Band of Blades: The Road to Skydagger Keep (Inactive)

Game Master Douglas Muir 406

Some random thoughts for One Eye:

1) I don't see the part that explains Team Actions. Are you saying that if two people are doing the same thing, with the same skill, they get to roll all of their dice? This seems like a very beneficial thing. Indeed, I'd council that we always do that, if possible.

2) It's because that One Eye has a concept that is so aloof that getting a personal connection with Hans makes so much sense. To wit, when something outside of your comfort zone happens, that makes for good drama. It would be like if Attero...had a personal attachment to something. =) Or the guy who is afraid of girls suddenly finds he's in love. Or a widower who vowed to never marry again suddenly has three proposals from three very fine gentlemen. Etc. As the man once said "Only Nixon could go to China."

3) Since you're new to PbP, I'll say that things, left to themselves, can take waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to do. Something that can be hashed out in 5 minutes at table can take 5 -days- to do PbP.
Hence, I PREFER people to take initiative. Even if what you do isn't optimal, it's better than blowing three days with the party just standing and staring at a closed door while the Thief and the DM just roll dice and say "you hear nothing".
(Indeed, part of Brother Attero's idiom is that he charges through doors with only the briefest caution simply for IRL reasons. ^_^)

Hence, I fully understand why you'd want to first have the fortune roll to try to get some kind of advantage on a future roll to convince Hans to play ball. But do keep in mind that this will -need- many posts. And if it takes more than a day, I'm likely to just roll Discipline so the game doesn't sink in the water for lack of motion. =3

IMHO. YMMV.

Some random thoughts for One Eye:

1) I don't see the part that explains Team Actions. Are you saying that if two people are doing the same thing, with the same skill, they get to roll all of their dice? This seems like a very beneficial thing. Indeed, I'd council that we always do that, if possible.

Will get to the other questions tomorrow, when I have some more time to post, and as an aside I like how you think about the narrative implications of choices.

I kinda got the naming wrong about the mechanic, it is the Lead a Group Action section on pg. 222. It is very powerful, but it is not free-- unlike normal actions, you can pick up stress just making this action, and the more people contributing to it, the more potential stress you can get. Also, anyone who participates can take consequences, so for instance in a group skirmish you'd take more harm on a partial success or failure than on a solo action. That said, my other group do lots of group actions, and they make for good story.

Well, darn.

Guys, I'm sorry to see you go! That said, thanks for making the call early, while it's easier for us to adjust.

Okay, personal philosophy of PBP gaming here. I like fast-paced games -- okay, fast-paced by PBP standards -- with lots of posting, because that keeps me engaged as DM. This is why I only run one game at a time. The corollary to this is, I commit to engaging strongly, putting the time in, and responding to most or all of your posts.

I don't ask that people post more than once a day (though it's nice), nor that they make long detailed RP-heavy posts (though that's nice too). I just ask that people (1) try to post at least once per day, and (2) try to stay engaged with the game. If everyone does that, then IME the game will bounce right along. Anything more is gravy.

Anyway! Sure, let's try recruitment again. Stand by.

To save time do you want me to pm the three others and invite them to join?

Some random thoughts for One Eye:

2) It's because that One Eye has a concept that is so aloof that getting a personal connection with Hans makes so much sense. To wit, when something outside of your comfort zone happens, that makes for good drama. It would be like if Attero...had a personal attachment to something. =) Or the guy who is afraid of girls suddenly finds he's in love. Or a widower who vowed to never marry again suddenly has three proposals from three very fine gentlemen. Etc. As the man once said "Only Nixon could go to China."

So, turning on philosophical mode.

Part of why Band of Blades resonates so strongly with me is the thematic element of a mercenary company that is fighting the good fight almost in spite of itself and its nature. It reminds me so much of the Black Company by Glen Cook. In that series, the Black Company is very loyal to itself and its men, but at least initially finds itself in the employ of the "bad guys", and really only switch sides because they were betrayed by a subfaction of their employers. The Skydagger Keep campaign in particular has also the historical feel of the Russian retreat in WWII on the eastern front, which just feels do gd epic.

And part of that magic, for me, is the contrasts between the needs of the world and the needs of the legion. The world needs a supernatural savior-- and yet the Legion is just a bunch of admittedly badass but ultimately mortal humans. The Cinder King situation calls for unity, and yet we are following what is really just a mercenary company that had only recently had its contract purchased to fight the Cinder King and had, for much of the past three years, been sitting that conflict out in favor of some other contract.

