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Huzzah! This is a new-player friendly game of 1-01 Absalom Initiation. I'll be treating this as a Play by Post academy to give some experience to new Play By Post players Initially I will be opening this up to select players I've already spoken to, but there is likely going to be at least 1-2 slots available. If there is overwhelming interest, I will run a second slot after this completes. The current roster is (Forum Name / Role):
If you're one of the above, please verify your interest. Otherwise, please post below with your Play by Post experience and what class / role you'd like to play. If you have any other questions, let me know.
Levels 1-4
Official Intro:
Eox's Blackmoon region contains countless forgotten Eoxian ruins, leftovers from an apocalyptic assault on the planet. Few are allowed to dig up these sites, yet the Starfinder Society and undead bone sages maintain a joint academic venture known as the Blackmoon Excavation. When Starfinder archaeologists and undead workers begin disappearing from the site the Society sends in a team of agents to uncover why—a secret that resides in the nearby ruins! Note, this is part of Outpost II so you must sign up HERE first.
To discuss! Once we have at least three people I'll start rolling with the Intro, and keep things open until we're full or start into the scenario proper.
Tier 1-4, no scenario tags Official Intro:
The PCs take part in an investigation after an Absalom Station pawnbroker tries to sell the Starfinder Society a lethal biotech augmentation. The search leads into the depths of the station's Freemarkets and into another investigation initiated by AbadarCorp. With rumors abound of mysterious disappearances near the Freemarkets and that those people using the augmentations are suffering from a mysterious illness, it falls to the PCs to piece together what's going on. Where is this never-before-seen biotech coming from, and what happens when the augmented dead don't stay dead? There's already two people that have expressed interest, just need 1-2 more before we can get rolling!
Intro:
The legendary sorceress Hao Jin transferred many abandoned historical sites to her museum demiplane, though even her magic had limits, forcing her to transport only part of an architectural treasure. The half of a temple she left behind in the jungles of Dtang Ma has developed a haunted reputation in the centuries since. Now an unlikely ally has approached the Society with tales of unspoiled historical secrets and hidden treasure left within the shattered sanctuary of Yamatsumi, the mountain god. This is a placeholder and will be the official mustering location for Outpost II. I will update the thread when it is available.
Intro:
The Church of Triune approaches the Starfinder Society with a stunning discovery: a centuries old Society starship has been found in the Drift! The PCs must search the Lorespire Complex for all the information they can on this starship before heading into the Drift and uncovering what befell the lost vessel. The Beacon Code Dilemma is a replayable scenario designed to help introduce players to threats and terrain that trained Starfinders regularly contend with. With randomized mechanical and story elements, when you play this scenario, you'll never play the same scenario twice.
This is a placeholder post for the Outpost II Recruitment. I will be updating with a link to the official signup when it is available.
Please confirm your interest here. I also need the following information: Player Alias
I'll ask for emails later if needed.
Please confirm you're still interested! I also need the following: Player Alias
If we need factions or the like I'll ask for them then. I'll PM anyone that I need emails from later.
Were you unable to participate in Free RPG Day? Are you interested in unique rewards? If so, here's your chance! I'll be running this adorable adventure for the PbP Gameday VII. Pregen characters are required and can be found here For this, I'll be choosing 6 players out of the first 12 to respond. Once those players are locked in, I'll send out an interest verification August 6th, a week before the Game Day begins. At a minimum I'll be taking 4.
Adding to the Play Test Excitement! As is obvious, we won't get the materials until they're released, but there should be a good week to hash out characters. For this, I'll be choosing 6 players out of the first 12 to respond. Once those players are locked in, I'll send out an interest verification August 6th, a week before the Game Day begins.
