Welcome to my PbP game for First Steps, Part I: In Service to Lore , tier 1. Hope you have a blast!
Before we start, I would to share some of my ground rules. (In spoiler tags to not take up space.)
Guidelines:
PbP Matters
1. This discussion thread is open for all OOC matters, so no ooc tag needed. For OOC matters in the gameplay thread, please use the [ ooc ] tag.
2. Please post at least once a day, including on weekends. If you would be away, please let me know in advance where possible, and we can work something out. Otherwise, if you go missing, where necessary, I will bot your characters for the sake of the rest of everyone else. Thus, a good idea is to leave botting instructions for combat (with dice rolls) and non-combat in your profile page beforehand.
3. If you have any disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the scenario, please take it to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this scenario before, or are currently GMing this for another table, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know.
5. I would have thought this would go without mentioning until I encountered this, so… It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of the game, including referencing the map on google slides. I understand that there are times where it is inconvenient to do so. In that case, please be as specific as you can as to where you wish your character to move, what actions to take, etc. If you regularly have issues with accessing the google slides, you might want to reconsider playing via PbP, especially for PFS as there is always combat, and thus map dependent.
Combat
6. Once surprise (if any) and initiative is determined, for the group of characters who can take actions, I would resolve actions in posting order, NOT initiative order. I used to do the latter but it doesn’t work that well in PbP, so am going with the former instead.
Rolls and Skill Checks
7. I would do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any).
8. On knowledge checks for general information, I would usually put them in spoilers with the necessary DCs. Just go ahead to roll, and I'll trust that you would resist reading them if the roll fails (or least not to metagame). (Don’t forget that you can make knowledge checks untrained for DC10.) There might be exceptions for plot-critical information though, where I would explicitly ask for knowledge checks. As for knowledge checks for monster lore, I would put the most basic information in spoiler as well, i.e. identity and one important info. If your roll would reveal more, I’ll provide in the next post. If you wish, you can ask for what information you want, e.g. DR, resistances, special attacks, etc.
9. On skill checks where there could be team effort involved, e.g. finding a hidden trail with survival, influencing attitude of NPCs with diplomacy, please be explicit when making the rolls whether you are attempting the check on your own, or whether you are assisting. (And take note of the pros and cons of either.) There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to assist) – I’ll state so explicitly if that’s the case.
10. On skill checks in general, if I feel you have roleplayed well, e.g. gave a good description of what your character does to search for a trail, came up with creative ways to befriend a hostile NPC, gave a very rousing speech, I would give bonuses, or even waive the DC altogether. :)
Roleplaying Matters
11. The maps and handouts link (at the top of the page) would display all the maps, handouts, pictures, etc as the scenario progresses. The most current page would be right on top, while previous ones would be left there for your reference. (Incidentally, Android and IOS has the Google Slides app in case you work off mobile devices.)
12. Please have your full character information up on your character's profile page for my vetting. Also, please have your stat block updated with the key information. Minimally please have your current hp vs max hp, AC (normal, touch and flat-footed), all three saves and movement. Feel free to include others.
13. Finally, playing by pbp provides many advantages compared to face-to-face games, the chief one being having the time and space to flesh out your thoughts and actions. So please make use of this and have posts that are more than simply dice rolls. :)
Getting Started
Ok with that out of the way, a few tasks before we kick off.
A. Go to the Gameplay page and dot.
B. Go to the maps and handouts page and fill out the table there. (Don’t worry about the 3 boxes below the table, i.e. token, initiative and perception. I’ll take care of that.)
C. In this Discussion thread, do your day job rolls (if any), and share whatever OOC information you would like the rest of the party to know about your character e.g. class, level, special abilities. We’ll leave character descriptions and introductions to the gameplay thread later when we are about to start.
Please ninja dot here so that it would appear in your campaign page, i.e. submit a "dot" post then delete it. So that it won't clog up the gameplay thread. Thanks!
I'm looking for three recruits to fill out the group for First Steps: Part 1 - In service of Lore. This scenario is for first level characters only. In addition, this is a PFS game so all characters need to be compatible.
I tend to post 1/day weekdays and 1/weekend, so it's not incredibly fast but methodical.
Lastly, this is my first attempt at GM for pbp, so some patience and gentle guidance may be needed.
Welcome to my PbP game for First Steps, Part I: In Service to Lore , tier 1. Hope you have a blast!
Before we start, I would to share some of my ground rules. (In spoiler tags to not take up space.)
