Welcome everyone! Sorry for the delay; things have been hectic the last few days. My littlest one woke up throwing up, so been monitoring and caring for her today.
A few questions that I never got around to asking given the haphazard nature of our "recruitment" is peoples comfort levels with various subject material and topics. As anyone familiar with S&S knows, characters like Plugg and Scourge are incredibly despicable people and there's a bit of gruesome and brutal incidents aboard the Wormwood. Any topics or types of events I should be wary of? Off the top of my head I can see female PC's being the target of at least lewd comments (we're not going RP out the extreme end of that, no worries there), and a squick factor for descriptions when the whip comes out. I just want to know what everyones comfortable with before we get there.
Other than that, this is my first campaign on these forums, so I'm going to be tinkering around when I can to get a combat plan (slides on Google Slides or Roll20 seems feasible) put together in addition to learning the intricacies of the forums. Hoping for one post a day; currently I'll be trying to post in the mornings, but we'll see how it goes pending schedule changes.
Here's hoping we have a blast sailing the high seas.
Agreed with the issue in regards to the female PC's.
I am good with a lot of squick factor due to spending a lot of time in locations that no one wants to live in.
My posting rate, is usually about 1 per day, usually on work days. However, my rate will sometimes go down on my days off.
So if I am holding up combat, just bot me, and carry on. I will usually return in a day or two.
If I am going to be gone for more than a day or two, I will usually post in discussion as a heads up.
That's fine and dandy. You have life to take care of just like the rest of us.
As for the squick factor, I'm fine with what you can throw at us as long as other people's boundaries are kept.
I will likely post most frequently in the mornings and evenings at US Central time.
This is the AP I've been wanting to play the most and I'm thankful that I've been chosen to participate in it.
Well, I am comfortable with the level of violence and gore in most media and video games today, so . . ..
I'm good with things being "suggested" or started, and the details left "off camera" for sexual things, but especially for things as far over the line as rape. Just not much to gain form a detailed description of that sort of thing, ya know?
I know. Weird line in the san for a guy playing a character raised in a brothel, right?
Thank you, again, for doing this. Thank you even more for having me join.
I am just about through dealing with the immediate problems, but my 27-year old daughter was the victim of physical domestic abuse earlier this week, and these two are the only posts (other than "sorry, family emergency") I've put up since Tuesday. I will be spending most of the day on the road again tomorrow (retrieving her vehicle, actually), but expect to have some version of normal back in place for work on Monday . . .. Again, details on some things aren't really important for the story-telling.
Well, I am comfortable with the level of violence and gore in most media and video games today, so . . ..
I'm good with things being "suggested" or started, and the details left "off camera" for sexual things, but especially for things as far over the line as rape. Just not much to gain form a detailed description of that sort of thing, ya know?
I know. Weird line in the san for a guy playing a character raised in a brothel, right?
Thank you, again, for doing this. Thank you even more for having me join.
I am just about through dealing with the immediate problems, but my 27-year old daughter was the victim of physical domestic abuse earlier this week, and these two are the only posts (other than "sorry, family emergency") I've put up since Tuesday. I will be spending most of the day on the road again tomorrow (retrieving her vehicle, actually), but expect to have some version of normal back in place for work on Monday . . .. Again, details on some things aren't really important for the story-telling.
I spent one of my gaming nights holding in someones brains in after a hit and run + shooting after I went to see "what's going on" - I understand emergencies coming up.
There's a difference between getting the point across and being obscene just to be edgy. Lewd comments, suggestions, and a "smack on the rear" is about as far as I'd use towards the players (they're meant to make the characters hated); anything more serious I steer away from the players and leave it as fade to black or aftermath.
Go kick some hoop and take care of business. We can stagger things and try to get fully rolling on Monday if that makes everything easier for everyone.
My boundaries are within the lines of those already stated, except that, personally, I don't mind ERP scenes within the main thread, but only if they are consensual, spoilered and tucked away. I don't really care about them in either direction, and even tho Brewton is a bit of a Lothario, his successes or failures in the bedroom won't be narrated.
Ummm...ERP? Sorry, kind of a newb with some terms.
It's unlikely to be relevant since everyone else has already said "no thank you", and I, the only one who said they didn't mind, have myself rarely engaged in it, but the E in ERP stands for erotic
One thing I forgot to ask, is how are you on crafting skills.
