Pasha of the Nightsands's page

I'm back and I have a lot I need to go over with you all. Now, there's a lot of information I need to go over, which I've already posted in my Coliseum Morpheuon game's discussion, so I'll probably use some of the text from that since I'd otherwise be saying the same thing in a different way. I do have specific things to say for you folks at the end though, as well as a slew of unanswered questions to get to. I'll put the copied text from my lengthy explanation and plans moving forward in a quote- though I'm obviously cutting the stuff specific to that game from it- then give you folks the more specific stuff after that.

Let's start with where I've been. A family member of mine developed a rather serious issue with osteomyelitis (hopefully I spelled that right) which is basically a serious bone infection. It began when their toe began swelling up and turning purple in the course of a single day. I had it in my head to post and let everyone know what was up that night, but obviously didn't do so. What followed was the bone infection causing things to turn necrotic, a (comparatively) mild case of sepsis, and emergency surgery. I've been with my family member nearly this whole time and, since getting back, have had to basically catch up on everything I've missed and help them out as well. It's been physically and mentally exhausting experience, and I honestly just haven't had the energy to do much of anything besides sleep.

Now let's get into where things are at. I've mentally processed everything that's been on, got most of the duties I had to assume handled, and have gotten things mostly stabilized. There are still three things that need doing before I can get back into the groove of things: cutting up and disposing of two trees that were uprooted and fell in the yard during the storms a few weeks ago, fixing my home air-conditioning unit that sprung a leak somewhere (hopefully the refrigerant line and nothing more major), and replacing my well motor which has been slowly petering out and making popping noises whenever it pumps water (I have determined that it is NOT air in the lines or a dirty filter, so it's probably the whole motor). I can see now why one of the most reviled curses in the East is, "May you live in interesting times". That will take a few days at least, though I can't really give a clear time table because I'm certainly not a trained professional at handling any of those three things.

Now, for where we go from here. I'm still willing to GM, assuming you guys will still have me. I know I screwed up big time not letting people know what's been going on and I don't know how to remedy that, but I want to try and make it right by pushing forward and delivering the experience I intended to before all of this. I would, ideally at least, like to see about maybe finding a way to allow us to communicate so you guys have a direct line to me in case life throws more curveballs my way; probably Discord, although I haven't used that app in so long that I'll probably need to make a new account for it.

So that's where things stand. I'll probably be mostly absent for a few days after posting this so I can handle everything that's cropped up since getting back home: refrigerant-leaking AC unit (currently 82 farenheit in here, so prioritizing that first), well motor going out, and cutting up and moving uprooted trees. I won't be able to do anything major- character reviews, number-crunching, looking up new stuff for people, etc- but I'll try to at least answer questions in between getting things back up to shape around here. On a more personal note, I feel terrible at having left things where they were without so much as a 'can't post right now, more info later', doubly so now that I've seen how much I've worried people and all the speculation about my health or safety, as well as the bad memories it has drudged up of GMs that have been crippled or passed on.

I've got to go to the store real quick to pick up a few things, so I'll back to help answer all the questions I've left unanswered for these last few weeks, but I wanted to go ahead and let you all know where things stood before I did so since you've all been worrying yourselves to the bone over this fool of a GM.

Alright everyone, let me explain where I've been, where things are at, and my plans moving forward.

Let's start with where I've been. A family member of mine developed a rather serious issue with osteomyelitis (hopefully I spelled that right) which is basically a serious bone infection. It began when their toe began swelling up and turning purple in the course of a single day. I had it in my head to post and let everyone know what was up that night, but obviously didn't do so. What followed was the bone infection causing things to turn necrotic, a (comparatively) mild case of sepsis, and emergency surgery. I've been with my family member nearly this whole time and, since getting back, have had to basically catch up on everything I've missed and help them out as well. It's been physically and mentally exhausting experience, and I honestly just haven't had the energy to do much of anything besides sleep.

Now let's get into where things are at. I've mentally processed everything that's been on, got most of the duties I had to assume handled, and have gotten things mostly stabilized. There are still three things that need doing before I can get back into the groove of things: cutting up and disposing of two trees that were uprooted and fell in the yard during the storms a few weeks ago, fixing my home air-conditioning unit that sprung a leak somewhere (hopefully the refrigerant line and nothing more major), and replacing my well motor which has been slowly petering out and making popping noises whenever it pumps water (I have determined that it is NOT air in the lines or a dirty filter, so it's probably the whole motor). I can see now why one of the most reviled curses in the East is, "May you live in interesting times". That will take a few days at least, though I can't really give a clear time table because I'm certainly not a trained professional at handling any of those three things.

Now, for where we go from here. I'm still willing to GM, assuming you guys will still have me. I know I screwed up big time not letting people know what's been going on and I don't know how to remedy that, but I want to try and make it right by pushing forward and delivering the experience I intended to before all of this. I would, ideally at least, like to see about maybe finding a way to allow us to communicate so you guys have a direct line to me in case life throws more curveballs my way; probably Discord, although I haven't used that app in so long that I'll probably need to make a new account for it.