Guidelines:
PbP Matters
1. This discussion thread is open for all OOC matters, so no ooc tag needed. For OOC matters in the gameplay thread, please use the [ ooc ] tag.
2. Please post at least once a day, including on weekends. If you would be away, please let me know in advance where possible, and we can work something out. Otherwise, if you go missing, where necessary, I will bot your characters for the sake of the rest of everyone else. Thus, a good idea is to leave botting instructions for combat (with dice rolls) and non-combat in your profile page beforehand.
3. If you have any disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the scenario, please take it to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this scenario before, or are currently GMing this for another table, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know.
5. I would have thought this would go without mentioning until I encountered this, so… It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of the game, including referencing the map on google slides. I understand that there are times where it is inconvenient to do so. In that case, please be as specific as you can as to where you wish your character to move, what actions to take, etc. If you regularly have issues with accessing the google slides, you might want to reconsider playing via PbP, especially for PFS as there is always combat, and thus map dependent.
Combat
6. Once surprise (if any) and initiative is determined, for the group of characters who can take actions, I would resolve actions in posting order, NOT initiative order. I used to do the latter but it doesn’t work that well in PbP, so am going with the former instead.
Rolls and Skill Checks
7. I would do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any).
8. On knowledge checks for general information, I would usually put them in spoilers with the necessary DCs. Just go ahead to roll, and I'll trust that you would resist reading them if the roll fails (or least not to metagame). (Don’t forget that you can make knowledge checks untrained for DC10.) There might be exceptions for plot-critical information though, where I would explicitly ask for knowledge checks. As for knowledge checks for monster lore, I would put the most basic information in spoiler as well, i.e. identity and one important info. If your roll would reveal more, I’ll provide in the next post. If you wish, you can ask for what information you want, e.g. DR, resistances, special attacks, etc.
9. On skill checks where there could be team effort involved, e.g. finding a hidden trail with survival, influencing attitude of NPCs with diplomacy, please be explicit when making the rolls whether you are attempting the check on your own, or whether you are assisting. (And take note of the pros and cons of either.) There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to assist) – I’ll state so explicitly if that’s the case.
10. On skill checks in general, if I feel you have roleplayed well, e.g. gave a good description of what your character does to search for a trail, came up with creative ways to befriend a hostile NPC, gave a very rousing speech, I would give bonuses, or even waive the DC altogether. :)
Roleplaying Matters
11. The maps and handouts link (at the top of the page) would display all the maps, handouts, pictures, etc as the scenario progresses. The most current page would be right on top, while previous ones would be left there for your reference. (Incidentally, Android and IOS has the Google Slides app in case you work off mobile devices.)
12. Please have your full character information up on your character's profile page for my vetting. Also, please have your stat block updated with the key information. Minimally please have your current hp vs max hp, AC (normal, touch and flat-footed), all three saves and movement. Feel free to include others.
13. Finally, playing by pbp provides many advantages compared to face-to-face games, the chief one being having the time and space to flesh out your thoughts and actions. So please make use of this and have posts that are more than simply dice rolls. :)
Getting Started
Ok with that out of the way, a few tasks before we kick off.
A. Go to the Gameplay page and dot.
B. Go to the maps and handouts page and fill out the table there. (Don’t worry about the 3 boxes below the table, i.e. token, initiative and perception. I’ll take care of that.)
C. In this Discussion thread, do your day job rolls (if any), and share whatever OOC information you would like the rest of the party to know about your character e.g. class, level, special abilities. We’ll leave character descriptions and introductions to the gameplay thread later when we are about to start.
Please ninja dot here so that it would appear in your campaign page, i.e. submit a "dot" post then delete it. So that it won't clog up the gameplay thread. Thanks!
Please ninja dot here so that it would appear in your campaign page, i.e. submit a "dot" post then delete it. So that it won't clog up the gameplay thread. Thanks!
Welcome to my PbP game for First Steps, Part I: In Service to Lore , tier 1. Hope you have a blast!
Before we start, I would to share some of my ground rules. (In spoiler tags to not take up space.)
Guidelines:
PbP Matters
1. This discussion thread is open for all OOC matters, so no ooc tag needed. For OOC matters in the gameplay thread, please use the [ ooc ] tag.
2. Please post at least once a day, including on weekends. If you would be away, please let me know in advance where possible, and we can work something out. Otherwise, if you go missing, where necessary, I will bot your characters for the sake of the rest of everyone else. Thus, a good idea is to leave botting instructions for combat (with dice rolls) and non-combat in your profile page beforehand.
