Setting things up for now, but a few basics that come to mind as far as how I run things.
I use roll20 for maps, and track HP on the tokens. I'm going to give everyone the power to move all the friendly tokens, so if you're on your phone and can't move yourself other folks can help out and move you.
I like pictures of NPCs so I'll have one for each person you meet, using google slides. I'll make the file editable, feel free to jot notes of things you learn about them -- to start, the whole crew is one there, I'll add names in as you larn them.
When it is combat time, I'll roll initiative for everyone, then group folks into blocks, and you can post your turn anywhere within your block. Works pretty well for my other campaigns. I'll also do secret rolls for passive things, but if you want to sense motive on someone or you're searching and wanna roll perception by all means!
There are a LOT of subsystems in this AP, and I want them to mostly stay in the background. My plan is to give a little overview of them as they become relevant here in the discussion thread, then you guys role play and we'll roll as needed.
To start, there are actions you can take day or night aboard the ship. I feel like breaking each day or night into a single action is not very immersive, so I'm going to give you the gist of them here, and then never mention them directly in the gameplay thread.
During the day you will be put to work. You can decide how hard you work. Working hard gets you a bonus on checks to complete your work. Exhausted and need a nap? You can try to shirk your work for the day. Wanna sneak around where you aren't supposed to be while pretending to work? You can spend a day doing that. Wanna make friends while you work? That's your focus for the day. Need some stuff? You can visit the quartermaster's store, but the time it takes will impact how well you do your job that day. It reminds me of Sims 3, if any of you played it, when you decide what you're focusing on at work.
At night a good pirate is a drunk, sleepy, behaved pirate. You can turn in a bit early to get rid of the fatigued feeling that will often plague you, being worked hard aboard the ship. But if you're not sleepy right away? You can gamble with some crewmates, sing some sea shanties to entertain the crew, or spend some one time trying to befriend folks and still have time to get some rest. Up to no good? You can forgo sleep and spend some time sneaking around or trying to steal things in the dead of the night, when most of those aboard are asleep and it's safest to do so.
Any questions for me? I'm still putting a few things together, but I anticipate I could have the first game post up late tonight or early tomorrow!
The Witchlight Carnival drifts through the Material Plane every eight years to bring wonder to the denizens of a single town. The fairground is a place of magic and whimsy, crewed by fantastical fey beings. When it departs, its guests are left wondering whether its presence was real or imagined…
RECORD SCRATCH
Some of you may be familiar with Wild Beyond the Witchlight… but in this campaign, we will be beginning with a “session zero” style prelude adventure called Lost Things, in which you, as players, will begin our tale as children visiting the carnival. After playing through this short adventure, you’ll take the events that transpired into account when deciding which class to adopt for your character as you grow up! We will eventually be playing through the entire Witchlight campaign, which will mostly take place in the Feywild.
Themes:
If you are not familiar, Wild Beyond the Witchlight is a fey adventure with a vibe similar to Labyrinth, Neverending Story, or The Wizard of Oz. Strange things can appear at any turn, many of them silly, but things can grow quite dark as well.
Expectations for the Game:
The “childhood” portion of this game would be a two-hour session if played irl – obviously in PBP format it will last longer, but be aware that you will be growing up into a Level 1 character before too long. There is no combat as a child. For that matter, it is possible (though not required) to complete the entirety of Wild Beyond the Witchlight without any combat, if you are canny enough. This adventure is a chance for utility, craftiness, and diplomacy to shine. It will be very RP / character driven.
Expectations for Players:
Be able to post about once a day, and willing to be botted when you can't. Maps will be on Roll20, handouts and such will be on Google Slides.
Character Creation:
Step 1. Choose your age. Your character is either a younger kid or an older kid. For the purposes of this adventure, a younger kid is approximately human age equivalent of about 8 to 11 years old, while an older kid is about 12 to 15 years old.
Younger Kids. Your ability score array is 12, 11, 10, 10, 9, 8. You begin play with the Lucky feat. (This feat is temporary, while a child). You are size Small regardless of your race/lineage. You have 4 hit points.
Older Kids. Your ability score array is 13, 12, 11, 10, 10, 8. Your size conforms to the size listed for your race/lineage. You have 6 hit points.
Step 2. Choose your race/lineage. For the sake of things working out, if you play a longer-lived race like an elf, we’ll assume that race ages like humans and such for the first two decades of their lives (ie. an 18 year old elf is a young adult) and shorter-lived races (like aarakocra) will live long enough to still be in their prime once adulthood is reached by the others. Apply any features from your choice to your character, including ability score bonuses. The game will begin on the outskirts of Silverymoon. You can play any official playable race, and note that harengon and fairies were introduced by this adventure in particular.
