As you leave your humble bedroom on the second floor of the Lirwin Dormitory and enter the space you share with your team, you notice that a red letter has been hung on the doorknob. A letter wrapped in red could only mean one thing: it’s finally time for a new mission.
The writing on the front of the envelope is large and looping, nearly taking up the entire envelope just to say “Room Lirwin-2-D.” Those of you who have been with the House for some time will immediately recognize Layla’s handwriting and, as you open the envelope, you soon find that you are correct.
Good morning, team!
We have a new mission that came to me through Teladora herself. It seems a member of Taldan nobility (who wishes to go unnamed at this time) is in quite a bind. There has been an incident in the World’s End Mountain, and when I got the mission I nominated your group for it.
I tried my best to get your team a little more R&R as usual, so I know you will be in tip top shape. The mountains are very dangerous, so if you’d like to study up on them, you know the library is always open to you. I’ll prepare something extra in your work kit, too, so look forward to it!
Our meeting will begin at noon in the grass between the mess hall and the clocktower. I’ll have a meal ready for everyone!
Your friend,
Layla
House Mistress
P.S. I’ll have Hesla with me, so please make sure that Byron airs out before coming to our meeting.
You have been summoned for later today for what amounts to a briefing and a picnic. Although publicly Layla scoffs at her unofficial title of “team mom,” she takes pride in it and does her best to live up to the title. What that means for you at today’s briefing is likely a homemade meal not often seen from the mess hall.
Whether you’re looking forward to hanging out with the “team mom” or not, you have a few hours to yourself before your meeting to prepare yourselves for what seems to be a long journey.
Feel free to start your roleplay and introduce your characters proper! While this is “started,” I’m going to start the meeting with Layla on the 7th and interact with anyone who wants to do so before then. Whoever posts first can have the privilege of waking the others if they so choose. I’m assuming that everyone slept in their own rooms last night, but feel free to have something else going on if you prefer!
As you leave your humble bedroom on the first floor of the Tebede Dormitory and enter the space you share with your team, you notice that a red letter has been hung on the doorknob. A letter wrapped in red could only mean one thing: it’s finally time for a new mission.
The writing on the front of the envelope is small but easy to read, almost mechanical in its efficiency, and reads “Room Tebede-1-B.” Those of you who have been with the House for some time will immediately recognize Konishi’s handwriting and, as you open the envelope, you soon find that you are correct.
Attention, adventurers.
We have a new mission for you. This one comes straight through Teladora from a member of Taldan nobility who wishes to remain nameless. You have had a few weeks of time to yourselves, more than usual, so I expect to see you in good form.
You’re being sent to the southern range of the World’s End Mountain. We’ve booked a riverboat for you to take you as far as Pol in the Whitemarch Province, but you’ll need to find transport north from there yourself. Your final destination is a small town servicing the Crimson Coin Mine.
I expect to see your team in my office at 11am sharp to be briefed on the situation.
Konishi
House Master of Blades
P.S. Someone get the new girl up to speed on how we operate before the meeting.
You have been summoned for later this morning. You know that Konishi’s office is near the top of the colosseum with an excellent vantage point to overlook the arena. Those of you who are more martially inclined know that today is a day when the arena has been generously given over to the elite of the Zimarian military for training, and it’s rare that they allow outsiders to join in or even watch their elite soldiers train.
Regardless, you do have a few hours to yourself before your meeting to prepare yourselves for what seems to be a long journey.
Feel free to start your roleplay and introduce your characters proper! While this is “started,” I’m going to start the meeting with Konishi on the 7th and interact with anyone who wants to do so before then. Whoever posts first can have the privilege of waking the others if they so choose. I’m assuming that everyone slept in their own rooms last night, but feel free to have something else going on if you prefer!
Welcome to your table! Feel free to discuss and post/repost your questionnaires here. I'm still in the process of unpacking (loading and unloading was a huge success!) but I wanted to make this space for you guys. I'll have something up later tonight or in the morning for Gameplay so everyone can start introducing their characters and dotting in.
Welcome to Table 2!
Nazard as Edmund Gwenn Daynen as Dr. Jebediah Castle JonGarrett as Crow Irontouched Nikolause de’Shade as River JenkinsMyMan as Tekaronhió:ken
Congratulations, and welcome to the Whims of Fate!
Actually, they’re my whims, but let’s not get stuck on needless details.
I have decided on the 7th as our official start time. You’ll have until then to finish up the (longer than I intended) campaign questionnaire later in this post and your crunch. I’m a big fan of fluff, hence the long questionnaire. For those of you in Table 2, feel free to post here until I have your campaign set up over the weekend.
Character creation details are still on the Campaign Info tab, and I'll be looking over the character sheets to make sure they're all good mechanically before we start properly on the 7th.
I plan on having a Gameplay tab and the Campaign for Table 2 up on Sunday, and I'll link it here for those who are in Table 2. The gameplay tabs will have a small intro where you can dot in, describe your character, etc, then.
For the Campaign Questionnaire, I have it split up into three sections. Player, Meta, and Character. Take your time, you have a week to get it all done and even then I’m flexible. Your answers can be as long or short as you like, and I can fill in any gaps. Some of these questions have been answered by your backstory, and feel free to copy paste from there or use this to go into greater detail.
My goal here is to craft a story that includes everyone’s backstory in one way or another. As a GM, my style tends to be very free form, and things tend to change if I think I have a better idea or simply if the mood strikes. Sometimes this does lead to my thoughts being jumbled or not coming across correctly, and feel free to ask if anything seems strange to you.
If there’s any questions here you don’t want the other players to see for whatever reason (like secret story stuff), send it to my private messages. Sometimes secrets are fun, sometimes they are not. I’m here for it either way.
