Hello! One of the Rise of the Runelords tables where all the players can only pick cleric levels is in need of reinforcements. Two of our players are either MIA or temporarily unavailable, so we’re looking for two to three players to fill in that gap.
We have two clerics of Sarenrae at the moment.
Here are the character building and submission rules:
We will be playing the anniversary edition, so make sure to read the anniversary edition of the players guide which can be downloaded for free here.
Your submission doesn’t require any specific format, but give a fair idea of your character. At least a 3 paragraph background and enough about the mechanics to portray how your character performs in and out of combat.
Level: Character must be built at level 3.
Abilities: 15 pt-buy, nothing below 10 pre-race except for Dex and Con (they can be negative) - This is intended to make players specialize their Clerics.
Classes: Cleric only, all Paizo archetypes allowed. Proposals of 3pp archetypes must be accompanied by a link and an explanation as to why this archetype is appropriate for your character and also not overpowered. That means no VMC and no PrC either.
Domains: All Paizo allowed. Includes sub-domains.
Races: Go crazy! Ahem... except goblins. They're not allowed. Ok, don't go that crazy, stay at a reasonable power level.
Alignment: All non-evil. The same goes for the chosen deity of your character, if they have a deity. If your character is not good, then explain why your character cares about Sandpoint or its people (or the world for that matter).
Background skills: Yes, with a caveat. I'm introducing what I call a quirk skill point. Read about it below.
Feats: Stay within CRB, APG, UM, UC, ACG and ARG. If you want to use a feat outside of those resources, please ask first.
Spells: Stay within CRB, APG, UM, UC, ACG and ARG. If you want to use a spell outside of those resources, please ask first.
Traits: Two unrestricted traits, as long as they are about as powerful as half a feat. Exception: campaign traits other than from the RotR:AE player’s guide are not allowed. Alternatively, you may forgo any trait to make a skill become a class skill for you and also gain a +1 trait bonus on that skill. Make sure to include in your background how you came to become so proficient in that skill. You cannot buy a third trait by picking up a drawback.
Hit points: We will talk about it after.
Starting gold: You will all start with 3000gp to spend as you like as per the Wealth by Level table.
Feat tax rules: We won't be using that.
Other uncommon rules: We will be using the Wounds threshold rule, which can be read about here. Please take the time to read if you're not familiar, it's not a lot - Since it's likely that healing will play a large part with so many clerics around, the wound threshold system can be interesting.
Progression: The AP recommends a fast level progression, which we will follow. The anniversary edition also provides a guideline of about when characters are supposed to level up so we'll be leveling up by the milestone system. This makes my job very easy as I really don't like XP (don't ask). This means that by the game's end, players should be at level 17~18. Special caveat about the progression: Everyone will be a cleric, and no one likes to feel that they'll be missing out on high level spells. So when you get points to spend on abilities (at levels 4, 8, etc...), that point must go on an ability other than Wisdom, but everyone increases their Wisdom by 1. This means that players will effectively get 2 points, one of which is spent on Wisdom. If your archetype changes your spellcasting ability, then this fixed point is changed as well.
What in Nethys' name is a quirk skill point?: It's an extra background skill point that must be spent on Artistry or Lore. And there's more! If all background skill points are spent on Artistry and/or Lore, then you get a second quick skill point! This means that your character can get up to 4 (!!!!) background skill points in any given level.
Other stuff:
I prefer players that can commit to the long-term over players that post multiple times a day but will drop out in 3 months. Please consider this before applying.
Group is just entering Thistletop. If you have never played RotR, we can make a small summary of the story so far so you don't feel you've missed out on much.
When I first started recruitment for this game, I promised I'd run Return of the Runelords for both tables when this story was over. This is a promise I intend to keep. So please keep this commitment in mind before applying as well.
We’ll talk about getting your characters into the game once selection ends.
I will be closing this recruitment in a week’s time, so if you’re interested, please provide your submission by 23:59 (Western European Summer Time) of the 22nd of May.
Welcome everyone, and congratulations on being selected. Well, Monkeygod was in anyway, but welcome all the same.
This has been the riskiest thing I could have done as a GM, having so little control over the rules. I would never have imagined gestalt would be involved. Now, I have never played nor GM'd gestalt. This means that I'm going to... experiment.
So... I will read some about it, but expect combat encounters to be tuned up. So, for now, take the time to introduce yourselves and talk builds with each other. Feel free to change anything in accordance to the party composition. I know 15 pt buy is limiting and my comment on combat can be threatening, so I recommend specializing characters.
My goal in tuning combats up means that trivial combats should get at least one PC below 50% HP, meaningful encounters should get at least one PC unconscious and BBEG's should get at least 3 PC's unconscious. Call me evil. That's life.
@Monkeygod: You have an additional assignment. Please gather all the rules that were agreed on during the recruitment and compile them in your initial post, so we have it all in one place. If any other players want to help with that, you're welcome to.