Step 3. Choose any ONE skill to be proficient in.
Step 4. Choose your stuff. You may have any TWO items worth 1gp or less from the adventuring gear table (must fit in a kid’s pack and can’t be ammo); a snack of your choice and a waterskin; 1d6 coins (they are copper if you’re younger, silver if you’re older); any one trinket from the PHB or Wild Beyond the Witchlight.
Step 5. Additional details. Do NOT select a class or background. Fill in additional information that would be on your character sheet, such as initiative, armor class, and saving throws (you are not proficient in any yet). Select one personality trait. No need to select an ideal or a flaw yet. Share a short description of your character so we get a sense of them!
Step 6. Lost Items. A major plot in this campaign will be that something precious, something intangible, is stolen from you during your childhood visit to the carnival. You might lose your ability to remember names, your sense of smell, your sense of time, your luck…anything along those lines. Choose what you will lose now, so that you can RP having it in the first place, while you’re a child. It should be something you desperately want back, as that will motivate your character to return as an adult.
Step 7. What do you want to be when you grow up? This can absolutely change depending on how the introduction goes, but what class(es) are you leaning towards? Any official ones are fine.
Bringing the Group Together:
This summer feels like a long, uninterrupted dream. Together, you’ve slid down haystacks, ran barefoot through dewy meadows, leapt from ropes into rivers, fished in creeks, and undertaken escapades that would turn your parents’ hair gray, if they knew about them. You are basically the Goonies. You’re kids united by a single, thrilling secret—Juniper, the orphaned owlbear cublet.
You found her one morning, lost and shivering, with nothing but a wooden tag around her neck to identify her. You looked for her owner (though not for too long!), then adopted her into your gang. You’ve kept her secret and promised to care for her. Juniper is the tie that binds you together and you’ll never, ever let her come to harm…
Recruitment will stay open until March 20 at 11:59PM EST. I am looking for 4-5 additional players – there is one spot already reserved for my friend, Feyrial, which would make for a group of 5-6 when it’s time to play.
Hello, I am beginning a new campaign and I've set up my discussion and gameplay threads. When I try to post in the discussion thread, though, it doesn't work. I wrote a message and posted it and nothing appears. Can't preview it, either.
I thought maybe I took too long so I tried just posting a dot, and that didn't work either (though it did in gameplay). I saw this post suggesting I ask here for staff to remove that thread so I can start a new one -- unless someone else can chime in with a way to fix this issue. Please help!
Firstly, may I begin by saying...AHHHH I'm really nervous! I've joined one PBP game and I'm having a blast, but I am a forever DM at heart, and I want to try my hand at it.
My qualifications:
I've been DMing irl and in Roll20 games for about 20 years. Most of my experience is with 5e and PF1E, but I have run a game of 2E irl (this same campaign, in fact) and am familiar, if not an expert, on how it works. I am a teacher, and run my school's TTRPG club, and am currently running 3 irl campaigns...yes, I might have an addiction.
I need players who will be patient with me if I make mistakes. I've read through "Painlord's Guide to PbP GMing: Make Your World a Better Place" but I've never actually juggled combat and all that in PBP so I may be a little sloppy until I find my stride. I plan to post at least once a day, and will be able to chime in to answer questions more often than that.
Brand new PF2E players welcome! New PBP players also welcome!
Character Expectations:
First and foremost, I am hoping to get people who can consistently post once a day, and who are committed to sticking around for the long haul of the AP. In combat, I intend to give each round 24 hours and post for anyone who does not post within that window. I am far more interested in roleplaying and interesting characters than amazing builds. I am hoping to get 6-7 people to start, in case of folks disappearing. No evil characters. Language and violence are fine to go ham with, keeping it PG-13 for sexual content though. Here is the players guide for the AP. Any official ancestry / background / class is fine, just no third party sources. Starting out as level 1 characters. 15g for starting equipment.
If you'd like to play, post below with the character you want to play! I'll leave recruitment open until March 5, 2022, and see where things stand. If you have any questions please feel free to ask them, I might be overlooking something.
So to keep this as spoiler free as possible, there is a pretty major sword later in the path, and the books say to alter it into a weapon that suits your party, if needed.
My players are a monk and a sorcerer, and neither uses weapons at all.
Any entertaining ideas for what to turn it into that could have the same effects/properties, and still make a lick of sense with the story? Worst case scenario I can give it to the rogue I'm playing with the party, but I'd really rather one of the players gets it.
