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Your journey has lead you to Caliphas, the cosmopolitan capital city of the fog-shrouded nation of Ustalav. Having been summoned by Venture-Captain Evni Zongnoss, you make your way to the Vodavani Lodge, the headquarters of Pathfinder operations in Caliphas. The lodge, sometimes also known as Havenguard Asylum, doubles as an institution for treating mental health.
Welcome! Thanks for signing up, and I'm glad we found players for this old-ish and un-repeatable scenario. This is my first time GMing a PF2E table, but I've a good amount of experience as a GM in general, and as a PF2E player. If you ever notice me making a strange rule adjustment, please don't hesitate to point it out: it was likely a simple mistake. Make sure your character profile is well-organized and complete. Perception and skills in particular are important. Once you're done with that, feel free to dot the gameplay thread. I highly recommend using a RSS feed reader application to get instant notifications of new posts. If you're using the Chrome browser, I can highly recommend this extension. You already put your PFS information (number and faction) in the signup sheet, so no need for that here. Downtime activities ("dayjob") are rolled at the end of the scenario. I've set up Google Slides (link in GM profile's statline, or here) — it's for maps and images, do not peek behind the gray boxes, you know the drill. At this point, feel free to add your player icons (the PbP equivalent of pawns or miniatures), instructions are in the slide. At the time of writing, we have four players, but it's only been some 12 hours since I announced the game. When I get the gameplay thread started, I'll hold off the mission briefing for some time, in case anyone else shows up. In the meantime, feel free to introduce your character. 
There's been some discussion and varying opinions on what is acceptable reflavoring and what isn't. Most of the examples have been about reflavoring animal companions (on which the consensus seems to have been negative) or equipment (on which the consensus seems to have been more accepting). As always, reflavoring cannot give mechanical benefits, and the GM always has the veto right to say that the reflavor is nullified for their table. And, of course, Expect Table Variation (tm). With that in mind, how would you feel about someone reflavoring their Alternate Racial Trait? Most of them have some in-game flavor attached to them. For example, the Darkvision for gnomes:
Some gnome strains have lived in the underground depths for so long they have given up on light entirely (...) Can this flavor be hand-waived for my metropolitan gnome, whose backstory mentions nothing about living underground? Could it reflavored by explaining that he often stays awake into the wee hours? Or the Heart of the Slums for humans:
Humans who eke out a life in a city's teeming slums must be quick and clever. Can this flavor be hand-waived for my upper-class human, whose backstory mentions nothing about living in the slums? Could it be reflavored by explaining that he's otherwise clever and dealt with diseases? 
This is the Discussion thread. Put a dot in here, make the character alias if you haven't already. I got some questions to ask each individual. Also, feel free to ask any questions about the game you may have.
March 8, 2004
It’s Monday morning. A newspaper from Friday is lying on the table. “The Roshburg Killer”. The whole city’s been talking about it. Five deaths. No, the Thursday’s bodies make it seven. All happened in a few weeks time. Heart attacks each time. No way this is coincidence, but the police sure would like it if it was. What a joke. The mail’s not supposed to come until afternoon, but something’s already been delivered. An envelope. It doesn’t have an address on it, or the post office stamp for that matter. Suspicious. Inside there is $200, in four $50 bills, and a message with an address. The message gives an option: the recipient can keep the money, or come to the designated address today. This is about the Roshburg Killer. Someone is taking actions. By forming a secret organization with the goal of solving the case. This is not a joke. Who are you?:
Hello, I am Mighty Glacier. That's just an username though. You'll never know my real name.
I've GM'd RPGs for some years now. On Paizo, last year me and some brave others started a campaign called Labyrinth Souls, and we are taking a break from it while I GM this campaign. Keeps a GM fresh, doesn't it? This alias name? Oh, that means "Game Master MasterMind Mighty Glacier". Aren't I a clever sneak? What is this? :
Fisher St Club is an upcoming d20 modern campaign. The system is a homebrewed one, purposely rules-light as possible so that players do not feel overwhelmed to learn a new system.
The emphasis and tone of the game is everything exciting. Mystery, suspense, thriller. This is what I'm aiming to deliver. What makes this worth playing? :
Ever been in a tabletop game and it all feels a bit... unsurprising? Transparent? You know what's going on with the world, because the GM is endlessly flooding you with lore you didn't even ask. And you know what's going on with the players, because the GM told you all that you met in a tavern and are now best buddies or whatever. Makes a player numb to surprises, doesn't it?