My intention is to grab CWI at level 3 and go from there.
If allowed, anything that I intend to build, I will always get the OK from the GM.
But if not allowed, I can still work with that, and grab other feats that are useful.
Craft away. Anything custom needs approval, as some stuff gets out of hand. My rule is when y'all get your own ship off you are crafting you are not working on the ship in a normal role.
And I don't care if you guys follow the structure of the AP or not. I have enough material for days to handle offrails stuff. My IRL group completely derailed the campaign enough where they never got to the Man's Promise (they were so disruptive to the crew Harrigan had to get involved, keelhauled them, and their allies decided marooning them in secret was a mercy instead of leaving them to be tortured by the crew). Harrigan decided to limp his ship back to port to get a more submissive crew after the party killed about half the mooks on the ship where Plugg, Longfarthing, and Harrigan had to come in and just start beating down the party on day 2. The ship had the bare minimum to function at a massive penalty.
Because I ran that group at a "superpower" level and rolled like crap for the keelhauling, only the sorcerer was in immediate danger of dying afterwards (they were all close, she was one HP away from death).
We also did a fun version of hero points we called Buccaneers Luck; you could spend them like normal, but if you ran out, you could still spend them. But if you did, the GM got one to spend as well at his leisure. I bought a bunch of pirate coins off Amazon as physical tokens to make it easier to keep track.
And a quick review we haven't seen Archlich/Anduil post yet. Is he aware/down?
You might have to send him a PM. I barely saw the fact that you had it up and running in the other recruitment.
Hey guys! Thanks for the PM! I haven't seen it was started already! Thanks for having me.
Should I really use Andulian? It feels as if it has too much overlapping all around and it could be more useful to the party if I built something else to fill different roles.
If the GM allows, I would love and prefer to reskin Andulian in something more martial. He was designed most for offhealing/hybrid stuff, focused in out-of-combat situations :) I would still keep him capable on the out-of-combat/RP stuff (because I love that, confessedly!) but would make him a little more combat inclined.
Also, to my colleagues here, if there’s any skill or spot you guys feel we’re lacking, let me know and I can incorporate it on the concept.
Anyway - thanks again for having me, and thanks for the nudge via PM (the topic was really lost down in recruitment!)
Sorry, been cleaning a flooded basement today and turns out Ventline is unable to do the other group, so I may be taking over for them as well (internal Forever GM starts screaming) pending their discussion.
Archlich, were you thinking rebuild Andulian to be more martial minded and still the Drowned Channeler or a completely new character?
And thanks to whoever DM'ed Archlich to get him into the fray; I hadn't had time to go find his profile to send the message.
Ouch. That board truly is cursed. You're really nice in helping them out. Too bad you won't be able to use your character. She seemed like an interesting character.
@Archlich I trust the GM that we would be fine with our current party, but if you want to change things up, you can do so. I think Brewton fits the need for a martial type, but if you want to do so you could try a bard or magus. We don't have any arcane casters so you could fill that spot and perform combat.
I don't actually know what Brewton is! Can't find it anywhere on his profile. I understood he's a skinwalker... But that was all :)
I was thinking on some sort of brawler, but considering what you just said - we have no arcane - then I will definitely rebuild towards a bard or magus or something arcane of the sorts, if the GM allows me to :) I had also thought about a dragon disciple build I want to try, combining monk and sorcerer.
I don't know exactly what my friend Brewton is (class wise, etc.) but assuming it's some sort of full BAB martial character based on his shark bite, then any of the above would likely work.
Oh oops, Brewton is a Tidal Hunter Ranger, he'll (eventually) be a natural attack themed character, multiclassing into Druid (with Kraken Caller), and remaining relevant as both thanks to two feats (Shapeshifting Hunter, and Shaping Focus). As for his place on the crew, he starts with Exotic Weapon Prof: Ballistae and will take Siege Engineer when able.
A sharktopus, if you will.
Go ahead and see what works for you as long as the GM is fine with it.
Very fun character, Brewton! I know what you mean (Shapeshifting Hunter is fantastic), and the octopus using siege engines thing sounds great. I'll wait on what the GM thinks before building something!
Oh, and one more thing, is there anything topic you may object to go through in terms of trigger warning?
