Ah, a new game. Still perfect in its conception, unmarred by inevitable mistakes, poor rolls and that one bad day on the GM's part. I look forward to realize and ruin it in equal measure with you!
So! Welcome and thank you for accepting my invitation. Very glad to be here with you. To get the ball rolling, let's address some odds and ends.
PC connections: Getting the party together is the first hurdle of any adventure, but the idea here is that your PCs are already at least vaguely familiar with each other. After all, you were all arrested together. You have all been travelling with the disreputable Silas Gribb for some weeks as part of his caravan. Treat this as an opportunity to tailor your PCs' relationships to your own liking. Did you become fast friends with that one boisterous caravan guard? Have you avoided the curious rat-man, making him still a stranger to you? Was that serious Abadaran just another face among the wagons? The caravan was fairly large so if you prefer to start afresh with your PC - no preestablished relationship with the rest of the party beyond the occasional 'Good morning,' - that's an option too.
Pacing: If at all possible, I'd like us to aim for a daily post during the week and another on weekends. A steady pace is the lifeblood of pbp, so while I don't like doing it, I reserve the right to bot a PC if too much time passes between posts, especially in combat. Please see this guideline as both responsibility and reprieve! I've known far too many who feel they need to check in at all hours, making multiple posts a day and inevitably suffering burnout. If you've posted on any given day, know that you've done your part for the game. I certainly won't stop you from posting however often you want, but you shouldn't feel obligated to do so.
That said, I will absolutely fail to keep to this pace myself. There will be birthdays, weddings, freak tornados and just plain off days for all of us. That's okay. It's just a game.
Tokens & avatars: I intend to use battle maps where appropriate which means tokens for all combatants. That includes you! If you have any particular art you'd like me to use for your token, send a link my way. If not, we'll just use your avatar pic here on the Paizo forums - which, frankly, always becomes my primary mental image of a PC anyway with how ever present these are. Still, up to you.
There are no doubt a million other things to address, but that will do for now. If you haven't already, try to add some sort of quick stats line to display below your character’s name. It should look something like this:
Half-elf Kineticist 1 | HP 13/13 | AC14 T11 FF13 | CMB+2 CMD 13 | F+6 R+3 W+3 | Init +1 | Perc +7
And lastly, be proactive about addressing problems. If you’re not sure about how something works or why something happened, ask about it. If you’re not comfortable asking in front of everyone, feel free to PM me. Similarly, please PM me right away if you’re not happy with how things are going. I can’t promise I can fix it, but I’ll certainly try. I would rather the issue be addressed before it becomes terminal.
Once more, welcome and I look forward to playing with you all. Let's get to dragon slaying!
Checking in. Thanks for having me. :)
Wooooo!
Looking forward to this. The invitation is much appreciated.
Coming to say hi!
At work and I can't really use my phone at work so I'll try to get a more formal hello later tonight.
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Hurrah! Looking forward to this game. And the group is incredible!
I like the icon here so feel free to grab that.
The characters in the group would know me as the cook for the caravan, and probably have plenty of complaints about scorched meals as my cooking skills aren't 5-star!
By my armor and weapons I might be (mistakenly) taken for a rogue. But the dots that I have painted on the fur above my ears, and the green knotted rope that I wear on a cord around my neck are a bit strange for anyone that doesn't want to be noticed....
I love how 2/3rds of the party are some flavor of divine caster and one of Star's traits is Divine Denier. XD
I love how 2/3rds of the party are some flavor of divine caster and one of Star's traits is Divine Denier. XD
LOL
Well, just for the record, after some discussion with our host, GM Heat, Khavel's going as a Warpriest rather than Cleric. So while that doesn't exactly break the chain, he'll be far more of a tank/melee guy than a full-time caster.
As far as his place in the caravan and whatnot, He's amiable, though a bit gruff with a sense of humor. While he'll be a bit standoffish with our orcish druid at the get go, he's not intolerant, and may eventually come to like her, despite his dwarvish inclinations.
He'd have been working primarily as a guard for the caravan, I suppose.
