GM TOP #5-16: Corpses in Kalsgard (Standard) (Inactive)

Game Master Pete H.

Welcome one, welcome all. If you are here it should be via an invite through the illustrious Qstor. Go ahead and fill out your information.

Player:
Character Name:
Character Level:
PFS #:
Faction:
Day Job (roll or take 10):
Progression (Slow/Standard):

So, we should have four players once everyone has mustered.

The question that I need answered next is, "is that enough? Do you want to recruit one or two more to fill out the group or just stay with the 4-player adjustement and run it as a tight-nit group?"

Player: qstor
Character Name: Deldri
Level: 6
PFS #: 2072-44
Faction: Grand Lodge
Day Job (roll or take 10): n/a
Progression (Slow/Standard): Standard

Thanks for the invite, Qstor!

Player: Otha
Character Name: Ingrge
Character Level: 6th (Urban Ranger 3 / Zen Archer 3)
PFS #: 239913-5
Faction: Grand Lodge
Day Job (roll or take 10): Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Progression (Slow/Standard): Standard

Thank you for the invite. I will have a character chosen and posted tonight.

Player: Shifty
Character Name: Philthy
Character Level: 8 (1 Barb/1 Rog/6 Wiz)
PFS #: 41662-14
Faction: The Exchange (totally legit and honest merchants who are completely not a Sczarni front)
Day Job (roll or take 10): Prof miner 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Progression (Slow/Standard): Standard

question that I need answered next is, "is that enough? Do you want to recruit one or two more to fill out the group or just stay with the 4-player adjustement and run it as a tight-nit group?"

The disreputable looking dwarf runs his tattooed and tobacco-stained fingers of one hand through his greasy beard in contemplation, the other hand firmly wrapped around a bottle of rum. He quietly communicates with a rather angry looking mongoose that looks like it has had a few big nights of its own. Reaching a consensus with the oversized rodent he turns to the party and smiles with a rather disarmingly friendly grin "Bully reckons we could probably get one of those Clerical types, only because magical healing is more pleasant than bandages and stitches, but I reckon four works well enough, unless you know two reliable hands who don't drift off and can stay with a mind on the job"

Thanks for the invite, Qstor.
Looking forward to my first game on the Paizo forums!
Hello all...

Player: Spellsorrow
Character Name: Sorithar
Character Level: Wiz 6
PFS #: 185281-1
Faction: Dark Archive
Day Job (roll or take 10): Craft (Alchemy): 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (14) + 17 = 31
Progression (Slow/Standard): Standard

The finely groomed, bronze toned, slightly older man glances at the strange exchange between the greasy dwarf and the mongoose and rises one eyebrow, though he remains silent. When the dwarf speaks, the man returns his own, pleasant grin, and nods once.

"I must agree with the stout longbeard. A holy nose would only improve our odds of success. One of those sunny faithful of Iomedae or one of those lawyers of Abadar... We could use the extra strong arm as well, by my judgement. Though I'm confident the lot of you can handle yourselves."

It is currently Tuesday morning. On Friday around lunchtime I will be boarding the Carnival Spirit for a few days out kicking around the Coral Sea to do my final checks for our 'PFS/SFS RPG convention at sea' Con Voyage in August.

The ship wifi and internet is utter garbage, so I expect to have no signal or comms from noon on Friday the 7th of June til noon Monday the 10th of Jun. I might get comms, I might not, so banking on not.

I will be playing a sorcerer/cleric/bardish character.

Evangelist cleric with flag bearer riding a cat.

Player: Grandlounge
Character Name: Awkin
Character Level: 5
PFS #: 156701-14
Faction: Grand Lodge
Day Job (roll or take 10): na
Progression (Slow/Standard): Standard

Understood Shifty about this weekend, enjoy! With this group I honestly don't think much will be done on weekends, so don't feel major stress if you can't get a post up. I'll relax my normal 'must post once each weekend' rule a bit and we'll just see how things go. But be ready for a quick pace during the week as I push things along at hopefully an enjoyable speed!

Read through my GM profile to see how I prefer to handle things, questions are welcome. Thanks all for playing!

Current Group
Grandlounge: Awkin Delance (Cleric 4/Sorcerer 1)
Spellsorrow: Sorithar (Wizard 6)
Shifty: Philthy (Wizard 6, Rogue 1, Barbarian 1)
Otha: Ingrge (Urban Ranger 3, Zen Archer 3)
Qstor: Deldri (Inquisitor 6)

That puts us at five and the last I heard Qstor may be looking for one more. I'll let him update us on that process.

If he says no one else is on their way, I'd suggest we go ahead and recruit a specific type (melee, ranged, heals, support, damage, tank, etc...) of player to join us to fill in anything we are missing. If we are quick enough to get to six, I'd love to get gameplay introductions going this week so we can start into the fun stuff right away next week.

So are we good with five? I see we have a cleric too. If so I’ll just get things started.

Looks ok. :)

Ok heading off to jump on a cruise ship - dodgy/no comms for 72 hours!

