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Just giving you another check-in since I haven't updated in a day or two here. The final stretch to Christmas is definitely here and weighing on me, and while I'm doing my best to handle everything it does mean I don't have as much energy to go around as normal. I'll try to hopefully get this updated later today or tomorrow, but if not it'll probably wait til after the holiday. Hope you're doing well wherever you may be!
Just to confirm--these players themselves are our characters, and are fictional, right? Like, we're not actually playing ourselves, we're playing a fictional character who was themselves a "real-world" player of Pathfinder (or whatever), and has now been magically transported into the game world. (e.g., I wouldn't be playing as Helix Missionary, I'd be playing as John Smith, local hobbyist.) Right?
I've been slowly starting to come back into PbP on here, and this sounds like a really fun idea, so I'll voice interest as well.
My apologies that things have slowed down here. Between family coming home for the holidays, and the holiday season itself, it's been a bit hectic around my home. In addition, I seem to be catching every cold that comes my way, and haven't had a ton of energy as a result. I've learned hard lessons about burning myself out by forcing things in the past, so I hope you're alright bearing with as I take my time with posting at the moment.
My apologies that things have slowed down here. Between family coming home for the holidays, and the holiday season itself, it's been a bit hectic around my home. In addition, I seem to be catching every cold that comes my way, and haven't had a ton of energy as a result. I've learned hard lessons about burning myself out by forcing things in the past, so I hope you're alright bearing with as I take my time with posting at the moment.
Just posting in all my games to apologize for my silence lately. I've been really busy the last couple weeks with the end of the school session and a lot of grading and related work to do. I should be back to a more regular schedule next week, and I'll be doing my best to check in until then.
Just posting in all my games to apologize for my silence lately. I've been really busy the last couple weeks with the end of the school session and a lot of grading and related work to do. I should be back to a more regular schedule next week, and I'll be doing my best to check in until then.
Just posting in all my games to apologize for my silence lately. I've been really busy the last couple weeks with the end of the school session and a lot of grading and related work to do. I should be back to a more regular schedule next week, and I'll be doing my best to check in until then.
Just posting in all my games to apologize for my silence lately. I've been really busy the last couple weeks with the end of the school session and a lot of grading and related work to do. I should be back to a more regular schedule next week, and I'll be doing my best to check in until then.
Just posting in all my games to apologize for my silence lately. I've been really busy the last couple weeks with the end of the school session and a lot of grading and related work to do. I should be back to a more regular schedule next week, and I'll be doing my best to check in until then.
I'd agree--Kineticists have high CON, but between a d8 hit die and Burn, that doesn't go as far as it might seem. My character's also solid for ranged damage, including a lot of short-range AoE, so a frontliner of some kind would be helpful. Beyond that, I think we could use some support (battlefield control and/or buffing and/or emergency healing).
I'll echo that sentiment. Also, holy hell, my guys. Whatever happened to this being a friendly community here? You're right, this isn't the Advice board, so let's leave the pissy behavior there, where it belongs. (I kid. Slightly.) Anyway, I think there's a lot of merit in this idea. Obviously things don't exist in vacuums, but you can get some good experience and practice out of experimental encounters. And I'll always applaud anyone looking to become a better DM, however you want to go about it. We improve through trying, failing, learning, and trying again. So yeah, I'm game. If also be interested in testing some of my own potential encounters with folks if they're interested. Just let me know what I need to bring to the table and I'll bring it.
Then if you'll allow me to spitball... A Province of Fallen Men:
Imagine a province in the Imperium: a land beyond the High Wall, still tamed, but with that civilization more apt to fraying around the edges. A governor rules this province, connecting it to the Imperium. The people there are natives of the land, with their own deep ties to the forests, the hidden places in the deep wood. They had their own ways before the Imperium came, their own gods, ancient and capricious. Most now pay at least lip service to the Pantheon of the Imperium, but this is an old land, and the old ways run deep. The Old Gods still dwell in those dark places, and there are many who yet know how to call to them.