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I love how 2/3rds of the party are some flavor of divine caster and one of Star's traits is Divine Denier. XD
Not an issue for me. Most people don't recognize my holy symbol and probably haven't heard of my God. When I'm not working on the meals or cleaning up I'd be moving around to meet the non-regulars, mainly to find out who I can hide behind if there's trouble. I do have a long (for me) bow and would be fine firing an arrow or three at enemies at a distance. Or if I have time I'd summon a critter to aid in a battle.
As to how Star would know the others--and how others would know him--he'd be that quiet young man who was hired to provide music during the long caravan trek. He'd have done his job while trying to avoid talking to anyone who openly displayed holy symbols--not out of malice, but out of his own discomfort.
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Yay, we are all together!
Kalig's Role
Kalig serves as a wilderness guide for the caravan. She has at some point barked at many of you for doing something that might attract wild animals, annoy the domestic animals in the caravan, for moving too quickly, for moving too slowly, for noticing something, for not noticing something, and/or for being in her way. She has also patched your wounds (which you undoubtedly deserved), made sure you have always gotten a meal (scorched or no), and are getting enough sleep.
She is, in short, your ruthlessly pragmatic, grumpy party mom.
Kalig is delighted to be eating actually cooked food no matter how scorched it is, and so is likely appreciative of the ratfolk's contributions.
She does not give a flying f%~* about the dwarf's standoffishness and leaves him be as much as she possibly can (but only once he started being standoffish), but not in any way that would be to the detriment of the survival of the caravan.
She would never, ever say so aloud, but loves the skald's performances, if he offers them.
Not sure how the others she might think of but we can figure that out as we go along.
OOC Housekeeping
Icon: Avatar portrait is fine, even though she's a bit prettier than Kalig actually is. For those wanting to see another interpretation of what she looks like, I've got a link to a HeroForge mini in her profile under "physical description."
Posting/Timezone: U.S. Eastern time, will try to post once a day, will try to check in if I have nothing to say but am ready to move on and encourage others to do the same.
Problem Nipping in Bud: We are all relative strangers sailing this anonymous Internet sea. Please don't assume what's cool to say to your gaming buddy you have had beers with for 20 years is necessarily cool to say to me. If "treat me as you would respectfully any stranger" is too vague advice, instead pretend I'm your worldly-wise grandma in disguise gaming with you--not shocked by much, and fully capable of and willing to have adult conversations, but still your grandma. Who somehow you also just don't know very well. Distant great aunt? Anyway, hopefully you get the idea. ETA: I expect absolutely zero problems here and am only saying this to be very obvious due to some weird past circumstances.
I would appreciate advance warnings before especially graphic violence, particularly sexual violence or child abuse, comes up in the game.
And if a PC or NPC is interested in propositioning Kalig romantically or sexually or both... well, first, Kalig is definitely aromantic and fairly asexual, so I can say right now she is probably disinterested, and second, please discuss it with me first via PM or post here in the discussion forum before posting anything IC so we can be on the same page about where things are going. I hate to mention this at all, but for reasons I have yet to fully fathom, I have repeatedly had people in PBPs make... weird... and sometimes extremely creepy... assumptions in this area so want to make it clear from the get-go.
PS to GM: Would you mind setting up the gameplay thread so we can dot in? We can post to "dot" the thread and then delete said post, but it will still make it show up in our campaigns tab, which will make it easier to track posting.
Thanks for the invitation! And hello to everyone else! :)
Quintus is a native Taldan, constantly praising how great his homeland is and inevitably discounting anything not Taldan. ;)
He worked as a caravan guard to fill his purse and give him an excuse to travel the trade roads looking for arcane knowledge or any tidbit concerning ruins, etc. to search for lost lore.
@GM: If you'd prefer you can use the image on the profile; it's not the 'look' I wanted but was as close as I could find among the Paizo inventory.
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@Kalig: Sorry you've had to deal with situations like that before, enough so you feel you had to post that. In any event, you have every right to do so, and I can say that you'll have no issues with me or Khavel, and likely not with any of the others, I would hope.
@GM Heat, I'm fine with you using this avatar as a token for any maps. As for my posting, I'm also EST, and will usually be posting in the late afternoons or evenings.
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Glad to see people considering what the PCs' prior interactions have looked like.
