Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I'll be gone:
Our queen and all our elves come here anon.
Hi everyone, and welcome to this Kingmaker 2E recruitment thread.
I’ve been fascinated by Kingmaker for a long time, and now that the revised edition of the AP is out, I am excited to run it.
However.
I will be making changes, and adding content from other sources. So even if you have played parts of the AP before, or have played the CRPG, I hope there are still surprises in store for you.
About the campaign:
Themes:
I really wanted to play up the fey aspect of the AP and delve into the complicated fey politics, courts and factions. Thus, fey will be both potential allies and antagonists to the PCs. In fact, the party will start with a secret charter from one of the fey factions, which will influence character creation, kingdom type and the general theme of the game. The focus will be not on conquering or subduing the Stolen Lands, but in trying to establish a gentler realm that centers around respect for nature and a collaborative approach to existing residents, especially fey and natural inhabitants.
Some secondary themes will involve dragons and the Old Ones.
Campaign style:
I strongly favour roleplay and collaborative storytelling in my games. Encounters are skipped unless they move the story forward, add flavour, or provide context or backstory. In an encounter with intelligent foes, there most likely will be nonviolent options to resolve it. I do not kill PCs (unless the player requests that outcome as a way to retire a character).
You can see HERE an example of the writing style and quality I aim for (both in myself and in my players).
About the GM:
I have been playing TTRPGs since before D&D had a third edition, although my passion and my strengths lie in storytelling, character building and roleplaying, rather than knowing the minutiae of rules by heart. I have GM'ed a couple of live campaigns (Pathfinder and D&D 5E), and we're more than halfway through the second book of War for the Crown in PbP. Both as a player and as a GM I enjoy collaborative storytelling and in-depth roleplay.
In real life I'm a video game developer and live in Portugal.
I generally put a lot of effort into my campaigns and I will do my best to make this game an enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
I'm not into rules lawyering. If a rule is standing in the way of something cool, or interesting, or fun, I prefer to reward creativity than to stick to RAW - especially in situations where the result does not have momentous impact.
I am very receptive to feedback, so if you have any please let me now in the Discussion thread, in Discord or in a PM. I may not always act on it, but I will always listen to it.
I am quite active and check the forums often, but in the event that I am unable to post for a few days I will let you know in advance.
Disclaimer: I'm not super well-versed with 2E rules yet, so I appreciate help and support there. :)
Expectations from players:
* Be a team player. Don’t antagonize other players. IC conflict is fine, as long as everyone consents to this and it is clearly noted in OOC/discussion. Be kind.
* Quality over quantity. Please try to make your posts engaging and descriptive (although I appreciate that it may not always be possible). I don’t want to impose a posting rate, as myself am going through a difficult period that may occasionally take my attention or time away from the game.
* This is a sandbox AP, so everyone needs to try and drive the game forward, suggest a course of action, or push when things have stalled.
* Please let us know if you can't post for a few days, or longer. However, I do understand that life happens, so if you have to drop off without warning for a bit I won't hold it against you.
* Take the time to consider if this is the right game for you. Don’t apply just because you want to play 2E, or you want to play Kingmaker.
Submissions, character creation, and party:
I'm just as interested in the players behind the characters as I am in the characters themselves. Please let me know what is it about this reflavouring of the AP that interests you, and what you are looking for as a player.
I don't need stat blocks or aliases, just a general indication of your character's alignment, ancestry-heritage-bloodline, and what classes would interest you.
The rest of the submission should be a write-up on your character's backstory, personality and motivations, as well as their connection to the fey/First World.
Character creation:
This is a heavily fey-themed AP, so be as whimsical as you like with your characters. I will allow 3PP material if it is thematically appropriate.
All characters should have some sort of connection to the fey or the First World - as part of their ancestry or heritage, background, feats etc., through their backstory - or both. Each character will receive one free feat to use for the purpose of this connection, if they wish, up to and including Level 5 feats.
Free archetype at level 2.
Milestone levelling.
I would like to use DM_aka_Dudemeister’s party origin tool, with The Green party origin as a starting point (except the origin story will be different).
Tools, trackers and maps:
There’s a Discord channel for the game - joining is not mandatory, but it really helps speed up discussion.
I would like to use Miro for maps and party task tracking, as I feel that the tools there are particularly well-suited for this AP. No sign-up or download is necessary to access Miro (at least once I upgrade my membership :D).
Example of the Kingmaker hex map in Miro.
We can use Google sheets for inventory tracking and the kingdom tracker.
