Golaripalooza [1e, Rotating GMs]

Game Master dien

As I think everyone frequenting the boards knows, the GM to player imbalance ratio is HUGE. It makes it pretty hard to get into a game. I'm itching to play, doing plenty of regular GMing as it is, but I'm willing to compromise if I can get a group of a few together who don't mind rotating GM duties.

Essentially it'd work like this: I'll GM the 1e module Gallows of Madness, which takes PCs from level 1 to level 3 by the end of it. At that point, another player steps up to run the next module, something level 3s can do (there's various options that could be discussed as possibilities). After that, another player GMS, etc. The current GM's character would fade to the background between scenarios, but level appropriately to keep up with the party.

Given the attrition and death rate in PBPs, it's also possible that the campaign might die before we ever get that far. It's a risk I'm willing to take, though.

Right now, I'm looking for 4-6 players/potential GMs who are on board with the idea that in exchange for playing now, you'd be GMing down the road. Prior experiencing GMing PBP is a plus, but not required-- I always like to give people a chance.

This is not (yet) a thread to pitch character concepts for the game; this is just to get some players together.

My overall rules/whatnot for this quasi-campaign would be:

1) Paizo published material only

2) One spot is probably reserved for a new player friend of mine, who likely wouldn't be GMing, unless/until they felt comfortable doing so

3) 1st Edition, play-by-post, Discord possibly to be created for communication purposes (but not used as the play platform)

4) Maps probably through Google slides or drawings, if a majority of accepted players want to use Roll20 I'll cope. I have no experience with other platforms for mapping and don't want to learn a new one because I'm a crotchety old goblin.

5) All players grasp the fact that keeping momentum going is a mingled responsibility of everyone in the group, both players and GM. Obviously life happens sometimes, but if people spend too much time waiting on everyone else to post, the game dies. People should be aiming for one post per day during the week. Even if you don't have anything mechanical to post, post! Give people things to respond to! It's an endless game of improv, but it only works if everyone keeps adding fresh things to react to and to keep things moving.

I've been in enough PBPs to fully know that enthusiasm goes in cycles, and that everyone will join with the best of intentions of posting regularly, but things will cycle and peter out. Life is especially chaotic right now, there are circumstances beyond our control stressing us all out.

But to have some pleasant escapism that can help us fight that does require making time for it and posting regularly. This is a long-term commitment. Gallows of Madness alone might run a PBP group a year of RL time. So please, just be aware that we'll need regular momentum and engagement from players to keep things active.

If this sounds like something you'd be down for, toss me your hat! (Not too hard though, my RL Dex is like 8.)

-If you've GMd PBP before, a link to an example is nice.
-Relevant amount of experience with commitment to long term PBPs is good information as well, though just because you don't have that experience yet doesn't mean you won't be considered
-Anything you want to add about your general play and/or GM philosophy that would make me think you were a great fit, please do.

I'll leave this up through October 7 before moving on to selection, unless I get way more interested people than I know what to do with before then, and can pick earlier.

Would you be using any of the optional rules? Such as unchained classes, professional skills and so on.

Unchained is a definite plus, background skills are also something I endorse.

Generally, I'm willing to compromise (other than on things like 3rd party materials, since those can vary widely in terms of power levels and OPness), since, after all, I won't be the only GM, - basically, whoever we wind up having as participants, we can fine tune the exact rules of char creation together.

But even without compromises, I'm ay-okay with unchained + skills.

I haven't GM'd online before, but I'm a forever GM irl. I dont think it's because I'm particularly good, I'm just the only one willing.

But I'd be willing to GM if it meant a more cohesive group with character creation as a group.

I haven't GM'd online before, but I'm a forever GM irl. I dont think it's because I'm particularly good, I'm just the only one willing.

Yeah I know this feel....

Haha, yeah. I felt like I should host a pbp because my gaming group would rather play board games than ttrpgs lately, but rotating gms is a much better idea. If you're open to it, we might even want to have shorter scenarios per GM to rotate through.

I like using discord for coordinating chatter and banter. I think the instant messaging communication feels a little closer to the real thing and fosters communication between players.

I'm partial to roll20 but I am totally cool with just using slides/pictures for maps and whatnot.

