[Farol / PF2] Prey for death

Game Master Farol

Dear players,

I am looking into GM'ing Prey for death it is a standalone adventure in PF2, starting at level 14 and ending at level 18. It is designated for 4 players that would be Red Mantis assassins => you need to feel comfortable working for organization that assassinate people. This is still team of PC's against the odds and not each player for themself game ;)

I still need to read the whole adventure, and the process for creating and reviewing PCs will take some time. It will be run in PBP here on forums, so take into consideration that this is commitment for more than a year.

Since this will be a team of 4, there is not that much place for redundancy, if there is one wizard in a party you will probably not be able to play as a second one, so being flexible on who to play is a must.

In order to throw their hat into the ring please provide the following information:

1. Describe a character that you would like to play this adventure with, I don't need a build and a list of features, but give me a paragraph about them
2. What is your experience with PBP/PBD? Have you played APs/standalone adventures in that format, and what have you found challenging about them
3. Give me the answer to the following question: You play dice in a casino, and you have a strong inkling that Nivi is playing at your table. How would you notice? [Yes I know that this is a silly question]

I will pick players in roughly a week, then we would start creating PCs and the rest would follow

Hello, I would like to join. So here is my application.

1. I would like to play a cleric from Achaekek who is send with the party to sanctify the mission. He would be the spiritual part of the group to bring the word of the God to the miscreant. "Archaekek said: 'You was convinced to deserve the divine punishment' and we are here to offer it you.**

2. In PbP I've already played Ages of ashes (books 1-2), Dead suns (books 1-5), chimera conspiracy (books 1-3), March of the dead, Mark of the Mantis, Head-Shot the Rot, and I'm currently playing the third book of the Outlaws of Alkenstar.
I like the fact to play some characters you usually can't play in PFS conditions. It was mostly the fact with Mark of the Mantis. On the same time there is other possibilities to play and to interact and ways to act you don't have in usual products.

3. First she's a gnome. Second she can roll very high systematically (rolling 7 with a 6 dice is very incredible). Finally I could try to use dread Bleaching spell on her. Her immunity will protect her. lol

My first PFS character will reach lvl 13 soon. So I could taste the next steps after.

I may be over shooting my own comfort level with games. But high level assassins sounds fun.

For now I'm just voicing interest. Ideas will come later

Do you have any objections to BattleZoo ancestries?

Dotting for interest. Have no ideas for a character yet, but I'll post something in the next two-three days.

1.I'm very flexible in class choice, and I like filling gaps in the party. I'm also pretty mechanics-first, as in, I build my character's personality around what they do mechanics-wise, not the other way around. Not the best "pick me"-pitch, I know. :P If there's a strong fourth contender, I'm happy to pass my spot to them.

2. I'm currently GMing the third book of Abomination Vaults, and I've done several modules and scenarios in both first and second edition.
As a player, what I find most difficult is sometimes interacting with other players. In my experience, most players don't really interact as much with each other as you would on a real-life table. Simple things such as commenting on a cool action someone else did. And if you do, not all players reciprocate the banter, as by that point the moment has passed and it feels weird to call back on it.
(This isn't meant as an attack or insult to my fellow PbP players, just something I noticed.)

3. The dice fall on incredible odds. Not simply good odds that favour the suspected gambler, but simply interesting situations. Triple ones, for example, or a straight. The gambler would be excited more by the outcome than whether they won the bet or not.

Hammid has always pursued his own goals over his long elven life, primary of which is amassing knowledge, which he believes in the source of all power. This would lead him into the facade of fanatical service to Achaekek, concealing his own convictions as to his true allegiance. For, in additional to being a skilled Poisoner, "Moonlight" (as he will be known by allies) is in fact a devout Warpriest of the mysterious Ng!

As this is my PFS character, I would simply level him to 14th if chosen, following the path and themes he has already dedicated himself to. Which is a classic Cleric taking the primary role of party healer, while also dabbling in rogue skills, combat debuff, and some striker damage with the right set up.

Moonlight's player here.

I believe I have answered Q1 above.

My two longest games in PBP are as a player in Abomination Vaults (in Quentin Coldwater's game above), and as a GM running Season of Ghosts. It is hard to sustain multi-year games, but I found the key is to have the right people (I recruited mine from players who I have shared PFS games with and enjoyed my time playing under or beside them) and, well, a little of Grey Polychrome luck, as there are irl circumstances that can claim the best of posters from their post for a time or even indefinitely. As a GM in PbP, I try to balance flavorful description with "ooc" rules text, as I believe that the more information you can give players to make informed decisions, the better experience they will have.

