[PbP Gameday XI] Race for the Runecarved Key - GM Thread (Inactive)

Game Master Lady Ladile

Welcome! Use this thread for all discussion, questions, etc.

I don't own a computer so I'm a bit limited on using Google Slides. I can luckily do enough for PbP but may need to "borrow" a map or two from others' slides.

As it happens, I've got a slide deck and tokens linked at the top of the campaign page for people to use, if they like! Folks may also use/make their own if they wish, but it's there as an option :)

I usually have my players sign up on RPGChronicles to issue their chronicles. May I do that or is there a different way you want to have players sign up?

RPG Chronicles is fine! We handle reporting the tables to Paizo on our end of things though, so no need to worry about that part :)

In the setup for act 1 (page 7), we're supposed to allow players to glance at a handout for a specific number of seconds. How do we want to handle that in PbP?

In the setup for act 1 (page 7), we're supposed to allow players to glance at a handout for a specific number of seconds. How do we want to handle that in PbP?

I plan to give them random names for each increase in seconds.

I myself am wondering about the chase. I'm running tier 1-2 and some of the DCs seem really high. A mid & high level party can use fly, haste, and other modes to easily get past many of the obstacles.

Also, I feel sorry for any paladins & Lawful Good PCs playing this. Luckily, there are none in my group.

I myself am wondering about the chase. I'm running tier 1-2 and some of the DCs seem really high. A mid & high level party can use fly, haste, and other modes to easily get past many of the obstacles.

I'll have to look up exactly how it's handled, but I know the vanilla chase rules don't allow you to just skip stuff with flight. It instead gives a bonus to the check.

EDIT: But this scenario specifically says skipping stuff is possible. Well, auto-success against ground-based problems anyway. Ugh.

And even worse - once anyone catches up, they're fighting alone until the other PCs catch up. If that happens to be the squishy wizard with overland flight...

At least there's the "Creative Skill Use" guidelines. However, an increase of +5 to the DC is pretty brutal for 1st level PCs.

In the setup for act 1 (page 7), we're supposed to allow players to glance at a handout for a specific number of seconds. How do we want to handle that in PbP?

The last time this was run for PbP the House GM made some modifications to make things fit better into the PbP format - this is one of those things that got modified. Looking back, it appears (and I say 'appears' because the original modification document for this stuff doesn't seem to exist anymore *sigh*) that we GMs were instructed to do the following:

(1) Roll Perception checks for all PCs as they glance at the book
(2) For every 4 points on the result, they glimpse 1 name --> Score of 8 = 2 names, score of 16 = 4 names, etc.
(3) Since there are up to 8 names, roll to randomly determine which names each PC manages to see - and there will likely be some duplicates

Hopefully that makes sense!

Totally makes sense. Thanks

Hello everyone, I just got back from vacation and am now preparing.

I have never GMed a special before.

Stupid questions coming up but how are we coordinating when the Overseer will post versus when the GMs will post? ;-)

Not a stupid question at all!

The House GM will select a time that works best for them to post what they need to post (in a general sense) and there will also be a schedule set up for how long each section will run and what the start and end dates for each section are, as well as for the special as a whole.

I'm still working on the schedule but I can go ahead and say now that I'll be looking to make my House GM posts at around 5pm CST (which I believe would be 10pm GMT). I'm aware that may not be ideal for everyone depending on their time zone, but I kinda have to go with what works for my own IRL schedule since I work nights :\

Can I have my players start doing their character introductions while they mingle at the Magnimar Lodge as they wait for Sheila to make her announcement?

Yes! Go ahead and allow them to make introductions and chat among themselves if they like.

Also, if you haven't already, everyone please be wrangling your players and making sure they're checked in and ready/getting ready to go. Usually we give folks right up to the start of the special or maybe a day or two after to check in. This is because sometimes RL happens and people lose track of when things kick off and other times we have folks who aren't very familiar with how PbP works and don't realize tables often muster a few days early, so they sign up for games and don't check back on the forums/their tables until the day the convention actually starts.

If your table ends up with any no-shows, let me know and I'll either put out a call to see if someone else is ready and willing to jump in or, depending on the subtier of the table, hit up folks on the wait list.