Recruitment practicalities:
Recruitment ends on the evening of Friday, February 24th. I’m in the UTC timezone, but happy to give people a few more hours until (my) Saturday morning if needed.
We will start with a group of 7 players. Some of my players from a different AP will be joining as well.
Welcome all! Feel free to use this thread for questions or discussions. As a reminder, we also have the Discord channel, but for important items that might be easily missed in Discord please use this thread. Such things would include rule or mechanics discussions for recurring aspects of the game or characters, clarification on the world, NPCs or story, notices of absence etc.
Less than two years away from celebrating the 200th year since its founding, Breachill is a relatively young settlement in Isger. Nestled in the foothills of the Five King Mountains, about 50 miles from the Druman border, a fascinating tale stands at its origins.
Veraline Rhasolde, author and first Breachill town council president wrote:
For weeks, we were disheveled and confused, shivering in the shadow of winter as it crept into the mountainous valley. We barely managed to forage for food and build rickety shelters. A few of us carried swords to fend off wild beasts, but we had no memory of how we found those measly weapons, or of who might have put them into our hands. And that was the worst of it: we knew we all had lives before this bleak state of affairs, but to a one, we barely remembered our own names. Our spirits were broken, and our hope for surviving the winter seemed slim. Then a miracle happened: a benevolent wizard stumbled across our valley. His name was Lamond Breachton, and it is with his kindness that our town’s story begins.
—Opening except from Breachill, Outpost of Liberty
Many of Breachill's 1300 mostly human residents trace their ancestry to these original 50 pioneers, leading to the townsfolk’s identity as people who persevere and are self-sufficient by birthright. As a result, the residents of Breachill are brave and community minded. Unlike the insular inhabitants of many Isgeri towns, they welcome adventurers of all stripes. After all, the townspeople owe their existence to the benevolence of that powerful wizard adventurer — Lamond Breachton — whose legacy is so beloved that it might be almost be considered a religion. Practically without exception, harsh words against Breachton here are taken as a challenge to most residents' honor.
It is in this prosperous town that sits astride the eponymous Breach Creek that our heroes-to-be find themselves, during an unusually hot and dry Arodus, in the year 4719 AR.
Beatrix:
Early in the afternoon there aren't many people in the Pickled Ear, as the lunch crowd has thinned and the evening crowd is yet to arrive - which is just as well for Beatrix, who's been working hard since mid-morning. Her sisters are nowhere in sight, and Roxie is in the back room, by the sound of things scolding one of her teenage daughters. Once again, the gnome marvels at what the people of Breachill call "rough-and-tumble"; there are several nicer taverns in town, to be sure, but the Pickled Ear would not look out of place in Jarvis End or Villegre. Built entirely of wood, it has a rather rustic charm to it, and Roxie is meticulous about its maintenance and cleanliness.
The few customers currently present, most of them farmers, trappers and hunters spending a couple of days in town in preparation for market day tomorrow, seem content to nurse their drinks and shelter from the heat in the cool, shadowy interior. The only unfamiliar faces are those of a party of five currently seated in the corner, all of them human although one has clearly an orc or half-orc among his ancestors, and one of the two women shows clear signs of elven blood in her elongated, pointed ears. They are dressed mostly in leathers, their dusty cloaks hanging off the backs of the chairs and their packs pushed under the table. Clearly adventurers, although they don't have that many weapons among themselves - the half-orc has a great axe, one of the women has a sword and shield and one of the human men a crossbow. They came in around lunch, ordered the cheapest ale and the cheapest meal and since then they've been sitting there, barely exchanging a word.
Gofran:
This morning there had been a flurry of new orders, mostly repair work as yesterday's small earthquake had caused some minor damage to several buildings. Rorsk had been busy looking after customers well into the afternoon, and now he finally had a chance to draw his breath. Even so, he stayed on his feet as he surveyed the buzz of activity in the workshop, drinking deep from a waterskin offered by an apprentice. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing stone dust through his beard as he scowls and sighs. "Ach, coz, 'tis the worst time for that stone shipment tae go missin'. I 'ave 'alf a mind tae go tae the Call for 'eroes on Oathday and ask fer some strappin' lads tae go lookin' fer it, aye." He takes another long pull from the waterskin, and scowls harder, something which Gofran would not have thought possible. "Only trouble is, Posandi's on the council, see. 'e'll refuse my ask, I jus' ken it." Rorsk didn't speak Dwarven with him unless it was just the two of them, and his Taldane was so heavily accented that even Gofran had trouble understanding him sometimes. His cousin sighs again, passing the empty waterskin back to the apprentice and adjusting his thick leather belt, the tools hanging from it clinking together softly. "Aight, back tae work."
