An Adventure by Jason Bulmahn
PBP DM'd by DM Doom
Those who are questing...(More information forthcoming)
- Anwyllia: Ranger
- Carrion Hawthorne: Rogue
- Drosk Ironhame: Cleric
- Lianth: Druid
- Senmont Al’bkar: Fighter
- Tymothy Smallwood: Wizard
Those who have come before...
None... yet.
Character Creation/Advancement Rules:
Abilities
Abilities will be 25 point buy system. In addition PC's can bump up one 'odd' ability to an even provided it does not increase said ability score higher than 16.
Hit Points
PC's will gain Max hit points through level three, after that it will follow the following system per Hit Die. Yeah it's static but I find it makes things a little easier. Of course you get to add con modifiers, favored class bonus and any feat/trait modifiers to the mix.
HD HP/lvl
d6 4
d8 5
d10 6
d12 7
Material's Allowed
I'm pretty much keeping things Pathfinder right now. If there are any 3.5 Pathfinder stuff you'd like to use, let me know and we'll see about the conversion of said feats and abilities. Wayfinder material should be run by me first but is likely to be permitted. If you have a character quality that's not in the PRPG pdf please note the source and pagenumber in your character sheet, this goes for character traits as well.
Character Traits
PC's may acquire two traits from the PDF in the downloads section or any of the Pathfinder Companions. Let me know what you're getting and be sure to work it into your character background on some level. If you want more you can buy the feat that's posted within said PDF. Should you find a Wayfinder Character Trait you like, run it by me first.
Experience Advancement
We will be advancing per the medium advancement table. Should I feel the need to advance you faster I'll simply give you more experience points.
Starting Gold
Purchase your equipment as though you had max gold. Once you are finished purchasing your equipment your remaining gold will be as follows based on your class:
Barbarian: 10gp 5sp
Bard: 10gp 5sp
Cleric: 14gp
Druid: 7gp
Fighter: 17gp 5sp
Monk: 3gp 5sp
Paladin: 17gp 5sp
Ranger: 17gp 5sp
Rogue: 14gp
Sorcerer: 7gp
Wizard: 7gp
There are two exceptions:
1. If, after spending your max starting GP, you have less than the above coinage you keep that instead.
2. If you have a trait that lets you start with more gold than usual and your background fits then you keep whatever change you have after buying your starting equipment.
House Rules
Here is where I post house rules. I might even include a brief bit of my reasoning for the house rules, the language may not be nice happy fluffy bunny language, if it offends your senses and you aren't a moderator then that's too bad.
Races
Humans get the Multitalented ability that the Half Elves get.
Why: Quite simply, I thought the humans got the shaft. One of their perks was that they were better at multi classing than everyone else because they were able to pick a favored class. Now everyone can pick a favored class, which is, to me, the humans losing out. So they get the Multitalented ability.
I think I recall someone writing me wondering if they could get the weapon proficiency that was available in the PRPG Beta testing. I figure if someone is willing to give up the Multitalented ability above they can get the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat.
Classes
Clerics get Heavy Armor Proficiency if it fits their deity.
Why: I never liked that change. Pure plain and simple. That said I don't think it makes sense for a Cleric of Nethys to have Full Plate but one of Gorum or Torag seems much more reasonable. Use common sense, if you have questions e-mail me.
Clerics can Turn Undead.
I never liked this change either. Basically Clerics who channel positive energy have the Turn Undead feat for all intents and purposes. If they actually buy the Turn Undead feat then whenever they channel positive energy to damage undead they can turn at the same time.
Feats
Spell Focus and Improved Spell Focus give a +2 bonus.
Why: +1 to a DC of a single school of spells is not worth a feat. I've thrown level equivalent monsters at PC's and they easily beat the DC's that used the 3.0 version of this feat. Personally I think whoever thought it was too powerful didn't know how to DM for spellcasters.
Spells
I thought they went overboard on weakening a lot of the spells out there. Cutting them down by %50 potency when a mere %25 trim would have balanced them out nicely. The result: a lot of spells I feel are far too weak for their levels. These will be adjusted on a case by case basis.
Remove Disease and Neutralize Poison
The caster level check can be substituted with a heal skill check if the heal skill is higher.
Why: I respect the desire to make Poison and Disease more deadly, really I do, but I don't like the idea of a poison or disease grinding my game to a halt. Personally, I thought it could have been an opportunity to make the heal skill more worthwhile, as it stands there's no real reason to pump more than a few points into that skill and call it a day. Now there is.