Imagine the Cataclysm. Scholars may disagree on exactly what happened, but the Imperium fell into ruin. Barbarism, savagery, and worse swept across the land. The entirety of an empire collapsed under the dark tide, their ways and their gods powerless to aid them. Imagine a governor who only wants to protect his people. A man with the best of intentions, driven to the brink. His legions not enough, of themselves, to stand against the enemy. Imagine the folk of his province entreating their Old Gods, and telling their governor to do the same. The power that lurks in their forests is powerful still, even if grayed and dusty from the long years. And when all hope is lost, and the people of the province turn as one to the Old Gods... They answer. Imagine the fear such a province--or kingdom, or tribe, whatever you might call it--would strike in the Kingdom of Valorium and its Legions, two-thousand years later. It is heresy of the highest order, and a direct challenge to the notion that their Kingdom is pure and good and true. For there are other Gods and powers which yet hold sway in the world, commanding their own legions beyond the Wall. And the heathens and savages who dwell there may once have been not so unlike the Valorians themselves. As I said, spitballing. But I think it's a neat idea, and adds a twist to the concept that barbarians overthrew their Imperial lords (which may be the story Valorian scholars still support), as well as provide a fairly concrete reason why those who gain their powers from nature or Old Gods (i.e., eldritch patrons) are viewed with great fear and suspicion.
Been sick and busy most of this week, but checking back in I like what's rolling! Also appreciate that you want player input, because as I said I think it adds a lot to agency and investment, along with saving you some potential work as DM. I'll try and have some specific points and ideas in the coming days, but for now just generally tacking on thoughts (spoilered for length)... Various Musings: I agree that the name Vallium is a bit similar to the prescription medicine. Vellium, or Vellum would work well. Could even go Valorum, which has a subtle Star Wars reference for those in the know, but not one that I think makes it unacceptable. Also has a nice sense of austerity and puffed-up-ed-ness to it.
I'll admit I'm not very familiar with the Alera stuff from Jim Butcher--I know some of his work, but clearly not all. That said, this seems to have some clear Roman Britannia vibes, so if I might suggest for religion (possibly rolling into the idea of pantheons for the other races): why not include other pantheons of the time and region? Perhaps the Celtic deities in some form are still around, although less popular. Maybe the Elves still worship them in some form, others have been adapted into various gods and goddesses of the standard pantheon. And beyond the High Wall, well, who knows what heathens exist? (I kid.) This could also lend itself to patrons for warlocks, in particular the Fey or the Great Old One, perhaps others as well depending on choice. I imagine anyone who wants to play a warlock would need to do some worldbuilding to create their own patron, which presents a challenge on top of the basic need to avoid being burned at the stake for witchcraft. On that note, I'd like to put forward maybe a little more nuance with the distinction of magic users and how they're seen? Bards, in particular, I think could vary widely in their perception based on origin. The Colleges often suggest that there could be formalized training for bards--well, some of them, anyway, and the College of Lore in particular suggests additional, focused training in the magical arts. Maybe those bards, or others who have "worked for their art" so to speak, are seen as better than the average wandering minstrel. I imagine that for the races, players might have some leeway in terms of the cultures or regional origins for them? Particularly the less common ones. And finally, I agree the Wall should be named after the king who saw it constructed, although I also think that people commonly calling it the High Wall makes sense. Any name with an imperial sound to it should do, I'd think (although I might avoid names that end with s, since that would lead to awkward pronunciation).
I think a business in a town/city with the need for journeying and exploration is a very solid starting point. Not to suggest adding even more to the fire, but it could easily be combined with the idea for a frontier town, whether one in a region where new opportunities are arising (think: frontier mining town, Fort Inevitable from Emerald Spire) or having survived some calamity. Admittedly, I'd be more partial to the prior option. Whatever we go with, though, I agree that having PC's/players give some locales and people, and perhaps some history or current events, would be a good jumping off point. Lots of material to work with, directly invests the players and their characters in the town and provides agency, and means the GM can easily fit adventure hooks to the PCs and their goals.
Both of those setups sound fun to me. I will say that the urban setting is one I'd love to play in, but it also has some potential troubles in my experience. PbP can be a tough beast to just let people loose in and see what they do--with the right group it can go very, very well, but I've seen it peter out and die frequently. That said, I'm very game for either. I do think, personally, that playing in a non-established setting would be more fun, especially if we're talking about world-building in the intervening month and a half. But that's just my piece, and if you are doing a published setting, Eberron is a very fun one.
I'll echo what some others have said: exploration and urban sound fun. I think 5e works well for both of those as well. Zany could be neat as well, but I've played in games that wanted to do that before and they tend to have some problems arise before long.
So sorry, everybody. Between being busier with work than I thought and just not having a concept come together the way I like, I've gotten very little done with my character. At this point I'm feeling I should bow out, seeing as everyone else is more or less finished I believe, and I don't want to keep you guys hanging and waiting. Feel free to use Phantasm as an NPC and do what you like with Pandemonium--I still think you've collectively got a good thing going with the backstory and concepts!
