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I'm looking to begin a new play-by-post using the Pathfinder Beta rules. The adventure, is going to be the exploration of "Dragon's Delve", the megadungeon being constantly added to on dungeonaday.com. This adventure is a dungeon-crawl in the classic sense of the word, meaning that rather then an over-arching purpose of saving the world or some other altruistic goal the characters should likely come into this with the idea of seeking fame, fortune, simply exploring, or some combination of these. Because a lot of this adventure is going to be exploring the depths of this famous dungeon, there is certainly a hack-n-slash feel to the story, though there is a great deal of puzzle solving elements as well and with a town that can quickly come to feel like home due to it being a home base of sorts and many NPCs, both friendly and unfriendly, willing to talk there are a lot of great opportunities for some good RP as well.
If you feel interested in this adventure, I would ask you to read the two links below, written by the designer of the dungeon, Monte Cook. In them he gives an idea of what both players and the DM can expect in a megadungeon, as well as an introduction that gives general and well known information about the dungeon itself that may help you decide just what would make your character wish to explore this place. Once characters are made, I will also be giving each of you a rumor based on your character background that may have encouraged them to risk the dangers of Dragon's Delve.
Lots of Metagame info and character creation
I'm pretty much looking for 5 players at this point, I don't want too many so the advancement doesn't get bogged down, but with 5 you can cover all of your bases without it being necessary that you each play one of the classic 4 archtypes. Because this is a dungeon crawl and traps are pretty regular, having a rogue is strongly recommended, but obviously not required, and I would suggest that the group puts at least a little bit into various knowledges and craft:alchemy as it will make many of the intricate puzzles and piecing together the really well crafted backstory much easier.
The town nearby(mentioned in more detail in the spoiler about the surrounding area below) is very small and poor, so there is no simple 'magic shop', but to keep your spellcaster(s) from feeling they need to spend all their feats on item creation and because the town is frequented by adventurers seeking the dungeon, I have decided to add a merchant there who can set up trades for higher end goods. Getting an item will require payment up front and will take as long for the item to arrive as if it were being crafted. This means if you do have the craft feats you can cut costs in half, but if you do not you can still get your goods by placing an order and either waiting for it to arrive or continuing to adventure without it until it gets there.
As far as posting frequency goes: I'll be on pretty much all day(pst) during the week, my job gives me the freedom to keep the pbp window up while I am working so I will normally be able to respond pretty directly to anyone who posts, which hopefully will help keep things flowing smoothly and prevent the confusion that comes from a backlog posts that all get responded to at once. During the evenings, I'll be able to post once or twice and on the weekends I'll put up two or three posts throughout the day. I obviously don't expect as much from the players, though I greatly encourage chattering and Rping amongst yourselves and putting up any actions that wouldn't require a DM response as as often as you can or want. I would hope the players could put up one post each day as a standard however. There are naturally times when that isn't possible and I totally understand that, but I am looking for those who feel they could average at least a post a day. If for some reason you are going to be unable to post for a couple of days, please let me know and I'll happy to run your character in whatever way you direct(or as I would guess you would).
Finally, I'm going to be setting up a google-docs site that any of the players will have access to. I'll be using its spreadsheet program to lay out the map of the dungeon as you explore it and to help you visualize comabts more easily. Because I'm giving each of you access to it, it should also be a good tool for collabritively creating notes as well, whether its jotting stuff that you think is important down in a text document for everyone to see later, or adding footnotes on the map for different locations so you remember where everything is. I've done this in a small way before, but I suspect it will work out very well for a bigger dungeon crawl.
Surrounding Area General Info
At the center of the Fallen Duchy lie the ruins of Chordille Keep (which itself provides entrance to Dragon's Delve). This ruin offers no intact structures--only vine-grasped piles of stones, overgrown outlines of foundations, and the furtive hint of walls and arches. The entrance to the dungeon itself is little more than an twenty-foot wide open pit with an exposed stone stair that descends into darkness. Various explorers and treasure seekers have left the entrance well-cleared. Likewise, the observant adventurer may notice the remnants of cooking fires and other signs that previous delvers have made camp near this pit.
Chordille Keep rests atop a long, gentle hill known as Bryson's Look. The area grows thick with silver maples, boxelders, and the occasional firethorn. At the north end of Bryson's Look, near the mighty River Turant, lies Brindenford. This small town offers a few amenities to those looking to risk the dangers of Dragon's Delve thanks to its minor importance in trade. Brindenford rests at a major crossing of the Turant for the Queen's Road, upon which travel caravans laden with the spices and salt traveling to the west and those bearing wool and iron goods to the east. Likewise, loggers from the north use the Turant to send wood down to the mills to the south, and Brindenford offers a landing for this process as well.
