Hey all,
I'm hoping to GM Abomination Vaults. This'll be a whole endeavour, and I'll explain the process through the five Ws:
Who
I'm calling anyone who's interested to post here and tell me something about yourself. This is not a first-come, first-serve signup! I'll select people that speak to me, and I will say beforehand that I'll give preference to people I'm familiar with, as to guarantee my enjoyment of the game. If you've played with me before, don't be afraid to mention it! Also, feel free to link to your PbPs so I can get a picture of your play style.
I'll pick a group of people in probably a week or so. The thirtieth of September sounds like a good deadline. I'll pick people on the first of October.
I like to GM for people who roleplay and interact with other players and the environment. I've played with people who simply state their own actions and ignore other people's posts. That's not my thing. I hope to provide an interactive story where everyone has fun.
What
In case people don't know, Abomination Vaults is a three-volume Adventure Path from levels 1 to 10, for Pathfinder Second Edition. It's a megadungeon, so there'll be lots of combat, but that doesn't mean it's devoid of social encounters. The majority will still be dungeon-delving and fighting, but be aware that several encounters can be handled with diplomacy. For more information, look here for info about the AP, and here for the Player's Guide.
When
A ten-level, three-volume AP will take quite some time. Though APs tend to run faster than homebrew games in my experience, it'll still take a significant amount of time to complete. It'll certainly take more than a year to run through all the books, perhaps more than two. Personally, I'm committed to run all three books for people if they want to, and I'd like if my players are as well. I can't fault you if you have to drop out because of unforeseen circumstances, but I'd prefer if you don't sign up if you know you'll have to drop out after a few months.
Also, as a GM, I tend to make one "big" post a day with a general advancement of the story, and maybe one or two smaller posts to reply to players or to advance combat when necessary. In the weekends, I update when necessary, but I don't do a "big" update. For the players, I expect about a post a day on weekdays, and on weekends/holidays whenever you feel like it. Though more is encouraged, I understand if you don't have the time or spoons for it.
Full disclosure, I live in western Europe (UTC +1), so my awake times might not (and probably will not) overlap with those outside of Europe (I'm 5-9 hours ahead of America, for instance), so keep in mind that I might not respond quickly to your posts.
Where
The maps are just big enough that they don't fit comfortably in Google Slides. I haven't thought this through yet, but I'll discuss it with my players once they're finally chosen. I might put the map up on Roll20, or maybe some other site that can give real-time updates.
How
For those who are not familiar with me or my style of GMing: I'm a five-star PF1 GM, and I'm at 22 or so PF2 GM credits. I'm currently also running Age of Ashes IRL, so I'd like to think I'm a decently experienced GM. I've run a handful of PFS scenarios in PbP, some PF1, some PF2.
I like to play up the roleplay, but that doesn't mean there won't be any combat. As stated above, this is a megadungeon, the majority of it will contain fights. I tend to run pretty fast. Not at breakneck speed, but I do tend to skip over the bits where not much happens. I won't have a speech ready about every single shopkeep you meet and I assume most shopping and other bookkeeping is done "off screen." Though if you do want to have specific one-on-one conversations, I'll happily play them out. I just don't want to drag them out too long, so the other players aren't waiting for the conversation to finish. I'm fine with spending a day on describing how you put your children to bed, but if the others are waiting a week just for a single night's rest, I might continue the conversation with you in between other posts. A typical conversation might take two-three days to resolve, maybe more if there's several skill challenges involved, for instance.
If players want me to slow down, I'll do my best to accommodate them, of course. :)
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So, does all this sound good? Any questions? Feel free to ask them! If you want to join up, tell me something about yourself and why you'd like to join. Again, the deadline is the thirtieth of September, and after that, I'll pick four to six players and start talking about characters and such.
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I'm definitely interested! A suggestion for maps: Let's Roll!. Though I can't confirm, it might release by the end of September. Regardless, it will be a nice alternative to Roll20.