I'm not sure if I have any other particular traits that would make me a great fit. I just find that the "conventional" recruitment method of recruiting players by character submission to be at odds with how the game is normally played. I wonder if that's a contributing factor to pbp attrition (aside from how easy it is to just ghost your group)

Haha, yeah. I felt like I should host a pbp because my gaming group would rather play board games than ttrpgs lately, but rotating gms is a much better idea. If you're open to it, we might even want to have shorter scenarios per GM to rotate through.

Yeah-- if you're thinking PFS scenarios, my only issue there is I've played probably moooooost of the published PFS1 scenarios. I can always play them again, but... it's not my favorite, to replay stuff I already know how it goes. There are modules that are shorter than Gallows of Madness-- I wouldn't ask all the other GMs to necessarily shoulder a full 3-levels-worth module. Feast of Ravenmoor, I think, just covers like one level's worth of xp (and looks fun!)

I like using discord for coordinating chatter and banter. I think the instant messaging communication feels a little closer to the real thing and fosters communication between players.

Agree. It just helps keep things moving to have that 'table chatter' sort of vibe, more infromal communication.

I'm partial to roll20 but I am totally cool with just using slides/pictures for maps and whatnot.

As a player, I quite like Roll20, when someone else has done all the work making the table *laugh* But I really loathe having to go through all the steps of graphics uploading, etc, to actually GM via it. It's one of those things that can be very nice when your GM puts in a lot of prepwork to take advantage of its features, but........ I usually don't feel like putting in that effort on MY end.

I'm not sure if I have any other particular traits that would make me a great fit. I just find that the "conventional" recruitment method of recruiting players by character submission to be at odds with how the game is normally played. I wonder if that's a contributing factor to pbp attrition (aside from how easy it is to just ghost your group)

I think that the recruitment method is definitely a factor. The slowness, the fact that it's just super hard to keep a group together for literal RL years.... I played through Legacy of Fire, the whole thing, via PBP, and it took us like 3 GMs and six RL years. We lost 3 players, still finished with three of the originals-- which means that as far as an AP goes, we did pretty amazing.

But it's nuts, lol.

And there's nothing more annoying then getting into an AP based solely on character submission and discovering like a level's worth of play in that boy-oh-boy this other person's posting style/RPing philosophy just grinds your gears, and here you are, in an AP toogether, facing years of play....

I haven't GM'd online before, but I'm a forever GM irl. I dont think it's because I'm particularly good, I'm just the only one willing.

But I'd be willing to GM if it meant a more cohesive group with character creation as a group.

I can definitely relate to this.

As for the rotating GM idea, that's how our high school tabletop group used to run in the old days.

I'd be interested in being a part of this.

I'd be interested in being a part of this.

Great! So Jace and Kubular make two, not sure if Chill is interested or was just curious.

Well, I have little Pathfinder experience, and not much PBP experience, but I'm definitely interested in giving it a shot...though that's probably a given seeing as how you told me about it on Discord :)

yeah, you're my +1 mentioned in the post ;)

Anyone else mildly surprised that there aren't more people quickly clamoring to get in on this?

I mean, I know there are a few other quality offerings right now in recruitment, but still...

It's just like dien said, GM to player imbalance huge. Not a lot of people want to GM, and the ones that do, often have like 6 games on their plate. I think this was the motivation I needed to run something but, I think those of us that are here are sort of in the minority.

Anyone else mildly surprised that there aren't more people quickly clamoring to get in on this?

I mean, I know there are a few other quality offerings right now in recruitment, but still...

Kubular is right, but yeah, I am a little surprised for the slow initial interest. Being able to game for a full two levels before having to GM seemed like it would be a good incentive, but *shrugs* maybe not! And who knows, maybe people are just busy with various things and haven't seen this yet.

some don't want to GM? I'm ok with it.

I am very interested, but when I take a cold hard look at myself, the games I have GMed make it about half a level at best before I burn out. I could always try, third time's the charm and all that, but 0/2 so far.

Just my two cents here, but so long as you give it a try, if you do start burning out, I'm sure one of us could pick up the ball and run with it if need be.

My take on this is that we're developing a group to do some storytelling together about some fun and cool characters, with everyong both playing and gm'ing. Not everyone will have the same skill level or endurance as everyone else...so we adjust as needed.

Or something like that. ;)

Thanks for being forthright on it, Illia.

I don't mind one of us having to pick up the GMing duties for someone in a crisis, but it is true that the whole point of this is to avoid the same people having to keep GMing, and to keep from the trend of having to pick up the GM ball when someone else drops it. Conversely, I also want to give people chances!

