[PaizoCon Online 2023] Bounty #20 - Burden in Bloodcove (Inactive)

Game Master Lady Ladile

Where OOC discussion and off-topic chatter lives!

Howdy folks! Opening post is up over in Gameplay but seeing as this is the last day of the VTT part of PaizoCon *and* a holiday Monday here in the US, we'll take it slow for a couple of days until everyone is able to get checked in and ready to roll. Also, while I exist on US Central Standard Time I work the graveyard shift and tend to keep to those hours even when not working - so look for my posts to happen more often during the evening/night than daylight hours.

A macro sheet as well as the maps + slides are linked at the top of the campaign please. Please fill out the macro sheet for your character as well as Slides #2 & #3 with the relevant character information. RPG Chronicles link to follow; currently having some trouble getting it set up.

As of right now, we sit at three players. I've got one person who is willing to run a pregen to round out the group if need be, but there's also been a history of last-minute signups to the PbP portion of PaizoCon Online so that's another reason we're going to take it slow for a day or two to see if anyone else pops in.

Now...let's have some fun! And questions. If you have any questions about anything and/or if you are NEW to PbP here on the forums, please don't hesitate to let me know! :)

I have 2 glyphs which I'm happy to give to the others and a campaign coin.

Y'know what, why not?

Edit: One Glyph, if we're using those.

Plenty of glyphs to go around, it looks like!
______________

Door Prizes

So Paizo is giving away $15 paizo.com gift vouchers as door prizes! Everyone please roll a d20 - a 19 or 20 is a winner! If you win, I'll need an email address so that HQ can get your prize to you; feel free to PM me if you'd rather not post it publicly. For VTT games this would be done at the end of the game but given the nature of PbP we're going to do this now so I can get any winners submitted prior to June 20th.

Prize?: 1d20 ⇒ 12

Prize?: 1d20 ⇒ 1

WIN??: 1d20 ⇒ 18

Clarence want door!: 1d20 ⇒ 3

3 glyphs so I think we all start with 2.

Hi, still working on setting up my character, but I should be all set up tomorrow evening. I do have two glyphs to share out, which definitely puts us to more than the number of players. This is my second PbP game, but the first was a year ago, so I'm a bit rusty.

But to get this taken care of:

Lucky Number!: 1d20 ⇒ 15

prize: 1d20 ⇒ 17

No glyphs. I have no experience with pbp, what do I need to do?

Adding your character sheet to your profile--including making a quick-reference stat block by putting that info in your "Race" and "Class" lines that are displayed in your posts--is standard practice. Feel free to look at Rickle's profile and copy my format.

Most GMs on this forum use Google Slides to create a tabletop, and some also have something else they'll ask you to fill out (looks like Lady Ladile has a "Macros" page that will help when she has to roll dice for us for things like Initiative and secret checks--which actually, I need to fill out too). Those links are up at the top left, just over the first post in the thread.

Since this game is part of PaizCon and never recruited here, there's nothing in the Campaign Info (although the GM also uses that to set the visible info at the top of the page, in this case links) or Recruitment tabs. Players shows the main profile of everyone who's posted in the Gameplay thread, and Characters shows the specific profiles that have. You don't have to do anything with them, they're just there for information.

Once you've posted in Gameplay (which I think you have?) this game will be added to your Campaigns menu. You can access that through My Account -> Profile -> Campaigns instead of saving the specific thread.

No glyphs. I have no experience with pbp, what do I need to do?

Welcome aboard! One of the biggest things for a PbP game is getting your character alias set up, much in the same way that you'd do for a VTT game. Another - and something that ties in to the first - is getting familiar with the 'lay of the land' of the forum and where to find certain functions, how to format posts, etc.

One of our VAs, Numbat, did a very thorough job of making a set of 'How to PbP on the Paizo Forums' slides that includes step-by-step instructions with actual screenshots as visual aids. They can be found here ---> Organized Play (Play-by-Post)

I know it looks like a lot to read through - and a couple of the earliest steps about getting an account set up here and registering your Organized Play ID# are things you've obviously already done - but I've found that it's one of the best ways to help get new folks up and running. So just take your time and please don't hesitate to ask questions if something isn't working like it should or if any of the instructions seem unclear or confusing :)

How often should I be checking in on this forum. A couple times a day? Every Hour?
What is the etiquette for how frequent to post? Do you wait until everyone has said something or reacted to an important post or is it a free for all?

A couple of times a day (depending on what you've got going on IRL) tends to be the norm for most folks. In accordance with that, most games and GMs tend to ask for people to try and post at least once a day through the week and once total over weekends. Plenty of people certainly post more often than that if they have the time and their character has something to do or something they want to react to but generally, aiming for at least 1/day is a good bet.

As far as more specific etiquette goes, no, if you've already posted a reaction to something specific you don't necessarily have to wait until everyone else has had a 'turn' to post before you can post again. Sometimes, as a player, I might post a reaction to a GM post but then come back a little later, see a reaction post made by Player #2 and think, 'Oh, my character would react to that' and make another post even if Players #3, 4, and 5 haven't posted yet. Generally, except for specific situations like combat rounds or social encounter rounds, you don't have to wait to post if you feel that your character has something to do or say (well, unless you're waiting on GM input on something, of course!)

All that said, you shouldn't feel pressured to post if you *don't* feel that your character has something to do or say or if you feel they've already responded to something as much as makes sense for them. Usually if that's the case and it's been roughly 24 hours since your last post, just make a quick post in the Discussion tab along the lines of, "Still here, just waiting for the next GM post/my character doesn't have anything else to add at the moment/etc." That way the GM will know that you're still following along with the game.