You have been hastily and unexpectedly summoned to the Lorespire Complex by Venture-Captain Arvin. Tall and no-nonsense, the confident lashunta venture-captain quickly gets to the business at hand. He gestures to several functional chairs, inviting you to sit. “Thank you for arriving so quickly. As I mentioned in my comm message, we have an urgent opportunity to recover some critical information.” “Several months ago, a crew of Starfinders took a ship called the Unbounded Wayfarer into the Vast to explore a series of uncharted planets. They never returned. Earlier today, a vesk pawnbroker in the Downlow neighborhood contacted us, offering to sell us several Starfinder insignias. These insignias belonged to the lost crew of the Unbounded Wayfarer, and that immediately caught the Society’s attention. The pawnbroker—named Julzakama—doesn’t realize the true value of the insignias. We negotiated a purchase price in exchange for the insignias and information about the seller. We hope this seller can lead us to the Unbounded Wayfarer and its crew.” “We’ve remotely transferred the requested credits to Julzakama. Now, we need you to collect the insignias and all the information you can from the vesk regarding whoever sold him the insignias, and then track down that seller. Learn where to find the Unbounded Wayfarer and its crew. I’m worried that the seller might not be on the station for long, so act quickly. If you have any questions, please make them fast.”
You have been hastily and unexpectedly summoned to the Lorespire Complex by Venture-Captain Arvin. Tall and no-nonsense, the confident lashunta venture-captain quickly gets to the business at hand. He gestures to several functional chairs, inviting you to sit. “Thank you for arriving so quickly. As I mentioned in my comm message, we have an urgent opportunity to recover some critical information.” “Several months ago, a crew of Starfinders took a ship called the Unbounded Wayfarer into the Vast to explore a series of uncharted planets. They never returned. Earlier today, a vesk pawnbroker in the Downlow neighborhood contacted us, offering to sell us several Starfinder insignias. These insignias belonged to the lost crew of the Unbounded Wayfarer, and that immediately caught the Society’s attention. The pawnbroker—named Julzakama—doesn’t realize the true value of the insignias. We negotiated a purchase price in exchange for the insignias and information about the seller. We hope this seller can lead us to the Unbounded Wayfarer and its crew.” “We’ve remotely transferred the requested credits to Julzakama. Now, we need you to collect the insignias and all the information you can from the vesk regarding whoever sold him the insignias, and then track down that seller. Learn where to find the Unbounded Wayfarer and its crew. I’m worried that the seller might not be on the station for long, so act quickly. If you have any questions, please make them fast.”
As promised, I'm putting my hat into the ring for running the Into the Unknown Quest Pack. This is level 1 only, and new players are welcome. There are multiple sections of Spacecombat, so having a party balanced between the space ship roles would be recommended.
For some of you this is a day of great joy, others a moment of quiet resolve. For some, it’s just another job that you’ve taken. Regardless, all of you have demonstrated you have what it takes to become one of the first new generation of Starfinders since the Scattered Stars Incident. The Starfinder Society may have lost much in that tragic occasion, but you are a physical embodiment that not all hope is lost. The Starfinder Society will rebuild, regain its lost glory, seek out new knowledge and new beings, and defend those that cannot defend themselves. You have all been summoned to meet with the Society’s compiled intelligence of Starfinder personalities, aptly named Guidance, as you begin one of your first sanctioned missions. Some of you may have already taken missions on the behalf of the Starfinder Society, but the First Seeker, Luwazi Elsebo, has decreed that the ceremony known as the Commencement holds special significance and has strongly encouraged all new Starfinder agents to complete it. This is why you find yourself waiting in a waiting room in the Lorespire Complex for the rest of your squad to arrive so that you may begin your meeting with Guidance.
Please post what you're planning on playing. We've definitely got at least 6 interested participants.
I'm going to be starting a Starfinder Society game of The Commencement when I have enough interested participants. There is one reserved spot, but otherwise it'll likely be first come, first served. New players are definitely welcome! Signup: Reserved: Solider (ranged) 1
Discussion for OutPost I Live Exploration Extreme!
GM Wolfspirit's Live Exploration Extreme!
Incident at Absalom Station Gameplay. Please ninja dot. (Make a post and delete.)