A possible compromise might be something like "People who fear their burnout as GMs could do one-shots like PFS scenarios" -- those basically cover 1/3 a level's worth of XP, or we could treat it like that -- as a way to trial run their GM period.

As a general rule, I think if someone defaults on their GM duty due to an unavoidable crisis (medical, immediately family troubles, job loss, etc), then we work with that because life is life and it's harder than ever just now, but if someone defaults due to just burnout/not being able to summon enthusiasm for the game, they'd probably lose their spot in the group? Or we could give people one free default, or something.

I'd be in favor of that as a general rule, barring unique circumstances. Sure.

That's a cool idea to give people a bit more confidence.

I’m willing to through my hat in, I’ve been feeling the urge to GM and play and knowing I might get in over my head with a full campaign in more than willing to run a module. There’s quite a few that I’d like to run.

As for discord; I’d propose that all play be on it. Obviously It’s not a make or break thing just a proposition . Simply because it keeps the game going a bit more than on the boards.

If you're willing to have me despite my spotty track record at all, I'd say gming one-shots and losing my spot if I burnout is more than fair.

As for commitment on a player end, I'm pretty dang solid on that one. I don't think I've ever ghosted, and I've been part of multiple multi-year play by posts, the longest going from Lvl 7-17 with two gms before we finally collapsed under the logistical weight of our fancy high powered characters.

I'm always on discord, so using that for OOC communication's pretty great for me.

My play philosophy is that I like playing the Dwarven Door Game when things are slow. In the above mentioned campaign, if we were ever like, taking several weeks to decide what would be appropriate precaution before opening a door, I'd go ahead and risk my character teleporting to the other side to scout.

A thing I feel kills a lot of campaigns from the player side, is the players arguing back and forth based on risks rather than knowledge. Prepping a resist energy Fire when you know you're going after a red dragon is good preparation based on knowledge. The players arguing back and forth about whether they should open the door on the right or the left when we have no idea what is behind either is not. Sometimes you need to take a risk and make an uninformed decision.

So, as part of that, I typically like playing durable characters. Not necessarily Halfling Shield Paladin with Fey-Blood level durable, but at least able to open a door without being a liability to the team.

Yeah, in PBP in particular there should be a good protocol in place for "if two PCs agree on action A, and there aren't at least two PCs saying nay, then just go ahead and assume A happens." Or whatever. There are things you have to do to keep things moving, just adjustments you pick up after doing a few PBPs.

Re: Discord for actual play-- I'm not so much in favor of that, I've done two games now solely via PBP on Discord and it just... aesthetically kind of drives me nuts if it's the actual game medium. I'm fine for it as a chat platform and to keep table talk going/reminders to post, but for actually playing through, I just find it kinda fugly. I've tried out various bots, plug-ins, etc, and there's a decent amount of customization available, but it just is something I don't really wanna fuss with. I like the static nature of being able to read back through thread pages, and Discord's back-search function isn't comparable to me.

Summing up current interest:
Dien
Scitenik (new to PF1e, won't GM for a while if at all)
Kubular
Chillblame
Jace Crenn
Mythicman19

It'd be good to have a solid 7 if we can. That allows for a little redundancy of roles in the party of six, and since we will ultimately almost certainly lose someone (just the nature of the beast) then we still remain a robust party of five, etc, and don't have to immediately start looking for replacements. So if anyone out there's reading this who hasn't chimed in yet, please do feel free, it's still wide open.

This sounds like something I almost pitched here on the boards a while ago. There are so many cool modules that I would love a chance to play. Rather than committing to a whole AP, going story by story is promising.

My Pathfinder GMing has been either IRL or on Discord. Other PBP that I have GMd is system agnostic, and probably on old message boards that don't exist anymore.

As for gaming philosophy, I tend to like yes-and character interactions, high power without a dire need to optimize (i.e. making mechanically suboptimal choices that fit a character better), and cooperation between players that allows for healthy disagreement so that character interactions are interesting and honest. As a GM, I like to provide players a challenge, but I'm not out to get anyone. That is, it's not me vs the players: it's all of us working together, except the GM is introducing hooks and challenges.

This sounds like something I almost pitched here on the boards a while ago. There are so many cool modules that I would love a chance to play. Rather than committing to a whole AP, going story by story is promising.

My Pathfinder GMing has been either IRL or on Discord. Other PBP that I have GMd is system agnostic, and probably on old message boards that don't exist anymore.

