My group also fled from the Vermleks. I had them return to the barn. Nemmia was also present, as she fled from the initial circus encounter. It made for a rather epic, and very difficult boss fight.
I had a successful first session of chapter one a few days ago. My group is generally keen on performances, musical numbers, caring for animals, strong npc roleplay/friendships, and dinosaurs in general, so this AP seemed like a good fit. Our version of Savinth Yhi in Serpent's Skull had regular district wide dance party festivals, to give you some idea. I think there is a lot of benefit to breathing some life into the NPCs, before starting book one. We are an online Roll20 live group, but I ran a chapter zero as a play by post, for about a month in real life, that took place the night before the first big show in the backstage wagon camp area. It was 80% NPCs interacting with each other and that was fine. It allowed me to develop many of the performer personalities, since that info is generally missing from the book, and the players got to absorb info on few dozen new friends in measured chunks. I also created a 'circus friends and family' gallery thread in our group discord, with portraits and short descriptions for reference. With six clowns, seven dwarf throwers, the Feather Fall 5, and the rest of the named NPCs there are A LOT of new faces. My clown troop never takes off their make up, or "clown clothes". They are totally dedicated to the clown life. Personalities include goofy, worried, sad, philosophical-intellectual, smart aleck, and one named Meow that behaves as if he was a cat. It's also rumored that they have some pretty wild after show parties. My Famboli sisters are early twenty somethings who are fiercely competitive with each other, the Feather Fall Five are a family unit, and also talented musicians who provide campfire music in the evenings, and Mordaine is pretty much Mordaine as indicated in the book, but I changed her assistant Hod from a youngish boy, to a young adult (13 year old) goblin. The dwarven throwers are the new arrivals, and despite appearing to be a group of seven bearded dwarves, not actually dwarves, or even males. No one but Myron is aware of this yet. They very much keep to themselves, and stay absorbed in practice, perhaps avoiding group socialization up to this point. They also turn the barrels they use for their acrobatic antics into a blanket fort kind of home at night, instead of sleeping in a tradition wagon home. At the end of chapter zero, Myron called everyone to the bonfire, gave a very inspirational pep talk, ahead of the first big performance, which was themed into three sections. The first was a thanks for sticking with this, difficult times dating back to Celestial Menagerie, better times ahead kind of theme. The second part transitioned to a serious cross your Ts, dot your Is, don't mess this up bit, take it very seriously our we might not make it to another performance bit of speech. The final part was a powerful and heartfelt 'this is why we (entertainers) matter to the world' conclusion, that brought everyone to their feet applauding, cheering, and perhaps even crying some tears of joy. There was also a great moment after the speech, when one of the PCs visited Myron in his wagon, and he relayed a story about a performer/ringleader he knew who had all of the heart and glitz to be a successful performer/leader, but none of the business acuity. He gifted the PC the performers old rhinestone jacket, with a reminder to follow your dreams, but be smart about it. I was very glad for the chance to show Myron as a thoughtful and considerate leader, instead of just jumping to 'your ring leader, who is supposed to be a great dude, that you know nothing about', is suddenly dead. Figured I would share these added details, to give others inspiration, or ideas to borrow from. I'm hoping that extra legwork will keep my players invested in the circus part of the campaign. I do believe it added some interest, context, and certainly familiarity to relate to once book ones straight to it beginning gets started. So far so good. When Axel begs to join, they already knew he's been asking for a week. They already know Mordaine is a Diva (who more than lived up to her ego BTW, two nat 20s in a row during her big number performance. PERFECT!) They know the clowns by name and personality, and the first performance felt more like PC and NPC friends with a common bond and working together, versus players trying to suddenly relate to all these new npcs that just got introduced.
Thank you Tonya and Draco. I applaud the moderation that took place removing some posts/replies, even if it left some without context. Since the posts that concerned me were deleted, mods can feel free to delete my 'questions for Lisa' post if they like. The removals answered my questions satisfactorily. I also appreciate the overwhelmingly positive messages here, and throughout the official and unofficial Pathfinder communities I participate in, that are focused on the BLM cause. Finally I respect Paizo's decision to make the statement they did, knowing it would cause disagreement or dissent among some in the community.
Can your Premier Event Coordinator say the words Black lives matter I wasn't asking you, nor was I asking you to do anything. It was a rhetorical question directed to Lisa. My third question is the real one for her. "If you were Black gamer would you want to play Pathfinder Society, when it's high level leadership cannot get behind a simple call for solidarity against injustice, without making it about something else?"