To really discuss
For Discussion
I will be GMing a SFS game of the first AP (Dead Suns) 1: Incident at Absalom Station. To accommodate American Thanksgiving, I’m looking to start this on Monday, November 27th. I expect I’ll close recruitment Saturday November 25th, unless there are already an overwhelming number of responses, in which I’ll give an update with at least 24 hours to submit a character. Logistics: This is a 1-2 (repeatable) adventure worth 3 XP and has some Starfighter combat. As this is a sanctioned SFS game (and not Campaign Mode), you will be required to have a legal SFS character to participate. Pregens are possible, but unique characters are preferable. I am only committing to GMing the first chapter at this time, though there is a long term potential for more. My goal, though, is to help get people to level three characters easier, so I may repeat this for other players :) There is one reserved spot for GM Kuey as part of the GM Trade System, so I’ll be looking for up to 5 players. Selection will be based on making sure there is a balanced party, with a slight preference for more experienced PbP players (this AP chapter is longer than a typical scenario.) The expectation will be that players post at least one post per weekday and one post over the weekend, unless they notify ahead. There are holidays coming up, so allowances for RL will always be made, just please let us know :) For other details such as how to format signatures and make rolls, check out my profile. If interested, please post in with a character you would like to play with the following:
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
We be Licktoads! We make raid!
You are goblins of the Licktoad tribe, who live deep in Brinestump Marsh, south of the hated man-town called Sandpoint. Once, other goblins tried to burn Sandpoint down, and they would have been legends if they had succeeded. But they didn’t bring enough fire, and got themselves killed as a result. Yesterday, your tribe discovered that one of your own had been using forbidden arts and was engaged in one of the greatest of taboos—. In fact, rumor holds that what he was writing was a history of your tribe! There’s no swifter way to bring about bad luck than stealing words out of your mind by writing them down, and so your tribe had no choice. You branded the goblin’s face with letters to punish him, which is why everyone calls him Scribbleface now, and then you ran him out of town, took all of his stuff, and burned down his hut. That’s where things got interesting, because before you all burned down his hut, Chief Gutwad found a weird box within the building. Inside was a map and a lot of fireworks—fireworks that immediately came to use in burning the hut down. Then, this morning, Gutwad announced that tonight there would be a feast in order to drive out any lingering bad luck from Scribbleface’s poor decisions. But perhaps even more exciting, all of you have been secretly invited to meet at Chief Gutwad’s Moot House. Why would the chief want to speak to you? It can only mean that he’s got an important mission for you all... one that the other goblins of the tribe couldn’t pull off. This could be your chance to go down in Licktoad history!
Knowledge Local DC 0:
By tradition, Chief Gutwad does not speak directly to his subjects. Instead, he employs an advisor through whom he whispers instructions, for Chief Gutwad has convinced his goblins that the words that come out of his mouth are so mighty that they might frighten away all the words in the heads of lesser goblins.
Only his duly appointed advisor, an overdressed, pompous goblin named Slorb can handle the might of the chief’s words without fainting from fear. Knowledge Local DC 5:
Lying at the center of the village, the chief ’s Moot House is a veritable museum of Licktoad heroics— crammed with trophies such as stolen weapons, shiny bits of treasure, and the brine-pickled bodies of dozens of brutally slaughtered small furry animals (mostly dogs). His Mighty Girthness Chief Rendwattle Gutwad rules Licktoad Village from atop the great Teeter Chair, which is 6 feet high and allows him to more properly look down on his subjects.