Encumbrance
I'm not a big stickler for encumbrance. I might peek in occasionally and see if that pack you carried into combat is overstuffed but if it's a few pounds over the weight category it's no big deal. If, however, you're carrying everything and the kitchen sink and you're the wizard with 8 str expect me to apply penalties to your rolls.
Critical Hits
I'm not a full on Grognard, my starting edition was 2nd Ed. AD&D, but back then a crit was a crit and I've carried that well into 3rd edition. I don't, however, want to make this too deadly for those who are not used to my method of doing things so I'll used a trimmed down version of my home game house rule.
A roll of what is normally a "critical threat" results in the following based on your critical damage multiplier.
x2 = Max Damage
x3 = Max Damage x 1.5
x4 = Max Damage x 2
See? Simple, and makes rolling a crit worthwhile, no more wasted natural 20's and you no longer have to worry about confirming a crit only to roll a 1 and do poor damage regardless. Of course if you have sneak attack or some magical ability on your weapon that adds a die of damage you still have to roll it and it doesn't get multiplied but that's normal. Does this mean fights will be deadlier? A little, but I think you'll be fine.
I can't think of much else in the house rule thing. If I update I will post here in the OOC thread then edit and update this post accordingly.
Posting/Combat
Alright, this isn't like my usual PBP site so I have to adjust my standards some. Here's some basic guidelines as well as things I like and dislike as well as things you can expect from me as a DM.
When you post please include any actions you take that have a game mechanic attached to them and post them using BBCode for OOC posts along with relevant information I'm including a crude example below.
Finius waved his hands about and murmured a string of strange syllables in draconic before pointing at the brigand and whereupon a dark mist seems to surround the highwayman displaying unto him his darkest fears
Simple enough right? This goes for other things as well like skill checks. Sure you can assume I understand you're picking the lock if you describe yourself picking the lock or what not but I want to see it written out briefly in OOC.
A few things not to do. Some go without saying but I'd rather spell it out then hear someone say 'but you never mentioned anything about...'
- Don't write blocks of text, paragraphs are your friend!
- Don't write novels, sometimes a situation will allow for a rather large post but in other situations try to let people get a word in edgewise.
- Do not dictate the actions of my NPC's. I'll avoid creative license with you, if I do use creative license with your character, rest assured I'll send you a message or e-mail confirming that I'm not going too far in doing so.
- Don't disrupt the game. Inter-party conflict is fine but I don't want any player vs. player action going on. Should you find your character cannot co-exist with another then e-mail me and we'll find a way to resolve the issue outside of the boards.
Skill Checks
I like there to be a degree of uncertainty in my games, however I don't like to remove all control from players, so I strike a simple balance and swipe one of the few things I liked from 4th Edition: Passive Skill Checks.
Basically it goes like this. Occasionally something is going on that you guys (the PC's) don't know about. Maybe an Assassin is sneaking into position or someone is lying to you. I will have these NPC's roll checks against your Perception or Sense Motive as though you were taking 10. This will not always be the case of course.
Should you wander into an Ally way and roll a perception as you keep an eye out for danger then they'll have to beat that instead. Or if you don't trust that street urchin when he tells you the thief went that-a-way you can make a sense motive check. You can do this in two ways: either post in OOC that you're making a check and I'll roll it myself. Or you can post in OOC and use the BBCode to roll your skill check.
That goes for any skill: you either roll yourself, or declare your skill check ooc and let me do it. Sometimes I'll use my own judgment if you forget or don't think of it. If you're trying to talk your employer into bumping up your reward but you don't post anything about making a skill check then I'll probably roll your diplomacy (or intimidate depending on the method you use IC).
Languages
One thing I'm nervous about is that there's no private message option on these boards. As such many things will require the honor system. Thankfully, one thing that isn't that much of an issue is language so here's how I'll handle that.
Whenever you are hearing someone speaking in a language other than common I'll check everyone's known languages. If someone knows the language being spoken I will post it as a spoiler with something indicating what language it is and those that can read it may look at the spoiler. Those that can't read such and look at the spoiler and then I find metagamed based on such knowledge will receive an XP penalty on the first violation and then get booted from the game on the second. So, you can look at stuff said in languages you do not speak but you cannot act on it unless someone translates. It's an honor system thing.
