Hello, everybody.
This thread is for OOC discussion, and everything not related to in-character gameplay. Below, you'll find the info needed to get started.
The all-star cast
For this game, I have hand-picked a group of exceptional role-players. If you bring just a fraction of the creativity you have previously demonstrated into this game, we’re in for a serious treat.
- Bruno Munk Kristensen, longtime personal friend (I was toastmaster at his wedding) and gaming partner, both in live games and PbP. Some of you may remember him as Meycho from my Fellnight Queen game.
- Luke_Parry, our resident aussie. Played Jervaise Toppington, the hard-hitting Steel Falcon scout in the Fellnight Queen game.
- Markofbane and I have both been players in long-running Legacy of Fire and Mummy’s Mask games. He played the elven bard Taecuss Dyn Bru in the Fellnight Queen game.
- Phrip, an American ex-pat and real-life swordsman currently living in Denmark. Played the stout tavern keeper turned wizard, Moonpate the Potentate in the Pact Stone Pyramid.
- Michael Kortes (Yes, THAT Mike Kortes) Known to some of us as The Pact Stone GM (or simply The Beetle) and to others as the author of ”jaw droppingly awesome” Pathfinder adventures, including book 5 of this very AP.
Guidelines for character creation
Standard Pathfinder 1st edition rules.
You begin at 2nd level to gives the game a bit of an early boost.
20-point buy for abilities
Starting funds: 1000 gp – buying used wands with fewer charges etc. is OK
HP: Max 1st level and 1/2+1 for second level
2 traits (1 campaign)
Class/Race/Feats etc: More or less anything goes. I trust you not to go crazy and want you to play what you believe will be the most fun for the game and yourself. Third-party stuff is allowed (especially if you wrote it yourself). Speak up if you need help or want to run something by me.
Pacing and posting expectations
I expect this to be a fairly slow and steady game. We are all busy adults with plenty of real-life responsibilities. I won’t be holding anyone to the usual once-per-day-minimum posting requirements. Instead, I trust each of you to post as you can and to let me know if you need me to bot you for some reason.
If you know that you’ll be offline for extended periods, drop me a line. Hopefully, we can keep this going for as long as some of our other games.
Resources
Mummy’s Mask Player’s guide
Past glories
If you can find time, I strongly encourage you to visit these previous games, both to relive old adventures and to see what your fellow players are capable of. Either game is worthy of a full read-through.
- The Pact Stone Pyramid
- GM JaceDK’s Realm of the Fellnight Queen
That’s it for now. Feel free to say hi and discuss ideas for what characters you’d like to play.
Let the games begin.
Thanks for the invite! I'm looking forward to this!
I'm curious as to what others have in mind for characters. I have several concepts I'd like to try for PF1e that I either didn't get the chance or had their careers cut short. I'm thinking a human sorcerer (sage), a haunted human barbarian or a grippli cleric of Gorum.
Dotted for interest. (Just kidding!)
Very stoked to play in this - thanks again for the invite.
Got a bunch of Osirian-type concepts bouncing around right now.
Nice to meet you all.
Bruno: Indus sounds thematically perfect, nice call. Love the medallion.
Mark: Certainly go with whatever ultimately most floats your boat, but for the record "Grippli cleric of Gorum" made me LOL!
Heads-up, I suspect I will be extremely rusty with PBP etiquette. I vaguely remember people have strong feelings about colored fonts and such, so if I misstep please be patient with me and don't be afraid to correct me.
I may also be rusty with my first edition mechanics, but I feel like this'll be just the thing to bring it back.
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Hello all!
Well, if we have a Bard(Archaeologist) in the party, I guess we will have Disable Device and face skills covered ;-)
With that in mind, I have two potential character concepts ready to roll:
Empyreal Sorcerer (mostly buffs, a little light healing, and a familiar that will become progressively more of a murder-bot at higher levels)
Archer Ranger (unsurprisingly, he will focus on Undead as his primary target, and be good at dungeon delving)
Both of them will be devoted followers of the Old Gods of Osirion, because, hey, when in Egypt, why not?