It's a bit late, but I'm looking for a total of 5 players to run the Module We Be Goblins as part of the PbP Gameday VI, targeting to start Monday, October 9th. Given the short timeframe I would like participants to commit to a post per weekday, with one post over the course of the weekend. There were two players that expressed interest and will have priority, but post if there are extra respondents we can have a standby. We will use the boards here and Google Drawings for the map. I am looking to balance between Goblin Shenanigans and having a consistent pace, so I'll have a few shortcuts during the skill-heavy Introduction. Finally, we'll be using the official pregens, with one repeat (Goop, Scruffy, Ater, or Gomurk) If interested, please respond with the following information: Player Name
Greetings Kings and Kingmakers (it should come as a warning that there's a lot of Kingmaker spoilers to come!) As a veteran of GMing Kingmaker books 1-2 with three different groups, I'm about to start a fourth foray into Book 1 GMing for a new group. This time I'm considering making some tweaks to the pacing, particularly where it comes to the initial Bandit hunt. I was wondering if anyone has tried anything similar or had feedback to share. The two main goals I'd like to achieve are
Previously each group I've ran for has almost entirely fixated on the bandit threat, often at the expense of other exploration and taking an almost identical path towards the Stag Lord's Keep. It makes sense: as written the bandits are the most active threat the party faces and have an actual timeline of events. It also is highly beneficial to the party that they attack the Thorn River camp before it is alerted (after the attack on Oleg's) and attack the Stag Lord before he realizes the Thorn River camp has been compromised. The downside to this has been that the parties have been underleveled when they encounter the Stag Lord, overleveled when they encounter several other locations (the Mites in particular), and generally miss the peripheral encounters. In two games the party didn't even meet Bokken in Book 1 because they didn't explore that hex (immediately adjacent to the Trading Post.) At the same time, there were very few return trips to Oleg's Trading Post, typically after major milestones (primarily after completing the Camp, Keep and Kobolds.) I'd planned on slowly introducing the various subquests slowly when they returned, but I ended up including about 4 each time. One thought I've had is not running the initial bandit encounter at Oleg's. The party doesn't really *need* a reason to think the Bandits are the biggest threat, and the Thorn River Camp is close enough that they'll run into it fairly soon. Maybe introduce the Bandit Threat that they have have been extorting Oleg, but they have a week and a half before they're due to return in a week or two. Has anyone else tried other alterations of this nature?
From Taldor to Restov rumors spread about a new opportunity arising in the Stolen Lands: an intrepid party of adventurers are seeking to carve out a new settlement in the wild lands. You paid these rumors little heed, until you find a strange parchment rolled up in your belongings: Wanted: Two adventurous types to join an ongoing expedition into the Stolen Lands already in progress. Excellent pay and advancement opportunities, up to and including rulership! Defeat undead, bandits, and other undersirables while taking the Stolen Lands for upcoming settlement. -The Solicitor
~*~*~ I am in need of two self-motivated new players for a Kingmaker (with a twist) game in progress that is about to start on book 2. Real life and absences have conspired to slow the game down, but we have an enthusiastic group looking to make their mark on the Stolen Lands. I have posted here looking for players before, but I'm unsure who all is still active. I expect players in my game to be team oriented, enthusiastic, and willing to commit to posting. Feel free to read up on the campaign in progress. A short synopsis of the changes I have in store is that unlike traditional Kingmaker, there are no Fey and various other things have taken over their niche (and story elements.) Will our group be successful? Or shall their names be lost to ranks of the Kings of Dust, those unfortunate souls who have tried to claim the Stolen Lands, and failed? Without strong allies, it will surely be the later... Currently our party consists of:
We particularly could use someone with knowledges and skills, although anyone could be considered. If interested, or if you have questions, respond here or PM me. I have some Character Creation guidelines here. We're going to be moving a bit slowly through the Holidays, but I want to get Kingdom Building initially taken care of to start off strong after the New Year. I'm hoping to make decisions by Monday 19th.
