Welcome! My name is Colin and I will be your game master as you overcome the challenge of The Gauntlet. Although I've GMed quite a bit for PFS (mostly on Roll20), this will be my first time running game on PbP.
I think I will use Google Slide for the map on this one, as I have many pleasant experience playing game with it before.
The Gauntlet is a sanctioned module that award upon completion. It usually takes about 5~6 hours of in person/online play time to finish the whole module. It is designed for lv8 characters thus the 7~9 character level range. As normal, lv7 pregenerated character can be used instead of a player character. The Gauntlet is written as a challenging dungeon for a wider audience, and its depiction of the Pathfinder Society is not representative of the organization as a whole. Embark knowing that the Society will have your back in your future exploits, but today you delve into the merciless depths of The Gauntlet.
The Gauntlet is an annual board gaming tournament and fundraiser organized by ENGAGE (https://www. moxboardinghouse.com/engage/), the charitable giving branch of Mox Boarding House in Bellevue, Washington. To help raise funds for the 2015 Gauntlet challenge, team members Jason Bulmahn, Erik Mona, Jessica Price, and Stephen Radney-MacFarland offered to create an exciting dungeon adventure for the fans based on how much money Paizo’s team raised for Hopelink, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to combating poverty.
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The Gauntlet is written as a challenging dungeon for a wider audience, and its depiction of the Pathfinder Society is not representative of the organization as a whole.
May I ask what exactly this means? I am contemplating joining (I have many in-tier characters to choose from), but this and other things have me on the fence so far.
The Gauntlet is written as a challenging dungeon for a wider audience, and its depiction of the Pathfinder Society is not representative of the organization as a whole.May I ask what exactly this means? I am contemplating joining (I have many in-tier characters to choose from), but this and other things have me on the fence so far.
Despite originally not written as Pathfinder Society/Organized Play content, its story assumed you guys are elite Pathfinders chosen by the higher ups and need to overcome the challenges the three masters set for you guys. The abovementioned disclaimer is in the sanctioning document to be provided to the players so that, without spoiling anything, the Society can still be the "good guys" after putting you through whatever obstacles that's in the Gauntlet.
And no, it's not like they're gonna ask the Paladin to do some stupid moral dilemma or anything like that, No. It's only a test about your wit and strenght. It's the "How" the Society managed to put together such challenges that can open up rooms for interpretation, and I guess the Org Play society don't want to be affected by possible negative interpretation of such question from a non-Org Play content, hence a disclaimer was added when sanctioning this module.
I hope this clear things up for a bit. Feel free to ask any other questions.
I appreciate the character info, but if you guys can fill in the RPG chronicle with them that would be great.
I will get the Google Slide up next week for you guys' tokens
RPG Chronicle is used to report games to Paizo, as well as generate or send out chronicle sheets.
I do believe that you can still fill in the RPG chronicle without signing up, the downside would be that you can't change the info you entered afterward, which is not a big problem since the GM can edit it for the players anyway. At minimum you need to fill out essential info for the chronicle sheet (Player name, character name, PFS number, faction), and your email for receiving the chronicle after the game.
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Hiding, as someone with possibly similar concerns of endless spam ads for reverse mortgages, the latest weight loss diet, bank correspondence from overseas royalty, and donation requests from the Save America PAC, 'Sign up' should read 'Sign up for this particular game, and not sign up for a service that will send you endless spam ads for reverse mortgages, the latest weight loss diet, bank correspondence from overseas royalty, and donation requests from the Save America PAC.' You have my word, it isn't like Facebook.
After that, the only things you need to fill in (because a '*' means it's 'required') is the stuff we've all already filled out above (or I guess, you could make the GM do it themselves since you've already made the info public). If I remember rightly, it doesn't even say that an email is *.
You could, I guess, wait on PMing until we figure out if GM_Colin is the sort to send us endless spam ads for reverse mortgages, the latest weight loss diet, bank correspondence from overseas royalty, and donation requests from the Save America PAC. Although at first glance they seem to be a typically respectable and trustworthy badger. Just look at that jutting chin!
~An Overseas Prince
I totally understand the privacy concerns and agree that RPG chronicle should be more clear about their "signing up".