Kyrie:
This close to the river, there is a blessed coolness in the air, soothing the sting of the relentless sun on the skin. A song drifts through the open window as Kyrie sits in the shade of the building's west wing, a book in her lap. Tarindlara had been busy all morning, all sorts of people coming to ask for artisans to perform repairs after yesterday's earthquake had caused some minor damage, but she was now sipping iced berry juice on a bench across from Kyrie, resplendent as usual in her elegant, perfectly-fitted silk dress. The smooth, cool material must have felt nice on the skin. The elven woman smiles as she nods towards the book. "Something more to your tastes than poetry?"
She had been very kind, to let Kyrie stay at the temple. Not asking for money, not asking questions beyond what she had needed to know in order to make the Iomedaean feel comfortable. The room was small, but the furniture was well-crafted and beautiful, although sparse. The long wall opposite the bed was entirely covered in a mural of the town, as seen from a tall hill, with the river shining like molten gold in the light of the sunset, pink and violet clouds scattered across the sky. If she hadn't seen Breachill herself, she would have said it was an idealized depiction of the town - all the buildings neat, the streets wide and clean, troughs and pots with flowers lining every windowsill. But no, this is really how Breachill was, the neatest, prettiest, most orderly town she had ever seen. And the people here were so friendly, curious but not nosy, empathetic and kind, welcoming and warm. Within a few days of her arrival they had lined up at the temple's door with gift baskets that contained everything from local delicacies to items of basic necessity to gifts that were well-intended, but perhaps lacking in practicality - such as the knitted woolen shawl that was now hanging in her room.
Karana:
The bell above the door of the bookstore tinkles softly as Karana and Father Padilla enter. As their eyes adjust to the dim light of the interior, a half-elven woman with auburn hair gathered in a high ponytail looks up from behind the counter at the front of the room. Aside from the paladin, a halfling man is also present, seated in front of a crate full of books and carefully noting their details in a large ledger open on his lap. Most of the space in the shop is filled with shelves upon shelves of books, most of them looking quite old and more than a few seemingly written in languages that Karana has never encountered.
"A good afternoon to you, how can I help you?" The half-elven woman comes from behind the counter to greet them. "Are you looking for something in particular? If not, feel free to browse, we recently got a new shipment from Oppara." At the mention of a Goblin-Taldane dictionary, she nods, disappearing among the stacks for what feels like quite a long time before returning triumphantly with a thin volume, cheaply bound and almost falling apart. "This is quite a rare edition, it went out of print rather quickly, for lack of demand. A collaboration between famous Absalom linguist Tabia Balewa and a hobgoblin tribe from Arthfell Forest." She nudges her spectacles up her nose a little as she offers the dictionary for inspection.
Karana does not have much in the way of money, and her heart sinks at the sight of the price tag carefully inscribed on the back of the book, but Father Padilla is already reaching into his purse and counting out the coins. "Thank you, miss, a most fortunate find." The librarian seems almost sad to be parting with the book, but sweeps the coins into the till nonetheless as Father Padilla offers Karana the little tattered dictionary.
Amaya:
The Great Dreamhouse's interior garden is a welcome relief from the early afternoon heat, the air somewhat cooled by the trees and the running water of the central fountain. Several acolytes are dozing off in the shade of a large magnolia tree, while several more are sitting or laying on the wide stone rim of the fountain, letting the faint spray fall on them as they look at the curious traveler who has been staying in the temple for the last few days. Kellen, the head priest, had been shooing them off and scolding them for bothering their guest, but he was nowhere in sight now, so they had flocked to Amaya full of curiosity.
"Are all the people like you where you come from?" Carli is probably no older than eight, a freckled girl with dark eyes like liquid shadow. "That's rude, Carli!" admonishes Kip, from the towering height of his authority as a ten year old. "Mom says it's rude to point out people's appearance. Mama says so too." He turns to Amaya, bowing solemnly. "Please excuse her, she is not very well behaved. And I think that people of all shapes and colours are beloved by the Song of the Spheres." Nodding sagely, a third acolyte chimes in, "That is very wise, cousin. Besides, I think we would have heard if there was a country of blue people somewhere." Ziggy is not Kip's cousin, but then again, Ziggy calls everyone 'cousin'. Kip groans and smacks his own face in a demonstrative display of despair at the bad manners of his colleagues.
