DM Voomer's Age of Ashes

Game Master Voomer

The summoning circle is inert now, and disrupting is won't impede them. It is evening of the day you arrived, just before dark, you didn't rest yet. Still a bit of light left.

Me while you guys plan.

Me when I realize how complicated initiative is about to get.

Big fights take a lot of planning, doesn't help that college is eating up my time too.

My understanding of the plan so far: let me know if I have forgotten anything.

Lisi is going to go talk to a dinosaur and see if it will join us in the attack.

Yasami is going to use the potion of invisibility and place the gunpowder kegs in tactical positions to be detonated at some point. Using some method as yet undetermined.

We are all going to wait for one of the Vrock to come wandering past and blitz attack it - with or without the help of the dinosaur.

We are hoping to be able to finish off the first Vrock before the other one comes to join the battle - because fighting it out in the open in a blitz attack means that the other Vrock and the rest of the soldiers at the quarry are going to see the battle happening.

Questions:

What checks do Lisi and Yasami need to make to do their stuff?

What are the possible methods of detonating those powder kegs?

Lisi will need stealth and diplomacy with the dino. Yasami will need stealth and if she's trying to find the kobold leader, perception.

Any form of fire will blow them up. You can try pouring a trail and risk them kicking the flame out like you did with Gerhard, or you can shoot them directly with fire damage.

Dario did mention having incendiary ammo, so if he has some to share with Catalina, she can fire off there as well. Otherwise, someone else will need to ignite another barrel.

I'm also still carrying a few bottles of Alchemist's Fire if anyone wants to grab one. You don't have to hit with them, just not critically fail. The splash damage is still fire damage.

And Lisi has several options for fire spells.

Once a rage, Oren can breathe out a 30 foot cone of fire and the Dragon's Eye Charm lets Oren cast a 5th level Produce Flame once a day. So we've got that too.

they got rid of Blend! Shrink it is.

GM, what is the cage for the dino made of?

It's made of thick logs lashed together with vines -- it looks crudely made, but the logs are massive, and it's fairly sturdy.

flammmmmmable wood? :D

Can Wood Shape bend wooden bars? :)

I can't rule on that, but I do notice that it was renamed to Shape Wood.

TALLY HO

I can't rule on that, but I do notice that it was renamed to Shape Wood.

Fern, I don't know if you need rolls from me on that barrel plant and interior scouting. Ping if you do.

Hey guys. I have some bad news.

I'm stepping away from doing PBP stuff on Paizo. Personal reasons. I don't want to leave my games in a lurch, two of them have been rescues I picked up from other DMs who quit, because I know it sucks for a game to end prematurely. I feel awful ruining things for you guys. So I am hoping, perhaps, some of you might be willing to pick one or more of my games up. If anyone is, I can hook you up with all the pdfs, any notes I've made, plans I was brewing, whatever.

I'm really sorry. Never wanted to be the one posting this message.

The above, I'm copy/pasting into all my games. You guys, though? My still-unnamed guardians of Breachill? I love you guys. We almost made it to a year. I commissioned a student to illustrate the party as a surprise -- it's not done yet, but I'll still share it once it is. I will miss you guys, and I'm sorry to cut short your attack on the mine after like 3 weeks of planning >.>

I'll check in over the next couple days to see if there are any takers on DMing. I'm sorry again. <3

I'll be leaving the game. I'll be around on the boards if anyone needs a player for something.

It was fun the short time I was with you guys.

I am a little emotional and might be a little hasty. I like you guys. If people are interested in another DM, I will stick around.

Oh NOOOO!

Fern...you sure you don't want to put the game on hiatus? This group is lightning in a bottle.

Folks, if Fern really needs to jet, I say we look for a GM.

I am still interested in playing. I don't feel that I would be a good GM though.

I said a lot in Shackles already but I'll go ahead and finish it up here.

I'm going to step aside from this one. If you read my Shackles post you'll know why. In a nutshell, work has still got me busy - RL reasons - and that gives me less time to post at night.

Fern, as I said in Shackles, you're awesome. :) I am thankful for the opportunity to run in your game. You will be missed. And there's no need to apologize. Life happens. It is what it is. :)

And you've all been a great bunch to roll with. It's been a blast.

