The smell of fresh-brewed coffee and light, flaky pastry wafts through the mansion. While the majority of the occupants don’t need to eat, the translucent kitchen staff still prepares five meals a day to accommodate uncertain schedules and the occasional guest.
The past few days have featured the lighter meals typically found in Galt. Warm croissants and rough artisan breads fill the kitchen counter along with salted butter, preserved jams and jellies. A stone cup of fresh cream sits in a bowl of chilled water alongside a pitcher of milk and two carafes of orange juice – one with pulp and one without.
The ritual of breakfast, even if it doesn’t need to be eaten, helps establish a sense of time within the extra-dimensional space. The mansion, as magnificent as it is, has no windows to let in a breeze. The servants make sure to wind the imposing grandfather clock in the foyer, but it’s easy to lose track of time without the warm touch of the sun.
Easy, that is, until a rather loud rapping begins to echo through the halls. It sounds like metal on wood, and it grows more and more insistent as time passes. It’s coming from the front door, the link between your peaceful abode and the city of Kenabres on the front lines of the Fourth Mendevian Crusade.
Just like the title says, I'd like to hear how people handle epic levels in Pathfinder. I'm about to start a PBP game at the higher levels to prepare for some things I'll be doing in the future RL game.
I'm aware of the existing suggestions in the Core Rule Book, but I'd like something more robust. And I dislike how the original 3X epic handbook handled things. Yes, I realize I'm being difficult here. That's why I was wondering what other people use and how it works for them.
One of my friends basically suggested gestalt - once the players hit level 20, they still gain levels but their bonuses cannot exceed the caps (+20 BAB, +12 to a save, 20 levels of spell casting in one class, etc.). That seems like it would work mathematically, but I'm not sure it would be satisfying to the players.
As you know, I asked everyone for up to three concepts. But I have not picked a "perfect" combination that everyone must follow for this game. I suspect everyone will quickly find something they enjoy that will also allow the group to progress through an adventure. If you've come up with more ideas since this started, lay them out here.
Over the next few days, everyone can decide what they would like to play and then start building characters. There are no classes that must be played here, but some roles will be useful. Someone who can survive a few hits in melee is pretty much required. People with higher level arcane and divine magic are useful as well. Skills are nice, but I wouldn't get too worried about having every single one. I suspect everyone will have the ability to deal damage, so I'm not too worried about that.
Just remember, at this level of play massive amounts of damage per round are common. The group will need more than just healing wands to survive encounters. I would also suggest scrolls or other consumables to bring back the dead. Characters probably will die. Breath of Life is wonderful; after that coming back from the dead gets more expensive.
I did not mention traps because trapfinding will not be necessary for Root of Evil or the next adventure, The Witchwar Legacy. That's not to say that there aren't traps in those modules, it's just that trapfinding won't help. The traps are more "every statue in the room animates" than "square A7 is a trap so roll reflex." Those classes that gain trapfinding are encouraged to use archetypes that trade in the ability.
I realize that Valentine's Day is coming up, and many of you will have things planned for that day or the weekend. That's perfectly fine with me. I would like to get the game underway sometime the week of Feb. 20.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask them here. And once again, welcome to the Worldwound!
Hello. As the title says, I'm looking for four to six players for a modified version of Root of Evil, a Dungeon adventure from May 2005. Those who have played or run the adventure before can feel free to apply since I will be modifying this for Pathfinder rules.
I've played and run in high-level adventures in 2E and 3E, but not Pathfinder. I'd like to learn more about high-level play in Pathfinder and running an adventure seems like a good idea. I have played in PBPs off-and-on since 2000, but I have not run one in years.
If this adventure goes well and the PCs would like to continue, I'll run more adventures up to level 20 and perhaps beyond. The games will be based in Golarion and tie into the Worldwound in some fashion.
Since this is adventure starts at such a high level, applicants DO NOT have to submit a fully built 18th level character. I don't want anyone to spend an hour or more on character creation only to be rejected.
Instead, I'd like each person to submit up to three character concepts they would like to play. The concepts should cover race and class combinations, archetypes and planned style of play. Character builds will be finalized by the players after they are chosen so players can coordinate abilities, feats and other aspects if they want.
The mix of roleplaying and combat for this first adventure is about 20 percent roleplaying and 80 percent combat. Any future games will be around this ratio since I do want to get a feel for high-level combat with this PBP.
Players should be able to post at least once a day on weekdays. Weekends are optional. I'll probably post on Saturdays but Sunday posts will not be common. I work a full-time job that has occasional overtime, so my posts will likely come late night or early morning EST. Shorter posts may come during breaks, especially to answer questions and deal with skill rolls.
Oh, there is one big rule no matter what - don't be a jerk.
Since character creation rules do dictate which character concepts are more viable, here are the guidelines for this game.
Starting Level and Wealth:
All players will start out at 18th level with 530,000 gp to spend on equipment. Characters may begin with play with item creation feats, but they cannot use these feats to start with items worth more than their starting wealth. Thus, characters will be able to use their feats to craft items in play, but not before the game begins.
Races:
Any official Paizo races that are in publication are fine for play, including those in the Dragon Empires Gazetteer and zero HD races. This does not include playtest races or those made with the Advanced Races rules since those are not in publication yet.
Classes:
Any official Paizo class that is in publication is fine for play, including the gunslinger, ninja and samurai. I'm sorry, but I don't plan on accepting any classes from third-party publishers.
Point Buy:
Characters will be made with a 15 point buy. I know this is lower than many games posted here, but it is the standard amount from the Core Rule Book. Players will, of course, add their racial bonuses and points gained from leveling up to their final attribute totals.
Traits and Hero Points:
Characters may start with two traits from different categories chosen from the standard Pathfinder list. Because of the nature of PBP games, hero points will not be used.
Alignment and PVP:
No PVP will be allowed and characters must work together. This includes bans against stealing from the party, hiring assassins to target other player characters and any other form of being a jerk to other players, basically. All characters should be of a non-evil alignment.
Maps and combat grids:
This game will not use posted maps or other forms of combat grids. I'll describe the room and players will describe what they would like to do.
I realize this is a bit more abstract than some PBP games, but it also means that players will be able to post from any Internet-connected device without having to worry about viewing or modifying a document. It also means I will be able to post without having to have access to image manipulation software.
That said, spellcasters should not expect to be able to hurl a fireball at a target that is flanked by two player characters without hitting at least one of them.
Number of Players:
I plan to pick 4 to 6 players (probably six if there is a large number of applicants). I do want a variety of roles filled. There is no need for trapfinding in the adventure, but the party will need someone to hold the front line and someone to heal in some fashion. That said, I have no real preference for HOW the party fills those rolls, which is why the players who are selected will be able to tweak their builds to suit the party's needs.
Just a few simple questions:
Have you signed up for the D&D playtest of the new edition?
Do you actually plan to participate?
Have you been part of a pen-and-paper RPG playtest before?
My answers:
Yes, I've signed up.
Yes, I will take part in the playtest.
No, I've done alphas and betas for videogames, but never actually got into a RPG playtest before.
