Welcom and thanks for taking a chance on a new system and putting in some great characters!
I'll drop in and out and answer questions as I can but we probably won't get a full gameplay post up until Saturday. hope that's OK
Hello, everyone! Happy to be here.
Glad to see your return to form, GM. (GM? Sarah? What do you prefer?)
I am trying to figure out a way to set up a profile and headers at the moment. We'll see how that turns out.
Could I also suggest setting up a gameplay thread so we can dot in and have the campaign in the relevant tab?
If allowed, I would suggest we present the current theme cards and see whether we are missing anything that could be considered important (ie not having archetypal rogue/fighter/mage PCs). Again, if permitted. I purchased the PDFs from Son of Oak, so I will review my own for possible slight adjustments.
I believe these are my most recent proposals for the theme cards:
Companion: Saada (Kestrel)
Power: Linked Minds
Power: Acrobatic
Weakness: Roamer
Quest: "I should really train this bird more."
People: Friends in Low Places
Power: Back-Alley Brawling
Power: Improvised Hideout
Weakness: Second Class Citizen
Quest: Improve the family's standing.
Skill or Trade: Infiltrator
Power: Sneaky
Power: Observant
Weakness: Distrusted by Highbred
Quest: Find someone to place your trust in.
Trait: Clever
Power: Polyglot
Power: People Reader
Weakness: "Sorry, kid, but you know too much."
Quest: Escape the guild.
Hi everyone! Really glad to be picked and looking forward to gaming with you all.
@Shamsi, I think the GM said it was fine to change up themes etc a bit during play as we get used to the game and how it plays out.
Darrel's themes and tags are currently as follows, I thought about changing them a bit but so far haven't.
THEME: Former Worldwound Crusader
POWER TAGS:
Tough as nails
Kind heart underneath
WEAKNESS TAG: Physical & mental scars
QUEST: “I’ve seen enough of Death for three lifetimes.”
THEME: Sharp-eyed veteran
POWER TAGS:
Hard to fool
Finds the flaw
WEAKNESS TAG: It’s not magic
QUEST: “Lead by example. Nobody follows a fool or a coward.”
THEME: Unorthodox strategist
POWER TAGS:
Deceive your enemy
Anything can be a weapon
WEAKNESS TAG: Caydenite hero complex
QUEST: “If I’m to die, better quickly on my feet than slowly by inches!”
THEME: Imposing physique
POWER TAGS:
Wall of muscle
Surprisingly quick
WEAKNESS TAG: Age is catching up
QUEST: “True strength is doing what’s right, not what’s easy.”
Darrel is basically a build that you wouldn't play in Pathfinder, that of a perceptive fighter (giving fighters perception and sense motive can be done but why would you when Wis isn't a key stat for them?). He doesn't have a huge amount of charm or social skill (he has one tag "kind heart underneath" that might end up doing a lot of the work), but he should be able to tell if he's being lied to, spot trouble before it starts, and come up with weird strategies on the fly to get us out of a tight spot.
Of course, his "Caydenite hero complex" might be what got us into trouble in the first place...
Hey everyone, I'm Ray -- Florida US (GMT -5)
My PC is like a medium-BAB Gish (similar to the PF Magus). He's not great as a front-line combatant but he will do his best to help Darrel during combat. Looks like Shamsi may be our Sneak-Attack combatant???
Anyway, I try to build big Bonuses in Lore of Outsiders/Cosmology(Demons-&-Devils) and Lore of Society/History/Nobility for Taldor.
And my FAVORITE thing is to Bluff to the villains that I'm also a villain -- in order to gather information that I can use against the villains.
.
I can usually post one or two times Monday -- Thursday. And as for Fri-Sat-Sun, well, I can sometimes post regularly, and sometimes not get anywhere near the computer. As a small business owner, there will be times where I am too busy to get to the Boards on a weekday or two -- often followed by a day of exhaustion where I just can't read two sentences let alone write two sentences with any cogency.
Anyway, look forward to getting to know everyone and playing WftC with you!
Shamsi is definitely meant to be a character that would rather deal with issues without drawing too much attention to herself. If that is your meaning.
I can't help but wonder whether someone should introduce a power tag that could be used to deal with injuries and similar stuff. That said, I probably could fit it into my themes, though it might be a overqualified vet or a very "practicing without a license" situation. Shamsi doesn't know people in the "good" neighbourhoods.
Either Sarah or GM or both is fine with me :)
Just so we're clear, yes you can mix and match and change tags to create a better fit for your charcter as we get to grips with this new system. BUT, you don't have add in tags based on what you think you "should" have. This isnt D&D and the lack of a cleric/wizard is not a problem. I realise that requires a high level of trust in me as the GM but I'm not setting you up to fail.
I see this as a relatively low-magic setting, magic is weird, and magic items are rare and powerful. No ring of protection +1 or "she casts fireball at you, roll reflex save."