Examples of Characters:
Somewhat new character, but I'm really enjoying the personality.
My first ever PbP character. An insane lantern king cleric. I haven't touched him in a while, but he was pretty fun to RP in PbP.
Starfinder character, but still a personality I'm a fan of. You may want to look at his robot as well.
You're, of course, welcome to look at my GM posting style.
I feel like those are my best characters and that I've gotten better at it over time. My advice for a long game, such as this one, is to form a personality type for your character. Decide what your character cares about, what excites them, and what interests them outside of "I attack the monster and roll the skill check."
I don't think we've played together before. I have played through Age of Ashes and most of Agents of Edgewatch, so I also think I'm pretty experienced in 2e.
Characters I'm likely to play in somewhat order of desire:
Magus; Haven't had a chance to play the class yet, but I'm really excited about its existence in 2e.
Monk; My all-around favorite class in Pathfinder, 2e or otherwise.
Bard; My favorite spellcaster this edition. I usually play Enigma, but I'm also a fan of the Martial bard
Witch; Tough competitor with bard now that flexible preparation released. Inspire Courage is hard to beat, but Witch has some cool hexes and Lessons.
Wizard; Either as a Runelord of illusion or flexible prepared illusion. Both are builds I've really wanted to try since SoM was released.
Ranged Poison Alchemist; Least likely, but it's something I'm also a fan of. If poisons aren't likely to work on our enemies, then I'll easily scratch this character out
This post really makes me want to play in this game.
Dotting in for interest. I'll give some thought to a character.
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I'm interested in playing this.
About me: I've been playing PFS for a few years now. I'm a four star PFSv1 GM myself. When SFS came out I was a little skeptical, but gave it a go. Now most of my online play is SFS rather than PFS. I just got my second nova.
With 2ed edition PFS I've started playing a little bit, but I still make heaps of mistakes, and only have a couple of v2 characters.
On this board, I've been playing the Shackled City adventure path since the start of 2016, so I'm fine with a long running game.
Why am I interested? Mostly because I've had a bit of a hard time getting "into" version two, and I think some of that is due to the slightly disjointed nature of PBP play. Having a consistent scenario and (more or less) consistent group of players for a good chunk of levels will (I hope) get me over the "this is new and I don't quite get it yet" feeling I still have with 2nd edition.
As for my style, I like a bit of quirky humor in my games. I tend to err on the light-hearted side and my characters will often see the humor in certain situations.
Ohhh, this looks interesting, I'm currently out of town, but I'll give it some thought. Likely building either a melee-centric tank, probably Paladin. I'll read the players guide and come up with sobering and complete the application with the required info.
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I’d love to play!
Who? I’m also a five star GM for PF1 and I am slowly making my way through PF2 and Starfinder. I’m somewhat frequent on the boards and like to think I role-play decently well, though never to the detriment of group dynamics. I don’t know if we’ve ever played/DMed for each other but you can look through a list of my alieses to see if anything g jumps out at you.
If you want to get a sample of my writing I can link you to one of the articles I’ve written for Wayfinder.
Why: I like playing in mega dungeons! Playing a more ‘use what you find’ approach instead of going back to the magic item shop every level because your character can only use a dueling sword or whatever. Sadly, most of the players in my area are not fond of that kind of gameplay so this is probably the only chance I have to play this AP.
What: I’m having the most fun when the party is having the most fun, so I am willing to slot into any role. Honestly I have more fun when I’m playing a second or third choice character but we have our bases covered and can complete the AP, vs everyone playing their first choice but we have to sleep for days after every fight because no one has any healing. That said:
For a tank I was thinking of a Gnome Paladin of Arshae with a flick mace. There is a bit more to them than that, so I’d have to clear some of their eccentricities with the rest of the party.
