Nothing rare, will handle uncommon items and spells in game. Since first time, going with basic feat progression. No free archetype or dual class. Roxtar is kind enough to put a subchannel on his Discord. I will post link to Roll20 there, just for map and token use. The forum is for the dice and stuff. Might move to Google slides at some point.
Backgrounds from the Player's Guide encouraged.
Inventor with Starwatcher background from the guide :)
I haven't looked at the player's guide backgrounds yet, but I am most likely sticking with Saloon Entertainer for the Virtuosic Performer feat. That +1 to perform checks is just too tempting for a bard.
Gunslinger with Ruin Delver from the guide.
Champion with Fogfen Tale-Teller from the guide
Cloistered Cleric with Starwatcher background.
updated profile
It’s a rare sight to find Jo with visor up on the power armor, let alone to see them out of it entirely. Standing at 6’10”, the heavy suit has become like a second home to the wandering inventor. When the opportunity presents itself though, you’ll find that a head of close cropped, red hair, baby smooth face, and shockingly blue eyes stares back out of the metallic depths. The sound of youth is plain in their voice, but in conversation, Jo seems to have a great understanding of many things.
Isihlangu Umnakekeli introduces himself and says that you can call him Dozer. Has had the nickname for as long as he can remember, he was raised in the Mwangi, he is about 20 with a bald head, goatee and always has a big smile on his face. Dozer wears chainmail and has 2 shields one with a shield boss and one with shield spikes, each shield has a symbol that he explains as a Holy Symbol of Mazludeh.
The short, squat, balding human with a thick bushy mustache was named Malk by his mother some fifty odd years ago, but she's the only one who uses or evens knows that name. To all who meet and know him, he is simply "coach." His booming voice can be heard from across a field and has a tendency to command attention. Coach had a keen eye for talent and a real knack for providing just the right encouragement or direction necessary to help others achieve their maximum potential. To his opponents (and those who disappoint him) he's known for making biting and sarcastic remarks to really make a man second guess his life choices.
He's never without his trusty signal whistle hanging from a cord around his neck, and insists on staying limber in his hooded leather tracksuit. He carries a shortbow and is a decent shot, but he is often heard saying, "competing on the field of battle is a young man's game, so never you mind about me. I'm doing just fine right here on the sidelines, please and thank you."
Dr. Hu R. Yu is an elf that was born and raised in Otari. She spent many a night gazing at the stars with Wrin Sivinxi where she learned of and then became a cleric of the Cosmic Caravan. She uses her divine blessings and skills she has learned over the years to heal the sick and injured of Otari.
She has white hair and the telltale pointed ears that plainly show her elvem heritage though she has a peculiarity. She has one crimson eye and one green. She dresses smartly in a pantsuit and tie and carries the tools of her trade in her pockets, ready to render aid wherever she goes.
You lot can call me Captain Teach, let's cut loose the sails and head forth you scalleywags!
A 30 year old man, skin like worn leather, with long black hair and a big braided beard stands before you. He has Red and black captain clothing and wears a tricorn hat with skull and crossbones adorned on the front and an eye patch on his left eye. A gold etched dueling pistol sits tucked into the front of his pants and an equally fancy cutlass sits upon his right side. He is a large man in stature standing at 6’ 4’’ and weighing about 2 casks full of ale.
A man of no fear and a heart for adventure… Marshall D. Teach the captain of the Red Scarred pirates one of the lesser know pirates but working up to quite the notoriety. After having their ship sank by the navy and in need of funds to get another ship, Captain Teach decided to take to the land and heard that you can make a quick bit of coin as an adventurer. So Teach now takes to the swampy land with a group of unknown adventurers in search of coin and a bit of fun
Rather than go back and forth with truly ooc commentary on game mechanics, I am posting here. FWIW I am not trying cheese the system. I am just trying to reconcile how the 2e mechanics are supposed to work, as I fully admit I am no expert.
Specifically I am trying to reconcile how the mechanics of a scout giving advance warning of danger translates to not being able to listen at a door or scan the horizon for approaching enemies. I understand how avoiding notice and guarding can prevent perception checks as you are more focused on protecting/hiding yourself than actively monitoring your surroundings. It is just scouting than seems to be stuck in a weird mechanical no man's land. From what I can see reading over the rules on the Search activity it grants a free perception check to notice a secret door, item, or hazard. Essentially I interpret that as you gain a passive secret perception check even when not specifically asking to look at something. What I disagree with is the interpretation that any player asking to make a perception check about something specific means they must be using the Search activity.
