Fergus DraganCara's page

Is anyone using these alternate rules?

I am using them in my campaigns and I have found them to make the combat move faster. Typically the players and (NPC/Encounters) have to make decisions if they are going to stand their ground or retreat. Poison/Disease rules have added a lot of grit to campaigns. Especially with Poison and the front end HP damage you receive whether you succeed or fail your roll. It makes getting attacked with poison dangerous in a way that players have to consider the dangers of it even at higher levels.

Wound Thresholds

Including feats.

Disease & Poison

For those that have used these rules (both or just one of them) what is your thoughts on them.

I am on the fence with the affliction track for Disease & Poison. I would rather see a more Wound Threshold (generic) progression track for Disease & Poison but I like both and have found they really lead to more old school type of play rolled into a more gritty feel.

Thoughts?

Jack

Game play thread.

Thread is now open.

I am seriously considering setting up a campaign for a small group (2 to 3 players) set in the World of Xoth or Hyboria. I want this to be more story telling and story driven on both my side (GM) and the player side. I am leaning to Xoth but including elements of Hyboria. This will be a dark/dangerous campaign. Magic is dangerous to deal with and has serious consequences for mortals. Madness, disease, and poison all are much more potent as is combat because magical healing will be hard to come by. Great Old Ones, Dark long lost Gods, and demons all play a part in this Ancient world. A thirst for long lost knowledge or dark magic comes with the chance of madness and opening doors to worlds with things that are best left alone. I am working on developing the house rules for the game but I have a few things I am going to do on the front end (player recruitment) to see if it is a better way of putting a group together. No initial character submission but a player submission that simply requires you to fill out a form and add some links to your role playing endeavors on PBP. (see below)

If there is strong interest I will post an official recruitment thread but I have some ideas I want to put in to motion on the recruitment to see if it helps in finding the players that will best fit in the group. So instead of having players submit a character instead I want each player to simply submit a questionnaire which will include the type of player you are and the character you wish to run including race/class along with playing preferences (can be a few ideas). Once I decide on the two (maybe three) players we will then create our characters with a session zero including developing their background. This is nothing elaborate or earth shattering just a way for me to get a fix on what type of player you are so that I can put a small group together that can hit the ground running. I have also found that getting into a discussion about who will play what and how your background works allows us to develop some group chemistry before we start the campaign and that is always nice when you are working on story driven posting.

Xoth Setting

World Map of Xoth
World Of Xoth Information

The other path I am considering is using the gaming structure of Xoth with Hyboria as the setting. Mainly because the world of Hyboria is a bit richer and more "filled out". I am still twirling this all around in my head at the moment.

Hyboria Setting

History of Hyboria
Culture Map of Hyboria
Map of Hybroria

Both worlds are human race driven...so there won't be any demi-human characters but I plan on offering racial & culture differences so you can have some room to design the character you want to play.

Basic Structure of XOTH game world (Player Guide) - note: bear in mind I will probably modify this a bit to my liking.

Xoth Player Guide - Foundation for Campaign

A couple of key notes:

1) Starting off at 2nd level so that the players can develop a deeper background.

2) Will not use XP but milestones decided on both the GM and the group. I like XP/APL to build out encounters but I want to give this a go to see how it works. I don't see us climbing up in levels fast as I am more of a moderate/slow ascension in levels kind of guy.

3) This is a PFE1 with house rules/variant rules. I am still putting this all together but will have it all done in a few weeks.

4) No alignment to speak of for mortals but there is a Cosmic Evil so a Detect Evil becomes Detect Cosmic Evil.

5) For those using spell casters the spell list will be customized with the GM. This is due to limitations on what a spell caster will have access to in the world we will play in.

6) I am being completely honest here I am looking for players with high meaningful post rates... I would like to see this work on 5 to 8 posts a week from each player. I don't expect posting on weekends but if you do I will attempt to match it...sometimes I can't due to traveling with my two boys for sports. I also realize there will be weeks that things will run slow but if on average we pushing 5 to 8 posts a week we will be fine. I am also looking for meaningful posts that are not one sentence that is simply an action description. This is one of the reasons why I want to go with a small group of two or three players. I am leaning heavily on just two players but if three really strong submissions are in the pack I will go with it. Which is also why I want to know that I am getting players that will be in it for the long haul and not bail out.

Let me know who is interested and if there is enough interest I will finish this all up and post an official recruitment thread.

For examples of my GMing -

My Campaigns

As you can see I don't run a ton of campaigns and I am pretty picky about what I want to be in as a player. The main reason is my time is precious to me so I like to expend it on things I really enjoy. If I run into issues on my side I will be up front about it and be respectful of your commitments as well.

If you review the house rules for the Saltmarsh Campaign it will give you an idea how I run my games. The HR's will be a bit different from that campaign but we will be using a variant fighter and there will be a reduction in FEAT TAXES (probably use Elephant in the Room with some additional mods). I will use wound thresholds because I find it to be a very good system to speed up combat. I will also be using a Poison/Disease threshold as well for the same reason...again dangerous world...need to weigh the consequences of dealing with the huge viper that is three times your size and has venom dripping from its fangs or running into a swamp with a serious wound that you are trying to recover from. Monsters are monstrous and frightening...otherworldly creatures can cause madness and fear. Animals all have the ability to sense cosmic evil and predators have the "Scent" ability. I am rambling...so I will stop :)

Gameplay thread for AP.

