Jacob DeCourcey's page

You can always carry around potted plants to use entangle. Sort of joking, but not really.

I am opening the IC threads right now, so we can get moving. I will be less involved to start so that you all can hash out your recent stories. The encounter with the slavers will still be Thursday night, so keep moving towards that. I don't know if any of you have the Inner Sea World Guide, so if you need a name for some city, let me know and I'll pick the most likely one.

I have been parsing all of your information and I'm loving some of the directions it's taking. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself :)

Also, can everyone please switch over to your alias full time and get your description fully up to date with story, friends, foes, goals, and full character sheet?

Thanks

I am opening the IC threads right now, so we can get moving. I will be less involved to start so that you all can hash out your recent stories. The encounter with the slavers will still be Thursday night, so keep moving towards that. I don't know if any of you have the Inner Sea World Guide, so if you need a name for some city, let me know and I'll pick the most likely one.

I have been parsing all of your information and I'm loving some of the directions it's taking. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself :)

Also, can everyone please switch over to your alias full time and get your description fully up to date with story, friends, foes, goals, and full character sheet?

Thanks

So, would you say that Hob and Masao have been in town for a while? And if that's the case, how much of each of your backstories has happened in Piren's bluff?

@Garreck - I don't have a preference as to what goes in the name line. I'm using Kyle Olson's Combat Manager for combat stats and the like, so I don't need it. Although, I could see it being quite handy for you to have a quick reference to the relevant stats, so feel free to use it for whatever you like.

Wouldn't you know it, the game hasn't started and I'm already retconning =) Earlier I said the parties would be starting on Arodus 7 and 14, but I'm changing it to Arodus 8 and 15 so that the days of the week line up with the 2012 real life calendar. Also, the in-game year is 4712. The reason I'm doing this is because I'm setting up a google calendar for the campaign, and I don't feel like having to convert every date. Apologies to all.

Wouldn't you know it, the game hasn't started and I'm already retconning =) Earlier I said the parties would be starting on Arodus 7 and 14, but I'm changing it to Arodus 8 and 15 so that the days of the week line up with the 2012 real life calendar. Also, the in-game year is 4712. The reason I'm doing this is because I'm setting up a google calendar for the campaign, and I don't feel like having to convert every date. Apologies to all.

Jacob wrote:

...

4. Please use proper English spelling and grammar. I could be the difference between life and death.

I see what you did there.

I was hoping someone would notice that. I was trying to think of a really clever example to put there, but I couldn't so I gave up. Then, when I went back to proofread, I noticed that little gem.

OK, here are a few points of standard procedure:
Posting Etiquette
1. Please try to post at least 5-10 times per week. Ideally this would include one post per day, but I understand if you can’t.
2. If you are going to be absent for more than a few days, please tell us in the OoC thread.
3. If you miss 2 consecutive days, we will go on without you. Depending on the circumstances, I will either skip whatever you were doing or take whatever action seems appropriate for you.
4. Please use proper English spelling and grammar. I could be the difference between life and death.
Combat
1. Combat will be carried out on a battlemat that I will post a link to. I will keep the mat updated as often as I post, but don’t wait for me if you can just figure out your move. The rows and columns are numbered and lettered, respectively. Please format you movement/targeting like this:
Roscoe moves from R5 to Q9 and fires on Orc #1 standing on M14.
2. I will roll initiative for everyone at the beginning of combat just so that we don’t waste time waiting on everyone’s initiative rolls.
3. Please include all relevant rolls in your turn post. Do not wait to see if you hit before you roll damage, for example.
Roscoe hits the Kobold with his big ol’ axe. (1d20+3 = 15, 1d8+3 = 6)
Game Mechanics
1. Max HP at level 1, ½ HP+1 on all others
2. Fast experience progression
Miscellaneous
1. Feel free to take liberties and make assumptions. If you want a prop to be available, assume that it is.
2. Magic Items are not available for purchase. They may be found, crafted, or commissioned.
3. Experience will be dished out to the whole party at once, and will be dished out often.
4. Err on the side of awesome. Go for the big one, make that risky bet, swing for the fences. It’s more fun that way.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to also ask a few questions about you, the players.
1. Please take a quick look at this article, and tell me what kind of player you see yourself as. That will greatly help me give you what you want in terms of fun.
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/theory/models/robinslaws.html
2. How long have you been playing RPGs? Pathfinder? Play by post?