I've greatly enjoyed my time here as your GM despite us not having even reached the first combat yet. You folks are all great and your characters are absolute cinema. My absence has hit you guys the hardest and seeing the concern, well-wishings, and such in my messages has been a humbling, moving experience. It sounds dramatic and overly sentimental for as short a time as I've known you all, I know, but it's how I feel about things. I do still want to continue on; to let you guys sail across the radiant waters of the Slumbering Sea, to guide you through the incense-filled alleys of the Tarnished Souk, to run things like the a naval battle on brazen triremes in the Molten Sea surrounding the City of Brass or the race against time to secure the crystalline codex of a dead world before it is reclaimed by the Void.

So what say you? Will you take a chance on this fool of a GM once more?

I haven't had time to come up with anything due to unforseen circumstances and, while everything's all well and good now, I don't want to hold things up for everyone else while I tinker with a character. Consider this my official withdrawal from the recruitment. Good luck everyone and I hope you all have a great time!

@wanderer82: Ah, I thought it would delve a little further into the Lovecraft Mythos considering you mentioned Hellboy as an inspiration in the last thread. There was a pretty good bit of stuff in that franchsie inspired by Lovecraft: the Ogdru Jahad that were basically Great Old Ones, Bethmoora was directly referenced in The Golden Army, two Elder Things also appeared in TGA, there were degenerate once-human fish people that lived in coastal New England villages, etc.

That said, would the character having a mental/spiritual connection to the Dreamlands make sense? If not, I would imagine a connection to the spirit world might be a little more appropriate, yes? Just trying to get a feel for what would fit.

@wanderer82: Would an opera singer/artist tormented by a mystic connection to the Dreamlands/Kadath/Carcosa/something similar be appropriate? My goal is to mix in both Hellboy comic book-esque pulpiness with a Mythos angle and go from there.

She would definitely be a charisma caster of some sort, but I don't know whether I would go the overused route of making her a Bard or something more innovative like Oracle or Psychic and just making her opera/art angle be pure fluff.

The recruitment is officially live!

Jumpscare update time! I'm roughly 4/5 of the way done with the recruitment, so expect something either late tonight or sometime tomorrow afternoon, EST. The section on miscellaneous setting stuff and gods took a while to transcribe, which is the only reason I haven't finished the recruitment yet. Still, good progress is good progress and I figured that I'd let everyone know before I head out for Friday Night Magic with some friends of mine.

I'm about halfway finished with the recruitment, so it's looking more and more likely that it's going to be either tomorrow or Saturday when the thread goes live as opposed to Sunday.

@pad300: Thanks for linking the player's guide! I was going to wait until the recruitment goes live, but now people can go ahead and start thinking up some character ideas.

@Grumbaki: Oh yes, and it's not just dwarves either. It feels nice not having everything clearly keyed with black-or-white morality, as it allows individual choices and ideals to shine through and feel like they have real substance.

@Philo Pharynx: Most definitely! The AP itself provides a nice vertical slice of the setting and allows PCs to visit every nation, meet NPCs of every race, interact with every major umbrella religion or philosophy, and even jaunt to a few of the planes as well. It's a masterpiece in that regard, as I can't think of a single AP other than EN Publishing's other amazing AP, War of the Burning Sky, that manages to pull off such a feat and have it feel organic. So yeah, no matter what parts of the setting that players incorporate into their background, it's most certainly something that will have some relevance, and I encourage people to dig into the setting as much as they want, seeing as how it's 100% free in the player's guide.

I may have gotten a little carried away last night and written a good chunk of the recruitment, so it doesn't look like people are going to have to wait a week or two on that. I should have the official recruitment thread up by sometime this weekend if all goes well.

@Fury of the Tempest: Oh yes, that should go without saying. I did the same thing with my Coliseum Morpheuon interest check and official recruitment as well.

@Vulpiano: Yep, just you six! You all still belong to the greater Circle of Wardens/Wardens of the Lattice, but every Circle is an autonomous cell that generally only interacts with the others out of dire necessity so as to not stretch the organization too thin.

I'm back and ready to spill the beans! So what AP did good ol' Pasha pick? Well...

ZEITGEIST: THE GEARS OF REVOLUTION!

Yeah, I know, you're probably wondering, "What the hell, Pasha? I thought you axed that idea?" and you would be right to think that, but hear me out! All the talk about Zeitgeist around two weeks ago hit me right in the nostalgia and led me down a rabbit hole. At first I just read through the adventures again and poured over my campaign notes to reminisce about the past. Then I started thinking about what I would do different if I had the chance to run Zeitgeist again. All of that just swept me up and placed me firmly on the Zeitgeist hype train. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now let's talk about some of the details I know people will be asking about.

Races are obviously a big topic to cover. Now, I'm normally of the 'kitchen sink and the refrigerator too' mindset when it comes to races, as people from my Coliseum Morpheuon game probably know, but that's not the case with Zeitgeist. So I'm willing to affect a compromise. There will be more 'setting-friendly' races I chose that have no restrictions on party composition and which require no clearance: core races, Eladrin, Deva (represented by mechanically by the Samarasan race), Tieflings, Aasimar (who are no longer Deva, but instead rare individuals born blessed within Crissilyir's borders), Androids (more like Pinocchio from Lies of P in that they're built using strange alchemy and steampunk technology), Changelings ('Witchkissed' marked in the womb by the fey or hags), and Drow (who are a sister race to Eladrin and Elves). I will also allow requests for weirder races, but with two caveats. First, a requested race must make sense to me within the bounds of the setting; Gnolls, Kobolds, full-blooded Orcs, and Minotaurs are all canonically civilized and come from the nation of Ber, so they would easily qualify. Second, I'm putting a maximum of two slots for the 'weird' races out of the six PC slots available just so that the party seems more 'normal', as I don't want a party of six kobolds in a trenchcoat running around or anything like that.

