If we have all of these players, why not put out a call for a DM with a ready-made and selected party? I'd much sooner reboot than lose a good group of gamers.
Hate to do it--Carpy was doing a good job--but I think we might have to...it's been over a week since his last post anywhere, let alone this game.
Well i hate that it fell-in so soon into the adventure, but you may be right.
I have already taken the reigns in two other PBP's that fell by the wayside. Unfortunately I don't feel that I can handle another.
if all are in agreement that we want to stick it out, why don't we put out a call next Monday. That will give Carpy the weekend to respond. I think a while back he did say things were getting a bit crazy, which I can totally relate to.
I am good either way.
I also agree. I just hope that he pulls a Gandalf and shows up at the last possible minute.
Sounds good to me.
I am putting out a call.
Fingers crossed - I'm sick and tired of restatting Grent all the time, so I hope this game goes somewhere.
dare to hope, there are two intrerested parties
OK, Heaven's Agent has read through the threads and want's to run it. Haven't heard back from the other interested party. Does anyone have any problems with me telling Heaven's Agent that he can start whenever he'd like?
Do it to it.
Sounds great!
5 out of 6 say Yeah. I think we have a quorum
Hello folks, Heave's Agent checking in. As Chris mentioned, over the last couple of days I've gone over your game up to this point, and am honored that you'll have me as your new GM. Of the APs I'm familiar with, CotCT is by far may favorite, and the depth and attention to detail in your character backgrounds makes me look forward to continuing this game even more.
Here's what you can expect in the immediate future. It's been over a year since I last read CotCT, so it's going to take me a few days to refresh my memory before I jump right back into things, and we finish your fight with Lamm's fur-covered night watchman. This will allow Carpy a few more days to return, as well as give you a chance to ask me any questions you may have. I intend to shift the game back into gear by Sunday, at the very latest.
This will essentially be my first go at running a PbP game, but I'll try to keep things moving at a regular pace with as few interruptions as possible. Now, as I mentioned I've taken the time to go over your characters. I feel I know the party fairly well, but you don't know much of me. Do you have any questions for me? Perhaps house rules or game options you'd like me to consider at this point? I'll always be open to feedback from you, but this is an opportune time to get any concerns or thoughts currently on your mind in the open so we can look into them.
House rules would be good to get on the table. I don't know of any that Carpy was using except that the Sable Company Marines are mostly consisting of Cavalier's and that the Sable Company Marine feat is able to be taken by Cavalier's at 1st level. Derrian had bonded with his hippogryph mount, but it was still young and not strong enough to fly with a rider.
I am unaware of any house rules governing the other characters.
Do you have any house rules you like to play by?
I've played in and run a couple PBP's and I think the idea about you rolling Initiative is a good one. It will help keep things moving. Do we also want to extend that to saving throws in certain situations, to keep things flowing?
PBP's also move a lot slower that tabletop games, so don't feel like you need to familiarize yourself with the entire first arc before starting in. It will most likely take a month or more just to run through Lamm's hideout.
Thanks again for stepping up to the chair. We are looking forward to it.
I can roll both initiative and saves as needed in order to keep things moving. I'll also try to lump all NPCs, friends and foes alike, together on the initiative track. Hopefully this will limit the occasions that player actions are disrupted by non-player actions. Additionally, I'll roll checks that I would normally reserve for making behind a GM screen on my own, thing like Perception checks to note a trap or ambush, or a Sense Motive check if the group doesn't pick up on something the characters might.
I tend to run my games pretty much by the Core Rules, plus the APG; it keeps everyone on the same footing. Feel free, though, to ask if you'd like to utilize options from other Paizo sources, and I'll definitely consider it. I'll maintain things that are already established, such as the Sable Company being comprised primarily of cavaliers, but will try to limit other changes in the setting as we move forward. That said, I will add and/or remove encounters in order to try to try to personalize the AP to your character's backgrounds; in my opinion it's important that a GM avoid invalidating character design choices, but support them.
As for refreshing my memories of the AP, it's simply to remind myself of key occurrences throughout the campaign. An urban campaign can be complex to run, and I don't want to spoil anything too early, nor miss presenting something important at the appropriate time.
That all sounds good to me; seeing as we're all rolling on the same Paizo dice roller, I don't really mind you rolling whenever it's more convenient. Taelreth is entirely Core+APG, so no house rule issues there.
Thanks for stepping up to GM, this is a good group of characters and I'm glad we'll get to continue playing.
A few quick questions. It appears that everyone had initially agreed to a once-per-day minimum posting rate. Is this correct, and if so does anyone now find that too difficult to maintain?
I primarily ask this with regard to combat situations. I find one combat round per day to be a good pace for a PbP, once fighting breaks out. I would never rule that a character would do nothing in the fight, should his or her player not make a reply in a given day, but instead run the character as an NPC for that round. Does anyone have any concerns with this?
Once a day minimum is good for me, I can post multiple times a day unless I go on travel.
That's good for me as well. On occasion, I'll have weekends where I don't get to the computer as much, but I should be clear for the next few.
Alright, I need to bring up something that might not be too popular.
Currently, your character's ability scores are anywhere from 3-5 times greater than what the AP was written for. After spending the afternoon crunching the numbers, seeking advice from more experienced GMs, and checking my schedule, I'm simply not going to have the time needed to adjust every encounter in the campaign so that it remains a challenge for the party. As it stands, I would essentially have to re-write everything in the books.