All of those concepts sound both fun and suitable.
Let's wait for Phrip to check in before setting anything in stone. He's in Korea on business all week, so it may be difficult for him to find time to post or consider character options.
He did express thoughts about a tomb raider much like Indus, but there is more than one way to build one of those and certainly room enough for as many whip-wielding archeologists as we want on this adventure. Don't worry too much about party balance or filling all the traditional roles.
Don't sweat the PbP etiquette or rules stuff either. I think most of us are a bit rusty in more ways than one, and as mentioned, we have plenty of time to find our stride and get back to top form.
If anyone have a particular concept they want to play, but have difficulty getting the crunch to work, I'm happy to house-rule or invent a custom trait/feat or something. After all, Paizo made a whole new edition of these rules, so they are by no means sacred or perfect.
The Rule of Cool is in effect at all times, only superceeded by the Rule of Everyone Should Have Fun. But with this group, I fully expect that to be a given.
Let's wait for Phrip to check in before setting anything in stone. He's in Korea on business all week, so it may be difficult for him to find time to post or consider character options.
Phrip, that's so cool!
I'm going to have house-guests from Friday to Tuesday, so I too may be slow to post.
In case it assists with composition, my PC concept is going to land as a human hunter.
But I think I can make it work as a summoner or druid as well, if it's a conflict.
I'm going to have house-guests from Friday to Tuesday, so I too may be slow to post.
Noted. Thanks for the heads up.
Some further info:
Mapping and combat
I'll use google slides, which keeps things simple and mobile device friendly. I'll drop a link to a presentation with a combat map and other relevant info in my profile and the campaign tab.
Once everyone have their character ready, I'll generate a token for the map. There's also a slide for a default marching order.
Setting info and NPCs
I'll link to a separate presentation with key NPCs, rumors, factions and locations.
Leveling and XP
We'll use storybased leveling, where you level op at appropriate points in the campaign. If you really want, I'll throw out some bonus xp here and there, but I'm more likely to reward extraordinary heroics in other ways. I'd also love to see custom art of your characters, if you feel like it.
Bonus content
I'm messing about with AI a lot these days, both for work and fun. Expect a lot of bonus content produced with the help of Chatty and its image-generating friends. You are also encouraged to contribute with anything from NPCs to plot hooks.
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So honored to be invited to this group adventure. I must say, it has been a long time since I've rolled the bones and swung the steel. What better time then now to shake off the mental rust, stretch these old limbs and take up my dice and blades once again. To that end, I can attempt playing Diorio, a Swashbuckling youth fleeing Absalom after being wrongly accused in the murder of his maestro, who declined imparting the secret of the unstoppable thrust to one of his wealthy, yet nefarious students. Homeless, without a patron and maestro, I must now seek the means to stay alive, learn the secrets of the blade, and one day avenge my maestro's death and restore my honor....something like that. Admittedly not too original, but now I can try playing virtually what I have played at in real life (minus the murderous intrigue).
I will definitely have to brush up on the PF1 rules again
Glad to have you join us, Phrip. How’s Korea?
That character sounds right up your ally and I’m already bursting with ideas for using your backstory. Be sure to give me a bit of detail about both your murdered maestro and the rival killer.
Do you plan on going Swashbuckler class on this? I don’t have a lot of experience with that class either, but we’ll get i figured out soon enough.
Everyone, say the word if you want suggestions from me or the rest of the group. I don’t want to curb your initial creativity, but don’t want you to get stuck on rules crunch either.
I suggest you have a look at THIS RECRUITMENT THREAD with plenty of interesting characters to get inspired from. In fact, it was this thread that started this whole thing.
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Alright, given that it looks like we have a Bard(Archaeologist), maybe a grippli Cleric of Gorum, a Hunter, and a Swashbuckler, I decided to go with a Wizard :-P
(Since we were going with The Mummy as a theme, I thought having a character with an *enormous* number of silver holy symbols would be appropriate... and built a concept from there!)