Regarding tone: As the party mom sensibly suggests, it's best if we're all on the same page regarding the tone of this little collective story of ours. I fully intend to keep things largely PG-13, not withstanding the inevitable mention of blood that can't be avoided when our main characters carry an armory's worth of very sharp implements to ward against monstrosities with even sharper teeth. That said, I can be pretty thick-skinned myself, so please don't hesitate to ask me to ease back at any point. That goes for everyone, of course, not just Kalig.
Now a point of disclosure. I've offered Danton a slight boost to his archetype. The Cardinal archetype is pretty neat, offering some skill points to a class in desperate need of them. However, the price for those points is, in my eyes, awfully hefty. One of the cleric's two domains, armor proficiency, his spontaneous cure/inflict spells and even his BAB? Ouch. Not a lot left of the class. With this in mind, I'm letting Danton keep his two domains. Please note that he did not ask for this himself; I offered this slight patch only in the interest of helping him enjoy his character.
I bring this up for full transparency as I know some can be sensitive to both perceived favoritism and meddling with the system. Similarly, Quintus approached me asking for some bending of the rules so that he might gain weapon proficiency with the falcata. Given the weapon's ties to Taldor in lore, I let him trade his human Skilled bonus for the proficiency. With precedent in other racial traits such as goblins trading a collective +8 skill bonus for exotic weapon proficiency or half-elves trading their Skill Focus feat for the same, I felt this was equitable. Please let me know if you feel I'm being overly generous or upsetting the system.
And yes, Khavel and I did indeed discuss turning his crunch from cleric to warpriest. Because as has been pointed out, God(s) knows this party already has a plethora of divine casting. Poor Star is like the one atheist kid at Bible camp.
Would you mind setting up the gameplay thread so we can dot in?
Done. Sorry. Still inexperienced as GM. Though on the topic of posting, some of you may already suspect that my time zone does not exactly line up with that blessed US of A where I think most of you are fortunate enough to reside. Expect my posting hours to not be in line with your own, but I'll get us started tomorrow!
I forgot to mention in my previous post: I'm in CST in the US.
@Kalig. All good with that. But I'm too old for you to be my Grandma or Great Aunt. How about a distant cousin? ;-P
And I'm in EST. I usually check the board a couple times each day to keep up, so posting daily shouldn't be a problem. I don't have any trips planned in the near future but if I do I will post here in case I get a hotel with bad Internet....
I'm AST.
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I am fine with the house rules for the character builds, and of course GM can house rule as he(?) likes. And yes, for some reason in particular a lot of cleric archetypes get overly weakened, so I'm particularly good with the change to cardinal. (I have a similar issue with some of the druid archetypes for that matter but I'm good with what I'm doing.)
This said, on the falcata issue... for the sake of completeness/rules nerdery, I just wanted to be sure you were aware humans already have an alternate racial ability that grants them bonus weapon proficiencies, but it is in lieu of the bonus feat, rather than the bonus skill:
Military Tradition
Source Inner Sea Races pg. 214
Several human cultures raise all children (or all children of a certain social class) to serve in the military or defend themselves with force of arms. They gain proficiency with up to two martial or exotic weapons appropriate to their culture. This racial trait replaces the bonus feat trait.
Given this ability is more powerful than taking exotic weapon proficiency as a feat, because you get two weapon proficiencies, it seems a pretty fair tradeoff. I realize Quintus may not want or need two bonus weapon proficiencies, and may prefer to get both a bonus proficiency and a bonus feat, but just pointing out it is available. If you're all happy it's fine with me.
@Niccan, sure, distant cousin is fine. :)
Alright!
Icon: Since I already took an icon of an Abadaran, let's use this except picture some more formalwear.
Timezone: EST/EDT but I can't post during the day normally as my work doesn't really allow it. I will definitely catch up in the evenings.
RE: Cardinal: I'll gladly accept the domain as I was struggling to decide between the Leadership domains and Law (Inevitable) so now I can get both. I do quite like the idea of just having Command a handful of times per day. Though it should be known that since I wasn't planning on getting dirty much anyway, the BAB and armour wasn't much of a trade truthfully so if it becomes too much let me know.