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly disappointed by losing the spiritualist (love that class and especially the style of that archetype), but I want you guys to play the characters you think will be the most fun for you and everyone else. I personally think it's fun and entertaining to not have all options covered all the time as it gives birth to "creative solutions." so if Archlich wants to run a magus or whatever, go for it. I'll stall for a day to give you time to come up with something or decide. I want everyone together BEFORE we all go up on deck. Is that workable Archlich?
@Destinie- I'll probably buff her up a few levels and use Katrina as a rival captain or something. I knew it was a risky concept being both evil and a kineticist, but as I started piecing the elements I wanted together, that's what formed as something that would be fun and playable. Evil can be playable when there's no paladins or overly goody two shoes clerics on hand.
Someday I'll get in; submitting for a Kingmaker in progress as we speak as a Razmiran "priest" (alchemist) currently that I have a feel for. Thankfully hero lab makes converting a character from concept to mechanics really easy.
Edit- sorry for the incoherency; was typing using my phone initially.
Well, GM opinion considered - I will keep the spiritualist, then. I like his backstory and concept overall, and maybe we can all have fun with the challenge of not having certain roles in the party (arcane caster, in our case) :) while I could spin something else by tomorrow, S&S is really THE best AP to play a Drowned Channeler so... Brace yourselves! :)
On trigger warning: I'm going on my fifth decade of life with a wife and child, and don't really get annoyed or triggered, myself, with many things. With that said, I like keeping things PG-13 (we have lots of easily impressed underaged people in these forums) and especially respectful between the players. We all know how dirty the society nowadays is, and we all know how pirates were the scum of their times. However, I believe S&S was designed to play on the romanticized version of pirates (still thieves and murderers, just a lighter version of their reality).
Does this mean we can start in full on Monday as planned? Provided you can do that running two campaigns of course.
In the "golden age of pirates", they weren't inherently scum. I know that doesn't play to the popular imagery, but . . ..
Back in the olden days, when war ended, soldiers were discharged wherever they happened to be. No free ticket home. No more pay. No more supply lines keeping you fed. Well, several wars ended at the about the same time.
Suddenly, thousands of men who had been drug well away from everything they knew, except violence, were left to fend for themselves. They turned to the tools their former employers had given them, weapons and violence.
Within the alignment system built into the engine, doing what you need to do to take care of you and yours is neutral behavior, not evil. Ransoming notable people is certainly not doing them any real harm, and killing them would have been both simpler and safer, but less profitable.
Just sayin'.
They were violent outlaws and far from any of the romance of the movies. Mostly the pirate period in America, in the Caribbean, kicked off with the Spanish galleons that sank with gold. Still, pretty much the scum of society; nothing “Robin Hood” about them.
Nothing "Robin Hood" about what I described.
Men who had been taught to use violence to solve their problems used violence to make money and keep themselves fed.
Pirates were also extremely democratic and worried more about what you contributed than anything else about you. They ELECTED their captains, and would replace one if he failed to meet the crew's needs.
They were normal people, treated badly by their governments, and used the tools they had to make a life for themselves after being tossed aside as unnecessary expenses.
Yes, sometimes mutinies happened, but they tended to be about political power plays between factions who refused to yield the ship to the other.
Discipline before the mast was EXTREMELY harsh, whether pirate or not. That had more to do with the fact the closed community onboard a ship has to work together. Anybody who wants to step outside of that puts everyone else at risk. The discipline was so harsh so that it wasn't necessary anywhere nearly as often.
No, by modern standards pirates weren't good people. But they were just people of the day, who had all been dealt a single unbelievably bad hand, and tried to make the best of their lives anyway.
I forgot to incorporate the wifes days off into my planning; She got a little grumpy at the time I spent just prepping for one post, much less two. So Mondays and Wednesdays I may not post to both groups or at all depending.
That said, going to see what I can make happen now.
Unless someone pulls some shenanigans out of their hoop, I think Brewtons going to get to the top first.
Are you sure you're a wereshark descendant and not weremonkey?
Unless someone pulls some shenanigans out of their hoop, I think Brewtons going to get to the top first.
Are you sure you're a wereshark descendant and not weremonkey?
+5 to the DC to climb faster.
Edit: Oh. I see. Built in. Okay.
Terry's built to do sailor things well. Might even call him specialized.
It's going to look really embarrassing for Destinie if the dwarf makes it up before she can.