Lisa, Can your Premier Event Coordinator say the words Black lives matter, or only champion the good cops, dismiss a few bad apples, hope for justice, and relate stories about shop owners who benefited from a go fund me. Can your Venture-Lieutenant of Colorado say the words Black lives matter, or only deflect blame on the media, and wish for a return to unity via praising pandemic responders? If you were Black gamer would you want to play Pathfinder Society, when it's high level leadership cannot get behind a simple call for solidarity against injustice, without making it about something else? I look forward to your response.
Incredibly sad and telling that this thread couldn't make it a few hours without people trying to make it about something else besides black lives.
We can all do better, and this hobby we share is in no way exempt. Black lives matter. Black gamers matter. Black authors matter. Black designers matter. Black artists matter.
In previous years Know Direction has done a good job recording seminars.
So sorry to hear this news. TSA played in my Kingmaker campaign a few years back. We'll keep him in our thoughts.
I was thinking about running Arrested Development the RPG, with Bluth family pregens.
Hey Jon you might want to merge this thread into official feedback, or reference it if not. Needless to say my experience was excellent. The Sagamore is a great room with thick carpeting at all. I'm fairly hard of hearing and had very little difficulty hearing any one. That's not my experience in some of the other rooms. Negative Feed Back: The only complaint I have is that there is not a 1:00 AM-6:00 AM time slot. I realize that is probably not likely to happen, but one can hope.
Based on the other D&D movie, I'm sure I'll stick with Zombie Morpheus/Dead Gentlemen. They've been making the best gaming movies out there for quite awhile.
Wanted to say thanks again to my two great Society GMs. Something must have slipped through the cracks and my Friday morning 8:00 am slot for We Be Goblins Too didn't have a GM scheduled for it. Cody from Texas ran a fine game on short notice. The game started a little late, and I think the conclusion chewed up at least half of his 1 hour lunch break before he was due to run the next slot. Cody was also more than happy to help me get my chronicle replaced after it accidentally got used as a napkin when a spill happened later that night. Cody, you went above and beyond man. I hope you were able to get seated at the Saturday special. Chris from San Diego ran the Saturday night special for my home group, and it was an absolutey glorious. You did an awesome job bringing the NPCs to life, and we were intensely delighted with the conclusion.
Both of you were amazing and a credit to the Society. Hope I get you next year.
This sounds like the Battletech game I've been dreaming of since 1991.
My advice in regards to not missing anything-> Take Thursday afternoon or evening to just walk around the Con. Not just the convention center, but the surrounding hotels and sidewalks. Amazing how every hotel has their own halls filled with events, and the many games going on in lobbies and even hallway floors. Check out the Veteran's Memorial at the city circle a few blocks away. Spend a little time on one the benches near Elf Park. That's were I usually chat up strangers and always enjoy a bit of time relaxing. for the curious:
Can't wait till I arrive tomorrow AM. :)
->forget something, miss something or worse. All of that will happen at Gencon, but it should balance out. You will also find or experience some great things you didn't plan on. The only things you can permanently forget are forms of currency, government identification, and character sheets/records. Everything else is theoretically replaceable, especially at Gencon. Might also want to grab your life sustaining medications and/or devices, as the local pharmacy down town has some really lame hours. Unfortunately it's impossible to do it all. I lie awake at night wondering things like do I attend the zombie parade, or another Society special? Late night gallivanting with who knows what game, or should I be true to my 8:00 AM slot? Scottys or the Ram? These are the truly difficult questions at Gencon.
Most Hoosiers no longer support Mike Pence as governor: Recent Poll I will stand up for anyone I see being discriminated or harassed, especially at Gencon. Fortunately that has never been my experience in Indianapolis.
Why did it have to be snakes?
Let's put some music to those lyrics.
Hire Pygon. Ttop is awesome.
Thanks for the detailed explanation Perram.
I'll just comment as someone who helped FGG with Herolab files for ToHC, and Rappan Athuk. They are not at all easy to create 'correctly', and many many hundreds of work hours go into them. If it were just a matter of putting in a few weekends I'm sure there would be Slumbering Tsar Herolab files. I'd guesstimate somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 work hours to convert it cover to cover.
It's a total bummer to purchase a $50+ book and have it arrive damaged. My Slumbering Tsar arrived with a ripple in the cover.