I will follow up with anything else I need to add or to answer questions about rules, policy, or whatever.

Again, thanks for playing. I’m psyched.

OK, here are a few points of standard procedure:
Posting Etiquette
1. Please try to post at least 5-10 times per week. Ideally this would include one post per day, but I understand if you can’t.
2. If you are going to be absent for more than a few days, please tell us in the OoC thread.
3. If you miss 2 consecutive days, we will go on without you. Depending on the circumstances, I will either skip whatever you were doing or take whatever action seems appropriate for you.
4. Please use proper English spelling and grammar. I could be the difference between life and death.
Combat
1. Combat will be carried out on a battlemat that I will post a link to. I will keep the mat updated as often as I post, but don’t wait for me if you can just figure out your move. The rows and columns are numbered and lettered, respectively. Please format you movement/targeting like this:
Roscoe moves from R5 to Q9 and fires on Orc #1 standing on M14.
2. I will roll initiative for everyone at the beginning of combat just so that we don’t waste time waiting on everyone’s initiative rolls.
3. Please include all relevant rolls in your turn post. Do not wait to see if you hit before you roll damage, for example.
Roscoe hits the Kobold with his big ol’ axe. (1d20+3 = 15, 1d8+3 = 6)
Game Mechanics
1. Max HP at level 1, ½ HP+1 on all others
2. Fast experience progression
Miscellaneous
1. Feel free to take liberties and make assumptions. If you want a prop to be available, assume that it is.
2. Magic Items are not available for purchase. They may be found, crafted, or commissioned.
3. Experience will be dished out to the whole party at once, and will be dished out often.
4. Err on the side of awesome. Go for the big one, make that risky bet, swing for the fences. It’s more fun that way.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to also ask a few questions about you, the players.
1. Please take a quick look at this article, and tell me what kind of player you see yourself as. That will greatly help me give you what you want in terms of fun.
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/theory/models/robinslaws.html
2. How long have you been playing RPGs? Pathfinder? Play by post?

I will follow up with anything else I need to add or to answer questions about rules, policy, or whatever.

Again, thanks for playing. I’m psyched.

Alright, everyone, the discussion threads are up.

http://paizo.com/campaigns/ThePeoplesCampaignTeam1/discussion

http://paizo.com/campaigns/ThePeoplesCampaignTeamA/discussion

I will be working on getting all of the rules and protocol and things of that nature up in those threads. Please continue to hash out the events directly leading up to the attack on the slavers. As I said before, feel free to take any liberties necessary to make it all fit. Also, don't get too hung up on nailing down every detail about the lead up. It will be the past pretty soon.

Welcome Team 1 of the people's campaign!

Welcome Team A of the people's campaign!

Alright, let's go with Masao's suggestion:

Party A

Masao - Human Magus - JAF0
Arwen Hollower - Human Cleric - Galarian Sho'Ray
Hob Smith - Human Wizard - Harakani
Samant Blath'tan - Human Barbarian - TheChozyn

Party 1

Tiberius Badaxe - Human fighter - Castarr4
Dannic - Human sorcerer - Torchbearer
Garreck - Human Fighter - MJinthePitt
Fellorin Argthwellis - Human Bard - TimFrie

@Garreck - We will have two separate threads for the parties. I will set those up tonight.

That's what I forgot! Can everyone please get his/her alias up to date with full writeup (the application) and character sheet?