Should be fun getting the space measured out for the con in August :)

Looks good to me too. New to PbP on Paizo Boards. Few questions:

1. How do I get my player/character added to the roster..? Is there something I'm supposed to do?

2. Where would I track OOC chatter and purchase etc..?

3. Is it possible to use an avatar from outside the ones provided by Paizo?

Looking forward to this, thanks GM TOP!

1 - Make a profile in you account. New message board profile. Then post in the game thread.

2 - This is GM specific on the boards but for pfs there are purchased tracking sheets that you should have for each character.

3 - No, you have to pick from the picture available.

Yeah, looks like you got in nicely. Just check your campaigns tab and any new posts should show up there, just click on the (1) or whatever number after the thread and it'll take you right to the newest post.

I've rarely seen GM's on here who manage between game purchases, I think there is just quite a bit of trust that each player knows how to track their purchases properly. If anything seems off about a character, audits can always be done. And with everyone having their full profile available to be looked at, it sorta makes catching stuff like that pretty easy compared to F2F.

That said, if you are concerned about in game purchases or conditions and removal or other notations that need to go on the chronicles, those will be there (if I forget, just nudge me at the end of the game).

As far as how chronicles are handed out, most GM's (I included) just provide a link to a google folder with each player's chronicle. I usually move mine to my own docs and print one off to go with my paper character sheet.

We are happy to answer any other questions too. PbP is a very different beast than F2F. It has definite benefits and definite downsides, but I personally prefer it just purely from a RP standpoint.

Thank you for the responses.

To be clear, I've been doing PbP for over a decade now, just though other venues. Which is how Qstor and I crossed paths and I ended up here, giving the Paizo board a chance.

As to equipment, if I understand what you're saying, and just to clarify, if I wish to spend my character's gold on items, I simply purchase them and place them on my tracking sheet and am considered to have them for this scenario.

Far as I can tell however, my tracking sheets aren't linked to anything here on the Paizo boards... I'm all for trust, just confirming I haven't missed anything crucial.

On that note, if I purchase something, I let you know, and you'll put it on the chronicle sheet at the end. Have I understood that correctly..?

Thanks!

Far as I can tell however, my tracking sheets aren't linked to anything here on the Paizo boards... I'm all for trust, just confirming I haven't missed anything crucial.

!

One the Paizo boards GMs tend NOT to ask for chronicles and rely on "trust."

For the character people make a "text" file and drop it into the characters profile area. In the race area they make a block with AC Saves etc.

I use a Herolab text "export" mostly.

Paizo doesn't allow other avatars. They have pics from most Adventure Paths and other Paizo PF products though.

To be clear, I've been doing PbP for over a decade now, just though other venues. Which is how Qstor and I crossed paths and I ended up here, giving the Paizo board a chance.

Awesome! Good, then your experiences with PbP will likely be similar here.

As to equipment, if I understand what you're saying, and just to clarify, if I wish to spend my character's gold on items, I simply purchase them and place them on my tracking sheet and am considered to have them for this scenario.

Yep. Some players like to list everything they purchased between scenarios at the start of the next game. I don't require stuff like that, but you are welcome to do so!

Far as I can tell however, my tracking sheets aren't linked to anything here on the Paizo boards... I'm all for trust, just confirming I haven't missed anything crucial.

I've seen some profiles that do link tracking sheets or list out purchases in detail, though I have never required it. And I saw the link to mythweavers on your character's profile, so figured if I needed to look at anything in detail it would not be a problem. Nothing crucial missed!

On that note, if I purchase something, I let you know, and you'll put it on the chronicle sheet at the end. Have I understood that correctly..?

Yup!

Additional thought, if you break up your header stuff a little bit more then it won't overlap on your profile (race, class/levels and gender fields are what show up in the header). Not something that needs to be done and I'm already happy you have all the stuff I like to see in a header, just letting you know in case it bugged you.

Note for all, I'll get the slides up soon!

Slides are up! I keep a link in my profile and at the top of the page. Go ahead and fill in your details on page one. Pages 2-3 currently have a map of the area and an image of the VC.

Thank you guys, I think that answers everything I had.

- S

Good deal!

Now that we have our crew together, per this post, I'm going to be reporting this game. We still have an obviously long way to the end, but this is what the bosses are asking for us to do.

@Shifty, Sorithar and Philthy had a long boat ride from Absalom to get to this part of the continent. Want to trade spells perchance..? I can share my spellbook to date if you do...

Is there really no way on these boards, once some time has passed, to edit previous posts or to quickly format posts with the text formatting codes..?

You can edit for one hour after the post but that it is. All formatting is done with the few codes in the how to format your texts drop down.

I’ll post up my spell book when I get off this cruise ship in about 28 hours :)

Just to confirm, we're also tracking memorized spells per day independently..?

Generally, yes.

1
Burning hands
Detect Secret Doors
Enlarge Person
Expeditious Retreat
Grease
Identify
Infernal Healing

2
Animal Aspect
Glitterdust
Levitate
Resist Energy
Rope Trick
See Invisibility

3
Fireball
Fly
Haste
Magic Circle against Evil
Resist Energy, Communal
Summon Monster III

@Shifty, thanks!

