Jing the Bandit's page

Two players looking for GM to run Pathfinder Kingmaker. Looking to try and do a lower player count game in order to help contend with some of the turnover issues this AP seems to have due to IC/OOC issues between players. The two players have been playing together and chatting with each other for several years and both have seen many campaigns end prematurely separately due to these problems. (It's understandable, it's a political game so things get brought to an argument pretty quickly pretty often about morals and the like.)

Weird idea we have thought about seeing if GM would be interested in, is doing two nomadic heroes taking on the summons for fame and glory... One interested in finding land to challenge himself and prove his mettle, given the terrible conditions of the Shoanti lands in Cinderlands and carve out a new swath of land for his people. The other's motivation of striking out to purge the Stolen lands of the evil that has claimed it, bandits, and all.

The campaign having two PCs would require some reworking, we are aware, perhaps by adding in extra NPCs the group can hire (That they'll control during combat to ease the burden on the GM) and the like.

This is mostly theorizing. So hopefully this isn't an issue and could be interesting to see what people would do in this situation.

I'm playing at the virtual table with some friends and we are playing Jade Regeant. We just left Wolf's Ear and are having a bit of a time as we were attacked by Ogres one night and then Werewolves the next night. (I think, we might be cursed.)

This game is slightly homebrewed but not too drastically (I don't think this matters but we will see.) The party is Level three and we are waiting to finish the fight next week but in the first half of the fight the werwolves get to Sandru and he gets bit twice.

My character, a barbarian in the middle of raging turns his back on the potentially slain NPC and proceeds to kill the Werewolf. Sandru, proceeds to wolf out while I am murdering the werewolf that bit him. (Its a full moon, so even if he shouldn't have transformed today...this is the narrative and I find it interesting.)

So Were-Dru starts mauling my barbarian and I have to give him two really nice hits with the greataxe and put him down. I am now pretty damn certain Sandru is dead. Another NPC is likely to die (Some random we picked up to drive an extra wagon.) As he also is in the throws of changing....

How would you handle continuing the story? [I have llayed through the AP once before but itd been years. However, I know Sandru isn't super important.) I cant see things going well with Sandru's crew....but i can see Ameiko and Shalelu still pressing on with the PCs...did we kill the caravan mini game? Would you make one of the PCs the new Caravan leader and just push forwards after refilling NPCs at the next city?

I agree wholeheartedly that I probably dont have the same view. I never have run a sorcerer or wizard to high level. My personal preference on arcane side is mostly the 6th level casters like bards, alchemists, and maguses.

But, I personally, typically play divine or martial so I will admit my knowledge of the arcane side is lacking. I am fairly certain I have never actually played a wizard before, only Sorcerers and Witches.

I have been trying to do better and try classes I haven't touched. Like the bloodrager. I might keep giving Wizard and Arcanist a look and see if I can scratch my head more on an idea as it will only help me become a better GM by understanding those classes better.

Hmm, man...Like, I keep trying to come up with a potential build for Arcane caster slot as well, but I gotta say the stat array does not lend well to arcane characters.

Having at best a 17 (Which you would straight up have to do to be a caster) in your casting stat means your DCs are low (like two points lower than most people would run a caster.)

It makes your spells far less effective cause they'll be taken for half damage that much more often. Now, Conjuration and others like that don't suffer as much but you're still pushed down a bit harder because you'll have less spells per day/versatility.

6th level casters could easily get away with the lower DCs and such because they're built around the idea of such by having other things that make up for it, even 4th levels would benefit the same.

GM, out of curiosity why are you wanting 9th level casters vs 6th or 4th for the arcane position?

Apologies, 1st edition Pathfinder.

I shall be throwing my had in. I gotta scratch my chin for a bit.

HP2: 1d4 ⇒ 3
HP3: 1d4 ⇒ 4

I am absolutely horrid at crafting costs.

Can someone help me out and figure out the cost of a Wonderous Item (Hand slot), that 2/day allows the wearer to cast recharge innate magic.

The Dwarf's things are dutifully removed and are presented to Ella as her reward for winning the duel.

With the new goods in tow and a bit of gold as well, the two make their way back through the somber woods. The night is in full bloom and the creatures have started to serenade the world by the time they make it back into the edge of town.

It takes a bit of careful navigating to dodge all the guards walking about patrolling but the group makes it back to the inn only to find it locked. At the rattling of the door for the second time since the innkeeper had gone to bed, Triss surprisingly answered the door.