On the walls of Oleg's Trading Post, amidst a few handwritten posters with vague descriptions of kobolds, a traitor, and a very large boar is a sign that looks different from the rest, written in strong script. Wanted: Two adventurous types to join an ongoing expedition into the Stolen Lands already in progress. Excellent pay and advancement opportunities, up to and including rulership! Defeat undead, bandits, and other undersirables while taking the Stolen Lands for upcoming settlement. -The Solicitor
~*~*~ I am in need of two self-motivated new players for a Kingmaker (with a twist) game in progress that is nearing the completion of the second fight. Real life and absences have conspired to slow the game down, but we have an enthusiastic group looking to make their mark on the Stolen Lands. I expect players in my game to be team oriented, enthusiastic, and willing to commit to a post per day. I've probably been too lenient in the past waiting for people to come back... that have dropped off the face of the internet, and it's slowed down the game ;) Feel free to read up on the campaign in progress. A short synopsis of the changes I have in store is that unlike traditional Kingmaker, there are no Fey and various other things have taken over their niche (and story elements.) Will our group be successful? Or shall their names be lost to ranks of the Kings of Dust, those unfortunate souls who have tried to claim the Stolen Lands, and failed? Without strong allies, it will surely be the later... If interested, or if you have questions, respond here or PM me.
Hey there. The first round of invitations have all gone out. Please post here to start the discussion with the group! A few people have expressed interest in a couple different character ideas: if you want my input first, you can PM me, otherwise feel free to post here. I like the vibe I have from the group so far; I appreciate the enthusiasm already :) Although this is an "intro" I decided to be presumptive and go with the Kingmaker moniker for the title. Anyway, I look forward to hearing back from everyone!
Everyone from the Roster should have received a PM detailing some of my thoughts of where the campaign is going. Please dot in if you accept the Invitation and start discussing character tweaks, party roles, etc.
"Oh oh sheltered by the Earth
One month after posting my initial Teaser Thread, Recruitment for my Kingmaker: Legacies campaign is finally live! Feedback for the Teasers has been overwhelmingly positive and I’m incredibly excited to see what characters people have come up with. For those reading about Kingmaker: Legacies for the first time, this campaign will take the strong exploration and kingdom building elements of the classic Kingmaker Adventure Path, build upon a number of GM innovations from nearly a half decade, and add my own spin to many characters and events from the original story. Kingmaker: Legacies is a campaign full of plot arcs and prophesy, allies that you’ll love and villains that you’ll love to hate. This campaign will still use the same 3’x12’ hex map of the Stolen Lands and roughly follow the original plot of the AP, but the story line will have several significant departures from the modules in an attempt to create a more coherent and immersive narrative. Further Campaign Specific details from my Teasers can be found on the Campaign Page. I’ll try to add more as I have the time! Do you feel like you have what it takes to tame an uncharted wilderness, thwart centuries old plots, and forge a Legacy that will last through the ages? I’m looking for a team of 5-6 epic and interesting characters to share this adventure with! For one week, from now until Tuesday the 8th at Midnight CST, I will be accepting Character Submissions for the campaign. To be considered, applicants must make a post in this thread with the Alias(es) they wish to submit for the Campaign; a submission made in the previous Teaser thread will not be sufficient. There is also a Submission Roster that will be used to help manage the submissions. Currently it will be editable to reduce the overhead on my part, but I may switch it over to Read-Only if we encounter any issues. Finally, make sure to check out my Alias Profile. It has important details including posting frequency, writing style, and tagline format that I’ll expect people to adhere to. I’m also starting a FAQ there that I can update throughout the week. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to ask questions that aren’t already covered in the Character Creation!
While technically not a party, the yearly Grand Convocation in Absalom is an eagerly awaited annual opportunity for the Decemvirate and Absalom’s Venture-Captains to show their appreciation to all Pathfinder Agents stationed abroad. Hosted both in and by the Grand Lodge of Absalom, it is also serves to encourage networking among Pathfinder agents from different Lodges. After all, one can never know who you might find yourself traveling with on the Open Road. To this accomplish this goal, a traditional highlight of the Grand Convocation is what has been informally dubbed “the Grand Competition,” wherein teams of Pathfinders take part in a variety of friendly pursuits ranging from Animal Taming to Weight Lifting for a prize more coveted than gold: Bragging Rights. Table assignments for the Grand Convocation Banquet (and by extension, teams for the Competition) are supposedly random, but the number of familiar faces gathered for your Table stretches the plausibility of that. You have a short moment to greet each other as you Muster by the painted “224” (your Table number… presumably it’s not consecutive numbering?) on the South Lawn that leads to the main Lodge.