Would you be willing to recreate your ability scores, based on a 15-point buy? I would allow you the opportunity to change any character choices that were made accordingly.
I understand how easy it is for us to become attached to the characters we create, and if you would rather retain your current scores and seek another GM I understand completely, but I simply don't have the free time to convert the entire AP. What does everyone think?
As one of the more MAD characters, I'm a bit concerned that such a low point buy will cripple this build. I can try, but it's more likely I'd have to rebuild the mechanical side of the character entirely. Would you be willing to consider 20-point buy instead?
The AP was written for an party of average 3.5-edition characters, and a Pathfinder character built on 15 points is already above that level in terms of power. Still, things might balance themselves out if I stick to the medium progression track.
I'd be willing to try running the game with a 20-point buy, with no scores below 7 or above 18 prior to adding racial adjustments. I can't really justify going any higher than this, as I fear the amount of extra work I'd have to put into the game would quickly consume all of my available time, and then some.
As I said before, I understand completely if you would rather not make such a change to your characters at this point. Let me know your thoughts are on this matter.
I completely understand - This is a 6-person party already, so we've got about party-and-a-half on what the books were written for, as well as being Pathfinder instead of DnD. I am ok with downgrading, because I remember specifically thinking "Holy shit, this guy is going to be a tank" during char creation.
*Edit* To really underline that we might be a little overpowered, the fighter has 17 Int.
Yeah, My ranger has 3 18s.
I will edit my profile today and place EDIT: for new 20pt buy changes on all items.
I'll modify to use 20-point buy then.
That wasn't... too painful. :P
Grent Ungol, 20-points and ready for action!
Crux is new and much worse for the trouble, thank you very much. But he is ready to rumble.
Okay, Taelreth is restatted. A few less hit points, lower charisma and dexterity, but overall still intact. Assigning future stat increases is going to be hard...
Done and ready.
Doesn't Grent need Dex 15 for TWF?
Not a problem at all, Agent. I can restat. I will see about doing it this afternoon.
I can usually post once a day. Sometimes I can post more. Weekends is a different story. Some weekends are fine, others I am no where near a PC. I am good about communicating when I will be around and not, though.
Question though. The original Sable Company Marine feat requires L4. I'd like to play the character as a Sable Company, but if you'd rather I take the Feat at L4, I can hold off. Just let me know so I can rebuild.
Doesn't Grent need Dex 15 for TWF?
Yes he does - noticed and changed it on the sidebar but not in the block. Everything's consistent now.
OK Derrian is converted, keeping the Sable Company Marine.
Is Evelyn Clay/Evred still around? I'm not sure he's keeping track of the game threads any more...
If/when Evelyn returns, there will be a spot available for Evred. For the remainder of the current combat I'll run the character as an NPC if needed, utilizing the PFS pregenerated ability scores for Kyra until the character is balanced with the rest of the group. If still absent come the first break in the plot, the character will do his own thing and we'll continue on without him until Evelyn checks in.
Crux If my math is correct, you still have one ability point you can spend; your current abilities only come to 19 points in total.
Derrian You can keep Sable Company Marine. Until you attain level 7, Aditi is mechanically a horse anyway, with a stronger bite than usual. That said, don't forget to assign her skill ranks; she gets two ranks at first level, and a list of animal companion class skills can be found on page 53 of the Core Rulebook. Additionally, what cavalier order does your character belong to?
And we are ready to go. If everyone will make their way to the IC thread, we will continue with your regularly scheduled riverside break-in.
Ready on the left!
Aditi is a horse until 7th level. That's fine with me. Out of curiosity, can she fly without me? I will look into getting her skill ranks and such taken care of, but as it doesn't affect the current situation, don't hold things up on account of that.
Thanks Agent!!!!!
Agent,
Just to clarify, I am rarely online on the weekends. I'll attempt to log in once over the weekend, but it is really difficult to do so. I was out of the house since 7am until 6pm today. If it is critical that I act, I give you permission to act for me.
Now how is you r policy about postin in initiative order? I'm on now and can post, but it isn't my turn. When my turn comes up, I may not be on. I don't want to miss out because I am not at home, but I don't want to hold things up. I can post in a spoiler now, and try to account for the unforseen or hold offf and hope I don't hold things up too much. Your choice.
This goes for everyone: post when you have the chance, and don't feel the need to wait for your tun in the initiative order unless I specifically name characters I need attacks from, such as in surprise rounds.
Generally, other than clarifications, I'm only going to provide one major update a day for combat. My goal will be to incorporate the actions of the entire round into one post. I'll adjust character actions as necessary to accommodate the changing nature of the battlefield, doing my best to retain the perceived intent of the player and altering as little as possible.
Additionally, everyone should feel free to let me know if there's anything you feel I might handle differently. Running a PbP is new to me, and I've still got lots of learning to do.
Chris Yeah, I think it's fair to allow Aditi the ability to fly so long as she's not carrying a load. A young hippogriff has to learn how to fly somehow, and I image as you near level seven, and she near the point that she will be able to bear a rider, the Sable Company's trainers will be working to build up her strength.
I was looking at the map and I don't think I'm (Crux) is in the right location. At least I don't remember going into the office that I'm in.
That would be the east room, the first room everyone explored. I positioned everyone as best I could based on descriptions provided before I took over. You had indicated taking your sunrod in to help explore the area, and then having backed away from the dog upon its arrival. That said, because that placement was based on descriptions, and without the benefit of a proper picture of the area itself, I'll move you into the reception area with most of everyone else if you would prefer.