Currently, the town remains independent, as no authority higher than its lord mayor claims the wilderness in which it carefully nestles. Technically, the entire region falls under the rule of High King Rudik in faraway Kelmanosh, but even his vaunted tax collectors do not venture this far west. With trade once again increasing, however, this may change in the near future.
Brindenford lies approximately two miles from the ruins of Chordille Keep. Most folk of the town know better than to go there, fearing the very real tales of orcs and goblins lurking there, and the more fanciful (but still possibly true) tales of evil spirits and curses that haunt that sad place. Still, one can't spend an evening in the taproom of the Lost Shepherd Inn, chat with the locals in the hiring hall, or sit with the fishermen on the dock as they complain about the loggers without hearing a rumor or legend about the mysteries that lie within Dragon's Delve.
Brindenford (small town):Conventional mayor; AL NG; 800 gp limit; Assets 50,000; Population 1,000; Mixed (80% human, 8% halfling, 7% elf, 4% dwarf, 1% other races).
Authority Figure(s):Lord Mayor Saddana, female human; Erro Mansan (Sheriff).
Important Characters: Iris Gellow, female human (head of the Temple of Vune), Whedon Rasholt, male human (head of the Logging Guild), Vimble Mirhoffal, male halfling (proprietor of Queen's Crafts), Val Donage, female human (owner of the Lost Shepherd), Teigel Fascher, male human (proprietor of Fascher's Supply).
If any of you made it through this incredibly long-winded post and are interested in playing or have any questions feel free to either post here or drop me a line at felixcosima at gmail dot com
I am very interested in playing. And I believe I shall cover playing a rogue, a Tibbit rogue as a matter of fact.
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I'm normally a pretty core rules person, so I do have to assume that this is what I get for opening up the other rulebooks. Stat-wise I have nothing against tibits, they just make my eye twitch a little, so that will be fine with me.
Since they were not a level adjustment by default and their power, while really useful, is hardly game breaking, go ahead and take a +2 on intelligence as well. That will give them the standard +2 to a physical and mental stat and -2 to another stat that the rest of the base classes have.
Do remember that it takes a full round to shift back from cat form, so if you are scouting that way and end up in combat it could be dangerous for you, and since you do have the shapeshifter subtype, you are weak against anything that affects them particularly(shifter bane, favored enemy, ect).
Let me know when you start to get some ideas down for your character and I'll look over it, I'm particularly interested in any backgrounds as I do love a good story.
Have watched dungeonaday for a while (never actually subscribed), but I see they made it to Level 2.
Would like to play a human fighter. Using the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, or just the Beta rules?
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Fighter - Swashbuckling-type character. Lots of knives and a rapier. Has a moustache and beard like Guy Fawkes. Close-quarters combat with some diplomatic skills as well. If in PF Setting, would be from Varisia.
or
Monk - Outcast from her society. Some exotic weapons and some improvised ones when the call arises. In PF, from Tian Xia.
Leaning towards the fighter.
Hello,
I'd be interested in joining the delve as a Dwarf. Either fighter or cleric as need be.
A stoic explorer on a pilgrimage, seeking a lost relic that was heard to have been carried into the depths.
Cheers!
Shriekback
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Both of you sound good to me. I have a certain soft-spot for dex-type fighters, and a dwarf's abilities to tell direction and feel for stone are always of great help in a dungeon.
As for the setting, it is defaulted in its own game world which for ease of translation I would imagine would be the world Ptolus is in, though I was thinking very strongly of placing it in Golarion instead, since I do have a strong preference for that setting. So assuming that no one minds the fact that everything is going to be very non-canon, then that works well for me.
In that case, however, in the description above simply replace the temple of Vune in town with a temple of Abadar, though this temple leans closer to the good aspects of the good then most.
I'm going to do a little skimming this morning to decide exactly where I want to place Dragons Delve, but it will almost certainly be along the inner sea somewhere. Possibly in Cheliax close to the coast.
Alright then, I'll work on the swashbuckler then.
How are we doing stats? Point-buy? Number of points? Starting gold?
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Ok, several things to note. I've decided to place the Dragon's Delve in Taldor, just across the Sellen River from Andoran, up against the swath of forest. Its a small enough town that it is mostly out of view of the royals of Taldor, but as trade picks up along the river, that may well change.
Also, while google docs looks like it would work well for our mapping and collaboration needs, you need a gmail account to access it. I knew that you could send an invite to share documents with anyone, but in testing that, it asks you to log in to gmail before it shows them. So, unless you all already have a gmail account or don't mind making one, that idea may be scrapped and up battle plans in a different fashion.