Session Zero Questionnaire
Player questions:
What do you look forward to most in a campaign, roleplay, combat, or a healthy mix of both?
What makes a campaign great to you? What would absolutely ruin one for you?
What are your soft limits as a player? What about your hard limits?
There may be times when there’s a conflict of interest between characters. I don’t plan on facilitating PvP, but it may come up. How do you feel about rolling dice against other players?
Do you have any phobia or trauma-trigger that I should know and shy away from?
On a scale of 1-10, what difficulty level do you like to sit at? 1 being a new player friendly campaign, with 10 being the kind of games you hear tales of in hushed whispers in your FLGS (Tomb of Horrors, Slumbering Tsar, etc.)
Meta questions:
How do you want me to handle mass dice rolls? For example, to expedite some events, would you like me to roll initiative/perception checks/saves for the group? Would you rather me only do so if a player needs to be botted?
Where would you like to see your character’s arc go as the campaign moves past the initial adventure?
How large would you like to see this campaign be geographically? Similar to the Pathfinder Society where you could be in Absalom one day, then all the way in Tian Xia the next? Or would you rather have a smaller, more compact campaign with more recurring characters and themes, with traveling outside of Taldor being an occasional treat?
I had planned on using Roll 20 for maps and handouts. How do you feel about that and, if you don’t care for R20, do you have a different preference?
Character questions:
How long has your character been with the House of Fate and Fire?
Name at least 3 people who your character would consider to be “close” whether it’s friends, family, or acquaintances. At least one should be outside of the House.
What are 4 rumors around the guild or around town about your character? Try to hit Good/True, Bad/True, Good/False, and Bad/False.
Adventuring is a dangerous profession, does your character have a will? What does it contain?
Competition is a big motivator for some adventurers. Who is your rival? It could be friendly, unfriendly, intense, one-sided, etc.
Does your character have any ranks in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skill? If so, which one and where did they learn their craft?
What are your character’s short term, mid-term, and long-term goals?
What phobia or trauma has happened in your character’s past to help them become who they are today?
How does your character view the Gods?
Looking at your team, how does your character feel about the others?
How does your character deal with failure? Success?
One of the questions has to do with Roll20. I've been using it for years, it's what I'm most comfortable using, but I'm willing to change for the majority. If we do stick with that, though, I plan on using the Journal to keep a copy of what players know after I post them here, that way there's not as much flipping through pages in order to relearn that knowledge, it's all in one place.
I've added a link to the Campaign Info tab for a more concrete look at Zimar via a .pdf in Drive. Warning, though, possible spoilers for War For The Crown inside. I also have plans for maps, including a map of the House of Fate and Fire. I am not a great mapmaker but an Inkarnate subscription is only 25 dollars a year so look forward to some okayish maps.
Other than that, I think that's it! I feel like I'm missing something, but that's nothing new. Any questions whether it's about lore, NPCs, character creation, how my day was, ask here or shoot me a PM.
Long-time PbP Player, first time PbP GM. I have been itching for some storytelling lately, and while I haven't ran a game on the Paizo website before, but I think I have enough references to do so well. I'd like to get my start with an idea that has been rattling around in my head for a while.
Rough premise wrote:
Your characters belong to a mid-large size adventurer's guild. Your party has been working together for a fair while now and for whatever your own reasons are, you'd like to move up in the ranks and become the top party in the guild for some sweet rewards and recognition.
One morning, your party is called to action. The guild has been contracted by a nobleman who owned a mine in a town a few weeks out from his city, and the head honcho decided that your party would be sent.
The Lord had not heard from the miners in quite some time. The weather had been bad lately, so it wasn't too strange. However, days turned to weeks, and weeks turned into a couple of months. No couriers sent had returned, so the Lord went to the next step, magic.
When magic couldn't reach anyone from the one in charge of the mine to the lowest foreman, the Lord began to panic and reached out to your guild.
As such, you have been tasked with traveling to the mining town and figuring out what happened to the workers and others who populated the town.
What I have: I have most of the adventure already written down and ready to go, sans names. I'm horrible with names in just about all capacities; remembering, giving, coming up with, etc. However, I'm not the type to stop something for the sake of "the perfect name," and I'll have that kind of stuff ready to go by the time we start.
What I'm looking for: 4-5 players who don't mind jumping into the unknown. I'm looking to create a story driven by its characters. Since it's character-driven, I'll be asking a lot of questions about the character's backstory, personality, connections (family, friends, rivals, etc.), and more. Once the "initial adventure" wraps up, I'll provide paths for the party to go down, all of which will be relevant in some way to the characters.
Knight of Rust as a GM: Most of my GMing experience came from PFS. I am a 4 star GM of Pathfinder 1st edition, and I am/was a Venture Captain for my area (I am currently in the midst of retiring, but that's neither here nor there.) My style of gamemastering is firm but fair. Even at a table, I roll my dice in the open, and what the dice says, goes. I am in favor of the rule of cool, even if it's not completely supported by the rules. The biggest thing that hits players is that I am an avid believer of the consequences of your actions catching up with you, both good and bad. I believe in a healthy mix of roleplay and combat, but I also know how to cater to the table depending at who is sitting at it.
Game details: Pathfinder 1, level 8. Standard gold. 25 point buy. Hit points after 1st level are roll or take average. Elephant In The Room. First party sources only, but as long as it's not outrageous (here's looking at you, Drow Noble) go crazy as long as you can come up with a backstory suitable for it.
If you're interested: Let me know! I'm not looking for full character builds yet, but if you're interested and you have one already, feel free to post it. I would like at least a character synopsis with a snippet of their backstory, race, class, and whatever else you think I should know about them. If this somehow blows up, I may even run two tables just to see how different the stories will go. 5 is personal maximum per table.