Campaign Traits are another big topic to cover. If you've read the Zeitgeist Player's Guide- and you should before formulating a character since it's pretty much a necessity- then you may see that there is a section called 'Character Themes' on page 6 (the numbered pages, not the actual PDF page). Those are your campaign traits and represent your background before coming into the R.H.C. It's a pretty comprehensive list: you can originally be a dockworker who was exposed to the 'working man's bohemian culture', a philosopher who followed the teachings of the dwarven scholar Heid Eschatol, a discerning appreciator of the relatively new field of firearms, a martial prodigy who was trained in strict martial academies, one of the prophetic Skyseers who studies the heavens for astrological signs and portents that induce their visions, a spirit medium with one foot in the spirit world, a technologist who is borderline obsessed with new technologies of all kinds, a mystic associated with the Cult of Vekesh that preaches of rebirth and vengeance through living a better life, or a war veteran of the Fourth Yerasol War who is a borderline celebrity as a result of their heroics. Anyway, you get the associated feat and first level of the associated prestige class for free at character creation, with the other two levels of the prestige class coming in at 7th (when you would normally qualify for the PrC) and 10th (the earliest you could max out the PrC), also for free. Not only that, but each of the character themes/campaign traits come into play in all but the final two adventures. Sometimes they give you ins with NPCs that otherwise wouldn't give you the time of day, sometimes they open up new avenues for resolving a problem or situation, and sometimes they give you more concrete benefits, such as the Martial Scientist learning new combat techniques from foes or certain texts. They also give interesting plot hooks that spice up adventures and make you really feel like your character is a part of a living, breathing world.

There's a bit to talk about with religions and philosophies as well. The Clergy, aka the Crisillyran Church, worship a pantheon of many gods that are united under a single banner: the 'Old Gods' whom the planes were named after (there's precedent for this since the elemental planes are named after the four elemental gods of War of the Burning Sky), the 'New Gods' who were later adopted (these are the ones I based on the gods list in adventure #11: Gorged on Ruin), and Triegenes the Fisher (the mortal who defeated the Demonocracy in the ancient past and, it was said, ascended to the heavens to become the chief of the gods). Seedism is primarily an Eladrin and Drow thing and it too focuses around the worship of many gods: the traditional eladrin and drow deities, archfey, and a collection of elemental nature spirits. The Old Faith of Risur centers around around the Fey Titans- enormous fey kaiju tied to elemental concepts that made pacts with the ancient Risuri- and the Archfey of the Unseen Court. Guerro, the folk religion of Ber, centers around tribal gods who the faithful believe war as their followers do for heavenly supremacy. And then there's the philosophies: the nihilistic teachings of Heidan Eschatology that focuses on endings, the utopian ideals of William Miller that are popular with the oppressed and downtrodden, Beran Panoplism which seeks to scrutinize and incorporate the best of all philosophies and religions to create a universal system respected by all races and cultures, the fiercely atheistic Danoran Pragati that believes superstitions and false beliefs should be done away with so that mortals may achieve true progress, and Vekeshi Mysticism which incorporates many mystic elements from Seedism and teaches that the best revenge is to improve yourself, prosper, and be reborn better than before tragedy marked you.

For the purposes of firearms, you can assume your official R.H.C. channels go by Guns Everywhere. Other nations have differing levels, such as Crissilyir banning firearms alongside most technology, Danor being Guns Everywhere since they pioneered their use, Drakar having Commonplace Guns as allies of Danor, etc.

Technology-oriented spheres- aside from the now-defunct Tech sphere itself- are fair game. This is a sorta-steampunk world and you should expect there will be a good amount of fun tech you can get your hands on later.

If you want to know the favored terrains and enemies of the setting, let me run those by you as well. The top three most useful terrains are, in order: Urban, Forest, and Planar, with others being useful in more specific setpieces. As far as favored enemy types, I'd say that Humanoids (which I'm lumping together), Constructs, Evil Outsiders, Undead, and Fey are the most useful, roughly in that order.

You can expect houserules like Elephant in the Room, Background Skills, and Universal Combat Stamina and Skill Unlocks as a given.

If you're very familiar with Zeitgeist, know that I've added some new content to spice things up. Nothing major that will change the course of the AP or anything, but just a few fun things: three new NPCs that also work for the R.H.C., a few new monsters included at key points because their themes fit perfectly, etc. It should also go without saying that every NPC has been rebuilt for spheres and my version's higher level while staying true to their themes and character.

I'll probably leave things there for the moment. No need to unload everything before the recruitment goes live in a week or two.

If anyone has any questions they'd like cleared up before recruitment begins- specifics on gods, more details on how certain races fit into the setting, elaborations on philosophies, short descriptions of individual adventures (hidden under a spoiler of course), or what have you- feel free to ask.

@Philo Pharynx: You can rest easy now that you know what AP I'm going with! Or not, if your brain is like mine and swimming with dozens of ideas vying for supremacy.