Character is ready (will work on his background on and off today)
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Looks great to me so far.
Since you are shooting for an obviously very skilled fighter, I wouldn't have an issue if you wanted to take the fighter alternate out of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting. Basically you get to add a handful of skills(which it looks like you took most of anyway) to your skill list and get 4 skillpoints a level instead of 2. But it does require you give up your first level bonus feat, so thats obviously your call.
And I did want to give a big thank you for the knowledges and interaction skills. I was worried that in a dungeon crawl they would fall by the wayside and I was planning a number of things that would make solid use of them. Its good to know that the group is starting off covered to some extent.
Edit: Also, I can't look at your characters name without seeing 'The Merovingian'. Clearly the small amount of time I played The Matrix Online was too much.
I think I will take that academy trained fighter (believe that's what it was called). Will make necessary adjustments to character.
Going for a swashbuckler character, so lots of parley, bouncing around the room, swinging from things, etc. :)
Edit: It was based off the Mendevian crusades, but Mendevian just didn't sound right as a character name.
*Laughing* Wachowski brothers have interfered again...totally basing this guy off of V :P
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Also Thel, I just noticed that your attributes look a bit low. Don't forget, you get a +2 in an attribute of your choice for being human now. So assuming you put that in your dex to give you the 16, you still have 5 points left, or I suppose you could just bump any one of your stats up by 2.
And in doing the math, it looks like your skills are off too. I am guessing that you chose the bonus skill point for favored class, and you get the bonus 1 for being a human. With the Academy Trained Fighter feat and your intelligence bonus, you should have 7 skill points right now(6 if you chose the bonus hit point for favored class instead).
I think what happened was that you build your skills in the 3.5 style and haven't adjusted over for the academy trained fighter feat yet. Remember, you no longer get the x4 skill points at first level, instead cross class skills no longer cost extra and any skill you take which is a class skill for any of your classes gets a +3 bonus.
And speaking of bonus hit points, for first level, I am going to go with the 'racial' method, where depending on your race you get bonus hit points. I tend to bump gnomes up to the standard level though, them having a bonus to con but being considered frail never sat quite right with me. I think I will have to count the tibbit as a frail race though, so just the +4 on bonus HP.
I originally built him at 20 points, so it's a bit off. Working on the rebuild.
Shriekback here,
I went ahead with the cleric - Earth and Protection domains.
Here's my first "draft." I have to add in the spell like abilities, etc, but I really need to prepare dinner.
Let me know what you think, any suggestions or corrections, etc.
How did you want to do Hit Points?
How should I plan on selecting spells?
Later,
SB
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Kolgun looks good so far, his attributes are right on. Just one small question on skills, it looks like you are shorting yourself a rank in each of the ones you have taken. You get 3 skill points a level, +1 if you choose a skill point over a hit point for your favored class. Since you have 4 skills at the moment, I am assuming you took that.
With that in mind, I think your skills should look like this:
Knowledge - Religion +5; 1(Rank) + 3(Trained) + 1(Int)
Sense Motive +7; 1(Rank) + 3(Trained) + 3(Wis)
Spellcraft +5; 1(Rank) + 3(Trained) + 1(Int)
Perception +4; 1(Rank) + 3(Wis)
I would guess that you added the +3 for trained and just left off the 1 rank you actually put into it. The 3 trained bonus stacks on top of it, you just need 1 rank in the skill to get it.
As for hit points, like I mentioned above, I'm going to be doing the racial method. That means you get max for your class at first level, + a con bonus, + a bonus based on your race. The chart is in a sidebar right at the beginning of the class section of the beta, but with who we have so far humans get +6 hit points and dwarves get +8.
Not sure what you mean by preparing spells, do you mean are you going to have some knowledge of what you are up to in order to make your first spell list, or what time of day you prep, or what?
Thanks for catching that. My cpu w/ the spreadsheet is down, and I had to do my calculations in my head!
I'm glad one of us knows what they're doing (and I don't mean me.)
As for the spells, my current DM doesn't like what he calls the "pull down menu" for cleric spells, ie: "Today, I think Detect Evil would be good, so I'll take that one . . ."
Just wondering what your take on it is.
I'll have the rest of this up and fleshed out in a bit.
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Oh, I've got no problem with that. You can pick what time you prep your spells, since there doesn't seem to be a specific time that would be particularly appropriate with Torag(unlike Saranrae where dawn just seems right, or Zon Kuthon being midnight or something), and at that point you can refresh your spell list as you choose. I actually encourage you to do so and enjoy the benefits of picking wisely based what you know about the next areas you plan on exploring.
