I would love to understand what the AP KM creator's intentions were with how powerful the masks were intended to be after creation at the Masking Ceremony in Tireless Hall Chapter 2 of SOT, KM. Was it the creative team's intention to allow adventurers to pick from the Magical masks in the Adventure toolbox on page 73, and if so what levels?
Was it the author's intention to have the masks remain unmagical unless students transferred stuff from other masks that were found, to leave it wide open to GMs to grow the masks in power as the students grow, or to use the relic system in the Gamemastery Guide?
As a new GM, I would be more comfortable with a little more guidance on intent.
I'm running this myself and played a Magaambyan Arcanist in Wrath of the Righteous who (well before this came out) carved his own mask and made it a mythic item (so imbued powers) I kind of intend for them to be able to power it similarly to that masks progression (and what I invested into it) It started as a basic wooden mask my character carved, with some investment it became an Aspect Mask (which I think is a pretty decent baseline here), then I made it into a Legendary Item (from Mythic rules) and eventually a Greater Artifact, but mind you I had to invest Mythic feats to make it that powerful. I haven't fully fleshed out how I would let them do that in this campaign as we're still getting to the masks, but it's rattling around in my head as an option. If no one is really interested in becoming their masks persona I think an Aspect Mask is fine as a start and end
Hero Point 1/1 Male Tiefling Investigator Forensic Medicine (Cook) 2 | HP 24/24 | AC 19 | Fort +4 | Ref +9 | Will +7 | Perception +7, Darkvision| Movement 25ft | Conditions: None
Religion:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12
"There's somethign familiar about that mosaic but I can't put my finger on it"
Fingers:
Flint - "OUR EGO DEFERRED, THIS GIFT OF HEARTWOOD BLESSED"
Obsidian - "IF IVE PRAYED, MY LOYALTY PROFESSED"
Stone? - "OF OUR DEVOTION REWARDED, OUR LORD UNSEALED"
Fourth - "WITH THE POWER BESTOWED, OUR ENEMY HATH REELED"
Hero Point 1/1 Male Tiefling Investigator Forensic Medicine (Cook) 2 | HP 24/24 | AC 19 | Fort +4 | Ref +9 | Will +7 | Perception +7, Darkvision| Movement 25ft | Conditions: None
Society:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
"All right let's see if this one makes any sense."
I forgot the the flint one. Just to put them all in one place in case we need the info later. I'm putting them down in a spoiler
Fingers:
Flint - "OUR EGO DEFERRED, THIS GIFT OF HEARTWOOD BLESSED"
Obsidian - "IF IVE PRAYED, MY LOYALTY PROFESSED"
Stone? - "OF OUR DEVOTION REWARDED, OUR LORD UNSEALED"
Hero Point 1/1 Male Tiefling Investigator Forensic Medicine (Cook) 2 | HP 24/24 | AC 19 | Fort +4 | Ref +9 | Will +7 | Perception +7, Darkvision| Movement 25ft | Conditions: None
Locke having given Nyx some positional advantage and seeing Jack struggling with the fire, will back up and try and throw his only Acid Flask at the dog.
◆Stride
◆Interact
◆Throw:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25 for Persistent:1d6 ⇒ 5 and 1 splash
To add a bit more, our lodge was blessed by an amazing VC. Who's now a Campaign Coin holder (IMHO should have been well before he became one), contributor, and working with a 3rd party publisher, in Mike Bramnik. He was the the glue that held the lodge GMs and players alike, and has made the experience hard to replace after having left.
As a former VO who took a break from all things TTRPG due to life, and recently came back. For me the key to getting and keeping GMs for society play was removal of barriers to entry. With that in mind I'll list what I perceive to be some of the major boundaries and how we were able to help.
1. Rules knowledge - We ran GM 101/201 course (we designed) every 6 months or so, also generally encouraged people to try even if they don't know the rules, between player knowledge and AoN usually you can make a ruling on the spot, if you're unconfortable contact one of the VOs tyope conversation.
2. Cost. Honestly GMing is more costly than playing, scenarios, mini's, maps, etc. We had a $2 play fee that got pooled to buy minis, maps, scenarios, etc that could be borrowed for the game. (This was back in the day of retail program, where the store got all scenarios too). Genuinely, allowing access to scenarios instead of making people spend $5 anytime they wanted to GM something new is hugely advantageous. Probably the thing I miss most about being a VO is scenario accessibility. I know sharing scenarios is frowned upon, but honestly I spent more on other supporting products when I got the scenarios for free, and think if there is a way to do it within the rules it's worth exploring. The $2 a week, which eventually went to retail incentive, but meant GMs didn't necessarily have to buy maps and minis was a huge boon too. Now playing in a new area I wonder if I would have ever started GMing without the resources we had.