This is the discussion and OOC thread for this PFE1 Shattered Star AP Campaign 2019.

If you have been selected please feel free to post.

I will want to discuss several items before we get started.

1) Aligning skills since your group is a PFS group being brought together for a mission. So you can align up to 4 skill points each to maximize your team's skills and abilities.

2) Discuss the Elephant in the Room (Feat Tax) Document.

3) Need to tweak the fighter variant - minor tweak but wanted to discuss it with the group and with ToxicStar.

4) Discuss the Simple Magic Item Creation doc. Including Create Arms and Armor and anything else the group might have in regards to magic item creation.

Jack

I have some time on my hand and my RL group is again delaying us spinning up a new campaign due to many of them having RL issues going on and is completely understandable but I would like to get another game going outside of my PBP Greyhawk campaign.

I am kicking off my first PBP PFE1 AP. I have decided on Shattered Star because the AP has an interesting premise and it follows ROTRL, CotCT, and Second Darkness. Second Darkness was really on my list but I decided on going with Shattered Star as it is already a PFE1 AP.

My current PBP campaign is a Greyhawk homebrew of PFE1 and a conversion of the old AD&D 1st edition modules. So it keeps me busy and on my toes. I also enjoy it a great deal as we have a very solid group of players. If you are interested here it is Old School Greyhawk - Saltmarsh Campaign PFRPG (570CY - Southern Keoland). I like the Role Playing aspect of it and I like to set the mood and the scene of PBP.

I will use some house rules that I am comfortable using in my campaigns. Please see the document Campaign Character Creation Document.

I am using WOUND THRESHOLDS so you will need to make sure you understand how that Unchained Rule works. It speeds up combat and it will alter your need for a healer and those skilled in healing.

Please review the document for all requirements on character creation.

Additional resources can be found at Shattered Star AP 2019. Look under Campaign Resources. I have the Player's Guide and a few other documents that you will need to know.

I am using the The-Elephant in the Room Feat Taxes for Pathfinder document.
I am also using the Simple Magic Item Creation Rules 2018.
I am using a variant fighter (see the Character Creation doc above - as the current PFE1 fighter is underpowered and this just gives him a bit of a boost on the martial side of things).

All of these can be found in the Campaign Resource folder.

I will be selecting a balanced party of 5 to 6 characters. I am looking for at least two martial characters, a skill player, an arcane player, and a divine player. If I select a sixth player they would need to compliment the roles above in some manner. I like fleshed out background/description/demeanor (All I need at first is a concept (see the Campaign Character Creation Guide for more details)). I tend to incorporate background into gameplay. Good backgrounds get my attention and a fleshed-out description and demeanor with notes tend to pique my interest.

Any questions please feel free to ask away for you can PM me.

Regards,
Jack

EDIT: I have not decided on a deadline. I first want to get a feel for interest and then will get a deadline out on submissions. Nothing long or extended.

All,

I have an opening for our group that I would like to get filled quickly so I can get the new PC injected into the story. I am open to a new PBP posters as we have a very experienced group of players. All I need if you are interested is a concept/rough make up.

I like to keep the group at seven players to account for missing players/low posting due to RL. We are currently at six and I would like to get the seventh in place before the main party returns from the first outing to the house.

This is a very heavy house rules PF1E game. If you have any questions in regards to the house rules please don't hesitate to ask me or post in the Recruitment thread. If I don't answer quickly enough someone from the group will.

The first link is the House Rule Doc. If you do plan on creating a character please read through the doc. The second link is to the Campaign Folder to give you access to the additional docs. The Variant Fighter doc, Greyhawk Languages, and additional campaign location/information docs that will help you with the campaign.

House Rule Document

Old School Greyhawk Campaign Folder

You can find many important documents that you will need to submit a character for this campaign:

House Rules
Greyhawk Deities and Religions
Greyhawk Modern Human Races
Fighter Variant Class (replaces core fighter)
NPC Classes (replaces core NPC classes)
Player Maps of Keoland & Saltmarsh
Rogue's Network of Contacts Ability (addition to Unchained Rogue class)
Greyhawk Languages (reference to all languages (ignore game rules on doc))
Greyhawk Calander
NPC Classes
Diseases and Poisons (UnChained/Homebrew)

Campaign Information:

Campaign and Character Creation Information

Character Creation:
Point Buy: 25 points buy – no attribute can be below 8 and no attribute above 17 before racial adjustments. These are exceptional and heroic individuals in an epic fantasy setting. Well-rounded characters will survive much longer.

Two additional Racial Traits are allowed. No other traits or flaws will be used in the game. The traits are drawn from Pathfinder material as well as homebrew traits tied to the campaign.

Alignment: Any Good (Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic) and Neutral (Lawful).

Classes and Archtypes: All Paizo classes (see House Rules for details). Archtypes are allowed with DM’s permission. Greyhawk Archtypes (per player/DM development are allowed) as are Greyhawk Prestige classes (Player/DM development) as we move forward. Using the unchained classes, a variant fighter, and several of the other classes have been tweaked.