The date is Moonday, 3 of Arodus. The Call for Heroes is on the first Oathday of every month. You have a few days to explore the town, if you like. I'll add a vignette for Estian once I get their background.
Hi all, this is a closed recruitment for the Age of Ashes AP.
About me:
I have been playing TTRPGs since before D&D had a third edition, and my passion and my strengths lie in storytelling, character building and roleplaying, rather than knowing the minutiae of rules by heart. I have GM'ed a couple of live campaigns (Pathfinder and D&D 5E), and I'm currently GM'ing War for the Crown on these boards. Both as a player and as a GM I enjoy collaborative storytelling and in-depth roleplay.
In real life I'm a video game developer and live in the Netherlands.
As a note, this will be my first foray into Second Edition, so help with the rules from more experienced players is appreciated.
What you can expect from me:
- I generally put a lot of effort into my campaigns - from research into what can be tweaked or improved to handcrafting handouts for my live campaigns. I will do my best to make this campaign an enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
- I am quite active and check the forums often, but in the event that I am unable to post for a few days I will let you know in advance.
- I'm not into rules lawyering. If a rule is standing in the way of something cool, or interesting, or fun, I prefer to reward creativity than to stick to RAW - especially in situations where the result does not have momentous impact.
- I am very receptive to feedback, so if you have any please let me now in the Discussion thread, in a PM or on Discord. I may not always act on it, but I will always listen to it.
- PC death: this is something I will actively avoid. I find it very demotivating as both a player and a GM, so I *will* pull my punches. Yes, I'm a softie. Sorry, not sorry.
What I expect from my players:
- I am recruiting players first and characters second. I am looking for people who enjoy similar aspects of the game as I do - roleplaying, building compelling characters, and storytelling.
- I like players to help me drive the game, rather than wait for me to push things along - reacting to other characters, NPCs or things in the world in a way that creates interesting moments and provides hooks for other players to respond to, or even creating new threads outside of the main story.
- If you are unable to post for a few days, please let me know. If a longer absence is anticipated, we can work together on how to handle that for your character. I fully understand that life happens, so if you have to drop off without warning I won't hold it against you.
- In terms of post frequency, once a day during the week would be desired, or more frequent if you can manage and the events of the game warrant it. However, if there is nothing for your character to do or react to, you don't have to force a post - but if you haven't posted anything for a week I will give you a nudge.
- I prefer quality of posting over quantity, so I appreciate making an effort to write descriptive and engaging posts. If most of your posts tend to be one-liners and dice rolls, I'm afraid that we won't get along very well.
- Use the Discussion thread or Discord for questions. Keep the OOC commentary to a minimum in gameplay posts.
- And last, but not least - be kind. Please be respectful and considerate when engaging with me or with other players. The last year has been hard enough on all of us, let's try to support each other and show empathy to one another.
Game outline:
- Looking for 5-6 players
- As noted above, roleplay over rollplay!
- Themes: ancient evils, arcane mysteries, dragons, moral choices, personal freedom, conspiracies, redemption
- There will be a lot of downtime in this AP, so plan accordingly
- Milestone leveling
- I will make some of the PC rolls to keep things moving, namely initiative, saves, and whenever there is something to be found/perceived/recalled. This is open to discussion, however, if some don't feel comfortable with me rolling on their behalf.
- For maps, we can either use Roll20 or Google slides, up to player preference
- We'll have a channel on Discord for quick strategizing, OOC chat, questions etc.
- I'd like to use the decks of critical hits and critical fumbles for additional spice, but that is also open for discussion
- Please note that this campaign contains significant spoilers for the Hell's Rebels AP!
Character creation:
- We start at Level 1
- Ancestries: core only (but I'm flexible if you have a really awesome concept for a non-core ancestry)
- Alignment: no restrictions, but your character should be motivated to work with others (also keep in mind the relevant section in the Player's Guide)
- Sources for classes, backgrounds, archetypes: any 2nd edition published Paizo source (I reserve the right to make doubtful noises about some of them though)
- Abilities: standard generation method
- Backgrounds: two – one of your choice (for ability boosts, trained skills, feats etc.), and one from the Age of Ashes Player's Guide (for the flavour text and the Lore skill)
- Character concept/backstory should include a few people who are significant to your character, and your character's motivation for adventuring.