Like in my other campaign, I observed that most of the other generated characters were legitimately and unapologetically heroic and decent individuals. So I've been tending to create characters that kinda go the other way, very loyal to the legion but... a bit off. I went a bit more overboard in my other campaign, with a Heavy nicknamed Mercy who is essentially a sociopath and loves the Legion because he can get paid being his true sell (like Jayne in Firefly), with a Rookie nicknamed Goblin who was fascinated with the undead, and a Soldier nicknamed Honeybadger who was overly competitive about everything (Shattered Lions, amiright) and the foulest mouth in the Legion.

So I'm a little hesitant from prettifying One Eye too much right off the bat and wanted to give the opportunity for human connection to one of the other specialists who may already be trending that way. But, if either we want to go in the direction where the Legion has more of a traditionally heroic fantasy ethos, or we'll incorporated the grittier and flawed elements of the Legion later in other characters, then I can go in on broadening One Eye's empathy now.

3) Since you're new to PbP, I'll say that things, left to themselves, can take waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to do. Something that can be hashed out in 5 minutes at table can take 5 -days- to do PbP.
Hence, I PREFER people to take initiative. Even if what you do isn't optimal, it's better than blowing three days with the party just standing and staring at a closed door while the Thief and the DM just roll dice and say "you hear nothing".
(Indeed, part of Brother Attero's idiom is that he charges through doors with only the briefest caution simply for IRL reasons. ^_^)

Hence, I fully understand why you'd want to first have the fortune roll to try to get some kind of advantage on a future roll to convince Hans to play ball. But do keep in mind that this will -need- many posts. And if it takes more than a day, I'm likely to just roll Discipline so the game doesn't sink in the water for lack of motion. =3

IMHO. YMMV.

Ah, that makes sense. Personally I like using Flashbacks to get that extra bit of story context, which I think works better both mechanically and for story equity. Most of the convo was just doing standard Forged in the Dark negotiation to set up the mechanical effects of a roll. The one trick issue related to group actions is that in theory it'd be pretty mean to dragoon another character to do one that the player then says doesn't want to do it, so I wanted to establish the mechanics (fortune vs standard, get Position/Effect, decide all the FitD "moves" to be used) to a small set of decisions so I could give Soaring Silver Gale a simple choice to make for the roll. Perhaps we should pre-authorize each other a certain amount of decision making to streamline the process, and I am definitely up for being the player-side mechanics advocate to help interpret player intentions into particular rolls.

Okay, two people have already PMed me that they're interested. That said, if you want to bring in another person, go for it -- we could have five players, no problem.

Hello, My name is Jon, Looks like I will be joining you.

I'll be picking up the books tomorrow.

Howdy, I'm Dean, and I am new to pbp, but am in a current campaign of Band of Blades (as the Lorekeeper) and so am very familiar with the rules. I can definitely help in explaining the rules and helping figure out how to translate intention into promising game action rolls.

Hello folks, names Jake and it looks like you have some more fodder for the grist mill.

I've got the book and read it this summer, as well as listened to a few actual plays, but this been a while so I'm working on rereading the book.

Looks like you all have a plan and setup for this first intro mission so I could hop in on a rookie to start or add a tag along (chasing Hans I guess) specialist.

Looking like "primary" I see a sniper, officer and heavy? Seems like most of the discussions had "secondary" as all medics?

I'll have to think on what I want to do, my initial leaning is another heavy and sniper, cause those seem fun, but I can go any way to start, even do a primary as Croaker medic.

Good on ya, sir!

I was just thinking that the bond with Hans would be good for a new play3r to grab to kind of 'get their feet under the table' so to speak.

Hello folks, names Jake and it looks like you have some more fodder for the grist mill.

I've got the book and read it this summer, as well as listened to a few actual plays, but this been a while so I'm working on rereading the book.

Looks like you all have a plan and setup for this first intro mission so I could hop in on a rookie to start or add a tag along (chasing Hans I guess) specialist.

Looking like "primary" I see a sniper, officer and heavy? Seems like most of the discussions had "secondary" as all medics?

I'll have to think on what I want to do, my initial leaning is another heavy and sniper, cause those seem fun, but I can go any way to start, even do a primary as Croaker medic.

Right now, the two of us who have already created characters have a Heavy and a Sniper (the person who created the Officer dropped). For decent balance for secondary missions, we'll want another sniper/scout, and we'll want two officers/medics. The only combo based on those that could be problematic is sniper and 2 medics, so there is some flexibility.