3. Consistency. Moving locations/dates may be needed due to whatever space you have, but the more consistent the better, it generally gets a number of the same people/characters interested, thus letting the GM feel comfortable with the people as well. Not everyone feels comfortable showing up and running a game for random people.
4. Conventions. Not really a barrier, but the interactive specials can be a big draw both for players and GMs. First special I played in, was the one that made want to GM society. While big cons are fun, it's relatively easy to run a small con and be able to do a special, as well as get con support. 15 tables over 3 days isn't that hard if planned for.
5. Recognition/Burnout. A lot of the GMs I know get stuck being the forever GM, and while most love it sometimes they want to play. We would honestly have conversations with people if they had been GMing a lot to see if they wanted breaks. Also, any star, glyph, nova a GM received was posted to our group page and given a certificate. (5ish years later I still have mine) It was small but it made a difference.
Edit: Looking through earlier replies and it makes me smile to see some of the same people still involved (or even more involved), with more or less the same answer as years ago. Specifically, that Painlord post and PirateRob were a lot of how we attempted to run our lodge.
Anyhow, keep any questions coming, we still have three weeks to go!
Since, you've already picked a couple players that likely fill the role I built out, is it okay if I rework the character I applied with. Probably some major mechanical changes, but not as much fluff wise
Female Vishkanya Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager/Druken Brute) 5/Fighter (Unbreakable) 1 hp 8/99 (87 while not raging)| AC 9 (adjusts lower often) DR 2/-, Cold 1 | FF 9 | T 9 | CMD 19 | Fort +13 (+6 vs. poison)| Ref +2| Will +6 (+2 when raging)| Init +0 | Perception +10 | Sense Motive + 1 | Movement 30ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Cure Light Wounds 36/50, Wand of Infernal Healing 41/50, Rage 13/15, Vishkanya Poison 4/5, Poison Tattoo 2/3
It looks like I have a charge lane to the enemy through clear area, taking movement from BoF. Will leave me 5 ft short of them due to reach
Charge, Power Attack (goes to AC instead of Attack from Reckless Abandon),Rage
If it's cool I'll jump in late Canis Dirus invited. I have all the armies unlocked though everything I have in tier is low CHA. (I know that going in not overly worried, personally.)
Male Tengu Rogue (Okeno Liberator) 4/Unchained Monk 7 hp 77/77 | AC 29 (40 buffed) | FF 19 (30 buffed) | T 29 | CMD 39 (43 vs. Trip 41 vs. Reposition) | Fort +12 | Ref +23 | Will +14 (+2 vs. Enchantment)| Init +12 | Perception +26 | Sense Motive +19 | Movement 50ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Mage Armor 26/50, Wand of Cure Light Wounds 34/50, Wand of Shield 34/50, Stunning Fist 8/8, Ki Pool 7/8
Tink will happily get Vendel up in the morning, jumping back when he does so. You never know which Pathfinders sleep with a blade under there pillow, ya' know what I mean.
Tink will put up Mage Armor (off his wand) and spend a ki to activate Barkskin. Then he'll put in his earplugs and drink a potion of fly when everyone's ready.
Male Tengu Rogue (Okeno Liberator) 4/Unchained Monk 7 hp 77/77 | AC 29 (40 buffed) | FF 19 (30 buffed) | T 29 | CMD 39 (43 vs. Trip 41 vs. Reposition) | Fort +12 | Ref +23 | Will +14 (+2 vs. Enchantment)| Init +12 | Perception +26 | Sense Motive +19 | Movement 50ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Mage Armor 26/50, Wand of Cure Light Wounds 34/50, Wand of Shield 34/50, Stunning Fist 8/8, Ki Pool 7/8
Who turned the lights off
Tink will grab a rock out his pack and set it to flying around his head. Move action to grab the Dull Gray Ioun Stone with Heightened Continual Flame out of his pack, free to release
Ahh there you are
And turn to try and trip the babau between himself and Vendel
Trip:1d20 + 28 ⇒ (16) + 28 = 44 Reflex?:1d20 + 23 ⇒ (2) + 23 = 25 At which point they should both get AoOs, probably AoO:1d20 + 25 ⇒ (19) + 25 = 44DMG:4d6 + 10 ⇒ (4, 1, 6, 1) + 10 = 22Since I didn't Piranha Strike to trip it's not here either, hence less damage Reflex?:1d20 + 23 ⇒ (2) + 23 = 25 My beak (unarmed strikes) count as Cold Iron for overcoming DR
Male Dwarf Kineticist (Earth) 1 hp 13/13 | AC 18 | FF 15 | T 13 | CMD 13 | Fort +6 | Ref +5 | Will +3 | Init +3 | Perception +6 | Sense Motive +2 | Movement 20ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Cure Lt. 49/50
Perc:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20 Eng.:1d20 ⇒ 3
Not real sure how we're gonna get that box we need. Though I did find at least summin good here. Bumi will pull out some of the beer while we fixin' to get the box we need.
