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Right on Grumbaki, that's kind of what I figured.

Let's start this a different way then.

The party has been tasked with killing an evil necromancer in a crumbling ruin. She's a major NPC, so she's going to be Gestalt like you are; I'm going to do the typical "good at one thing" build for it, and you know this, because she's been terrorizing the countryside with her minion horde.

I'll plop you right outside of a building. You have had time to cast your hours long buffs and prepare; anything shorter than, say, 20 rounds, should be tracked, everything else'll last more than long enough. And note that I neither expect this to take 20 days, nor will I be waiting 20 days to get started on the real campaign; Kingmaker's not combat-intensive unless it is, so we have time to get the momentum going again before I need to worry about mechanical fixes.

So buff up. I'll snag a map right quick like, and if your tactics include anything aside from "run in and beat shit up," let me know what you scouted and such.

Oh just feel free to go ahead; I'll do the actual RP in the actual campaign. The map's up; I do block inits, and I'm not really interested in seeing if the RNG lets the dinos hit you, more in whether it'll take y'all longer than the less-than-two rounds the other group took to kill 'em!

Howdy everyone!

If we're all Gestalt 4 now, I'm going to do to you what I did to my JR group; throw you into a thing and see how powerful you are.

I think we'll leave you all as you are now, rather than trying to undo other things and whatnot; no one seems to have a problem, so I'm cool with it.

Here's the campaign for it; I'll have the map up in just a sec here, but it's really just for location reasons.

First up, two deinonychi.

This has been a complete pain-in-the-ass two weeks.

I have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off coming up, thanks to us finally hiring. I'm so sorry for the terrible beginning.

I work for a very small business that keeps six employees on the payroll, so the sudden loss of one wasn't really something that we could easily cope with. And I'm so tired...

But I'm still here, if y'all are.

Sorry folks; forgot to post here to let y'all know. We had a coworker quit late last week, and it really screwed up my available hours for a bit.

I'm off today though, so I fully plan on getting you folks running again in the next few hours.

Alex - Let me give that some consideration. I always was fond of the idea of the old Psionic/Magic noninteraction, but I never put it into play to see how it would actually change things.

Was wondering if I could redo my feats a bit as I want to try and focus on the Glaive..which I don't have...yet

Absolutely.

That's up to whomever else got something; if we're all cool with just dropping them, except for cool story items, that'd make things easier; I'm fine with the work, too, if you'd rather keep them.

Okay folks, got my JR thrown into combat that should last a bit. IIRC two of y'all (I know for sure at least one) were in the recruitment for that; now you know my dastardly plan for figuring out how much to scale the encounters!

As for this campaign, when I get off this evening, I'll start the transfer process and read the latest 6ish gameplay pages; if I'm awake enough I'll make a post and get us rolling, but if not I will before I work tomorrow.

Thanks for all the patience!

E: Also I'm going to look at turning everyone gestalt 4 now; I'll try to cajigger the bonuses various y'alls got so everyone is back on par.

I'm not entirely a fan of the level variance and the strange gestalt stuff. Was there a particular reason for that? If not, I may just scrap it and let everyone be level 4 gestalt. Let me look over everything, especially the original recruitment post, and I'll get back to y'all on that.

Here!

I should be ready to throw my Jade Regent players into the distraction of combat for a week, so I should be able to get started checking this out tomorrow or Monday.

However, if someone would volunteer two things for me, I'd appreciate it.

First, other than Gestalt, can someone break down what's being done differently here?

Second, if I could have a brief summary of what's been done, and a quick recap of where you are now, that would be great.

Looking forward to working with you folks!

Howdy!

I'd be willing to take this on, provided y'all are willing to wait another four or so days while I get my newly created Jade Regent off the ground and rolling.

I'm down with whatever you'd like to take as far as character, really, with the exception of 3PP; there's too much out there and enough in Pathfinder.

Why don't you go ahead and make a level 5.
Two traits, normal rules, campaign if you want.
Gestalt. Only rule here is no hybrid with a parent, but you can multiclass with one (as a bad example, Warpriest-Cleric 5 is not okay, but Warpriest-Rogue 3/Cleric-Fighter 2 is okay).
25 buy; you okay with no low limit? 5 is generally it anyway, and I don't mind weaknesses as long as they come into play.
Any Paizo, as long as we can link it work?
And double wealth, so 21,000. However I expect at least 1/3 of this to be spent on non-combat things; whatever you're using to survive, if you own a home/business, etc. Some sort of plot points to establish a baseline of influence in your nation.
Background skills.

Anything else?

I would definitely be interested in this sort of campaign, especially the Kingdom Building and Mass Combat rules.

Let's talk about your goals then, and of what you'd like your solo campaign to consist.

I see two distinct ways of gaining influence: via the military, or via social diplomacy. For myself, I'm most likely to go the social route.