Excited attempts to catch up or plan strategy are cut short, however, as Master of Swords Marcos Farabellus strides up to the large crowd gathering and claps his hands together for attention, announcing in a booming voice “Welcome Pathfinders, one and all! And welcome to our traveling Venture-Captains stationed abroad as well our honored guests! I am Marcos Farabellus, and on behalf of the Decemvirate, I welcome you to the Pathfinder Society’s annual Grand Convocation! I shall address all of the attendees later this afternoon to announce some of the Society’s greatest accomplishments over the past year and our plans for the future. In the meantime, I invite you to stroll about the campus, meet with your peers, and enjoy all the sites of the Grand Lodge. And of course, there's the Competition! Show off your skills or sharpen them if need be! I’ll send around ushers when it’s time to assemble for the speeches on the north lawn. Enjoy!" At this time-honored signal for the Competition to commence, members of different Tables spring into action and race off towards a variety of different destinations. Yet one more familiar face pauses as he notices the group. A halfling whom several of you have traveled with exclaims out excitedly, “Heya, Jillia! Markus! And… Nella, right? We fought that animated blasted dummy together!” Almost out of breath and bursting with enthusiasm as he rushes towards you, the halfling runs his fingers through his curly brown hair before offering his hand to Smiley and Kharg. “Greetings! My name is Brobdingnagian, and these are some good friends of mine. Who might you be?” he beams.
Discussion Thread for the PbP Game Day IV: Siege of Serpents. More instructions to follow for tonight, but for now please post your character name, PFS ID / Character number, faction, and email.
If these price adjustments mean they are able to retain the wonderful staff (and hopefully increase their compensation in these inflationary times), then take my money Paizo. (I subscribe to many lines so you already are, but the sentiment stands just the same)
I believe, with Paizo’s strong relationship with freelance authors, the company is better positioned than most to identify and promote new talent. I trust in that. This is a bummer, but I agree with Aaron. Ron moving on will leave big shoes to fill, but Paizo hasn't missed a beat when filling big shoes in the past. Best of luck Ron!
+1 to all the praise for the Suggested Character Options table! Would love to see this become a new fixture of the Player's Guides!
Samsaran.
Excellently succinct explanation here, IMO!
Having worked with Mike at Alliance a number of years ago that makes me feel incredibly old, I can say with confidence that he is a great guy and will be a great addition to the team. Congrats Mike!
This is a major bummer. Sara Marie was a fantastic part of the Paizo team.
Echoing what others have said: everyone having to pay for the app feels like too much. What about if the app & player version were free, but the GM login was a paid add-on? I fully support everyone having their own opinion on this, but just wanted to share mine (and in no way does that imply that I feel mine is more correct than anyone else's). In a world where subscription-based apps are increasingly becoming the norm, I fully support a one-time fee of $2.99 per user for everyone at my table to be able to use this in perpetuity. If they were only charging the GM, I suspect that this would not generate enough revenues to justify spending the time making the app more robust in the future.
I imagine they are still crunching the numbers and figuring out what the can do that is both responsible for the company and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and are not ready to announce a number at this point. Also, it is their right to not announce a number. Even 0.5% is better than 0% At the end of the day, I (personally) appreciate the even-tempered response to a complicated (though some would argue non-issue) by Mr. Mona. Your mileage may vary if it wasn't enough for you. if not announcing the exact percentage of donations was not enough for you, you are entitled to that opinion. The only thing I hope does not happen is for people who feel that the response was not enough to equate it to no response at all. And comparing this response to a "leader" who consistantly deals in falsehoods feels, at best, like bait. At worse, like a massively false equivalency.
