Nomad Sage's page

Kinda apples & oranges though. PFO was a decade ago. It tried to jump on the MMO bandwagon when MMOs were in rapid decline.

PFO had a lot going against it, but the two main things that killed it (totally my own opinion here, fwiw) are that 1) it was pushed out in alpha state, and 2) lack of accessibility. A finished game might have held on to more players, or at least not driven them away at the outset, enough so to keep evolving. The Eve-style MMO was also very niche, and was never going to catch a wide audience.

A modern APRG computer game is a lot more approachable from a casual gamer standpoint. Even as good as they are, the Owlcat games are pretty dense. This kind of game has a lot of positive potential for Paizo, Pathfinder and the industry.

I get that the genre isn't for everyone. I'm not a big fighting game fan but they're great fun with a couple friends hanging out. The same could be said for this -- thinking Shadow over Mystara from years back.

This is great news! I'm excited and plan to back!

The replies in this thread though... so much salt & vinegar. I get that action games aren't everyone's cup of tea, but please try to tone down the negativity.

We already have 2 huge, amazing Owlcat turn-based games. I expect there will be a PF2-based one coming along in time. Having some breadth of genres flying the Pathfinder flag is good for the game.

Thanks! =D

That's a fair guideline. I'll strive to set a more consistent pace.

That said, Round 3 is posted!

I realize I keep apologizing for falling off the posting (again). At first I was waiting for Abs to post, but that turned into a couple weeks, oooof! I won't wait and try (again) to get things moving.

Just a few months ago, I had 4 play-by-post games I was running, and playing in 4 others. That's now down to 1 and 1, which has significantly affected the flow I've been used to for the last several years. I could check my campaigns tab and have updates on at least a few of the games I was in -- now, not so much.

There's a lot of factors in play, but I feel the play-by-post era has been waning for a couple years. In honor to how far we've gotten, I *do* want to continue this campaign, at least to get it to a conclusion! Thanks for hanging in there patiently.

PbP work great when everyone is posting and the group has a rhythm. Once things slowed down so much, it's near impossible to keep any momentum. And combat takes months. It's just too slow.

Keep in touch. Hopefully Tike can get shackled city rolling again soon.

I posted in game, btw, just in case notifications have timed out.

Going well, thanks! =)

Thanks for the well wishes and for being patient. I'll get things moving along "soon".

I'm going to call it, guys... I think we finally hit the proverbial wall.

I've had a family crisis come up. I'll try to get back to this when I can. Stay safe!

Fair winds and happy hunting, everyone! If things pick up again and you need a player, send me a tell!

I don't blame you, to be honest. This game, and pretty much every other play-by-post I run or play in, has been on life support for all of 2021, and struggling for a while. Play-by-post is a great medium but requires momentum to survive. Where I used to check the boards several times a day, now I find myself going days before I remember to check. That's really a disservice to the game and players, but I suspect its a shared experience.

There's a number of factors -- 2020/COVID, returning to "normal" (seems even busier because of last year), mental fatigue.

Last year, due to the extra time at home, I also started running a weekly live game over the internet, which really scratched an itch I'd gotten numb to. I picked up play-by-post 20-ish years ago (first email, then boards) because time and access to friends was severely limited by life and work. And the VTT tools and such weren't there in the capacity they are today. I think the contrast in satisfaction(?) of the mediums has definitely contributed to my growing lack of enthusiasm for the play-by-post games.

Anyway, that being said, I'm still happy to continue this game. You're all great players and I'm still really proud of us completing Jade Regent together. But... the reality is posting/response is way down across the board. With Balodek leaving, I'd want to get a 4th player new recruit. I'd only really want to go through that if the rest of you are enthusiastic to go on. If not, its probably best to just call it.

Thoughts?

Hey all, sorry for lagging so badly recently. Multitude of factors, but I wanted to acknowledge the delays (once again). Maybe a fight will pick things up! =)

Holy cow! Welcome back / hows it going?

We're still plodding along, mostly hung up by my apparent inability to resume a regular posting rhythm.

Yeah, that rule sounds fair. Let's use it!

I would agree that telekinetic haul is sufficient to holding the totem up for long periods, since there is zero burn. I expect it requires a certain level of mental attention that would be fatiguing long term.

Ropes would help stabilize the other totems, so an aid bonus to their checks.

The Kn Eng check was mainly to help you gauge how effective your plan would be. You're certainly able to try the rock stacks without it. No piled rocks are going to be high enough or stable enough to hold the totems on their own, but they could aid the Strength checks.

Also, the four of you are taking the trial together, but you succeed or fail individually based on keeping your own totem standing at the end.

Yeah that worked for me. It took me a bit to realize I'd been logged out.

Yikes! I'm glad you got through it okay.

I'm slowly scraping off the crem and getting back into things. I'll post here in a minute. Thanks for being patient!

Hey all, I wanted to post a quick update. I haven't checked out completely, just got busy and then decided to take a break from the boards for a bit. I'll resume things after the New Year.

I hope everyone has had a relaxing holiday season!

Hey all! I haven't posted (obviously)... at first it was because I got busy, and later more deliberately because I needed the break. I've not checked out though, and plan to pick up again after the New Year.

I figured I should jump on and post an update. I hope everyone has had a relaxing holiday season!

Oh yeah, the "cheetah" elixirs are poison.

Hey all, I went through the Roll20 journal and organized the handouts into subfolders that hopefully make it a little easier to navigate.

I totally understand... 2020 has been rough across the board. Stay safe!

Thanks everyone! I'm committed to get this AP done. I'll try to keep posting consistently. Holiday season upcoming too...