As for gaming philosophy, I tend to like yes-and character interactions, high power without a dire need to optimize (i.e. making mechanically suboptimal choices that fit a character better), and cooperation between players that allows for healthy disagreement so that character interactions are interesting and honest. As a GM, I like to provide players a challenge, but I'm not out to get anyone. That is, it's not me vs the players: it's all of us working together, except the GM is introducing hooks and challenges.

This.

Re: Discord for actual play-- I'm not so much in favor of that, I've done two games now solely via PBP on Discord and it just... aesthetically kind of drives me nuts if it's the actual game medium. I'm fine for it as a chat platform and to keep table talk going/reminders to post, but for actually playing through, I just find it kinda fugly. I've tried out various bots, plug-ins, etc, and there's a decent amount of customization available, but it just is something I don't really wanna fuss with. I like the static nature of being able to read back through thread pages, and Discord's back-search function isn't comparable to me.

That’s fair enough, it is a bit unwieldy and doesn’t come as nice as the boards. Though it hits a spot of just a little more personal and a little more active when playing. But I’m fine to do it mostly on the boards: it helps keep track of things much easier.

Might as well explain a little about myself since I didn’t earlier. I’ve played in a number of game several now have gotten around 10. As for GM’ing I’ve done one on the boards but simple attrition and the weight of a campaign brought it down. I’ve GM’ed IRL and on discord so I have some experience mostly with pathfinder 2e however but I’ve played a fair amount of 1e.

As for philosophy I think Polyfrequencies has a great way of explaining it and I’m all for that type of game.

So, what are the character creation guidelines?

As I said earlier in thread, character creation guidelines will be hard-finalized as a group once we have selected players, allowing everyone to express some options and preferences.

My overall preferences are probably going to be something like:

-PFS-typical playable races, so nothing too wild or curve-breaking
-20 pt buy
-150 gp across the board
-as mentioned, unchained skills are fine by me, and also background skills
-Maybe some free feats to get over basic feat taxes and make the game a little more enjoyable since we'll start as level 1s
-Full HP @ level 1

But probably making a full character is a little premature at this point.

I like those, I might suggest 15 pb if we have 5 or 6 players. I don't mind 20 though, it is more forgiving for making characters.

Free feats might unbalance things, which makes a little more work for GMing, but it also sounds fun, so I'll go with the majority on this one as well.

I’m fine with whatever, sounds like a fun time with making characters.

I'm good with all that, 15 or 20 works.

Just for kicks though, anyone up for actually rolling up characters? 4d6, keep the best 3, six times...or 20 pt buy, whichever the player likes better?

If not, no worries. Just a whim. ;)

So it looks like we're getting started now perhaps? Should we get the discord channel started to discuss and banter?

I like rolling as well. Makes things more lethal often times (even with a high roll like 4d6) which just feels a little more old school, and a little more realistic to me. I'm good both ways though. I think Pathfinder assumes that you'll be optimizing your point buy so like I said before, we'll be a little weak as PCs.

Not sure anything stated here is "official ". Just tossing out ideas and preferences, while Dien thinks things over, and considers applicants.

For my part, I guess I should offer up my background too. I'm a former Wrestling Efed runner and player, having written numerous wrestling roleplay promos and matches for competition.

I also ran a 3 year long pbp for my old gaming group with reasonable success. There were indeed lapses in posting at times both on my part as well as my players, but we always came back. ;)

I have ghosted a game before, on an older d&d board, which I am not proud of, but I want to be honest. The circumstances were stress and burnout on my part which I should have communicated, but didn't. This is not something I ever intend to repeat.

Like some of you, I've tabletop GM'd a good deal, with several systems, including Shadowrun and Marvel Superheroes.

Yeah, I'd like to see if we get just a few more people interested before formally saying 'let's go.' We're basically right on the verge of having enough, but I enjoy the bit of chatter that allows for a sense of who you're playing with, what you like in a game, etc.

Wrestling! That's fun lol.

I'm not opposed outright to some old school stat rolling, it does add some fun chaos to things. :P

Appreciate the honesty Jace! I have ALSO burned out on games, I won't pretend I haven't, but I've learned from each time that I didn't manage to see a campaign through to its conclusion and I have a sense of what errors to avoid making again, anyway.

For instance: I will not again try to run a homebrew through PBP. It's just so much more work and investment required for the GM.