Hit Points: 1st level and 2nd level you receive max hit points per hit die + CON bonus + FAVORED BONUS HP (if taken). Every level thereafter is ROLL HD + CON modifier + FAVORED BONUS HP (if taken). Reroll all 1’s once, second roll you keep what you roll.

No Favored Classes: Instead you receive a FAVORED BONUS each time your character takes a new level in the form of 1 HP or 1 Skill Point or 1 additional Hero Point for all races.

Background Skills: Each player gets 2 skill points for either Craft, Knowledge, or Profession at 1st level. These are considered class skills. No additional background skills are awarded past 1st level.

What I am looking for:

Currently there are six party members and they are split into two groups. The newest additions are currently solving a mystery in the Town of Saltmarsh and the existing group is at the House conducting their initial investigation and running into all sorts of problems.

Here is the party makeup:

Haunted House Group
Naia (Flan Female Variant Fighter)
Rabalar (Wood Elf Male Ranger (Divine Marksman))
D'ogryn (Suel Male Rogue (unchained))

New Group (in Town)
Ferona (Suel Female Arcanist)
Antas (Oeridian Male Paladin of Heironeous (VMC Bloodrager))
Peran (Oeridian Male Cleric of St. Cuthbert

I am running three NPC's from previous players currently as well so you can see what the party make up looks like:

These NPC's are currently with the Haunted House Group:

Thout (half-dwarf male Variant Fighter)
Soros (Suel male Wizard)
Edan (Touv male War Priest (Sacred Fist))

I am letting things play out naturally with the NPC's as I don't like having PC's/NPC's simply disappear from the story. Working on getting the two groups blended together as well but I am also letting that happen as naturally as possible instead of doing the "POOF" you are now in the group.

As you can see we are Human heavy which is not an issue but I would like to add another demi-human. Halfling (there is a wide variety from Shirefolk, Riverfolk, and Wagonfolk to choose from), Dwarf (Mountain or Hill), Half-Dwarf, and High, Wood, and Grey Elf, Half Orc, as well as Rock Gnomes and Tinker Gnomes (not like DragonLance).

I would like to add another demi-human player to balance out the party a bit. As far as roles we could use another skill player or martial player would be nice to have and I am sure the party members might chime in their thoughts as well.

This is a longterm Greyhawk AP. I have run and played in these modules several times starting in the late seventies. I have a pretty robust story line and a few minor story arcs in place for the party. I also build story arcs from the player's backgrounds. This is role play heavy and combat is extremely dangerous as we use Wound Thresholds, and Poison/Disease Progressions (Unchained/Home Rule) has a bigger impact.

U1 to U3 Saltmarsh (1 to 3 level)
A1 to A4 Slave Lords (3 to 6 level)
S4 Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth's (6 to 8 level)
WG4 Forgotten Temple of Thazirdun (8 to 10 level)
G1 to G3 Giants (10 to 14 level)
D1 to D3 Drow (14 to 16 level)
Q1/I6 Queen of the Demonweb Pit/Ravenloft (16 to 20 level)

You can read through the Gameplay and Discussion threads to get a good feel for the game and the group.

Jack

Recruitment for Two Replacement Players

Saltmarsh Campaign Thread

I have two openings in our long-term campaign. We lost our arcane caster and our war priest. The intent is to run through the below 1st ed AD&D modules in a campaign with a homebrew storyline:

U1 to U3 Saltmarsh (1 to 3 level)
A1 to A4 Slave Lords (3 to 6 level)
S4 Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth's (6 to 8 level)
WG4 Forgotten Temple of Thazirdun (8 to 10 level)
G1 to G3 Giants (10 to 14 level)
D1 to D2 Drow (14 to 16 level)
Q1/I6 Queen of the Demonweb Pit/Ravenloft (16 to 20 level)

We are currently on U1 and have just gotten to the house after dealing with a goblin raiding party in the forest just east of Saltmarsh. Feel free to read the Gameplay thread to get both a feel for play and to get caught up on the game. We have a really strong group of players and I want to make sure I add two more players that will invest time into the campaign and their characters.

I am botting both characters (Soros and Edan) right now but I would like to nail down two replacements for them soon.

I would like to have a CLERIC OF A GOOD DEITY as a replacement. This will be essential for the party going forward. The cleric is more flexible with the changes made to the class and this character will be a necessity as we advance in the campaign. The other character needed and I would like to have is an arcane caster (Wizard, Sorcerer, Magus, or Arcanist).

Oceanshieldwolf - Naia Temlow - female human fighter from Saltmarsh

Jovich - D'ogryn Amaidor - male human (Suel) rogue from Saltmarsh

hustonj - Rabalar - male wood elf Divine Marksman Ranger from the Merchant Caravan acting as a Scout/Guard

Licitus - Thout - Half Dwarf male Fighter from Keoland area.

I am currently botting:

Soros - Male human (Suel) wizard 1 (abjurer)from Saltmarsh

Edan - Male Touv male War Priest (Sacred Fist)

What you need:

Please make sure you review the house rules (They are important as there are significant changes). We are using a Variant Fighter and the Cleric has been modified/enhanced. A few of the other classes have changed as well. See the House Rule Review doc for a synopsis.