As to feeling like I am inside of a gravity well of my own fortune in my day-to-day assessment and management of risk, sometimes a little hair on the back of my neck tells me to lean in, and sometimes to lean out. I like this question because it feels like you are asking us to question whether "luck" as an experienced phenomenon has more objective or subjective qualities, perhaps due to it's nature of being observable. (Does luck just "happen to you" or can you "make your own"?). I'd like to venture that it is a little bit of both.

=)

Good luck everyone!

I'd like to play a martial assassin type. I'm thinking maybe swashbuckler with something like the butterfly blade archetype, a female assassin from Goka colloquially known as Lady Pain because she is rumored to make her targets suffer rather than opt for a quick death.

I've head a difficult time with APs running to completion over pbp, I did play Abomination Vaults in a VTT setting and did complete Night of the Grey Death via pbp which is probably just as long as this adventure.

If Nivi is at the table, the best way to out her is to try to cheat. She would likely out herself as it is said she cannot stand cheaters.

The tribe to which Sidi Yawgu once belonged learned the tradition of fiendkeeping from the tripkee generations ago. The oral history when he was a child was that the tripkee taught them out of mutual respect, but there is no more evidence of this than that the knowledge was obtained by blade and brand. What was clear was that generations later, his tribesmen were not as well suited to the task. Sidi was no different than his father or his grandfather before him. By the time Sidi was forty, the demon bound inside him had subtle influence on his choices. By the time he was sixty, the demon was manipulating significant decisions. Sidi left his tribe and took their demon with him. He was led, ultimately, to the Red Mantis organization where he convinced himself he was performing a noble service to all of society while the demon was able to revel in murder.

With the Rivethun archetypes, I can use most any class, but he was originally designed as a monk without reliance on archetypes.

2. I’ve been PbPing since PFS1 Season 8, never missed GMing a PbP convention until a couple years ago, and have run and played AP on the boards. The hardest part of long games on PbP is inertia. Everyone is hot and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with posting everyone is so eager in the beginning. Posting inevitably slows. The hardest part as a GM is to maintain interest and posting frequency when the players slow down. One useful counter to this is keeping a line of communication open with the players. If I can tell my players or my GM what’s tying me up in Slack or Discord for example, those games can survive lulls better than games where I don’t have that set up.

3. The pattern of loses, obviously. Nivi knows better than to always win, but nobody wins and loses in such mathematically perfect patterns.

Yarr

1: Looking to play a cruel but helpful support character. A dedicated Red mantis with a bit of an inferiority complex. Think bard or marshal with a vicious melee streak.

2: I've played well over 100 PFS scenarios as well as various APs and longer form adventures. You're of course familiar with my Abomination Vaults game which was tragically cut short with Silbeg's passing. I am also currently playing in Strength of Thousands and we're in book 4, as well as Extinction Curse, in which we're in book 3. Back in PF1, I successfully GMed the entirety of Giant Slayer as a pbp using 13th age. Also I've played through the entirety of the Dark Archive Case Files as a pbp.

Keeping everything properly tracked, with what's been done, xp, treasure, character legality. It's all a lot. There's also waxing and waning interest. Sometimes people will post fast and be engaged, other times they'll be slow and barely there. Adjusting and keeping things going can be tough but making sure to recruit the right people and setting proper expectations go a long way in making things work.

3. Nothing for sure. But an overfrequence of interesting results. Of course as soon as my glance catches it and I begin counting, things seem normal at their table. I've lost focus on my own game and quickly find myself down, and of course nothing out of the ordinary happens at their table as long as I'm paying attention. As I turn my attention back to my table to recover my losses something remarkable happens at their table. I don't have the focus though to see what happens and follow my own table. I need the money, but my curiosity gets the better of me, and this time I catch the most remarkable series of unlikely results that ends their game in a draw. With my inattention leading to my total loss at my table, rather than play again to break the tie, they leave it on the table, extend a hand and say "You clearly didn't need your coin, and I don't need mine, let me show you to a real game..."