@Anduilian
Given the absence of a stopwatch, it's a traditional race of first one up there. I don't see anything in the drowned channeler that would boost your climb after manifesting, so that's not an issue (unless I missed something).
If you wait, it will trigger a different event. Just letting you know in case you want to rewrite it.
Like I said, still trying to get adjusted regarding the text and the fonts. I'll try to keep that in mind going forward.
@everyone
I did 10 rolls just in case there were failures or the bad luck bug going around. 3 of the party bounds up there as fast as possible (for a tie breaker tempted to use either an initiative roll or the highest sum of their 3 checks; figure it out after Seadreamer posts). Destinies struggling, and that leaves the dwarf. Since most everyone bounded up,
Destinie doesn't have to worry about falling too far (10 ft, I'll roll the damage my next post). You can still make the rest of the climb if you so desire once you get back up.
@ArendK
Done. Note that I took the penalties so that she had little chance of taking too much of a risk. ;)
@GM: The phantom doesn't change a thing on Andulian's climbing thing, but it was the first time he had a full minute with people distracted enough with other stuff so he could summon it, so he took the opportunity ;)
Oh, you were doing it during the speech from Harrigan. My bad. Though I was looking forward for the whips to come out and start flying for your hesitancies.
Now IIRC, you trained the skill focuses for a bunch of water perks mostly, correct?
Yeah, the skill focuses have to do with the archetype and the phantom (and I only have them when in Shared Consciousness) - as far as I understand, since I'm also basically learning the spiritualist :) The drowned channeller was simply too thematic to let pass.
Tie breakers? Do whatever er feels right. Highest bonus or smallest successful raw die total would represent the more skilled character, of course.
But there's fun to be had regardless.
Sorry so late on the post, but got tied up in RL for the day.
I figured that I would not rush to get up there, but I will climb at a normal speed.
Yeah, the skill focuses have to do with the archetype and the phantom (and I only have them when in Shared Consciousness) - as far as I understand, since I'm also basically learning the spiritualist :) The drowned channeller was simply too thematic to let pass.
I love spiritualists, and I agree, this was too thematic to pass the opportunity if you got a character design to go with it. I use hero Lab when I build characters mechanically, so I get a big assist with the shared consciousness/manifested shenanigans. I had one I ran as an NPC for a Kingmaker campaign that was a little girl with NO control over her phantom of fear (took the shape of a bipedal bear). The players loved it as the archetype was one that basically drained the summoner to empower the phantom. So they had the tactical challenge of keeping her safe while the bear was out wrecking havoc.
Also, just because it's easier for me to communicate, I am creating a Discord server that is for both groups. I invite y'all to come chat, meme, discuss, or whatever.
https://discord.gg/tyKmpAJmn2
Accidentally posted these into the gameplay threads. Oops.
Note that there is no requirement for the discord, just makes life easier at times.
Also, because I saw it happen on both threads; to clarify I am a guy for pronoun usage.
What I think I'm going to do for the race results as far as which speed demon got to the top first is combine the total roll results (while skill is important, so is luck) of the three rolls and go with the highest. I haven't looked in depth at anyone specifics stats or rolls, so about to tally those up to determine a winner.
If there's a loving deity, that won't end in a tie as well.
53 - Brewton - 47 raw dice total
51 - Terry - 36 raw dice total
50 - Andulian - 56 raw dice total
Did I math wrong? crap
Edit- yes, I mathed wrong. The post has been fixed to showcase the proper winner (Brewton). Given the variance of numbers possible, that was INSANELY close. Thanks to Terry for pointing that out so I could fix it.
Terry I just saw you edited the way you talked to Brewton! Womp, he responded the way he did because your self congratulations came across as very condescending to him, he probably would have shaken your hand if I saw what how your post ended up. But oh well, party friction is fun
Low stress. It can be fun, as long as no player is taking it personally.
And no stress on the results, either.
If you want you can adjust how you responded Brewton or leave it as is. Hakuna Matatta
I will not be posting today as my wife is sick as a dog.
Gotta deal with real life first.
Andulian, your request is in the campaign tab.
Also, you and spiritualists man... :D I see you and the War of the Burning Sky...
Sorry posting has been sporadic. Real life is getting busier with the warmer weather and dealing with the kiddos. Trying to keep it to at least something every other day so each group gets something at least.
I like the class! And brawlers, I like brawlers :)