I'm in the UK so were on similar time zones. I work in biotech research so there's some days when I'll be stuck in a lab with limited time to post but generally shoukd be ok to post something most days.
For the record for y'all in Europe and the UK -- when Arsenal are playing I am not available ;)
(Unless, as is often the case, I have to wait 24 hours before I can watch the game.)
COYG!
Apemantus Vernisant, "Oldcastle", is in Oppara with his golden-ticket from Lady Martella Lotheed after she visited my distantly-Noble-House-branch in Merciful Bay.
.
I was vouched for by my family member as a worshipper of Sarenrae.
.
I am a scholar and introduce myself as such -- my scimitar indicates that I am likely some kind of Gish. (I get a little Fire (as a Magus) when I hit with my Scimitar, but I don't have any Bonus on my roll To Hit) Mostly I am well read in Nobility, History, Society.
.
I clearly have an Infernal Visage (Tiefling or Cambion is a good guess); anyone with the Lore Skill of such can recognize my Race as a Reincarnated-Evil-Person who repented at the last moment before death. Hell is really pissed off I escaped damnation; Sarenrae is not willing to allow my Soul to Ascend. So I get one more chance -- but have to accomplish something truly epic for the cause of Good or, this time around, my Soul will descend to Hell forever if I don't prove my Redemption Crucible.
.
I think I could either become really close with our WorldWound Crusader, or he can roleplay that he distrusts me and I have to roleplay to prove I'm not Evil.
.
I will look forward to Bluffing villains in order to gather information. I am charismatic.
.
As we get familiar with the game system I will be able to do an occasional minor Illusion or minor Enchantment. (We have to get comfortable with how magic works first.) And because the nature of this Sorcery is my Evil past, I get sickened or even nauseated after casting.
Shamsi is your standard human woman of Qadiran descent. She is a criminal by trade. I imagined her as a cat burglar, working with a small group operating (Or formerly operating? I assume our GM will tell us at some point) in Oppara. No affiliation with the large thieves' guilds, but she would probably know people from those circles.
@Apemantus - I hate to disappoint, but I don't watch soccer. But to each their own. ^_^
@Narrator - I am also reading the following here:
YOUR BACKPACK
The backpack section of your Hero card is simply a space to record temporary tags that you collect during the story known as story tags (page 164), especially those representing items you have packed for the journey but also anything you have prepared, for example, songs you practiced or incantations you memorized.You begin the game with one story tag in your backpack. Your Hero may be carrying other things, but as long as they are not represented by a tag, their importance and ability to shape the story is up to the Narrator.
Is that something we should do before the game? If so, collaborate with you? Do it on our own?
I was thinking about the list of names. It could be a bargaining chip of some sort and inviting unwanted attention at the same time (hooks!). Unless I am giving that to Lady(?) Lotheed before the game starts.
but I don't watch soccer. ^_^
.
Ah, don't feel too bad. Hey, no one is perfect.
;)
I'm not into football but I have been known to watch rugby, although only at international level - I dont' have a local team.
@Apemantus - that works.
@Shamsi - I'm still thinkinb about the list. I think in order to keep things simple for me, you have already made contact with Lady Lotheed and she is grateful for the service. Whether you have done an errand or two in addition is up to you, but she pays well and on time.
Darrel is basically a build that you wouldn't play in Pathfinder, that of a perceptive fighter (giving fighters perception and sense motive can be done but why would you when Wis isn't a key stat for them?).
I'm reminded of the bit in Terry Pratchett where one character tells another an explanation that is wrong in every way but a very useful lie, and I sugest we think of D&D in the same way. It's a helpful explanation in some ways becuase it's a baseline we're all familiar with, but trying to run this game as "Pathfinder with house rules" is not going to work.
Alright. I will try to come up with something. Would you like the item in question to have some plot relevance? If so, would you be able to share some spoiler-free information to help us come up with something?
If the list was given to Lotheed, let's assume Shamsi did some work for her. That's fine by me. Could we make the item something like a reliable set of lockpicking tools, or shoes with treated soles (to produce less sound when walking), etc?
I work in Europe (GMT +1) so I think this is a rare group where we will all be posting more or less when I'm awake!
I'm fully on board with exploring this game as its own thing, with references to Pathfinder/D&D only as a handy reference point while we chart a new course :)
I think I could either become really close with our WorldWound Crusader, or he can roleplay that he distrusts me and I have to roleplay to prove I'm not Evil.
I can't tell you how much I'm not into PvP so let's go with the first option!
I can't tell you how much I'm not into PvP so let's go with the first option!
.
This is SUCH good news! I perused your background and was hoping that we could roleplay an immediate friendship, but I didn't want to push anything on you. I wanted to discuss it before Gameplay to make sure we're all good.
