Dragonshade's page

Well, got two more for the pile.

Name: Londo Quickblade
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Samurai 3, Wizard 4
Adventure: Broken Moon
Location: Feldgrau
Catalyst: Auren Vrood and his extra special Circle of Death magic trick

Name: Duncan Cade
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Magus 7
Adventure: Broken Moon
Location: Feldgrau
Catalyst: Auren Vrood and his extra special Circle of Death magic trick

Not really much to share on the gory details. Just classic "let's charge this bad guy head on oh good lord ow the pain ow" tactics.

Name: Cyrus Bearslayer (& companion dog, Ruffles)
Race: Half-Elf
Classes/levels: Inquisitor 4/Monk 2
Mythic: Hierophant 1
Adventure: Trial of the Beast
Location: Schloss Caromarc
Catalyst: Erinyes trap

Just started running this for a few friends, scheduled every couple of Fridays. Upon telling them "Horror campaign, dealing with concepts of dread, loss, and terror"... they proceeded to make "Team Beat-Stuff-Up". Brilliant stuff, guys.

Chuck Steel - Human LG Monk
Cyrus Bearslayer - Half-Elf LG Inquistor
Felson "The Ram" Warpig - Human NG Fighter
Londo Quickblade - Human LG Samurai

Minimal spells. No trap-handling abilities. Just solving problems with fist, axe, or hammer. Their expedition to Harrowstone will be amazing.

The last time I attempted to run Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, the heroic party looked at the tall looming castle and formulated what they thought at the time was a clever non-confrontational strategy. Excessive use of Stone Shape to open holes in the floor and constantly send non-flying creatures to floors below them, and seal them up right after and continue exploring.

Which presented quite a problem when after the top spires were explored, they realized they'd have to journey into the sub-levels where they kept sending every horrific creature which was surely still lurking and plotting.

I must say, this is the most amazing confrontation against a goblin I have seen in many years. Afterwards, we should certainly do something to commemorate such a worthy foe. Clearly it's that this is some kind of super-goblin, not poor dice rolls, right? Right?

That's part of the beauty at starting at 1st level. The reckless lack of strategies and rushing in heedless of danger and the quick reminder of your own fragile state. These are the formative days when we learn to bond as a group and develop our unique tactics. First go is always going to be a fiasco, and it's sweet.

Good catch, boss. Should be correct now.

Perception:1d20 ⇒ 4

Having heard the screams, Caladrian looks around frantically for the source of the panic happening around him.

Wow, I can miss quite a bit in a few hours. Seems like most of you guys are active while I'm at work. Sorry for any delays!

Looks pretty good so far. I'm still figuring it all out, since this is my first PBP. Interested to see where it goes though.

I'll admit I'm pretty interested in this. I'll get writing some backstory and pitch the idea.

Actually, I really like what you have done there. I certainly want to do something much like it.

As my players are now entering Part 4, I was giving some thought to Scarwall and how to properly work on mapping it out. Something like this would be way better than the current "big blank map and some Jenga blocks" system.

I'm all for inexpensive ways to do big things like that. Well done.

Currently running this adventure path, and nearly done with Escape From Old Korvosa.

So far the notable highlights agreed upon by the group have been as follows:

- Very well fleshed out NPCs, who stay on as recurring support characters. It gave a very good feel to a dynamic city that breathes.

- Best plague storyline seen so far.

- Refreshing to have an urban storyline with minimal dungeon environments. Makes the players stop and consider legal consequences unlike how they would in a standard dungeon crawl

The only drawbacks I have seen thus far, is little mentioned of what kind of time elapses from chapter to chapter for the sake of having the story flow, and it does put a bunch of responsibility on the players to take the initiative and get involved. Mine are fine with that, but I have DMed for several groups who wouldn't have.

However overall, it was the right blend of experimental adventuring (the primary urban environment) and beginner-friendly that members of my group who are both seasoned gamers and fresh-meat are enjoying.

I was thinking of adding in the Test of the Starstone to my current campaign, but I wouldn't think of it as a capstone "level 20" adventure. I mean, I would assume that testing someone for potential godhood is about more than personal power, but more tests of morality, character, conviction, dilemmas and challenging their own beliefs. If Legacy of Fire was able to have a whole chapter inside a demiplane map, it could work along the same lines. The party could be looking for the Starstone on its own, or racing to stop the bad guys from taking advantage of it. Once undertaking the test, who knows what kind of maddening things the group may be subjected to?

May not have to be a 20th level adventure, but certainly a grueling one. The kind of thing where only someone deserving of godhood could succeed (even if many of his allies/foes do not).

I'm currently half way through running this particular AP, and have found that it requires a bit of GM ingenuity in order to make something like the cut scenes work. The format that the story takes place in came across to me as pretty compressed, and benefits if you give the characters extra time in order to let the situations develop. A downed marine probably wouldn't be likely in the first few hours, but maybe as something on the second day... sure.

The brooch presented a better reason for the group to stay together after the prelude that brought them together. Getting something that seemingly valuable that couldn't just be pawned off to the nearest fence meant that if they all were to get their sweet reward, they'd have to come up with something together. Works for some groups, may not for others.

As for the cut scenes, again... sometimes it works better to have your characters there for it. With the one at the end of Edge of Anarchy...