I was in two games of Fern's and they both had good groups. That's pretty cool.

Be good, all! I'll be seeing you around the boards I'm sure. :)

I will stay around if folks are around and if we can find another DM. I do not think we'll find another one capable of what Fern was able to create and that is a loss I'll be feeling for awhile.

If we can find a new DM, Dario's guns are loaded.

Oh snap! That came out of nowhere. Sorry to hear it.

For what it's worth, you did a MOST EXCELLENT job steering this group of crazies down the proverbial road. So hats off to you. And I can probably speak for everyone here when I say that we will miss your style, flair, and the little details you add. It's been a delightful experience while it lasted.

With that said, I understand if you need to take time off. Real life comes first, and burnout happens, and I was there a few years ago. I hope you find tranquillity and satisfaction in whatever you set out to do.

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you are working on. And I am kind of hoping this is a temporary setback - because this group is LEGIT.

As for continuing, I do GM 2E, but can't really spare the time to manage this game at this point in time. And I would have to retire Yasamina, which would not help my motivation.

So let's try to find a substitute, I guess? First we have to determine who is staying in the game.

I see Catalina, Lisi, Caiten, Dario, and me remaining.

Cev, Joran, Oren - what about you guys?

I'll stick around if we can find another GM. I've been enjoying this game with all of you and I don't want it to end. And I am sorry to hear that you have to be stepping back from DMing, Fern. Thank you for running this game as long as you have.

Atm, we're waiting for Cev, though I can't imagine that he wouldn't want to continue playing with us (could very much be wrong though). So we're going to be continuing on with myself, Yasamina, Catalina, Dario, Caiten, and Lisi, with Joran having to drop out as well (will miss you, man!) and Cev being pending.

Obviously, we should wait for Cev to come in and declare his intent, but once he does, it's looking like we should go into Recruitment and post a notice about how we need a DM.

Agreed, and we should all co-sign on it. I'm going to ask around as well.

Agreed, and we should all co-sign on it. I'm going to ask around as well.

I'll leave creating that to those who have more experience in such things. Post a link here and I will definitely join the discussion.

I definitely co-sign, but I would like to be *extremely* discerning about what kind of person we pick. It is going to be hard to live up to Fern, and it isn't fair to constantly compare a DM, but I definitely don't want some of the DMs I've seen around who merely copy-paste adventures and don't add their own flair and personal touch to things.

Agree with Catalina here. Though beggars can't be choosers, I've seen things.

On another note, why is Joran leaving?

He posted in our Shackles game - work is just SO busy and he doesn't see it changing anytime soon. He's been having a hard time keeping up in all of his games (including the one I run).

Incidentally, I'll be launching a Kingmaker pf2e game in the next few weeks. I will let you all know when I begin to recruit if folks are interested.

Agree with Catalina here. Though beggars can't be choosers, I've seen things.

I haven't been around these parts long and I have already also seen things.

He posted in our Shackles game - work is just SO busy and he doesn't see it changing anytime soon. He's been having a hard time keeping up in all of his games (including the one I run).

Damn. Sorry to see you go as well, Joran. But what will we say to Trinil?

Incidentally, I'll be launching a Kingmaker pf2e game in the next few weeks. I will let you all know when I begin to recruit if folks are interested.

Oh, yeah, sure. I might be interested. Potentially.

Also in agreement on the DM. We're not gonna get Fern, but we shouldn't settle either. Let's get someone that'll put in the work. And yes, a PF2 Kingmaker sounds interesting!

I'm going to send this link to my friend who has run most of AoA. He hasn't run a PbP campaign, but he has been a solid GM in meatspace and is playing in my campaign (and many others) on here.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I totally vote NO on Fern leaving
---- which I guess she has already vetoed but I wanted to make sure I was on the record as totally against it from the start. It's a bad idea, and I'm not sure who came up with it. Oh. Right. Life. Well it's still inappropriate.