We're about to take that empty feeling away, and replace it with true suspense. You see, in Fisher St Club, you don't know your co-players or their characters that well. Sure, they are sitting on the same table (figuratively speaking; this is a PbP game!) and their characters play along the plot and work with you. But you can't know that they're not secretly working against you. You don't know what their goals are. And at the same time they don't know what your goals are. And you don't want them to, because you have secrets that might destroy you if a wrong ear hears them. And yet you're all going to need to work together if you are to solve this mystery. Isn't that the true nature of comradeship; to seek to understand one another, and to eschew the blind trust? What's the system like? :
The Player's Handbook
There, you'll find the system rules. Long story short, it's a class-less d20 system with little-to-none character advancement. The stage is set from the get-go. No waiting for builds to "come online". Everything is handled through Skills (which are much like in Pathfinder, except for no skill ranks or class skills). d20 + skill bonuses vs DC. Basic stuff. Even though it's not a very complex system, we are all first-timers with this system here. I don't expect you to learn the system 100%. Ask if you don't understand, remember, or can't bother to look something up. Okay, where do I start making my character? :
The Player's Handbook
There, you'll find the guidelines to character creation. If you're looking for inspiration for your character, you can think of your favorite character in your favorite thriller or action movie. What did they do that was so cool? Detectives, scientists, action heroes, phantom thieves, snipers, magicians, hackers... the list goes on. Anything is possible with a good choice of Talents. A good backstory is 50-150 words long. An important note: don't write down, or even mention, your chosen Secret Talent. You can PM it to me during the recruitment stage, if you want. Or you can wait until recruitment is over and then PM me your Secret Talent. Just don't say it in the public.
There was probably something else, but I can't remember now. Mysterious. Keep an eye out for the recruitment thread, I might add something important! What's the setting? :
The events take place in Roshburg, a major city in the fictional US state called Quillsana. On a grander scene, it's an alternate version of Earth. Things are mostly the same, it's not very important right now.
The year is 2004. Cellphones exist and the internet is young, you know. Globalization is happening. Remember, this isn't our Earth. The president isn't George W Bush, it's someone else like Reymond Walls. People don't drink Coca-Cola, they drink something like "Raco Cola". When a cellphone rings, it's not Nokia or Samsung, it's something like "Lonia" or "Cheolang". People don't search using Google, they use something like "Moogle". We can work out stuff like that once the recruitment ends. When will this start, and how long does it last? How many players? :
I think I'll keep the recruitment open for about a week. Maybe plus a couple days if this snowballs and we get super popular. So about Thursday, September 15. The discussion thread opens then, and then we talk about some things for a few days. Then, it's lights, camera, action.
6 players. Once again, here's
Any of that sound good to you? Hi, I'm Mighty Glacier (MG for short), and I've had this idea of a game brewing in my mind for a few years, and some half-a-year on my Google Drive. The game system would be a homebrewed one; not d20 Modern because I don't think classes or conventional d20 system would provide anything a homebrewed, class-less system wouldn't do better. Basically, the idea is that: 1) The game system is moderately rules-light, with simple character creation, combat rules, and skill checks. This way it won't be that big of a bother to learn a new system for this one game. 2) One of the players might secretly be acting against the other players. The easiest way to bring suspense. 3) There is limited to no character advancement. This way the stage is set from the start, and no waiting for "builds to come online". 4) The setting is a major city in a fictional state in the USA. The year is early 2000s. That means cell phones exist and the internet is young, but no smart phones and Bush is the president. 5) The plot: A series of mysterious deaths is spreading terror and anxiety in the city. The general public talks of a serial killer, but the police won't confirm anything. One day, an envelope arrived to you by mail. Inside the envelope was a stack of cash, and an address: you've been invited to a secret organization that aims to solve the case.
Geas/quest is found in both the mesmerist's and psychic's spell list. We know that arcane casters call the spell "geas" and divine casters call it "quest" - what do mesmerists and psychics call it?
Zura (a CE deity) grants the domains Chaos, Death, Evil and Madness. Zura also has Blood listed as a subdomain, even though Blood is a subdomain of War. So, is Zura supposed to offer War domain (instead of, say, Madness?) or is the Blood subdomain a mistake? If I were to make a PFS cleric of Zura would I not be able to select Blood subdomain? Will this ever be FAQ'd and errata'd?
Sounds like fun! So any non-Meet-the-Villains iconic is fine, but does that include iconics that are evil, ie. Seltyiel and Meligaster? Are archetypes okay?
The mesmerist class from Occult Adventures is growing on me. One thing I find unfortunate is that there are not many good archetypes for it, so when I was mulling over of a class idea earlier today something clicked in me:
And thus Mastermind archetype was made. Glare Mesmerist soon followed. Looking for feedback!