Feel free to ask any questions. I created the Gameplay thread, just so you can dot and make your campaign tab show the game. I would prefer if you delete the dotted post so the thread stays clean. I'll post the campaign opening once everyone is ready.
The day is warmer than usual. People are working hard. Tomorrow is the Swallowtail festival and, not only is it an opportunity to bring in money and fresh faces into town, but the people are anxious to acknowledge that the Great Unpleasantness is behind them.
People are washing their clothes, counting stocks and putting up decorations. Signs are being repainted, floors are being swept and the air smells of candy. The town has more than four times the usual number of people and the inns are practically full.
One particular inn, the Rusty Dragon, run by a hard Tian-Min woman known as Ameiko Kaijitsu is crawling with people, who are drinking and singing.
The day is warmer than usual. People are working hard. Tomorrow is the Swallowtail festival and, not only is it an opportunity to bring in money and fresh faces into town, but the people are anxious to acknowledge that the Great Unpleasantness is behind them.
People are washing their clothes, counting stocks and putting up decorations. Signs are being repainted, floors are being swept and the air smells of candy. The town has more than four times the usual number of people and the inns are practically full.
One particular inn, the Rusty Dragon, run by a hard Tian-Min woman known as Ameiko Kaijitsu is crawling with people, who are drinking and singing.
Hello dear players! Welcome to our Rise of the Runelords game, where everyone is a cleric. If you die, it won't be from the lack of healing. Let us start with introductions! Opening post will probably happen on Saturday or tomorrow evening.
If anybody wants to make minor changes to their characters, such as feats, domains and prepared spells, this is the time. After game starts, you won't be able to.
Please take a look at the Campaign info tab for some basic ground rules.
Note that there is some blood, gore and minor animal cruelty in the game. If there is anything that you are not comfortable with, let me know and I'll adjust.
Hello dear players! Welcome to our Rise of the Runelords game, where everyone is a cleric. If you die, it won't be from the lack of healing. Let us start with introductions! Opening post will probably happen on Saturday or tomorrow evening.
If anybody wants to make minor changes to their characters, such as feats, domains and prepared spells, this is the time. After game starts, you won't be able to.
Please take a look at the Campaign info tab for some basic ground rules.
Note that there is some blood, gore and minor animal cruelty in the game. If there is anything that you are not comfortable with, let me know and I'll adjust.
Welcome adventurers! Have you ever played in a Rise of the Runelords game that died leaving your character orphan and you dying to know what happens next? Have you ever seen a Return of the Runelords recruitment and bit your lip, wanting to play Rise of the Runelords before Return, as chronology dictates? Have you ever thought that you want to finish Rise of the Runelords to feel that you've played through one of the most popular and classical campaigns of the 21st century?
Then this is the recruitment for you! I, Anthorg, have a character that has lived the Swallowtail festival like Bill Murray has seen Punxsutawney Phil. I am here to see the game through to the end. And on top of that, I will invite the players when the game is done to play Return of the Runelords (although I haven't bought it yet). And I expect the same commitment from the applicants.
This is a Rise of the Runelords recruitment thread. However, I take inspiration from GM Trawets' Wrath of the Righteous game where everyone is a Paladin. Here, all applications must be Clerics. I figure that, with all the domains, sub-domains and archetypes, many party roles can be filled by that class. And so, here come the spoilers with instructions. Please read them carefully. I know I wrote a lot, but bear with me.
Submissions format:
All character submissions can be done in free format. That means that you can post an alias with full character sheet, but can also be text under spoilers or character concepts with everything you feel is relevant for me to know about your character.
I care about backgrounds because it outlines who your character is by the start of the game, and that will warrant all that interesting and cool RP we all (?) like, but the bulk of the campaign is what will probably build who your character is. So include a background in your submission. There is no maximum to what you can write (yes, I will read 100 pages worth of background), but there is a minimum, which is 3 paragraphs. If you come up with a background in a format that cannot be measured in paragraph count, then make an equivalence.
Lastly, if you submit a character with a crunch, please take some time to explain all the numbers unless it's super obvious. Examples:
Ok:
Example 1 - Character has 16 Strength at level 2
Melee Longsword (with shield) +4 (1d8+3; 19-20/x2)
Melee Longsword (2H) +4 (1d8+4; 19-20/x2)
Example 2 - Character has 12 Intelligence at level 1 and a trait that increases Knowledge religion
Knowledge (religion) +6 (1 Rank + 1 Intelligence + 1 Trait + 3 Class skill)
Not ok:
Example 1 - Character has 12 Intelligence at level 1 and an obscure racial trait that increases Knowledge religion
Knowledge (religion) 1+7
Mechanical:
We will be playing the anniversary edition, so make sure to read the anniversary edition of the players guide which can be downloaded for free here.
Abilities: 15 pt-buy, nothing below 10 pre-race except for Dex and Con (they can be negative) - This is intended to make players specialize their Clerics.