@Violant: Yes, the Tinker sphere is on the table!

Have no fear, I haven't forgotten about you all! Before I reply in my very expository, very 'Pasha' way though, I need to head to town since a few of the stores I need to swing by will be closing in about two hours. I will post my chosen AP and a very 'Pasha' breakdown of the details when I return! Stay tuned for more information!

Got a little busy since my post about two hours ago, but the first official gameplay post is up now! IT BEGINS AT LAST! :D

It also dawned on my that the profile picture I chose for my GM alias is basically just my main one, but looking like it's doing a Rick Flair "WOOOOO!" towards the sky and I don't think that I can be any more pleased with that than I am right now!

@Vulpiano: Awesome! Once you finish up, we can go ahead and begin.

@First Flame: I'm definitely waiting to see it!

Well, I had to take take the weekly allotment of two days without posting since they were upgrading our internet locally and that left things spotty! Glad I decided to go with a five post a week standard so I didn't end up looking like a slacker missing two consecutive days as the GM.

@Vulpiano: Pretty much EVERY language is available from ANY setting! If you're dead-set on it, you can even know C++ and that's only half a joke. Go wild with whatever languages you want to know since you do have 90ish at your disposal!

Also, I didn't see you mention whether or not you needed any tweaks, so are you good with things as-is? Just wanting to be sure since everything else seems to be in order.

@Duskashae: I somehow missed the languages part. I'd say go ahead and select your languages since Vulpiano's got the lion's share of those covered. I'll give you a few of the more common languages that could be useful and a few of the less common ones that only one or two NPCs speak as well. Bear in mind that some of the less common languages are things I spliced in to accommodate changes I made, but they're touches I wanted to make nonetheless.

Hopefully those help you figure out some of the languages you might want to take.

@First Flame: Close enough anyway! My hands usually break out in hives anytime I have to drive during daylight hours because of how the shots affect my skin. Being a living vampire wasn't on my 2024 or 2025 bingo card, but hey, at least I have an excuse to be a night owl for the foreseeable future if I want!

@Maedyri: All of those are fine, including the custom staff. Any other tweaks or purchases you need to make?

@Arc Zeon: I can foresee all of those changes working out for the better, all things considered.

Also, you're correct on how all of your shield enhancement abilities function and how they interact with Impossible Warrior.

@Duskashae, Josten, Vulpiano: Are there any tweaks you need to make or should we assume you're good to go?

@Maedyri: You can indeed buy or craft custom staves.

Hope everyone had a great Easter! I mostly spent mine relaxing with the family since the medical treatment I'm receiving gives me a sun allergy and that kinda cuts out frolicking in the sunlight. Still, I had a pretty great day regardless and hope everyone else had one as well.

Are there any other questions people have? I'll allocate a few more days to make sure everyone has everything in order if need be.

@Maedyri: You can milk an appropriate zombie for venom, but only insomuch as it had before it died. Zombies can't produce new biochemical compounds, after all.

@Arc Zeon: Flesh doesn't stop Desecrate, so that's probably a no-go there.

@The First Flame: Dang, got ninja'd! Anyway, those are all fine. Yes, even Daylight, because the threat of causing that many unintended casualties is likely a deterrant that will relegate that combo to more thematic moments where it just feels really cool to use.

I somehow skipped over you, Vulpiano, so sorry about that.

@Vulpiano: So you get the 8+INT to start with (8+15=23), plus the 3 extra points (23+3=26) for a grand total of 26 skill points per level to spend.

Also, while you don't quite get totally free Heal ranks, per se, since anything substantial requires talent investment into the Alchemy Sphere, it may as well be. Here's the relevant texts.

Special: The Field Medic uses the Heal skill as the skill used for Alternative-Brew.

Alternative-Brew [IHB2]

Whenever this sphere uses or grants ranks in Craft (alchemy) or calls for a Craft (alchemy) check, you instead gain ranks in a Craft or Profession or attempt a Craft or Profession check.

When you gain the Alchemy sphere, you gain 5 ranks in the Craft (alchemy) skill, plus 5 ranks per additional talent spent in the Alchemy sphere (maximum ranks equal to your total Hit Dice).

So as long as you've invested at least three talents into Alchemy, you may as well have a free skill point per level into Heal (base 5 for Alchemy Sphere + 3x5 for talents = the HD-based cap of 20). It's technically not the same, but it's close enough!

@Fury of the Tempest: Thanks for the compliment! I do try to keep things dynamic, fun, and interesting.

@The First Flame: The ability score reductions for size are still normal, but since you technically have extra beyond the cap, I'd be fine with whatever the uncapped score is being the factor there.

I'd rule that Light of Noon may have SOME of those talents applied. You'd have to ask which ones though. Generally the size/shape-altering ones should be fine.

Prismatic Radiance is, at least to me, objectively better than Radiation. You could always reflavor it as 'otherworldly solar radiation' anyway.

Those name changes are fine with me.

Yeah, the DR5/- wording is weird with that template. I'd rule that it's just a separate DR value that applies alongside any other DR you possess.

@Maedyri: I've always used Spell Points like Arc Zeon suggested, albeit just spending the raw spell points with no specific sphere needed.

@Arc Zeon: So for the shield enhancement stacking question, Shield Master and similar abilities add Shield AC as a weapon enhancement bonus. Anything that increases a weapon enhancement bonus also applies to that.

