Fraust's page

Would the once a day schedule be required on the weekends too?

Super sick, might need to bot me for a day or two.

Super sick, might need to bot me for a day or two.

Depending on my schedule when things start, and the character creation guidelines, I'd be down.

Thinking of something along the lines of a very confused Dr. Doom. Basically, a long forgotten villain who has, largely due to dementia, been talked into switching sides. He thinks he's suppressing the local peasants, or fighting off heroes, but he's actually blasting the new villain's mooks and lieutenants, some of which might actually be his former employees. Would be happy to do it as a more purposefully switched type character too. Maybe he got tired of being the big bad, surrounded by ambitious little back stabbers, just waiting for him to make a mistake...

Had a similar character planned out for another somewhat tongue in cheek campaign, though back then he was a she, and she was a synthesist. This time around, I'm thinking possibly magus of some variety...especially considering we're high enough level I can buy some respectable armor. Alchemist would be another option.

I'm far from inexperienced with either Pathfinder or PbP, but I've always wanted to play this adventure. If you're full up on those long in the teeth, no worries, and hope the game goes well.

Otherwise, I'd like to play a traveling bard. She came to town to make some coin, but it seems her luck is as black as these townfolk's lungs! She makes out like her primary motivation in helping is to get people back on their feet so they can rain gold and thanks down on her...but deep down she can't bring herself to walk away when she thinks she could help.

5d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 3, 2, 3) = 16 11
5d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 4, 5, 4) = 23 15
5d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 3, 6, 1) = 16 12
5d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 3, 6, 6) = 27 18
5d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 2, 3, 3) = 18 13
5d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 2, 1, 2) = 10 07
5d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 5, 3, 5) = 18 13

Will work up an sorcerer/summoner (UC or no?). Curious on the primary class thing. Say I picked sorcerer as primary, could I be something like sorcerer 5/summoner 3/rogue 2?

Also, is there any way I could negotiate Malformed Vocal Cords without having an actual breath weapon? Not a big deal if it's a no. That being the case I might go for straight up mute, or do the half dragon thing if that's an option.

Not going to be able to make the deadline for this one. Really cool to see more love for psionics on the boards though

Going to rewrite a character I made for a Wrath of the Righteous game oddly enough. Mechanically he's an elan psion, though thematically he's what happens when someone does the elan conversion on a goblin...which mostly translates to him being funny colored and have unorthodox views on fire and writing.

Interested. Been in a number of PbP games here on the boards, though most have gotten very far at all for one reason or another. I've ran several via facebook/roll20 and tavern keeper though, and feel I'm at least moderately experienced with the format.

For the campaigns listed, my preference in order of favorite to least is Rise, Carrion, Legacy, Reign...though I've played in and ran much of the first three books of Rise, and played through the first book of Carrion. I own but haven't read since it was published Legacy, and own but have never read Reign (though I think a friend of mine ran us through a modified version of the first book).

As others have said, I'd recommend running something small at first. The amount of work a PbP game requires is staggering. If you haven't read over the suggested thread by Painlord, I'd do that. His advice is amazing. In it you'll find a link to a thread from DoomedHero that was the inspiration for Painlord's essay, well worth the read also...but even better, if you open DoomedHero's profile you'll find a draft of his document on advice for PbP GMs.

Blaughter wouldn't have a problem bunking with Margut and fronting the coin for a night or two. He's probably fought alongside as well as against hobgoblins in the past, and isn't the type to judge on race.

GM Shady, thanks for the heads up. Real life does love to complicate things, eh?

Gamer, looking at This on the SRD helped me understand it a bit better. Looks like you have to have the requisite feat, then after that all of the listed prerequisites of the item can be substituted by increasing the DC of the Spellcraft test. Hopefully this helps out.

I've been in a game that went the first route, and it looked like it went rather well for those who stuck around long enough for the parties to run into eachother. Unfortunately I wasn't able to play long enough to ever be involved in any cross overs. Currently I'm running a game that is meant to dothe same thing, though we haven't had enough players to create a second group yet. But either way, I REALLY like the idea of this, though it does seem like it wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world to do. If you're willing to go that route, it absolutely gets my vote, and anything I can do to help out, just let me know and I'll be down.

Played in a number of games that have gone the second route, and it does work out well. Seems like it's a hair easier on the GM than if they were running two completely separate games, as a lot of the prep is just used twice...plus it's cool to go back after a while and see how the other group handled particular situations.

Either is perfectly fine by me, especially as it increases the chances of playing, but like I said, my vote is idea 1.