I totally vote YES on staying together
---- however that might be possible, up to and including a protracted hold period in search of new leadership

I totally vote MAYBE on taking on the role of GM
---- I know I could never be Fern, but I did purchase all 6 modules of the AP when I was going to run AoA before, AND Fern seems to be interested in handing off directly, AND K10 knows everything about both 1E & 2E (the LCDR Data of Pathfinder)

Alright, let's wait for Lisi's contact and see where that leaves us.

I'd be much happier seeing if Lisi's contact would be willing to take us on. Happy to wait patiently for that. :)

I've been chatting with him and invited him to come to this thread and say hi. :)

Hi folks! Lisi/Axolotl told me that the apparently very excellent GM Fern is unable to continue GMing your Age of Ashes campaign. I’m curious to chat with you all about the possibility of me taking it over, at least to give it a try and see if it works out all around.

I started gaming with the D&D Basic set as a kid and returned to TTRPGs about 20 years ago. I’ve been a Pathfinder GM for well over a decade in a more-or-less weekly home game. We did the complete Carrion Crown AP for PF1 and we are currently about to move into the fourth module in the AofA AP, after an extended homebrew diversion. So, I’m definitely familiar with where you are in the AP right now, and where things are headed.

I’ve played in several PbP games, but never GM’ed one. As a GM, I’m pretty diligent and detail oriented, but not a total master of the rules (which matters a little less with PbP, since there’s time to look things up). I’m thoughtful about NPC/monster motivations; don’t have a binary view of good and evil; and I’m open to PC creative problem solving and don’t think every encounter needs to end with the enemy dead on the ground. I dig character development and I’m happy to give PCs room to develop their personalities and relationships. I’ve scanned the recent game thread, and it seems like GM Fern is a very colorfully descriptive writer. I would do my best in that department, but it is something I would need to work on, as it’s different in PbP than in live games.

I guess, before going further into details, I’m curious if you have questions for me or things you think I should know about the campaign or your expectations. Have a good day, everyone!

yayyyy! Hi Voomer! <3

I'll leave the queries to others. I'll say one thing, though: I do not expect Voomer to disappear. This is not to cast aspersions on anyone who has had to leave/end a game over the years I've been playing on here (life can be difficult in this world...)...just my personal observations with regard to Voomer's commitment to gaming.

Greetings. I'll have to process things for a bit to form my questions and concerns into something coherent. But for now, I'll say that I am hopeful and happy to see that perhaps this game won't completely end prematurely.

I am excited to meet you! I am a recent addition to the crew. I'm happy to have someone that one of us can vouch for.

In regard to the colorfully descriptive writing, I think effort matters more than perfection. Some days you're going to feel inspired, some days you aren't, and that's okay. I am a high school English teacher - don't take that as pressure though. I'm not on the clock when I am on Paizo, even if I am Paizo-ing on the clock.

I would say I don't have questions I can think of right now so much as I wanted to lay out a couple of things about myself/things I love about pbp and this game in particular.

I'm an autistic woman. One thing Fern did really well was state her rulings up front, and I would really like to see that continue with any GM that takes over.

Also, please understand that if I (or anyone else) asks for clarification on a ruling, it is never from an antagonistic place. We autistics love our structure, and we are known for being blunt and straightforward. Please always assume good intentions. :) I know I am not the only neurodivergent person in this group (ttrpgs attract our types). If I ever have an issue, I'll be PMing you privately. I tweak the rules all the time as a GM (although I have limited experience as a GM, tbh), so I'm not a stickler for being perfect or anything. We are all human.

I am in it for the sweet, sweet roleplay and character development. I am in it for the creative writing. This is my outlet, especially this game in particular - the people and characters here are incredible and I have been following the story since Day 1 even if I haven't been involved. I would like to see that preserved and revered.

I would also like to preserve our current character build things like the free archetype/ancestry paragon stuff. Especially given that AoA has a reputation for being pretty intense. Our party build is not "traditional" and any GM taking over should keep that in mind.

Okay, I think I've babbled enough, and I'm putting off finishing the notes I'm making my students take over Rhetorical Situation/SOAPStone analysis by writing this.

Let me know if you'd like me to expand any more on things.

I'm an autistic woman. One thing Fern did really well was state her rulings up front, and I would really like to see that continue with any GM that takes over.