Mr. Oversea Prince, if you want, you can also PM me your email address or discord handle for receiving chronicle sheet, since I didn't see your input on either one on RPG Chronicles
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Mr. Oversea Prince, if you want, you can also PM me your email address or discord handle for receiving chronicle sheet, since I didn't see your input on either one on RPG Chronicles
Yeah, I was kinda in a hurry (there was military coup in my kingdom that cut me off from the local banking system), and I thought that I might be able to add it and some of the other info later... which apparently I can't. But that's okay because I'm pretty sure that I did get all of the * stuff filled out. ;)
Mr. Oversea Prince, if you want, you can also PM me your email address or discord handle for receiving chronicle sheet, since I didn't see your input on either one on RPG ChroniclesYeah, I was kinda in a hurry (there was military coup in my kingdom that cut me off from the local banking system), and I thought that I might be able to add it and some of the other info later... which apparently I can't. But that's okay because I'm pretty sure that I did get all of the * stuff filled out. ;)
You need to register an account with RPG Chronicle so that it can remember that a player info is yours, thus allow you to edit it later. That's why I recommend you to just PM me the info.
Hello everyone, the google slide map is up. On the second slide you can upload a picture as your character token there. If you need help with the Google Slide or the token just let me know.
Are you ok with using your forum profile picture as the token?
Anything else, mostly reactive or passive thing, from everyone, that I should know about?
*looks at latter character's sheet*
Hm. How does Marcus circumvent the normal prohibitive limits of doing damage with a whip?
Benefit: You no longer provoke attacks of opportunity when attacking with a whip. You can deal lethal damage with a whip, although you can still deal nonlethal damage when you want. Further, you can deal damage with a whip despite a creature’s armor bonus or natural armor bonus.
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Benefit: You no longer provoke attacks of opportunity when attacking with a whip. You can deal lethal damage with a whip, although you can still deal nonlethal damage when you want. Further, you can deal damage with a whip despite a creature’s armor bonus or natural armor bonus.
That'll do it!
Anyone else remember the Lasher prestige class from 3.0's Sword & Fist? I think I might've enjoyed the chance to play that.
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Anything else, mostly reactive or passive thing, from everyone, that I should know about?
Steal Ki (Ex): At 5th level, a hungry ghost monk can steal ki from other creatures....If the monk scores a confirmed critical hit against a living enemy or reduces a living enemy to 0 or fewer hit points, he can steal some of that creature’s ki. This ability replenishes 1 spent ki point to the monk’s ki pool, as long as the monk has at least 1 ki point in his pool. He cannot exceed his ki pool’s maximum....This ability replaces purity of body.
Life Funnel (Su): At 7th level, a hungry ghost monk can steal a creature’s life force to replenish his own. If the monk has at least 1 ki point in his ki pool and scores a confirmed critical hit against a living enemy or reduces a living enemy to 0 or fewer hit points, he heals a number of hit points equal to his monk level....A monk with this ability cannot steal both ki and hit points at the same time. This ability replaces wholeness of body.
It's a big sword.
Noted.
Oh, Nota Bene: Expect Mondays to be my 'Internet Shabbat'.
Does that include our first day in Gameday XII as well?
Zartan Samuel, may I ask how did you get your proficiency with the exotic weapon? I can't seem to find it on your sheet/profile.
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Zartan Samuel, may I ask how did you get your proficiency with the exotic weapon? I can't seem to find it on your sheet/profile.I'll look to see if there was something on a chronicle, but most likely it was over reliance on technology. (Aka herolab said it worked and I didn't double check)
Didn't find anything. Updated weapons to both be gladius.
---------------------------------------------------------As far as questions since we're limited to yes/no answers I think our best bet will be things to get a broad overview like are there undead? are there traps?
Or things that will effect your character's abilities like Will things resist fire damage? that would shut off Zartan's Scorching Weapons.
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As far as questions since we're limited to yes/no answers
I'm thinking along the lines of:
'Do you control everything that happens in there?'
'Is there a floor, Monty?'
'Have you stopped beating your wife?'
'Are those 'two, man-sized statues of sumptuously armored figures in elaborate masks [that] flank the golden door, the glass lenses of their helmets glimmering in the lantern-light as they stand silent vigil' meant to come alive and attack us when we return through said golden door? (Abaal's asking this or a version of it regardless of anything else.)
'Does teleportation magic work in there?'
'Are each of you who you appear to be?'
'Is there any reward in this exercise beyond your and the Decemvirate's approval?'
'Will our reception in there be a hot one?' (or a 'cold one?')
'Give us a gender-neutral name alternative to Noah, that means "rest" or "repose," derived from the Earthly Hebrew root word noach.'
'Will there be math involved?'
'Can we just please get started, I have monsters to slay?'
I think that any test the Society would come up with will involve climbing, flying (at this level) or swimming. There are bound to be constructs or other recoverable 'assets' like summoned monsters and outsiders, ghosts that could reform after a few days, unintelligent swarms and undead, etc.... There will be a number of perception checks and a riddle that involves some linguistic skill, or some other scholarly ability. There will be traps. We should be prepared for these at least.