House Rules

House Rule Review

Old School Greyhawk Campaign Folder

Character Creation:
Point Buy: 25 points buy – no attribute can be below 8 and no attribute above 17 before racial adjustments. These are exceptional and heroic individuals in an epic fantasy setting. Well-rounded characters will survive much longer.

Alignment: Any Good (Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic) and Neutral (Lawful).

Classes and Archtypes: All Paizo classes (see House Rules for details). Archtypes are allowed with DM’s permission. Greyhawk Archtypes (per player/DM development are allowed) as are Greyhawk Prestige classes (Player/DM development) as we move forward. Using the unchained classes, a variant fighter, and several of the other classes have been tweaked.

Hit Points: 1st level and 2nd level you receive max hit points per hit die + CON bonus + FAVORED BONUS HP (if taken). Every level thereafter is ROLL HD + CON modifier + FAVORED BONUS HP (if taken). Reroll all 1’s once, the second roll you keep what you roll.

No Favored Classes: Instead you receive a FAVORED BONUS each time your character takes a new level in the form of 1 HP or 1 Skill Point or 1 additional Hero Point for all races.

Background Skills: Each player gets 2 skill points for either Craft, Knowledge, or Profession at 1st level. These are considered class skills. These can be used on one skill a piece or on two individual skills. No additional background skills are awarded past 1st level.

Caster Bonus Spells: For all casters with a list of ‘known’ spells: Bonus spells gained from high ability scores, apply to both number cast per day (normal), and known spells. Despite the versatility of the spontaneous caster classes, the number of spells per day and known, is a little low in my opinion. A slight bonus to known spells for characters with a good ability score is a relatively minor gift.

(Note: Clerics now use Prayer books and Druid/Rangers use Ritual Books see class descriptions for details)

Hero Points: Hero points are in use with these caveats. At creation the character receives 2 Hero Points and at each level 1 hero point is gained as well as an extra if you take one as a FAVORED BONUS. DM can award Hero Points as well.
Rules for Hero Points – see D20PFSRD: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/hero-points/

Exceptions – Characters can have no more than 5 hero points at any one time. Excess hero points are lost.

No Hero point feats, spells, or magic items are in use except of the Elixir of Luck or Luck Potion as some call it.

Cantrips/Orisons (O level) spells: O level spells now receive an Ability Score bonus for number of spells known/cast per day and the table below is amended to show this change. This gives the spell casters more low level spells to utilize during the day. (See Table in House Rules)

Money & Equipment:
Outfit of 5gp or less. If a cloak and boots/shoes are not included these are added to outfit. Dagger/Knife are included. 75gp for additional equipment and funds. Arcane, Divine, and Nature casters are provided one spell/prayer/ritual book (traveling). Martial classes are provided up to 40gp of value for a set of weapons or one weapon.

Age & Experience:
All players are teens or young twenties for their race. They have very little life experience and are from common, artisan, or merchant class stock. They have limited experience with “monsters”. Up until now they have lived mundane, normal lives filled with excitement from time to time but nothing out of the ordinary.

How you arrive in Saltmarsh:
1. The merchant caravan coming from Burle and is being followed by a small wagon folk caravan for the upcoming spring festival. You are part of the guard, the baggage train (wheelwright, blacksmith, cook, etc…), or a merchant apprentice.
2. A local (related to a fisherman, farmer, Shepard, or someone in the small community).
3. You are coming off a merchant vessel as a crewman. These merchant ships are small local merchant vessels that hug the coastline doing trade from town to town.

Rules (as they are):
Have fun. Seriously let us have fun. I don’t like dealing with rules lawyers and anyone out to simply to cause problems or make life difficult. I will give a warning once and then you are gone. I am willing to listen to any suggestions and I am pretty open-minded. I believe the game is ours, not mine.

I expect a good posting rate of meaningful posts. In the event you must take some time off please let me know when and how long in advance (if possible). I can bot your character for a brief time (1 to 2 weeks maximum). In the case of being botted, you only receive 50% of the total experience during that period if it lasts one week or more. Otherwise, you will receive full experience as long as it is not a repetitive thing.

In the event, a player stops posting and I am not contacted I will remove their character from the play by role-playing them out of the storyline. This way it doesn’t disrupt gameplay or interfere with ongoing threads. I don’t want to hurt the players posting due to a no-show/poster.

Writing
I don’t expect us to all be experts in writing; if I and the rest of the group can understand what you are writing I am good to go. I am not a great writer and I have published several books (albeit technical) and editors were often my best friends at the time. Use the guidelines for In Character, Out of Character, Thoughts, and the use of different languages. As long as we are all consistent it will streamline the story. Personally, I love PBP because of the depth of the role-playing you can get into the story with both the PCs and the NPC’s.

Maps
I prefer to use Google Draw and will keep maps in a folder on the Campaign Google Drive. Combat maps we will simply have one map.

Experience
I plan on this being a moderate experience rate.

Importance of Posting Rate
As I stated I intend on this being a long-term campaign and we need to be able to maintain the pace of the game. I expect anyone playing to maintain the posting rate from day to day. I intend on posting updates each morning (central time) and as time permits during the day I will follow up. Please post at a rate that maintains momentum for the current situation; at a minimum 5 posts a week (1 post per weekday) is sufficient. You post at a higher rate and I will match it as best I can.