Hey folks, I'm heading out of town to a convention today and won't be home until Monday afternoon at some point. I'll be taking my Chromebook with me as I expect I'll have some downtime between sessions to check in on the forums. So posting might be down to just once a day until Monday but I'll do my best to do more as needed and will be giving my GM games priority over player games.

Do I click on GM stuff?

Nope! That's just where I do some of my 'behind the screen' rolling :)

I'm back from the con as of yesterday evening and caught up on my rest! While I might only manage a post a day on some work nights, I should be more responsive on the whole going forward. Thank you for your patience :)

Hi, just checking in, waiting for some action. :)

just wondering, if darkvision follows heat, wouldn't the lizards be visible to clarence?

Ah, but Darkvision doesn't say anything about tracking heat or being infrared. There are one or two monsters in 2e that *are* specifically called out as having infrared vision but no other type of vision - like the Deculi - so I'm inclined to rule that it and darkvision are two different things.

oh well... I tried :)

Has initiative already been rolled?

^Yep, initiative has been rolled and everyone is listed on the combat tracker in order of initiative. Right now I'm just waiting for Zekki to act and then the lizards will act, then everyone else can act. To save time when it comes to PbP nearly all GMs will roll initiatives for the players when necessary. For me specifically, initiatives and secret checks are usually all that I roll for my players - attack/damage, regular skill checks, saving throws, etc. I leave to the players to roll, unless I'm having to bot/run someone's character due to an absence or something.

Do they look like they are going to attack or are they just hiding?

They're getting ready to attack, since some nice Medium/Small-sized snacks just opened their crate :D

Do we know the initiative order?

The names are listed on the tracker in initiative order, or do you mean the exact numerical values rolled for everyone?

*edit* Or if you're asking if the characters 'know' the order for tactical planning purposes then sure! I've got no problem with folks discussing potential tactics, though if you want to offer a suggestion 'in-character' I'd prefer it be done in Gameplay and if it's an OOC suggestion then I'd prefer it be done here in Discussion. But you guys can absolutely talk strategy, ask if someone wants to delay their turn until you can act, etc. just like at an in-person table.

What I meant was I don't know where to find the initiative tracker if we are allowed to see it.

It's right in the GM's post, which is pretty typical for how most pbp GMs do it.

Initiatives are usually done by just posting the order and bolding the people who can go. I usually post based on what I'm doing and might take other posts into account. GM adjudicates based on the initiative order.

If this game, the tracker is this:
Zekki
==============
Giant Lizard Red (Observed to Zekki, Hidden to Everyone Else)
Giant Lizard Blue (Observed to Zekki, Hidden to Everyone Else)
==============
Rickle
Clarence (Shield)
Iskra
Wysteria

Zekki has posted, so it should be the Giant Lizards now.

*facepalms*

I'm sorry, I should have been much more specific about what the tracker is and what it looks like. It's been a while since I've had new-to-PbP folks at a table of mine so I just did my usual and took it for granted that everyone knew what I was talking about. I will try and do better in the future!

Speaking of, now that I've posted for the lizards, the way this block of initiatives will work is that anyone who is bolded and listed as being able to act, may do so at any time and in any order. So even though Wysteria is at the bottom of the list, if they have the time and want to post their action now, they may do so even though Clarence, Rickle, and Iskra haven't posted yet. It's a concession made to help things run more smoothly and more quickly in this format.

I might be without Internet service over the weekend. If I go quiet, this is why.

I'm starting to worry that maybe these lizards have the dicebot's family held hostage or something... :(

hehe, what a sentence.

I will be at Origins from this evening through Sunday night. Please bot as needed.

In one of my games I hit a creature with a heightened Telekinetic Projectile. damage is 2d6+4+1 (IC). I immediately got (1, 1) + 4 + 1... I should sacrifice someone to the dice bot... :)

My Feinting is taking a lot of time. Maybe I should roll three at a time when fishing for Panache and we can ignore the rolls after the pass. Like roll three, but if the 1st one succeeds we just rewind to the 2nd action, or third action if it is the first fails but the second succeeds. If the second fails its my last action so pass or fail my turn is over.

Something like that, or if some of your actions are dependent on your initial action or on something an ally or a foe might do, you can use a format like this:

<Iskra feint attempt #1>

[spoiler= If Feint Succeeds]
Iskra does X & Y
[spoiler]

[spoiler=If Feint Doesn't Succeed]
Iskra feints again and/or does A & B
[spoiler]

Examples of this type of contingency posting can be seen in another game I'm participating in here and here :)

Thank you for your patience in me being away from the computer. I am trying to catch up with everything now. :)

Was Ladile saying we could restore ourselves to full HP?

^Yep! You're not under a time crunch here so after the chameleon fight the group has time to refocus, do medicine checks to heal up, etc.

Is there a zoom button for the map slide?

Never mind, but how do I zoom out! I am in Iskra's nose at this point!

Same way you zoned it. Pinch zoom in mobile, the minus button on a computer. I usually use the drop down. I find that 200% works for moving tokens and 50% for reading and switching slides usually does the trick.

Hey folks, I've finally got the sign-in link for RPG Chronicles linked up at the top of the campaign page with the maps and such. Please go ahead and fill out your information so I can get you your chronicles when we finish up :)

Done.

Done

Wysteria winces in sympathy with Clarence. Between that wild swing and the promise of ale turning out to be a cruel lie, this is clearly not Clarence's lucky day.

You have no idea... That roll was the second natural 2 in as many games yesterday... I think I should sacrifice the GM to the dice bot...

... I think I should sacrifice the GM to the dice bot...

But then there's no GM and you'll have to get a replacement :(