For a Someone who could disarm traps I was thinking about doing a Dwarf Swashbuckler. A bit of a different take, but I think it can work. I’d have bearing of a normal Dwarven warrior. . . Until I start tumbling through legs and parrying/riposting.
For a healer type I was thinking of a Kobold Wyrmtouched Sorcerer who goes into dragon disciple (and is A LG follower of Apsu)
For an arcane/blaster casterI am thinking a sorcerer again, but like, a gnome dragon sorcerer (no dragon disciple)
Hello,
About Me:
I've been playing TTRPGs for about a decade now (PF1e, 5e and now PF2e), I've only played PbP games a couple of times a long time ago, but I pretty much share your thoughts on how they should played - Interaction with the environment and with other players as key point.
I haven't played with you before (so I'm at a disadvantage there), but still I'm very much interested.
My Play style:
I usually like to define my characters personalities first and then figure out how they interact with their ancestry, background, class, skills, feats and all other mechanical stuff.
You can expect a lot of interaction with the other characters and NPCs, relationship building, personal quirks and catchphrases.
I'm usually able to post 2+ times per day.
My Initial idea:
My initial idea for a character was a human wizard named Roderick with the bibliophile background (from the Abomination Vaults Player's Guide).
"Roderick works at the local bookstore under Morlibint and shares his love for books and fiction, he learned the secrets of the arcane arts with the old bookstore owner. Now and then, the old man gives Roderick a hard time for having his head on the clouds, but he knows that's just part of Roderick's nature - always thinking of something else. He also is an acquittance of Wrin Sivinxi, who shares with Roderick a passion for the unusual and the occult. Roderick often tries to meet up with the elven tiefling whenever he finds a strange reference to some rare occult secret in the books he finds."
This is just an initial idea, and I'm pretty much ok with playing something else, or expanding on this.
I’m interested. What do I need to do?
I'm interested.
I've gone through PbP Plaguestone so have some idea of the time commitment involved in playing an Adventure Path. I do not have a specific character in mind yet. I am leaning towards a rogue or rogue-like character, though I'm not married to any particular class right now. Maybe I'll give one of the newer classes a try instead.
Feel free to peruse any or all of my characters to get an idea of my posting style. I am currently playing them all in GameDay X scenarios. I lean toward RP-heavy interactive posts, which sounds like it's in line with what you're looking for. Now that I check, I see that my Jayma is playing with your Arlo in Mountain of Sea and Sky, so you already have an idea of my playing style.
I downloaded the Player's Guide and sanctioning documents for Abomination Vaults. Looks like it's three volumes worth 12 XP each (the equivalent of three Plaguestones), do I have that right?
Except for Plaguestone, I've been exclusively playing PbP scenarios, quests and bounties on the Paizo website for a couple of years now; though they have their advantages, from an RP and character development point of view, their brevity is a little frustrating sometimes. A lengthier adventure with committed, like-minded players allowing for more extended PC interactions will hopefully allow for a better RP experience. I've also never taken a character past level 4, so getting some experience with PCs in the level 5-10 range will be nice.
My RPG experience goes way (way) back to 1977, starting with the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, and AD&D soon thereafter. After a long on-and-off absence from the RPG world (for college, marriage, career, etc.), a friend got me to try PbP Pathfinder 2e a couple of years ago and I haven't looked back.
Dot.
Hello! I'm pretty new to PbP but I am super interested. I've played everything from AD&D to Shadowrun to 1-page RPGs (like Crash Pandas). I have played plenty of Pathfinder 1e but am relatively new to 2e. I am definitely liking the ruleset so far. I have DM'd for some systems but mostly have been a player.
I am new to PbP but I think this is the RPG format for me from now on. My schedule makes it very hard to find a 4-6 hour block to go somewhere or play with friends live, but I can take 15 minutes and write up a post a couple times a day usually. I also really enjoy the fact that PbP means I can take some time and actually roleplay out my character when everyone is not staring at you at the table just waiting for you to take your turn. I am not the best at roleplaying but I really like to try and I also try to learn how to do it better (such as recently found a suggestion to try to leave a hook for your other party members to tie their roleplaying into). So far in the PbP I've been in, I post 1+ times a day and if we are waiting on someone to post for a while I've even added in "filler" roleplaying posts just to keep things lively.