Just FYI--gonna do my best to update at some point today, but I've come down with a cold so it may not happen if my head doesn't clear enough. Should be good to go within a day or two though.
Just FYI--gonna do my best to update at some point today, but I've come down with a cold so it may not happen if my head doesn't clear enough. Should be good to go within a day or two though.
Nice to know! I'm still struggling to get a solid concept and character together for this, because spheres did shake up my original plan. And now half the ideas I have are similar to submissions people have already put forward... So I'm hoping to get some good inspiration.
Oh crap, I totally lost track of posting regularly here and updating my character. Uh, let me get on that. Should be wrapped up soon, hopefully! As far as college/high school goes, I'm fine either way. I agree that if we do a university type setting it should have us all as freshmen: young, inexperienced, with everything to prove. Maybe we're coming in a little ways into the first semester, since the team did all come together already? Or maybe we had one hell of an orientation week. Also, I'm totally on board with the idea of us teaming up to stop a big bad guy. I had a lot of thoughts on something like that happening, particularly with my character turning from villainy. If that works for other folks, I'll bake it in. Also, big bad guy in question still on the way, unless anyone else has already created/suggested them? I see the name Pandemonium, which I like.
Oh, Spheres of Might changes everything I had planned. Well, maybe not everything, but still, much more to think about.
Hey, sorry I've been so silent here--I've been forgetting to check in now that the discussion has moved to, well, Discussion. If everybody's moving on and there's not a lot of room for me anymore, let me know, I'm fine with bowing out. That said, I do have the basic layout of Jasper Dumont, a.k.a. Phantasm set up. Still working on answering the backstory questions to my own satisfaction, and obviously need to figure out who gets what as far as Influence and the team questions. But the profile so far should give at least a basic understanding of what his deal is and how things will be shaping up. As far as When Our Team First Came Together, the Reformed's addition is that We fought a terrible enemy from my old life, and we have to decide who it was and what they took from me. I think this can play decently into what we already have established for this moment: a fallen hero, a destroyed monument--it would have to be caused by some great and terrible villain, and that's what I provide. I think that moment might even have been the turning point where Jasper switched sides, aiding the other young heroes against his old mentor. I'll have to work out the specifics, but Jasper's powers and theme are related to more esoteric "dark powers from beyond" sort of ideas, so probably something along those lines. Not necessarily a cosmic threat, but someone with that sort of vibe to their demeanor and power suite. I also need to dwell on what they took from Jasper personally. I think it should have to do with that image of the broken hero amidst the shattered stone of the monument: the idea that heroes are not infallible guardians who will always triumph over injustice. Could be there was a lot of collateral damage to the fight. In any case, Jasper comes in with a more soured and gray-morality view of heroes (and villains) than the average student at the school. Preliminary thoughts, mostly! Still working out the bugs and settling on particulars. Hopefully it is adding something if I'm still good to be involved in this, though!
Hmm. I have ideas, but I'm not positive on what to do just yet. I'll take a bit of time to think about things.
Is Variant Multiclassing allowed? I think I have a concept cooking with a Savage Technologist barbarian, probably a reformed raider. (I was thinking a Trench Fighter but I see someone else leaning that way--I agree, this is a good chance to play one!) For that matter, I should ask: the Savage Technologist archetype lets you add Strength to Diplomacy when dealing with "tribal cultures." Is there a culture that would work well for my character to come from and use this bonus with, could it apply to raiders, or would it do something else entirely?
I'm very intrigued! This sounds like a lot of fun. Let's see if the dice are in my favor... Ability Score Rolls:
16, 13, 13, 12, 11, 8... That's a 17 point buy. I think I'll take the 20, if that's okay.
I've got no particular preference there, but I do think it's better if there are at least some NPC students to potentially interact with. Whether they're powered or not, and know about us or not, is another question entirely. Also, I'm still around! Struggled to actually gain traction on inspiration with my harbinger, so I switched things up and I'm playing around with a Reformed, which I think would be very interesting as well. Hopefully will have them wrapped up before much longer here.
Apologies for my silence--I was visiting family this weekend, and between the Internet at the house being very spotty, and being busy with things, I didn't get a chance to update the games I'm running. I've just gotten back to my own house, so expect an update tonight or, more likely, tomorrow!
Apologies for my silence--I was visiting family this weekend, and between the Internet at the house being very spotty, and being busy with things, I didn't get a chance to update the games I'm running. I've just gotten back to my own house, so expect an update tonight or, more likely, tomorrow!