All of the above is for the starting five, we have been creating some ready-to-go backups in case we pick up new specialists while on the road (it is one of the rarer possibilities among mission rewards), so creating a heavy as one of these backups would not go amiss.

Also, it is totally RAW to take a particular specialist, add dots in skirmish, and use as your ability the "choose from another playbook". So you can have an officer who is a War Machine and skirmishes like a boss if you'd like.

That said, I've seen all of the specialists and even rookies and soldiers be totally badass. In fact, though I created a Heavy, I've only played him twice in eight missions (he was played once by a different player), and in fact played a rookie (who eventually promoted to scout, though I've never played her as a specialist) more often, and my favorite is the soldier with a vindictive competitiveness streak.

Ok, looking it over I think I'd lean towards a medic (since we don't have a "primary") or a sniper, but focusing on closer range akimbo pistols. More of a gunslinger scoundrel than a scout sniper.

Also it'd be nice if someone (who actually has a computer, sadly I only have my phone these days) put together a Google doc or Sheets doc with our squad, their stats, and whatnot, since we'll be swapping characters around some once we get going.

I'd do it, but no computer.

Well okay!

Chargen goes pretty quickly here -- you pick a heritage, two traits, and a playbook; choose one special ability, and distribute your four dots. Five minutes and done!

I think both Dean and I will be happy to chip in if you have questions.

I'll get something together this afternoon, probably start with a medic unless Jon wants to make one

I'll get something together this afternoon, probably start with a medic unless Jon wants to make one

Medics are good. Do be aware, though, that they're not clerics or healbots. Harm is pretty horrible in this game, and all medics do is allow PCs to ignore the consequences until the mission is finished.

Yep

I'd love some feedback.

Silver Drifting, is a Shrewd Traveler from Panyar

Ability: Ready for anything

Stats:
Scrounge = 1+1
Scout = 2
Maneuver = 1
Research +1
Shoot +2
Wreck +2 (Book of Hours)

Traveler: In normal load you’re considered fast and quiet, as if you had equipped a light load. This may make a difference in position or effect when running, jumping, climbing, (maneuvering), or sneaking (scouting).
Shrewd: When you resist with insight, take +1d.

It looks good. Note that Ready for Anything (1) almost makes you WANT to be ambushed, and (2) makes you the #1 choice for secondary missions. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those!

Also, apparently Shreya has taught you how to destroy stuff. That's cool.

I'd love some feedback.

Silver Drifting, is a Shrewd Traveler from Panyar

Ability: Ready for anything

Stats:
Scrounge = 1+1
Scout = 2
Maneuver = 1
Research +1
Shoot +2
Wreck +2 (Book of Hours)

Traveler: In normal load you’re considered fast and quiet, as if you had equipped a light load. This may make a difference in position or effect when running, jumping, climbing, (maneuvering), or sneaking (scouting).
Shrewd: When you resist with insight, take +1d.

Looks real good. I've always found Traveler to be really useful. Also, would like to echo what the GM said about Ready for Anything. It is a great skill, and an awesome team skill, and/but will lead us to want to use Silver Drifting for secondary missions. Handling secondary missions is one of the most important factors in how the Legion will do over the course of the campaign (IMHO more important that the primary missions), but will result in less "face time" for the character. That said, I've always found playing rookies and soldiers to be even better than playing specialists, and furthermore the game allows for character swapping among players as a matter of course.

The only think you might consider is to have one dot in any Resolve skill. This is in case you decide you really really want to make a resolve resist, which for instance is always the case for resisting corruption. Resisting consequences is one of the main tools that the PCs use to assert themselves in the fiction.

I'll be honest and say that 1 resistance die-- is pretty awful and, if one of my characters had only 1 die in something (like one of my characters had, in resolve no less) I'd try my best to avoid it. But 0 dice makes resistance pretty much a non-starter. So honestly, you could decide not just to not worry about having no resolve dice. Usually, you'll be able to justify using a prowess or insight resistance (by either physically stopping the consequence or mentally outthinking the consequence) and on those rare times that you can't, just roll with the consequences, just be mindful of that as you go through play.

Also, role-playing note that you might want to have in the back of your head-- all Panyar have some animal like trait (one of mine had actual feathers as hair extensions, another was a hunchback and could turn his neck nearly 360 degrees like an owl), that you can play with. Also, the fact that your Panyar only has two names is culturally significant, as it means that they have not yet earned their deed name, and likely to want to earn one (which you as a player are the ultimate adjudicator). If you do want to have a deed name, a natural one is Wind, which is a very common Panyar deed name associated with travelling.