Rules (as they are):
Have fun. Seriously let us have fun. I don’t like dealing with rules lawyers and anyone out to simply to cause problems or make life difficult. I will give a warning once and then you are gone. I am willing to listen to any suggestions and I am pretty open-minded. I believe the game is ours, not mine.

I expect a good posting rate of meaningful posts. In the event you must take some time off please let me know when and how long in advance (if possible). I can bot your character for a brief time (1 to 2 weeks maximum). In the case of being botted, you only receive 50% of the total experience during that period if it lasts one week or more. Otherwise, you will receive full experience as long as it is not a repetitive thing. I know I am restating this but it is important.

In the event a player stops posting and I am not contacted I will remove their character from play by role-playing them out of the storyline. This way it doesn’t disrupt gameplay or interfere with ongoing threads. I don’t want to hurt the players posting due to a no-show/poster.

I will be running submissions by the group as I feel it is important they agree with the selections as it is our game, not mine.

Thanks!
SD

You are walking from your lodgings at the Broken Oak Inn and Tavern on the outskirts of Burle. The sun rose not two hours ago and there is a cool wind coming in from the south. As the party walks from their private quarters over the stables to the tavern hall when without warning, something soft and light drops from the sky and lands on each of your heads with a "plop." You look up to see a murder of crows flying overhead. If crows could smile, you'd swear several of them look very pleased with themselves. Reluctantly, each of you raise your hand to feel the top of your heads. To your surprise, it is dry. As the murder flies off several seem to laugh raucously and turn off toward the east. Looking down, you notice a rolled parchment tied with a stout cord. Picking it up, you break the string and and see that it is in Keoish (those that can read Keoish are able to read the simple document):

WANTED

See Demetrious the Sage!
One and one half miles east of Labalna just north of the Hool Marsh.
Apply in person!
No magic messages or familiars accepted!

The crows seem fly off gain more and more height in the sky as go off in the distance towards the east.

Just the night before you spent your time in the tavern hall toasting the two friends you lost on the Dreadwood Road. Wigger and Cwenhild lost their lives fighting off a bugbear ambush. Cwenhild feel first as she was scouting ahead of the group when the bugbears fell upon her. It was Wiggar, her mate, that rush forward to try and save her. When she fell he rushed upon the two bugbears that killed her and slew them as they took her life. Wiggar was in turn killed when the bugbear shaman and his minions slew him and then fled into the woods. It took a week to hunt the band down and finish them off. This broke the bugbear raiding party and cleared the roads for the time being. Now the group of adventurers are trying to decide if they band together on another venture or go their seperate ways to seek their fortune. For the success of your venture clearing the Dreadwood road the Black Lion Trading Company bought you several nights in the private quarters of the Inn as a bonus. It as allowed you to rest, relax, and regain your strength. Today was the last day the Black Lion covered the stay at the inn and it was the group's plan to finish discussing plans for the group's next step.

If you have been selected please use this thread to discuss the game, general stuff, and OOC (rules/questions and such).

Thanks,
SD

The year is 570 CY and it is nearing the end of the month of Coldeven and Spring is starting to see the winds change from the north to the south and the cold air turn to warm air. There are three more days of Coldeven and the start of the Festival week of Growfest to bring on the Spring. With it comes the warm winds and rains from the Southern Seas making the lands of Southern Keoland a vibrant green and washing away the brown of winter. The winter has been harsh in many places as the Black Plague has taken a monstrous toll on the population of humans and demi-humans for the last five years it appears the winter seemed to have slowed the deadly plague and with it hope seems to be building. The Southern Keolands and especially the Viscounty of Salinmoor has not seen the horrible effect of the sickness like so many places have due in large part to the Viscount ensuring that leadership took care of the sick and didn’t allow them free access into those towns until they were healed of the black sickness. Rumors and news have passed along from many of these places telling of dark witchcraft, possession, and demons running wild throughout the plagued cities and towns. People tend to distrust strangers and more often now and more than ever they tend towards violence when it comes to the lone stranger wandering into town. Churches have sent missions to many towns and cities with inquisitors, clerics, as well as companies of war priests looking to end the plague (both the sickness and the black arts). With the plague has also come profiteers and those willing to make their fortunes on the sufferings of others. Slavers, smugglers, pirates, and bandits alike have increased in numbers so that even the healthy are not safe. Humanoids, giants, and other foul monsters seem to sense the change and have also begun closing in on the once civilized communities. The roads and seas are no longer as safe as they once were, and a hired sword is far more important now than ever before.

You are veteran of conflict and adventure in a world that is in the midst of a plague and the danger that has infested the land. It has lasted nearly five years with the winter ebbing many hope it also brings an end to this foul plague. Death has overwhelmed so many places and with this death has come other things in the night feeding off the agony and misery of those in suffering. Some are supernatural, others are of the living bent on profiting from the misery. You are in between jobs and looking for something new to quench that thirst for adventure.

You find yourself in the town of Burle in the Viscounty of Salinmoor. Each of you has come to the Fallen Oak a local tavern at the northeast outskirts of the town and staying at one of the many lodgings surrounding the large tavern.

