Using rolls besides Perception is a GM call, and since I'll be rolling initiative for you (otherwise we'd waste a whole day for no reason every time combat started) I'll be deciding which rolls to use.I suggest that GM rolls player saving throws too for the same reason. Every time an enemy casts Fireball we don't want to wait for everyone to post their saves before moving on, and if they're not resolved right away there's a high chance they get lost in the shuffle.
Yep, that's the plan as well.
Just waiting on Syper's equipment
Okay, now all we need is Syper to finalize his equipment and we can get this party started!
Equipment purchsed! I'm ready!
I've started the encounter. Let's roll some dice!
I may not be able to post much on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as I work a double shift those days. 'Bot me if necessary. I've written spoilers in my profile with dice-bot texts for common rolls like attacks and skills, so check there to quickly copy and paste the text for the 'bot rolls. Thanks.
I will try to post something this afternoon if I have time before my second shift.
Ok!
For those of you who haven't played 2e before, one of the things that was changed is initiative.
The default initiative roll is a Perception check. If you're hiding from the enemy you can roll a Stealth check instead. If you were in the middle of a conversation and trying to bluff or distract them from noticing your imminent hostile intent, you roll Deception. If you're attacking with a weapon you concealed on your person, you can roll Thievery (though you'd have to retrieve the weapon, which can cost you an action or two).
Using rolls besides Perception is a GM call, and since I'll be rolling initiative for you (otherwise we'd waste a whole day for no reason every time combat started) I'll be deciding which rolls to use.
Surprise rounds don't exist anymore, since giving certain actors extra actions contributed to the problem of "rocket tag" that pervaded 1e. If you're in hiding, cover bonuses to Stealth apply to your initiative roll, which can help you go first, but it doesn't give you an extra attack or spell.
If you're familiar with 2e but haven't played the remaster, this article will be helpful:
Pathfinder 2e Remaster Transition Guide.
I'm not yet familiar with the Remaster material, so I'll look it over. If you notice anything important that is not up to the Remaster rules, let me know.
I'm fine with the GM rolling mandatory rolls, as long as the player can utilize a hero point for a reroll on these rolls, so the players should be able to see what the rolls were. (When I make rolls for players as GM, I put the rolls under a spoiler so players can see them if they want.)
I'll just point out that Jaym'row has the rogue ability Surprise Attack: You spring into combat faster than foes can react. On the first round of combat, if you roll Deception or Stealth for initiative, creatures that haven’t acted are flat-footed to you. That means she gets rogue sneak attack precision damage. So if you use Deception or Stealth for Jaym'row's surprise roll, let me know if she acts before any opponents.
I have added or will soon add spoilers on Jaym'row's profile that refer to Dicebots. These are prepared texts for combat rolls, skill rolls, and saves and such. This is mostly so I can quickly copy and paste when I make rolls, but they are also intended to help the GM get the texts for dicebots when rolling for the PCs.
Question, should we wait until our turn in the initiative order to post an action, or is it okay to post once we're in the same 'block' (no enemies before our initiative)?
I'm going to try this first combat pretty much by the book (other than combining the NPCs turns by moving the Captain from 19 to 26, but that's fairly minor).
An alternative possibility I'm considering if that turns out to be too slow going forward is this:
I roll initiative once for all players using the best modifier and best fortune effect out of the bunch, and the result is the initiative count for all players. With all players at the same initiative count, the order in which people post becomes irrelevant, as long as nobody submits an action post more than once per round.
For simplicity's sake the Delay action would become unavailable in this variant, but you could still use the Ready action in a multi-target environment or other niche situation.
The durations of multi-round effects created on that initiative count (persistent damage, buff spells) wouldn't increment until all players have acted that round.
If Jaym'row would have rolled Stealth or Deception under the normal rules, she can sneak attack anybody who hasn't acted before the players on the first round.
Anybody's thoughts on this? I won't implement it unless you are in agreement, and only when this fight is over.
Woot! First player roll of the campaign is a nat 20! I think that bodes well for all of us :)
Elemental Blast deals double damage on a critical success btw.
Anybody's thoughts on this? I won't implement it unless you are in agreement, and only when this fight is over.
It does make PbP easier to have all players on the same initiative count, so I'm all for it.
As GM, I like to keep actions happening in initiative order since it can make things more consistent. I tell my players to wait until the other players ahead of zir have posted unless ze has a narrow time window for posting, in which case post, but keep in mind the action won't take place until the earlier initiative post has been made. It's a compromise that has worked well for my games.
Now and then, someone forgets, posts a action that is rendered unnecessary once a PC with an earlier initiative posts. So then a ret-con is needed.
If everyone wants block initiative, however, I can go with that. I usually can post promptly once my turn comes up.