Heh, yeah I totally get that too. Using PF2 has been a kinda refreshing -- confusing at times with the new rules, but I appreciate the relative simplicity.

Sounds like we just continue as we are for now. I'll need some direction in-game.

That said, I need actions...

I'm going to press on then, for now, and reassess after you finish this chapter. You're near the end and I'd hate to leave that hanging.

I'm really happy to continue the group, no matter the system or campaign. I know running PF2 up through the playtest to release has been confusing at times. If the system is causing drag, then I don't mind switching up.

Yeah, if everyone is in, I'm definitely motivated to keep going. We've come this far in too many years to quit now lol!

That seems to be a common refrain, sadly. Hopefully things will perk up after we get through the election and pandemic.

I know this game has inertia because of PF2. I'd like to keep it going because we've had this group together for several years, but if no one's motivated, I won't push it.

Thinking out loud... if it would inspire y'all to keep up the campaign, we can take it back to PF1. <shrug>

Hey all, how's everyone doing? I'm lagging the game badly. All my pbp games are hardly moving for that matter. I'm assuming some level of burnout from 2020, COVID or whatever.

I'm probably going to have to shelve a game or two, but I really want to commit to keeping this campaign going, as long as y'all are still invested. But if you're just not feeling it, I'm not going to push... pbp games are difficult enough. I'm afraid a long break would just kill the game outright.

Thoughts?

How's everybody doing? I'm having serious game lag across all my pbp games recently. Not sure if its burnout from COVID, 2020, etc.

I don't know if its the season, COVID/political burnout, or what, but I'm struggling to keep up with all my games. Same with all of our games, truly.

I love the Strange Aeons story but I've been on the fence to keep it going for a while. Party my own fault and the game system's limitations with running a small group. Faster paced posts or in a tabletop setting, it would be fine.

I don't want to abide with things continuing as they are, so a few options:

1) Shelve the game for now...
2) Continue with story mode... zero game mech, just focus on the story and roleplay elements

#2 is certainly unappealing if you like the character building and game. I'm happy to narrate things based on your inputs, and we can shed the dice rolls (and NPCs really).

Thoughts?

No, but you didn't really speak to her at all.

There was mention of a clockwork servant in the journal you found in the other officer's quarters...

Link here.

Does that help at all?

Apologies for the massive delay. Busy at work and a case of the doldrums. I will resume posting in short order.

Southeast needs the most help. Go there next?

None at the colony. You will probably find one soon.

(?) mithral datapad holders

(?) gold bracelets
(?) ornamental styli

These items are archaic relics of centuries ago history. They collectively are worth 3500 credits to a collector of Azlanti history.

Did you sell at 10% for gear?

Excellent! Welcome back!

Let's do it! It will be like when an actor changes between seasons of a TV show. The characters all act like everything is normal but you're like *skeptical face*.

Poorly worded and I think I confused myself. I went back and reread the section, so... The launcher still has a BP cost in the your ship build, and you can use the difference in any BP from the weapon it replaces. It is special because the torpedo launcher, as an Azlanti weapon, would be normally unavailable to you.

The launcher is 5 BP and 10 PCU required.

Hopefully that makes more sense.

I think the big basic change is that everything just keeps scaling up as you gain levels. That makes sense to me in the consistent rules sense, but grates on me a bit style wise. Everything ramping up so far beyond mundane levels just feels more like a superhero game. I like grittier low-level action. and why does the difficulty of skill checks suddenly become beyond reach. Joe the commoner can't climb a wall today bc it went from DC 15 to DC 30 when the PCs reached mid levels. huh?

EDIT: now that I think about it: is it just DC 30 for the PCs and still DC 15 for the commoner? DCs scaling with skill levels would make more sense. yeah, I still don't know PF2 that well. just too much going on.

Dang, I failed to reply to this! DC scaling is still in the DM's hands to set the challenge level for the players, just like before. The dice mechanic is essentially the same (roll d20, adjust the result, compare with target) as always, but the numbers have changed a bit. For anyone that has been playing a version 3.X since 1999 or so, its an adjustment. The progression scale isn't as flat as 5e, but its definitely been refined into more reasonable (and importantly, predictable numbers at higher levels) numbers.

XP up through the end of the adventure:

Last XP tally was 5,240 xp

Lt Sharu... 500 xp
Barazad... 400 xp

New Total: 6,140 xp

Congrats, you've earned enough experience to reach 4th level! Please post your level up choices and new stats.

DM Fflash wrote:

Chaotic Evil?

Large scale drug dealing , leading to a 3-way gang war, body count in the hundreds... It's a D&D version of breaking bad, but he's not even doing it to care for his family after he dies, he's in it to develop the capability to build a personal superweapon...

CE? No... none of the death and destruction was intentional or expected. She went along with a poor decision and it quickly got out of control. The drug wasn't inherently harmful, but demand for it incited the rest. The hundreds dead is really bads killing bads... Ardoc thugs vs Aspis thugs vs Freemen thugs.

My wife and I recently watched all of Breaking Bad and El Camino. We're going through Saul now. Definitely inspired there! ;)

Do we still have Abby? :/

Yeah, living in apartments right now would not be fun.

How is everyone doing? I hope you're getting through the outbreak healthy and sane.

I put together a running xp tally spreadsheet. You guys can view it here (hopefully). Let me know if it doesn't work.

Has anyone gotten and used the GMG add on for HLO? I need a good npc/monster builder but I haven't seen any reviews or videos for the HLO mod. I want to make sure it's what I'm looking for before I shell out $50.