I've been taking a lengthy hiatus from the forums, but since in-person gaming isn't really an option right now, I thought I'd get back in the PbP saddle and try to start something up. :-)
I'm looking for people who'd be interested in playing through a PF1e Adventure Path. In my experience, the PbP format works best with a small party, so I'll only be selecting 2-3 people. If there's a great deal of interest, I'll consider opening up a second table, but we'll play that by ear.
I run a heavily-modified version of Pathfinder that includes Elephant in the Room, variant Automatic Bonus Progression, Spheres of Might/Power, PF2e-esque character creation, customized scaling magic items, and adjustments to almost all of the classes. All told, it makes for a rather high-powered gaming experience. If this doesn't scare you away, I'll provide the info in more detail.
In terms of adventures, I'll leave that up to you! I own all the PF1e Adventure Paths, Way of the Wicked, and Zeitgeist. In my experience, Kingmaker and S&S don't work great as PbPs, and Zeitgeist is iffy due to the slow-paced investigation-heavy nature. I'd prefer to run RoW or CotCT but am quite flexible. The important thing is for everyone to be invested in keeping the campaign going for what could potentially be several years. :-)
If you've read all this and are still interested, tell me a little about yourself and let me know what you'd like to play.
While it's been a while, I used to be heavily active as a PbP GM. I've done quite a few high-powered solo campaigns and once ran a RoW campaign that lasted almost six years. You can generally expect one daily gameplay post from me at a minimum. I'm very consistent in that regard. The RoW campaign I mentioned survived job changes, moves, and a serious illness. I'm not the kind of GM who will just vanish on you.
Other game-related stuff: I'm not particularly verbose, so if you're looking for thousand-word essays about crinkling grass and falling leaves, I'm not the GM for you. On the other hand, is your approach to NPC interactions is "I roll Diplomacy. 23", you won't be a good fit, either. As mentioned above, I'm quite knowledgeable about Pathfinder RAW, but I'm also a big fan of 'Rule of Cool.' If you want to do something that's not exactly in the rules, we can probably work something out. That's about it for me right now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm looking forward to gaming with you. XD
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Sounds interesting! I'd love to play in a Gestalt game once to simply experience that, and I haven't played any adventure path other than Wrath of the Righteous. I'm also curious about the other houserules. I should mention that I don't have experience in using spheres of power before but I'm always open to new rules to keep things fresh.
Reign of winter sounds interesting! (Wouldn't it burn you out however if you've already ran one that lasted six years?) Yet I'm down for pretty much any of them. If that doesn't help selecting (which is fair), then I'm curious about the Return of the Runelords module or Hell's Rebels as well. CotCT is one I've unfortunately been spoiled about a lot since I read the playthrough of it due it being listed as an example of a good PBP from Painlord's PBP guide.
I'm a thirty-ish (vague because it makes me feel younger!) physician from the Netherlands. I grew up on the Baldur's Gate games along with the Super Nintendo RPG classics (Chrono trigger, Lufia, etc) and have been hooked on RPG's ever since. I started playing tabletop RPG's with 3.5 but it was a bit too complicated for a group of 14-15 year olds like us to really grip beyond a base level. I moved to D&D 4e from there and then to pathfinder when it became more popular around here and 4e died. Since I was working then and had the income to support it, I frequently travelled between Germany, England and the Netherlands for the weekend-long pathfinder conventions. I would have done this more often but had to skip last year due to becoming a dad and this year due to Covid-19.
Having played most of the later seasons of PFS and through one AP (Wrath of the Righteous), I consider myself decently experienced in pathfinder first edition but not overly so. I still occasionally make a mistake here and there and keep learning from them. I'm not into rule-lawyering and try to avoid arguments about the rules at all costs. They tend to sour the experience for at least 1 person at the table.
On PBP, I'm fairly new and have only started doing this last year. My first experience there was a bit rough since I had to try and get a grasp of things in the middle of a level 15/mythic tier 6 campaign that went pretty wild pretty fast! When the GM stopped there, I paused for six months and came back afterwards. Now, I am in one homebrew PBP campaign and one Iron Gods campaign where I jumped in midway. If you want to check those out to get an idea of my posting style, the aliases are Sorogar and Elrys. Generally, I try to avoid one-liner posts and try to include at least one or two things someone after me could react to.