I have completed 2 PbP on the forums here so far (Giles and your character Thrass played in Archaeology in Aspenthar). For some my other PbP work, I'm currently in a bounty with Giles for Fishing in Anthusis . I have started a level 1 alchemist in a new quest 1-11 Flames of Rebellion.
Another-nother reason is that one of my lifelong dreams is to level up a character more than 1 or 2 levels before the campaign dies out because someone moved or got a new job. I'd love to have a party that sticks together and learns to work together as a team and also develops their own internal relationships and struggles.
I'm not picky about what class or party role, and sometimes I have more fun when I'm forced into something out of my comfort zone. My default comfort zone go-to character is usually a gnome wizard/sorcerer but I would like to play something different too. Like a ranger with an animal companion or a cleric or anything really. Maybe a druid that wants to clear out the unnatural things within the ruins. I don't like to min/max my characters excessively, I like them to be interesting and well-rounded.
I've read through the player's guide for the AP and it sounds fun and straightforward as a dungeon crawl. I do have some character creation questions when it comes to the background options in the player's guide in relation to PFS character creation rules.
I also enjoy making supplemental things for campaigns I am in like diary entries, photoshopped pictures of events/things/people, flyers and handouts, and things like that. Especially when I GM. One of my favorite things was when I was a bard and I kept the campaign notes and then between sessions re-wrote them in diary form, complete with embellishments and the character's personal thoughts.
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Been wanting to try an Adventure or AP for a long time now. Unless the situation is extremely dire (e.g. major emergency) I can comfortably stick to a long term game.
I used to play correspondence chess (yes, with postcards) in college so PbP is a very comfortable medium for me. Longest game I had was 3 years, I believe. Like an AP PbP, at the beginner level, postal chess has a very high attrition rate, so I know the feeling. This is also the reason why I can play a large number of games simultaneously and not feel overwhelmed.
Gaming History
Been playing since the mid-1980s. Started with Top Secret, then Star Frontiers, then Gamma World (2e). Only went into D&D and AD&D (incl 2e) in the late 80's early 90's. Took a hiatus from all that and wanted to play again. Discovered Pathfinder 2e early this year, played my first PbP in May (PaizoCon) and never really looked back.
Character Preferences
Right now, I'm still really trying to find out what I like playing. Though I'm more leaning towards a multi-purpose light/medium infantry type. I love bards for the flexibility in casting and abilities. Rogues/Swashbucklers for the combat/skills. If I needed to play a martial character, I'd rather play a monk (e.g. Kaitlyn Deathsbane, friend of Thrass) than a fighter. I guess I'm pretty much leaning towards being flexible rather than a static one-trick pony.
Roleplaying
I'd like to think my RP has improved since May. When I was playing with friends in grade/high school it was more like "ok, Kat does this, then this, and tells the goblin to surrender". There was never really any "Thrass, are you ok in this weather" kind of RP so with that aspect, I'm still a bit intimidated. But I can get creative with certain things (e.g. Giles and his eidolon high-fiving after catching fish) :)
Now this sounds fun, so far I have only had two PF2e games make it to the finish. I have been playing ttrpgs since 2000 (D&D 3e)and have moved to nearly exclusively PbP over the last few years. Longest current game has been going for three years.
I like to play front liners mostly, so far I have found fighters to be very enjoyable in 2e. I attempted to play a warpriest in one of the failed games so I might try that again. When it comes to roleplaying I personally struggle with making lengthy posts and prefer being able do quicker back and forths with people.