3. If you have any disagreements over some of my GM calls or interpretation of the scenario, please take it to the discussion thread or, even better, pm me.
4. If you have played and/or GMed this scenario before, or are currently GMing this for another table, please do not metagame or spoil the plot. And please let me know.
5. I would have thought this would go without mentioning until I encountered this, so… It is the responsibility of the player to keep track of the game, including referencing the map on google slides. I understand that there are times where it is inconvenient to do so. In that case, please be as specific as you can as to where you wish your character to move, what actions to take, etc. If you regularly have issues with accessing the google slides, you might want to reconsider playing via PbP, especially for PFS as there is always combat, and thus map dependent.
Combat
6. Once surprise (if any) and initiative is determined, for the group of characters who can take actions, I would resolve actions in posting order, NOT initiative order. I used to do the latter but it doesn’t work that well in PbP, so am going with the former instead.
Rolls and Skill Checks
7. I would do your initiative rolls, as well as perception rolls for the purpose of determining surprise (if any).
8. On knowledge checks for general information, I would usually put them in spoilers with the necessary DCs. Just go ahead to roll, and I'll trust that you would resist reading them if the roll fails (or least not to metagame). (Don’t forget that you can make knowledge checks untrained for DC10.) There might be exceptions for plot-critical information though, where I would explicitly ask for knowledge checks. As for knowledge checks for monster lore, I would put the most basic information in spoiler as well, i.e. identity and one important info. If your roll would reveal more, I’ll provide in the next post. If you wish, you can ask for what information you want, e.g. DR, resistances, special attacks, etc.
9. On skill checks where there could be team effort involved, e.g. finding a hidden trail with survival, influencing attitude of NPCs with diplomacy, please be explicit when making the rolls whether you are attempting the check on your own, or whether you are assisting. (And take note of the pros and cons of either.) There might be situations where only one character is allowed to attempt the check (and the rest to assist) – I’ll state so explicitly if that’s the case.
10. On skill checks in general, if I feel you have roleplayed well, e.g. gave a good description of what your character does to search for a trail, came up with creative ways to befriend a hostile NPC, gave a very rousing speech, I would give bonuses, or even waive the DC altogether. :)
Roleplaying Matters
11. The maps and handouts link (at the top of the page) would display all the maps, handouts, pictures, etc as the scenario progresses. The most current page would be right on top, while previous ones would be left there for your reference. (Incidentally, Android and IOS has the Google Slides app in case you work off mobile devices.)
12. Please have your full character information up on your character's profile page for my vetting. Also, please have your stat block updated with the key information. Minimally please have your current hp vs max hp, AC (normal, touch and flat-footed), all three saves and movement. Feel free to include others.
13. Finally, playing by pbp provides many advantages compared to face-to-face games, the chief one being having the time and space to flesh out your thoughts and actions. So please make use of this and have posts that are more than simply dice rolls. :)
Getting Started
Ok with that out of the way, a few tasks before we kick off.
A. Go to the Gameplay page and dot.
B. Go to the maps and handouts page and fill out the table there. (Don’t worry about the 3 boxes below the table, i.e. token, initiative and perception. I’ll take care of that.)
C. In this Discussion thread, do your day job rolls (if any), and share whatever OOC information you would like the rest of the party to know about your character e.g. class, level, special abilities. We’ll leave character descriptions and introductions to the gameplay thread later when we are about to start.
Cutter Equipment:
A Fine Weapon (1)
A Fine Heavy Weapon (2)
Scary Weapon or Tool (1)
Manacles & Chain Rage Essence Vial Spiritbane Charm
Background::
Abram is the son of a dock worker, refugees from Skovlan when the Empire first went to war against the island nation. His parents home port of Havelov was hit hard and quickly taken, his parents both arriving on the same ship and heading to Dusklov for shelter and a chance at something new away from the destruction of their home.
A poor, immigrant family that arrived with nothing to call their own, his parents were betrothed to one another and struggled everyday to make their own way. Three miscarriages came and went, with the fourth one being a small and frail child that would grow up to be the terror known as Abram.