Thanks all! Here is a folder that contains contents of what the PCs find after defeating Voz. A few recent journal entries, scraps of research on Alsetta's Ring, her notes on the occult ritual performed in the basement of the citadel, and most importantly, a letter to her from Laslunn. Hoping my players find this more interesting than just giving them a summary of the information they find. Dates on the journal are pretty specific to my campaign, but hopefully folks find some of these other bits useful! https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZAVzHEEjgKwLcGyw6-U-4satyBpMh19j?us p=sharing
Inspired by FedoraFerret's great work here, I took this and turned this into something that could be shared as a physical prop. Then COVID-19 happened so I turned it into a digital handout. My players just got to this point on Sunday and loved this. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1msmK_eCYX7kzoX9rF0T99VHkZjDFpZOT/view Currently putting together some handouts for Voz's journal and research found after confronting her and can share that if anyone is interested!
While I, for one, have been irritated with the number of emails I've received from businesses and restaurants I've patronized once, this isn't even remotely in the same category. I think I speak for most everyone on here to say that an update like this about the health and safety of Paizo and the Paizo team is extremely important to all of us. Thank you Lisa and everyone at Paizo for doing the best work you can through this difficult time. Thank you for the update, and thank you for the countless hours of distraction and entertainment that Paizo's products have brought us before and will continue to bring us in the road ahead!!
So those of us who have been waiting a month or more for these orders who still don't have shipping info and no idea when it will ship have to continue to wait with no recourse when a few days ago you said today was the shipping deadline. But you come in here with veiled insults that most of the non-shipments are payment releated and yet that isn't the case for anyone here begging for help and answers in this thread I realize people are frustrated. I am still waiting for my order to ship as well. But there was definitely no "veiled insults". Sara Marie just pointed out that of the remaining orders, a large chunk haven't shipped due to payment issues. It was an update on the process, as folks have been asking for. Yours is one of the ones that doesn't have a payment issue. So is mine. Is it a bummer? Sure it is. But accusing someone who is doing their job of making "veiled insults" isn't helping anyone.
As per the subject, after running two PFS scenarios for my group to get used to 2nd edition, today we dove into Age of Ashes, and I have to say I *really* like 2nd edition! That said, things did not go great for my players due to some extraordinarily poor dice rolling on their part.
Spoilers:
The very first encounter at Citadel Altearein (the goblin dogs almost turned into a TPK. The cleric was the first to go down (never a good start), followed by the sorcerer and the bard, leaving the monk fighting off 3 injured goblin dogs. I fudged a few die-rolls in the PC's favor to avoid taking them all out and potentially souring them on the new edition.
Eventually, with 2 remaining goblin dog, the monk realized that if he flurried with his first action, then moved away twice, it would need 2 actions to reach him, meaning he could get in twice as many attacks each round until he killed it. He did have to run outside and quite a ways from the entrance to accomplish this, of course.
Overall, even though it didn't go swimmingly for the PCs the players enjoyed themselves and left with a positive impression about 2nd edition and excitement about getting deeper into AoA. Granted it's only one session, but as far as I'm concerned, 2E and AoA look like another Critical Hit from the Paizo team! (For my table at least)
Actually it does. Even though I understood in my head how it gets to the disparity between the -10 and the -8, seeing it written out was the "aha!" moment. Move along folks. Nothing more to see here....
Blog is up now! Thank you for your patience! Woohoo! Thanks!
Some preview blogs are nice, but seriously a TON of information about the new system has been revealed and discussed ad nauseam for months now. Besides actually getting the book itself, there isn’t much left to preview. Agree and disagree. As I mentioned in my initial post, we have gotten a ton of information, which is great! That said, not everyone is as well informed as everyone in the forums. For example, some of my players haven't kept up with any of the info. And I'd love to be able to start encouraging them to check out the generalities of P2. As Jason Bulmahn said in the post quoted above, the previews are going to be going back to square one and discussing what P2 is all about. Which is exactly what I'm hoping to see for that very reason. Just my two cents! Looking forward to whatever we do get!