With Impossible Warrior, I'm pretty sure the consensus is that actual enhancements are what is counted for the purpose of those abilities, sans effective enhancements. Shields are kind of a special case since they're normally not weapons, but can be used as one with Shield Master and such. So I'd rule that your shield's full enhancement bonus is what applies in place of MSB in this instance.

Impossible Warrior's abilities clearly state that weapon enhancements are used in place of MSB, so MSB boosts would not apply there.

@Josten Cailen: Eh, don't sweat it too much. It's water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned. Just try to avoid hiding things in the future. Sound good?

@Fury of the Tempest: Well, I have a few amusing anecdotes!

In the alleyway encounter with the demon hashashin, Arcantos managed to succeed on a knowledge check about their order and cleverly crafted an illusion of the demonic paradise that was promised to them by the original Grandfather of Assassins. He then bluffed the succubus assassin into believing that the party were demonic angels from the Red Paradise sent to punish the current balor grandmaster for abject heresy. Hilarity then ensued as the dreamvapor-addled succubus assassin turned on the balor while crazily singing the party's praises as the Blessed Angels of Blood to her former cohorts and railing against her grandmaster as a filthy heretic while combat devolved into a three-way brawl.

In the encounter with Miraxa the Pirate Queen of the Slumbering Sea and her crew, Arcantos managed to pull off several stunts that I felt would suit his personality. There were several fun applications of illusion magic, but I think the funniest thing here was your companion ticking off the (optional) skywhale kaiju and baiting it into crashing Miraxa's ship, which cut off some of her reinforcements and dealt with the issue of her living ship being able to participate in combat itself.

The fey duel didn't have much in the way of amusing anecdotes, but that was mostly because the whole affair had agreed upon rules of engagement.

@Josten Cailen: Thanks for all those recalculations. I didn't even think to tell people that the rule about ability scores from items did not apply to artifacts.

Regarding hiding that information, while I don't like players intentionally keeping information from me, I'm willing to let it slide this time since I already factored in both Sacredness and Legendary Beauty IV when playtesting. I figured the omissions were book-keeping errors on your part. Just avoid hiding things in the future, cool?

Also, Parities are not in Coliseum Morpheuon; they're in the City of Seven Seraphs book since I've set Coliseum Morpheuon in that multiverse. Duskashae has linked the Parities if you want to check them out.

@Maedyri: There is no canon language in Hyraeatan that I know of, but 'Planar Common/Cant' is something I've seen used in other settings and have used there.

There's honestly WAY too many magic item recommendations I could make. The real question is what are you looking for in broad terms?

@Philo Pharynx: Makes sense, but I wanted to be sure before I assumed anything.

@Fury of the Tempest: Oof, that's kinda embarrassing on my part. I was certain that he was built as a blasty type that was hard to actually hit/substantially damage by virtue of those defensive sphere choices and clever use of illusions. Most of your ranged kinetic blasts being put under the attack section just reinforced it mentally on my part. Sorry about that misread on what you were going for, even if I do still think Arcantos was a good character in that role.

@Duskashae: Actually, that's partially a goof on my part for thinking you got more than the Fey type from extra sources; I thought you had an extra instance of Outsider for some reason. Anyway, your type is Fey. Constructed only makes the character count as Construct and Outsider for the purpose of effects that target those. One might argue that your type being altered by your template would cut out the Outsider bit from the equation, but eh, it makes sense as-is because of the biomantic butchering kytons do on their 'subjects'.

@FangDragon: Yep, that is pretty early, probably around the first third of book two out of twelve. It's a shame that you didn't get to experience that first trip up to Cauldron Hill because it's really neat.

@Arc Zeon: Fair enough! I was just wondering what 'EXPENSIVE MATERIALS' was doing in gear. I thought it might be some kind of weird third-party item that even I have never heard of. It makes sense that you would put it there now that I think about it. Thanks for clarifying.

Eh, I'm not as worried about infinite money hacks in this game. It wouldn't fly in a normal game, but the kind of wealth we're playing with at this level means that most players will have probably 90% of the items they really need. Granted, there will be some epic items and maybe a few minor artifacts for sale in the Tarnished Souk and other extraplanar markets, so money's not totally useless even in this game.

The House of Heights DOES seek immortality, but godhood is the real prize they're after. Not a big deal or anything, just figured I'd clarify.

Ah, so I DID overlook where you got Arcane Sight from. Thanks for pointing that out for me.

@Oceanshieldwolf: Makes sense. Zeitgeist IS an amazing AP. Granted, War of the Burning Sky was made by the same publisher and I'll attest to its quality. While it isn't as polished as Zeitgeist, per se, I love it and I made changes to the sticking points.

@FangDragon: How far did your group get? The world technically evolves as the adventures progress, but there's a REALLY BIG series of changes I'm referring to would probably take years to reach in forum games.

@Philo Pharynx: Zeitgeist's main challenge is just for a GM to keep track of several plot threads, dozens of NPCs, and player choices since all of those carry on through the AP and become relevant later. Killed one seemingly-inconsequential hostile NPC instead of restraining them and taking them in? Well, their daddy is MAD and is going to give the party absolute hell as the campaign goes along. Interacted with a certain NPC a certain way? Well, better be ready to remember that if they're part of the conspiracy a few adventures down the road. Zeitgeist is definitely an AP that requires GMs to take copious amounts of notes. It's very much a 'Telltale' experience where every action gives one of those 'X will remember that' moments. I personally love it for that.