Also, please understand that if I (or anyone else) asks for clarification on a ruling, it is never from an antagonistic place. We autistics love our structure, and we are known for being blunt and straightforward. Please always assume good intentions. :) I know I am not the only neurodivergent person in this group

Seconded. Both on the sentiment and on being autistic.

I know all of the rules. I practically have them memorized. I also feel like the core rules are a bit too restrictive at times. We have a couple of houserules in place for things like allowing Drifter's Juke to work with Reloading Strike.

I also know that the rules are vague and ambiguous at times. So when I see something that I don't know exactly how it is going to actually run in this game, it causes a huge amount of anxiety. So I will ask - either publicly or privately about how it is going to be run in this game or even in this instance. Not trying to be critical by doing that - just trying to be clear.

I so much appreciate both of you directly stating your preferences and expectations. Communication and assuming good faith is so important. I have to run now, but I wanted to acknowledge your comments. I will write more later! Have a good evening everyone.

Hey there Voomer! Thanks for stopping in and checking in on us here. Caiten and Catalina have already covered it slightly with their questions; we are a odd mixture and are big fans of our in-depth roleplays. None of us are expecting you to be like Fern was and I would rather see your own twists and turns upon the narrative and see what you could build upon what is already there.

This has been my diamond in the rough when it comes to play by post; I've never had so many players stick around so long for a game and I am truly excited to see how far we can go with it. I know that life will slow things down, even pause it, but I'd love to see if we could go the incredible distance and actually finish a 1-20 campaign with in-depth characters. Lisi has been a great player and if you have his support, you have mine for taking over. I do not believe that he would lead us wrong.

I think the only think I ask is that Fern really had a knack for being on the side of the players. I know a lot of DMs say that they are and truly, they are, but she was especially good at it. Letting us get away with flavor, thinking outside of the box, and letting us be Big Damn Heroes and look cool while we do it. I want that style to still exist in this game; we're facing world-ending challenges but, while we are a mish-mash of people, we are the best ones for the job. I'd also like to know your feelings on the citadel portion of the AP. I know that the story kind of lets it fall behind after a bit but Fern seemed focused on letting it be a really cool part of the story and I'd love to have things going on around it.

Thanks so much to all three of you. I'll try to touch on all your points and seek clarification, but let me know if I miss something or other questions come up.

Rule Interpretations and Style of the Game

For starters, I'm definitely fine with any questions for clarifications about calls I make about rules. I wouldn't take it personally. My intent in interpreting rules would be to err on the side of the rule of cool and interpreting ambiguities in favor of the players, especially because a PbP game really feels to be about the story. But please feel free to reach out with a message if you think I’m not living up to that intent. I’m a pretty precise thinker, and can sometimes get caught up in the intellectual interest of the rule interpretations (although in a PbP it would probably just happen in my own head), but, like I said, I want to focus on the story and don’t want to be hung up on the rules as written.

I think those comments go to Dario's point about the heroic style of the game (and I should note I wrote the above before reading Dario's comment). I really like the idea of continuing what GM Fern fostered and encouraged, and I would ask for your help along the way if you feel like I'm being too constraining. Certainly the players in my home game wouldn't say I'm constraining about their character development and out of the box ideas.

I should note that I really love allowing players to build and develop their characters. In the Carrion Crown AP, the same set of characters were there from start to finish (except where one player had to drop out).

To address a couple specific questions... Catalina, I wouldn't contemplate changing any of the character build options Fern gave you (archetypes, etc.). And I highly doubt I would change any of the house rules you all agreed on. Of course, at some point you'd need to tell me what all of them are! Another general note is that in 2e especially I rely on the PCs to know what their characters can do and how it works -- I don't know those rules, because the NPCs and monsters don't use player build rules at all. And, honestly, if I studied all of them the details would just drift out of my head over time. So don't expect me to second-guess your actions much, but also please be patient with any clarifications I might need. Please also be forgiving of any rules mistakes!

Rulings up front

It would be helpful to know better what is meant about giving the rulings up front. I doubt I’ll have any problem continuing anything Fern did, but I want to make sure I understand. I saw that there was a place where, during exchanges about planning the attack on the quarry, she said that a certain action would be based on a certain skill. Is that what you mean? Other examples? This may be an area where you might need to let me know as we go if I’m failing to give a ruling up front.