- I love plot hooks in character backgrounds, and ties with the AP :)
- Full crunch not needed yet, just a few notes about the roles that your character is intended to fill, in and out of combat.
Required reading:
- This post, in its entirety
- The AP Player's Guide (available as a free download from Paizo)
- Optionally: the Old Cheliax section in The Lost Omens World guide
Recruitment info:
Recruitment will be open until March 2nd, 23:59 CET, although I might close it earlier if we get loads of great apps.
When applying, please tell me a little about yourself and your play preferences/style, as well as expectations/wishes from this campaign. Also let me know if there are any themes, topics, creatures etc. that you don't want to encounter in the campaign (I'm already deleting a bunch of spiders :)).
Life in Oppara isn’t difficult to handle, once you’ve learned the rules: if a senator tells you that what you want to do is illegal, talk to a different one; if the district tax you pay is too high, move to the next house over; if you require a diplomat to get the upper hand in negotiations, hire your rival’s out from under her; if you need an honorable noble, promote the nearest farmer; if you make a mistake, act like it never happened until people feel awkward and follow suit; if you don’t like your past, pay a historian to write a new one; if your office needs more funding, buy a weapon and declare yourself a military branch; and if you need to keep something hidden forever, claim it’s urgent and hand it to a government official.
Oppara, the jewel of Taldor and the empire's capital. Seated on the black cliffs of the River Porthmos, the city bears all the gravitas and extravagance that 6000 years of history have conferred upon it. Today, the promise of spring is in the air on its streets and canals; although the air retains a slight chill, the trees and early flowers have started to bloom and the sun is shining. The mild weather is tempting many people outside of their homes and places of business as nobles make the most of this chance (perhaps the last for this year) to show off their winter attires before the fashion changes, while less wealthy individuals are content to soak up the golden rays as they chat with their neighbours.
This morning an envelope was delivered to you, the courier insisting that it must be entrusted to you and only to you, in person. Or perhaps you reached into your coat pocket for your handkerchief and there it was, with no inkling of how it got there.
In the envelope there is a short letter and a business card from a café called “The Green Bridge”. The card is elegant and understated, with an address in the southern part of Grandbridge, near the Gray Market. On the back of the card someone scribbled “21st of Calistril, second afternoon bell”. There is no return address on the envelope.
The letter reads:
Raesilia:
“My dear V.,
Could I trouble you for a little task? I need someone capable and trusted to travel to Ridonport and help settle a little matter. You will not work alone, so better bring your friend along. You know of whom I speak.
Warmly,
M.”
Lotti:
“Dear Ms. Qebs,
I have need of your unique perspective for a little endeavour. I trust you will find opportunity to further your own goals at the same time. The matter involves travel to Ridonport, so prepare accordingly.
Sincerely,
Martella Lotheed”
Adriel:
“Dear Ms. Moonflower,
I understand that your somewhat unorthodox views are giving you difficulties at the University. My contacts among the faculty can help smooth things out to a degree, but I believe that the best course of action for now is to take a little holiday. I hear that the weather in Ridonport is lovely this time of year, despite the shocking rumours of corruption one hears about the place.
Warm regards,
Lady Martella Lotheed”
Mirann:
“My dear Mirann,
I have a wonderful opportunity for you, if Lady Deschamps can spare you for a few days. I’m sure you’re a little bored with entertaining the nobility, so I’m giving you a chance to use some of your other talents. And you’ll get to travel, so what’s not to love?
Kind regards,
Lady Martella Lotheed”
Marius:
In your envelope there is only the letter.
“Dear Marius,
I am sending some friends for a little trip to your wonderful and quaint Ridonport. I trust that you will show them around and be a good host. In turn, they may be helping out with some local matters. Hope we will see you soon here in the capital!
Gratefully yours,
Martella”
Konstiantina:
“Lady Mokei,
There is an opportunity to win a powerful ally to my cause, and perhaps root out some corruption in the process. To that end, I would kindly ask you to undertake a little trip together with some of my other associates.
Sincerely,
Lady Martella Lotheed”
Marius / Knowledge geography or history, DC 12:
The small port city of Ridonport, the lone settlement of any note along the length of the Jagged Saw, is famous for being the birthplace of General Arnisant, hero of the Shining Crusade and vanquisher of the Whispering Tyrant.
Marius / Knowledge geography or history, DC 15:
The city runs an underfunded museum to the legendary general in his former home, and has a 200-foot statue of the local legend donated by a noble who vastly overestimated the community’s size.
Take a seat, order a drink or a bite, look around and socialize. The game will be starting shortly.