By the way, when using pronouns for a situation in which the preferred pronouns are not known or when dealing with a general case, I like to use ze/zir/zirs. See this page for details. Note: my preferred pronouns are he/him/his. This is just what I like to use when preferred pronouns are not known or when talking about a person in general who may go by a variety of pronouns.
If rolling extra damage for a critical hit, do you roll the damage dice twice and add the results or roll once and double the result?
If rolling extra damage for a critical hit, do you roll the damage dice twice and add the results or roll once and double the result?
You roll normally and double the result by default anyway.
One issue with block initiative is that it might lead to some players not getting the spotlight they deserve. As long as everybody is averaging a post per day the game will have some momentum, but if one guy is checking the thread every 90 minutes while another only checks twice per day there could be a problem. I'll have to think long and hard and talk with you all before making the switch.
The Remaster rules are now live on Archives of Nethys!
I'm the guy checking twice a day, before and after work. XD I'm fine with either initiative scheme, I just worry about the degenerate case where we end up with one action posted a day because everyone checks in exactly the wrong order to go faster.
I vote for using blocks, honestly. Going player by player can slow the game to a halt in PbP. Like 1 week for a complete round if conditions/timezone issues are bad.
So suppose the initiative goes: 3 players (block A), 1 enemy (block B), 2 players (block C)
Block A does their 1st round thing
then block B round 1 (GM)
then blocks C and A (C for round 1, A for round 2)
then block B round 2 (GM) again,
then blocks C and A (C for round 2, A for round 3)
and so on and so forth.
I just had a post with block initiative and my character was first in the order, but while I slept, everyone else posted. Another fighter attacked a creature near me (the one I would have attacked had I acted in order) and the thing exploded on expiring requiring a save to avoid catching fire. So the advantage of getting a good initiative roll was counteracted by my being asleep while others were awake. Maybe if my character had acted in order, he would have provoked the same result with his hit, so it might not have mattered.
Still, I like the tactics of being able to count on things happening in a certain order. It puts constraints on a situation that have to be dealt with rather dealing with the more fluid situation where things can happen sooner or later than normal. One could argue this is just fog of battle and that's true. The turn-based system is artificial since in a real battle, many things are happening simultaneously.
If it keeps things moving, its okay, since on average the process will sometimes be an advantage and sometimes not. However, people who can check multiple times per day may have an intrinsic advantage over those who can't, since they can choose to act out of order when it's to their advantage, but delay until others have posted when it is not.
Except on certain days, I can generally check every few hours if things are hopping. Right now, however, as I mentioned, I'm limited to just a few opportunities to check all day on Tuesday and Thursday.
So Almon, Espi, and Cloaked sound pretty gung ho, and Clebsch is ambivalent. Now we just need Wrong John to chime in.
This encounter was a test (made even more trivial by a lucky crit), and I will very rarely have single-monster encounters that aren't boss fights, so the problem block initiative would have posed for this encounter (only the first two guys to post would get a chance to do anything) typically won't be an issue.
Apologies for my tardiness, I just had a job offer and have been running through all the paperwork and sundries. Back to the action!
All in all, I'm happy with handling things in order, but allowing people to get their actions on the table in advance.
Congratulations on the search! Best of luck.
Anyhoo...
So, you're suggesting allowing people to post in any order, but resolve their actions in normal initiative?
Of course, if a player specifies actions that get invalidated before their turn comes up (and they haven't specified an alternate action in their post) we'll have to wait for them, but I think this would speed things up considerably.
Anyone else who wants to use this option, let me know. I think it's a good compromise, provided we put our character's dice rolls in a spoiler to reduce metagaming.
Side note, I made an oopsie when picking my weapons.
Can I NOT use a combat grapnel, but instead go for a Flying Talon
It's uncommon, so I wanted to check beforehand. Come to think of it, combat grapnel is uncommon as well. Hence the oopsie, but there is a number of hands issue attached to the combat grapnel. I need a 1 handed weapon.
If uncommon is not on the table, I will look for other things. Just wanted to ask beforehand. TY!
Edit: I'll take a look at further options and see what I can come up with.
Ignore this for now.
I rolled for availability and you got lucky (but not that lucky, Eredorn is a big city, after all).
I'll let you sell the grapnel (for full price with a DC 16 Diplo check) and buy a flying talon once you're free to shop, which will be after this scene wraps up. You should have enough cash by then.
Congratulations on the search! Best of luck.
Anyhoo...
So, you're suggesting allowing people to post in any order, but resolve their actions in normal initiative?
Of course, if a player specifies actions that get invalidated before their turn comes up (and they haven't specified an alternate action in their post) we'll have to wait for them, but I think this would speed things up considerably.
Anyone else who wants to use this option, let me know. I think it's a good compromise, provided we put our character's dice rolls in a spoiler to reduce metagaming.
That sounds fine to me.
Just as a point going forward, if I link an image of a character that image takes precedence over the paizo.com avatar.