Fair enough :) I was admittedly oversimplifying a little bit. The rule would need another sentence or two to say something along the lines of [very rough wording to follow] "If at any point during the day you are wearing 10 items with the invested trait, you may not gain the benefits of another item with the invested trait even if one is removed before the end of the day." That essentially accomplishes the same thing of keeping it as a "pool" but without overtly letting people know they have a separate pool to track, which to me would be a semantic win.
One of the perks of a rules PDF (and I'm attempting to be helpful, not a smartass as I realize this could mistakenly be taken that way) is that you can Ctrl+F to search the document rather than randomly looking for a rule. Unfortunately in this case, looking for "Manipulate" pulls up every spell/feat/etc with the trait, but still, I pulled together the following info in just a few minutes (including taking the time to type this). So for some clarification on what that feat means, certain conditions have penalties or straight up won't allow actions with the Manipulate trait. For example... * When Drowning or Suffocating, using a Manipulate action causes you to lose air faster. * If you are Entangled or Grabbed, Manipulate actions are not automatic and require a check. * If you are Restrained you cannot attempt a Manipulate action (which makes sense) * Certain spell effects also seem to prevent these actions as well. So being able to Lay on Hands under those conditions is actually kind of cool! You're captured and restrained but the Paladin needs to Lay on Hands? No problem! At any rate, none of this solves your root point which is that there seems to be some bulk to things that could (and will) irritate some players/potential players. But hopefully this helps out anyone else confused by this issue.
To echo what others have said, this is disappointing news. However, kudos to Paizo. It seems to me that they are doing everything in their power to fix a problem that was not caused by them. And this is a generous response, IMO. I understand those who prefer the physical books to PDFs (I want both, which is why I preordered!), but let's put it in perspective — we've waited months since this was announced, we can all wait a few more days for our physical books.
So in PF2, creating a character will be as "easy as A, B, C". Terrible pun, I know (actually arguably not a pun at all). That said, I do find it hard to believe that its a coincidence that the building blocks for a character can be abbreviated as such.
I'm much more of a forum reader than poster, so thanks to everyone who has shared input on the topic so far - lots of good food for thought here. After giving it some additional thought myself (and reading everyone else's thoughts) I think for me, personally, what bothers me is that I put a lot of preparation into each game session (as do most GMs). I thoroughly enjoy that part. The *actual* running of the game, I don't enjoy as much. Where I derive my enjoyment (from that aspect of the game) is watching my players enjoying themselves. If they're having a great time then it makes all of the preparation, all of the time/money spent on various things to enhance the game/etc worthwhile. I like knowing they are having fun. When I'm on the other side of the GM's screen, I like to think the GM is thinking the same thing (sadly, not always true, but I digress....). Point is, I can't expect my players to want to enjoy the game in the same way that I would in their shoes. Where I want to be surprised by the twists and turns of the story, maybe someone else doesn't. So if they are enjoying the game the way that they choose to enjoy it (even if it makes sense to me) then so be it - as long as it isn't detracting from others' enjoyment (hasn't seemed to yet) - as long as everyone is enjoying themselves. So for the time being I plan to let it go, I think.* *(reserves right to completely change mind based on how things go during this Sunday's game session)
Away from game: "(Name), you're cheating. I know damn well you're reading ahead in the AP. Stop it, or you will not be participating in the rest of it. Only warning." That would be the direct and easy solution. Problem is I know him too well and for too long and am nearly certain he'd deny it which would result in an unnecessary argument over an RPG -thus I'm hoping for a creative solution. Definitely appreciate the input though. If you can afford the extra time, let him learn the hard way and change things here and there. Crunch can be easily replaced and refluffed. Did that once today where he expected something and and I told him that was not the case to test his reaction which was... telling. (That was the point at which I tried to get confirmation of someone seeing the book open on his screen). Might be the easiest solution - change enough to the point where he thinks the info he has is unreliable and stops reading it. Let it solve itself. |