I guess one part I’m curious about is whether you’re saying that GM Fern always told you the DCs for checks up front. I don’t always do that in my home game, at least not with certain types of checks, but it is a topic on which I can consider any views people have.

Caiten, I have no problem at all with you seeking any rules clarifications and if there's an ambiguity it's good to resolve it in advance.

The Citadel
The nature of the AP does have the citadel fade into the background for large portions of time. The PCs in my home game have come up with a lot of ideas for it, but above all it has been a place where folks they have befriended along the way can take refuge. It's a fun grounding element, but not a huge focus at this point in the AP. I'm curious, Dario, to hear how Fern kept it front and center and what you would like to see. It's also certainly an area where player initiative can make a difference in keeping it more present in our collective imagination.

Thanks for all the useful comments. Happy for any more comments or questions.

Hi Voomer!

First of all, welcome to our little madhouse. Reading the recent discussion, I get the feeling you are already being compared to Fern. I want you to know this is not meant in a bad way. It simply shows that this table cares a lot about the game. Now - while Fern did set up the bar pretty high, you strike me as the type that will not have issues keeping up.

I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but everyone here was a little anxious about the person picking up the mantle. Here on the Paizo boards, I did see and experience games where the GM was simply copypasting the text from the AP PDF, and pasting it into their post with little-to-none flavour text. Sometimes, including the text for the GM (ie 'The PCs can use a DC 25 Perception check to find a hidden compartment in the closet'). Suffice to say, it's not a pleasurable experience for me personally. And while some people play Pathfinder for the wargame aspect, I like a little honey in my cereal, if you catch my meaning. Now, nobody will ask you to become Steven King and use three paragraphs to describe a curtain. Add a little here, a little there - you know how it goes.

So, looking at your posts, it seems you have a way with words, you are active, and I assume we have a mutual understanding regarding the flavour-to-crunch ratio in this story we all want to tell each other.

And with Axolotl vouching for you, I have no objections to you sitting in the GM chair at this table. If you want to, that is.

To address some of your concerns...

DCs Upfront

Catalina's class (Thaumathurge) has an ability that allows her to cause the target to be extra vulnerable to her strikes. So the 'DCs upfront' part is merely to streamline the flow of the game. I believe this is the only part where this was requested - in order for you two not to need to wait for each other in terms of posting to resolve a one-action strike.

Nobody will be requesting metagame knowledge from you (well, unless a game mechanic specifically allows for it, I guess), if this is what was troubling you.

Backlog
It seems you will be joining us in the midgame, and I don't know about others, but I will not ask you to read the entire 4000+ post thread. And while it is interesting reading, at times, I think you get the gist of what happened, since it is a published adventure path.

A few quick pointers for you:

- in this group, Oren is the one troubled by the dreams of Dahak. I assume this is a mechanic from the AP, so you would probably know more about it than me. If not, we can give you the bullet points.

- We did not kill Voz the 'librarian' but had her imprisoned in Breachill before moving on to Mwangi.

I am not sure how important the latter is in the grand scheme of things, but I just thought I would point it out to you, in case it is relevant down the line.

So for me, I welcome you to join us here. If you have any questions for us, shoot.

Excellent. I'm on board. I think I'll be happy to play with you Voomer.

It would be helpful to know better what is meant about giving the rulings up front. I doubt I’ll have any problem continuing anything Fern did, but I want to make sure I understand. I saw that there was a place where, during exchanges about planning the attack on the quarry, she said that a certain action would be based on a certain skill. Is that what you mean? Other examples?

It may be best to give an example where this didn't happen.

Minor spoilers for the second encounter in Agents of Edgewatch. Also spoilering this for length.

But from the sounds of things, I don't think you are going to do anything like that.

We are actually playing the game fairly by the book - with the addition of Free Archetype and Ancestry Paragon. Most of the things have been rulings on ambiguities. I remember Dario's thing for Drifter's Juke because it was recent. Some others are things like 'how long will a familiar follow commands when not in combat?' and 'does Needle of Vengeance have one save for the duration of the spell, or a separate save for each time the target takes damage?'

