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So, I'm introducing a friend to PFS. He wanted to play an alchemist. He was very studious and read through the PFS Roleplaying Guild Guide. He then showed me his character, and asked how he gets his discount items when using "Brew Potion". I told him that feat wasn't legal for PFS, and that he should take "Extra Bombs" instead. He asked me where it said that in the rules. A perfectly reasonable question. I searched through the guide, first by eye, then by text search... nothing. Then I went down the rabbit hole... It is mentioned numerous times on the forums, but nowhere officially. It's not on the FAQ (though the bit about crafting alchemical items is), neither is it in Additional Resources. I finally found it in my old version 7.0 (year of the serpent) Guild Guide, under character creation Step 3: "Race and Class": Alchemist: Alchemists receive the Extra Bombs feat at 1st level instead of Brew Potion. So I checked version 10.0 (curent), under the same section: For classes outside the Core Rulebook and for all archetypes, see the Additional Resources document regarding which are legal for play within the Roleplaying Guild, as well as the Campaign Clarifications document (paizo.com/pathfindersociety/rpg/clarifications) for alterations. So, I went there (after manually typing the link, because the PDF has a broken link). It's not there either. Many, many Google searches with different parameters later and I can only conclude that the information has dropped off a cliff. An alchemist absolutely can't have Brew Potion, and for balance the feat needs to be replaced. What hope does a new player have? Any chance this can be corrected on the website (and fix the link in the PDF)? I'm sure there are other omissions, too.
Discussion thread if the gameplay thread is too crowded.
Checks to identify the items in the box (using the technomancy spell):
Cthulhu left on an amazingly creepy cliff hanger. Chris has now outed himself as a fantastic GM and has no excuses now not to run more games. AD&D 1st Ed continued, with the party routing out the treacherous priest in their very midst! A very close combat left the companions victorious. After being delayed, Ryan's Pathfinder Ravenloft game began in the afternoon and went on into the evening. It was engaging, creepy, mysterious and at times outright horrific. A truly wonderful game that - delightfully enough for me - was reminiscent of Castles Forlorn. Ryan proves that, with the right man at the helm, Ravenloft can work exceptionally well using the Pathfinder rule set! The game of resistance afterwards was just icing on the cake. Most fun I've had playing a card game, and it was all down to my fellow players. Well done everyone and let's get prepping for HypoCon 2!!!
How great is it having a hot tub mere meters away from the roleplaying tables? 1st Ed was brief (cut short by pancakes and hot tubs), but I think I got all the players into the old school feel... though they had to come out of their pancake comas before they started roleplaying properly. Big props to Ryan for winning the popular vote for best portrayal of his character and role, and also for tying the winning vote with Steve for helping to make the game the most fun. On to the brew tour portion now, and then some drunken Pathfinder set in Ravenloft! It's going to be amazing.
Finished day 1 with a late night poker game using Star Wars Rebels poker cards courtesy of Aaron and Surf. Can't think of a better way to end May the Fourth! Thank you to all HypoCon goers for making this easily the best day of gaming I've ever had. 3 more days to go!!!
Hey all, just thought I'd start up a bit of a blog from the very first HypoCon, here in Michigan! Day 1 has been an absolute blast. After we arrived in the accommodations - which are amazing - we received our T-Shirts and settled in to a game of Star Wars d20 (run by me). The boys ate it up, and in the end the Vault of Daritha Xim was looted and the crew was being chased by the vicious gangster, Ostain the Hutt! Then it was time for dinner. The lasagna was incredible, as was the Hoth Bread (cheese bread) and Tatooine Bread (garlic bread) - not to mention the Alderan Bread (left over crumbs)... and the Sweetwater Death Star Donuts to follow were huge enough to destroy us all. The Force was not with us and the meal won. This was followed up by Chris's fantastic Call of Cthulhu game, set in 1921 Detroit of all places! We've managed to begin an investigation into the death of a strange professor, and have restored the car that he crashed. One should always bring a good mechanic along! A special shout out goes to John, who we wish could be here. We miss you buddy. Bring on HypoCon Day 2! Looking forward to some old school AD&D, the brewery tour, a catered dinner and Ryan's Pathfinder game - set in his very own Ravenloft PF conversion. Man... loving, loving, loving HypoCon!