Also it'd be nice if someone (who actually has a computer, sadly I only have my phone these days) put together a Google doc or Sheets doc with our squad, their stats, and whatnot, since we'll be swapping characters around some once we get going.

I'd do it, but no computer.

One possibility is to use roll20 as a repository for stats. They have pre-made templates for the character playbooks, including the command roles.

Okay, so we're back up to three PCs. One more and we can start posting on gameplay again.

Ok, here's my combat medic, Leon Zardani.

Im thinking of using just the one alias for this game, and copy/pasting the stat blocks to the profile, to make it easier for me to remember who and what i have going on. I'm gonna be keeping offline documents for the characters unless/until we get an online option up.

My rough thoughts on Leon is he is a battlefield promotion to medic from a soldier, grabbed at a bad time by the old medic in his unit to help triage and picked up what he could along the way. He does not have the Mark of the Healing goddess, and is still pretty good in a skirmish.

Attitude wise i see him as gruff and stern, but does care making sure all the boys and girls in his care make it back from the mission.

All right then, team! Silver Drifting Something the Scout and Leon the Medic have [retcon] replaced our previous officer and heavy. Get on over to the gameplay thread and let's see if you can destroy a bridge!

Ok, here's my combat medic, Leon Zardani.

Im thinking of using just the one alias for this game, and copy/pasting the stat blocks to the profile, to make it easier for me to remember who and what i have going on. I'm gonna be keeping offline documents for the characters unless/until we get an online option up.

My rough thoughts on Leon is he is a battlefield promotion to medic from a soldier, grabbed at a bad time by the old medic in his unit to help triage and picked up what he could along the way. He does not have the Mark of the Healing goddess, and is still pretty good in a skirmish.

Attitude wise i see him as gruff and stern, but does care making sure all the boys and girls in his care make it back from the mission.

Nice to see a medic on the squad. One character generation note: Medics start with 2 dots in research by default, so you can add that for free. Also, Doctor, in the character sheet, takes the place of Aim for Medics, so you have 3 resolve to start.

Thanks, I was wondering about that. I may may not have just copy/pasted your profile to start :)

For the research I guess I just flat missed the second pip on my screen, so embarrassing.

Mostly a quick post to tag into the game. I'll post more later, generally during the day PST I have more availability

You're PST? I'm Central Europe. Asynchronous posting FTW!

Speaking of which: I think all of you are in the US? So I'm six to nine hours ahead of you, depending. So I'll tend to go radio silent in the afternoon, your time, and then appear again in the middle of the night.

Just noting it in case you're wondering why sometimes I'll suddenly disappear in the middle of an action sequence or whatever.

Speaking of which: I think all of you are in the US? So I'm six to nine hours ahead of you, depending. So I'll tend to go radio silent in the afternoon, your time, and then appear again in the middle of the night.

Just noting it in case you're wondering why sometimes I'll suddenly disappear in the middle of an action sequence or whatever.

That's cool. I myself am in Eastern Time. We'll come to expect that most of the action will be in our mornings and early afternoon.

Luckily I'm around all day, being a stay at home dad.

Though some days my kids are way to crazy to keep up during the day.

Brother Attero Dominatus wrote:

DM_DM wrote:

The Black Oak Knights are readying a charge.

And my master plan is nearly complete! I'd like to use a Wreck roll to blow up the mine I made beforehand. Can I take a DB related to my aforementioned prepping? Can I have used up my WREKTing kit?

Yes you can use a Wreck roll, and yes you can take a DB. What are you offering?

Mrmmmph. The gameplay thread is getting rather clogged. I'm starting to have trouble finding relevant information. I'm not saying everyone should do this, but Imma try to move this discussion into...discussion. ^_^

Um, I was gonna offer up all of the uses in my Fine Wrecking Kit? Is that a thing?

I did say I was using some of the charges from the kit. But in my exuberance I happened to use them all. (All except one. I'm using the last one to detonate the lot.)

Also...mainly because I want to try my hand at this...how about instead of Risky/Standard we make it Desperate/Great? Instead of detonating the landmine at a safe distance so I get some of the riders, I wait until the last minute so I either get most/all, or none?

(I'm starting to think I should put more into Wrecking because I can see this becoming his schtick. =)

Mrmmmph. The gameplay thread is getting rather clogged. I'm starting to have trouble finding relevant information. I'm not saying everyone should do this, but Imma try to move this discussion into...discussion. ^_^

I try to be a responsive DM; I don't reply to every single post, but I do try to reply to most of them. With five players, yes, that can mean a lot of posting.