She looked at the two woman and raised a brow "I thought you lot might have disappeared out into the night after I went to check your rooms for you after noticing the bar was empty. Apparently the doors get locked around here after the tavern portion clears out. A dwarf came through a bit earlier looking all dejected. What's his problem?" she asked curiously.

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An hour or two goes by in the kitchen where Coloua and the innkeeper's wife work hard on prepping the stock for the stew tomorrow. Once everything is carefully prepped and the pot is brought to a nice simmer, she looks at Coloua and nods "And that's about it. The secret to a good soup or stew is in the stock. You can have all the fancy fresh ingredients you want but if yah ain't got but some weak watery mess to cook it in, then you ain't got a good meal." she said happily.

She looked proud at the simmering pot "Now then, it'd be wrong of me to keep yah up all night waiting stock simmer. Go on, off to bed with yah. You'll see the results of our hard work tomorrow. I've got a room nearby so I can easily check on in ever couple of hours." she said as she began cleaning up and taking off her apron.

A shame, it seems it took me too long to recover from my fever and to start coming up with something. Oh well.

Dot for now.

Thank you guys for understanding. Yea, unfortunately the surgery I had has a long and rough recovery but I am managing even with a couple of setbacks.

That said, it took me quite some time and a lot of consideration. There were plenty of really good submissions but I have found my two players and they have been notified. Thank you guys so much for all the effort you put forth.

I was overwhelmed to say the least at the quality of characters presented and if I had the time and energy I would have done more than one table but I don't think I have it in me at this time. Thank you all so much!

I just wanted to say, I apologize this is taking so long. It's a bit more stressful feeling with only two players vs four to six. So, I just wanted to assure everyone that I am still around and am working to make my decision.

I apologize for my indecisiveness and the delays due to health.

A little less than five hours till Recruitment is officially closed. It may take me a couple of days to pick my players. I apologize that it is gonna take longer than normal for me, I had a surgery and I have been having a few complications with it so things have taken longer than normal on all fronts.

That would be what I would have chosen. Given that Pitborn for Tiefling has the exact same boons.

The 9th

For the most part I'm looking to see what I think will create the best story to me. Finding the characters that inspire me to toy with them or characters I feel will pull good RP from each other.

So, I don't have really a good core concept of what I am looking for when pairing. I'll likely start with creating a list of characters and concepts I really enjoyed reading.

Then, I'll start looking at how I can pair them or what I see as good pairings for them. Then at that point, I'll likely be working at narrowing down from there.

And yes, I am not worried if the two players worship different gods but I don't think polar opposites will be my end game in choices. The biggest thing that happens in Kingmaker to kill it is just...well time via PbP and having a lot of bickering come pushing the kingdom forwards and building the kingdom, so while polar opposites can help produce great stories...I don't feel a god or two gods would push together two exceptional people to watch them fight about how a kingdom should be governed or what direction they wish their kingdom to go.

Hmmm, seems...powerful but it's not anything crazy @pauljathome

1)was already answered. Instead of 3k gold you will recieve a mwk weapon and mwk armor, a mount (pony,horse,or riding dog), and within reason anything non magical gear wise.

2a)If you are coming from "far away" I expect a really good reason/backstory as to why you are here and how you would have good enough contacts to get on some kind of charter to clear the stolen lands.

2b)Samurai and Ninja (and others with very specific cultural bents) will need to have good backstory reasons for them (or their special armors). I'm not real keen on readjusting the fluff of the classes just to make them fit the setting.

3)It would be preferable to have a gender specified. If I find myself in a situation where I feel I need to ask players if they will be on with playing the opposite gender, then I am sure all of the players would appreciate that consideration.

4a)-2 to Wisdom. That one is easy enough cause the tiefling have one with those exact stat boons.

4b)I dont feel like the creation of progeny is an absolute must. Even if they are compatible to produce progeny, if a character were in love with someone else and chose to have their child instead, that would not really be an issue for the whole dynasty aspect as you lot would be the ones making the rules of how the crown moves to the next generation.

Typically Gestalt is used a lot for that exact reason among others. Having full bab or good progression of all your saves can be a key benefit of how you built your gestalt, after all it is meant to give you the best of the two classes at all converging points (HP, skills per level, saves, etc). Though there are some builds that ignore that entirely to make uniquely powerful arcane casters or incredibly versatile barbarians....the possibilities are pretty substantial for how you wish to build.