But if you take a look at the Recruitment Thread -- the third post in the Thread is mine and the very first thing I say for my application to someone's Play-By-Post, is that I don't like PvP:
I prefer games where the PCs work together and share info and treasure equally ....
From me you'll get someone who can,...
A:
B:
C: Plays in a team with no PvP whatsoever, sharing info, treasure, and planning. In other words, if I'm a 'Rogue' and scouting ahead I find a treasure box, EVERYBODY gets an equal share of what's inside. If I'm a Cleric and an NPC gives me a boon for removing a thorn from his paw, I share the boon with the other PCs. And I expect the same. If we have a choice between telling the...
So I'm glad!
Looking forward to it!
I forgot to open the gameplay so you could all dot in, I have now fixed that.
I can enjoy Discussion until such a time as our Master of Ceremonies posts our first introductory Text in Gameplay. I'll check each day in Gameplay and once Martella lotheed introduces us to each other -- or we get an opening scene in the Gala -- or whatever -- Discussion is good for us to keep a dialogue on our characters and how we may relate.
Well, looking at your tags, it seems we have a nice specialised trio. Darrel for muscle, Apemantus for social situations (based off of this, assuming it is up to date), and Shamsi for some skullduggery.
I must say I did not look into your backstory stuff. I am keeping myself in the dark on purpose to reveal it via character interactions, so I am curious.
Likewise looking forward to gaming with you! I did read the backstories because that's how I'm wired but I'm very good at separating character and player knowledge :)
And agreed that (whether by accident or design) we have a good power trio.
Yes, my PC is up to date.
I'm absolutely able to post in-character introductions in Gameplay, kinda like, "Hi Darrel Stavalos and Shamsi, nice to meet you" except you know, with some dynamic and creativity so it doesn't sound like I'm starting Kindergarten.
But I'm not sure if Sarah has a specific way she wants to start, or has designed an opening scene where Lady Martella Lotheed introduces us a certain way.
.
So for now,....
My PC worships Sarenrae.
I was hoping at some point in the campaign to do some pro-Sarenrae roleplay for the people of Taldor. (It never felt right to me that Taldor made Sarenrae-worship illegal; it Always felt like really bad design by Paizo.) So in a Taldor campaign I want to try to promote it. .... According to our DM, though, in this Taldor the worship of Sarenrae is just less common rather than outright illegal, and just frowned-upon by older, more conservative elements of Taldor. So *that's* what I'll go for.
I bring it up because with a WorldWound background and a Qadira background, maybe all three of us like Sarenrae?
It can be our first connection after Lady Martella Lotheed puts us in a room together?
I don't know about outlawing Sarenrae worship being a bad decision. They have been in war with Qadira for 500+ years, and the ruling class thought the Sarenites were helping Qadirans in their campaign. I don't agree with it, but I can see it making sense.
As for the ties that bind, I would say that Shamsi is definitely FAMILIAR with the Sarenrae worship, but she's already being looked down upon for being of darker complexion. No need to provoke people further by worshipping that deity.
Hi guys, I'm so sorry - I compltely forgot I had a family thing on this weekend! It looks like you are all still here and chatting away nicely so I'm please about that, but still sorry.
I will get us posting tomorrow and yes I have ideas on how to introduce you all :)
Heh. No problem, it happens. Hopefully you didn't forget the actual event itself...?
@Shamsi - given the GM nixed the whole "Qadiran scum!" thing I'm guessing she is not interested in playing out religious conflict either. (Nor am I really, tbh.)
Darrel definitely respects Sarenrae and her priests enormously, a number of them saved his life over the years he was there; but he's a Caydenite to his core.
Curses! Real life interfering with games again? No trouble. Hope you had fun.
@Darrel - That's fair.
While we're on the topic of lines in the sand, I tend to not do romance, physical or otherwise. Instead, I usually veer that kind of relationship into a good friend kind of situation. What? Friendzoning people? Who ever heard of that?
Hard no to sexual violence and intense torture. Like nail-pulling, sawing off fingers and limbs, you get the gist of it.
Other than that, I am open to anything. Sombre, elating, what have you.
I'm with Shamsi on the 'romance' thing -- I don't care if every once in a while a single sentence or half-sentence says PC A and NPC B have a romance. But an empty sentence is about as far as I want to read about it. Every once in a while.
Nothing violent or grotesque bothers me in a game, though gratuitous such is lame -- but in a published AP I seriously doubt we'll see anything of the sort here. So we just have to respect each other's boundaries.
Those sound like the sort of boundaries I have, too. (I have done romance in the past but didn't create Darrel with that in mind so all good here.)
And we are go! Thank you for bearing with me.
@Apemantus, please will you put your themes, tags, quests and so on into your alias? Take a look at how either Shamsi or Darrel have done it if you need inspiration or guidance.
Heh. No problem, it happens. Hopefully you didn't forget the actual event itself...?