As for suggestions...

Sounds good GM Ragged. If selected I should be able to do a post every day, even with the current time constraints, and can definitely manage one every other.

Should have gear and the last few details finished up by tonight. Any critiques/questions/adjustments yet?

Missed that bit too. Picked up Perform (contact juggling) and Profession (beggar), as Faey has spent a bit of time on the streets busking/begging in her youth.

I have Disable, but no class abilities that modify it, so no disabling magic traps. I have it mostly to Aid Another you essentially. We might be alright till you level and go rogue, but just giving you a heads up.

Was hoping at some point to make a rogue styled after Bill the Butcher, using sneak attacks to hamstring opponents, but haven't been able to get very far into the mechanics. Seemed like the UC rogue added a bit to the rogue with effects on their SAs...but unfortunately I have no practical experience with them yet.

Everything still good here?

Null sweat, Faey is nearly done, just need to make sure I did gear right. There was mention about gold (and experience) from a previous adventure. Does that apply to everyone or just a specific group?

lol Didn't catch that till I just checked back. If you'd like to go alchemist I'm more than happy to change again.

In the interest of expediency here are the character ideas I have rattling about in my skull. All would be equally fun for me to play, so whichever the group things would fit best is good.

The ranged alchemist I just posted.
An archaeologist bard, decent in melee and ranged. Very up beat personality, think Tasslehoff/kender without the compulsive stealing/burrowing.
A human burglar, very traditional roll, searching, disarming, shooting people with a bow, sticking a blade between ribs. Inspired by Garret from the Thief series.
An eldritch scoundrel rogue, similar to the burglar above but more of a prankster.

Aha, missed a couple of folks then. Ranged it is. I've an elven alchemist I love to play who uses a bow when she's not bombing the bad guys. I'll start cracking her back out at 1st level unless anyone has a compelling reason not to.

As far as background goes, the quick and dirty of it is a few years her parents died under mysterious circumstances, leaving her and her brothers to figure out just what happened. There was a handfull of clues at the outset, and each sibling went off on their own to investigate one. Hers hinted at a connection with the PF Society, so she came to Absalom, joined up, and is currently trying to gain a standing within...make friends, earn favors, that sort of thing.

Hola, if I'm reading right it looks like we have a cleric, sorcerer, and rogue...so how about a frontline basher? An unchained melee summoner sound alright? Or would we rather have something more traditional?

Depends on the table and circumstances. In my games, I'm ok GMing with kiddie gloves on for a while, while people new to the system learn, and I have a general house rule where the first four or so levels of any game, you can make adjustments to your character, switch out feats, change classes, whatever, but after that things are more locked in, and it falls under the Retraining rules, which may or may not be practical depending on the campaign.

That said, as a GM, I only hold hands for so long. If ten sessions into the game I'm still explaining how to figure out your bonuses to hit, chances are good you're not going to be playing in the game very much longer. I don't say this to sound elitist, but simply because I don't have the time. By that point, the player either isn't willing to put for the effort, or isn't able, so they need to find another game. I have a daughter, and work 7 days a week, so my time is very precious to me, and I won't waste it, or let someone else waste it.

Other GMs are not like me though, and are perfectly fine to have people with next to no understanding of the game, and they all have a marvelous time playing together.

Okay, that's a pretty interesting approach. However, I'd say that does limit PC's access to SoDs. If I manage to succeed on landing, for example, suffocation, only to find it didn't achieve what I had hoped, but just weakened the foe, I might well be disappointed.

To be clear, I don't have a strong preference here. I can totally agree with the many who say it sucks to die thanks to a couple of bad rolls. But, then again, I like SoD casters, and can see an argument made that if you want to dish it out you should also be prepared to take it - at least occasionally.

This depends on how we look at things. Statistically, each stage is it's own stat block, with its own hit point total and abilities. So if the GM had you fight three separate creatures you would be performing the same mechanically. Though if you were fighting three separate creatures they would likely all be involved in the fight from the start, so it would actually be harsher on the players that way.

That said, a couple things to give a little more context...I'm am, at times painfully, transparent about house rules and game hacks I use as a GM, so were you playing in a game of mine you'd know from the start the specifics about a three stage boss fight. Then you could decide if it was worth it to focus on those type of spells. I still believe they would be effective (and frustrating, but not so much that I would ban them).