Pretty much stopped PbP on these boards, actually... so I consequently stopped the guides. Had a couple ready to go, but it's hard to be motivated to give advice about something I'm no longer doing. Hope you still find it useful, though!
Regarding Kingwiki (my personal wiki, linked above), what I'm using is MediaWiki, hosted on my own servers at my own domain. Sorry, no instances going for others! There are places out there that do free Wiki hosting, so you should be able to set one up there if you like. Google is your friend, but this one is pretty decent (and free). Better than Wikia, IMO, because Wikia ads drive me crazy. I also second Brew Bird regarding Google Drive. For disseminating hand outs (using Docs or the upload functionality), interactive maps (using Draw), surveying the group (with Forms) and running our Kingdom spreadsheet (on Google Sheets)... man, it's invaluable.
A wiki can be an awesome way to get players involved in the setting. I wanted to do a prequel for a Kingmaker game and decided to put up a Wiki for the prequel (which is set in Brevoy). Needless to say, I got carried away... but the players really appreciate it. Their reading of it shows in all the interactions they have. Political intrigue has played an appropriately big part in our game already! Check it out if you'd like to see what we're up to! The main categories you see on the main page all have an actual wiki category associated with it, and the pages are all categorized appropriately to make it easy for the players to find and for navigating through it all . I haven't yet found a way I like for not having everything linked to from the front page. Not sure if I need to at this stage, but as it grows, I'll need to figure that out.
@Hmm! Great to hear from you, and sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been really reducing my PbP load of late. Fantastic that it has proven useful to you. I love your recruitment thread, and looks like you've got some quality players there.
This looks like such fun! Can't wait.
By the way, check out Giuseppe's GM posts for a magnificent example not only of how to format a large GM post to make it easily understood by players, but also of a very nice way to constantly use a leave-off in order to move a game along and make things clear to players. Beautiful stuff.
@GM Giuseppe: Wow. Lovely work on the recruitment thread, and what a great response you received! The hard work has surely paid off. Very cool to see the voting in action (I just couldn't pull the trigger on giving my players control over recruitment in my last game... but then again, that was a game for first timers only). Only bit of feedback is I might have considered using spoilers for some of your text to make the original post a bit easier to navigate, but that's a minor thing and your formatting got around that nicely in any case. Just great work, and really glad my guide proved of use! By the way, I love your GMing style. The Leave Off™ at the bottom of each of your big posts should really help keep things moving.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, motteditor (and sorry for my slow reply, been neglecting my non-PbP threads a little). That's a great example of when a leave-off would be appropriate. If it's a bit chunk of text, a "" or similar would be perfect.
You are most welcome, GM Giuseppe! Be sure to drop in here and tell me how it went after you use it. Always looking for feedback and ways to improve. That goes for anyone else out there using the guide, too, of course!
Thanks for the feedback, all. @dragonhunterhq & cevah: That is my understanding also. The GMs I've played with and heard about say that the spell description doesn't say anywhere that it doesn't cease to be an "object" per the rules in the CRB. However... @Cevah: Interesting that the text there is missing from the PRD. I'm not sure if it would change their ruling, but it certainly does support the "no double-dipping" argument. @PapaSteve08: quite right about the undead thing. Nowhere is "animated object" a template that adds to abilities, so it should just change type. The more we delve, the less I like the ruling... but since it is PFS, and there is table variation I would still dearly love for it to be in the FAQ to squash such rulings (treating them as inanimate objects and animated objects). Keep on hitting that "FAQ" button, and thanks! Suffice it to say that, in my PFS games, inanimate object rules won't apply to animated objects (unless and until the FAQ contradicts me). In my non-PFS games, they never will.
Heh. Glad you liked it, mate! You thought of the reason I needed such a tip ("always be pushing"), so you can definitely claim some ownership there. I'll have to head down to the patent office, then monitor the boards for when people use it so we can collect royalties. And don't worry... I'm pretty sure for tip #2 (or I might make it #3), you did think of it first. No spoilers, though!