On posting, I post at least once per day and try to make reactive and engaging (and hopefully amusing at times!) posts, following the stickied PBP guides and commendments on the forum as best as I can. With the iron gods campaign progressing a bit slowly, I am confident I could do at least two additional campaigns simultaneouisly before time issues become a problem.
I love gestalt. Tell us more about your customizations, etc. :)
I honestly don't really have time to play but I'd love to see these rules. I have my own set of highly customized rules I use for several games here and I am always looking for interesting ideas and tweaks.
Hi, I've got several irons in the proverbial fire as far as open submissions, but if they don't pan out I'd be keen to hear this out.
I'd be down to play pretty much any AP. I'm especially fond of crimson throne and runelords.
Floridian here too. I like the rules, especially when applied to a more traditional AP (like the ones you mentioned, Reign of Winter and Curse of the Crimson Throne). Runelords would be cool too. Way of the Wicked I saw starting and dying on the first book every single time, but I’d be game for it if you could get a solid group of RPers (and not only people interested in mechanics - gestalt makes even the weaker builds good anyway)
Glad to see there's interest - even without knowing all the details. :-)
In terms of houserules, as I mentioned, there's quite a few. Character creation is very similar to Pf2e: your ability scores are based on your race, background, and class. You also get several free ability boosts to help diversification. It's designed to allow any combination feasible, as even a Dwarf Sorcerer can end up with a 16 CHA without much difficulty. Your chosen background also gives a minor boon akin to what DnD5e does. Every even level thereafter, characters get a bonus background feast.
Stat boosting items (and the rest of the 'Big Six') have been removed from the game. Instead, characters gain ability boosts every odd level. Starting at 3rd level, you also gain resistance/enhancement/deflection bonuses similar to how Automatic Bonus Progression works.
As I mentioned in my original post, Elephant in the Room rules are in effect, so Power Attack/Weapon Finesse/Combat Expertise/etc are now general combat abilities. Also, feint and demoralize are now considered Psychological Maneuvers instead of skill functions. They're based on BAB + CHA. This obviously modifies several feats.
In terms of class adjustments, there are too many to list here. Bards, Clerics, Druids, Fighters, Rangers, and Witches have been rebuilt from the ground up. I've also incorporated a lot of content from various Legendary Games, Interjection Games, and Rogue Genius Games. Oh, and Paladins are now an archetype of the Sentinel (Spheres of Might) class.
I've made a private website that houses all the changes, but I don't know if I can post it because the class write-ups use art from Paizo.
This sounds like it could be very interesting.
As for campaigns, I'd actually be interested in Runelords as well, though preferably Return of the Runelords. That one sees fairly little attention here.
CotC is also nice, though not that big of a RoW fan.
Is there any chance a fellow interested DM could get a private link to this private site, or a copy of the documents?
I'd love to look at this, it sounds awesome.
I'm designing the next iteration of some houserules I've designed w/ a player on this board for a new campaign world for an upcoming campaign, and it sounds like you have some interesting ideas to consider.
Looks like several people are interested in Return of the Runelords. That's one that I haven't read through yet, but I've heard it's pretty cool.
Since RoW's been mentioned a few times as well (both positive and negative), I'll elaborate that I had a ton of fun running it. The party was great, and we had a lot of memorable moments. I can definitely see why some people dislike it, though. It's a "history of Baba Yaga" adventure, not an Irrisen adventure, so there's a real problem with introducing fantastic locations and then leaving before the party gets a chance to really explore. My party actually didn't end up finishing the campaign; they lost interest in the journey during Book Five, so we amicably disbanded and moved on to other things. That's partly the reason I wouldn't mind running it again, to be honest.
if there is any more consideration.. I have always been interested in way of the wicked...
tried to get into a few but usually I either don't get in or the game dies rather suddenly and early.
also interested in your modified rules documents
I would love a Rise of the Runelords or a Hell's Rebels game. Those would be my votes, personally.
dotting with interest for a CotCT game.
Trying new ruleset variants has always interested me. I have made a lot of Gestalt characters and the games never got too far. Same with Spheres.
