garmit's turn is up.

What's the forecast for opening up area B? Should I start a padding encounter or not?

The first update is still ~3 days away. A tentative schedule can be found here. I plan to post those as close to 0:00 GMT as possible, but I'm also running PFS/SFS at a local con this weekend, so it may be delayed by an hour or two, depending on timing.

Wow. I am hoping that we're about to wrap up Combat 1 in A. After that we have the research encounter. No way we're ready to move on but we should be good in 3 days.

Okay, I might have to slow it down a bit then. Seems discord really does play a bit faster than via forum.

I'm usually a very fast GM. Last special we did lots of extras; nothing wrong with getting the house more successes either!

Yes, although this is an all-in-one-day special, so you do want to be careful about not resource-draining your players (even if there are some limited refills available when the setting shifts).

Some clarification on area C (the temple plaza)...

According to page 8, area C (temple plaza) is only available once the house controls area B (slave pits). The end of "Navigating Lacsuhnollo" on page 9 reinforces this.

However, according to page 10, the slave pits becomes controlled 30 minutes after the temple plaza becomes controlled.

Am I missing something? Is there supposed to be a way for non-flying parties to see the encounters in the temple plaza?

One success in area A (reported with this form). They beat the compsognathi effortlessly and spared the lizardfolk handler. These are obviously delisional slaves, but it's not his job to deal with them, and he'd prefer to live. Great roll on the dinosaur sketch, too.

Some clarification on area C (the temple plaza)...

According to page 8, area C (temple plaza) is only available once the house controls area B (slave pits). The end of "Navigating Lacsuhnollo" on page 9 reinforces this.

However, according to page 10, the slave pits becomes controlled 30 minutes after the temple plaza becomes controlled.

Am I missing something? Is there supposed to be a way for non-flying parties to see the encounters in the temple plaza?

This is explained on page 8 - area C is directly accessible if you can fly there. So high level parties, or parties with lots of sky key components can start there.

However, a party entering in A can't go through B to C, nor can a party entering in C go through B to A, until area B is controlled.

Climb speeds also work. The Druid at my table had the treant companion carry non flyers with a spider climb.

One success in area A (reported with this form). They beat the compsognathi effortlessly and spared the lizardfolk handler. These are obviously delisional slaves, but it's not his job to deal with them, and he'd prefer to live. Great roll on the dinosaur sketch, too.

If you have not done so, please submit a success in the reporting form, HERE.

shaventalz wrote:

Am I missing something? Is there supposed to be a way for non-flying parties to see the encounters in the temple plaza?

This is explained on page 8 - area C is directly accessible if you can fly there. So high level parties, or parties with lots of sky key components can start there.

Which is why I specified non-flying parties. It's got encounters for subtier 1-2, but I don't really see a reasonable way to go up the outside in that subtier.

Climb speeds also work. The Druid at my table had the treant companion carry non flyers with a spider climb.

The scenario is a little inconsistent on that one. Page 8 mentions "extraordinary feats of climbing", while page 16 says it is "accessible only by Pathfinders who can fly." Personally, I'd agree that Spider Climb is sufficient, but for everyone else... what would you even put the climb DC at? That seems like it would be a perfectly vertical rock wall for the most part.

Hey folks, I've added another resource to the header, the BACKUP CALENDAR.

If you need a backup for your table, please do the following:

1) Arrange the time with one of our wonderful backups, EM±GM and GM Fuzzfoot.

2) Block out the time in the above spreadsheet under that backup's name.

Let me know if you have any questions.

And if you do, send us a short PM to alert us and also give us any notes you may have for us to fill in for you. Thanks! (I suppose that is probably implied in "Arrange a time"...)

So the Reporting Form only has options for what looks like The Slave Pens. Are we just reporting all Successes through there anyways?

The 'Aiding the Rebels' reporting is exclusive to the Slave Pens. Everything else should be reported as a Victory Point, as described in the scenario.

Oh, I see. I thought you had to choose an option below for what your Victory Points came from. I see that I can skip all the others.