Okay, so I'm DoubleGold, I've been playing D&D since 2007, 4th edition days, yeah 4e is not so great now that I've played other editions, but it is where I started. Pathfinder 2.0 is my favorite, followed by Starfinder. Then comes Pathfinder 1e and D&D 5e. I would like to join, not only because I would like to play this, but because it would be nice to be in a campaign for over a year with such a good DM. Normally I'm in several games at once, actually I don't hit a lot of games at once until a Gameday/Outpost occurs, but I promised myself once this gameday is over to limit myself to 5 games at any given time so I can contribute more to each game.
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If my other Abomination game accidentally smurfs, that same PC is interested in being a backup to this campaign.
Good luck everyone!
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I'm interested as well.
My name is Thomas, and I've been playing D&D since second edition back in the late 90's. I've played 2e, 3.0, 3.5, 4, Essentials, 5e, both versions of Pathfinder and Starfinder. I also have some minor experience in several other systems.
I've played through a number of PbP games, mostly Pathfinder Society games, but I was and am involved in a few longer session games.
As to what I would like to play here, well I'd really like to play one of the Guns and Gears classes (if allowed) but I can be very flexible and good for almost anything. (I have a lot of experience with monks and barbarians, and would like to play something different.)
Hello there! This looks like something I would be glad to participate in, from your GM'ing style, request for player inclusivity and interaction, to the commitment to see a three book AP through to the end.
I have been into RPG's since the early 80's starting, of course, with D&D and it's various editions, including, yes, the much maligned 4e, and continuing to this day. However, my 1st love was comics, and so I naturally gravitated to the Super Hero RPG's, starting with Champions and the Hero System, then Marvel Heroes, DC Heroes, Mutants and Master Minds, and various indie games as well ... the genre is much freer than most fantasy RPG's, so it helped foster a love of interaction with both the setting, and the NPC's for me. Sci Fi was also my thing, specifically Cyberpunk, so Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, then I found a crew who did the White Wolf games, starting with Vampire the Masquerade. In fact that is the crew that stayed in touch to this day, and it fostered a love of emotional, flawed characters which I try to bring into any system or campaign I am participating in.
One system I never got involved with was PF1E, alot of stuff was going on in my life around the time it was released, and by the time I tried it the system had so many options, houserules, and third party sources it was confusing to participate as a relative newcomer.
I soon moved away from my gaming crew, and started to participate in more and more Play by Post style games. Eventually I discovered a Starfinder podcast, which drew me into that system, and tangentially, into PF2E, which I enjoy more than the more, generic, 5e, as someone who came up in the HERO system, 2E just has the right amount of crunch and customization I like in character creation, it feels more flexible, and has good bones.
Now, about me as a player, I understand that Play by Post is an entirely different beast, as compared to sitting around a table, as such I try to push scenes forward, by engaging my fellow players, asking them questions, putting them on the spot, or making a decision. A bad decision, executed quickly, is better than the perfect decision, executed slowly, especially in a PbP format where momentum is key to keeping players engaged and moving towards the end goal.
As some one who loves Japanese culture, from a youth watching samurai flicks with my dad, I had the chance to participate in a PbP Legend of the Five Rings solo game on another board, under the username, Zero Prime. You can follow the thread here, Akodo Ishii is still one of my favorite characters, and more memorable, due to this multipage workshop and solo RP the GM and I did to flesh out his backstory & personality.
If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up, I would be glad to discuss anything and look forward to the opportunity to participate.
Woo, thanks all for the enthusiasm! Unfortunately, there are more people who applied than I can run for, so I'll have to let some people down. It's not that I hate you or anything, it's just that I can only fit so many people in a party.
UncleFroggy, Palandri, VampByDay, Tarthrin, Trscroggs, rainzax, you're the lucky winners! I'll make a post in the Discussion tab soon, feel free to start brewing your characters and ask questions and such.
To everyone else: as I said, there's more applicants than I have room for, I'm sorry you didn't get chosen. Hope to see you around and play with you some other time!