Are the characters you mentioned those you referenced earlier in the thread? Or are they different ones?

First Edition is my go-to, so I'd vote for that.

@Fury of the Tempest: Arcantos was honestly a blast to play, pun fully intended. The character could play a good keepaway game while tricking foes with illusions and blasting them to smithereens, all while harrying foes with his pet. Arcantos, like a few other characters, only got cut because of how the final party composition was shaping up.

@Arc Zeon: Yeah, that ruling is easy to miss since gestalt is only semi-official and it's widely assumed that there are no special rules for it. I actually didn't know about it until one of my old local players pointed it to me a few years back.

Welp, it looks like I apparently hit preview yesterday instead of post. Drat. No worries though, I'll just repost everything. Let's go for round two!

Before I get into things, I want to go ahead and lay something out on the table: if you have any questions, need any clarifications, or would like to make any tweaks, now's the time! Once we begin the game in earnest, that's pretty much it: no tweaks, no retraining, none of that. Not unless something was a huge goof on my part anyway.

@Vulpiano: Glad to have you as well!

I see you've started porting everything over to your alias from the google doc you messaged me. Excellent, that makes things easier to cross-reference. I'm not sure if everyone else knows about your background since I think that was something you messaged me, so could you go into a little detail for them?

You did have a few things you still needed to pick with skills and such, yes. On a related note, did you ever add those magic items you asked me about in the recruitment? I haven't checked since playtesting Vulpiano about two(?) weeks ago.

Have you officially selected all 90ish of your languages yet? I can't remember how many are officially part of Pathfinder- just shy of 200ish probably- because the 30ish listed on the SRD is just a vertical slice of the more common ones.

One last thing I want to confirm since it was mentioned in passing in the thread during a conversation between you and Maedyri: you are part of the Bookbinders, yes? Just wanted to make sure so that my notes are correct.

@Duskashae: Me, a casual Nidal enjoyer who grew up on the Hellraiser movies, add in kytons? That's CRAZY talk! I surely was not steepling my fingers and letting out am evil GM chuckle when I was considering Duskashae for selections. Okay fine, MAYBE a little bit.

I think you're good on most things that need expanding upon or tweaking unless I overlooked something, save for one thing: did you ever decide which of the types you were going for? I notice you still have all of the types listed in your profile.

Thanks for the more detailed breakdowns on your numbers by the way; those helped out a LOT in picking apart your build.

@Arc Zeon: Hey, the feeling's mutual! Arc Zeon was a treat to playtest and he's probably even more fun with that special 'player unpredictability' magic thrown into the mix.

There were a few small things I had questions about with your character. Nothing major, but things I had questions about nonetheless.

What are the 'EXPENSIVE CHEMICALS' mentioned at the end of your gear spoiler?

I can't find where you managed to get Arcane Sight? Was it just a permanent spell? Or did you get it from a feature somewhere? I probably overlooked something.

One last thing: thanks for breaking down your character sheet into clearly identifiable groups and breaking down most of your math; it helped out a LOT.

@The First Flame: Hey, I'm ready to READ what you write for that bird-shaped mass of cosmic flame!

Ask whatever you need regarding those clarifications or tweaks!

I've got to say, that's some nice art! I'm a big fan of phoenixes, myself.

@Josten Cailen: Happy to have you! It's honestly hard to NOT enjoy the level of enthusiasm you had for this game and your character has for life in general.

There wasn't much I needed to discuss with you, but there were a few things.

Artifacts DO grant ability score bonuses unlike traditional magical items in this game, so your Spindle of Perfect Knowledge WOULD grant that +4 to all mental scores.

I didn't see the +1d6 holy damage from Sacredness factored into your attack breakdowns. Was that an intentional ommission to keep things easier to read? Just curious!

One more thing I need to ask: which Parity does your character belong to? I couldn't find it in my notes.

Also, thanks for breaking down some of the number-crunching. It took me a moment to figure out what some of the abbreviations were for, but I connected the dots quickly enough.

@Maedyri: I actually didn't have any questions for you off the top of my head. As with the others, thanks for the breakdowns of your bonuses.

@Qeetan'Chachol: Will do! PM sent.

I'll be popping in later tonight (EST) with a full list of tweaks I'd like people to make. As I mentioned before in the recruitment, it's nothing major, just a few small things: choosing a Parity, tweaking a few numbers, etc. Certainly nothing that will completely change how your character plays.

@Grumbaki: Godwyn performed exceptionally well in the playtests as a gishy blender type of character with some tricks up his sleeve. He was actually one of the hardest characters for me to cut.

@ChrisAsmadi: Yeah, Zeitgeist is a masterpiece of an AP. It's got everything: awesome combat against NPCs and monsters that often have unique mechanics, compelling intrigue, a strong and sweeping narrative that takes PCs across the world and beyond, deep moral and philosophical conundrums that really test characters' convictions, and some REALLY cool setpieces. The world really does change as a result of the actions of both the PCs AND the NPCs and that dynamism really makes the AP feel 'alive' in ways most never manage to.