For characters important enough to justify a profile, I'll add a link to their image in their profile page once you've encountered them.
So on the initiative issue, it seems like everybody is for a hybrid approach: allowing everybody to post their actions in any order, but resolving them according to ordinary initiative.
If you wish, you can specify alternative actions to take if your turn would make no sense in ordinary initiative (attacking a monster that is already dead by the time your turn is actually resolved, for example), as well as simple conditionals (such as: "If he moves, I Draw my weapon, Stride up adjacent to him, and Strike; if he doesn't move I Draw my weapon and Strike twice).
Just be sure to put your dice rolls in a spoiler to help reduce the temptation to metagame.
If anybody is opposed to this approach, or has questions about how it would work, let me know before the next combat encounter.
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Just as a point going forward, if I link an image of a character that image takes precedence over the paizo.com avatar.
For characters important enough to justify a profile, I'll add a link to their image in their profile page once you've encountered them.
If anyone doesn't know about it, here is the link to a Chrome browser extension designed for the PBP boards. It allows you to substitute a different image for a given avatar. No one else can see what image you are using, but if everyone has the extension, everyone can use the image the player uses.
I sometimes substitute an image that more closely resembles how I see another PC or sometimes just because I don't care for the image being used.
The extension also highlights the 'new' post indications to make it easier to spot what posts you have not yet read.
There's a firefox version as well.
For anyone using the extensions, Ferrino's token is here
I've updated my token on the map as well.
Crafting being consolidated into one skill means Okoteck is absurdly multitalented. XD
There was a typo in Ferrino's last post. There were actually 5 pouches, not 4. I copy-pasted from the wrong draft.
Useful Article.
I was pleased to read in this article that a musician was considered an essential crew member. Jaym'row can keep people singing, dancing, and tugging on ropes and oars. Syper, of course, can do all that too, so maybe they can split the entertainment duties or do duets.
It seems like the tavern scene is coming close to a natural close, so I'll give you guys the rest of the weekend to RP your discussions/shopping trips with the goal of starting the next scene (meeting the crew at dock 6) on Monday evening.
Be sure to buy cold-weather clothing if you haven't already!
@Okotek Ignition is an upgrade to Produce Flame because if you use Ignition at melee range instead of ranged, the damage dice upgrade to d6s.
When I use the Chrome extension to use the token images for Syper, the captain, and the cox'n, the images revert to the Paizo image the next time I open the page. The one I use for Jade and Jaym'row remain. This is the first time it's happened that the images don't stick. Anyone have any ideas why?
I've tried png and jpg images and neither sticks. I reduced the size in case the image size was an issue.
What's this about a Chrome extension?
A collection of tools for enhancing the Paizo PbP experience.
This is a set of tools designed to enhance the Paizo forum experience.
Current tools are:
* Campaign Sorter (lets you sort campaign pages)
* User Blacklist (greys out or hides posts by certain users)
* Custom Avatar Selection (lets you display a custom avatar for any user)
* Alias Selector (lets you set a default posting alias for each campaign, then automatically selects it when you visit one of that campaign's threads)
* Alias Sorter (lets you sort user alias pages, and adds a consolidated "table view")
When I use the Chrome extension to use the token images for Syper, the captain, and the cox'n, the images revert to the Paizo image the next time I open the page. The one I use for Jade and Jaym'row remain. This is the first time it's happened that the images don't stick. Anyone have any ideas why?
No idea, but the same thing happens for me with images not "sticking." I'd have to check my computer but I think it's happened with the captain and cox'n and possibly Syper too.
How do you put a link in the line under your character's name?
@Okotek Ignition is an upgrade to Produce Flame because if you use Ignition at melee range instead of ranged, the damage dice upgrade to d6s.
Ah, yes, you're right.
I'm going to have to go through and update all my spells, probably. It seems there's a fair amount that's changed in the remaster.
Use the [url] tags.
See How to format your text spoiler below.
Go to [url =https://paizo.com]Paizo Inc.[/url].
Leave out the space after url in the above example.
Congrats on 100 posts everyone!
Cheers!
I was very confused reading your post until I realized I zoomed in the map too much and hadn't seen the other crossbowmen to the south! XD
Damn. For comedic purposes, now I really want to say Kork can not read, but I already took some scroll-related feats.
For even more comedic purposes, you could be able to read, but often forget the fact that you can do so?
Hell yeah!
It's been about two weeks since we started, so I figured I'd take the temperature of the room, so to speak.
How is everyone enjoying the game so far? This is my first PbP game, and my first 2e game, so if there's anything you think I should be doing differently, feel free to DM me whenever, wherever.
Conversely, if there are things you like, feel free to tell me so I can keep doing the things you guys enjoy!
No problems for me so far. This is one of my first 2E games. In the other, I've been having to have certain rules explained to me, so that will probably happen here too.