Party: Danton does not have spontaneous cures, nor does he channel positive energy. Please keep that in mind. He has Selective Channel which hopefully shouldn't be too much of an issue, but with a party of this size (His Cha mod won't protect everyone) I'll have to be a bit clever with my positioning.
@Khavel: I could see Danton and your dwarf sharing some religious discussion as Torag and Abadar tend to have a lot in common (Earth domains and community minded).
In terms of other connections, let me know if you'd like to start with something or work organically.
@Kalig. All good with that. But I'm too old for you to be my Grandma or Great Aunt. How about a distant cousin? ;-P
Ah, yes. The 15-year old (read as 'venerable') ratfolk.
My own opening post is up and somewhat typical of these, it doesn't do much beyond setting up the adventure's circumstances and environment. Don't be discouraged! The obligatory 'call-to-action' isn't far off, promise. In the meantime, liking the party chatter!
Also, new domain feels very Abadaran, Danton!
Ah, yes. The 15-year old (read as 'venerable') ratfolk.
LOL! True. I was referring to the player, age 1000000 (binary), rather than the character.
Just as a heads up I will be away the entire weekend starting Friday for a bachelor party at a cabin the woods .
I'll try to get something up Sunday night but no promises.
Sorry for this happening so early on!
No worries. A bachelor party is as worthy a cause for skipping a few posts there's ever been. I'll bot Danton if necessary. Have fun!
An apology to Quintus. I shouldn't assume a PC's reaction in my own posts, here with his response to the food. Yeah, it was really minor in this case, but a player's PC should be their own. A GM shouldn't speak for them. It's a bad habit of mine and I'll try to rein it in.
Also, Niccan, what does 15 years in ratfolk 'translate' to in your mind? I ask because ratfolk's lifespan doesn't seem to be quite that of humans. Would he be considered a near adolescent among his own kind or a full adult?
An apology to Quintus. I shouldn't assume a PC's reaction in my own posts, here with his response to the food. Yeah, it was really minor in this case, but a player's PC should be their own. A GM shouldn't speak for them. It's a bad habit of mine and I'll try to rein it in.
Actually you were right on the money. Quintus was expecting to turn his nose up at the meal but the box text-stated quality of the meal shut his yap - this time anyway. :)
Apologies on my delayed response. I'm off work this week and my wife and I had a chance for a quick getaway to an overnight at a bed and breakfast that I wasn't expecting or I would have warned you all.
If I understand the age table, ratfolk don't live as long as humans. 20 is middle age. 15 would be adult.
@Quintus: Glad I read the character right then! I'm sure he'll find plenty of opportunity to be a snob later.
@Khavel: No problem. Hope the wife and you enjoyed yourselves.
@Niccan: Ah, so he's really pretty young. Just wanted to check. Age can affect how NPCs react to certain situations.
I see him as full grown, for a ratfolk. Which means that I'm child-size....
I don't want to abuse this too much but since we are asynchronous, if I can't respond and you feel like Danton would approve and assist you outside of battle , feel free to use this ability as it is unlimited. I think of it as an Aid Another.
Domain (Leadership): As a standard action, you can issue an inspiring command to your allies. The inspiring command affects one ally plus one additional ally for every three cleric levels you possess, who must all be within 30 feet of you. Affected allies gain a +2 insight bonus on attack rolls, AC, combat maneuver defense, and skill checks for 1 round. This is a language-dependant mind-affecting effect.
@GM Heat: If you'd like to tack it onto flavourful rolls that can be planned for so we don't have to retroactively do them, please go ahead. Also if you find it is too gamey that is okay too, just let me know.
@Khavel: I hope that was fine as a friendly jab. It's hard to strike a line online.
@Khavel: I hope that was fine as a friendly jab. It's hard to strike a line online.
Absolutely fine! No worries.
Totally cool with utilizing the domain ability to its fullest, Danton. I'll admit to being one of those types that doesn't appreciate at-will spells like, say, Guidance being used literally every turn. That amounts to someone shouting "HOCUS POCUS!" every six seconds in normal conversation. My RP brain rebels.