Thanks

So, with Hob confirming, we are full! Here is the roster:

Masao - Human Magus - JAF0
Arwen Hollower - Human Cleric - Galarian Sho'Ray
Hob Smith - Human Wizard - Harakani
Samant Blath'tan - Human Barbarian - TheChozyn
Tiberius Badaxe - Human fighter - Castarr4
Dannic - Human sorcerer - Torchbearer
Garreck - Human Fighter - MJinthePitt
Fellorin Argthwellis - Human Bard - TimFrie

Thanks to everyone else for your submissions and interest.

@Masao - To answer your question regarding what kinds of liberties you can take: lots! If you want Piren's Bluff to have a thriving thug population, make it so. There is so little written about the town that you can pretty much do whatever you want with it.

To the rest of you, don't get too hung up on party composition. I'll adjust the game to fit your capabilities. Also, I'm not terribly concerned with how any of you know each other or why you are here. Someone can just post up an official story and the rest of you can springboard off of that. You don't have to worry about clearing everything with me.

@Castarr4 - Way to be on the ball! This is exactly what I'll be working through with the other characters for the next few days. You are definitely in the game, by the way. I'll be running 2 parties of 4 players each.

I would encourage everyone who is definitely in to start working with me and each other to determine who is part of which party and why your characters are at the scene. Since the opening encounter will be the same for both parties, here's the plan: The first party (Party A) will encounter the slavers on Wealday (wednesday), Arodus (August) 14, 4711. The second party (Party 1) will encounter a second shipment of slaves on Wealday, Arodus 21, 4711. These dates are in game time, not realtime. Both parties will be starting their games at about 7pm EST on Thursday in real life. From there, they will proceed on their own paths, which may occasionally cross.

Here is the list of players who have possibly made the cut:

Bolded have finalized submissions.

Masao - Human Magus - JAF0
Arwen Hollower - Human Cleric - Galarian Sho'Ray
Hob Smith - Human Wizard - Harakani
Samant Blath'tan - Human Barbarian - TheChozyn
Tiberius Badaxe - Human fighter - Castarr4
Dannic - Human sorcerer - Torchbearer
Garreck - Human Fighter - MJinthePitt
Fellorin Argthwellis - Human Bard - TimFrie
Jack Sayer - Human Alchemist - LilWilly5

Jack Sayer, you're the only one still on the line. We'll have to wait and see what Hob Smith does. Everyone else bolded is definitely in.

@Varland - So, as a sorcerer, you would start with just cantrips, and a list of what your 1st level spells would be if you had them, and I'll add in your 1st level spells through exposition as the adventure progresses. since the martial characters are weakened by their poor starting equipment, the casters are weakened by their limited starting spell selection. By the time we make it to 2nd level, everyone should be more or less on track with standard gear and spells.

Alright, application time is up! Everyone who is ready to commit to a game, please post once more with your final character submission by midnight EST on Tuesday. If you are high enough on the list to be guaranteed a spot in a game, I will start working with you on the final touches of your character as soon as you post.

Thanks for your input, guys. I actually have pretty neat system of adventure creation and planning worked out. I got it from this free book: http://www.gamemastering.info/ I definitely give a huge recommendation to this book. The adventure creation system in the book is a real time saver.

I would like to try two games, and the idea of two parties occasionally crossing paths is too neat to pass up. All of the same recruitment rules still apply, and we will decide how to break up the parties on Wednesday and Thursday.

Dannic, I really appreciate your offer to help. I think I will start on my own and see how doable this is, and, if you're still available, I will call on you if I need help. Thanks.

@Varland - I like the conflicting nature of of Law and Chaos in your character. It's a neat concept. And the story is fantastic. One thing that would help your character in this campaign is to put a name to a few friends and foes. They don't have to be too serious, but just a name I can use in adventure seeds. How did Varland's family end up? Do they hate him or have they just tried to forget him? What about Avana? Even just a petty rivalry can go a long way towards adventuring.

@Laqqan - Very nice submission. It seems like Laqqan can't stand seeing people taken advantage of.