Story Background for Recruitment
You are walking from your lodgings in Burle to the local tavern called the Fallen Oak when, without warning, something soft and light drops from the sky and lands on your head with a "plop." You look up to see a crow 10 feet overhead. If crows could smile, you'd swear he looks
very pleased with himself. Reluctantly, you raise your hand to feel
the top of your head. To your surprise, it is dry. The crow laughs raucously and turns off toward the east. Looking down, you notice a rolled parchment tied with a stout cord. Picking it up, you break the string and read it.

WANTED
BRAVE ADVENTURES
Are you bored, listless, unappreciated?
Looking for just the right quest to suit your finely honed talents!
PLENTY OF GOLD AND TREASURE FOR ALL!

See Demetrious the Sage.
One and one-half miles east of Burle just outside the town proper.
Apply in Person!
No magic messsages accepted!

Greyhawk Campaign Google Drive
Greyhawk Old School Campaign

You can find many important documents that you will need to submit a character for this campaign:

House Rules (JUL2018)(PLEASE READ AND UTILIZE FOR CHARACTER CREATION)
Greyhawk Deities and Religions (Greyhawk Deities and Religions)
Greyhawk Modern Races
Fighter Variant Class (replaces core fighter)
NPC Classes (replaces core NPC classes)
Greyhawk Languages (a reference to all languages (ignore game rules on this doc and use rules in the HOUSE RULES DOC))
Greyhawk Calander
Network of Contacts for Rogues(addition to class)
A Modified Guide to the Viscounty of Salinmoor 570 CY
Greyhawk Flora and Fauna Notes 97

Player Creation (See House Rules Doc)

Make sure you use the HOUSE RULES as there are many changes in things that you will need to be aware of so make sure your character conforms to them.

Character Creation:
Point Buy: 25 points buy – no attribute can be below 9 and no attribute above 17 before racial adjustments. These are exceptional and heroic individuals in an epic fantasy setting. Well-rounded characters will survive much longer.

Two additional Racial Traits are allowed. No other traits or flaws will be used in the game. The traits are drawn from Pathfinder material as well as homebrew traits tied to the campaign.

Alignment: Any Good (Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic) and Neutral (Lawful).

Classes and Archtypes: All Paizo Core and Hybrid classes (see House Rules for details) or allowed. If a class has an Unchained verison it is to be used. Only the Alchemist, Cavalier, Magus, Unchained Summoner, and Witch are allowe from Base classes. Archtypes are allowed with DM’s permission. (Please make sure you check the House Rules)

(I am specifically looking for at least one FIGHTER (variant), one CLERIC (see house rules), and one ROGUE (see house rules). Multiclass is an option and a good one if you don't want to use the Hybrid classes.)

Hit Points: 1st level and 2nd level you receive max hit points per hit die + CON bonus + FAVORED BONUS HP (if taken). Every level thereafter is ROLL HD + CON modifier + FAVORED BONUS HP (if taken). Reroll all 1’s once, second roll you keep what you roll.

No Favored Classes: Instead you receive a FAVORED BONUS each time your character takes a new level in the form of 1 HP or 1 Skill Point or 1 additional Hero Point for all races.

Background Skills: Each player gets 2 skill points for either Craft, Knowledge, or Profession at 1st level. These are considered class skills. These can be used on one specific skill or on two individual skills. No additional background skills are awarded past 1st level.

Caster Bonus Spells: For all casters with a list of ‘known’ spells: Bonus spells gained from high ability scores, apply to both number cast per day (normal), and known spells. Despite the versatility of the spontaneous caster classes, the number of spells per day and known, is a little low in my opinion. A slight bonus to known spells for characters with a good ability score is a relatively minor gift.

(Note: Clerics now use Prayer books and Druid/Rangers use Ritual Books see class descriptions for details)

Hero Points: Hero points are in use with these caveats. At creation the character receives 2 Hero Points and at each level 1 hero point is gained as well as an extra if you take one as a FAVORED BONUS. DM can award Hero Points as well.
Rules for Hero Points – see D20PFSRD: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/hero-points/

Exceptions – Characters can have no more than 5 hero points at any one time. Excess hero points are lost.

No Hero point feats, spells, or magic items are in use except of the Elixir of Luck or Luck Potion as some call it.

Cantrips/Orisons (O level) spells: O level spells now receive an Ability Score bonus for number of spells known/cast per day and the table below is amended to show this change. This gives the spell casters more low level spells to utilize during the day. (See Table in House Rules)

Money & Equipment:

9,000gp to outfit your character. One outfit, two weapons and if spell/prayer/ritual book need they are free. Please check House Rules on Armor and Shields.

Age & Experience:
All players are young to middle-aged for their race. They have life and good deal of adventuring experience and are from common, artisan, or merchant class stock.

Make sure you understand the rules for Wound Threshold and the changes in Poison (hint we are in a marsh for the entire module - part of it is a wilderness (outdoor).

Big reduction in FEAT TAX please make sure you review that in the House Rules.

A good example of Character setup:

Character Setup Note the Wound Threshold addition.