The only thing I ask for in that department is that if you want to take any spells that aren't in the core rules you check with me first. There are a number of spells out of other sources that I tend to be somewhat iffy on, so I'd rather clear them ahead of time.
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Oh, and I think it got lost in the clutter above. Does everyone have access to a gmail account so we could use google docs? I've found the ability to set up the map on a spreadsheet and let everyone make and share notes on them to be really useful.
If you guys don't have access to it, or don't feel comfortable sharing an email address so I can send you an invitation to it(it doesn't have to be the gmail account), then I'll post up any maps and images that I need to share on something like rapidshare of flickr.
I've laid out the first few rooms, basically what you would see from the stairway in a spreadsheet already, so if any of you are curious as to what it would look like, shoot me an email from the address you want the invitation from to felixcosima at gmail dot com and I will send you over an invitation so you can preview it and make any suggestions.
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Krogarn, that sounds good to me. Just start whiping up your character and let me know if you need any help. Looks like we have the basic 4 pretty down. I was hoping for one more character, but if I don't get word from anyone by the time we are all done getting ready, we could probably move on with this group pretty effectively.
Ok, I believe I am all done.
I'm all set up as well.
Greetings,
If you need another player I'm interested in playing a Half-elf Bard. He would be someone who is interested in collecting information and knowledge of the occult and lost writings. He's come to the Dragon Delve to see what lost knowledge he can find and to collect any interesting artifacts related to the arcane.
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Sounds good to me, Aaron, I was hoping for a fifth. Go ahead and start making your character and I'll put up a discussion thread where we can do all the meet and greet type of stuff. Once everyone has finalized their characters I'll put up the first post to kick things off.
I'm going to go the cliche route and start you all off in a tavern called 'The Lost Shepard', but it makes for a really easy and natural meeting place since of the three taverns in Brindenford that one tends to almost exclusively cater to adventurers and travelers. Most of who are there to scout Dragons Delve, so its a good spot to meet some folks and make sure you don't have to go it alone.
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And your characters look good you too. I think Bengal is 1 short on her acrobatics(should be an 8 with a 10 jumping like her other dex based skills), and I just was looking for that speed modifier on jumps, but apparently you only get the bonus for being faster then 30 feet now, but there isn't a penalty for being slower. Other then that she looks good.
And Krogarn, the rest of Aldrin's stuff looks good, but I think you are just a little bit over on your attributes. Before racial adjustments he would have looked like this:
12 2
14 5
15 7
17 13
10 0
10 2
So thats 4 points over. If you were including your +1 to con for being a transmuter in there already it would still leave you 2 points over. Just adjust that a bit and finish your gear and he should be all set.
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So it looks like we've got a pretty solid group here, all your bases covered in what really is the iconic fashion. Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, Rogue and Bard. I don't know if I've ever ran with a group that actually took the old standard to a T, thats pretty neat for running something that is a bit of a throwback to the older editions.
Also as far as races go you are quite a varied bunch. I'm used to a lot more humans I think. This should work pretty well and be rather fun.
I believe Kolgun is all done . . . .
He'll be waiting at the tavern until the others arrive.
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Ok guys, link to the discussion thread is here.
That should let us pop in and begin chattering. If you want to slip into character and get a feel for your char while we are waiting to officially start, I'll get a description of the inn up shortly, and I'm going to give each of you a rumor you are aware of before you came here, trying to tie them into your background as much as possible. That will be there soon.
Also, the timing on that is find, Kol. As long as everyone can normally get up a post a day, we'll keep chugging along so thats all I was worried about. Real life comes first, so exactly what hours you can get them up isn't so important.
The character looks good, my only request would be to pop the DC for your turn undead in there where you describe what it does. I want to say it would be 10 or 11 for you, but I'm always going to forget and have to look it up otherwise.
Ok, it's up there, I rounded down the 1/2 level the way I've always done.
You may have noticed that I took a point out of Perception and put it into Healing. "Better safe than sorry," from Hammer and Tongs.
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That works for me, I don't mind if you make little adjustments to your characters here or there until we are ready to officially begin. Its one of the benefits of doing a little chatter IC in the discussion thread, you might find that you feel your character has a different personality then you originally pictured and juggle skills some because of that.
Plus, heal is always a good skill to have and I've normally found that if anyone is going to have it, its the cleric.
I'll get to work on my character tonight. I'll post the rest of his information over on the discussion thread.
EDIT: Also, I have a gmail account so putting the documents and maps up there shouldn't be a problem for me accessing them.
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Sounds good, Aaron. If you shoot me an email over to felixcosima at gmail dot com I will share the map out to you.