Now that Coliseum Morpheuon's recruitment has officially wrapped up, I can devote a little more headspace to the details surrounding this idea.

Go ahead and dot the gameplay thread, folks. Once we finish up hashing out all that we need to in discussion, we'll get this show on the road!

Welcome one and all, members of the Warden's Broken Circle! Congratulations on making it this far.

I know there's a few things people still need to work on: picking a Parity, fleshing out backgrounds, using up your last bit of gold (if desired), etc, but have no fear, you have time to work on touching those up before we start.

If you want to work with other players on creating interparty ties, I'm all for it! I'm definitely interested in seeing what strange friendships and rivalries people are down for creating.

Go ahead and dot the gameplay thread if you'd be so kind. Gotta make sure everyone's registered and receiving notifications even at this sorta in-between revision stage.

Alrighty then, time to announce my selections! It took the better part of a week to decide between all the outstanding submissions and every character I had to cut from the running made me feel pretty bad. Every last one of you should be proud of what you have accomplished in the month you've had to work on everything and I salute you for pushing through and creating such cool characters for me to delve into these last few weeks. Without further ado, let's see those opening credits roll!

*** Arc Zeon, zenith human survivor of a doomed 'verse and indefatigable martial savant of the Broken Circle, piloted by Kaouse ***

*** Dr. Vulpiano Arvanxi M.D., alchemical healer extraordinaire and caustic many-skilled genius of the Broken Circle, puppeteered by Monkeygod ***

*** Duskashae, liberated masterpiece of the kytons and cunning shadow mage of the Broken Circle, masqueraded by eriktd ***

*** The First Flame, incarnate soul of cosmic flame and the Broken Circle's radiant agent of creation and destruction, cast by Almonihah ***

*** Josten Cailen, god-blooded scion of Golarion and bon vivant par excellence of the Broken Circle, performed by TheWaskally ***

*** Maedyri, entwined souls reborn as the unseen master of the spider's web and friendly necromage of the Broken Circle, embodied by DaisL ***

Astute observers might realize that I selected six characters, not five. Well that's because, try as I might, I just had to have at least ONE more. Plus it makes sense given how Warden Circles are set up. Is it more work for me to adjust encounters? Most definitely, but I'm willing to forge ahead in the name of awesomeness!

Tangent notwithstanding, I'd like our newest members of the Broken Circle to navigate over to the discussion thread I'm creating. We'll spend the next day or three going over things that need tweaking, fleshing out backgrounds and interparty ties, etc. Some of you need to fill out your aliases with the information you messaged me and others need to officially select a Parity as well.

To those who were not selected, do not despair! I may yet have an idea brewing that those hungry for my singularly crazed GMing style. Let me know if you'd like me to message you directly in the event that idea becomes a reality.

Let me finish things by once more saying thank you all for your hard work, your generous patience, and your incredible characters! I sincerely hope we cross paths once more here on the forums and create wonders together.

@Fury of the Tempest: Wait, THEY are the ones behind that studio?! Awesome! I'll definitely have to check that out then, because Tinker is hella fun to play.

@Almonihah: Oh don't get me wrong, drow society is still thoroughly Machiavellan and evil, they're just not as moronic with it as the 'typical' drow. Their shared sense of pride in their race, culture, and pantheon curtail the most self-destructive behaviors, even if they do sometimes implode.

@Oceanshieldwolf: Oh no, there's no chain of command for most of the AP and when there IS a chain of command, they're higher up on it.

@Philo Pharynx: Not yet, unfortunately. I've been putting my nose to the grindstone trying to pick a party for my Coliseum Morpheuon game, honestly. There are so many excellent characters that I'm already feeling guilty knowing that some are going to be left out in the cold. I've got all but one slot filled and that last one is something I've decided that I will pick tomorrow even if I have to leave it all to the luck of the dice. Once I finish that up, I'm hoping to have an answer for you all in the following few days.

Morally grey is probably a decent goal to shoot for with Throne of Night.

Yes to Elephant in the Room, yes so very much! Love that houserule.

Alrighty, I'm back! So I've managed to decide on all but the last slot. There are so many good characters that it's proving difficult to pick JUST one more. I keep going back and forth. All of the standard 'roles' are filled, so that doesn't make this any easier. I was HOPING to have selections done by now and for everything to start by tonight at the latest, but I kinda goofed that one. You all definitely made this hard to choose, but it's a good problem to have!

I'll make my selections by tomorrow, even if I have to roll a set of dice to pick which of the players gets that last slot! I don't want people to have to wait any more than they already have in the little over a month this recruitment has been running.

Because my actual selections have taken a few days longer than I wanted, I'm cutting out the secret messaging of those chosen to make sure they're still game and listing the proposed changes. If you're not cool with the possibility of slight alterations, mostly just small numerical issues, then please make it clear by about this time tomorrow, as that's likely when I'll pop in, post selections, and start the game in earnest.

Once more, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for creating such awesome characters and waiting patiently!

@Candraphon: Candraphon performed pretty great in playtesting. Your spell selections generally added a lot to encounters and complimented the best of your build well. There was a few issues with certain immunities, but that's to be expected at this level.

@Saashaa: I playtested your character, but kind of had to guess on spells and powers since, as of when I ran the playtest, those had not been selected. It's honestly hard to go wrong with an ultracaster even at this power level.