Also, when posting in a language other than common, do one of two things: either post it as a spoiler identifying the language or post it without a spoiler identifying the language. Whatever your preference is provided you make it clear what language you're speaking in.
Internal dialogue should be italicized.
Knowledge Checks
The results of a knowledge check will be posted as a spoiler. The spoilers will be listed with the name of whoever is permitted to read the information within. Knowledge checks work like skill checks above, you can declare and roll via BBCode or you can have me roll.
Dice Rolling
In case you haven't guessed, dice rolls made by players will be done via BBCode, pure plain and simple. I know some people like to use some website that's out there but I'd rather not deal with that. Any rolls I make will be made in private, think of it as your DM who rolls behind a screen at your table top game and you'll be fine.
Combat
- Combat will start in one of two ways: if it's something the PC's are ready for then I will post that you may roll your initiative accordingly. For surprise rounds I will handle the initiative rolls.
- Just like regular posts: have an in character description of your action and then post the mechanics and die rolls OOC. If you leave it up to me to interpret... well... don't.
- If modifiers or there are any adjustments to your stats and abilities show them and the duration in either an OOC BBCode or better: a spoiler. Just copy and paste it each round. It gives me a quick reference otherwise I might forget that you cast Mage Armor on the previous page and just use whatever I find in your character sheet.
- Post when you can. Don't worry about waiting until player X who rolled a higher initiative goes.
- Sometimes it might behoove you to post a 'if not this then that' element. Something like: If I can't attack enemy A then I'll heal ally B. That way you can post out of initiative order and I have something to work with for the round resolution.
- After everyone has posted for a round I will write up a round resolution. This will take into account the order of initiative and whatever the players did. Should one post conflict with another I'll adjust it logically or per the PC's post. This resolution will also include a mechanics summary in OOC.
Whew, okay, I think I've covered the necessary bases. I know it seems like a lot but, well, I've played PBP with all types and I'd rather have all the above than not. Let me know when you're character is made and ready for me to look at. Send any questions, comments, concerns to dmofpayne at gmail dot com.
Thanks for accepting my character. I feel that this is a game that will run the course
Post as this PC for the dot. For whatever reason, this is my only persona that shows the dots.
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Testing a theory on making your own armor;
Craft (armorsmithing, leather armor, 100 sp value) (DC 12)
Start with 34 sp worth of raw materials
ruin half of raw materials, spend another 17 sp
4 x 12 = 48 sp done, almost halfway
1 x 12 = 60 sp done
no progress, no setback
no progress, no setback
done! In a mere six weeks (o_O), she makes a suit of leather armor, and ends up spending only 5 gp, instead of 10 gp, but then she spent 5 gp on leatherworking tools, so it all comes out in the wash...
But now, the armor for the dog...
Craft (armorsmithing, leather armor, 200 sp value) (DC 12)
Start with 67 sp worth of raw materials
lose half that, spend another 33.5 sp
12 sp in, 188 sp to go
no progress, flirting with disaster
7 x 12 = 96 sp in
wow, 12 x 12 = done!
The dog-barding would have cost 20 gp, but she gets it for 10. If we're using crafting rules. If not, she pays the extra 10 gp and gets back 11 weeks of her life. :)
Character done .
What everyone knows :
Anwyllia is a red headed girl , 16 years old , rather on the small (but wiry) side . When Merrilee , her mother died when she was but 8 , her father Kenalt took her along his hunting trips rather than letting her alone. As Kenalt is something of a work fiend , this mean Anwyllia was only in town about once a week thereafter and so had little time to socialize with the people of her age in town.
As a result , when she came into town , she tended to stay in the fringe of any group listening to the conversations going on .
Possible connections : she is an only child but could easily be the cousin of someone in the group
Several questions or remarks :
Home rules
Multitalented for humans : You are thinkink 3rd edition there . In 2nd the multiclass were mostly non humans . As for humans getting the shaft : by lvl 5, humans are more skilled and have one more feat than any other race .
Critical Hits : I definitely approve your change . But unless I didn't understand what you said, the combats will be less deadly . Aanyone having seen a barbarian orc wielding two handed a great axe with 24 str while raging thus rolling 3d12 + 30 damage will understand my point
Posting
This is a play by mail . you here have my autorization to roll iniative and saves for me as this greatly speed the game along
Now for questions about the setting
* Is there any danger in the wilderness around which could justify Anwyllia taking something else than animal as favorite enemy ?
* do I need to take profession hunter to know how to skin an animal and prepare meat ?