Love the concept and backstory, Luke - and the inclusion of a middle-aged, balding wizard is certainly a welcome clap-back for some of us.
Assuming everyone sticks to their proposed ideas, that also provides us with a nicly balanced party, negating the need for too many impromptu adjustments on my side.
Can't wait to see what the rest of you come up with.
Oh, and for the record - don't worry too much about encumberance and carrying capacity. As long as you don't start hauling about whole chests or siege weaponry, I don't really feel like wasting time with minute book-keeping.
Quick question, Luke: Your projected Feat selections include Improved Familiar (Fiendish) - how does that align with your familiar having the soul of your dead LG paladin wife? Or is it simply a leftover from a previous alias?
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@GM JaceDK:
Oh no, it was deliberate, for several reasons:
1) Anubis is a *Lawful Neutral* deity - I saw it as being part of the price/punishment for what had been done; another way to torment Sobekhotep, and a balance between LG and LE, which averages out at LN.
2) Holding with 'The Mummy' theme, Anubis in that franchise is definitely painted in a far more nefarious light (I mean, just look at the Anubis Warriors from Part II!), so it likewise seemed in keeping to go with something like that.
Of course, I am not absolutely wedded to the concept; I can see the appeal of having Neith's Paladin-ish tendencies bleed through more and more as she levels up, so Celestial works just fine, too!
Guidelines for character creation
2 traits (1 campaign)
Just to check...
Is that "You get 2 traits, one of which may be from the Adventure Path Campaign traits?
Or
You get 2 traits, one of which must be from the Adventure Path campaign traits?
Or
You get 2 traits, plus a trait from the Adventure Path Campaign traits?
Or some other combo?
You get 2 traits, one of which must be from the Adventure Path campaign traits?
This.
Alright, given that it looks like we have a Bard(Archaeologist), maybe a grippli Cleric of Gorum, a Hunter, and a Swashbuckler, I decided to go with a Wizard :-P
(Since we were going with The Mummy as a theme, I thought having a character with an *enormous* number of silver holy symbols would be appropriate... and built a concept from there!)
Sobekhotep looks awesome!
Coincidentally my PC's emo backstory also has ties to Anubis and that's not the only similarity our PCs will share either. Either that's a good thing, and will give them cause to interact, or I can easily pick a different deity. ...Apparently Egypt/Osirion had rather lots of them.
Speaking of PC’s interacting, the module assumes that you enter the lottery as a fully formed team. You are welcome to form your own connections, but I also have an idea for bringing you together after you show up separatly in Wati.
Essentially, the owner of the Tooth and Hookah Inn, himself a retired adventurer, knows that tomb raiders draw in good business. So he’s looking to put together a sponsored team.
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Meet Seben!
Seben-en-Ra is a neophyte scholar and historian of ancient Osirion. Her field of study is hieroglyphic translation and genealogy.
Home is Where the Really Big Bird is
Seben has a strong but rather pleasant accent, though one that is rather difficult to place. She hails from one of the unnamed islands in the Obari Ocean, north of Katapesh, a place called Jiradesha.
If you ever have the pleasure of travelling there, you might see the unusually large-sized black and white ibis birds that nest there in the reeds. Seben appears to have tamed one of them and keeps it as some sort of free-roaming pet. The bird appears to tear out of the sky and land near her at random times, snapping protectively at those who might get too close with its elongated beak.
A Big Bow to Go With It
Seben carries a bow that is too large for her size and a quiver full of handcrafted arrows. She does not look like a capable archer; assuming she can pull that over-sized bow, she’s more likely to shoot herself or a party member. She does wear proper desert gear, and at least looks like she’s capable of a modicum of overland travel. I mean she’s not a princess. Well, maybe not a Disney one.
Storytime! Seben and the Sacred Ibis
Seben–en-ra was born to a life of opulence, a minor princess. The Pharaoh, Hakotep I, himself was her great uncle. As such, she lived in one of his many palaces of black stone.