If you still need to create an alias for your character or finalize crunch, please do so. And since the party is assembled, if anyone wishes to tweak their initial submission - now is the time.
Since my live group is on hold due to the pandemic, I have been pondering which campaign to run in PbP instead. Seeing the strong interest in GM TBD's War for the Crown recruitment, I decided to go with that AP.
In short, I am looking for 5 players to join Princess Eutropia and her allies in revitalizing the ancient nation of Taldor.
About me:
I have been playing TTRPGs since before D&D had a third edition, although my passion and my strengths lie in storytelling, character building and roleplaying, rather than knowing the minutiae of rules by heart. I have GM'ed a couple of live campaigns (Pathfinder and D&D 5E), and part of the first book of RotRL in PbP. Both as a player and as a GM I enjoy collaborative storytelling and in-depth roleplay.
In real life I'm a video game developer and live in the Netherlands.
What you can expect from me:
I generally put a lot of effort into my campaigns - from research into what can be tweaked or improved to handcrafting handouts for my live campaigns. I will do my best to make this campaign an enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
I am quite active and check the forums often, but in the event that I am unable to post for a few days I will let you know in advance.
I'm not into rules lawyering. If a rule is standing in the way of something cool, or interesting, or fun, I prefer to reward creativity than to stick to RAW - especially in situations where the result does not have momentous impact.
In the interest of keeping the game moving at a decent pace, I will make the rolls for everyone's initiative. I may also make rolls on the PCs' behalf for saves (except in critical situations), Perception, Sense Motive and Knowledge checks as appropriate. These rolls will be visible to all under a spoiler.
I am very receptive to feedback, so if you have any please let me now in the Discussion thread or in a PM. I may not always act on it, but I will always listen to it.
What I expect from my players:
I am recruiting players first and characters second. I am looking for people who enjoy similar aspects of the game as I do - roleplaying, building compelling characters, and storytelling.
I like players to help me drive the game, rather than wait for me to push things along - reacting to other characters, NPCs or things in the world in a way that creates interesting moments and provides hooks for other players to respond to, or even creating new threads outside of the main story.
If you are unable to post for a few days, please let me know. If a longer absence is anticipated, we can work together on how to handle that for your character. I fully understand that life happens, so if you have to drop off without warning I won't hold it against you.
In terms of post frequency, once a day during the week would be desired, or more frequent if you can manage and the events of the game warrant it. However, if there is nothing for your character to do or react to, you don't have to force a post - but if you haven't posted anything for a week I will give you a nudge.
I prefer quality of posting over quantity, so I appreciate making an effort to write descriptive and engaging posts. If most of your posts tend to be one-liners and dice rolls, I'm afraid that we won't get along very well.
Use the Discussion thread for questions. Keep the OOC commentary to a minimum in gameplay posts.
And last, but not least - be kind. Please be respectful and considerate when engaging with me or other players. This year has been hard enough on all of us, let's try to support each other and show empathy to one another.
Before we jump into the meat of the recruitment, I want to emphasize the kind of campaign that War for the Crown is. This AP is a particularly roleplay-heavy game, and while there is still a good deal of combat throughout, large portions of it are social encounters and skill checks. With that in mind, make sure to build a well-rounded character that can do more than make things die by hitting them. Also, be sure to read the AP Player's Guide, which can be downloaded for free.
NOTE: I plan on running a few modified PFS scenarios as a prologue for the campaign, in order to give the PCs an opportunity to know each other and bond together, as well as a way to practice and refine the social combat rules.
The ones I have in mind are:
- 05-11: Library of the Lion
- 09-08: Birthright Betrayed
- 09-11: The Jarlsblood Witch Saga (optional! The scenario has very good reviews, so if the group wants to run it I'm happy to)
We will be using Roll20 for maps, and optionally Discord for chat.
Character creation guidelines:
Level: Players start at level 1
Races: See Player's Guide. If you select something outside core races + aasimar, please provide a justification.
Classes: See Player's Guide. I won't disallow any classes, but anything that is outside the suggestions from the Player's Guide will need a strong justification.
Attributes: 20 point buy. I would advise against dumping mental attributes.
Traits: 2 traits, one of which must be a campaign trait from the Player's Guide. 1 drawback is allowed for 1 additional trait, but make sure to incorporate it into your character. If you do choose a drawback, it will come into play.
Skills: Background skills are in use.
HP: Max at 1st level, half + 1 + CON bonus at subsequent levels.