This character is in the very rough beginning stages, but here goes: She was raised in a secretive cult that believes that (TBD) is/are a danger to the world and must be eliminated/assassinated. They breed and train with this sole purpose in mind. Several generations ago, all of their senior leadership and many of their texts were lost in a catastrophe. Today, they are a shadow of what they once were. My PC was the best of their best, sent out to begin their work, and immediately found out that her training was next to worthless. Since then, she's chosen to do whatever it takes to learn the skills necessary to achieve the goals she was given, no matter who she learns from or what she has to do to get there. Perhaps, along the way, her allegiance to the cult may falter. (Any class could work, but I was leaning martial.)

I've played PBP since 2018 and thoroughly enjoy it. Having the time to compose a post to make sure I get the tone and story right is helpful for someone who gets tongue-tied when put on the spot. I'm currently playing Book 2 of rainzax's Season of Ghosts, just started Rusthenge, and have played One Shot the Rot. I prefer playing long term with the same players, as interaction between PCs and players tends to improve with time. One challenge I've noted is that many people who play a PC that doesn't talk much tend to drop one-liner posts with the bare minimum of information. While that may be an accurate way to play them, it doesn't give anyone else anything to react to and leads to everyone feeling like that player isn't connecting with the group and vice versa.

How would I notice Nivi is playing against me? Dang, she's too good. Like, really too good. And she seems as excited when she loses as when she wins. That's really weird. Plus, she fits the description... At that point, I'd bow out and just watch her play. Learn from the master, right?

I'd like to put my hat in. I'm honestly good with almost any class. I'm thinking a martial class (fighter or rogue) or a bard. You don't think of Red Mantis assassins using bards, but a bard/Marshal would be a pretty strong support character.

I've got dozens of online/PBP PFS games under my belt as well has having played in and run several online/PBP campaigns.

I think Nivi would most likely be out to have fun. She's probably going to be feeding victories to someone she's chosen as a favorite or losses to someone who's annoyed her. I'd look for a gnome who's more interested in what's happening around the table than in her own wins and losses.

I would be interested in playing, however I have run this once already and am currently running it in PbP.

Character: I would probably look to play a sorcerer/rogue type character. A specialist in infiltration, deception and disguise while also providing a range of buffs, debuffs and aoe damage. He would be a long term and committed member of the Red Mantis, raised since birth to serve the Mantis as a loyal member often sent on long range missions.

Experience: I have a lot of experience both playing and running in PbP. I have played and run dozens of games. I am currently running Stolen Fate in PbP and am in the middle of Book 2.

Nivi: I will clearly be in disguise. Alert to others using such things, I notice a slight discrepancy in Nivi's disguise and recognise that she is cheating too.

1. My approach here is very similar to Quentin's. I enjoy creating hole-filler characters when I don't have a specific character idea. This creates a fun puzzle challenge with character creation. Not only do I need to fill x, y, and z holes, but it needs to be a 3 dimensional character with a past and personality that organically fits in perfectly. It is just a fun challenge. Also, I enjoy filling roles in unorthodox ways. For example, instead of just a straight healer, focusing hard on damage mitigation with auxiliary healing ability. I'd be so bold as to posit that such a person is an ideal 4th slot choice. :)

2. I have a solid amount of experience with short term pbp/pbd with pathfinder society. My experience with slightly longer forms is a little less. I have played a couple modules to completion. Though, I've never caused a game to fall apart due to inactivity on my part (or otherwise). For me, the hardest part is maintaining interest in my character. I've had a blunder or two with mechanics only characters, or characters that are overly simple. I have, however, learned from that and build characters differently now.

3.
When I sat down at the table, the game I was joining had been already going for a bit. Something had been tugging on me to join the table, but I didn't knew what...at the time. Games at this place had a steep buy in normally, but this was something else. Let's just say, they used stacks of platinum coins under the table legs to keep the table level. Yeah, it was like that. And, at the center of it all was a gnome.

She wasn't actually seated in the middle, but somehow she seemed to be from where luck and unluck came. With a wink or a glare, a smile or frown, and sometimes just with a whim she had a hold of this table. She turned an incredibly high rollers gambling environment into fun games amongst friends. It was utter chaos, and yet the greatest night of my life. It took a while for me to realize it but there is no doubt...

...that gnome was Nivi Rhombodazzle.

Looking at the sawtooth sabre proficiency requirement for the archetype, options are:

1. Versatile Human heritage, Weapon Proficiency general feat, Unconventional Weaponry ancestry feat
2. Cleric of Achaekek (is there any other way to gain proficiency in favored weapons? Class/archetype? I don't think so)
3. ...?