When she came of age, Hakotep arranged a political marriage for her. She was to be wed to a nearby nation in order to procure a new ally in Hakotep’s cold war against the Shory.
Seben, however, was on love with one of the palace servants, a boy whom she had grown up with. In order ease the transition for her enforced nuptials, Hakotep had the young servant lad casually transferred to a hard labor detail on one of his favorite over-the-top construction projects: the Khepsutanem, now known today as the Slave Trenches. The boy promptly died of heat exhaustion. Problem solved.
Seben though, never forgave. She blamed herself for failing to realize the depths of her uncle’s cruelty. Many had warned in whispers of his predilection towards sinister magics, but she always dismissed it as libelous jealousy. Burning with anger, she prayed to the gods, and offered her life and even her soul, if only they would take revenge upon her horrid uncle.
As it so happened, one of the gods, Thoth, was not entirely a fan of Hakotep and his weird devotion to Set, or the Pharaoh’s experimentation with the Dark Tapestry. One of Thoth’s aspects answered Seben’s telephone call. (He even accepted the charges...)
In the light of the full moon that evening, a great bird flew to her windowsill and delivered a single arrow fletched with the black feathers of the sacred ibis. Seben had a vision that the ibis arrow could pierce all of her Uncle’s protective magics. The arrow could slay Hakotep and rid Osirion of the pharaoh’s darkness. Only then might she be reunited with her lover in the afterlife.
The next morning, Seben began her Katniss Everdeen training montage. By the light of the moon, she secretly took up the bow. Each night the sacred ibis flew by and watched her in silence.
When she at last became almost semi-competent, she made plans to smuggle in a bow and the ibis arow into the banquet hall for her wedding. For there her great uncle would stand close to her and address the family. She would never get a better chance. At the right moment, she would fire and have the revenge she promised the gods.
Only…
Only the wedding never took place. As we all know from our daily sessions of committing our Pathfinder Chronicles to memory, Hakotep I died unexpectedly of disease in -1611 AR.
Seben’s revenge and sworn promise to the gods went unfulfilled. Having lost the chance to ever be reunited with her lover, she committed ritual suicide. She was buried and mummified. With her debt unpaid, there was no afterlife for her. She remembers all of it—not just having her brain removed from her skull through her nose, but the thousands of years spent lying under the desert in agonizing silence.
Flash Forward to 4714 AR, Hakotep has been reborn.
Seben has no idea why or how, but because of Hakotep’s rebirth, she is back alive as well. A shifting sandstorm uncovered her mausoleum and the sacred Ibis has returned with her arrow and its gift of service.
Seben must now resume the fulfillment of her original promise. She has a second chance at an afterlife and a far keener appreciation as to what is truly at stake. She appears and acts as human, in all ways. She has breath and bleeds. But she knows she is not a creature of life.
She is… the mummy. Rawr!
*Reads Seben’s backstory*
*blinks*
See, you guy’s? THATS what I was talking about when I said we were in for a serious treat. I’m blown away with admiration, Beetle.
Oh, and the Pharasmins are going to LOVE both Seben and Sobekhotep, if they ever find out about their death-cheating soul-shifting shenanigans. Highly irregular.
I hope you guy’s are taking your vitamins, because now we have to keep this game going long enough for you to
Beetle, if you would be so kind as to provide me with some details about Seben’s loverboy, for…reasons.
P.s. I don’t hate that I’m getting some serious Thalia flashbacks reading about Seben’s “origin”.
Yeah, that bar has been set high. I will work on my character this weekend. I am jobhunting right now, and I need to finish up some stuff on that before I get to hobby.
I will be going with a grippli cleric of battle, but I am thinking now of going with Sekhmet rather than Gorum to be more thematic. Mechanically and backstory-wise, it will be the same as if I'd taken Gorum.
Sounds good, Mark. As mentioned, there is no rush. Good luck with the job hunt.
I like the Old Gods theme, so a Sekhmet battle cleric sounds perfect.
A note on the hazards of heat and armor
Last night on Messenger, Bruno pointed something out that I want to adress up front, as it affects character creation and choice of equipment.