* Could you give us the description of the town and what we know about the crypt ?
Drosk Ironhame, priest of Torag, reporting for duty!
Tymothy Smallwood here. I'll get my character done tonight.
I'll finish off Tymothy within the next 12 hours. Sorry for the delay.
Sorry I have yet to get back to you guys. I'm still adjusting to the new medium for pbp :P Was expecting e-mailed character sheets for some reason. I'll go over them tonight and hopefully have a starting post here either late tonight or sometime tomorrow.
I'm liking what I see so far. I still need to get home before I can really do much more regarding getting the adventure up and running but it seems there are a few people still making mechanical adjustments. I think I saw at least one character sheet that lacked the Combat Maneuver statistics. Anyway, the sooner those character sheets are finalized the sooner we can start.
A little project for the lot of you.
Write a little section in your character sheet that indicates what the other PC's might know of you. Sort of a 'Common Knowledge' considering you're living in a small town but, naturally, don't know everything about everyone else. Doesn't have to be longer than a paragraph really.
Another note:
I'm not sure if Paizo is still doing this but when they first started the Pathfinder line there were effectively two forms of Common. One was Chelaxian and the other Taldan. I kind of came to view this as a difference between American English and Queen's English, both the English language but with rather noticeable differences. I believe Kassen is closer to Cheliax, need to double check, but if you guys want to include that little bit of flavor then specify what form of common you speak in parenthesis in your languages section.
JZ here. So very sorry for getting my character done late. I have yet to do my equipment or spell lists.
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Common Knowledge about Lianth of Mist Lake;
Lianth was sometimes teased for being a 'changeling child,' as she looked nothing like her darker-complexioned woodworker parents, having pale freckled skin, bright blue eyes and red hair. Growing up, she was a loner because of this, and spent more time hanging around the local kennel-man and working with his hounds. In her early teens, she was discovered to have a spark of magic about her, as she stopped the bleeding of an injured animal with just a touch of her hand, and was soon after apprenticed to the 'Witch of Mist Lake,' a crazy old hermit who lived in the woods, near a perpetually foggy pond. She still lives with her parents, but now dresses differently, in crudely-made patchwork leather armor that she appears to have made herself, and is accompanied by a sleek grey wolf with blue eyes like hers.
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“So, you know who that Senmont kid is? You know, the son of that foreign mapmaker who talks funny. No, not that guy, the one that's been apprenticing with Dr. Linswarlow; making drawings of dead people's insides and stuff. Well. He upset one of the elders by drawing his dead wife and then sent the drawings off to be published in some medical journal in Absolom.”
“Oh my gods I know! He was pissed. I think he may try something someday. I wouldn’t want to be in Senmont’s boots”
“No, no, he is well off, but not a snotty rich kid like some of those other scions of the well-to-do around here, and you know who I am talking about.”
“He has been practicing his swordplay as well as his art, so I think he will be able to hold his own on the quest. I heard he is going to run off and do something stupid like join a militia or worse, head to Qadira and enlist. His dad sure fills him with that Qadiran mumbo-jumbo, that’s for sure. The only person who knows for sure is that cute miller's daughter, but even that isn't for sure because her dad won't let her hang out with that boy anymore, since he pissed off the elder you know.”
Greetings everyone,
I have sent you all some background information on Kassen and your mentors. I've tried the blend it with the backgrounds you listed as best as possible, if you have any issues, questions or comments then e-mail me. Otherwise I'll be ready to get things started as soon as all of your characters are done.
DM Doom
Gotcha.
Robin: It should have been e-mailed to the account you sent me your character submission on. I'll resend it as a separate e-mail and see if that changes anything.
Tymothy: Sent you a clarification on the character creation rules.
Robin/Anwyllia: Sent you a little further clarification as well.
Everyone: Let me know when if your character is fully complete and make sure you have a little blurb about what others might know about them. Once I have all that I can start.
Good good. Waiting on the others. Blurbs should be updated for any changes made for the background but that isn't pressing. More concerned about characters being ready to go.
Sorry about the wait.
Any news about Carrion Hawthorne ?
Shot him an e-mail. I've corresponded with him somewhat over gmail, which, by the way, is going to be how I contact you when I need to discuss something private or urgent. If it's an e-mail then rest assured I consider it important.
For those whose characters are incomplete: You have until Saturday evening or afternoon depending on how busy I am on that day. I want to be able to get a starting post in on Sunday which means I want to be able to look over everyone's' character sheet Saturday evening.