Rules (as they are):
Have fun. Seriously let us have fun. I don’t like dealing with rules lawyers and anyone out to simply to cause problems or make life difficult. I will give a warning once and then you are gone. I am willing to listen to any suggestions and I am pretty open-minded. I believe the game is ours, not mine.

I expect three to four posts a week (meaningful posts related to gameplay). In the event you must take some time off please let me know when and how long in advance (if possible). I can bot your character for a brief time (1 to 2 weeks maximum). In the case of being botted, you only receive 50% of the total experience during that period if it lasts one week or more. Otherwise, you will receive full experience as long as it is not a repetitive thing.

In the event a player stops posting and I am not contacted I will remove their character from play by role-playing them out of the storyline. This way it doesn’t disrupt game play or interfere with ongoing threads. I don’t want to hurt the players posting due to a no-show/poster.

Writing
I don’t expect us to all be experts in writing; if I and the rest of the group can understand what you are writing I am good to go. I am not a great writer and I have published several books (albeit technical) and editors were often my best friends at the time. Use the guidelines for In Character, Out of Character, Thoughts, and the use of different languages. As long as we are all consistent it will streamline the story. Personally, I love PBP because of the depth of the role-playing you can get in the story with both the PC’s and the NPC’s.

Maps
I prefer to use Google Drive and Google Draw and will keep maps in a folder on the Campaign Google Drive. Combat maps we will simply have one map.

I will have one file that allows us to post the party images, NPC’s, and such.

Experience
I plan on this being a moderate experience rate and at the end the party should have advanced to 8th to 9th level.

Any questions feel free to PM me or post in the recruitment thread.

Party Notes
I am going to give this two weeks so you can work through the house rules. I plan on picking characters July 27th (Friday). I am looking for 6 to 7 characters of 6th level (36 to 42 character levels). Looking for a well-balanced party with a good deal of martial skill (At least two martial types).

If you would like to see an example of my DMing you can go to my currently running campaign - Saltmarsh Campaign 570 CY

SD

Chapter 1

The wind! It blows in from the north at times and when it does it is cold and brings a chill to the bones. Thankfully there are more days when the wind blows in from the sea and it brings the warm air from the south with it. Today is not that day though and the winds whips through the small town of Saltmarsh from the north and with it the damp cold air falls upon the small fishing town once more. There will be rain tonight and lots of it. The dark grey clouds that sit to the north west promise it and they are not accustom to breaking such a promise.

The sun is just up peaking to the east. The road from Burle is not muddy but wet and soft and rutted by the many wagons that have traversed it. Two wagon trains make their way in from to the town and through the quiet Lord's Market Place as vendors and shop keepers prepare for the days business. The first caravan appears to be a small clan of wagonfolk. They are here for the Growfest festival and the small folk bring with them entertainment and additional trade. They are a lively folk and their bright clothing, tall tales, dancing, singing and at times lavish drinking brings some much needed entertainment to the town. Even the town watch appear to be happy to see them. Shopkeepers and street vendors smile and wave as the brightly colored enclosed wagons pass them by. The wagonfolk wave back, smile, and seem to be ready to start the festival even as they make their way into town. The second caravan is a merchant caravan that has been travelling these roads for many years and they make their way to Lord's Market and the merchant master seems more at ease as the last wagon makes its way into the square. As the wagon's guards make one final circuit around the train and the drivers secure their teams a small man stands on a box and begins to talk about the time of creation and how the old father is coming back to the world to reclaim his creation. A new faith among the many but this one appears to be very different.

The docks are busy, they always are in the morning when the fisherman, crabbers, and dockworkers are here well before the sun rises and have already worked several hours before it comes up. Fishing boats of all sizes are already making their way out to make their catch as are the crabbers in their boats packed with pot traps. Larger merchant boats transferring goods to and from the docks. Sailors are busy cleaning and tending to the many needs of their ships. First mates and captains can be heard barking out orders. The docks are the heart of Saltmarsh and for good reason. It is a thriving fishing village and most of the town folk are fisherman, sailors, whalers, and crabbers by trade. To the east lies the Old East Road and beyond that lies Seaton. It is a lonely road, quiet road, and it is there that the rumors you have heard tell of a house that is haunted by a mad alchemist, a wicked wizard, and a man that didn't care for the people around him. No remembers what happened to him. Some say he disappeared, other say he dealt with dark creatures and they brought down his destruction. No one really knows for sure though what happened to the old man. Now the house sits empty on the Old East Road and no one goes near it. No one goes near it because they say it is haunted by the mad alchemist's ghost and those that he abused. There are many rumors of hidden gold and treasure in the house but just fly about about the many people who have disappeared in the house.

This is opening monologue for party.

This is for OOC discussion. Discussing rules, house rules, and any questions for me from the party.

This is also the party chat room for discussion for the campaign.

Party so far is made up of 4 characters and I will be finalizing the party with two more characters by no latter than 2/9.

Current Party:
Oceanshieldwolf - Naia Temlow - female human fighter from Saltmarsh

mishima - Zove - female high elf druid from Saltmarsh by way of the Dreadwood

Jovich - D'ogryn Amaidor - male human (Suel) rogue from Saltmarsh

hustonj - Rabalar - male wood elf Divine Marksman Ranger from the Merchant Caravan acting as a Scout/Guard

Thanks,
SD

All,

I have a recruitment page going and wanted to post this to see if anyone else would be interested in submitting a character prior to FEB 9th submission closes.