With the cut scene at the start of Escape from Old Korvosa, once again I had two members of the party there to witness it. The location of the event is one that most sensible players won't attempt to disrupt things in a nonsensical fashion. I found that handling the cut scenes are mainly in the delivery of the GM. I see no reason why the players can't be present for much of the cut scenes, if they have their own reasons to be there. From there, it's if you know your group well enough to tell if they're going to heavily involve themselves in the situation.

I've been running this story since last May and the group has taken very well to it, and have been enjoying it more than other modules I've ran in the past. Most notably that they're taking the time out to actually remember NPC names. We are just now getting into Escape From Old Korvosa.

Members of the Black Scale Consortium:

Apollo Fish (aka, The Crimson Cloak) - Neutral Good Swashbuckler 7
City watchman by day, masked vigilante (inspired by Blackjack) by night. The romantic tension continues to build between himself and his superior, Kroft.

Dr Vaul - Neutral Evil Dread Necromancer 7
Psychiatrist at the local asylum until its closure, Vaul makes a very serious study of fear. He remains part of the group seeking away to take advantage of the city's plight to increase his position.

Dorian Deepcrows - Neutral Bard 7
A spymaster and information specialist for the right price. Remains with the group under the reasoning that the more plights the city suffers, the more his own business will suffer.

Izek - Neutral Good Rogue 7
A dwarf, defender of the city's orphans. Still attempting to find his role within the group, but strives to restore order if only so he has a better chance at giving those kids a brighter future.

Sir Valerian Arkona - Lawful Neutral Knight 7
A strong believer in law and order, he is only peripherally aware of House Arkona's shadier dealings as he crusades to restore order to the city. (In my interpretation of the Arkonas, many of the family members are bred and raised with pro-Arkona teachings to maintain the respectable front, completely convinced of the good nature of the house. Act III should come as a huge kick in the rear for this character)

There's a couple people I work with whom I use to tell about the game, and they're quite surprised that there's no actual real moral center to the group yet still they function exceptionally well (out of a sense of love for the city rather than any conceptions of good versus evil).

What's the main reason that so many players/DMs just drop off into nowhere?

I mean, I can imagine that commitments change but there should at least be some courteous note of "hey, can't do this anymore".

I'm still unfamiliar with the nature of PBPs, but have been reading on the others and it's a shame that they drop off so swiftly. Eventually I was wanting to run Age of Worms (Pathfinderized) on another forum, and wanted to learn from trying out a couple shorter-story games here. Yet demand is so huge that as soon as an opening comes, there's seventeen applications sometimes with lavish detail suddenly dropped upon it.

I'll keep watching the newer ones that stop up and take notes of what seems to work and what doesn't.

Currently, the group is finishing up Bastards of Erebus and are just now starting to come together as a cohesive unit. While associated with the Children of Westcrown, suspicions towards that particular group has made the players form their own group to act beside them called the Order of the Hammer. No idea why.

Drake Blackthorn (Human, CG Soulknife 2)
A thief who donates his spoils to the poor, joined the Children after repeated night-time break-and-enters grew more complicated due to shadow beasts.

Jakara Grizzleblast (Dwarf, LG Cleric of Torag)
A travelling dwarf (aspiring mystic theurge) who came to Westcrown and was immediately horrified by the state of living of the common people (being the disrepair of the city and general state of fear). Joined the group in a genuine effort to make a difference.

Harold Hallock (Human, NG Fighter)
Former soldier, current bartender of the Broken Arms. Joined due to gang activity (was nearly a victim of the Bastards himself) injuring his business. Slowly is finding a newfound sense of purpose in accomplishing a greater good that he hasn't felt since his militia days.

It's only three people, but they are smart players who can handle themselves well for now.

I'll certainly have to pay closer attention to these boards for when games of this nature start up. It'd be really fun to give a try as a first time.

That doesn't sound too shabby. I love the idea of it being prose-heavy. For a while, I'll continue lurking and reading up on other people's PbP games to see how it all works in practice. Especially little bits like when a combat does come up or how dice rolling is determined, etc.

From what I've seen so far, looks pretty good.

I've always been curious about PbP games. I've done tabletop for quite some time, had a 6 month fling with MMOs, and on and off with some java chat based multiplayer games. But I never understood how PbPs work. I think my new year resolution should be to find someone's game and just lurk-stalk it. Just watch and see how it is it works, how tactics and dice rolling also function.

Greetings!

Recently, I just started running CotCT. First session was this past weekend, and it opened as a smashing success. The Gaedren Lamm storyline concluded neatly, and with the city in turmoil, the players are enthused to step up and restore order.

Having read some previous posts on the messageboard, I gathered that some time is meant to pass between the scenes offered (Eel's End, World's Meat, etc). I'm sure much of this could be done "off camera", and informing the players of the state of affairs between events occuring.

I'd much rather show them than tell, and while some minor events are given to help flesh these out... I'm intending to add some more in order to keep the players active and busy before diving back into the main storyline.

So, continuing that idea, I was going to have some measure of small conflict between the characters and the Society as a result. Starting not so violent (intimidation tactics) and escalating against the backdrop of the city which is having a ton of it's own problems.

I am curious if anyone else has added things to flesh out the situation and expand on the events that could happen between-scenes? I feel things like these help make the story less "Go to NPC A repeatedly for side quests until you're high enough level to continue the story" and makes those side quests flow more naturally.