Mmmm...Thst is upto you, i can certainly work and try to incorporate a bit easier with a slightly vaguer story....but I can also work with highly detailed and refined.

That...I will have to do some forum diving and questioning. Part of me assumed somewhere there is an errata or faq on this subject already.

I cant say I can give an immediate answer or potentially an answer before the recruitment is over. But if you are picked I will certainly have a ruling before it comes into play.

If it has the potential for needing to change your entire class build...then I will try to get a ruling sooner but we could also 'retrain' based off of UC rules to turn that side of things into something comparable and still viable.

The example Mat_H is the best example of what I mean by delegitimizing a flaw. Charisma for most character only governs face based skill checks.

Using feats and traits to completely nullify that flaw while smart and good power gaming is not what I am looking for. You are mortals but you are honestly powerful ones. Gestalt let's you shore up a LOT of things to make you powerful in many ways.

If you choose charisma as your flaw, then you are just not gonna excel 24/7 at diplomacy. It's not a bad thing, it gives you a huge area to base RP in.

If your flaw is Str, I am not saying you cant do Dex to damage, but I dont want you to somehow be able to climb with ease, swim like a fish, carry stupid immense loads.

If you want to spend your level advancements on your flaw, I wont stop you but it will take your character years of in game growth to overcome a weakness and that is good for roleplay.

An 8 is just slightly subpar for the average person. I'm not saying yah got to be the village idiot but perhaps sometimes you are just a little oblivious or maybe the nuances of what someone is meaning in what they say goes right over your head.

Maybe you are a little clumsy.

So yes, anything that changes a skill characteristic of your flaw to another better characteristic is out. It's one reason I said no Versatile Performance.

Two potential 17s and you cant participate in a combat decently? You dont need a 19 or twenty to be frontliner. You have max HP, I think you are under valuing your ability scores.

I have no issue with pet classes but they are easy to kill and I will be holding no punches so your resources may find themselves depleted and potentially then some some days.

I don't hold punches and there are for a small period going to be less targets.

@Ouachitonian My biggest worry is that might cause you to overshadow your fellow ruler/player. It's one thing to be powerful, it's another to dangerously so.

I'm not saying I would exclude it, but it would cause me to be more careful in consideration to your 'matching pair'.

Two free fests at level 1. One combat and one non combat.

No extra feats outside of what you get naturally.

I would say VMC is on the table...but you already get two classes so it would like to see a strong backstory for why you essentially have three.

Dont forget, the lowest stat is locked at an 8 if you didnt roll any negatives.

@Monkeygod I dont see a problem with it. Two valid paizo products so its fine.

I reviewed my Core Rulebook and I'd agree to the crafting rules after all, it is literally in the Core Rulebook. However, there is a lot of information in the Kingmaker campaign, and depending on mode of travel and speed of the slowest traveler and if you exploring an area and not just traversing, it can take days. Adding in time to craft to the alotted time, I will rule will add in extra time to explore.

But, this rule anyways will likely not apply for some time to come. My current campaign, WotW, moves very fast but as of three days ago, one year running that campaign successfully, we are not even finished with book one. So, I assume with the same time track it may be a year and a half before we get to the point of worrying.

I'm not sure what Gestalt has to do with Archetypes. However, I would request that one side remain pure. IE if you are running a Fighter/Sorcerer then I wish to see 15 Fighter/10 Sorc/5 Dragon Disciple as an example.

Apologies, can you site source material? What book, what page?

Crafting will be allowed in game, requires you to be stationary for the day with the allotted amount of time required, which is an 8 hour day. After the 8 hours you may not spend extra time to speed said time frames up.

Crafting can happen before the game begins, however that does not cut the cost, it simply will allow you to have your items custom made by yourself as part of your background.

Currently I'm sitting with a June 9th. I have however, reserved the right to close recruitment early and pick early.

Obviously that is at least not for a week so I don't want to put heavy pressure on my potential players.

Apologies, I didnt put in wealth. Mwk weapon and armor, one riding/pack animal, and pretty much anything within reason on the gear side of things.

Alternative racial traits are fine so long as they dont replace the same thing and are not 3rd party.

At a point, you will gain two 'cohorts' slots to travel with you, giving you a full party essentially.

If you feel you need an AC and familiar, then that is on you.

And yes, the 10 becomes an 8

Apologies, the marriage will not occur until you are at the 'ruling' stage of things.