Also, this is a fairly rare thing that I use, only when an encounter is meant to be truly memorable. One example would be a campaign finale against a massive dragon who'd been extorting local communities and sending out its minions and progeny to harass the PCs for several sessions. In that example, would you, as a player, want that finale encounter to be ended by a single casting of a single spell followed by a bad roll? Granted, I believe it would absolutely be a story told among the gaming circle for years to come...the night you ganked the dragon while the rest of the party just kinda stood there. But it wouldn't be the same kind of story, told with the same level of nostalgia, as the night the party defeated the dragon after several rounds of combat, where it sundered the walls of its lair to knock boulders down on the party, and when it nearly drown then in lava after it it completely cratered its lair and the party had to chase it out into the sky.

My opinion...

A good fight is one where the GM understands the purpose of the fight, and that purpose is kept in mind both while designing the fight before the game as well as while the fight takes place.

This, I feel, dovetails with what Jiggy is saying. You can't just put it in a box and say "this will make any fight a good fight, the contents here...just plug them in, and magic." Story has its own timing, and if you set up a scene in that story, give it a goal for a given timing, and then set that scene in the wrong time...you shatter the story. A fight is just one type of scene.

Also, I notice a lot of people are saying they avoid Save or Die spells, which is understandable. However, do you allow the PCs to use them? If the PC necromancer or witch is wailing like a banshee, shouldn't it be okay for the NPCs to do the same? Just curious how people are balancing that.

Much like Chengar...the short answer is I don't limit PCs access to them due to it not being a direct comparison.

I think it was Angry GM who originated the idea, and I'm pretty sure the idea was for fourth ed, but there is a game hack that sets specific NPCs/monsters up as boss monsters, with three stages of existence. The short of it is you, as the GM, make the creature into three creatures as far as their stat block is concerned...though in the fiction of the game world they are still the same creature. Once one stat block is dead, something happens and the second stage/stat block is used.

I use this in encounters that are particularly important to the campaign, so a single save or die spell will only kill one stage/stat block. As far as run of the mill creatures/npcs, I'm not invested in them enough to care if they get ganked by a single roll.

Might be that I prefer lower end, grittier games, or the fact that for all the magic in that movie there wasn't a ton of overt stuff...but I would start with a Bard with ranks in Perform: Contact Juggling, singing, and dancing, and go from there.

Lots of cool ideas on the old thread though. Love the goblin nation stealing elf babies one in particular.

I'm not a big fan of save or die type effects or other game mechanics that can end an important encounter with a single die roll, but other than that, or maybe more importantly than that...or rather to help insure that doesn't happen, the only thing I actively try to avoid are poorly thought out encounters. Yes, I'll sunder your weapons, or the rust monster will eat them, or the evil cleric will shatter them...but I'm a lot less likely to do it if I haven't given a way for things to be replaced, or where you will be completely screwed in the next encounter without those weapons/gear. Yes I'll dominate the party barbarian if it makes sense for an NPC to have a domination effect and the NPC has any reason to believe that would be a good tactic...and yes I do feel the barbarian should have picked Iron Will and/or the party caster should have a scroll of dispel handy.

Ultimately, I want the party to succeed, but I don't want them to steam roll everything. Some encounters should be easy, some should be hard, some should be so hard the party either has to flee, or be incredibly lucky, and yes they should be given the opportunity to flee and the ability to get lucky.

I've only played maybe a third of the way through the second book of Wrath, but while normally I would agree with Kirth's assessment, if I were ever going to use that feat, I think Wrath would be the place to do so.

It's been a while and I was playing a neutral PC when I was in it, but I'm willing to bet that AP has an abundance of Smite Good attacks coming the party's way.

Would depend on build a little too. We should be restarting Wrath in a few months, and while I'll be playing a good PC this go around, my character is going to be so feat starved it's not even funny...so I probably wouldn't pick it up for him.

Short of any adjustments after feedback, Qualin and Mayze are finished.

So if we get a 1 after our reroll we get to roll again? If so, 1d6 ⇒ 4.

Going to try this truly old school, rolling in order. Granted, I reserve the right to switch them around if need be...but I want to see what I can do with what I roll.

Strength 4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 4, 4) = 12
Dexterity 4d6 ⇒ (6, 2, 2, 5) = 15
Constitution 4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 2, 3) = 10
Intelligence 4d6 ⇒ (3, 6, 4, 3) = 16
Wisdom 4d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 6, 3) = 14
Charisma 4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 6, 6) = 16

I'm another new to 5th ed player, and not normally fold of rolling stats (I'm willing to bet a twinky these are going to be terrible), but I can't turn down an opportunity to play Night Below.

On that note, I've ran it before, playing through a good portion of the first book, and I've read the other two years ago. Full disclosure and all that.