But the domain ability is a lot more nebulous being a supernatural effect. I'll try to remember it for those few times I see fit to roll for you players. Keep in mind that despite the text saying "allies", you can use it on yourself! I'm sure there was a faq at some point that clarified how any PC can count as their own ally with regards to spell effects and the like.
Also, underwriter? Love me a nice, fantasy nonsense title.
EDIT: Apropos my last post and because I keep forgetting to mention it, those two pages linked at the top of the game for Belhaim's map and surroundings come from an unofficial players' guide for Dragon's Demand made by a user here on the site, LichLoved. Credit where credit's due!
While I can technically use it on myself it does take the standard action... so I can't actually use it and do most things (like start diplomacy or disable device or what have you). I feel like the intent is for other people so I'll use it that way.
Also I agree that Guidance constantly is one of my biggest pet peeves of 5e so I think limiting using it while we have time to plan makes the most sense.
And yes Underwriter is nonsense, but Abadarans have clerks, bankers so why not someone in insurance?
What Is an Underwriter? An underwriter is any party, usually a member of a financial organization, that evaluates and assumes another party's risk in mortgages, insurance, loans, or investments for a fee, usually in the form of a commission, premium, spread, or interest.
I know I'm the one who first said "hey we should probably have some tools," but I also don't want forward motion halted by a shopping trip--these things are harder to work out in PBP where we can't see one another nodding or shaking our heads to determine what we agree on getting.
If we're able to get the supplies we need on Lady Devy's credit, maybe the GM could just give us a list of the things the storekeeps are willing to hand us so we have a definitive list without too much back and forth.
If folks want anything on top of that, they can declare they buy it with their own funds. I'll use my personal credit to get the Healer's Kit, as that's something I'd really like Kalig to have for short and long term use.
A slight concern:
Could please not assume a player (or GM) makes an action unless someone says so? Like, unless I missed something, I didn't see Quintus actually take his rope out of his pack and hand it to Star. Quintus paid for that; he should be the one who gets to decide what is done with it, not another player. Even if the player is okay with the use of it, they should still be asked. That's common decency. This is not the only instance of this, but has happened a few times now across multiple posters.
I understand the urge to keep things moving, but overtaking or assuming another player's actions is godmoding, and is not acceptable in any roleplaying circles I've been a part of. It can lead to a very slippery slope that reduces player agency and can lead to abuse.
Okay so I think this should be out of character more than anything.
Are we exploring at night? Out of character I'm fine with it but in character Danton sees 0 reason to risk it, especially as he's probably one of two people without Darkvision. While light is great, Kalig also makes a good point of getting actual tools.
I'm no use at night, and certainly not with any physical task but I can help acquire goods.
@Kalig: I would agree with you as well. I'd much rather have a slower game than one where bad feelings fester from any player overreaching. I have had games like that where some key decisions were just assumed and it caused issues between players. I'm also fine to fast forward purchases but I do also want to get a feeling for the town itself. Unless a place is worth getting attached to, saving it doesn't feel as rewarding.
Whew. Alright, so firstly any ire towards Star should be directed to myself. Recognizing that the pace was indeed halting, I actually privately asked if the player was up for trying just that one climb check - in RP then only to fasten a rope for now, and out of RP so that I could set more crumbs to hopefully entice people on. Again, all in the interest of saving days of back-and-forth. I hoped it a less awkward solution than the GM doing yet more prodding.
Clearly this was a mistake on my part and we'll be heading back to town.
It did look like an honest attempt to keep things moving. Now we can "hand wave" that the party returns to town to buy the other supplies everyone wanted and returns in the morning to move on.
May I suggest that a small portion of the offered 75 gold for each character (perhaps 25?) be added to the party treasure spreadsheet and used to buy the tools, and have them added to the spreadsheet?
Kalig? I will happily pay half of that healer's kit so it is available for use. I don't have the skills for it so I'm glad you built your character for that! It'll have to come out of my 50 GP credit though.
I was under the impression that my slow posting pace was holding us up, so I posted as the GM requested. My apologies for accidentally jumping the gun.
I agree with sharing a portion of the 75 GP. We'll see how much the actual amount is once we find out what supplies Belhaim has and how much they charge for them.