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'Also, which band has the best album-covers?''Give us a gender-neutral name alternative to Noah, that means "rest" or "repose," derived from the Earthly Hebrew root word noach.'
The Who?
After close examination, Zartan finds out that the costumes on the mannequins are indeed removable. Despite the size of the mannequins they're displayed on, the costumes look like something a medium or small creature can wear, and they have air tight zipper for sealing up the costume if someone wears it.
So basically the 'apparel' on the Large statues looks like something Cher might have worn on a naval vessel back in the late-80's?
They're quite bulky though, compromise a little bit of the wearer's agility for the airtight sealing on them.
Wait. What? Err. Okay.... Remind me when we are done to go back in time to the point just before this was written and kick the author and their editor in the shin. Hopefully that will 'turn back time' enough that this all makes sense. ;)
On that note, I still think we need to hobble these "statues" somehow, or at the very least make sure they aren't traps or secret golems meant to bar our exit, before we leave. Abaal feels as though he has read this author before.
They're quite bulky though, compromise a little bit of the wearer's agility for the airtight sealing on them.Wait. What? Err. Okay.... Remind me when we are done to go back in time to the point just before this was written and kick the author and their editor in the shin. Hopefully that will 'turn back time' enough that this all makes sense. ;)
*Being kick in the shin* That was me trying to be more descriptive about the suits. My apologies for me unable to English well, as English is not my native language. Everytime I ran this in a normal setting (Roll20+voice chat, 5h) , everyone somehow ignore the statues and their costumes. They probably thought of it as merely flavor text. In play by post, people have more time to exam and interact with the surrounding, which is one of the reason why I like PbP.
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I don't think it's you. I don't own or have ever played The Gauntlet before, so unless you have changed the description of the statues' size, or the way the suits were arranged on them when the party found them, there's no foul on your part.
I was just confused by a non-magical, airtight outfit (with an enclosed helmet or mask) big enough to fit a Large-sized giant (or statue in this case) that was somehow wearable by PCs who were Medium-sized or Small. A halfling would be swimming in something like that unless it was more the size of a sling bikini on the statue. (i.e. my Cher reference for what she wore in her 'Turn Back Time' music video).
I just get the feeling that the statues are the size they are because they have to be, mechanically-speaking, to fill out the CR in the last encounter, and the outfits were placed on them so that they might be overlooked by a party in a rush, and that somewhere between the scenario's author and the editor mistakes were made.
The kicking a creator-type-person in the shin part is a reference to what is arguably one of the worst movies ever made into an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000--Hobgoblins at the end of which Tom Servo one of the robot cast members forced to watch the movie dresses up like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Terminator, travels back in time (the Cher reference again!) and kicks Rick Sloane, the writer/director/producer of Hobgoblins in the shin in an attempt to change history so that movie is never made.
And for my part, I can only say that your English is much much better than any of the many and varied languages that I cannot speak, read or write in at all. ;)
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And for my part, I can only say that your English is much much better than any of the many and varied languages that I cannot speak, read or write in at all. ;)
Very much agreed - as I've said to others on the matter before.
Where ARE you from?
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I was just confused by a non-magical, airtight outfit (with an enclosed helmet or mask) big enough to fit a Large-sized giant (or statue in this case) that was somehow wearable by PCs who were Medium-sized or Small. A halfling would be swimming in something like that unless it was more the size of a sling bikini on the statue. (i.e. my Cher reference for what she wore in her 'Turn Back Time' music video).
I just get the feeling that the statues are the size they are because they have to be, mechanically-speaking, to fill out the CR in the last encounter, and the outfits were placed on them so that they might be overlooked by a party in a rush, and that somewhere between the scenario's author and the editor mistakes were made.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Gauntlet is module made to celebrate Paizo winning a contest between boardgame companies. Because of that, The Gauntlet is available for free, which means that the efforts that were put into it is less than the proper Pathfinder Society scenario.
Originally, there's only a single black-and-white handdrawn map for the whole Gauntlet dungeon, in which the squares don't line up with the grids at all. So instead of using the original map, I used the updated, high-res map from the GM prep site. However, the two statues are missing on the high-res map, so I manually put up two pictures for the statues and resized them to occupied the same amount of squares (2x2). The statues on the original map are also 2x2, but looks much smaller since it's basically black dot on the grid intersection.The medium costume on a large manniquin is purely me expanding their description based on what players would be seeing from the Google Slide. which I thought would be fitting with most thing in the Gauntlet also being weird. I apologize if that creates more confusion.
Where ARE you from?
Tian Xia , but I came to the US since high school and spent one third of my life here.