As for the AP, well... I'm not really friends with playing the bad guys, but other than that, I think everything's fine. If you feel more comfy with RoW, go ahead.
I love you! You are checking all my boxes.
I'm a fan of Gestalt builds, elephant and I hate dnd/PF magic items system which is just so inflexible. ABP was a good start by paizo into the right direction.
I believe a party of three is the best size for inter-player communication, relationships and quick decisions. I am currently in a game of seven and this really discourages RP, because you get so little screen time and many things get overlooked.
I wouldn't need class adjustments, but I can live with it.
I would love to play RoW, as I've been in one such game a long time ago, but it died PbP-style fast. It's an interesting theme...
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I've played a little gestalt and really love it, I'll certainly be applying when this opens.
As for adventure paths, I'd love to do Rise of the Runlords, Return of the Runelords, or Hell's Rebels.
I'd really like to get the information of the rebuilt bard. It's a class I favor, and it tends to gestalt well so I'm curious to see if the same holds true with bard you've built.
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I agree with Ellioti about a 3 person gestalt party being better than a 2 person party. I played in a 2 person party for a while and we found that conversation that's just back and forth between 2 characters gets stale after a while. It's not socially dynamic enough and we ran out of things to say. We added a 3rd character and it made all the difference.
Very interested, but especially in Ironfang Invasion, War for the Crown, Legacy of Fire and Mummy's Mask
So far, it looks like Rise of the Runelords is the most popular choice, with CotCT as a close second. Hell's Rebels, RoW, and Return of the Runelords are also attracting interest.
I've already talked about RoW in previous posts, but I also have a good bit of experience with Rise and CotCT. I've GM'd an all-Goblin version of Rise a while back over PbP. It died out in Book Two but was ridiculously fun while it lasted. Wouldn't mind trying that again. XD I've also run the traditional version through the end of Book Three in-person. CotCT is currently the only campaign I've run all the way through. Took about a year in-person. Might be nice to take a new party through it. XD
I have interest in CotCT. I have an investigator in a game that died at level 1. @GM how much do ACG classes get modified by your houserules?
The only AP I'd really vote against is Hell's Rebels, as I'm currently in a game of that. I know next to nothing about how any of the others play out, but I'd be game for most of them.
I've GM'd an all-Goblin version of Rise a while back over PbP. It died out in Book Two but was ridiculously fun while it lasted. Wouldn't mind trying that again. XD
omg yes, also I am in a traditional RotRL game already...
@Anthorg: Here's a quick summary.
Arcanist - unnecessary due to Wizard/Sorcerer reworks
Bloodrager - will eventually be merged with Rage Prophet and become a Barbarian archetype
Brawler - Monk archetype
Hunter - closest would be an companion-focused Druid archetype
Investigator - Sleuth archetype is standard; certain skills also become INT-based
Shaman - unnecessary due to Witch rework
Skald - will eventually become a Bard archetype
Slayer - unnecessary due to Rogue reworks; Rangers now get studied target instead of favored enemy
Swashbuckler - unnecessary due to Spheres of Might
Warpriest - Cleric archetype
I love gestalt. As in, just hearing it makes my eyes water in happiness. Hyperbole aside, GM burnout is a real thing. The AP choice should be whatever the GM is most interested in and knows the best, as there would either need to be a lot of GM work modifying the AP for gestalt or a smaller party size.
Both RotRL and CotCT would be good for gestalt. I’ve gotten pretty far in both vanilla. I think curse would work better with a smaller elite party, as it makes more sense on flying under the radar.
@Grumbaki: I agree completely. My lengthy forum hiatus was caused by GM burnout, as a matter of fact. That's why I'm only planning to run one game for 2-3 people at the moment. As others have mentioned, a small party size typically works better for PbP anyway.
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I’m interested — another Florida resident who loves Gestalt.
I think the best PbP campaigns are heavy backstory and deep roleplay ones. Action just doesn’t feel quite as bad ass as it does over-the-table.
So Curse of the Crimson Throne, Council of Thieves, War for the Crown, Strange Aeons — those ‘kinds’ of APs would be the ones I’d vote for. And three PCs Gestalt is great, especially if it’s more a 25 or 30 point buy (cuz all the MAD Class builds in Gestalt.