EDIT, reroll the one 1 1d6 ⇒ 1
So finale is...
Str 10
Dex 13
Con 9
Int 13
Wis 12
Cha 14

Going to read up on bards and sorcerers.

Course...having said what I just said saturday, I find myself forced to withdraw today. Really really sorry guys, I just don't have the time at the moment. Been very fun playing with you all.

School picked up quite a bit for me, specifically in the "I spend all day staring at a computer screen reading PDFs" department, so by the time I get home at night it's particularly hard to get online. That said I think I have things about settled where I can get on every morning on the week days. Though that will make it where I won't be available much if at all on the weekends.

I'm very interested in working out my schedule so this works though. Game is going very well in my opinion and I want to stay a part of it.

Perfectly understandable man, sorry for the lose.

Cool cool, thanks for the answer :) If it comes up in RPing I'll come up with something.

Had some issues myself, though nowhere near as serious (lost my laptop when I moved back "home" from school and had a lot more going on for the holidays than I had planned)...but I'm still interested in playing.

I saw somewhere before the whole laptop thing a site that had a playable dragon race for DW. Depending on if I can find it again, or anyone knows what I'm talking about....I have an idea for a character along those lines. If it's not kosher I can tweak the idea for it to be a human.

Dragon or not, I'd like Boran to be a ranger, though if we have an abundance of warrior types or someone else is really itching to play a ranger I have some ideas for making him a Shaman instead.

Having a ship as a fundamental aspect of the group sounds cool to me. I've played in a few games where we've gone on long voyages and ocean travel has been temporarily important, but nothing where the whole campaign revolves around it.

As a Ranger I could see Boran acting as a general purpose sailor, and guard for when we run into some sea monster or another. As a Shaman I see him doing various rituals to appease the spirits of the sea/reassure the superstitious sailors.

All's well here. Had to drive back to my apartment where I'm going to school from, but I found the laptop hanging out on my bed...with all my sculpting stuff too. Can't wait till the days of Shadowrun and I can have my computer installed in my head or arm or something...

Dealing with a bad head cold and I think I lost my lap top. So I might be absent a day or two while I get things straighten out.

Dealing with a bad head cold and possibly lost computer. Might be sparse for a day or two.

Wrapping up with finals tomorrow, so I'll have something set up by tomorrow night for sure. Right now I'm thinking Ranger for class, though I'm curious if there is something comparable to the Binder or Medium in DW? Basically a character who lets spirits possess him to gain power.

I just recently got into DW (Playing in DM Frogfoot's game) and I'm digging the system.

Ideas for either campaign would be easy, though my preference would be the End of the Northlanders. I played a human dragonslayer way back in Council of Wyrms that I'd like to reenvision.

Let me dig into the classes a bit and see if I can't come up with something that fits. Sounds like we might be fairly warrior heavy at the moment...will that be an issue? Cuz if so I don't mind at all playing something else. I'm very curious how spellcasters work in DW.

Being a junk trader Mayze has a little bit of skill in the social department, so could probably assist our busker friend here from time to time. She also has Sense Motive of +4, so can at least attempt to tell when someone's trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

lol I think that might be the bond...hatred for New Andodos.

I like the idea of the tab, and then her offering to clear it if he goes with her as a guard.

At first Mayze probably figured Calvarot for a heartless merc and was just happy to have him along to fight with rather than against. Along the way she started seeing some of those redeeming qualities, specifically that his generally sour nature was mostly directed toward the plush and pampered of the cities and how they leave everyone else out to die/fend for themselves. So now that we've met up with the group we're in at the moment, Mayze does what she can to keep Calvarot part of that group as she's taken something of a liking to him. Almost like a mildly annoying older sister?

And thanks! One down, one to go...luckily the one left is forensics, which is the subject I'm actually good at :)

Pretty pumped here as well. Recently had two roll20 games fall apart, one I was playing in and one I was running, do to half the group having little to no interest in engaging with the game in any meaningful way. Seems like this group is all very excited :)

Also, for whatever relevance it has, I threw in a linked picture on Mayze's profile. Her normal profile pic is only sorta kinda how I picture her (for one she's an elf, not a derro...) so just sorta mentally mix the two and season with a hint of female Mad Max and we're probably on the same page.

I don't have the Strange, but I have the core book for Numenera and would be interested in hearing more. More about the setting and situation (where are we starting, what sort of reality), plus PbP logistics (how often are you expecting people to post, how familiar you are with PbP in general, are we going to use maps).