Being from Skovlan, Abram was raised even under the foot of his fellow destitute. Seen as a thief of jobs and opportunity, his father's eagerness to provide was taken advantage of again and again and his mother ended up working in Silkshore as a whore to make ends meet. These trades, one being the lowest of the low and his mother being a common streetwalker, led to a rough life for Abram. Picked on, shoved about, the fellow children demanded the young boy learn his place. Yet no matter how many there were, how big they were, Abram had the courage (or lacked the common sense) to back down. He came back every day with new wounds, new bruises, his eyes were like raccoons most of his early life. Yet with every fight, he learned a little more of the streets, how to take a punch, and how to make a man bleed.
At the age of ten, Abram's life changed when one of his fights was noticed by a member of the Van Dorf Crime Family. Seeing the young boy's brutality as he gouged one boy four years his senior's eye while biting the hand of another one hard enough to make him bleed, the man named Kris broke up the fight and took him aside. He could see the potential, the chance for this one to be more than just some dock worker or punk on the street, and so he was taken underneath the criminal's wing.
Abram truly began to learn the lessons of the street; how to bully and terrify others into doing what you want, when to use honey instead of vinegar, and how wealth equaled power. He watched nobles treat Kris as a peer rather than a commoner, saw trained killers be terrified by his presence, and he quickly took after him as one of his enforcers. Abram's home life and his chosen career gave him a love of bloodlust that was hard to quench and easy to enjoy, the life of a pit fighter came easily to him when he wasn't breaking legs for the Van Dorf Family.
Yet fate was cruel and Kris ran afoul of the wrong individuals, looked for too much power. His life ended in a brothel, poisoned by a coward and left to bloat in one of the many canals. With his mentor dead and his way into the Van Dorf Family gone, Abram realized that they’d never accept a stranger without a good word into the real family. He wanted more than to be just some thug, he wanted it all; riches, power, fear, women. So the man nicknamed “Guts” by the late Kris Van Dorf roams the docks and fighting pits; breaking jaws, doing oddjobs, and looking for a crew worthy enough to have a vicious animal like himself in it.
Appearance: Abram’s hair is a dark bown that is usually kept cut short and clean, as to avoid giving his enemies something to grab on and pull. His left ear looks like a cauliflower from years of fighting and learning to defend his off-hand side. Muscular without being overwhelming so, Guts is capable of doing incredible feats of strength and fury to intimidate even the most hard-pressed of men and women. His clothing is the self-maintained, patched together browns and blacks of the dock workers, with a boat captain’s longcoat laying over his shoulders. The leather is patchworked and rough, but it helps keep the rain out when it comes.
Abram moves with the swagger of a confident fighter, each step natural and graceful yet calculated. Even in his furies, he still seems to consider everything around him and how best to hurt his foe or make them suffer.
Personality: Abram earned the nickname “Guts” when he went toe to toe with one of the big hitters of the Van Dorf family. Without fear or hesitation, he struck the man right in the groin and brought him low fast and hard. Abram knows how dangerous he is and he knows that most other people are uncomfortable around a man who isn’t shy about breaking your arm or your neck. He is loyal though and smart enough to know that he doesn’t know everything. He knows violence doesn’t solve everything, he just prefers it.
Vice; Stupor – Violence: Abram adores the thrill of a good fist fight, the cacophony of a bar brawl, and the simplicity of a back alley skirmish. When he needs to unwind, he’ll go down to the docks and fight in the pits. Win, lose, it really doesn’t matter to him, as long as he gets to beat someone’s face in and feel the pain himself. His favorite fighting pit is within the rowdy tavern known as The Rusty Wench. It is ran by a fierce Skovlander woman who is named Frederika Koll.
Friends: Abram is friends with a physicker that goes by the name of Sawtooth. He met the man when bringing one of the henchmen of the Van Dorf family who was injured to him. Both of them being of Skovlan descent, the two hit it off famously and became a duo in the fighting pits; Guts fighting and Sawtooth patching him up. Guts has also helped keep pressure off of Sawtooth’s back, breaking the backs of those who refuse to pay up their debts and ensuring he wasn’t bothered by aggressive entrepreneurs.
Enemies: Abram still remembers the night he came across Mercy, the heartless killer who had given his mentor the poison that ended his life. He had expected her to be a simple kill, any coward who dropped such a wicked tactic couldn’t be that good in a fight. He was terribly surprised when she cut his throat, nearly slitting him open like a pig. He barely escaped from her retribution, fleeing to the docks where Sawtooth patched him up and saved his life. He hasn’t forgotten about her yet, his scar aching every day on his throat. He’ll kill her, one of these days, for Kris’s sake.