@GM TOP

A few questions for clarification since I find the mechanics a bit confusing...

1. At each crime scene, each character can try both Perception and Diplomacy, or one of the two at +4?

2. For each successful check, a clue can be gleaned. Does this mean there are multiple Perception clues and Diplomacy clues to be found at each location, or is everyone checking to learn the same clues..?

3. How do the Knowledge Checks relate to the clue finding checks..?

4. Can characters Aid Another in the clue finding checks and if so, does doing so replace their own check..?

1) Yup

2) Each success will give an additional clue for the team until there are no clues left or the group is out of attempts

3) The Knowledge checks are to gain bonus information or resolve any questions the players have about the clues, any player may attempt them once the clue reveals the opportunity

4) You can Aid Another, but it would use up your attempt at that check

You all are more than welcome to have it out in gameplay (with a discussion) as to how to handle the ghost, I just like to keep the action going and post when I’m able. The walk took at least an hour, everything can be resolved well before arriving at the hillside tunnel. Just call for a vote if the group is split on a decision and I’ll hold on starting the encounter until whatever decision wins majority.

Completely understood, given PbP.

Guess we'll wait and see what Philthy has to say.

Despite the fact I might have debated the point at a table game, sadly in PbP, long RP discussions tend to bog down games to the point of frustration. I'm aware of this and am willing to set aside Sorithar's usual stubborn hardline attitude in favour of keeping things moving, even if it is out of character for him to do so.

That said, if everyone would rather RP the matter, I can sum up Sorithar's arguments as:

1. Its an undead who has committed murders of innocents, whatever the motivation might have been, and as such, should be destroyed.

2. The ghost has made it clear the necromancer can control it and having it anywhere near the necromancer is simply an unnecessary risk for the return it might provide.

There might be some cool chronicle boons for letting the ghost join the fray, I realize that, but its just not how I see this character to agree to this happily...

These things can be fun to work out person but it's days added in pbd. I tend to say my part and then just go with the majority. I'm completely cool with going either way.

Awkin's point are in the post, duress, a chance for redemption and not being an adequate impartial judge to over see a ghost execution (even though he is a cleric). The partial compromise is having the ghost hide until there is no other choice but he would easily have the ghost stay outside if the 'for their own protection' argument was made.

Nah get rid of the ghost, we want to lay it to rest - not have it get taken over by some Necromancer or the like and end up fighting both.

Philthy is in favour of putting it to rest, but dispensing with the need for trials or redemption (your family will be fine, the murders aren't your fault, but time for you to vanish).

Reckon whatever is down there will be enough on our plate without the nagging doubt/complication of a ghost in the mix.

I'll be pretty busy this coming weekend. Probably won't post on Saturday or Sunday. But my hope is we are done by then anyway.

Sorry for the delay I was sick yesterday.

Does anyone object to me being 2nd in line after Philthy ?

Now that the space in empty it is all yours.

No objection to the slight retcon Sorithar.

I'm heading out with the family in about 21 hours so won't be any posts after that for a couple days.

Can Sorithar slide past Awkin to get to where I'm showing him on the map..? (provoking AoO from all opponents, of course...)

Hey we might even have cooked the gnome by then :)

Chronicles are mostly done, any day job re-rolls to submit?

Sorithar is good.

@GM TOP

Would you rather I give you a list of items purchased during this chronicle for you to put on the sheet, or do you just let us add those after the fact..?

Added after the fact would be easiest for me and is more than acceptable.

Thanks all, chronicles are here.

Let me know if there are any issues.

Thanks all. I appreciated you all not killing the ghost in made the adventure better for Awkin.

I think this session was a good reminder that ghosts don't HAVE to be evil, but are definitely bound to this plane by very strong reasons and emotions.

Humish was pretty much screwed by her reason for staying (protect her family) into a no-win scenario. I'm sure in the afterlife, her actions will be judged with that in mind.

I honestly really liked this scenario for flipping the usual script of pathfinder missions. Most of the time on an investigation you encounter the true villain right off the bat so the writer can do a 'gotcha' moment later on. It actually seemed a lot more like an episode of Criminal Minds, where the team has to track down a spree-killer before another person dies and they don't actually discover the psycho in the woods until the very last moment. While you all may have thought the necromancy stuff was cheesy, it did tie the serial killer stuff into the fantasy setting really well and explained all the enemies you faced. Said enemies certainly could have tactically been more of a threat though (and against a weaker or slower group, they might have been). Anyway I hope you all had a decent time.

It was a very good time. I like that there were several twists built upon the standard assumptions found in a PFS scenario. Good investigation, more complicated than average motivations, over I would say better written than most. I have also started to find the most PFS scenarios benefit from self-imposed non-nptimal choices (most of the time not just murdering everything works) to increase the challenge of the scenarios, a few deadly ones not withstanding.

Pleasure everyone, great first experience with the Paizo forums. Thank you Qstor.

Nice to play with you again Qstor! Great playing with the rest of you.