Also: Don't forget the blurb.
DM Doom
Tymothy and his family are newcomers in town. His father moved them to Kassen a few years ago to work as blacksmith at Renet's Steel.
Tymothy is an apprentice to the eccentric local mage Holgast, which keeps Tym extremely busy. He rarely has time to play, and consequently doesn't know the other children and young adults of Kassen very well.
Recently there was an explosion at Holgast's tower that left the structure leaning slightly but very noticeably to the south. It's rumored that Tymothy was responsible, and that Holgast is looking for a new apprentice. What is known, though, is that Holgast is sending Tymothy out on the Quest of the Everflame, as a kind of graduation ceremony.
Heard from Carrion, hopefully he'll be done with his character by tonight so I can look over it. I'll be starting late tomorrow regardless.
Common knowledge regarding Drosk Ironhame:
Drosk Ironhame is a young (age 41) dwarf with bright red hair and braided beard. Drosk is the nephew of Braggar Ironhame, the finest smith in Kassen, and is a novice weaponsmith himself. Drosk is also a priest of Torag, like his father before him, and has been serving at the town Temple under the tutelage of Father Prasst. Although young, Drosk takes his vocation and responsibilities as a priest of Torag very seriously, and is very protective of the flock (the people of Kassen) that he has been called to serve.
Drosk is acquainted with Senmont, the young man of Qadiran descent who serves with the town guard and assists the local mortician. Drosk spoke in favor of Senmont's moral character when the young man was caught up in the scandal regarding the mortician's scientific study of anatomy a couple of years ago.
Doom : Checking the characters there is a disturbing trend
Anwyllia : Loner
Lianth : Loner
Senmont : has pissed off a councillor
Drosk : has defended Senmont
Tymothy : Has just destroyed a part of the tower of the town's wizard
Are you sure that the quest for the Everflame is an honor ?
The game has begun.
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/community/gaming/playByPost/dMDoomsCry ptOfTheEverflamePBP&page=1#0
I am posting as my alias. Almost free from work.
As a player of one of my face-to-face games is fond of saying: This is going to be a long trip.
Lianth: Senmont has it correct. When I say 'you all gather in the town square' rest assured I mean that you are all in the town square. Though as I was in a slight rush to get that posted I neglected to add that you were told to travel light. Armor, clothes, weapons, belt pouches that sort of thing. The rest of your equipment, for the quest at least, would be provided (you will still have your starting gear you just won't be bringing all of it with you).
Everyone: If you post in the main PBP thread, do so with your character avatar, if you have something lengthy to say out of character, do so here. I check both threads simultaneously but if it eases your mind feel free to post a small ooc line directing my attention to the ooc thread.
Robin: I use town and village interchangeably 1. to mix up the language a little. 2. because Kassen is small, like a village but walled and fortifed, like a town. Basically it's a flavor thing, my apologies for any confusion.
Further questions? Best get them out before posting begins in serious.
P.S.: Lianth: thanks for the map :-)
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Here is the information about Kassen in the Pathfinder wiki. There isn't much, so I took Nirmathas as my ideas for flavor in Senmont's background.
I'll try and get some more information up soon. I was going to post more in game after you had conversed some. Until then RP what you can. I'll try to get something on Kassen up either tonight or tomorrow.
Alizar is complete, I will update the profile information (basics already posted) in the morning.....long day.
Good to see you here Alizar. Post when you're able.
Profile complete.
Alizar. If you could keep, the general background information in the ooc thread please.
Wilco.
General background info:
Alizar has not left on his usual journey due to his "enlistment" into the quest for the everflame, though he is just as likely to leave even if its requested of him.
He has a taste for fine elven wine, which he has personal stocks, assumed to be garnered from his exploits outside Kassen.
He dresses in simple clothing, and is extremely practical. Usual facial features include a furrowed brow and piercing eyes, as if searching for something.
The one thing that is certain, besides the wine, is his amulet, which he has never been seen without. It is made of fine mithral, what can be seen of it (DM-Is a background thing, heirloom, no practical use, will never willingly surrender).
Additional background information:
I won't be available much this weekend, I'm attending WrestleMania in Phoenix. I can check via phone, but that'll be the extent.
Hey folks. Sorry for going silent. Got injured and lost a job so haven't been in the best mental state. The game is still on and I'll try and get something up soon.