Male Tengu Rogue (Okeno Liberator) 4/Unchained Monk 7 hp 77/77 | AC 29 (40 buffed) | FF 19 (30 buffed) | T 29 | CMD 39 (43 vs. Trip 41 vs. Reposition) | Fort +12 | Ref +23 | Will +14 (+2 vs. Enchantment)| Init +12 | Perception +26 | Sense Motive +19 | Movement 50ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Mage Armor 26/50, Wand of Cure Light Wounds 34/50, Wand of Shield 34/50, Stunning Fist 8/8, Ki Pool 7/8
I hate harpies, they give winged creatures a bad name.
Hey leave my cloaca out of this.Great word, btw
Seeing that Magnus probably has the fight finished before he can drink a potion of fly and get to the harpy, Tink will take the opportunity to spend a ki to activate barkskin in case anything else comes around. And move so that he's under the harpy in case it decides to come down
Male Tengu Rogue (Okeno Liberator) 4/Unchained Monk 7 hp 77/77 | AC 29 (40 buffed) | FF 19 (30 buffed) | T 29 | CMD 39 (43 vs. Trip 41 vs. Reposition) | Fort +12 | Ref +23 | Will +14 (+2 vs. Enchantment)| Init +12 | Perception +26 | Sense Motive +19 | Movement 50ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Mage Armor 26/50, Wand of Cure Light Wounds 34/50, Wand of Shield 34/50, Stunning Fist 8/8, Ki Pool 7/8
Pai Kromnite PFS wrote:
With her Move action enchanted by the Haste spell, Pai moves 7 squares to the right and three squares north from there. Could someone please move me 7 east and 3 north? Thanks so much!
Male Tengu Rogue (Okeno Liberator) 4/Unchained Monk 7 hp 77/77 | AC 29 (40 buffed) | FF 19 (30 buffed) | T 29 | CMD 39 (43 vs. Trip 41 vs. Reposition) | Fort +12 | Ref +23 | Will +14 (+2 vs. Enchantment)| Init +12 | Perception +26 | Sense Motive +19 | Movement 50ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Mage Armor 26/50, Wand of Cure Light Wounds 34/50, Wand of Shield 34/50, Stunning Fist 8/8, Ki Pool 7/8
Oops I messed up and forgot that Monk fast movement and Barbarian fast movement are different. So despite having 50ft movement going in, I actually only end up at 60 with haste. Corrected my position on the map. Yay, enhancement bonuses everywhere.
I know that these briefings are often low on information, but this one seems even lighter on info than most. I know a couple people who've participated in the Ruby Phoenix, lots of good fights from what I hear. Umm Grigorii I don't know how to tell you this but that chair seems to be eating your food.
Maurice! I missed that guy. Somewhere Jan is smiling at his appearance (while recovering from a recent death)
Male Tengu Rogue (Okeno Liberator) 4/Unchained Monk 7 hp 77/77 | AC 29 (40 buffed) | FF 19 (30 buffed) | T 29 | CMD 39 (43 vs. Trip 41 vs. Reposition) | Fort +12 | Ref +23 | Will +14 (+2 vs. Enchantment)| Init +12 | Perception +26 | Sense Motive +19 | Movement 50ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Mage Armor 26/50, Wand of Cure Light Wounds 34/50, Wand of Shield 34/50, Stunning Fist 8/8, Ki Pool 7/8
A man wearing plain brown robes, tied together by a decent belt and carrying nothing more than a backpack walks in, he moves quickly and perches at the periphery of the room. His head rotates as he seems to take in everyone. He'll reply having heard Grigorii as he made his way in, I'm here for the meeting too, I was named for the sound it makes when I fight. I go Tink Tink they go Tunk. Then he'll go quiet and keep observing his surroundings and the people he'll be joining in the field.