Starting gold: Roll, or accept the average for your class, whichever is greater.
- No 3rd party material.
Application requirements:
***If you have applied in GM TBD's recruitment thread and do not wish to alter or expand your submission you do not need to write up a full application - simply link to your application post in GM TBD's thread.***
1. Read everything in this post.
2. Download and read the Player's Guide.
3. Present your character concept (an alias or full crunch is NOT required):
- Your character's link to Taldor and their motivation for getting involved in Taldan politics
- Race and class
- Alignment or morality
- Role in the group - what can your character contribute in and out of combat
- Background
- (optional) Character progression, how do you plan to develop them?
3. (Optional) Tell me a little about yourself and why this AP is particularly interesting to you.
I am far more interested in your character's personality, beliefs and history than I am in their crunch.
As this AP already has a lot of submission from GM TBD's thread, recruitment will be open for a week, until EoD Sunday September 20th. This should hopefully be enough time for people to create new applications or tweak their existing ones. I expect to make a decision by EoD Wednesday September 23rd (CEST timezone).
The unthinkable has happened. Life's perfidy has struck and our beloved GM, our storyteller, our oracle, has had to step down from a fantastic game that we all have been thoroughly enjoying.
But the players refuse to throw in the towel. The game was too good, the characters too intriguing, the ties too binding. We cannot let the story end.
Please, help us. Take up GM Wicked's heavy mantle and guide us. It is no easy task, we know. The challenge is great, but if you rise up to it, the experience will be very enjoyable - for all of us.
We need someone who will put a lot of themselves into the game, who has a way with words. Someone who cherishes our characters growing and learning. Someone who make make Korvosa come alive for us.
All the players are willing to resume the game with their current characters, should the right person be found. GM Wicked is willing to share his notes and files with his successor.
Background:
This is my first time as a GM and all my players are brand new to both Pathfinder and tabletop RPGs. We play once every two weeks.
The Catfinders:
- Belfyr, NG Male Half-elf Hunter, with the tigress Snow as his animal companion, from the River Kingdoms
- Lena, CN Female Human Bard, from Riddleport
- Lugrick Fizzleberry, CN Male Half-orc Alchemist raised by gnomes, from Magnimar
- Steinar Gunnarson, NG Male Human Fighter, from Sandpoint
- Taznutt Parooh, NG Male Gnome Illusionist, from Sandpoint
House Rules:
- We are using Hero Points
- We are using the Automatic Bonus Progression system (so no magic items that give enhancement bonus to AC, damage, abilities or saving throws)
Session 1, Festival and Fire:
Prep work:
- two Sandpoint newspapers sent to players prior to the first session, for flavour and a fun way of establishing the setting. They are located here and here, free for use.
- the Town Square Flip-mat printed out (I am extremely lucky that my office has a large format printer that eats photo paper and spits out gorgeous, glossy maps)
- stat blocks and spell cards for all enemies, printed out
- goblin songs, printed out
- various examples of goblin antics, printed out
- festival speeches from the community created stuff thread
- about a dozen festival games printed out from the community thread and Wayfinder #007
- individual folders for each player, containing the maps of Sandpoint, Sandpoint Hinterlands and Varisia, a town guide with locations of interest, a rules cheat sheet and, for select characters, a memory of their childhood in Sandpoint (introducing Jervis Stoot and Nualia)
Session:
A large part of the first session was spent creating characters and filling in the character sheets. I had asked them to prepare a character concept prior to the session, which they all did.
Once we had crossed all the eyes and dotted all the teas, we then started play, with all the characters located in the temple square and listening to the speeches. After the swallowtail butterflies were released, the PCs scattered around the festival to try their skill and luck at games.
Steinar failed miserably at an Atlas stones contest, despite his otherwise impressive strength. The stones just slipped from his fingers.
Taznutt didn't completely embarrass himself in an archery contest and won a meat pie, unlike Belfyr the hunter, who forgot how to hunter and missed all his shots.
Steinar and Belfyr teamed up for one of Gorvi's wheelbarrow races, which they won by a hair after falling on their arses in the mud multiple times. They got a wand of cure light wounds for their trouble, which should help with all those bruises.
Taznutt and Steinar tried their wit against Chask Haladan's riddles. They both answered three riddles correctly and won a cap of light and a pearl of power.
Belfyr and Steinar had a lot of excitement at the dragon races, but unfortunately none of their lizards won.