I also hear that there are a lot of golems in at least one point in the adventure. Golem Antimagic rule is horribly vague and in some cases contradictory. Also, the Clay Golem is notorious for its explicitly set counteract level on Cursed Wounds. But I figure I would wait to ask about those until we actually meet one.

As for DCs, I have no problem with you keeping the DCs hidden. As was mentioned, it does speed up gameplay a bit for Catalina to know what the Recall Knowledge DC for the enemies are - which does give away what the level of the enemy is if we bother to go look up the DC By Level table. Though we can usually estimate the enemy's level fairly quickly just from their AC and attack bonus numbers after a round of combat.

Yeah, what Yasami said about DCs - I don't need anything other than what the standard DC for the enemy is so that I can resolve Exploit Vulnerability (whether it is a success or a fail) - and I can wait for what that vulnerability is for sure. It's just so my mechanics-heavy character doesn't hold up the game.

edit: It's totally fine if you don't want to go that route -- that is your choice and all. It was just my request to make things go a little more smoothly. Metagaming/other people metagaming takes away a lot of the fun and I'm very against it as a whole, so it would just be for me to be like, "Okay, cool, Exploit Vulnerability succeeded"

I will have more thoughts on this a little later - I am posting between classes.

Thanks for all the helpful and kind comments.

Yasami, you definitely don't have to worry about me mindlessly copying and pasting! I can see why that wouldn't be any fun at all.

Regarding Catalina's Thaumathurge, I've never played in a group with one, so I'll need to familiarize myself more with how the class works, but I don't have any problem giving recall DCs up front. It sounds like that's just something Fern did at the start of every combat encounter so Catalina could include the action in the first posting?

It's funny, one of my gripes about the PCs in my home group is they rarely take the time to recall knowledge, but it sounds like that won't be an issue here! Definitely let me know as things proceed to make sure the flow and the way I'm handling recall knowledge is comfortable for you.

Regarding metagaming, I'm not too concerned with this group about that, since you're all so focused on character. In my experience, when PCs are focused on character, the metagame knowledge might heighten the tension or excitement for the player, or lead the player to be a little more thoughtful, but players focused on character are unlikely to break character due to metaknowledge. And the only really really important metaknowledge would really be stuff about the overall plot, and it doesn't seem like most of you have that in any meaningful way?

Caiten, that seemed like a super annoying interaction in the Edgewatch campaign. I think my general approach would be to provide a narrative explanation for how something like that would work, rather than just posting a table with shorthand from the module. But I definitely agree it would be important in a situation like that to work out any questions or ambiguities in the discussion thread, and PbP has the advantage of being able to take the time for that. I actually appreciate knowing that you (and I assume others) are alert to places where things may get tricky rules wise.

If we do go forward, which is seeming likely, I'll definitely have a number of questions about the campaign on points like Yasami mentioned. As for house rules, unless it is something fundamental that is likely to come up every combat, it is probably best for folks to just point it out the first time it comes up, like the first time a PC uses a certain ability that has been house ruled. I'm unlikely to have a problem with something you have all agreed upon. The AP is challenging, at least at various moments (including the one right before you), so I don't want to hold you back with stingy rule interpretations or overly harsh RAW.

Let me know if I missed anything, if you would like clarifications, or if there are more questions or comments.

Regarding Catalina's Thaumathurge, I've never played in a group with one, so I'll need to familiarize myself more with how the class works, but I don't have any problem giving recall DCs up front. It sounds like that's just something Fern did at the start of every combat encounter so Catalina could include the action in the first posting?

I'm a recent addition, and I work with DM Fern IRL, so I usually just asked her via our work chat if she forgot to include it. I requested it, but we have only been in a couple of combat situations since where it became necessary, so it was never habitual. Catalina joined when they all went to book 2 - she had been staying with the Ekujae people as a guest (her backstory was tied in with them) and joined up then.

If it helps, I'm brand new to thaumaturge too, so while I make it my business to know my character as well as I can, I'm sure some of the things we'll be learning together. :P