Just wanted to quickly say Hi! I just finally dotted in; I'm the GM for our standard 1-2 table. Looking forward to running this with you all!

Whoo, boy. I'm in for one hell of a challenge. I have a Paladin in my group.

I had a PC who was waffling between a barbarian and paladin; successfully low-key nudged them into the barbarian, haha.

Yeah, I had one the last time we ran this in PbP. I agreed with the player I'd point towards the least objectionable missions, and also give a little more leeway about the code. It worked out.

I'm still working on the schedule but I can go ahead and say now that I'll be looking to make my House GM posts at around 5pm CST (which I believe would be 10pm GMT). I'm aware that may not be ideal for everyone depending on their time zone, but I kinda have to go with what works for my own IRL schedule since I work nights :\

Is this on Saturday, Sept. 10th? I noticed the Con officially starts at Midnight (12:01 am to be exact) Greenwich Mean Time on the 11th. I live in US Mountain time zone (-6 GMT) which would be 6 pm on the 10th, 7 pm CST.

If you do start at 5 pm CST, that's 4 pm for me.

Just trying to get the start time down to let my players know.

GM Ladile wrote:

I'm still working on the schedule but I can go ahead and say now that I'll be looking to make my House GM posts at around 5pm CST (which I believe would be 10pm GMT). I'm aware that may not be ideal for everyone depending on their time zone, but I kinda have to go with what works for my own IRL schedule since I work nights :\

Is this on Saturday, Sept. 10th? I noticed the Con officially starts at Midnight (12:01 am to be exact) Greenwich Mean Time on the 11th. I live in US Mountain time zone (-6 GMT) which would be 6 pm on the 10th, 7 pm CST.

If you do start at 5 pm CST, that's 4 pm for me.

Just trying to get the start time down to let my players know.

No, I'll start us at 7pm CST September 10th, or as soon after as I can (I'll be at work by that point). Future House GM posts will still happen at around 5pm CST, though :)

The current schedule outline has been posted over in the Gameplay tab, but can and will be adjusted as necessary should we experience any site outages or the like. While Act Four may potentially run up to 20 days, it may also end sooner depending on table success rate during that section. Either way, we should be done in plenty of time before the convention closes and before a lot of the major holiday stuff begins to kick off here in the States.

When Act 3 approaches, I'll link a reporting tracker at the top of this campaign page for keeping track of the Key Points each table earns.

I need a backup for the first day or two. Just got a covid booster, and it's hitting me like a big sack of bricks.

I need a backup for the first day or two. Just got a covid booster, and it's hitting me like a big sack of bricks.

@Aarvid- You good with getting Redelia started for the first couple of days?

All tables should now have a post from me officially kicking things off! I will post the opening to Act One at roughly 5PM CST tomorrow (September 11th), so players have just under 24 hours to finish/make introductions (or get checked in, in the case of stragglers) before the real action begins.

I have two players who haven't checked in yet. One (Khouri P.) has a profile here, the other, ‘Eκάτη, doesn't appear to (though, with that amount of special characters, who knows?).

This is for the Tier 1-2 table; I don't see anyone on the waitlist in that Tier, does that sound correct?

It took me a minute to find them but Eκάτη's profile is --> here. I spoke with Khouri P. via Discord on the 6th and they indicated that they'd been having some computer difficulties, but I haven't heard anything else since.

Every table should now have a post from me that kicks off Act One proper! To make things flow more smoothly, we are running with the following changes:

(1) As mentioned previously, we will be handling the 'peek at the ledger' section by using the method in --> this post.

(2) The House GM box text that occurs at the 5 minute (1 Day for PbP) mark that begins 'A squat man in white robes...' should be incorporated into your own GM post once the PCs have had their chance to look at the ledger. For an example, see >>this post<< from my table when I GMed this.

(2) For every 4 points on the result, they glimpse 1 name --> Score of 8 = 2 names, score of 16 = 4 names, etc.

To be clear, this means that a Perception check as low as 4 gets one name, right? Or is this based off a default DC of 10, so you need a 14 to get one name?

Someone got a Perception 32+ so I gave them all the names.

With no adjust for APL, the 12-15 table had more people get the full list than not.