I admit nothing. Although actually I have been the one in the past who had to call my brother to make sure he'd remembered!
@Shamsi - given the GM nixed the whole "Qadiran scum!" thing I'm guessing she is not interested in playing out religious conflict either. (Nor am I really, tbh.)
Ding! We have a winner.
On romance, I'm pleased you are all on the same page as me. I have been in games where it was a thing and that was fine, but I'm not sure how to run it as a GM so I'm glad I don't have to.
How did you guys get the empty-boxes to checklist on your Alias Profiles?
Edit:
Testing,...
- 1
- 2
- 3
Edit p.s.:
Hmmm
I used these symbols with larger tag. Just copy/paste them.
⬤◯
I'd love to say there was some clever coding involved, but I just copied it from Sarah's character sheet that she provided in the recruitment thread. Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, job done
Hey I did it!
Yay for the Gen X guy pretending he knows the compootar
Guys, I had a piece of glass crack in my hand while washing it. Two of my fingers are bandaged, and typing is... interesting.
I will make a post today, but it might take time. Sorry for keeping you.
Slow this week is perfect for me. I'm designing my group's Halloween Special one-shot adventure and my mind is pretty all-in on making that adventure fun. So I am only half (or, really, 0.0334% into this head space right now. Ah, Halloween time!)
.
[ooc](Each year in addition to our normal campaign my group does a Halloween 'terror adventure' one-shot. This year I'm doing a super-condensed version of the 'Call of Cthulhu' campaign, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness." In the Greyhawk Land of Black Ice (our current campaign is in Greyhawk.). Basically a Spelljammer crashes in The Land of Black Ice -- Antarctica -- and the PCs are sent to investigate. Antarctica is scary in a man-vs-nature way especially if I say magic isn't working. But the horror is that -- and this is the part I'm hoping to design well enough for it to *Work* over-the-table -- the only way to make sure the Lovecraftian Horror doesn't escape Antarctica and destroy the world of Greyhawk, is to burn their own ship and allow themselves to die of frostbite. (Not exactly a typical PC thing to do, LOL.). But my design is coming along well. I'm very excited about it.
@Shamsi - oh that sounds painful! I hope you are ok. Post as and when you can.
@Apemantus - sounds like you have come up with something perfect for Halloween! I'm always uncertain about doing that sort of thing with a group, I guess you'd have to know for sure that your players were into it wchi is probably easier if it's a group you know well. I know the last Paizo AP of PF1 had some very unhappy people with the way it ended.
I'm really enjoying the interactions posted in game so far, I'm looking forward to seein where it goes. I will hold off to give Shamsi time to heal and post.
I will be fine. Just need to not bleed over everything, hence the slow typing. Hope it's fine with her being this direct, given my medical status.
The question wasn't only directed at Lotheed, so feel free to finish the joke, gentlemen.
If anyone wants to help out:
My call for Advice
@Shamsi - the cricket is a brass clockwork thing that makes a gentle buzzing to stop your conversation being overheard. It's not real, and your character would see that immediately :)
Oh. Thought it's a brass-coloured pet or familiar or something. And besides, did you never feed hot cocoa to a tamagocthi?
FOR SCIENCE!
I thought for sure it was a Familiar or the like.
Oop. I will try to be clearer in my descriptions!
It might be super-realistic.
@Shamsi - hope your hand heals up quickly
Oh Boy'O, that was a trickier Gameplay post to write. One of those my-own-life issues bleeding into my character. The PC is supposed to be Charming and Charismatic. Uh. Something I don't have in Spades. (My charisma has never been the 'make-everyone-laugh/be-charming' kind; it's always been the 'trustworthy/confident/responsible-leader' kind.
My weekend looks busy but I ought to be able to get here once Friday and once Saturday. In case the campaign starts in Gameplay -- assuming intros are pretty well done.
Likewise ready to start :)
Grrr I *know* I posted something on Friday, just checked in today to see if anoyne posted over the weekend and nothing because my post got eaten! Either I didn't properly post it or the forum ate it. Grr grr grr
Posting *again*
Another (hoepfully quick) post on how this game works
LitM runs on tags. If you want to do something then let me know what tag(s) you are relying on, you may be able to do it wihtout needig a dice roll. Eg Darrel might be able to win a fight that Shamsi would need to roll for, and Shamsi might be able to stealth by something that Darrel would need to roll for.
Likewise, you can pick information up by having the right tags, so I will be using spoilers like the one I just posted. It will be up to you to decide if you have the appropriate tag to read under the spoiler. If you aren't sure, feel free to check in with me :)
Yeah, the forums are pretty notorious for eating posts. I will also admit that I have occasionally hit "preview" and then forgotten to hit "submit post" before closing the browser...
(read Sun & Mon posts, quite busy at work today, may have time to post later)