Male Dwarf Kineticist (Earth) 1 hp 13/13 | AC 18 | FF 15 | T 13 | CMD 13 | Fort +6 | Ref +5 | Will +3 | Init +3 | Perception +6 | Sense Motive +2 | Movement 20ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Cure Lt. 49/50
Little known fact all Dwarves are drunken masters, whether drunk or sober. Though the chance to use the smurf command in game for a while would have been worth not moving.
Bumi let's out a guffaw, ya'll be lookin' a might blue in the face. Seems to me, that Zarta woman closer, than we can finish up with Guaril before headin' back to the Lodge.
Male Dwarf Kineticist (Earth) 1 hp 13/13 | AC 18 | FF 15 | T 13 | CMD 13 | Fort +6 | Ref +5 | Will +3 | Init +3 | Perception +6 | Sense Motive +2 | Movement 20ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Cure Lt. 49/50
Kegan the Chaotic wrote:
Startled, Kegan asks "What acid? What snake?" He looks around, worriedly.
For sake of speeding up the game a bit I assumed people were sharing what they discovered as they looked around. Though I suppose it could have been accomplished as part of people's turns.
Male Dwarf Kineticist (Earth) 1 hp 13/13 | AC 18 | FF 15 | T 13 | CMD 13 | Fort +6 | Ref +5 | Will +3 | Init +3 | Perception +6 | Sense Motive +2 | Movement 20ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Cure Lt. 49/50
Still not understanding the puzzle fully Bumi will take a better look at the steel chest.
Perception:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
And to recap what we know.
Liquid = Acid, contains a jeweled key
Basket = Snake covered in linens, contains a blue stone.
Copper Banded = Locked, no traps
Red Lacquered = Magically locked needs the right key
Steel Chest = Heavy, no traps
Is that right?
Seems to me everything we need oughta be here, we just gotta figure out how to get to it all, shoot if nuthin' else mebbe we can dump the acid on the snake and get the key and the stone, I dinnae.
Fulgrim moves into the first room so he can see what's happening and gives combat advice to Rashid (vs. Purple), but then becomes sickened by the stench of the small troglodyte.
Hey Destro, get that guy out the way already
Fort vs. Stinky:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
The remaining small troglodyte full attacks Rashid then five foot steps out of the way so the bigger troglodyte can throw his javelin. Tulok steps up and throws his javelin at Rashid and readies his claws and teeth for the incoming prey.
As this is my first PbP game as the GM I forgot to add in a Bot policy. I've added it to the gameplay page, and it is listed below, but since there are new players, basically if you don't get an action up in 36 hours (as we have a one day policy, I'll start posting for you)
In the case in which a player's unannounced absence is slowing down the pace of play, I may take actions for them that I believe to be appropriate. This will generally be after at least 36hrs of non-weekend/holiday time.
I will take actions that I believe to be most appropriate for the character even if those actions use valuable resources or place the character into danger.
If you expect to be missing, a quick note about your planned course of action can be helpful in determining your actions otherwise I will do my best in picking reasonable courses of action which align with your character's pattern of play.
Thanks, Pirate Rob as other than a small edit it is the one you wrote.
From my experience with in the nerf of the wild enhancement was pretty necessary from the balance standpoint, though there are many who disagree.
Wild as with all armors usefulness will vary greatly depending on your DEX. If you're a low dex druid using a low dex form, wearing +1 Wild Dragonhide Full Plate is probably worth the expenditure over Mage Armor. Conversely if you're going to a decently high DEX form, mage armor is probably the better investment. (I highly recommend a Wand Key Ring and some investment in UMD in this case) The only other advantage of wild is that you can stack other enhancements on top, especially at high level play.
A tangential discussion of all armor in Pathfinder:
There is an underlying issue with armors in Pathfinder (and back to 3.5) that makes this the case. There are functionally three armors in Pathfinder (despite there existing far more), a Chainshirt, a Breastplate, and Full-plate. Assuming you take the maximum DEX bonus in each, full-plate ends up with 2 more AC than a chainshirt, but for all but 3 classes it takes at least one feat (if not 2) for proficiency and hinders your movement (assuming you don't have armor training 2). Furthermore it costs more to start out with and more to make out of a special material. A Mithril Chainshirt allows you the same amount to your AC (+4 Armor +6 DEX) as a Full-plate (+9/+1), allows full movement, is usable by almost every class in the game (sorry druids and monks), and allows you room to increase your DEX without going above the MAX DEX. There are builds that take advantage of heavier armors well, but light and no armor wearers generally make the best tanks in game. This slight favoring of light armor is actually further increased by a number of the light armor wearing classes getting innate (generally Dodge) bonuses to AC and possibly other nice methods of defense (I'm looking at you Opportune Parry and Riposte). Heavy Armor is generally the best in early game where it is also a very significant amount of a characters capital, but light armor generally scales better.