GM Ladile wrote:

(2) For every 4 points on the result, they glimpse 1 name --> Score of 8 = 2 names, score of 16 = 4 names, etc.

To be clear, this means that a Perception check as low as 4 gets one name, right? Or is this based off a default DC of 10, so you need a 14 to get one name?

The former. I believe it was set up that way to ensure that each group would get at least one name. No big deal for the high-tier tables to basically get all of the names and even the lower-tier tables should, unless the dice are particularly unkind, get most of the names when spread out over 4-6 PCs making checks.

Am I allowed to tell my group how much time they have in a certain section?

Like, scoping out the potential buyers. Can i say something like,
"You only have about 2 days to seek out and engage as many of the potential buyers from the names you discovered in the ledger."

Or keep it a secret and if they only discover one buyer and roleplay for the 2 days, then, that's it?

Absolutely let your players know that they're on a time limit and when the action will be moving along! I'll also add a note to the bottom of my House GM posts as to how long each section will run.

A question about identifying/locating the folks from the ledger. The general instructions for the pre-auction gala state this:

The PCs can attempt to seek out any of the individuals whose names they pick out from the ledger by making DC 10 + APL Diplomacy checks to gather information. On a successful check, a church official or another gala guest points out the person in question.

.

But each bidder's entry also has an entry like this:

Identify/Locate: DC 15 + APL

.

What is the difference between the base 10+APL check mentioned first, and the different DC mentioned under each bidder's entry?

I think I figured it out; the second number (in the bidder's entry) refers to this alternate method of locating, presented separately:

At this time, PCs can attempt to scope the crowd to try to deduce who are their most serious competitors if they haven’t already glanced at the cathedral’s ledger. If the PCs state that they are seeking specific types of buyers (such as political figures, aristocrats, Aspis Consortium members, or wealthy merchants) allow them to make a Diplomacy, Knowledge (local or nobility), Perception, or Sense Motive check to locate individuals that best resemble the PCs’ descriptions of who they seek (see the skill DC for each NPC in their respective sections below).

I.e. if they didn't get the name from the ledger, they can use this (sometimes higher) DC to find an unknown bidder. This alternate DC also allows a wider range of skills to be used, and is also the DC used after interacting to gain insight into their motives.

Does that sound right?

It took me a minute to find them but Eκάτη's profile is --> here. I spoke with Khouri P. via Discord on the 6th and they indicated that they'd been having some computer difficulties, but I haven't heard anything else since.

GM Ladile, I've had a player contact me through private messages to see if I have an open spot at my table. Khouri P hasn't checked in yet; should we give their spot to this other player?

I told them to add their info to the waitlist on the spreadsheet as a first step to "officially" taking the vacant spot while I check here with you.

Umm. Need a bit of guidance for this situation:

One of the PCs is trying (and succeeded quite well on their perform/bluff bardic versatility check) to spread a rumor that the Key is cursed to get all of the potential buyers to back off from bidding.

What should I do?

Act 3 is all about getting people to back off. I would have the bidders seem scared/indifferent/arrogant as per their personalities, and keep the result in your back pocket for later. It's far too early to let them just bypass the whole scenario.

One of mine bribed a servant to pass along a note to Dymal Rinks saying simply "Basaale sends his regards."

Considering what happens to him later...

Also, the description for the loan shark calls him "sadistic" twice. Not sure if emphasis, or bad proofreading.

"Well, hello, it surely is nice to meet a fellow halfling. I can see you like the blueberry blintz. If it is that good, maybe I should get one myself."

With a wink, Corba gestures that he possibly should wipe his mouth.

"You are Dymal Rinks, aren't you? I wonder what you are doing here at an auction..."

"Uh. Yeah. They're really good."

"Yes. I'm Dymal. I'm just here to appraise, well, get a feel for it, if you will, for one of my wealthier clients, who has expressed interest in it."
He says politely as his eyes flit back and forth from you to the key. He then suddenly changes the subject.
"Are you staying at the Old Fang Inn by chance?”
He scratches the back of his arm, then the back of his neck.
"Horrid place. The beds are flea-ridden something fierce."

Suddenly, she loses the smile and her expression gets icy.

"Shouldn't you be trying to settle your debt with a certain proprietor instead?"

Dymal stares at you for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.

