Doug Henderson's page

Posted an intro for Gate. I’ll post in character with some questions.

I just wanted to give some background context on Grandmaster Torch, since I know Teehax is new to the game and probably unfamiliar with this most notorious NPC.

In short, he’s an information broker and former Pathfinder who has betrayed the society more than once. Fans love to hate him. More details can be found on his wiki page, which is surprisingly spoiler free.

Grandmaster Torch wiki

Cool Bernie. Are you planning to have a mount?
I’m just wondering nesting if this party is going to have a designated tank.

Either sounds fun to me, Simon. Does your goblin have precise bombs? (Like a goblin ever would.)

Couldnt your tanky paladin type also be a grandmother? I mean, why not have it all?

Desciptor: 1d6 ⇒ 5 Slick

Type: 1d6 ⇒ 2 Polar

Role: 1d6 ⇒ 3 Driver

Hat: Derby! (What? OMG OP! Sorry about it. Already GM approved.)

Well, I rolled a slick polar, but I’d like to play a rookie panda, if that’s OK. Unless you guys think we need another slick polar, of course. I’m not trying to meta-game btw.

This opening scene is EVERYTHING

Cool. I’m open to whoever you think would be a good fit Chris. I’ve been in 4 pbps now with pretty much the same group of players, who I adore and play with a lot IRL, but I’m happy to be playing with a different group.

Oh, I also have a level 6 alchemist, Drizzen. He's a half-elf drow poser. He's super emo. He had some half-drow traits from Blood of the Shadows that they since took away :( Still, he has the gloom chemyst archetype and is a lot of fun to play. He might be a good option for this one too.

Woah! Silt hurled that rock!

Also, Derek* gave me a pbp tip last night that I wanted to share. He suggested putting coordinates on the map, like numbers down one side and letters down the other, so that we can easily talk about specific squares. It could get a little mechanical, but I think this would help us in certain situations, like in the case of a target square. It would be easy to say "I'm aiming for D5" or something like that. And I'm sure there are other situations as well.

*A popular 5 star GM in our area.

Yeah, I like that juxtaposition too!

I'll have to dwell on that a little bit. I wonder how Cedar feels about it. He must have noticed their differences.

Haha, is it? Thanks!

I'm sort of going off of this description from Blood of the Coven about Sea Hag Changelings:

Born restless, brine mays cannot abide a sedentary life and yearn to travel and see new sights. Curiosity and wonder grip them, but a disposition that changes like the winds means they find it difficult to permanently bond with places, possessions, or people. They are vivacious and lively, but also temperamental, prone to quick shifts between emotional highs and lows.

Also, I've been reading A LOT of Monsterhearts 2 lately, so that may be having an influence lol.

Yeah. Maybe we should stay out of character here.

Haha, I got it Dennis!

I say don't risk it then!

And if we can milk them for their spit, an endless supply of acid for acid flasks! We've got a whole industry just waiting to be set up!

I assume we're also going to give it a stern talking to, and if it comes back we catch and release it again. Or we kill it.

I think we just net it and release it somewhere?

I'm having a lot of fun in this AP though, despite our combat woes.

Yeah, it's been really unstable lately. I feel bad for Paizo. I wonder if something happened recently or what could have triggered the instability.

The feels!

https://goo.gl/images/3KSnh6

I’m loving this party!

Don't forget there were priests on the ship over. They may be able to handle it if we can't.

Cool, sounds fun. Doug and I were saying we need to get the ol' party back together!

Don't worry, Sil'tchaak, you're in good company—I've only hit once in 2.5 scenarios, and that was when Dennis was botting me!

Ugh, that's so painful.

I swear the RNG on this thing is out of whack.

I agree, and we haven’t even checked out the holes in the ground to the north yet!

Also, Doug and I were saying we need to do a campfire scene later for some good RP and character bonding. Maybe open that clockwork spy then too!

Thanks Dennis!

I noticed the same thing Andrew. It’s frustrating for sure.

Good stuff, Cedar/Doug!

Oh, thanks! I’m happy you think so!

We should check out that well at some point...

Lolz forgetful true strike
I wouldn’t trade my summons out for anything!
On the one hand, it’s kind of fun to be a scrappy team of level ones, but on the other hand it is frustrating too, because we all know how powerful we will be eventually. And to go from characters that are higher level, back to characters that are level one is a humbling experience to say the least.

Cool, a few tweaks might be all we need until we start leveling and more of our abilities start coming online. I'll put a point in Spellcraft next level lol. That was kind of a misstep on my part.