Whew. Alright, so firstly any ire towards Star should be directed to myself. Recognizing that the pace was indeed halting, I actually privately asked if the player was up for trying just that one climb check - in RP then only to fasten a rope for now, and out of RP so that I could set more crumbs to hopefully entice people on. Again, all in the interest of saving days of back-and-forth. I hoped it a less awkward solution than the GM doing yet more prodding.
Absolutely no ire, and having just ended a game for momentum loss, I so very understand the anxiety over keeping things moving. Indeed, if as a player I come off as pushy it's generally just to try to get us going.
I in turn am just more anxious about setting a poor precedent that may lead, however unintentionally, to hurt feelings later.
(And also Star, NBD on posting. You're, I think, in a very different time zone to us, and you're playing a quiet character.)
I think we really were about to resolve things and get moving, however, and with this said...
It did look like an honest attempt to keep things moving. Now we can "hand wave" that the party returns to town to buy the other supplies everyone wanted and returns in the morning to move on.
Danton mentioned wanting to get to know the town better. I'd say if there is RP opportunity together in town, we play it, and if not, I am in agreement with you that we should just handwave the shopping and move to when we are ready to explore.
Kalig? I will happily pay half of that healer's kit so it is available for use. I don't have the skills for it so I'm glad you built your character for that! It'll have to come out of my 50 GP credit though.
Thank you very kindly, but no: Kalig already arranged to get that paid for on the Lady's credit. Let's keep the bookkeeping as simple as possible and not split things up.
Kalig is getting the healer's kit and using 5 gp of her own to get a pick and shovel. Heck, while I'm at it, I'll also spend 1 more gp for 50 feet of rope. The tools altogether well-push her to medium encumbrance, but ah well.
I suggest anyone else who wants to buy something else can use their own money/credit to do it and just declare what they bought so we don't have to quibble over math and who wants what. Otherwise that will stall us out. We can figure out money pooling once we have more of it. ;)
I'll mark the purchases on my character sheet and am ready to move on.
FYI I am traveling starting Wednesday for a week and may be slow. I will hopefully be able to check in but I'm headed to a place with unreliable signal so cannot be sure.
Annnd strike two.
Sh#t.
I'm sorry for the MIA guys,...again. This is honestly not usually me, and so I'm horrified by the situation I'm in and put you guys in by not being around to help and roleplay.
I give you my word that I'll do not only better with communication, but I'll just plain be here.
The details of my absence are unfortunately very personal, dealing with a family member in need of rehab necessitating a family confrontation that took up a good deal of my weekend. Suffice it to say it was rather emotional, exhausting and time consuming.
It was also not the sort of thing that gets repeated.
I'm sincerely sorry for letting you guys down.
- Khavel / Steve
Family comes first and real life always takes precedence so no need to apologize.
Things happen. :)
@Kalig: Thanks for telling us. I'm sure we'll manage in the end and hope you have a nice trip. Places with bad signal are the only places worth visiting.
@Khavel: Dang, Khavel. Sorry to hear it. I'll admit that I was just about starting to worry. Sad to see there was genuine cause for worry.
All good, man. It should go without saying that absences like these are as necessary as they are justified. You did the right thing stepping away to focus on what matters. Glad to have you back.
Khavel, very sorry you are in that situation and of course you did the right thing. Including just communicating with us when you were able.
I've been in so many PBPs and the biggest killer of a game is not people who can't always be there--life happens and family is a priority--but the people who don't communicate their needs and won't ever talk to each other.
Real life trumps any game! Welcome back.
FYI I am traveling starting Wednesday for a week and may be slow. I will hopefully be able to check in but I'm headed to a place with unreliable signal so cannot be sure.
Just updating that I'm probably going to be offline starting now and probably won't be able to check in for a bit. Please bot me as needed. Kalig will generally err on the side of cautious, keep people together. If combat ensues, there should be plenty of pebbles in the ruin, so she'll cast magic stone if ranged is the best option and use her sling, or otherwise close in with her flail.
Here's my thoughts on items we should consider procuring:
Block and Tackle
Bucket
Charcoal
Filter mask
Firewood?
Folding ladder
Hammer
Miner's pick
Mirror
Oil
Piton
Pole
Saw
Shovel
Silk rope
Torch