To help improve our community of PbPers out there, I thought I'd start up a series of 'snack-sized' tips and tricks for making the most out of your PbP games. First one is based on Painlord's principle of "Always Be Pushing" (keeping things moving) and it is a little something that I call The Leave Off. This is an out of character comment that you put at the end of your post, summarizing what you want to do next. It really helps the GM and other players out, and is more in line with what you might say at a tabletop game when the GM calls for your "next move". Sometimes, your in character post gives your GM and other players no real indication of what you would like to do next, or even what you would be prepared to do. It can slow things down when they have to wait for you to post again after the GM requests the next action - and it gives players little opportunity to follow where you're going. ---
"Ha!" cries Brandywine, "You elves sure have a way of sticking your ears into everyone else's business. Well, if you want to get yerself killed, then go ahead." Brandywine crosses his arms over his chest and glowers at Hollister the Elf.
An okay post, but does Brandywine wish to continue or just stand there staring? Adding this clarifies matters and allows players (and the GM) to move along. ---
Depending upon Hollister's next post (and the posts of others), the GM can now determine if the group is happy to go into the maze or the inn without any further input from Brandywine. You can also use the leave off for other things: a good GM can use them to make the next decision point clear to players, and you could even use it for things like distinguishing between an antagonistic in-character post, and your feelings on the matter as a player (helping put the other players more at ease, like Deussu did with his abrasive character Targath here). More good examples of the leave off in action:
Important note: I touched on this before a little, but I want to be explicit: The preference is for you to make your in-character post clear on what your PC does next (maybe with an in-character Leave Off) but if for RP reasons it isn't, that's the time for an 'ooc' Leave Off. Even if your in-character post is explicit, an 'ooc' Leave Off can still be a good idea if your post was a long one (it helps the GM a lot when s/he goes back up for a second read to figure out the party's overall direction). So, next time it's unclear what you want to do next - consider putting in an 'ooc' leave off to help your fellow PbPers along.
Thanks for the FAQ bumps everyone. Keep 'em coming. So no-one else out there has any additional RAW to shed any light on this one? Even something I've perhaps missed in the above?
Thanks for then endorsement, and great to hear you're keeping track of the thread. Not much activity since it first came out - but such is the nature of guides, I guess. I'm seriously impressed with your 2+ year game. That's some serious commitment. We're nearly up to 2K posts now with my RoW game, which has been going for only a paltry 7-8 months now. Fingers crossed it'll last to the end of book 6! Well, if you decide to go the new player route, feel free to blatantly rip off anything you like from my Confirmation game for recruitment. Whatever I did - it worked! I think having the PbP Gameday blog post out there to announce it from really helped, too. Oh, and nice one on supporting the community like that. It feels good, and we've currently got two of the new players now participating in one of our other PFS games.
Not at all! I'm currently running only two games, neither of which are PFS: Isle of Dread (old D&D 1st ed module, converted to Pathfinder by me) and the Reign of Winter adventure path. Both are going pretty damn well (if I do say so myself) but both were recruited with my existing group of players and people we already know. I am playing in 3 PFS games right now, though.
It has been hotly contested in one of our PbP Games (and at other times) as to whether or not an animated object continues to have the properties of an object (in addition to the construct traits that it gains). Specifically, objects take half damage from most energy attacks (and then apply hardness) and are immune to critical hits, whereas constructs are not (construct traits are here). In the bestiary, an animated object is called out as a construct, here. Constructs have a series of their own traits. However, our GM (and others), notably in PFS have ruled that they are also treated as objects and have inanimate object properties as described in the Core Rules, here under 'Smashing an Object'. It should be noted also that, while animated objects do get a mention in the above section, that mention also says not to treat animated objects as inanimate objects (but leaves it ambiguous as to whether it is for just AC purposes): Animated Objects: Animated objects count as creatures for purposes of determining their Armor Class (do not treat them as inanimate objects).
