Thanks for the reply, that gives me a lot of ideas to ponder on. I have a feeling if there's adjusting to be made it'll be a lot clearer what direction to expect it to be going after letting things develop naturally (maybe with a little subtle situational prodding) next session, so it remains to be seen what'll come of it. I can see doing things a bit out of order like that, though, since the mask would probably still have to go through the various agents already present before actually reaching the FP and there are a few ways for that to potentially go lopsided.
So, I'm not sure how many people will see this, but I'm running Mummy's Mask and currently am in a weird spot at the start of book 3. We just had to say goodbye to another party member who had to drop, but we still have three party members:
A catfolk aasimar paladin of Bastet (fudging the LG thing, I think it makes sense to do so for that deity and in the context of Osirian religion)
A kitsune oracle (Neutral, spellscarred and god-meddled, believes himself essentially cursed by the gods and privately hates them. Very vain and concerned with wealth and beauty)
A kasatha ninja (LE assassin type of character, also wealth-motivated, has enough ties to the group that I think he'll stick with them through things, but has a very rough view of the world, believes it best to kill people before they come back to hurt you and had a lot of arguments with the cleric of sarenrae who left the group recently)
I don't really have any worries about the players, they're great (and shouldn't read this if they find it). What currently concerns me, is that after getting the mask, not fully understanding what it is yet and only that it's extremely powerful and potentially dangerous, their IC reaction is ultimately to try to sell it to the church. Which, as per the book, leads to the temple of Pharasma turning them down for political reasons. Now after hearing about Tephu, though, they plan to go there. Albeit, not to research the mask so much as to.. sell it. To the temple of Nethys. This is, uh. Problematic.
And in general, it's making me realize that I'm going to have bigger problems as this campaign starts to become more and more about stopping the cult. As it stands, the party doesn't know the whole situation about the mask. When they do, I'm sure the paladin will be on board with stopping an evil cult, but depending on how it's framed, I'm not sure the other PCs will end up caring about that plot, maybe just going on with it for the sake of money (which, to be fair, is something they care a lot about, but I can see that wearing thin, again depending how I describe Hakotep's vast wealth). And even getting there is a bit of an issue, as right now my biggest problem is motivating them to actively try to do research in Tephu in the first place, as opposed to just selling the mask and leaving for greener pastures.
That said, I suppose there <i>is</i> also always the option of allowing them to sell the mask and go off only to face the consequences of their actions. Much as that would essentially result in having to prepare a whole adventure beside the main plot and having to put aside the actual written components of the adventure, I think it's what would theoretically happen RAW and they've at least been assured by the Temple of Pharasma that the mask shouldn't get into the wrong hands. I don't see why the temple of Nethys would refuse to buy it, since they don't want knowledge of it to get out, and don't necessarily know about the cult that wants it, and then it can potentially have attempts at theft from the cult? And eventually, if actually stolen, the cult's plans could eventually come to fruition. But I'm not sure that's necessarily worth the extra work, since the timeframe of that would definitely necessitate some other adventures occurring in the meantime.
Thoughts? I'm also planning to delve more into the PCs personal backgrounds and plots which should have a significant effect on motivation, but those are more individualized and won't necessarily have much tie to the larger plot (except the paladin but he's set).
I'd be up for playing on discord if you're still looking for folks. Not overly familiar with spheres of power/might but I'll be having a look at it. Should be flexible in terms of time at least for a good while. Both text and voice are good.
Edit: albeit I should say Wednesday is less likely than Monday for me since I DM Wednesdays around the mentioned time
Sorry for my own inactivity. I thought I would have the time to make sure I can post regularly with things on here, but things have changed somewhat drastically for me and it has gotten to the point where I don't think I'll be able to for a while, so I'll unfortunately have to drop out of this.
Sorry for my inactivity. I thought I would have the time to make sure I can post regularly with things on here, but things have changed somewhat drastically for me and it has gotten to the point where I don't think I'll be able to for a while, so for the sake of not holding up anything further, I'll be dropping out.
I'm also interested (I should say this would be my first experience with the 2e playtest beyond second hand accounts. I should be able to figure it out quickly, though).
I'm very interested. I'll likely put something together tonight or tomorrow. Possibly a wizard or other arcane caster of some form, given the current group composition? Or perhaps a front-liner of some kind... Whichever pans out better.
I went over the histories of every character that has so far applied, and thought I'd come up with ideas of whether my character (Hamon, above) would know any of them.
Spoiler:
Parnell may have met him while dispatching bandits, as they are likely one of Hamon's most common marks, same with Podlow. Since Hamon works between the cities, he could have met either, but if so, only met them briefly, and went on his way, I think.
As well, he spends a lot of time travelling and staying in inns, so it's also likely that he and Tipene would at least recognize each other as regulars.
And of course he could have known anyone else from either Tykren or Asmerade by random chance as well.
I read it. Seems pretty good to me. I guess it'd be good to know whether traits are allowed, though I assume not?
Also, for gunslingers, would you be implementing the optional "daring act" rule, wherein they can regain grit from doing things the DM deems risky and dramatic enough? And if so, would you let it apply to the Swashbuckler's panache too, since they're meant to essentially be the same pool? It's not a big deal to me either way, but it's good to know.
Also, should mental stats be representative of the character's personality outside of the game, or are they indicative of the abilities of the character they're playing in the game? Since characters can know meta information, I'd guess the former?
On second thought, I think I will still do something for Death of a God. I'll probably put together something other than my previous concept, though, as it just wasn't going anywhere interesting.
GM, by "No ability scores below 8", do you mean before or after racial mods?
Echos Myron wrote:
And to not steal your thunder, ImperialSunlight, I say the two halflings team together (if they both are selected). It'll be like a constant straight man, funny man routine.
No problem, I'm always game for a bit of competition. And yeah, if we're both selected, we could team together. It'd probably make sense if a couple of halfling rogue types knew and/or worked together in the past. And my character would indeed probably be the more serious type, so it'd likely be a fun dynamic.
I think I'll probably put together some kind of standard halfling rogue for this. Or else something along those lines.
Edit: Perhaps I'll go investigator and stress the rogue side of things to add a bit of spice to it. Investigator fits well enough into the "curious and adventurous" halfling trope, anyway. And I quite honestly am not super fond of the actual rogue mechanically. ;)
I'm more interested in the "death of a god" concept, if only because it has more to go on besides the setting. I'd be up for an underdark campaign too, though.
It's an interesting concept, and I'm interested. I have a few questions, however.
Will you allow a non-human tiefling? Probably a halfling.
Any restrictions on classes other than gunslingers?
How did we get training and our equipment in this prison? Were we allowed access to other prisoners and what was the quality of life like? These would be helpful when creating a character's background and such.
Edit: As clarification, when I say "tiefling halfling" I mechanically mean a tiefling, but small.