My first choice is 100% Council of Thieves. It’s got a bad rep but can really be done well if the DM is into it. More importantly, there are likely to be far fewer players with spoiler knowledge — myself included.
But whatever, I’ll be checking back here
As for me, I’d build a Mega Knowledge Skill, Uber Bluff & Diplomacy PC, either all LG or all LE. Either a reach-weapon melee combatant or arcane Caster. I love breaking the Knowledge Skill rolls so I can learn the campaign backstory and NPC backgrounds. And I love to Bluff the villains that I’m a bad guy too to get information — then we kill them ;)
Interested in how you have rebuilt bards. I play them often since I like that they have skills *and* some magic.
Any changes to sorcerers?
I like gestalt because it lets me use a bow and be a caster without giving up too much... but then, I prefer story and roleplaying rather than getting crazy with maximizing power levels.
As far as specific adventure path, I agree with Grumbaki. It should be something that the DM will enjoy.
I personally kind of want to play Mummy's Mask, but definitely open to whatever.
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I've made a private website that houses all the changes, but I don't know if I can post it because the class write-ups use art from Paizo.
Linking your website is not a problem. You should have proper references on your website anyways. It's common courtesy at the least.
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I personally kind of want to play Mummy's Mask, but definitely open to whatever.
Actually, I'll second MM (assuming the GM is down with the idea), there are one or two ideas I've had for that AP that I'd be keen to try.
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Does your system fully utilize Spheres, or just takes some parts from it? I actually just made my first Spheres character, starting at level 10 with a 25 PB, but it looks like that game isn’t going to happen and building the character has got me itching for a high powered game.
I said I’d prefer RotRL, but I’m fine with anything. I’d rather tag along on the AP you want to run instead of drag you along on the AP I want to play. Except Mummy’s Mask, simply because I’m already playing it.
@GM: Thank you for your reply. If it's crimson throne, I'd propose an investigator/something martial to compensate his lackluster combat.
If it's another AP which I'm not playing in atm (a few), I'll have to think about it. I'll keep an eye on this thread and see how it goes.
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@Zanbabe: Bards got a major rework that makes them extremely flexible. Selectable bardic performances and integration of Interjection Games' "Composition Magic" are the highlights. Essentially, bards get to write their own songs with unique modular magical effects. Sorcerers are now spherecasters that get a bit of chaos magic in addition to the standard bloodline abilities.
@Ellioti: Thanks for that info. I'd actually forgotten about a reference page. *sheepish grin* The website was originally just meant for myself and my in-person group, so it wasn't necessary. Now that I'm introducing it to a wider audience, proper credit is definitely in order. It'll take me a while to go back through everything, but once it's done, I'll post a link.
@Crisischild: Spheres is fully integrated. I'm a huge fan of the systems and believe they greatly increase the fun of the game. I'm also utilizing parts of Akashic Mysteries (Dreamscarred Press) and Strange Magic 1 + 2 (Interjection Games).
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@Anthorg: I'll keep that in mind. Investigators definitely got a combat nerf, but the changes make them even greater skill gods. They're an excellent support class that synergize extremely well with something martial. XD
Gestalt and spheres? Truly a rare treat.
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At this point I'm kind of starving for that site link with all the alternate rules. Could you PM it to me if you can't link it?
Should note as well that one of my other applications just got accepted and if the other does too, I might have to pull back from this despite really wanting to experience gestalt. I'll see how it goes.
In terms of adventures, based on what everyone's said, here's where I'm currently leaning. Unless a compelling argument can be made for something else, here's what I think I'll limit the adventure options to:
1st Choice: Rise of the Runelords - preferably as Goblins, but that's negotiable
2nd Choice: Curse of the Crimson Throne
3rd Choice: Reign of Winter
4th Choice: Mummy's Mask
I'd really like to run Way of the Wicked, but those campaigns tend to die out pretty quickly for some reason. I've tried three times and have yet to get more than halfway through Book One. At this time, I'm going to veto Strange Aeons and Return of the Runelords. The former requires a lot of prep work on my part due to the whole amnesia thing. After a skim-through of Return, it looks like that campaign REALLY wants players who've already completed Rise so their old characters can be included.
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I'll have to read up on spheres again, it's been a while, but it looks good.