Bruno brought my attention to this passage from the Mummy’s Mask Player’s Guide (which is a summary of the PF1 rules on environmental hazards):
A character in very hot conditions (above 90° F) must
make a Fortitude saving throw each hour (DC 15, +1 for
each previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal
damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor
of any sort take a –4 penalty on their saves. A character
with the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving
throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other
characters as well (see the skill description). Characters
reduced to unconsciousness begin taking lethal damage
(1d4 points per hour).
In the interest of not handicapping classes that wear armor and keeping bookkeeping to a mimimum, this is my ruling on the above:
- You only need to roll for heat conditions if you spend a full hour in the sun. In most situations moving around Wati, you have plenty of opportunities to find shade and spend a few minutes to regulate your temperature and rehydrate. This is assumed as natural behavior, so you don’t have to specify.
- When exploring, including in the necropolis, you can negate the need for a roll by taking short, 10-minute breaks in shade every hour. Survival rolls may be needed to find or create suitable shade, depending on your situation. Taking 10 on such roll will usually be allowed, unless you are in direct danger.
- Armor penalties to heat-related Fort saves are as follows: light armor -2, medium and heavy armor -4. Survival can affect these penalties as described above and under the Survival skill.
- There are plenty of items, both magic and mundane, that help with extreme temperatures. Keep an eye out for them. Same goes for spells.
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I gotta say that I’m getting so many ideas for custom items, npcs and subplots that it’s almost a shame it will likely take years of gameplay before I can introduce them all.
Beetle, if you would be so kind as to provide me with some details about Seben’s loverboy, for…reasons.
I'm totally flexible. As I intended it, our nameless deceased love interest was a young palace servant. Let's call him...Ne-Chepso (Male, human, NG, commoner 2). But I'm flexible on any details that will serve the story. If there's anything more specific you need, just let me know.
Beetle, if you would be so kind as to provide me with some details about Seben’s loverboy, for…reasons.I'm totally flexible. As I intended it, our nameless deceased love interest was a young palace servant. Let's call him...Ne-Chepso (Male, human, NG, commoner 2). But I'm flexible on any details that will serve the story. If there's anything more specific you need, just let me know.
Nice try, but if you think I'm going to treat such an absolute cornucopia of plot hooks like a random throwaway NPC, you're delusional. I've got a ton of surprises in mind for our star-crossed lovers, and you can bet your shiny shell that his soul isn't just chilling as part of the big positive energy proto-soup waiting to be reborn as a total stranger.
Now, I can certainly think up the details on my own, but a little more input about a love affair worth bargaining with the gods over your immortal soul would certainly be appreciated.
Oh, and in case you're wondering if I'm already plowing through The Slave Trenches of Hakotep, searching for ways to turn your own creations against you
Hey, a party of Old Gods-venerating PCs would be fantastic for this AP ;-)
Glad you thinks so, 'cause it looks like that's what we have on our hands.
The million gp question is what that means for our story? All I can promise you is that it won't just be some random background fact.
Instructions for casting Summon Campaign (aka dotting)
Since some of you are a bit rusty using the Paizo forum for PbP, here’s a brief explaination of how to create an active player alias and have the game show up in the Campaign tab of your profile.
1) Go to Account Settings in the forum menu (top right corner of the screen).
2) Create a new alias for the character you want to play and select “edit alias” to choose a name and suitable profile picture. You can always change these later if you want. Be sure to save before you exit.
3) Go to the Gameplay tab of this game and make a post using your new alias. You can write anything you lile.
4) Delete the post you just made. This way, you don’t clutter up the thread, but are still registered as an active player. If you post something in character that you would like to keep, that’s perfectly fine.
Here's Iohnny!
I just need to finish up the backstory/description and link to a picture :)
Sobekhotep, Indus, Seben and the sacred Ibis have succesfully summoned the Dot.
@Beetle, looks like Seben has both selected a Human bonus feat and traded the bonus feat for Eye for talent. Can you double check that?