Halls filled with darkness and unsettling sounds. Corridors that stench of rotten flesh and blood. A maze with dead ends and undead walkers. A desperate warrior, slowly but surely losing sanity, running in these areas, escaping. A hungry hollowed, long ago lost its mind, chasing the warrior like a madman he is. Once slain, the warrior fades to ashes and dust, leaving behind naught but his broken axe, rusty shield and that which everyone and everything desire: souls. What cruel design built this maze is unknown to the denizens of the Labyrinth. Frankly, not many care. What they do care is the one thing that keeps them sane: the thought of getting out of this cursed place. The answer to everything lies in the Souls. This is the second recruitment thread for Labyrinth Souls, a homebrewed Pathfinder campaign that draws inspiration from Dark Souls games, with emphasis on brutal-but-fair difficulty and setting a creepy, horror-like atmosphere. And lots of dungeon crawling. The initial recruitment started on June 24 and the game began on July 2 and we've been active ever since. Unfortunately the player cast has dwindled from the initial 8 down to 4, when some players leave without explanation. I just want to express my love for the item descriptions. Beautiful touch. I seriously love this game. All five of us are Dark Souls fans, and occasionally exchange off-topic banter in the discussion thread. Dark Souls fans should feel themselves welcome. The Story So Far:
Here's what you'll need to know if you're interested:
Houserules:
All houserules can be found in the campaign info tab. Short version: Souls are used in place of XP and gp (1 soul = 10gp = 10 XP), death is not permanent (instead it gives some penalties), there are rules for "boss battles" and "covenants".
In addition, this campaing uses Automatic Bonus Progression (from Pathfinder Unchained). Character Creation:
You're joining as a 2nd-level character.
Ability scores: 15-point buy, or 3d6 times six in any order (if RNG doesn't favor you, you can switch to 15-point buy) Races: All core races, all featured races (including aasimar, drow and thiefling; no variant heritages; no drow noble) as well as kitsune, nagaji and wayang. Classes: All core classes except paladin, all base classes except gunslinger, all hybrid classes, all alternate classes except antipaladin, all unchained classes, all occult classes. Summoners must be Unchained (I may allow some summoner archetypes that would be incompatible with Unchained Summoner). No 3PP. Archetypes: Case-by-case basis (there are too many!): ask before using any (I'm fine with almost any of them). Synthesist Summoner and anything that gives a gun are banned though. Alignment: Any. Yes, you can play as an evil character. Do note that you must still be able to work with your group. So even your CE cleric has to work with a LG cleric, and vice versa. If you are playing as an evil character, find a way to make it work with others. No PvP unless all players are genuinely OK with it. To summarize: don't be a jerk. Deities: If you wish to play a class that requires the worship of a deity, reply to this thread with a concept of your deity (a brief description) and I'll cook something up. There is currently one known deity: the god of sun, Auorink. Hit points: Max at first HD, average rounded up at level-up (just like in PFS) Traits: Two traits. No region, campaign or religion traits. You may take a drawback for RP purposes (remember the no-jerk rule) but doing so will not earn you a third trait. Backstory: Your character has awoken in the Labyrinth and doesn't know how he/she/elf got there. Whether your character has amnesia or remembers past events clearly is up to you, but they don't know how they got in the Labyrinth. A good backstory would include a motivation for the character to get out of the Labyrinth. Your character has been roaming the Labyrinth alone for a few days (which is why you're 2nd-level with a few items). A good length for a backstory is 100-200 words. Gear: Wizards, alchemists and magi begin play with a spellbook (formulabook for alchemists) and divine casters that require divine focuses begin play with a wooden holy/unholy symbol. Expensive free items (like a wizard's arcane bond item) are to be replaced with appropriate, cheaper versions (a wizard must have a familiar as an arcane bond etc). You have a budget of 50 souls (=500 gp). You can spend this amount on any items available from merchants (see here). Any souls left over are lost. In addition, every character begins play with a "gift" of their choice (see below).
Barbarians, fighters, rangers, cavaliers, inquisitors, bloodragers, slayers, swashbucklers, warpriests and mediums automatically gain "Relic of War" gift and can select another gift. Rogues and ninjas automatically gain "Master Key" gift and can select another gift. As title says, we are looking two new players.
Necroccultist archetype for Occultist class:
So a 1st level necroccultist would have two schools (like any other occultist), both necromancy. The question is, can they take other schools (conjuration, divination, etc.) at later levels? A) No they cannot. Necroccultist gains access to only necromancy school of implements. B) Yes they can. At 1st level necroccultist gains access to only necromancy school; nothing states they couldn't take other schools at levels beyond 1st.