@Qeetan'Chachol: That's unfortunate since Qeetan was an excellent character and really fun to playtest, but I can respect your decision nonetheless! Knowing one's limits is a virtue few can pull off, but well-appreciated when it is. You'll always be welcome in my recruitments with characters as cool as what you've shown here! Hopefully we'll run into each other here on the boards and have a friendly roll of the dice.

@Philo Pharynx: Oh and there's a few other things I want to throw out there if my last post didn't suffice in capturing your interest.

@FangDragon: I can see how it would kinda fulfill that fantasy. Granted, the PCs are largely independent of any army until key moments later in the AP when the BIG clashes start, but the idea is similar enough.

@ChrisAsmadi: I've never heard of the Polished Dark Sphere, shockingly enough. I'd be willing to give it a lookover if we go with Throne of Night!

@eriktd: Ha! See my conundrum? They're both SUPER sick campaign ideas and I don't really know which I prefer. Like I said before, it's like being a parent and someone asking them to pick which kid is their favorite.

@Arc Zeon: Yep, that's why making the assumption that an ability is (Ex) by default unless otherwise noted is a problem.

@Arcantos: While I'm not afraid of throwing out antimagic fields, one thing to bear in mind is that most of the being players will encounter are ALSO loaded with stuff that would be affected by such a countermeasure. So while I won't say that those things will be completely absent from the game, I will say that you shouldn't expect every encounter to be a magic-nullifying mage killer or anything like that.

@Oceanshieldwolf: While it seems like War of the Burning Sky is a classic fantasy setting on the surface, it's not quite like that. There's stuff like four elemental titans that govern the natural laws of the world, dreamspawned (and originally psionic!) aberrations that want to boil away the reality of the world to be free of the bonds of the flesh, the rare alchemagical art of biomancy, a small amount of military magitech (the penultimate book has a living airship!), and other things thrown into the mix.It also provides enough twists on classic fantasy tropes that few things feel like it was ripped straight out of Tolkien.

The AP itself has a strong theme, albeit one that some people may be weary of: fighting for freedom against an evil empire in a magical war. It definitely handles the concept of fighting a war better than first-party APs that take on that subject like Ironfang Invasion or Hell's Vengeance.

That's just my two cents on the subject. I know everyone has different opinions on things and maybe you don't see it the same way I do, but that's fine.

@Philo Pharynx: I don't think that McBride ever got around to writing up a player's guide for obvious reasons. That said, I can create something if we go with Throne of Night. It shouldn't be too much work since all I'd need to do is translate my notes into something coherent to the average person. I can provide some setting details right now, in fact, but I'm only going to hit on the high points to give you a feeling of the setting I built for it.

Since the version of Throne of Night we would use would be a general version with two slots that MUST be filled by a drow and a dwarf or deurgar (and the rest with whatever from the big race list I provided a few days ago), I'll be focusing a bit on the lore of those two races in this sample.

As for what the adventures entail, I'll fall back on one of McBride's old posts to explain the stuff for the last four adventures. The two published adventures already have synopses of their own.

Does all that help give you an idea about Throne of Night? My versions of some of the adventures may be a little different, such as book six having the players journey from the aboleth city to the defiled dwarven capital of Marrikar where the true enemy of the AP dwells amidst a tomb-city drowned in corrupted godblood, alien horrors from the Void tear, and the twisted remains of the countless moon elves and dwarves who have died over the millennia and risen as unholy mockeries of their former selves. Or in book three having players take on not only the Traitor Prince, but the evil dragon he made a pact with as well. But the official rundowns I found online are generally something I followed pretty closely when creating the rest of the AP.

Let me start by answering the questions I didn't yesterday and I'll move on to things that have been posted since then.

@First Flame: Your character performed well in most relevant situations, but had a little difficulty in hitting foes with melee attacks. There was also a problem with your blasts being able to hit foes with a higher touch AC, but those types of enemies aren't quite as common in this campaign. Outside of having issues hitting AC in some cases, your character performed admirably with its other abilities.

@Arcantos: Your character also performed pretty well. Obviously a character built around the heavy use of illusions isn't going to rely as much on the 'normal' combat parameters and one person might utilize those abilities to a greater or lesser degree than another. So that's something to keep in mind when I say that your character performed well. Your other stuff- conjured companion, enhancements, etc- helped your character contribute in situations where illusions were not viable tools.

@Vulpiano: 90 languages is pretty impressive! I don't think there will be a problem with communication.

@Cronossuss: You can't always assume that something is (Ex) unless otherwise stated simply because some authors forget to include a proper designation. A creature that has Fast Healing from an ability that draws in magical energy from the air to knit their wounds, for example, is not something that could be construed as an (Ex) ability. Similarly, a creature with a burning hot aura of flame as a result of a physiological quirk wouldn't have that count as a (Su) ability. Most of it is just common sense, but I'm ready to handle it on a case-by-case basis.

Ignore my last, now-deleted post. As I was helping out a family member with a few things, I started thinking about both Throne of Night and War of the Burning Sky and it sent down a rabbit hole of "Am I CERTAIN that I want to run X over Y?" So nothing has ultimately changed and I managed to delete that post just in time under the one hour deadline. About to log back off and resume working, just needed to rescind my hasty decision while I could still delete the post.