I’ll also want a stat block for the Ibis at some point, either in their own profile or Seben’s.
Other than that, everything looks good.
Sorry!
Precise Shot = class bonus feat for Hunter at level 2,
Spirit's Gift = the starting level 1 feat.
You are correct the human bonus feat is swapped out and gone.
I'll edit that so it reads properly. I'm sure that's not the only mistake I made last night in my sleep-deprived state.
Yeah, I have plans to make a stat block for the Sacred Ibis. It will be extra sacred-ey.
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I should be able to post my character by tomorrow night. Back from Korea and now need to head to Odense for a couple of days, but that will give me time on the train bring Diorio to life.
Sorry!
Precise Shot = class bonus feat for Hunter at level 2,
Spirit's Gift = the starting level 1 feat.
You are correct the human bonus feat is swapped out and gone.
I'll edit that so it reads properly. I'm sure that's not the only mistake I made last night in my sleep-deprived state.
Yeah, I have plans to make a stat block for the Sacred Ibis. It will be extra sacred-ey.
No apologies needed, Beetle. I figured there was some kind of explaination,
And good news, Phrip. I've already shared my suggestions for some of the NPCs that tie into your backstory. If you need more input, let me know.
Mark, how's the job hunting and grippli cleric coming? I'm especially curious to see what you come up with.
Oh, and in case you're wondering if I'm already plowing through The Slave Trenches of Hakotep, searching for ways to turn your own creations against you ** spoiler omitted **
Good news, everybody. It turns out our crafty Beetle buddy has indeed provided me with the perfect plot device within the Slave Trenches that allows our poor lovesick palace servant to play a role in our game. Can you guess what it is, Beetle?
Not a clue!
Looking forward to it, but gotta survive Wati first, regardless.
Not a clue!
Looking forward to it, but gotta survive Wati first, regardless.
Yeah, there is that. Using the duration of the previous Mummy’s Mask game I was in as a rough guide, we should be done with Wati in 7-6 years. And then we have two more books to get through before we reach the Slave Trenches.
So, assuming the same pace, I should be ready to make my great reveal around December 2038. On the bright side, some of us are getting close to retirement at that point, so free time for posting should be more readily available.
I have a gap where I am waiting on career coaches to get back to me, so I'll work on him. Shouldn't take too long to finish.
Sounds good, Mark.
What line of work are you in?
Project Management. I haven't had to look for work for almost twenty years, so a lot has changed in how you apply for and find jobs.
Cool. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and let me know if there is anything I can do to boost your visibility. Any particular industries?
Just sent a ping through Linkedin. Thanks!
I am not looking at a particular industry. I have been in telecommunications, but certainly not tied to that.
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Finally here's Diorio! Only took me three attempts creating the profile after losing my work twice. Argh! Anyway, I think I have the build right. Need to add equipment and such. Could use some tips on how best to spend the 1000 quid. After masterwork rapier, wondering what else I can get except for a bunch of potions (which maybe that is perfectly fine).
Finally here's Diorio! Only took me three attempts creating the profile after losing my work twice. Argh! Anyway, I think I have the build right. Need to add equipment and such. Could use some tips on how best to spend the 1000 quid. After masterwork rapier, wondering what else I can get except for a bunch of potions (which maybe that is perfectly fine).
MW Studded armor? Alchemical items (I hear there are plenty of swarms in old pyramids)
Here's Lueck, my grippli cleric of Sekhmet. I think he's all set.
@Mark: Lueck looks good, well worth waiting for. Your stat block has him listed as Medium size, but all stats correctly reflect that grippli are Small. You are also missing a /spoiler tag in your backstory. Other than that, perfect.
@Everyone: I’ll post some additional input to each of your backstories, including key events and NPC’s, in the near future. In the mean time, go ahead and describe your arrivals in Wati. All of you are approched by city guards or similar asking if you are here to participate in the exploration of the necropolis and if so, the owner of the Tooth and Hookah Inn is looking for unaffiliated adventurers to put together a sponsored team of his own.