I have mostly GM'd variations of dnd/PF, but I've also run a few few rules-lite or no-rules systems here and there over the years.

Waiting a bit sounds good.

For more in depth on me: I've only finished one pbp game out of about a dozen I've tried. They've all fizzled out for some reason or another. I've also ghosted more than once, but it feels like those might have been a decade ago and I like to think I'm a different person that wouldn't do that by now.

For pbp, I've never GM'd as I mentioned earlier, and I'm the forever GM irl. Lately I've been getting interested in a bunch of other systems, including several PbtA games, and recently-ish was able to run a DCC game over two sessions. Although lately as I mentioned before, we haven't been playing ttrpgs in my group.

For instance: I will not again try to run a homebrew through PBP. It's just so much more work and investment required for the GM.

Huh, I would have thought the opposite as I've had a much easier time face to face with homebrew than published stuff. I guess pbp is a completely different beast.

I'm excited to see this develop! Just some thoughts below.

Re: 15 pb versus 20.

I'm a big big fan of the monk class. I've almost exclusively played monks with what few chances I get to play ever since dnd 3.5e. I do not think they need a 15 pb to stay competitive. I would have said so on earlier editions, but Unchained Monks have a lot of options even with 15 point buy.

That being said: I'm totally cool either way. I liked going with the default 15 point buy because it made balance a little easier for me as a GM and it gave me room to give my players broken items that were fun. We're playing in a module so there won't be as many powerful magic items flying around, but also the published stuff is generally made with a certain expectation of pc strength.

I also know how fun it is to construct an optimized character while still integrating game decisions with narrative ones. And a 20 pb can go a long way with that.

I think 20 pb seems to be the way of the majority here, which I'm on board with because then I get to make a cooler 1st level character! :)

Answering the question: What do I like in a game?

Personally, whether GM'ing or playing, I like balanced group dynamics, and reasonably harmonious characters. That is, characters who generally want to be working together...for whatever reason. They don't have to like each other, but the GM shouldn't be put into a position of having to force characters to work as a team just so they can play through an adventure.

I believe it's up to the players to explain why they're agreeing to adventure with the party, whether for selfish gain, moral imperatives, out of desperate necessity, or simply because they like hanging out together.

I LOVE banter and character interaction, and of course, adventuring to cool locales.

I'm cool with playing either High or Low magic, though if I had to choose, I generally prefer low magic campaigns. I was always a fan of the logic that if someone took the time to create, say a +1 sword, well, considering how much work the DMG says is required, it should mean something and it should seem special, you know? In games I've run in the past, usually any +1 item would usually have something else to it...even if it's just giving off light or whatever. Note: I'm not asking for this, just mentioning it. We all love having cool toys, so obviously more power stuff can be fun too.

Beyond that, I like storytelling, flawed but redeemable characters, and snappy dialogue.

* chuckles * This wasn't specifically requested, but well...there ya are. :D

* chuckles * This wasn't specifically requested, but well...there ya are. :D

Not specifically requested, but appreciated! It helps me get a sense of what people will play and GM like and that's always nice.

Hi everyone. Looks like I’m a little late to the party. I’ve been considering GMing on the boards for awhile, but the time isn’t right with other things in my life. Being able to GM with a group of players I already know down the road would be really cool, so I’d like to add my interest.

About me. I’ve been playing RPGs for about 15 years with a few different systems. I’ve GM’d in real life and a little PbP through other boards/apps, though I like Paizo’s the best. I enjoy the character interactions and friendships that form in the PbP games. I don’t care too much about a challenge, mainly because I can remember what going on in combat from post to post to be on top of it. I like playing fun, story-driven characters.

About preferences. I’m good for a discord OOC. I’m also good with google slides as a player, but I would probably switch to Roll20 as GM. My work computer blocks google things, but not Roll20 or Paizo,. Go figure. I can use my phone for play with slide, but not run. 20 point buy sounds fine to me.

As far as optional rules go,
1)I love background skills and will push for it.

2)I also like variant multiclassing, firearms, and uncommon races.

3)I’m not a fan of the elephant in the room feat tax changes, as they require the GM to update all of the monsters, but I’d go along with it if the rest of the group’s game.