I will gladly pay a little extra in shipping to ensure a mint copy gets delivered the first time.
I’m recruiting one or two players for a Kingmaker campaign I’m about to launch. I already have 4 players lined up. Games will be held 2-3 times on month, on Friday or Saturday night in four hour blocks. Time is flexible depending on group needs from week to week. Ideally we’ll run from 7-11pm central time. The game will be hosted using Ttop RPG, a free virtual table top. Ttop RPG incorporates text chat, and we will not be using mics or webcams. I’ve found that text chat lends to an exceptionally deep role playing experience. Role playing will be a major element of the game. There will be a brand new player in the game, and several players with deep 3.x experience, but limited in Pathfinder. There will likely be a good deal of teaching going on as we play. Please respond here, in full, when you have the time. I won’t be making any decisions until next Monday (Aug. 5th). Order of applications will have no impact so please take your time. Character Creation Guidelines
Please read over the Kingmaker Players Guide. You don’t need to post your entire character sheet but this is what I do want to see. 1. Player Background (when did you start playing, favorite systems, anything you want to include.) 2. Availability 3. Knowledge of Golarion on a 1-10 scale. 1= I know nothing/ 10= Paizo developer 4. Race/Class/Alignment/Ability Scores/Campaign Trait 5. Character Background/Personality/Aspirations Thanks in advance to anyone who takes to the time to apply.
If you missed out on the RA kick starter, you can now purchase the Herolab files HERE
Ttop is extremely simple yet impressive. I recently used it to for a scale combat map that covered several square kilometers. (city of Savith-Yhi) On that one map I've added nearly 2,000 tags (one for each building on the map) and placed well over 500 creatures. No choke, no lag, no crashes. Needless to say it still works great if you have a standard size map and just a dozen PCs and Critters to deal with. Hide/Reveal, lighting, chat, dice rolling, and effect templates. I'm not sure what else anyone would need. Totally free, not a trial or limited version. Thanks again Mr. Pygon
Kingdom Turn #27 Spoiler: Stability Check: Income Check: Random Event Check: event type: Leadership Event
Time of Faithfulness: The High Priest calls for
Good event!
I don't want to plug this guys particular dice, but I think every one who is interested in the fairness of dice rolls should take the time to view this video (and part 2). It's a little long winded but provides an impressive analysis on the true randomness of most polished dice. Yes I do use sharp edged dice, almost exclusively. I really wouldn't expect any one else to but I'm a firm believer that they offer the best truly random dice role.
I've ordered dozens of Pathfinder books from Amazon and 95% have arrived in perfect mint condition. With the other 5%, well I can deal with a dinged corner, but have returned the smashed broken miniatures they've sent me. Which just ends up being a hassle. I will say with great confidence that Paizo consistently takes a lot more care with how they pack your orders. My Paizo orders have all been received in 100% mint condition. It's amazing how much using a properly sized shipping box helps.
One does not simply walk onto the cover of the Advanced Race Guide.
I'm going to vote for Jessica the Gray Maiden. The costume is spot on.
Thanks Vic, you the man. For the record I would never laugh at your signature. I will however present some nominations: Classiest Autograph: #1 F. Wesley Schneider - That sig is full of classy zing. Best "John Hancock": #4 James Jacobs - Put that thing on the Declaration. Most Illegible: #13 Chris Self - No explanation needed. Coolest Sig: #6 Wayne Reynold's has enough cool to make the rest look fool. Best Overall Autograph: #23 Sara Marie - Sharp and stylish, I admire the mixture of cursive and script.
How about erecting some kind of shrine in the parking lot? A sort of spiritual mecca for gamers. Maybe fans could light a candle, meditate the grapple rules, and make offerings of pizza and baked goods.
My copy arrived a few weeks ago, and while I've got it tucked away safely I got curious about the signatures and decided take a couple snap shots to work from. I'd appreciate any help in getting these blanks figured out. 1. F. Wesley Schneider
Neverwinter Nights can provide a pretty decent table top game experience in pc game form. The DM client and the easy to use tool set are the key elements. Any PCRPG without a DM capabilities provides weak and hollow role play opportunity at best. Neverwinter Nights 2 messed up by increasing the complexity of the toolset. The average user was put off by the learning curve. I'd love to see a Pathfinder game, but man I hope it's more table top RPG and less MMORPG. |