The NPCs might be a good resource too. I think we may just have to conclude that we can't do everything ourselves all the time. Or some clever problem solving will save us. I did I have to remind myself that this isn't PFS, and we have options in a home game we don’t normally have in PFS.

I'm enjoying playing Cedar. My hope is that his summons can fill some gaps too. He'll eventually be able to summon creatures with more utility.

Hey Doug, I share your concerns. This may be a good time to check in and see how people are feeling about their characters in general now that we've had some encounters. I'm out and about but I'll post more as soon as I have a chance!

Everyone knows small dogs are the most aggressive!

Cool cool, I’m looking forward to it too!

Oh, we should talk about that sometime Andrew because I love occult and horror themes and I've been wanting to run Hook Street since it came out!

So, I really don't have enough info yet to have a clear theory about what might be happening in RoA, but Cedar is the child of a hag and he has pretty much lived his whole life keeping that secret, amongst other things. So his mind instantly goes to the idea that someone in the colony was not who they claimed to be and was keeping things hidden from the rest, for whatever reason. I just think that's how his mind would work.

Oh, also, I just want to maybe start a background discussion here on what we may think is going on with the missing colony, because Cedar's theories and ideas may not always be the same as my own. And I'd like to be able to role play him in a way that is independent of what I might think is or has happened. If that makes sense...

I guess I don't want you to think that everything he says is necessarily what I'm also thinking. And I want your characters to have the freedom to argue or disagree with him without you feeling like you're disagreeing with me as a person.

This is a weird, awkward discussion about the game meta, but I hope I make sense!

Great, thanks guys. I may be able to put a point in it eventually. But it does seem like it’s right up Purpose’s alley.

I kind of like the idea too of using our NPC resources, as that’s not something we normally have access to in PFS. I’m looking forward to getting to know the NPCs better and forming relationships with them. And then getting them to do stuff for us lol.

Is someone willing to focus on disable device too? (Normally, I’d be playing a rogue and wouldn’t have to ask that question... lolz)

I guess we can always take the spy back to the colony and ask for help. That might be a fun scene to RP.

Similarly, Cedar is interested in spell books for what they might reveal about their owner, but he doesn't need one to learn spells.

Cedar is going to have to rely on summoned creatures for a lot of things.

Good point Doug.

Cedar has 5 skill points per level. I was going to focus on Kn: Planes, and social skills. He’s got an 18 CHA, so he can be the face if we would like. But I didn’t plan on him being the skill monkey or the knowledge person.

Note to self: get aquan for Cedar in this aquatic adventure AP!

Awesome, thanks Dennis!

Kate, is there some way I can make tokens for Cedar’s various summoned creatures? I figure some of them will be appearing more often than others. The dolphin is the only aquatic one I have at level 1, for example. We may want a generic token too.

Kate, I just want to say that I think it was a great decision to handle the intro narratively. I don’t get the sense that anyone minds just hanging out and chatting in character. I think it’s been a lot of fun, and a nice way to ease into the game!

I agree too. Many times in PFS I just start with a hook or a gimmick, because that's all I really have time to convey. Something about role playing in pbp though brings out depth and sides to characters that I didn't know was there. I'm looking forward to seeing what unfolds!

Haha I hope Purpose Creche continues to offer a rational point of view on things. That could lead to some fun interactions.

I planned Rowdy out to about 6 or 7, but that's because he's multi-class. Cedar I have no idea beyond 3rd. I'm kind of keeping my options open for Blood of the Coven once that's out too.

Oops, I messed that post up :(

Yeah, that's smart. I'm excited too, but we can do introductions and RP on the ship a little.

[spoiler=And his eidolon Hakkuo]

Hakkuo

This furry, serpentine otter has bushy eyebrows and a brush-like mustache.

Deepwater Eidolon 1
M Medium Outsider
Init +3; Senses Perc +0, SM +0,

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Defense
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AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14
HP 7
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +2

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Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft. Swim 20 ft. Climb 20 ft.
Melee Bite +3 1d6+1 Tail (grab +2) -2 1d6
Space 5 ft.; Reach Tail 10 ft.

--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 15
Languages Common, Polyglot, Aklo
SQ Gills, Swim

Cool, thanks Kate for the summary.

I appreciate your efforts to keep everyone balanced.

My character is coming together and I don't think there's anything he needs at this point.

I'm so looking forward to starting this AP!