4)I’m open to 3pp/homebree material in a very limited sense if there’s a race or class someone wants to play and it doesn’t drastically alter the system. E,g. Someone wants to play a soulknife, but we just call it magic instead lf psionics, and they can’t take an archetype that grants powers. It doesn’t seem like anyone else is arguing for 3pp, so it probably won’t be. problem, but I thought I’d share my thoughts.

Anything else anyone want to know about me? I’m happy to share.

Not too late, this is definitely still open.

Thanks for your input and views on things re: platforms, etc!

Playing in a radically different setting is fun

Like in ancient Greece, or Persia. Or a Steampunk setting in hong kong. Or a world devastated by a magical catastrophe.
A few ideas

But set modules are good, as well. I'm easy either way

Dien, did you have a setting in mind? Golarion? Something else?

Edit: Posted at the same time as Chill. Generic module setting is cool with me too. Just responding to the idea he had...

I know it's probably a bit too early to pitch follow-up modules, but I would be very interested in running Tears at Bitter Manor for Levels 5-8. I inserted an abbreviated-and-altered version of it for my in-person War for the Crown campaign as a sidequest, but fell in love with the rest of the module. It will be a long time until we get there, but I would love to slot in there.

If we are stringing different modules together as we go, they may need to be linked by some homebrew stories. But considering that we will hopefully have a similar (albeit rotating) cast of characters working together in each story, character-driven arcs will be as much if not more important.

Since we would be starting in Isger for Gallows of Madness, it makes sense to mostly stick with the Golarion setting unless the GM decides to homebrew for their turn at the helm and shift us to a vastly different plane of existence. As long as we have a way to get back for the next GM's story, I suppose anything goes. Magic!

From back when I almost pitched this, I looked at a string of modules that could go from 1-17. Here's what I thought looked fun:

* Grin * Great list. Tons of potential there. Seriously excited over the prospect of this game.

I've listened to both Feast of Ravenmoor and The Midnight Mirror on the Glass Cannon Podcast, so I'd be down to GM for those if we decide they are the next steps.

The rest I haven't tried in any capacity so everything would be fresh for me.

@Jace: I think Golarion is probably best just to keep things consistent between GMs. There's a bit of everything under the Golarion sun, so once its your turn to GM you can find something that fits your fancy.

@Ruin Explorer: Welcome! You're not too late until dien calls it!

I would overall probably prefer to keep things in Golarion, for the sense of consistency and tone, and, as mentioned in the intro post, it'd be Paizo-pubbed materials only. I'm sure there are great adventures people have written set in Greece/Persia/etc, but I've also been burned by third-party material in the past that wound up being just poorly written or unbalanced or badly edited or what not. I'm not familiar with anything Paizo's put out that is not set in Golarion, at any rate.

Poly, thanks for compiling that, that's super helpful. I'd be excited for Feast of Ravenmoor in the second tentative slot, in part because it's the only one there I haven't already played, haha.

Current Applicants:
Dien
Scitenik (new to PF1e, won't GM for a while if at all)
Kubular
Chillblame
Jace Crenn
Mythicman19
polyfrequencies
Ruin Explorer

Hi all, if it’s not too late I’d like to throw my hat into the ring. I’ve been lurking and looking for a while and have finally plucked up the courage to speak up. The concept here and the way it sounds like it’s shaping up definitely appeals to me.

About myself and where I’m calling from. I’m very much a lapsed player - it’s been over a decade - but over the last year or so I’ve dug out a lot of my old books, been reading around, looked through my old campaign materials, and I’d love to play again.

While it’s fair to say I’m rusty, I do have a fair amount of experience from back in the day. I started playing 2E D&D, played all through 3/3.5, where I have the bulk of my experience, and had started lightly dabbling in PF when life (job, new city) got in the way and my campaign came to an end. During the bulk of this time I was GM.

I also played in a few PBP/PBEM games during this time. Some definitely ran longer than others but if memory serves a couple of them lasted a good year or two.

So while it’s fair to say it’s been a while, I’m sure there’s a lot of stuff lurking somewhere in the back of my mind and will pick things up quickly enough, and I’d love to get involved. The relatively straightforward options suggested appeal to me. To comment on some of the specific points: both Unchained and background skills seem sensible to me; I’m open to either rolling stats or point buy; I’ve got no experience of Elephant in the Room so don’t feel well placed to comment; Golarian as setting is cool with me, I don’t know it very well but it’s clearly big and varied enough to cater for pretty much any game.

Until the deadline or until I call it, it's not too late! Thanks for tossing in and sharing some of your experiences.