The two PCs will be thrown together as a group of adventurers to explore/conquer the stolen lands as per normal.

There will be no extra feats offered in later levels, two free feats in the beginning of the game is plenty.

Favored class bonus? Pick one of your two classes, so long as you take a level in it you get a +1 HP or +1 Skill or + racial bonus for said class.

Half elves will not be able to choose both sides of their Gestalt to receive additional favored class bonuses.

@The Emerald Duke

Most likely I am looking at doing the UC rules. Almost universally I would say people have a preference for it and that it is the better of the systems. I plan to do some digging, provided that we get close to the end of Book 1 and still show steady interest, at that point I will be doing the leg work to be sure which system I will use.

I want to make sure that all parties are interested in continuing forth as GMing any campaign is a big responsibility/time consuming project.

I'm going to say no to Gunslinger, I forgot to mention it before but with you already being Gestalt and in control of a rotating cast long term and an early start at higher levels...that you will already be rather strong and Gunslingers as well as their guns can be very very powerful. (It's extremely rare that I have seen for Paizo to produce a gunslinger enemy as well.)

As far as Chained Summoners, again I have asked that you don't min/max and that we are all here for fun. Provided I don't have to reign you in...I have no complaints, but if I need to make a call to rebalance the situation, I will mid campaign.

So long answer, Chained Summoners are ok, provided you keep from getting too broken or play them too broken. I have mentioned in my former recruitment after some discussions were being brought up, I to want to have fun, "Grapple monsters" would hold a big bad down and turn the fight into a kicking circle is not fun (except for the person who built the grappling champion) for anyone.

I want you guys to be destined, to be strong, but I want you to have moments of glory, moments of fear, moments of certain death but sudden and glorious victory.

Some further information, the two PCs do not need to be friends or even acquaintances. There are many political marriages that don't have anything to do with love or friendship, this can be that story. But also, long periods of watching each other's back and spending a lot of time alone is also great to develop a relationship.

The more exotic the race you choose, remember the harder it may be to place you with another character who would make a good partner.

I do not expect players to tie into each other's stories. I also do not expect players to find who they want to play alongside, I'll be making that decision. However, if you have choices that you feel are good fits, I will keep that in mind with my decision.

Recruitment will last three weeks at most from today. I reserve the right to cut it short. I prefer a focus on Background and stats over full completed crunch as there may be some need to talk back and forth with my players to ensure everything is correct and ready to run smoothly.

I plan to take 1 male and 1 female character for this campaign. Please be aware of this, I have no thoughts of changing this unless somehow two of the same gender just absolutely blow my mind and I can't decide between the two and the other gender doesn't have as strong contenders.

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Hello and welcome to my Recruitment. Some may have seen me here and there as I've been active on the boards for about five years now. I have had a lot of fun GMing for my Way of the Wicked group and learned a lot from it. However, I am not I feel ready for the big leagues (making my own true campaign.) That said, one game I have always wanted to play beside WotW has been Kingmaker, another very popular game here on the boards.

But you guys didn't come here to hear any of that, so here are the details for recruitment.

This is for Book 1 for now, but provided the interest is still strong, you guys don't think I suck at this, and we are all still having fun....it'll continue!

Posting Requirements: Twice per week (M-Th), Once for the weekend. I will be fairly strict on this, but so long as you give me notice of some kind, I will not hold it against you provided you can resume within a reasonable time. I will GM your character if needed during such time.

Classes: All are welcome save Paladin, all Occult Classes, and Vigilante (Honestly, I think they would excel at this particular AP but...I'm not that well versed in them so I'm gonna exclude them Sorry) No 3PP, I won't be swayed on this.
Health: In my mind, you are part of the some unknown divine will to become King and Queen (or King and Concubine, or Queen and Concubine). Since, I will be running only two players, those players will have full health.

Races: All Core, Featured, and Uncommon. (Save Android, Drow
Noble, Kasatha, Lashunta, Svirfneblin, and Triaxian.) No 3PP, and Aasimars will have an appropriate -2 stat added to them.

Alignment: I'm leaning more towards G and N but I will not limit, if I find a good pairing for an Evil King and Queen, then I am open to it, but it will have to be exceptional.

Deity: There are many gods that are available, choose somewhere within your alignment. This game need not be a theocracy but know that there is some divine something that has made this possible and may show itself sometime (if we ever get there.) I would prefer that both players follow the same god(s) so there may be room to readjust after the two players/characters are chosen. I wouldn't suggest basing your entire character around the church/god because of this.