Apologies for my silence--I was visiting family this weekend, and between the Internet at the house being very spotty, and being busy with things, I didn't get a chance to update the games I'm running. I've just gotten back to my own house, so expect an update tonight or, more likely, tomorrow!
I may be totally off base here, but if we're doing super school, then for all we know we probably aren't an established team, so much as we have worked together on occasion, if at all. I know one of the gameplay/story assumptions Masks makes is that we're a team who've already come together, but I could easily see that being played with in a setting like this. As for personalities, that obviously comes down to what the other players come up with. I'm still cracking on mine if Harbinger is good to go. That said, I don't have the final version, so if it's significantly different from the playtest PDF that I do have, I might be a bit off on some of the specifics.
Still toying with particulars on my berserker, but I have the general chassis in place. Hopefully I'll get him wrapped up and ready to go, including some background, within a day or so.
Aw hell, we might as well do more. I've got the time and madness for it. Sets 4-10:
Set 4
14 15 16 15 12
Set 5
Set 6
Set 7
Set 8
Set 9
Set 10
And with that, honestly, I'll stick with my results from set 2. I can make a perfectly capable character out of that. Thinking at least one level of expert right now, maybe taking a level of warrior as well or sticking expert, we'll see.
Still very interested here. If we're going super-school, I'd love to play a Harbinger... Chip on his shoulder, and things made even worse by the fact that in this time, the super-authorities are insisting he get training and oversight. But, if you'd prefer I not use it since it's still in playtesting (I believe), I could go with something else instead. Possibly a Reformed, but maybe something else... Bulls and Proteges are fun.
I'd be very interested in this! I was in a real-time Masks game a while back that was a lot of fun, I'd love to do it again. I'd also be happy to take part in round-robin style GMing, and can probably whip up a concept for almost any playbook.
Just for kicks, I'll roll another set or two to see what it gets me. Mostly because I love rolling dice. Set 2:
18, 14, 18, 15, 17, 18. Definitely very good. Set 3:
18, 16, 14, 14, 15, 14. I'll think I'll take my second set then, for 18, 18, 18, 17, 15, 14. Phenomenal, really.
This sounds very intriguing. If you have any thoughts on what you'd like to see as far as backstories or such go, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise I'll just try and cook up something interesting from whatever I roll and think up... Set 1:
So ultimately that's 18, 15, 12, 18, 18, 14. I'm gonna go ahead and just take that.
I should.have my character done by tomorrow; I actually have the crunch finished, I believe. And while I had considered canid I ended up doing Ursa, but seeing another of those I might swap back or do something else entirely. I'll play with it and see what shakes out.
Just doing a quick look through the thread and tallying specific mentions and references, looks like the current "voting standings," as they would be, are as follows: End of the World: 11
I'm not strictly suggesting this be the deciding factor for what to run, but it may be useful food for thought.
Sounds fun. I always enjoy rolling stats... Quick question: are traits on the table? Set 1:
Set 2:
Well at least I know which set I'm going with...
You know already from our chats, but I'd be down for pretty much any of these. Particularly interested in the End of the World or Shards of the Empire in Pathfinder, or Deathworld.
Agreed--huge thanks to the players and GM for all the feedback and advice given here. Whoever gets in is a very lucky soul indeed.
Sounds good, I will be back with a more straightforward berserker type then.
Alright! Starting to look into options, I'm thinking a berserker of sorts, probably dual-wielding handaxes or something along those lines. I'd also be interested in having them be a lycanthrope if that's alright with you--if it wouldn't fit the tone you're going for, or if you want them to be a canid to begin with, that's fine by me. Just let me know.
Gah! My apologies for never getting around to putting a background in Evedro's profile. I have one, I swear, I just need to type it up in an acceptable fashion... Good luck to all!