To go above and beyond that mage armor can be used innately by relatively few classes (compared to other very common core spells), but gives the same AC bonus as a chainshirt with no max dex, then it also works against incorporeal. However, it can't be enchanted and has no scaling so for most classes it's nice early, but late it's an add-on or a 1/day cast at best. That said certain classes can make great use of it (monks and druids come to mind first) due to class restrictions and their ability to stack other kinds of AC bonuses onto themselves.
Male Dwarf Kineticist (Earth) 1 hp 13/13 | AC 18 | FF 15 | T 13 | CMD 13 | Fort +6 | Ref +5 | Will +3 | Init +3 | Perception +6 | Sense Motive +2 | Movement 20ft
Tracked Resources:
Wand of Cure Lt. 49/50
I'm Bumi, Bumi Gruntek miner by trade, though 'parently I got a bit of a knack for moving stone that others just don't. Met me a Pathfinder during a trade run, workin' on bein' one my ownself. Happy to have you all along, but as they say this rock ain't gonna move itself so let's get a move on, huh.
M Human Fighter 1/Ranger (Infiltrator/Witch Guard) 1
Since I have the character name, I'm gonna use it. Please note, this character has not given a mission briefing in a couple of years, some of you may know why, some of you don't that's okay.
You're all seated around a large table, taking your classwork to become recognized field agent in the Pathfinder Society or a refresher class for those of you are already Pathfinders. In walks a a slightly portly man with a smile on his face, he does a quick head count and sees everyone's arrived. He offers a round of drinks from the sideboard to you all, anything non-alcholic as well as a variety of alcholoic beverages can be found, and while he'll nod at the non-drinkers a glint touches his eye at those who grab something stronger.
Pathfinders, the Masters of Scrolls, Spells, and Swords, have asked me to come in today to show you all what a mission briefing looks like, so let's get started. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Venture-Captain Adril Hestram for this day I'll be your superior. As you know the core tenets of the Pathfinder Society, are to Explore, Report, and Cooperate. Today, I expect you as a group to do those exact things. A short ways out of town there are some fine ruins of a fallen siege tower which locals have taken to calling the "Fallen Fortress" every so often we send new recruits out that way to explore and clear out in unruly inhabitants, though it does seem to attract many a soul to it's grounds. I expect it should provide you all with a good idea of what Pathfindering is all about. If you all have any questions for me before you head out you're welcome to ask, though admittedly this assignment was pawned off to me rather recently. That Zey never a good word you know. On the last part he gives a conspiritorial wink.
If you have any question feel free to ask, though we'll keep it short, on your way out of town you can make any preparations you feel necessary and we'll jump in. It's a couple hours out to the ruins after leaving town.
Oh and I expect each of you to submit a report to me of your activities by this time tomorrow
Joe, what's the exact language on boon? Didn't get a. Chance to see it. (The actual boon. Not the title/tier)
Summary is it gives 10 replays for you or your friends, that go above and beyond normal replay rules. To be fair, I don't see many people getting rid of theirs without a fairly significant reason. (other than apparently Jon Dehning). From what I heard they were given to volunteers who braved the heat of the Sag for set-up/tear down and a few others. I'd be very hard pressed to trade mine away.
So a few of us got together to compare notes today. Some questions we had:
In area D2, the creature is referred to as a spirit. Does it resolve it's attacks to touch and/or is it incorporeal? Our reading from the scenario itself was no to both, but thought I'd ask.
In H1, at the 5-6 and 7-8 an enemy can teleport PCs back to the top (300 ft. up), there are notes about the platform moving, etc. if it floats away while they're climbing down (easily possible) what happens to them? Do they catch a different platform, if so do they fight more cultists? Do we ignore the platform movement and have them rejoin the party (after the delay)?
In H3, do the disable device checks to break rings bypass hardness? Our reading was no, so it would take a minimum of two checks to break the rings (even with the best result, due to the hardness).