Lena was the most devious of all - instead of fairly entering Banny Harker's archery contest and attempting five increasingly difficult shots for the grand prize, she charmed the poor man into entering a bet with her: one shot only, if she misses she pays Banny 20 gp, if she makes it Banny gives her the grand prize. Banny agreed, Lena made her shot and walked home with a darkwood masterwork composite longbow.
Once the players tired of all the festival fun and games, we moved back to the festival square, just in time to hear Father Zanthus make another boring speech. What followed was not so boring though, as child-sized creatures scurried through the crowd, slashing left and right. The initial wave of goblins was easily dealt with, but the PCs' relief was short lived as a wagon burst into flames and some creepy chanting started. The goblins were evidently over-excited, as they almost set themselves on fire several times, fell over and tried to hit the heroes with chicken drumsticks instead of dogslicers (biting into the dogslicers, obviously). After these goblins went the way of the first ones, furious barking attracted the players' attention and they rushed to the rescue (not before the bard carefully investigated the well in the square, suspecting it to be the goblin's way in). A pitched battle ensued, with Steinar bravely throwing himself in front of the goblin commando and shielding the nobleman's wolfhound with his own body. Their heroic efforts paid off and both the man and the dog were saved. Aldern Foxglove professed his undying gratitude, invited the heroes to visit him at the Rusty Dragon and flirted a bit with Lena before disappearing into the night. At this point we wrapped up the session.
Post-session story hooks and RP bits, sent by e-mail:
- Since Steinar is a member of the Sandpoint militia and displayed exemplary conduct during the raid, sheriff Belor Hemlock has put him in charge of an investigation to discover how the goblins got into Sandpoint.
- Shalelu Andosana, the elven ranger, visited Belfyr in his room at the Rusty Dragon with some questions regarding his travel to Sandpoint. Her moonlight visit made a strong impression on our hunter, who is now having a teensy crush on Shalelu.
- Chask Haladan, the editor of the Sandpoint Herald, has paid Taznutt Parooh 10 gp for an exclusive account of the events.
- Lugrick's glassware order is late, prompting him to pay a visit to the Glassworks, which he finds locked and silent.
- Lena is approached with two different proposals and she must choose one. Ameiko Kaijitsu is offering to do a double act with Lena depicting the goblin attack (Lena narrating and Ameiko accompanying her on the shamisen), splitting the proceedings 50/50. Cyrdak Drokkus wants to co-author with Lena a humorous play on the same topic, offering 15% of the profits once the play is put on stage.
- The third issue of the Sandpoint Herald is published.
I have bought a Bestiary 1 Pawn Box through a third party (I live in Europe) and the product is misprinted. It goes from Drow Warrior (B1 70) to Hell Hound (B1 92) - so one page is missing - and the page from Hell Hound to Orc Warrior (B1 110) is printed twice and mirrored (so the second page has the Dire Ape printed across 2 medium sized pawns and one Orc Warrior and a Nymph printed across one Large sized pawn).
Considering that I didn't buy this directly from Paizo (shipping rates make this prohibitively expensive), is there anything that can be done from your side?
I'll be starting Rise of the Runelords with a group of players who are all brand new to tabletop RPGs. I have ran the adventure in the Beginner Box with them (my goblin voice was a great success), but that's as far as their pen & paper experience goes. We are all video gamers and we have all played computer RPGs, so there is some familiarity with the basic systems and tropes.
I am new to the role of the GM myself and I would like them to have the maximal amount of fun and be aware from the start of some of the basics things they can do in a tabletop RPG in general and specifically in Pathfinder.
Here is what I have so far on my "Top 10 (or less, or more) adventuring tips" list that I want to use in a briefing during our first session.
1. Search early, search often. Successful Perception checks can reveal: Treasure! Hidden enemies! Secret doors! Traps! and more.
2. You don't always have to kill them. Sometimes, confrontational situations can be resolved with diplomacy (or bluff, or intimidate), or with straight-up magically charming your would-be opponents.
2a. If you *really* want to fight them, you can use non-lethal options to win. Examples are disarming your opponent or knocking them out with non-lethal damage.
3. Story XP, you say? That's right, your character can gain XP even if they don't fight or kill something. Participating in NPC interactions, solving situations in a clever way, achieving story or character goals or creative bits of roleplaying will grant you XP.
4. Gather information. Use Knowledge checks, class abilities like bardic lore or plain old "talking to people" in order to find out things about other things.
5. You're not stuck forever with your class. Your character can gain levels in a second class if you want to branch out a little. This is called multi-classing.