I've spoilered my response so I don't wall of text the whole thread. Responses: ... in regards to your background, I must note that I am not sure if you're aware of the timeline of Galt and of Golarion, because your background and the aforementioned timelines do not mesh. Or rather, I suppose it may well be just the fact that you focused on one point to its conclusion, then on others, and so the appearance is that it doesn't mesh. My apologies regarding the timeline getting wonky--it was a style choice I made for the backstory, and without wanting to include all the hard dates involved, it definitely became less than straightforward. I think I managed to keep all the numbers in mind when writing, though, so here's what I think the timeline would look like... Spoiler:
~4490: Athanas is born in Isarn. ~4515: Athanas's mother leaves Isarn for places unknown. 4606: Aroden's death. In the ensuing chaos, Athanas decides to become a physician. Shortly thereafter, his father helps to secure him apprenticeship with physicians at a hospital. ~4626: Athanas becomes a full physician (licensed, if such a thing existed at the time, I suppose) and begins working at the hospital. 4667: The Red Revolution begins. Athanas's father, a true believer and patriot, is a proud supporter of the effort. Athanas himself mostly keeps to his work, doubling his efforts to open his own clinic separate from the hospital; he is able to do so not long after the revolution starts. ~4672: As the First Revolutionary Council comes to a bloody end (a coup? an implosion of sorts? I'm not sure), Athanas's father sees the writing on the wall and flees the country, not to be heard from again. ~4675: Athanas first kills a man, beginning his road to becoming the vigilante called Le Boucher. ~4685: Athanas moves his offices into a former small bank, likely abandoned after the ignoble end of the Golden Council scandal. Future renovations will expand his services, as well as offer him both living quarters on site and a hidden vault for sensitive materials. ~4695: Athanas is able to open Le Meilleur Remède as a component to his medical work. ~3 years ago: Athanas is approached by Androk Jeggare or one of his allies with an offer to join the Conspiracy. This makes Athanas a bit over two hundred years old, well into middle age for an elf, and about the time most people ought to be slowing down. But he's still quick and determined, and ready to die for his beliefs. I will state that as I read, I am seeing a fair amount of 'this is what the world is like, this is what happened', and yes that makes me twitchy, but most of it is relatively logical, or possibly indicated in one corner or another of the Gazette; I may have read it all, but I haven't memorized it all. :P :) My apologies for this as well if it was too much. I knew as I was writing that I was making some small assumptions, but I hoped that they were far enough in the past and/or, as you said, logical or indicated. If there are any parts of it I should change, let me know and I'm happy to do so. Off the top of my head... --I based the events surrounding Aroden's death on references from a few pages on the Pathfinder Wiki, including mentions of massive storms, clerics losing their magic, priests going mad, and Pharasmins being suspected and even outright attacked for their goddess's supposed role (or lack thereof) in events. I did make the assumption that Aroden would be respected and worshiped in Galt/Isarn, as he was the "god of humanity" and popular in all of Cheliax's domains and colonies, at least from my understanding. --I guessed there would have been a more sound medical infrastructure in Galt before the revolution, based on the page for Our Lady of Liberation. If it was reopened after being abandoned, that means it existed, and in a city of Isarn's size I'd imagine (honestly, I'd hope) that there was more than one place for the sick to be treated. If that always was the only hospital, then that's where Athanas was trained. --I included some Pharasmins among the doctors because her purview includes healing as well as death, and she's cited as being popular among midwives and morticians; it makes sense to me that physicians would commonly pay her service as well. I also referenced the troubles for them based on Pharasma's page on the Gazette, although I now realize that I did make the jump from "her worship is banned" to "some of her followers were executed for vocalizing hatred of the Final Blades;" I think I misremembered the specifics when I was writing that part. I'll redact it if you prefer. --Some of the dates for events were chosen based on what I hope were minor, logical leaps about the general air of things during different councils. Again, I'd like to stress that if anything is amiss here or doesn't fit with what you have in mind for the world, I'm more than happy to change it. This is a huge undertaking and a fantastically detailed setting, and I very much appreciate the work you're putting in to present a fully realized city, complete with history and culture, for us to operate in.
I've updated Athanas Sylvain's profile with descriptions and summaries of his buildings and organizations, which ran quite a pretty penny but turned out quite nicely for what I envisioned. Still working on other equipment, but the only major purchase will be Healer's Satchel that he carries for portable healing supplies, and possibly some generic 'alchemical reagents' for future crafting, if that's alright with you, GM TWO. Maybe some potions, too, but Athanas prefers to rely on mundane measures for healing if at all possible.
Sounds very neat to me, I'd be super interested. Love that style of scenario for an adventure.
Alright, been disappeared for a while working on my submission, figuring out his background and getting it written up. May I present the core, at least, of Athanas Sylvain: Forlorn, physician, vigilante, and hopefully, conspirator. I'm on to nailing down his spending--some equipment and probably more than a little on buildings/organizations, and more background blurbs for everything related, including specifically on his vigilante identity as Le Boucher--but I wanted to at least put up the main bulk for folks to look at and respond to, if you have the time. Much appreciated!
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