1) The two fledgling powers are just that: they're just getting started, or lack the big resources for whatever reason (most of the fluff of the individual kingdom is up to the "owner"). Those'll grow in strength and influence as the game progresses, and I like (for the most part) the Kingdom Building rules to determine how much they grow and how close they are in game-power to the two established nations.

2) Yes, and they will be, to partially answer -

3) I haven't decided on a finite nature of the "thing-what-the-countries-fight-over," but whatever it is, they all want it for themselves. Countries A and B are in outright conflict with each other over it, while C and D aren't, as yet, powerful enough to make their own claims.

Part of the way I've organized this is to keep an inherent balance. Both players will receive one full country to control, and will likewise receive one developing country. However, each PC we have will be in the other player's developing country, and as the PCs level and learn, they'll take more active roles in the conflict (though the exact nature of which is up to the player). In this fashion, no one person has more control than the other, at least at the start. While I might control the NPCs which your PC is trying to affect, my ultimate goal is to give you a good solo campaign, and so won't be actively trying to hinder you in all aspects (and I expect the same from my counterpart in the game). The war aspect is meta, above the individual campaigns, and that's where I'd want to discuss actual turn details, how we'd go about arranging things like treaties or cooperative warfare vs. another country. Neither of us can unilaterally control two countries, until the solo campaigns are played out and our PCs effectively rule. But, we have all of that time to see how our nations have diplomacized in the meantime.

E: The meta-game is where the real work comes in, in that we don't have an already-established ruleset for this sort of thing. Troop limitations, meta-Diplomacy, and strategic battle planning are all the sorts of stuff we'd have to decide on together (probably stealing from games like Risk and Diplomacy, too, but still). Because I still want to beat -you- in the meta, as well, it's just secondary, and kind of more fun, than the solo campaigns themselves.

Potentially interested. Would this use the kingdom rules from Pathfinder for the running of the nations?

Seems likely, unless you know of a better, accessible method.

In particular, the two developing powers would need growth guidelines.

Howdy folks! In brainstorming pitches for a previous 1v1 recruitment, I had a strange idea that I'd now like to follow through with and see if I can get it to fly.

This would be a solo game, though both myself and the selected individual would participate, both as players and as GMs.

We would begin with four nations/power groups: A,B,C,D.

A and B would be fully-fledged, developed powers, each controlled by one of us.

C and D would be fledgling groups, and each nation would be the setting for the "campaign" of the player; C would be for the selected, controlled by myself, and D for my PC, controlled by the selected.

These four powers are vying over some central resource or great thing.

For gameplay, in addition to the "campaigns" for each (wherein our PCs work to advance their nation's/personal goals), we would also be at war with each other for the central objective.

This sort of thing would require a greater deal of communication and cooperation between us than a typical campaign, as well as a far greater deal of involvement in the set-up and customization of not only the setting, but the rules we'll use to keep things fair, many of which we'll either have to borrow from elsewhere, or most likely, make up for ourselves. We've been given Mass Combat and Kingdom Building guides, but this stretches a bit beyond those into a not-quite-Pathfinder style campaign.

Consider this an interest check; there's no real "recruitment" process. If multiple other parties are interested, I will choose based on the rapport between us; if it comes down to more than that, I'll set up some stricter structure for qualifying.

Feel free to ask questions; I don't have a great deal of this set in stone yet, but I have a fair idea of how I'd like this to work.

I sent Tesla a PM yesterday, so if I don't hear from her by the weekend, I'll contact Jet.

Yay I own it! Can't change the name of Discussion, though, so we'll always remember who started it!

Anyone know if Tesla is still here?

Alrighty, got the email sent out! Transferal should be soon (the team seems pretty quick on it, based on what I've seen so far), and we should be able to get rolling shortly!

Here's the proper GM alias I'll be using for this (rather than the other, which I've devoted to PFS games instead).

I sent my document to the people I used to play with at home. I've heard back from one, who pointed out a couple of things I used to do that we liked, but neglected to include this time. I'm waiting for the remaining two to get back to me.

I've thought about opening up recruitment prior to receiving it; one I know looked over it this past weekend, so I should get his opinion in the next few days. However, character creation doesn't need the information, really, aside from the monetary limits. I think I'll go ahead and get it set up, and I'll link it here once I do.

Howdy folks!

I was that prospective GM, and I did indeed cede the other campaign to another interested GM; their party of 6 was split 3/3 on which of us they'd want to run it, but the other interested applicant had prepared the module in the past, whereas I had not. In the interest of time and amiable party relations, I withdrew.

That means, I'm more than free to take over this!

I got a copy of Iron Gods to browse over, and try to get a feel for what I'd need to do to bring it up to par with a Gestalt party. At least in the initial part here, as well as in the same time interest, I'll probably just pop another mob or two in; combat will be easier at first, but I'll have time to adjust future encounters more thoroughly.