Here is an ordered list of submissions I have received:

Character - Class - Poster

Masao - Human Magus - JAF0
Arwen Hollower - Human Cleric - Galarian Sho'Ray
Hob Smith - Human Wizard - Harakani
Samant Blath'tan - Human Barbarian - TheChozyn
Tiberius Badaxe - Human fighter - Castarr4
Dannic - Human sorceror - Torchbearer
Garreck - Human Fighter - MJinthePitt
Fellorin Argthwellis - Human Bard - TimFrie
Jack Sayer - Human Alchemist - LilWilly5
Chibuzo - Human Druid - Big OM
Thales Kennet - Human Pyromancer - Dragonborn3
Varland - Human Sorcerer - Jackissocool
Laqqan - Human Rogue - Conman

Remember, applications close at midnight EST tonight.

And, wow, with so many great submission, I'm contemplating...

Does anyone know if it's reasonable to run two games at once?

@Dannic - To be honest, your character is one of my favorites. I really like the "fight fire with fire" angle. I'm excited to you have in this party, which is basically me saying that you're in. I appreciate your involvement by asking questions and giving suggestions, too. JAF0, you also get big points here. Dannic, if you would be so kind, could you arrange the material you have to match the template I gave in the original post, adding some quirks or mannerisms and tightening up the crunch into a character sheet. Also, no worries about the time. We'll just let this thing go at its own pace.

@Galrian - I will be starting on Thursday night at about 7pm. The party will be 3-5 players, depending on who confirms their entries. the official process for that is as follows:

Everyone pay attention to this

Applications close midnight EST on Sunday.
Everyone who is serious about playing needs to post to confirm with a final submission on Monday or Tuesday.
The party will be chosen out of those who confirm in the order that they originally posted characters.
Wednesday and Thursday I will prepare the first bit of adventure and continue working with the confirmed characters.
Thursday evening the game will start with an encounter with the slavers.

@Thales - I like this guy, and the backstory is great! I love the friend turned enemy.

@Jackissocool - I said halfling since it is similar in size and physical ability to a goblin and also similar to a human. Really, though, if you are going to make a whole new character, just make it a human. Humans have a huge range of personalities that can be played if you are just looking for variety.

@Hob - I meant just no traits at all. Your sheet is all good now. And enhancement is fine.

@Galrian - Looks good.

@Chibuzo - Solid submission.

@Bakran - I'm going to stick to my guns on this one and say that I can't take a goblin. It's just too different. If you want to work that character into a halfling and change the chrome on the backstory I could work with that. Also, I really don't know a darned thing about psionics, and I don't have the requisite sourcebooks, so I guess that character just isn't feasible. Sorry.

@Dannic - Go ahead.

@Jack Sayer - No time now, but I'll PM you later.

@LilWilly5 - An alchemist is fine. Just make sure to read the other instructions carefully before you post. I would hate for you to waste a bunch of time a character that doesn't fit.

@Samant and Dannic - thanks, fellas. Good stuff.

@ LilWilly5 - Check the original post for the requirements for a character.

@Dannic - Absolutely. I like that rather better. Just give me the list and we can figure then in story-wise.

My official ruling shall be:

Cantrips/Orisons only to begin. Include full list of 1st level spells, however.

Spontaneous casters will receive spells via exposition.

Prepared caster will receive spells via found equipment.

That way, both receive their appropriate spells in the same way, just with different chrome. (Because I won't randomly roll for equipment)

TimFrie - Nice work. You're on my list.

JAF0 - Oh, yeah, sorry. I meant all spontaneous and prepared spell casters respectively.

@Dannic - I will say to just start with cantrips. Whenever you see a spell (book, scroll, engraving, etc.) you may commit it to memory up to your normal limit. If fact, it could be pretty fun to go this route throghout the levels. Of course, you'd have to tell me what spells you want to find.

EDIT: Same goes for wizards, although there wouldn't be a limit to number of spells written in a book, other than the number of pages. (I know! We'll actually have to pay attention to that.)

@Garreck - Great story. Get that haracter up soon so you have some seniority!

@Galrian - Sorry for misspelling your name last post =) I like both of the deities you suggested a lot. Work that angle.