Stats: 4d6 drop the lowest, roll one extra set. (This is my favorite, I believe in luck) I reserve the right to roll an extra set on your behalf if I feel you are underpowered by too much. No stat above 20 starting. Also, if you do not roll a negative, I will be forcing your lowest stat to an 8 that cannot be improved by racial. You are not gods yourself, therefore you must be flawed. Also, do not delegitimize this flaw. If you put it in Cha as an example, you may not choose a trait like Student of Philosophy. So no Versatile Performance to override that roll as well.
Skills: Background Skills and one Free skill per level. As well as one Free Feat that can be any, and One Free Feat that must be non combat. (Please Paizo only feats as with all else, no 3PP)

Traits: Three traits, one of which must be a Campaign trait.

Now then, one final caveat. Gestalt!

Please state what your freebies are in your crunch for all your choices including what your Background skills are and which one is your free skill.

I am gonna start you guys at level three. We will be starting from the very beginning of the game but I want you to be able to create a story that sets you apart, gives you that look and feeling of being extraordinarily lucky or saved by a divine hand.

Please don't min/max. We're all here to have fun, beating the AP to death via math isn't that fun and may force me to make things more difficult which in turn may not hurt your character but could be bad for other players cause I won't pull punches.

I will be setting up a Discord server for this game. I will be asking that all players post first to paizo, then copy and paste to Discord for the gameplay thread.

I feel this allows everyone to know when everyone has posted and it will let me know when to post next. It also allows me to make as many OOC threads as needed to help keep topics neat and tidy and easy to follow.
Throughout the campaign, people will flock to you, offer themselves to your service, be saved by you, etc. All of them will be essentially Cohorts for purposes of what their level and such will be. Each player will get to choose an NPC to take along as they crusade. The rest will be helping manage your kingdom.

This will be a roleplay heavy campaign, please do not play the silent brooding type, the loner, ect.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Also, your first post must include your dice rolls. (This includes Dots or expressions of interest.) PLEASE, do this one.

Jeanuel is a hardworking boy, a bit foolish, and comes across as arrogant. However, he deep down is a good lad, his arrogance is not intended but his manner of speaking is not a charismatic kind and thus is misunderstood often.

He can be a bit easy to anger, something that he is working on as the conflicting power boiling in his blood causes him to lash out magically when he is mad.

When he is not learning the trade of either of his parents, he can be found relaxing under a tree with whatever book he has managed to find to read around the village. Unfortunately, books are limited given the outside contact so he must borrow from anyone and everyone.

He has a mischievous side and is down for a good prank (when it's not on him, but when he has time to cool down and reflect, he'll even laugh about those.) Right now, he knows Val from his parents work and the few times he's been allowed to work one of their projects.

He also knows both Rei in fox form and outside, though he's not pieced together that they are one and the same...yet!

Those are the only background tie ins I've managed to work together with anyone. Please let me know if you there is something you like about the character to talk out some kind of connection.

Obviously that means in fox form, Rei is secretly Jean's familiar.

I need someone to be the child of a Baker so we have honeyed nuts.

I thought Sylvan is their native tongue...? Wait, just double checked. Sylvan and common are their starting languages.

I'll get the story together later when I can. I unfortunately just had surgery the other day and sitting up for too long really and truly kills me. So it took all the time I had to just do the crunch so I can build my story after.

Weirdly enough, this might effect what I offer...how many PCs are you accepting?

Stats if allowed to reroll: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 2, 5) = 18
Stats if allowed to reroll: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 5, 5) = 20
Stats if allowed to reroll: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 5, 6, 6) = 23
Stats if allowed to reroll: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 3, 3, 2) = 12
Stats if allowed to reroll: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 1, 2) = 9
Stats if allowed to reroll: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 2, 5) = 14

Last set wasn't even a 10 pt buy, if the GM allows me to do a reroll...If not though, I do understand.

o.o Wow much better array. 18,16,16,12,10,8 Could easily make something fun outta that. But I won't push forwards until GM gives the ok.

Stats: 4d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 1, 2) = 10
Stats: 4d6 ⇒ (1, 6, 6, 2) = 15
Stats: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 3, 1) = 12
Stats: 4d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 1, 3) = 10
Stats: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 4, 1) = 13
Stats: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 6, 2) = 12

Hoo boy, those are not good.