My feeling is that the above section and rules for objects are for smashing a regular inanimate object (it is called 'smashing an object' after all), and that animated objects cease to become objects upon creation and become constructs (per the spell animate objects). Otherwise, animated objects are far too powerful. Since animated objects can be made using craft construct, it is reasonable to assume that they are constructs only and no longer objects, right? Otherwise, perhaps you could break an animated object with a strength check... or give them the 'broken' condition. It doesn't seem to fit. Suffice it to say, it is currently ambiguous based on the rules I have found, and I'd like to know for sure. --- So, can anyone help? I'm looking for Rules as Written or some kind of clarification (perhaps an FAQ?) to clarify this point for the future... especially in PFS where one has to stick to RAW and not the GM's ruling. Please do not say that because the name is "animated object" it is an object, because a boreal wolf is not an animal (like a "wolf" is), it is a magical beast. Things that affect only the animal type (like ranger's favored enemies) should not affect the boreal wolf. The names of things don't seem to make a difference in Pathfinder, so I'm after only Rules As Written. I'm also not interested in the standard PFS "expect table variation" fob off either: I know that I need to expect variation, but I really do want to get to the bottom of this. So, please respond with RAW if you have it. Not to be indelicate, but unless you are a developer, your opinion doesn't matter to me . Please point me to the rules if you have some that shed light on the matter... or hit the "FAQ" link to mark this as an FAQ candidate if you agree that you'd also like an official ruling.
Hi all! Well, I finally got a chance to use my own guide on a game. I recruited a game completely filled with new players for a PbP Gameday run of the Confirmation. Recruitment thread here. To get an idea of how well they could play, I got them to jump through some hoops on the gameplay thread. I was shocked and amazed by the quality of posts going on, especially after a bit of coaching. We then went on to have not one, but two tables of the Confirmation run for these players. To have 12 (well 11) completely new to PbP players available for recruitment who did well, posted regularly and followed instruction after a single recruitment was so gratifying.
Most of it, seriously, was down to the tips I put in my guide. I'm sure there were plenty of players who read the first recruitment post and just said "nope, not for me". Of 18 players who applied, we selected 11 and I really wouldn't have minded playing with 13 of them. The requirements I set out meant that time wasters and tire kickers weren't constantly "dotting in" to recruitment, and I could easily see who was properly interested (and capable) from how well they followed instructions. Truly a great time... I may even recover enough from it to try again next PbP Gameday. ;-)
Huh. So this devolved into a debate over the need for the PRD. Regardless of need, players use it and it is usually updated with the latest core rules hardcover more quickly. There have been two recent monthly updates and neither have included Unchained or Occult. Maybe it's harder to encode than usual, I'm not sure. As the OP I usually try to stay abreast of my threads and reply when no-one else does, at least until it is resolved... but after 6 months, I give up. Bye thread. Maybe I'll come back to say "thank you" if Unchained ever hits the PRD.
Man, just finished recruiting for the group of first timers... their recruitment efforts were of such high quality that I just had to go out and get a second GM for them (and even still, we had to let 3 go... too many responses!). I'm amazed at how well a group of new-to-PbP people can post when they take the time and effort. I think it's a reciprocal thing. Many, many thanks to PapaSteve for GMing a second table for me... and I triple-second (or whatever) Hmm's comment above. Give GMing a go. We need more GMs out there - there are so, so many players just hankering to get into a game. PM me if you want any advice on how to go about it... or check out yet another of Painlord's awesome guides: ... but don't forget, successful recruitment is also key!
Welcome Tonya! Great to have you guiding the ship. It's only been 15 minutes since the OP, and I don't think anyone's said it yet, but also thank you to John Compton for holding it together since Mike's retirement! While the man has clearly been overstretched, he has done an amazing job (two jobs) and has really helped bridge the gap for me (and I hope all of us) with his presence online. Can't wait to see what you've got in store for us, Tonya!
Sorry for the necro, but someone just linked to this in our game. It is clearly still being read (by at least two people - that guy, and me). This also pops up near the top of Google searches for "pathfinder blessing of the faithful". Not usually a problem, but blahpers, as it turns out, was wrong and I feel someone needs to set the record straight. The errata released almost a year after blahpers' post has the following:
PS Aside to Wilmanattor -- I'm glad that you're running a table of the confirmation for newbies. Would you be willing to accept my friend Lady Ladile, who's done quite a bit of PbP but not PFS? Since watching me GM my first game, she just registered for PFS and wants to try it out. She got excited that you were offering the table and then realized that her character would not qualify because she's played PbP before. That will really depend on whether or not I get a full table. It really is for PbP newbies and not PFS newbies. I think it's much harder to get into PbP than PFS, though, so I'm sure Lady Ladile won't have any problems with the PFS format! Again, though, if I don't fill up, I'd be happy to have someone more experienced at PbP - like Lady Ladile - to come along. Please feel free to tell your friend to apply (link above) and we'll see how it goes!