Some Gameplay Mechanics (Please read):
Thank you for waiting and welcome to Labyrinth Souls! I'm sure you all are eager to begin posting, but please take a moment to read this info box.
I assume you all remember the New Mechanics I talked about in the Recruitment thread: Souls and Respawning. These are all the new mechanics you need to learn, don't worry. This info box solidifies some other set of gameplay mechanics and rules for Pathfinder. Skill Usage
The skills rolled passively are:
Do note that this doesn't mean you can't use these skills actively. You can roll Perception when you actively search for something (like look around a place, looking for a place to hide), you can roll Knowledge to see if you remember a piece of lore someone told you. When in doubt whether you can roll one of these skills or not, ask the GM! Creativity is encouraged. Also, due to the way how lore is handed to the players...
This leads me to...
Reading these item descriptions will definitely enhance the Labyrinth Souls experience - it sets the atmosphere and is the key to understanding the story of this game. That's all for the mechanics for now. More mechanics-related info is revealed later, like how to use souls to level-up. Now, let the game begin...
You suddenly open your eyes as you awake from a long, undisturbed sleep full of nightmares, though you cannot remember what sort of nightmares you experienced last night. Cold sweat slowly drips from your forehead as you start to fully awaken. To your shock, you notice that you’re lying on cold, hard stone floor and the room around you is dark as night and cold as cellar. This is not where you went to sleep last night… though you cannot remember how exactly you got asleep in the first place. You can’t help but notice other people lying next to you. One at a time, they too start to awaken and look around. The tension is noticeable among you strangers, but none of them seem hostile. A sudden, excruciating pain strikes you! Hunger! Never before have you felt hunger like this! But it’s not food or drink you crave: somehow you know that this hunger can only be satiated with souls. Souls... Goramar:
You take a brief moment to examine your belongings. Aside from your clothing which is worn and smells of sweat, you have your trusty rapier and the mask you remember all too well.
Ulrich:
You take a brief moment to examine your belongings. Aside from your clothing which is worn and smells of sweat, you have your trusty longsword sheathed and the pendant your loved one gave you some time ago.
Kekkle:
You take a brief moment to examine your belongings. Aside from your clothing which is worn and has suffered burns (totally not your fault), you have your deck of 22 harrow cards, your spellbook and a pendant that seems familiar.
Moritat:
You take a brief moment to examine your belongings. Aside from your clothing which is worn and smells of sweat, you have a scythe and a small shard of a mirror.
Pahleg:
You take a brief moment to examine your belongings. Aside from your clothing which is worn and smells of sweat, you have your wooden holy symbol of Auorink and a small shard of a mirror.
Rilian:
You were the first to awake and took the opportunity to take a little look around. You wandered the endlessly twisting corridors until finally coming to a dead end. There you met a man who introduced himself as Maris and offered you a deal. He claimed he knew a way out of this place and would serve you if you signed the Pact.
You agreed to the deal and the man disappeared, leaving behind a dusty black tome, labeled "Labyrinthika". After examining the tome briefly, you are able to return to where you first woke up. There you notice that others are starting to wake up as well.
Elyna:
You take a brief moment to examine your belongings. Aside from your clothing which is worn and smells of sweat, you hold a small shard of a mirror.
Ushio:
You take a brief moment to examine your belongings. Aside from your clothing which is worn and smells of sweat, you have a small key and a dusty black tome. You recognize the tome as one that priests in your home town used to use, but as you briefly examine its pages you notice the text has dramatically changed.
The room you are in is relatively small to house eight people, approximately 20 feet by 30 feet. The floor is cold stone. The walls are equally cold and party covered in moss. You see no ceiling, instead looking at darkness above. The room seems to have two exits: one archway door that leads to a corridor and ladders that lead up to darkness. The corridor is lit with one torch on the wall while the ladders go up to darkness, at least 30 feet high, you estimate.
Halls filled with darkness and unsettling sounds. Corridors that stench of rotten flesh and blood. A maze with dead ends and undead walkers. A desperate warrior, slowly but surely losing sanity, running in these areas, escaping. A hungry hollowed, long ago lost its mind, chasing the warrior like a madman he is. Once slain, the warrior fades to ashes and dust, leaving behind naught but his broken axe, rusty shield and that which everyone and everything desire: souls. What cruel design built this maze is unknown to the denizens of the Labyrinth. Frankly, not many care. What they do care is the one thing that keeps them sane: the thought of getting out of this cursed place. The answer to everything lies in the Souls. This is the recruitment thread for Labyrinth Souls, a homebrewed Pathfinder campaign with emphasis on brutal-but-fair difficulty and setting a creepy, horror-like atmosphere. Before I say anything else I will stress that the mechanics and setting of this campaign are heavily inspired by the Dark Souls series (Demon's Souls/Dark Souls I & II/Bloodborne). Those unfamiliar with the series may still join, but in case there are more applicants than I can take, I will favor those who are familiar with the series. If you are a fan of the Souls series, or just otherwise like dark horror fantasy and like your RPGs challenging, this might be the PbP for you! Setting:
The campaign takes place in an underground dungeon, a grim crypt called Labyrinth, named so due to its labyrinthine corridors and maze-like structure.