This will the old AD&D 1st Edition modules built into an Adventure Path.

OLD Greyhawk modules in a series. I have run and played in these modules several times.

U1 to U3 Saltmarsh (1 to 3 level)(depending on how the party follows the storyline could end up doing I7 Baltron's Beacon (3 to 5 level)

A1 to A4 Slave Lords (3 to 6 level)
S4 Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth's (6 to 8 level)
WG4 Forgotten Temple of Thazirdun (8 to 10 level)
G1 to G3 Giants (10 to 14 level)
D1 to D2 Drow (14 to 16 level)
Q1/I6 Queen of the Demonweb Pit/Ravenloft (16 to 20 level)

Here is the link to the Campaign Thread:

Greyhawk Campaign Thread

Here is link to the Recruitment Thread:

Greyhawk Recruitment Thread

Party will be 6 players. I have a Fighter (Variant) who I have accepted and I am looking for a balanced party. I am reading through submissions that have been submitted at present.

Any questions please feel free to post in recruitment or PM me.

Thanks!
SD

I am interested in doing a PBP using the OLD Greyhawk modules in a series. I would love to do a longterm Greyhawk AP. I have run and played in these modules several times.

U1 to U3 Saltmarsh (1 to 3 level)
A1 to A4 Slave Lords (3 to 6 level)
S4 Lost Caverns of Tsjocanth's (6 to 8 level)
WG4 Forgotten Temple of Thazirdun (8 to 10 level)
G1 to G3 Giants (10 to 14 level)
D1 to D2 Drow (14 to 16 level)
Q1/I6 Queen of the Demonweb Pit/Ravenloft (16 to 20 level)

I have never run these in unison like this but having run and played in each of them several times over the years I can see a very easy link to each. I plan on making some major changes in several areas and have already done the revision on U1, U2, and I am working on U3 at the moment as well as working on blending and setting up the A series portion. This will be a revised Greyhawk.

Some notes:
I plan on making some changes to each module as far as encounters and storyline so that it is cohesive throughout.

I use a set of house rules which I am currently revising for this campaign. I will post if there is interest in the campaign once I finish it up.

I prefer to go with six players compared to four. This has always been a preference of mine as it allows for a more robust and rounded party.

I have run two longterm PBP games and a few short run ones as well.

SD

Need some advice. I have been doing some historical reading on the site on what others have been doing with NPC classes as I want to add some depth to the NPC's as I am converting Greyhawk over to Pathfinder to run a campaign using several of the old 1st Edition and 2nd edition modules.

What I would like to do is take the Adept and split it into three different adepts and add one more class.

Cleric Adept (based on a non-adventuring priest with limited channeling no familiar)

Arcane Adept (based on the legacy Adept but using INT and Wizard spells with familiar - non-adventuring wizard/sorcerer)

Hedge Adept (a non-adventuring druid)

Thug (Traps and Treachery version - this as always been a nice NPC addition)

this will go along with the classic Aristocrat, Commoner, Expert, Warrior.

My questions:

1) Has anyone split the Adept class into these three or anything like it and what was the net effect in the game?

2) Any suggestions?

Thanks,
AllenDm

Has anyone built out an actual Witch race?

Think along the lines of these movies:
Stardust
Seventh Son
Last Witch Hunter
Beautiful Creatures

I think it would be a fun race to run in the right setting. I wanted to see if anyone had built one out.

I was thinking it could tie into the Hags as well...fallen witches or something.

I am not a real fan of the witch class...it's not bad but the more I think about it the more I like the witch as race and not a class.

Any thoughts or ideas would be welcomed as well.

Thanks,
Allendm

Does anyone have a document or PDF with a complete list of hazards, swarms, and traps?

I would like to have a reference document and rather than building it myself I wanted to see if someone had already started one with PF and 3rd party references.

Thanks.

Basing this off of ELFQUEST...but the concept of a bloodline shapers. Our group is discussing doing a theme of bloodline shapers within the races.

woodshapers and watershapers (ice/snow/frost) for wood elves.
stone/earth and metalshapers for dwarves...
gnomes - woodshapers and earthshapers

That is the basic idea...very flexible at this point.

Using this theme we would take the Stoneshape spell and expand on it.

convert it to EARTHSHAPE, WOODSHAPE, WATERSHAPE (solid form), METALSHAPE.

Add an improved "----" shape spell at 5th level and a greater "----" shape spell at 7th.

Our basic thinking is the improved is touch and within 10ft plus 10th a level can be affected. Can add fine details and moving parts have a 45% chance of working.

greater is touch and within 50ft plus 10ft a level can be affected. Can add intricate detail (life like) and moving parts have a 75% chance of working.

I would love input on this concept.. I am thinking it would follow a magus or a sorcerer concept...

Not looking at Benders but more in theme with Elfquest for this concept. Elves building beautiful tree cities by shaping the trees and surrounding forest. Dwarves creating stone cities, Drow and deep gnomes doing much the same...

this is all random thinking from our group...I just wanted to post it and see if we can get some other ideas on how get this fleshed out and keep it in the PF structure.