Go ahead TimFrie. If my experience lurking is any indicator, several of these fine folks won't be confirming.

Sweet Zombie Richard Nixon! I was not ready for this turnout. I think I responded to everyone who didn't just dot for interest. Those of you with character concepts posted, I will PM you if I have any questions/clarifications.

Let's see here...

@JAF0 - I PM'ed you back with my thoughts. Assuming you're still good for it, the first slot is yours.

@Noel Vermillion - I PM'ed you back to answer your question.

@Torchbearer - Don't get too hung up on geography. I picked Andoran because it was big, generic, and not overused. all you need to know can be wrangled up from the pathfinder wiki. http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Andoran

@Galarin Sho'Ray - I like your character concept, but this campaign is largely contingent upon me being able to incorporate the goals of individuals and team into adventures, and I can't do that when the alignments are so divergent. Law/chaos conflict can make for healthy spark when determining how to do something, but Good/evil conflict tend to revolve around what to do at all, which makes it difficult to motivate the team as one. I appreciate the response, and would be more than happy to consider a different character from you. The ideals of freewill and openness are great character seeds.

@Garreck - I eagerly anticipate your character submission.

@Hob Smith - I am not deeply familiar with crafting, but I'm game for it as long as you can help me with the crunch of it. Otherwise, good to go.

@Thechozyn - I love it. As is.

@Sunset(,) - I checked out your link. Nice roleplay! I'm not against other races, but, like I said, I think it requires a lot more effort to get the personality right. Of course, PbP is the perfect opportunity for this, since you will always have time to think through a response. I just feel like, since I'm new and this campaign is open to new players, humans only is the simplest solution. Thanks for your input.

@Azten - Go ahead with the pyromancer.

@Fallen_Mage - I don't care terribly if you use the rules to equip your character. Just give him/her what he/she needs and roll with it. I just don't want a bunch a perfectly outfitted spec-ops running around being awesome all the time. I really like what JAF0 did: he gave his character a similar but inferior weapon to what his feat dictates he should use so that one of his goals can be to acquire an appropriate weapon.

@Castarr4 - Wow. judging by your character concept, you are an accomplished roleplayer. I love the way you brought characters and goals into your profile while leaving them so open to adventure hooks. (whereabouts unknown - my dream come true!)

@Torchbearer - again - I just thought to myself about how long I had been working on this post and wondered if was going to get ninja'd. good thing I checked! I really like this character. I love the thin line.fire with fire angle you have on the mind control. It makes for good ethical forks!

Shoo-boy! That was a mouthful. It took me almost an hour to parse and reply to everything. I have decided, since so much happened since I last posted, that the party will be decided like this:

Applications will close at midnight EST Sunday night.
Whoever wants to be in the game will have to post one last time on Monday or Tuesday, and out of the people who post to confirm, I will take the first 3-5 according to order of posting a (at least mostly) complete character.

Here are the characters in order as of now:

Character - Class - Poster

Masao - Human Magus - JAF0
??? - ??? - Galarian Sho'Ray (I'm giving you this spot since you put in all the work of a character profile that didn't fit)
Hob Smith - Human Wizard - Harakani
Samant Blath'tan - Human Barbarian - TheChozyn
Tiberius Badaxe - Human fighter - Castarr4
Dannic - Human sorceror - Torchbearer

Thanks, everyone!

@Harakani - Excellent idea. I like sticking to cantrips/orisons to start, and a character can memorize/write down/whatever any applicable spell he/she finds up to the normal class amount. For example, a wizard will only have cantrips in her book until she finds "True Strike" on a scroll.

Don't worry, though, casters. I'm not nerfing you all. Realistically, within the first level or two you'll be right back up to standard equipment and spells. I really just do it this way so that I have adventure motivation until I get a feel for how to connect with your characters' goals and desires.

I'd love to put in a character if you're accepting. This would be my fist PbP, but not my first game. I can take any role you need/want/allow, but I prefer Rogue or Ranger, and notice that your party is short on such things.