I think keeping things strictly in the idea of the players always roll will slow things down in a PbP game, but not necessarily to the point of unplayability.

That said, I think we would be better off if the GM made certain tests for the players. In a PF PbP game the GM typically rolls things like Initiative and Perception and Saves, as the difference between him/her doing so, and waiting for every single person to get to it can potentially be days. I'm a little shaky on mechanics (in theory Numenera uses the same system, but being that I haven't actually looked into the Strange I don't know how strong of a theory that is) so can't give any examples of stuff right off hand that I think the GM should roll...just that I think we would be better off going with the understanding that sometimes the GM will roll checks for the players.

Maybe defensive rolls...now that I think about it. In Numenera when you're attacked you make some type of defensive roll (can't recall the exact wording)...

For example instead of the GM saying "Alright Bob, the giant clthulhuesque spider monster tries to impale you with one of it's razor sharp legs...roll BLAH BLAH." It would be "ALright Bob, the giant cthulhuesque spider monster tries to impale you with one of it's razor sharp legs (followed by the die roll). Looks like you failed! Take X damage."

Doing it with roll20 now, did it with d20 pro previously. Honestly one issue I have is the maps are too small. Most of the groups I've played in since I started playing RPGs back in second ed D&D days avoided one inch grids like the plague. Any attempt at actually using ranged weapons/spells becomes a joke.

Before the days of VTTs we used graph paper, often taped together to cover larger areas. I remember coming across a three foot wide roll of graph paper (the real tiny grid too) at an archaeological firm I worked at and begging my boss to sell me one.

Considering PFS is run by a set of arbitrary house rules I don't see how this belongs in the rule section any more than any other house rule dependent question.

Mayze has a level of bard and half a wand of CLW, with the plan to get other wands for various other healing type spells as needed. Entirely possible there will be spirits when the full list of 52 is out that have some sort of healing related abilities. So all in all she's not a dedicated healer, she can half ass it fairly well.

Here is what I have for Quill. When I clicked the link above the first time it only gave me the first page. So what I thought was the Templar was actually the Battlemaster. Templar is probably more along the lines of what she was, or what she was training to be...but she's lost her connection to the divine/her god/whatever, so now she's relying more on being tricky/tactical.

Female Human Battlemaster
Str: 16
Dex: 13
Con: 15
Int: 09
Wis: 08
Cha: 12
Scale armor, warhammer, shield, bandages (3 uses)

[spoiler=Backstory/Personality]
When was the last time I was happy? That's an easy one. Three months ago. I was happy I woke up next to the puddle of vomit instead of face down in it...happy I hadn't pissed my trousers some time in the night...happy the ally I'd passed out in wasn't frequented by an abundance of rats or robbers. The last time I was happy was when I woke up here in Westervale, and it ain't showing signs of happening again.

I didn't know where I was but that wasn't exactly a new predicament for me. Different town, same story. I came, I drank, I fought, I drank more, and more, I fought more, I got thrown out of the tavern. Least that's what I figured. When I went back into the closest tavern I expected to find angry glares and a list of damages. Instead there was a group of armed and armored folk telling me they thought I'd gotten lost while relieving myself in the ally.

There was food and mead at the table, so I sat with them a while and played catch up. Apparently early the night before I'd met these folk after arriving in town, one thing lead to another, and we all decided we were right close friends. As comrades in arms it only made sense that we should go and give a shot at this Tower of Light thing. Details on that are still a little hazy, as we thought it best to get good and quenched before heading off to glory in the morning.

Having ate my fill and drank enough to dull the pounding in my head I tried to learn up a bit on this Tower but my friends were in a hurry to get started. I learned there was coin to be made, and that was enough to get me to go along.

Things from here on out get even more hazy and jumbled. I remember my companions saying we'd arrived...and I remember dark stone halls. From there it's all a mash of screaming, blood, open bowels, and running.

I've only ever been that scared once in my life. It was dark then too. And I was the only one to come out alive then as well.

Was I right to run? Should I have died with my companions either time? Am I a coward or a survivor? I honestly don't know. The only thing I do know is before I try to find the answer, I'm going to need a drink.
[/spoier]

Templar is perfect. Not thinking fallen paladin as in evil, but just makes bad decisions, if that makes sense. She's a bit of a drinker, and has issues with survivors guilt. Would definitely be neutral with a leaning toward good. She's cynical and a bit abrasive, but at the end of the day she's the type to run toward the burning building. I'll get a proper profile built up when I get back from the game store...I have some orks slaughter.