Also, I'm still hoping for a bit of background on our kitty friend, and if you could give me just a hint at what your character's personality might be like, Aaron, I would appreciate it. I'm trying to dig through what I know of the dungeon so far and match up some rumors for each of you that would give you a good interest in why you might want to go there, and so each of you has a little background of the place that the others might not.
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I was just snooping and the character is looking really good so far Aaron, skills and attributes are right on the money and I have a feeling that detect secret doors is going to be an incredibly useful spell for you guys.
When I had put up this posting, I had really been expecting for people to jump in for a hack-n-slash game and to just get a really bruiser/blaster party, but I'm seeing a lot of characters who are really skill and interaction focused and ready to unearth whatever secrets they can rather then just plowing through from level to level.
I'm really looking forward to this.
Tarlane, I redid the math, and if we are doing 25 point buy, i did it right.
str= (12-2)=10 2pts
dex= (14-0)=14 5pts
con= (14+2)=16 5pts and transmuter specialty is adding to con
int= (17+0)=17 13pts
wis= (10+0)=10 0pts
cha= (10+2)=12 0pts
total points= 25pts
check my math again to be sure, but i'm sure i did it right.
During the week, I probably won't be able to post more than once a day...twice if I get up early enough.
...and I still owe you an updated statblock.
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Hmm, I could have sworn there was another bonus in there somewhere, but I was looking at so many stat-blocks yesterday my eyes might have just been crossing on me.
And no worries about that, Thel. Once a day keeps the story going well enough, I suspect that when we are going round by round that is the most we can hope for, and when we aren't you can chip in whenever you have time. I enjoyed your characters rather moody entrance quite a bit, and I think it will be a good balance to the quirks of the gnome and the perkiness of the tibbit.
Just because I am on yammering all day, I don't expect the rest of you to be as well. Hopefully everyone will have chances to get on and enjoy themselves enough that they want to get on and keep the conversation flowing real smooth, but its a play-by-post, it can move at its own speed.
*laughing*
Kind of hard to be a jerk--'cause I'm not in RL--so just trying to figure him out. ;)
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No worries, he just came across as being particularly moody and more then a bit spoiled, which I think is what you wanted to portray. Works well for me.
And sorry to go with the way cliche tactic of starting out in a tavern and having a wise out man kick things off in a way, but when doing a dungeon crawl like this, a kick back to that old school feel just seemed right.
I loved it :)
btw...updated character sheet...should be good to go now.
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Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed.
I'm afraid I think the skills are still twisted though, with us being level 1, I think you just have 7 ranks to spend(4 for acadamy trained, 1 for intelligence, 1 for human, and 1 for favored class). If I'm reading your skill list right, and the numbers seem to add up that way, you've got more then that.
Are you multiplying somewhere like you would in 3.5, maybe?
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed.
Are you multiplying somewhere like you would in 3.5, maybe?
Pathfinder campaign setting, pg 45. Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4.
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Pathfinder campaign setting, pg 45. Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4.Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed.
Are you multiplying somewhere like you would in 3.5, maybe?
Ahh, yeah, thats where the difference comes in. With the beta, they changed the skill system, so you don't get the x4 anymore at first level. Basically how it works, is that you can only put a number of ranks in a skill equal to your level(rather then your level +3 like in 3.5), but if you put a rank in a skill that is a class skill, then you get a +3 bonus on it.
Basically just like you maxed it out. This means that at 1st level you will be a little thinner on skills because all of them will be maxed out, but because cross class skills don't cost double anymore(you just don't get the +3 on them) and because once you have put one rank in a skill you keep the +3 bonus, even if you never put another rank in it, you will be ahead skillpoint wise very quickly.
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Also, Thel, I wasn't sure with you. Was the gmail thing something you could work with, or would that be an issue? I've gotten emails from everyone but Jayden and you so far, and Jayden said that he had a gmail account so that wasn't an issue. I just wanted to check before I put anything more up in googledocs, in case I should be looking for an alternative.
Skills fixed and updated.
gmail is not an issue, already have an account thiessentom0 at gmail dot com
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Looks good, and there is an email your way with the link to the map in it.
Only thing that is left now that I can tell, is that you are shorting yourself 6 hitpoints(getting the racial bonus from the sidebar at the beginning of classes) and assuming you are chosing fighter as your favored class, you should have either 1 additional skillpoint or hitpoint, your choice.
Map looks good...will have to remember to check that account now...but at least I have a reason to use it now :)
*crosses fingers* I think I'm there with HP, Skills, Feats, etc.
/me waits for confirmation, then has to go sleepy-sleep.