As far as the campaigns go, it's just option 3 I'm not really a fan of. And the "as goblins" could be fun. In case of Mummy's Mask I'll most likely submit a Duskwalker.
Gestalt/Spheres Rise of the Runelords as goblins? That's so crazy it just might work! I like the cut of your jib!
If you're into Way of the Wicked, maybe consider Hell's Vengeance instead?
I only got to start Mummy's Mask so that'd be a lot of fun to play.
I would absolutely love to play a gestalt spheres character! I love gestalt, love spheres, and am very comfortable with heavily house-ruled high powered games. Currently in two, would love to add a third. For me, CotCT would be my top pick of the four, but they all sound amazing.
I am a software engineer who works from home, so I'm at a computer pretty much always. I've been playing PbP pathfinder for a few years now I think, and love the flexibility and creativity it allows. I've been in two different gestalt house-ruled campaigns, both still running, if you're curious to get a feel for my play style - Kingmaker (been running for 3+ years, I'm Domitian Albercoft), Wrath of the Righteous (just recently started, I'm Jazdac Strazdec). The GM who runs those games hates spheres, though, so I would absolutely love to get in on a spheres-based one. I've had a few different short lived spheres games, would definitely be up for a longer lived one.
Is the idea with these rules that only the classes listed there are available, or is it just that the replacement classes exist alongside other choices?
@Sebecloki: the website's based on my homebrew setting, so it's a bit more restrictive than needed for whatever campaign we end up doing here. I'd prefer everyone sticks to the listed classes, but if someone wants to play (for example) a Half-Orc Medium who worships Nethys, I won't stand in their way. XD
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And on that note, I figure it's a good time to show what everyone would be dealing with. XD The website's still somewhat a work-in-progress (animal companions are probably the biggest absence) but is around 90% complete - definitely good enough to play. The majority of the "work-in-progress" bit won't be relevant for games set on Golarion. It's intended for my in-person homebrew campaign, so I've been filling out world-specific things (like deities) as they come up.
Noticed that you changed the skills (at least "influence" is different, and diplomacy and perception have been removed from the skills that a bard gets for instance) ... do you have a complete list of skills somewhere?
There is a lot to take in here. :)
Wow, a lot of work went into this. Started perusing it, and like what I see thus far. Could you explain how backgrounds work, though?
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@Zanbabe: I do, as matter of fact. Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate have been merged and are now "Influence." Climb/Jump/Swim have been merged and are now "Athletics." Perception is now a base feature of the game (HD + WIS + any other modifiers) as it's basically a required skill normally. Other than that, everything's the same except for the Knowledge skills.
K(arcane) - things related to arcane magic; golems
K(civilization) - humanoids; city information; etc
K(divine) - things related to divine magic; religion; undead
K(dungeoneering) - things related to underground; vermin
K(engineering) - constructs; things related to mechanical devices
K(history) - famous people/places/things; legends
K(martial) - combat capabilities; fighting techniques; army commands
K(nature) - animals and the outdoors
K(occult) - cults; eldritch abominations; psychic magic
K(planes) - extraplanar creatures and the planes
There's a fair bit of overlap as well. For instance, if you wanted information about Runelord Karzoug, K(arcane) and K(history) would both be useful. If you peruse the Backgrounds section of the website, you'll also see that I've implemented the Lore skill from PF Unchained. K(civilization) will give you info about Sandpoint, but if you want to stay up to date on the local gossip, Lore (Sandpoint) is essential.
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@Redblade: It's definitely a huge amount of houserules - practically an entire new RPG system. XD This endeavor originally started as a way for me to consolidate Gigabytes of 3pp material I've accumulated over the years but ended up taking on a life of its own. XD
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@Grumbaki: Backgrounds are essentially a merging of character creation rules from PF2e and DnD5e. I'll detail it fully once an official recruitment begins, but it basically boils down to choosing a Race, Class, and Background. You'll gain attribute points, a bonus feat, some class skills, and a minor roleplay-centric boon in the process. The intent is to shift character creation away from the numbers and toward explaining how your character gained the knowledge/abilities he starts the campaign with. XD
Fantasy Craft has something similar to this backgrounds system where you pick a profession package that gives you some additional features, but is different from class or race.