Or does this adventure make a special provision to grease the wheels to meeting the party constraint?

3) Tengu weapon familiarity

1. Describe a character that you would like to play this adventure with, I don't need a build and a list of features, but give me a paragraph about them

One character idea I have is the "gentleman assassin" - he appears prim and proper, perhaps even respectable. He perhaps kills with poisons.

This would be his first mission with others. He would have had several solo missions before, particularly hard-to-reach targets where infiltration, rather than undetection, would be the best way to reach the target.

Mechanically, I'm not sure how to build him. Alchemist / toxicologist would be one option, but I'm also open to builds such as laughing shadow magus, aloof firmament magus, or, if I can finagle it, dart ranger.

2. What is your experience with PBP/PBD? Have you played APs/standalone adventures in that format, and what have you found challenging about them

PBP/Paizo: Extensive, my Campaigns tab has 190 lines, although many are quests, and it's a mix of Quests, PFS Scenarios, and Adventures/APs

I've played Fall of Plaguestone, The Slithering (in progress), Troubles in Otari, Night of the Grey Death, and Season of Ghosts (in progress) on PbP, and GMed Troubles in Otari (in progress) and Malevolence.

The biggest challenge is probably keeping track of all the proper names over an extended time frame. For instance, NPCs introduced at the beginning of a chapter might not reappear until the end, which could be several months later. Fortunately, Paizo has a functional search function.

3. Give me the answer to the following question: You play dice in a casino, and you have a strong inkling that Nivi is playing at your table. How would you notice?

Statistics, of course.

My kids are old enough that they don't blatantly cheat very often. Still, given their extensive background in cheating, they're pretty quick to notice when others do it.

The other day, when we were playing a F2F game, a younger player at our table announced a roll of 34 without announcing a nat 20. So they would have had to have a modifier of +15 and rolled a 19. The problem is that this was a subtier 3-6 game, so while Expert and Level 6 and an item bonus could give +15, it's highly unlikely that a champion has maxed Arcana.

My sons both immediately looked at me, and I just whispered, "Let the GM deal with it." Of course, for the rest of the scenario, he did not appear to roll anything less than a nat 18.

Hmm... I'm thinking a magus with a little rogue. Or perhaps a rogue with a little magus. Deals with assassinations by focus on hitting hard and fast.

I've been in PBP for over 20 years on different sites. I've played in a number of AP's, but rarely to completion. I think communicating when we have issues in our life is the best way to avoid the slowdowns. I'm also in favor of handwaving "filler encounters" on PBP.

I'm not a fan of PBD. It's usually less focused and harder to keep track of.

At the casino I think back to a past life. A life in a world composed of ASCII characters. Hungry, I open up a small cookie. Inside is a piece of paper that reads, "Never trust a random number generator in a magic field."

Note: I am playing PfD and planning to run it at some point.

Hello All! Already quite the collective.

Hello GM Farol! Thank you for running!

Allow me to begin the interview....

In order to throw their hat into the ring please provide the following information

1. Describe a character that you would like to play this adventure with, I don't need a build and a list of features, but give me a paragraph about them.

My initial response would be a Caster that earns his money the old fashion way. By hiring out his Arcane expertise and if the targets tend to be rivals, nuisances, or just in the way, well, he will gladly take the coin too. For research purposes of course.

2. What is your experience with PBP/PBD? Have you played APs/standalone adventures in that format, and what have you found challenging about them.

This seems a bit Age revealing...lol. I started at age 9 when my older cousin needed more players for his Red Box D&D group. He gave me The Hobbit and told me to read it and pick which character I wanted to play.

I have been involved in many PbP here on the Boards. I began with PFS and eventually branches out to non-PFS games here.

I have been humbled by the many completed APs, modules, one-shots here on the Boards. My Campaign Page is yours to browse if you wish.

My most recent completed AP is Fists of the Ruby Phoenix.

3. Give me the answer to the following question: You play dice in a casino, and you have a strong inkling that Nivi is playing at your table. How would you notice? (Yes I know that this is a silly question)

Peering at my cards, carefully watching the other players, involuntarily tapping my foot on her chair leg, I wager All in!

Good luck!

GM Farol,

I am interested but I am curious about whether this is intended to be a PFS event or if this is more of a traditional game. I am assuming it is for more casual since you mentioned a process for creating characters, but I wanted to make sure I understood before posting an official submission.

Of note, I actually think the question about Nivi is an amazing one.