Um, I was gonna offer up all of the uses in my Fine Wrecking Kit? Is that a thing?

I did say I was using some of the charges from the kit. But in my exuberance I happened to use them all. (All except one. I'm using the last one to detonate the lot.)

I'm not sure that's a thing, but it doesn't seem unreasonable. Okay.

Also...mainly because I want to try my hand at this...how about instead of Risky/Standard we make it Desperate/Great? Instead of detonating the landmine at a safe distance so I get some of the riders, I wait until the last minute so I either get most/all, or none?

I have no objection! However, be aware that pushing something to Desperate almost always involves taking Harm or some other awful consequence if you don't get that 6.

I think I don't feel good about sending just one to try to sneak in an undercroft full of beasts.

I think I'd like to send Tabita and Hans to place the charge while Monika and I draw their attention with a skirmish.

Wondering if I can DB and burn up all 5 bullets in my fine pistol in this one action. Not sure how long/what a reload action is or if a medics basic kit even involves a hand weapon, but this seems a pretty critical thing to do, get that last charge set.

I'd like to take my shot at Eater to see if I can drive him off (still waiting for adjudication for the devil's bargain and position/effect, if I can get go ahead for at least the devil's bargain, I'll roll my dice).

After that, I want to join the medic and the charge crew (even belatedly) to try to help them out.

Because if there's one person you want leading the charge into a nest full of the enemy, it's the medic ;)

Because if there's one person you want leading the charge into a nest full of the enemy, it's the medic ;)

Don't knock medics, they are gorram heroic :)

So I think Eater must be pretty hurt now, and is limping. I'm inclined to disengage from Eater and help out the demolition team. Anyone with contrary thoughts?

GM, any thoughts on a DB

Wondering if I can DB and burn up all 5 bullets in my fine pistol in this one action. Not sure how long/what a reload action is or if a medics basic kit even involves a hand weapon, but this seems a pretty critical thing to do, get that last charge set.

To help Leon out?

My thoughts were to lead a skirmish with Monika and possible DB and have Hans and Tabita set that last charge with our distraction.

GM, any thoughts on a DB

Quote:

Wondering if I can DB and burn up all 5 bullets in my fine pistol in this one action. Not sure how long/what a reload action is or if a medics basic kit even involves a hand weapon, but this seems a pretty critical thing to do, get that last charge set.

To help Leon out?

My thoughts were to lead a skirmish with Monika and possible DB and have Hans and Tabita set that last charge with our distraction.

If allowed, I can provide support, either in a setup action by firing on the hounds, to give you better effect, or if you want I can provide an assist (1d) for either you or Monika.

Let's wait though until we see what happens with the good Brother and the Black Oak Knights.

Hey team!

I got locked out of my account for a day and a half -- collateral damage from the Paizo server problems yesterday. Only just got back in.

Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Yep, me too. Still can't log in on Firefox, had to switch to chrome for my Pathfinder games

yeah they had a storm in WA and it knocked their servers.

just clear all cookies to log in

Clearing all cookies is what did it for me.

You don't have to clear ALL your cookies, btw. You can go into Settings, search for Paizo, and only clean theirs.

Clearing cookies, or all history didn't seem to do it for Firefox on my phone, but it's fine on Chrome so I'm good.

Edit:. Nevermind, working on Firefox now.

This doesn't seem to be a common occurrence, but just in case: could one of you PM me an e-mail address where you could be reached? That way, if this happens again, I'll be able to ping you and you'll be able to post.

DM_DM wrote:

Quote:

hopefully I still have a dagger or sword or something

Check your loadout!

Uh huh, unless there's a basic "everyone gets a knife" line I'm missing, I'm swinging my fine medic kit as a weapon from here on out ;)

Hmmmmm. Some stuff.

I was re-reading the section on Loadout, and, yeah, if the Medic just takes a Light load, he don't even get no weapon, so he was lucky to have the pistol with the medium.

Mind you, I noticed something I had missed before: "In addition to items that are part of your load, you also have 2 utility load
that you can spend for additional equipment."

So, it seems that we also get to pick 2 things from that section that are "normal" in addition to what the Specialist section says for our load, yeah?

I admit this is new to me, and would consider it a kindness if we could all take a moment and pick our two things.

I think a certain medic is gonna take at least another weapon. =)

Flashback time!