I'd like to think I can tell a good story, when I take enough time to properly format a post. Hopefully, Sarona can attest to that; we play together in a Second Darkness campaign. I'm still establishing a routine on here, something I'm sure takes many months to do (especially as I find new games in which to participate, until I find my "heavy load"), so, unlike a lot of the most-praised GMs, I do not post like clockwork. I'm "constantly" on here; I check the Paizo site like most people check social media, and am usually available to answer any questions, even if it's via a poorly-formatted mobile post.

That being said, it seems likely at the moment that my scene-setting posts will take place in the morning hours, EST. I can readily make one of those a day, possibly with another in the late evenings. This includes weekends for me, but I'm not going to be a stickler for that from the players. I prefer those, but I'll leave it to your discretion if you'd rather I post shorter, but more often.

I also, admittedly, have done little "crunching" or reading what you've done so far. It seemed in the best interest of everyone that I familiarize myself with the AP as-written first, to get myself into the setting. If you'd like me to pick this up, I'll spend my time today reviewing your characters, and the portion you've already completed, and will (likely, it depends on my son's nap) be able to get my first "real" post up before I go to bed this evening.

If you're interested in having me with all of the above spelled out, then I'll send a note to have the campaign transferred over. I see you use Roll20 for mapping; I personally prefer Google, but if everyone is set up for the site, I can work with that, as well. It may take an encounter or two for the maps to not be obnoxiously stretched, but I can get it sorted.

I appreciate the consideration!

Assumming Fez doesn't beat me to the punch here, I'll let him have the privilege. I appreciate the kind words, truly! But it seems more important to most of you to have Fez's familiarity with the module, and honestly I tend to agree. While I'm sure we would have fun, Fez knows what he's doing, and that makes it fun, too, probably even more so.

So congrats Fez! If you want a break, or get busy, you know where to find me!

Since they know each other I'm almost willing to suggest they Co-GM, but that just sounds like a recipe for disaster too.

I agree. If that were the case, I'd rather defer to Fez, and just keep an eye on it and pop in for the occasional break/busy period. Maybe offer a suggestion or two; but when it came down to calls, it would be his decision alone if you would decide to go that route. He knows the mechanics of the module better than I do, and has at least practiced at setting it out.

1.How long have you been playing/GMing Pathfinder?
Since 2007. My new college buddy had a downloaded copy of the beta text, and he had built a home brew world to go with it. After about two years of his, we moved into the published APs and Golarion-based customs. Our size varied, but a core group of 4 of us played together until early '15. I've been pretty out before coming here, late last year or early this.

2.Have you ever had to quit a game (as a GM or PC)for any reason? How many times?
Thanks to my circumstance, it was rare that one of the core group would drop. We all knew each others schedules pretty well, and hung out most days of the week. If a game ended, it was usually because the majority had grown bored; this happened a few times, and we'd take a small break, regroup, and run something else. We all loved games, so some of the period was other systems (Dogs in the Vineyard and Amber Diceless once each are those memorable), or classic board/card games.

I put an end to a game I ran once; the party and design was supposed to be diplomatic, and we'd turned into murderhobos, myself as GM included. We just transplanted our characters to a different setting and pretended we'd been there all along. I triedl Roll20 before coming here, and probably was in five failures. People stop showing up. I was one, once; two sessions were nothing but OOC chat about movies and such, and I felt it was a waste of my precious gaming time, and told them so. I never tried to run my own.

3.What is your experience/comfort level with the module?
None. I've read it since applying, but otherwise have never seen it. Masks, which I believe comes next, I've read several times, and admittedly look forward to that book more than this current, if only because I know it better.

4.The previous GM had us generate background info for him to tie into the game, is that something you'd be interested in and capable of using as well?
I hope I can use it well, but it is certainly something that interests me. I'm currently running only a PFS module on the boards, with, humorously enough, Fez and I taking on a series of PFS tables focused on teamwork feats starting in the next few days. I'm very much regretting "table consistency;" the module I' running has limited options at this early stage, and though not allowed, I'd love to let them do more than what is written. With your group, I'd have that opportunity.

Like Fez, let me know if you have anything further. And Fez, best of luck to both of us here!

Howdy!

I'd love to volunteer for this. I'm not, however, intimately familiar with the module; I was going to leave the Recruitment blank, in case someone came along with more experience than me, but now I'd rather not let the opportunity pass!

I'll have time tonight to read through the Gameplay thread, and familiarize myself with the module. During most days, I can't afford to make long, expositional posts until evenings (EST), but thanks to the marvels of phones, I can post updates and check results (and combat, combat is easy) several times a day. The big posts would be once a day (including weekends), maybe more if we're all on at the same times.

I love your "crazy" plans, and you sound like an absolutely wonderful group. I hope you'll consider me for the position; feel free to ask me anything!

Thanks!

Yikes, you have your work cut out for you, picking from such a great group!

Good luck everyone!

Æroden here with my submission: Yala Steelbender, Dwarf-Blooded Oread Armored Hulk Barbarian and native of Torch.