Classes: Cleric only, all Paizo archetypes allowed. Proposals of 3pp archetypes must be accompanied by a link and an explanation as to why this archetype is appropriate for your character and also not overpowered. - It will be easy coming up with a reason to be in Sandpoint by the game's beginning.
Domains: All Paizo allowed. Includes sub-domains.
Races: Go crazy! Ahem... except goblins. They're not allowed. Ok, don't go that crazy, stay at a reasonable power level.
Alignment: All non-evil. The same goes for the chosen deity of your character, if they have a deity. If your character is not good, then explain why your character cares about Sandpoint or its people (or the world for that matter).
Background skills: Yes, with a caveat. I'm introducing what I call a quirk skill point. Read about it below.
Feats: Stay within CRB, APG, UM, UC, ACG and ARG.
Spells: Stay within CRB, APG, UM, UC, ACG and ARG.
Traits: Two traits, one of which must be a campaign trait from the Player's Guide. Alternatively, you may forgo the non-campaign trait to make a skill become a class skill for you and also gain a +1 trait bonus on that skill. Make sure to include in your background how you came to become so proficient in that skill. You cannot buy a third trait by picking up a drawback.
Hit points: We will do max at first level and 5+bonuses on subsequent levels.
Starting gold: You will all start with 360gp to spend as you like. That's max gold plus 50%.
Feat tax rules: We won't be using that. I like the rules, but I want to keep this beginner friendly.
Other uncommon rules: We will be using the Wounds threshold rule, which can be read about here. Please take the time to read if you're not familiar, it's not a lot - Since it's likely that healing will play a large part with so many clerics around, the wound threshold system can be interesting.
Progression: The AP recommends a fast level progression, which we will follow. The anniversary edition also provides a guideline of about when characters are supposed to level up so we'll be leveling up by the milestone system. This makes my job very easy as I really don't like XP (don't ask). This means that by the game's end, players should be at level 17~18. Special caveat about the progression: Everyone will be a cleric, and no one likes to feel that they'll be missing out on high level spells. So when you get points to spend on abilities (at levels 4, 8, etc...), that point must go on an ability other than Wisdom, but everyone increases their Wisdom by 1. This means that players will effectively get 2 points, one of which is spent on Wisdom.
What in Nethys' name is a quirk skill point?: It's an extra background skill point that must be spent on Artistry or Lore. And there's more! If all background skill points are spent on Artistry and/or Lore, then you get a second quick skill point! This means that your character can get up to 4 (!!!!) background skill points in a given level.
Who can submit?:
Beginners and veterans alike are welcome, even if the introduction doesn't apply to you. Please include your history with the AP, and current relationship status with it. The motivation for this game is to comfort the sad hearts that were left lonely with no AP conclusion, but I'm not into segregation.
A little about the GM:
I am playing in a fair share of games right now and have never GM'd PbP (wish me luck). I have also never GM'd pre-made games in PnP either, only my own homebrews. I have a homebrew which is... brewing for these forums, but is not ready yet. If this (RotR) works, I might feel encouraged to give it a go.
I live in Rio de Janeiro and have recently finished my PhD in Statistics, so I'm dealing with a lot less stress than I was before. The COVID-19 is certainly being unhelpful in many ways, but I manage. I will be posting 4~5 days during the week (often more than once a day) and expect roughly the same from the players. On weekends I usually post, but it can happen that I don't.
Anything else?:
I tend to try to make things fun(ny) for my players. Sometimes I'm successful. So what do you say? Shall we attend the Swallowtail festival.... again? Might be fun! Let's see those clerics fighting over which god is best!
FAQ:
Q: What level do we start in?
A: Oh, sorry. Level 1.
Q: Can I make a Druid? They're kinda like clerics... of nature!
A: Read the Mechanical spoiler again.
Q: Can I dip in class?
A: That would sort of defeat the purpose. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you if you don't have trapfinding.
Q: There's this feat called feat from book which makes soooo much sense for my character. You can read about it in link, and as you can see, it's not too powerful.
A: Sure I'll take a look.
Q: Does Fencing Grace work with other piercing finesse-able weapon?
A: Yes.
Q: Why are you so mean to GMs who had to abandon your RotR game? It's probably not their fault and you're just being ungrateful.
A: I didn't mean to be mean. And I realize I am being somewhat ungrateful. Hopefully other GMs aren't upset with me and realize that I'm proposing to do something fun.
Q: What guarantee can you give that you won't just do the same?
A: Well, there's no such thing as guarantee since I don't personally know anyone in these forums, but I do promise that, aside from physical impossibility, I will let the players know of anything that might happen to hinder my posting. I will also share my personal e-mail with every selected player so that they can contact me outside of these forums.
Q: So when does the recruitment end?
A: On Wednesday, the 20th of May at 23:59 (that's 11:59 PM), GMT-3.