Hey all, just thought I'd also post here. If you are new to PbP and are having trouble finding a game, do consider signing up for my run of The Confirmation, here. I'm recruiting only new players as an attempt to get more people into PbP and to allow those who don't have any PbP experience to have a chance to build their "PbP resumé". All that aside, have fun in PbP GameDay 4, everyone! Such a cool event. Almost makes me wish I didn't play Siege of Serpents at GenCon so that I could play it here instead. I love the PbP format so much!
Do feel free to apply for my game. I'm expecting to give out a lot of help to all the newcomers to PbP, so you shouldn't feel behind at all. Everyone will be in the same boat. I'm also very experienced at keeping things moving, if you're concerned about pace.
@Fromper: It can be hard to get into a PbP game when you don't have any games to refer to. Some GMs (self included, in general) favor recruiting experienced PbP players over new ones. It's a shame, but it tends to make for a smoother game. The reason I set up my game was specifically to address that problem and to give folks a chance to get a scenario under their belt that they could point to for future recruitment. If you're worried about investing time in character creation, I'd be fine for you to play a PreGen. Keep a look out for other games, but feel free to apply for mine if you can't find one. I'm not closing recruitment until September 28 (unless it gets crazy). Useful Guides For anyone new to PbP, and for those who've played for a while, there are some guides out there that are simply fantastic. Try these on for size! Doomed Hero's Guide to Play-by-Post Gaming - basics of play by post. Don't neglect to read Doomed Hero's reply to himself. Painlord's Guide to Advanced Play by Post - great guide that builds on Doomed Hero's work and, in my opinion, gets down to just the right level of detail for helping improve any PbP game. Wilmannator's Guide to Successful Play-by-Post Recruitment - Shameless plug for my own guide to posting PbP recruitment threads. Hope you enjoy the above guides. They can't be linked to enough.
So, this game is for players who are new to play-by-post! If you are new to Play-by-Post and would like to get into a game, I have decided to run one specifically for new players. Please feel free to have a read of my recruitment thread and, if you're interested, give it a go. Please post on the above recruitment thread rather than replying here (I won't be monitoring this thread).
Man, I love PbP and I love PbP Gameday! If you are new to Play-by-Post and would like to get into a game, I have decided to run one specifically for new players. Please feel free to have a read of my recruitment thread and, if you're interested, give it a go. I highly recommend the format to all who love their storytelling. Thank you to Jesse for making this all happen... for the fourth time now! Thanks to John and all the PFS staff for the boon support. It's awesome that we PbPers don't miss out on the convention-style events. Oh, and for what it's worth, I usually print out chronicles and fill them out by hand the same way I would in any game. I scan those as PDFs and get them out to the players that way. I'm happy to send those in the mail to anyone who wants them. A stamp is a small price to pay considering the time players put into playing... but all of my players have thus far been fine with the scanned sheets.
Hey Deussu, if you like getting nuts about grammar then check this one out. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It also made me use about half as many commas and ellipses as I used to. I still overuse them both.
@Deussu: a GM should be demanding. As much for their own sake as for the other players. So don't feel bad about it, just be nice when you do it. :-) As for that thing that I asked Steve... I had forgotten about that (a clear sign that he's been 'doing it right'). I dug up my PM to him, for our mutual enjoyment. Man, I can see the egg shells that I was walking on all over again. And Cyrus think's he's awkward. OC-DM:
Hey Cyrus / Steve, First up, I love your posts in all their glory. I hope you know that - if nothing else from my willingness (nay, strong desire) to have your friend along for the ride also. I wouldn't even ask (and have been trying not to), except that I have very mild OCD. Really? you may ask. Yeah... enough so that my former housemate (a psychologist) f***ed with me constantly for his own amusement, though he lied and said he was trying to help me. As if. The biggest classic was when he put everything in our bathroom upside down and left a note, something along the lines of: "Let's see who fixes it first". I'm proud to say I lasted 5 (tense) hours. Okay, that in mind... If you like, and only if you really don't mind at all, perhaps you could consider putting quotation marks in for your speech bubbles? Currently you do this for speech... but "Would you mind doing this instead?" It's a very small thing, and absolutely fine if you don't do it. I think it just helps a little with readability. To help, I know you're posting on your iPhone a lot, there are some shortcuts you can add in. I know it made my life a lot easier. Rather than repeating it verbatim, here's Painlord's shortcut tips. Thanks, and I hope you don't mind me asking. Regards, Damien. PS: I wrote this, saved it in my Notes app, and then tried not to send it for 4 days... that's how hesitant I was about sending it. Your posts really are great, and I don't want you to do anything that you're not comfortable with in terms of formatting. It's a convention, not a rule.