Ultimately if it is true that I need to Search to be able to make perception checks during exploration then I can see your point of Coach's high perception being more valuable to the group as a Searcher than a Scout. My main preference for Scouting was itself born of the conflict that the +2 circumstance bonus Coach gets from the Incredible Initative feat can't stack with the +1 circumstance bonus provided by a scout, so it made sense to me for him to be the scout.
yeah, i fully can see what you are saying on the perception thing, but to keep it from being the "i'll do this so i can just do a bunch of stuff" they made the scout more of a, i see danger and call out to my friends that the s**t is about to hit the fan. not "i'm keeping my eyes and ears open for all manner of things." if you want to do multiple things, there ARE feats for that. trap spotter is a big one. you get to select an exploration activity AND still get that search check to find traps and hidden things. but it takes an investment in the character to utilize it. outside of that, exploration modes is very much a streamlined, players go from point a to point b, and do general stuff. since there's nothing really noteworthy here, maybe relay a bit of text describing the area and then move on. instead of stopping down constantly to go, i'd like to try out 16 different things and make sure i go over this place with a fine toothed comb, because i might have rolled poorly and missed 3 copper.
ultimately what i'm getting at is that the exploration activities are there to keep the game flowing. you pick one and then the gm can just adjudicate what the players would find/do/etc. anything beyond that is trying to push the system to do things it wasn't meant for and borders on cheesing/metagaming. either that or "i don't trust the people in those roles already to do a good job, so i'll try to do it too, just in case"
so yes, jo will gladly take up the mantle of scout. the inventor can shout a warning to you guys just as easily as coach can.
side note... i really don't like the incredible initiative feat... when there is someone scouting it gives you nothing. it sounds great on paper, but in practice it's kinda meh.
I think the disconnect we are having is that I don't think that asking to make a check to listen at the door with an item off of the 2e equipment list specifically to aid in that check is metagaming, cheesey, or contrary to any other exploration activity. I get that exploration activities are there to simplify and speed up the game (although in my experience they only seem to make it more clunky, in pbp at least), but I have a hard time believing that the designers' intention is to never allow single actions outside of them.
Here is what I found in the rules:
Actions and Reactions: Though exploration isn’t broken into rounds, exploration activities assume the PCs are spending part of their time using actions, such as Seeking or Interacting. If they have specific actions they want to use, they should ask; you can decide whether the actions apply and whether to switch to encounter mode for greater detail. PCs can use any relevant reactions that come up during exploration mode.
Exploration Activities
Source Core Rulebook pg. 496 2.0
In exploration mode, each player who wants to do something beyond just traveling chooses an exploration activity for their character. The most common activities are Avoid Notice, Detect Magic, Hustle, and Search, though there are many options available. While players usually hew close to these default activities, there’s no need for them to memorize the exploration activities and use them exactly. Instead, allow each player to describe what their character is doing. Then, as the GM, you can determine which activity applies. This also means you determine how an activity works if the character’s actions differ from those on the list.
From reading that, I personally would say that listening at the door was perfectly in line with scouting. In fact I can think of no more logical way to scout in a dungeon with closed doors. But that's just my personal interpretation. Obviously it is ultimately the GM's call.
Fair enough. So, I’d like to be scouting, searching, and investigating. And then when we get into combat, I’ll be doing defend. Because by that same logic, my character is curious about the place we are at and would be looking at everything, trying to find stuff (search and scout combine apparently), would want to know about the stuff (investigate), and since I’m carrying my shield, then obviously using it asap is also reasonable (defend)
No, you misunderstand me. Again, I am not calling for gaining multiple benefits at all. Let me put it this way. Searchers get free passive checks automatically whenever they come across a discoverable item/creature/hazard. So if Coach was searching and opted to listen at the door, Coach would gain a free check if the door happened to be trapped or hidden treasure was nearby. Coach is scouting, so he gets no such freebie because he isn't looking for traps or valuables. Instead he has his ear pressed to the door listening for combatants. He will grant +1 initiative if a fight breaks out, by communicating to his friends, "get ready, I hear movement inside."
phrasing it this way, sure. your character has some roleplay at the door. but if he is truly scouting, in mechanical terms, there's no roll involved. so, i guess i'm just confused as to why you put that on there. coach does his thing, the door opens, and he says, "oh no, bad guys", we all gain a +1 initiative. that's all. because no matter what result would be achieved on that perception check, when the fight starts, we all still gain the initiative benefit. ya know?
If you would, please remove me from the campaign at your earliest convenience.
Placeholder post so that the thread doesn't get archived while we are on hiatus.
Another placeholder
Did not know archiving after awhile was a thing. Placeholder.