I'll give you the bonus to aid from Malakar. Funny that we both rolled 20s. (Mine was the roll in discussion).

All tables should now have a post from me that signals the end of Act One and the beginning of Act Two. Please feel free to backfill any information that your PCs might have learned but that you hadn't had a chance to post yet as you begin Act Two.

I also noted at the bottom of when Act Two will end, for benefit of the PCs.
______________

GM Ladile, I've had a player contact me through private messages to see if I have an open spot at my table. Khouri P hasn't checked in yet; should we give their spot to this other player?

I told them to add their info to the waitlist on the spreadsheet as a first step to "officially" taking the vacant spot while I check here with you.

Since we're early enough and there's been no combat yet, go ahead and let them jump in if they're still interested.

Act 3 is all about getting people to back off. I would have the bidders seem scared/indifferent/arrogant as per their personalities, and keep the result in your back pocket for later. It's far too early to let them just bypass the whole scenario.

A bit late on me getting to this (have been a little under the weather) but cmlobue has the right of it. Definitely have NPCs react to such things based off their personalities but even a wildly successful skill check shouldn't be an automatic, 'I/PCs win' button.

Omg! Sorry! Posted in wrong thread earlier!

Are we keeping track of the Key Points earned during Act One anywhere?

Are we keeping track of the Key Points earned during Act One anywhere?

They get used in Act Four, to determine your table's bidding power.

Beyond that, it looks like the only point we report them is at the very end, to determine the "winner". That part I'm not sure about.

The paladin in my group was the first to go in with sword swinging and almost crit the sentry who was just wandering around doing his job.
*Facepalm*

I'm working with the player on this. They even said their GM in their previous game let them play a Paladin of Desna. Am I wrong for enforcing the rules?

There's a lot less leeway in Society play for what GMs can allow. Desna does not normally accept LG followers, so I would not approve that at my tables.

Discussion with no staff members chiming in, so it is not canon.

That said, I didn't see a warning offered to the player (didn't read every word, so may have missed it). Like Infamy actions in SFS/PF2, I would usually tell the player the consequences of their actions and let them select again, then award Infamy/strip powers if they chose not to. What you did was perfectly within the rules, but may not have resulted in the best game for everyone.

putting on my VL hat:

I'm not hearing anything that could reasonably be described as an 'evil act' or otherwise violates the paladin code in that. They attacked the soldier (currently acting as such) for an evil organization. In society games, and action for which a reasonable argument can be made it's not evil has to be allowed.

Also, in Society, you cannot punish a player for alignment/code problems unless you warned them before they did whatever. (I don't have the source of that official ruling right in front of me, but I could find it)

However, you were right to tell the player they could not be a paladin of Desna. The paladin class description says a paladin's deity must be LG, LN, or NG, and Desna is CG.

I'm allowing the player to retcon their actions, but, it seems like they'd rather play as a fallen paladin/fighter due to all of the maral issues (murderhobo encounters) in the scenario.

They considered switching to paladin of Sarenrae, however, one of their codes is:

"I am peaceful. I come first with a rose rather than a weapon, and act to prevent conflict before it blossoms. I never strike first, unless it is the only way to protect the innocent."

The paladin attacked first.

I think they're probably actually saying they'd rather not play a paladin in this sort of scenario under a GM who is being overly strict about interpreting the paladin code.

In this example, the paladin character, from what you have described here, did nothing wrong or that should cause them to fall. As I said earlier, attacking a soldier of an evil organization, even if you attack first, is in no way against the generic paladin code. It's quite a stretch to even interpret it as against any specific code. The quote you give (which I believe is Shelyn, not Sarenrae) is talking about a general attitude, not a lens to scrutinize each action.

Even if they had done something that could cause them to fall, if you did not provide warning, the player's action stands, with no consequences to them.

Also, because of the nature of society, any action for which a reasonable argument could be made it is not against a paladin's code needs to be allowed. Society scenarios are not written with paladins in mind.

How do the PCs know it's an evil organization? None of the NPC's are evil. Sure, the Aspis are rivals of the Society, but they're not, like, an undead army or demon summoners.

Whoops. It is Shelyn. They considered both.

I think what they did was a very murderhobo-y act. Others agreed.