So... if you need further proof of my OCD, I copied the text of the above and then couldn't stand to post it without the original formatting (including the correct link).
Too slow, chicken marengo!
Hopefully helpful stuff: I'm afraid I don't have time to read your gameplay threads just now to give some more specific advice, but this is what's worked for us that I think could help you in your games... Out of combat posts: Painlord has a "rule of 2". If two people have agreed with no dissenting opinions, move it along. After my first game, players wanted me to slow it down a bit, so I put in a "rule of more", but still kept things moving if it had been a while and I had time to post. After a certain amount of time had elapsed (24 hours for my games), I'd just go with whoever had posted or decide for them. The happy medium seems to be waiting for "enough" people to decide on a given situation (eg 1. turning left on the road... 2 is fine, eg 2. entering a deadly combat using a frontal assault vs going out back... wait for everyone to respond or 24 hours, whatever happens first). There's something else I've been toying with putting out there as a "Wilmannator's PbP Tip #1" but haven't since I don't have an original "Tip #2" yet... "The Leave-off": End your posts that require action with an "ooc" comment if it's not 100% clear that the post requires action. This is especially true of long posts that players may have skimmed. Even if it's something like, GMs do it at the table when players aren't sure where to go, so they should also do it on PbP. I do it all the time. Just look at my GM Damo's last post: http://paizo.com/campaigns/ReignOfWinterMisfitsUnchained/gameplay&page= 24#1194 -- In Combat Posts If you've set a time-limit for your game's posts, just bot them in PFS. You don't want to wreck another player's enjoyment if their fellow PCs won't post, and you don't want to make an encounter arbitrarily more deadly partway through. If you haven't set a time-limit, do so next time... or set one in the discussion thread. If players routinely get the "bot", give them the boot. Most of this is better if the expectation is set at the beginning of the game. Also, a combat table with who's "up next" really, really helps. If you're waiting for action, summarize what's happened (and try to do that anyway if a bad-guy is out of action) and put an "who's up next" post in there, too. Eg. http://paizo.com/campaigns/ReignOfWinterMisfitsUnchained/gameplay&page= 24#1179 -- Discussion thread, soclialize: In the instance where your players were waiting for the action to pick up, if there's an active discussion thread they can use that to post and be active instead. It's a great place to socialize and have some "ooc" fun. Four of our group even met up in real life, and we wouldn't have if not for socialization. You can also post things like "happy to move on?" on the discussion thread, or "Hey, @slowpoke_569, are you still around?", which will let the other PCs know you expect a certain pace and are monitoring things. -- However, most of the above hardly ever needs to be included because I followed a set of recruitment rules (which I later posted about) to ensure that the players I got for my next game were the best ones I could find. There are a HEAP of players out there looking for PbP and not many folks running them. You can pick and choose. Wilmannator's Guide to Successful Play-by-Post Speaking of guides, this one might help also: Painlord's GMing guide! Oh, and a chunk of players won't read guides. I wrote a condensed version of Doomed Hero and Painlord's, with my own stuff thrown in (GM Damo's Play Guide) and mandated both the reading of it and following of it. Only two players returned to me with the "Important Conclusion" question (go down and read it if you like)... well, three if you include Steve about a year later. Still, I can force players to follow my guide (or boot them), even if they haven't read it. Finally, don't be afraid to boot players. I've never had to do it*, but I'm prepared to if I need to. It's harder in a scenario, but some come with 4-player adjustments. Keep in mind that there are PFS rules that you need to follow also, but I see no issue with booting them and giving them a chronicle with whatever they've earned (eg. 1 XP and 0 PP for 3+ encounters complete) and wishing them happy trails. * Except once when I had to squeeze -Karma- (Jyri) out in order to keep the group to 6 players... but, luckily, someone else left for his sake and we're still playing together. So it doesn't count, I think. -- Buddy, I hope all of that helps. As always, take what you like and leave the rest. Let me know if things pick up or if you haven any specific questions of the above or want examples (I think I have example posts for it all).