Light sources are scarce, as is sane company. Strangely enough, there is no vegetation for food, but no one has any physical need for food or water. In the Labyrinth there are two kinds of roamers: mindless monsters and not-as mindless monsters. For those who still hold onto sanity, there is but one, universal goal: get out of this place. New Mechanics:
Souls
Death... or is it?
Character Creation:
Each PC starts at 1st-level with 0 souls.
Ability scores: 15-point buy, or 3d6 times six in any order (if RNG doesn't favor you, you can switch to 15-point buy) Races: All core races, all featured races (including aasimar, drow and thiefling; no variant heritages; no drow noble) as well as kitsune, nagaji and wayang. Classes: All core classes except paladin, all base classes except gunslinger, all hybrid classes, all alternate classes except antipaladin, all unchained classes. Summoners must be Unchained (I may allow some summoner archetypes that would be incompatible with Unchained Summoner). No 3PP. Archetypes: Case-by-case basis (there are too many!): ask before using any (I'm fine with almost any of them). Synthesist Summoner and anything that gives a gun are banned though. Alignment: Any. Yes, you can play as an evil character. Do note that you must still be able to work with your group. So even your CE cleric has to work with a LG cleric, and vice versa. If you are playing as an evil character, find a way to make it work with others. No PvP unless all players are genuinely OK with it. To summarize: don't be a jerk. Deities: If you wish to play a class that requires the worship of a deity, reply to this thread with a concept of your deity (a brief description) and I'll cook something up. Hit points: Max at first HD, average rounded up at level-up (just like in PFS) Traits: Two traits. No region, campaign or religion traits. You may take a drawback for RP purposes (remember the no-jerk rule) but doing so will not earn you a third trait. Backstory: Your character has just awoken in the Labyrinth and doesn't know how he/she/elf got there. Whether your character has amnesia or remembers past events clearly is up to you, but they don't know how they got in the Labyrinth. A good backstory would include a motivation for the character to get out of the Labyrinth. A good length for a backstory is 100-200 words. Gear: No gear at character creation, except that wizards, alchemists and magi begin play with a spellbook (formulabook for alchemists) and divine casters that require divine focuses begin play with a wooden holy/unholy symbol. Expensive free items (like a wizard's arcane bond item) are to be replaced with appropriate, cheaper versions (a wizard must have a familiar as an arcane bond etc). Instead, every character begins play with a "gift" of their choice (see below).
Barbarians, fighters, rangers, cavaliers, inquisitors, bloodragers, slayers, swashbucklers and warpriests automatically gain "Relic of War" gift and can select another gift. Rogues and ninjas automatically gain "Master Key" gift and can select another gift. Other:
I figured that the existing summoner guide had become a bit outdated now that Unchained is out and decided to write a guide that covers the changes made in Unchained. It was written especially with Society play in mind, but does apply for home games, of course. I'd like to gather some opinions: what do you think? Is there something you disagree with? I'm open to suggestions and will happily discuss well-explained views. Grammar nazis are also welcome - I hate grammatical mistakes, so please be merciless. This thread is not intended for discussion on whether or not unchained summoner was a successfully developed idea. Please stay in-topic: discussing how to make the best use of unchained summoner.
1. Does Summoner cast summon monster spells (not SLAs - I'm talking about spells from summoner spell list) as standard actions and are their durations increased? He can cast this spell as a standard action, and the creatures remain for 1 minute per level (instead of 1 round per level). The confusion mostly comes from the word spell. Usually when rules refer to the ability (in this case, the SLA version) it says something along the lines "he can use this ability as a standard action". 2. If an eidolon has gear (eg. manufactured weapons and magical items) and is dismissed or banished to its native plane (be it due to dismissal or banishment spell or taking enough damage), what happens to the gear? Is it banished with the eidolon? Does it return with the eidolon once it's summoned again? Or does the gear just stay on the Material Plane for anyone to pick up? 3. Do creatures summoned using summon monster SLA benefit from Augment Summoning? Again, the feat says "summon monster spell" which makes me doubt it works on SLAs. Thanks a bunch! |