And it's Wei Ji, not Jin. Whoops. Sorry man, I usually do better. Well, looks like this thread's on the way out. I'd like to say a fond farewell to all those who PbP and those who don't but who've taken the time to share experiences. I've really enjoyed reading along. I've loved sharing my thoughts and experiences also. It was awesome to meet so many of you in person. Can't wait to hit it at Finally, a big thank you to Painlord for starting this thread and strong-arming me to post on it in the first place! Well, my arm never needs that much twisting to post on these forums. ;-)
Sorry Wei Jin... GenCon is dying down in my thoughts and memories. Some kind of buzz remains though, and after vowing I'd reduce my PbP post GenCon, I've gone from 2 active to 6 active games! I blame thee, Painlord! You too, Silbeg. Most of all, though, I blame you Wilmannator! You foul, weak-willed, over excited fool.
More curiosity and anticipation. I've got the hard copy and the PDF. The original response was "shortly after Paizo Con" and then lots of stuff has happened. Curiosity /= entitlement. Besides, I'm now much more interested in when Occult Adventures hits the PRD, you know, so I don't have to buy it. :-P
Don't tease me man. You can't say it like that and then not do it! You just can't!
Finally, as promised, I have uploaded for sharing with all of you, a photo of the intrepid adventurers (and their dubious GM) who had a (mostly) successful run through space and time (though mostly time) during the Sky Key Solution.
Thanks to all of you fine folk for such a fine time roleplaying at the table. The only way to do it is to the hilt! Talk smack to those bad guys, even if you really, really, really can't even hit the broad side of a barn. Bow down and worship Aroden reborn, even if you can't get his name right! Disclaimer: While I did promise to upload the photo on that night and there were no objections, we were high on Aroden's blessings. If any pictured would like me to take it down, I will happily do so. Also: Upon reflection, I'm clearly way more into it (the photo) than everyone else. Just goes to show that an Australian hopped up on caffeine and very little sleep does better at midnight after 16 hours of roleplaying than... well, anyone else.
First up, thank you Barb Wilkins and TetsujinOni for your feedback. Barb, I like your idea of having the spell descriptions included on the sheet. That would really help. I say ditto for feats and other special abilities. I also agree with you about players jockeying for the "best" pregen, but in practice this happens anyway. I think it's up to GMs to adjudicate and limit that kind of behavior at their tables. I'd still like to have the opportunity to learn about my potential characters beforehand and I don't think that "some players are jerks" is a good enough reason to spoil it for the rest of us. You are of course, though, entitled to your opinion and I respect it. The non-core abilities and spells, by the way, were actually described on the sheets (for the most part), but the relationship between those abilities for specific builds are often not that clear to players and it takes time to read then even more time to comprehend and work out tactics. I'll bring up the brawler from Siege of Serpents again: without the time to get a clear idea of the interaction between those feats, even an experienced player would be playing that pregen severely sub-optimally. ... If there are spoilers in the color text, remove it for the "player edition", it's the mechanics that are tricky. ...The Serpent's Rise pregen sheets give a major spoiler about the content of Siege of Serpents third act. I covered the case of spoilers above (bolded and redacted TetsujinOni's quote of my post to make it obvious). Also, I believe it was the player handout from Siege of Serpents that had the spoilers in it (at least that was the case for the halfling magus) and I'm certainly not advocating for Paizo releasing player handouts ahead of time! So, all that said, the problem still remains: the slots that had complicated pregens (and even the not so complicated ones) ran overtime, and unfamiliarity with the pregens was prominent among the reasons why. While do I think releasing the pregens ahead of time will help, other suggestions I have are:
In all, I really don't mind what the solution is, but I think a solution is needed and just wanted to raise that.
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