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I'm looking to start an online Pathfinder game. It'll probably be a published adventure, but all the details can be discussed once we have some people interested.
THIS IS NOT PLAY-BY-POST! PbP is a great way to play, but I just find it too slow. There are a few virtual tabletop programs out there, and I have most of them, but I'd prefer to just use the free Google Docs, along with a voice chat program (like Skype, Ventrillo, etc). I throw up a map or handout when needed, move a few counters around a whiteboard, etc. If there's a lot of interest in a particular program, though, I'm game.
This will be played in real time, but the exact times to be determined based on people's schedules. I'm in Halifax, Nova Scotia (GMT -4) myself, but I'm a shift-worker right now and keep pretty weird hours.
I know there's very little interest on the boards for non-PBP, and especially little for voice chat, but hey! Can't hurt to try, right?
Anyone interested just post in this thread, but don't bother including a full character concept or anything. All I'm looking for here is a willingness to play, and a few hours a week time commitment.
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Okay, so three players is (barely) enough, if we can find a compatible time slot. I'd like to keep looking for more players, though, because some people always seem to drop out.
Are there any times anyone would prefer, or that would be definitely out? For myself, I can't play Saturdays until the evening (my time, obviously), and I'd prefer to play in the evenings on any day, but that's not essential. So, Saturdays before 12 noon GMT are out, and I'd prefer to play after 2200 GMT on any given day, but that's not a big deal. And I don't think I could sustain a game more than once a week.
As for characters, campaigns, etc... We can work that out once we have figured out who's playing, and when.
I would be interested in such a game as well. I'm US Pacific time zone, though, so I may not fit in with everyone's schedule.
I'll be selecting next semester's classes by the end of the week, so should have some specific ideas about my availability for the next several months in short order.
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Currently I am off on Thursdays and Sundays. I start work at 2200 GMT on Mondays ending 0630 on Tuesday and start work at 2030 GMT T, W, F, S ending at 0500.
Good to see there is interest anyway and pleased to meet all of you . Especially a fellow fan of Shelyn darrien :)
I was a big fan of Sune in FR and Lirr in Greyhawk, too.
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A forlorn hope was the name for the first charge of soldiers through a breach in the walls of a besieged city.From your title, will this be a siege type of campaign?"Title"?
Ah! I see! No, I just meant it in the sense of a "mission with little chance of success." At this point, I'm waiting to see who we get in the group and what kind of game we want before picking the campaign.
That said, though, I do have a great idea for an urban-based game in a besieged city...
That works for me.So, how does Sundays around 2200 GMT sound? Earlier? Later?
(That's 10pm London time, 6pm Atlantic, and 4pm Central)
If you guys are still looking for players (central time GMT -6), My brother and i would be interested. We are pretty good with maptools and have a ventrilo (vent)server for D&D use.
waylorndnd (AT) gmail.com
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That works for me.So, how does Sundays around 2200 GMT sound? Earlier? Later?
(That's 10pm London time, 6pm Atlantic, and 4pm Central)
If you guys are still looking for players (central time GMT -6), My brother and i would be interested. We are pretty good with maptools and have a ventrilo (vent)server for D&D use.
waylorndnd (AT) gmail.com
If you're good for 4pm Central on Sundays, then you're in.
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Okay, so moving forward, if 2200Z works for everyone, the next step is deciding what to play.
Right now, I'm toying with a few ideas, but I'd like to hear what everyone's "ideal campaign" would be like. Would you prefer a variety of locations, or one static, but highly detailed setting? Lots of combat, or more dialog and plotting and planning? What kind of game makes you want to keep playing?
THIS IS NOT PLAY-BY-POST! PbP is a great way to play, but I just find it too slow. There are a few virtual tabletop programs out there, and I have most of them, but I'd prefer to just use the free Google Docs, along with a voice chat program (like Skype, Ventrillo, etc). I throw up a map or handout when needed, move a few counters around a whiteboard, etc. If there's a lot of interest in a particular program, though, I'm game.
Are you interested in using some sort of VTT? Maptools works really well. I have not tried things like d20 pro or fantasy grounds, but i would be willing to learn them. I think it adds alot to the "online" gaming exp.
Also i do have access to a 30 slot vent server for chat usage.
I guess my style of game would be more hack & slash. I am just starting to learn actual role playing. I try, but to be honest i have not had the chance to play in a game where people actually role played. I try, but i know im not very good at it. I would like to become better at this aspect of the game. So for now, light to medium role playing with some nice fights would fit where i am as a gamer.
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Sundays are good for me, and I suggest one of the adventures paths.
Adventure paths are good. I'm running Second Darkness, have played Rise of the Rune Lords and one of my best friends is starting Serpent Skull next month. I guess that makes me free for Curse of the Crimson Throne, Legacy of Fire, Council of Thieves and Kingmaker.
As I have been reading the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, I am really interested in an urban besieged city idea. Creates a lot of social situations for role playing with some fighting. Of course, the idea of a mission impossible campaign creates the need for role playing and hack-n-slash, so everyone wins.
To Adrien: I'll lean towards a bard of Shelyn while... I've just had an idea for making a devotee of Calistria. Why not spice things up with a little lust?
Sundays are good for me, and I suggest one of the adventures paths.Adventure paths are good. I'm running Second Darkness, have played Rise of the Rune Lords and one of my best friends is starting Serpent Skull next month. I guess that makes me free for Curse of the Crimson Throne, Legacy of Fire, Council of Thieves and Kingmaker.
Sundays at 4:00pm central are good for me as well. As far as the APs are concerned, of those folks have named thus far the only one I'd be able to play in is Council of Thieves.
There's also the possibility of running some modules, or even adventure content from other sources. That said, I would prefer the game be set in Golarion, if at all possible. I enjoy urban campaigns, but am also fond of frontier/exploration-type adventures. I'm also fond of moderate hack-and-slash, with up to equal parts social encounters; I need more experience with actual role play as well, but I do enjoy it.
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Okay, here are my three campaign ideas. Please post which (if any) of the ideas appeal to you:
- A story set in Whitethrone. The players are outsiders trapped in the city, who have to survive the locals, solve a mystery and get out before the dangers of the city mean their doom. Mostly roleplaying, but with a tense sense of danger and a modicum of vicious, deadly combat, all set within one highly detailed city and its environs.
- A straight-up run at the Council of Thieves AP.
- A picaresque tale across the face of Golarion, travelling to various cities, following the path of an ancient historian as you try to uncover a secret so shocking, even the Pathfinder Society wants it forgotten. Takes place over many fantastic locales, an even mix of combat and roleplay.
As for the technical side, I'd be willing to use Fantasy Grounds, d20 pro or maptools (I own all three), but I'd prefer to use a more "bare bones" approach. I find that most VTTs are too cumbersome to use quickly. Google Docs supplies a virtual whiteboard, which is about the same as a typical real-world battlemat, and with some form of voice chat (Ventrillo is fine) I think it'd be the simplest way to keep the game moving without too many technical hiccups. Still, I'm more than willing to use one of the VTTs if everybody else would prefer one.
I'd favor Council of Thieves, though if others don't want to play an actual AP, both of the other two options sound like they could be a lot of fun; I'm up any of the three. Uriel, if we did run the AP, would you have the time to fit our character backgrounds into the setting, and personalizing the campaign to our group? Provided we give you backgrounds with decent character hooks, of course.
My preferred VTT is Fantasy Grounds, but I know how much work it takes to set up a campaign and make the software's use worthwhile. With that in mind, I'm familiar with MapTools, and have been meaning to give D20 pro a try, but I'd be willing to give narration and simple document sharing a go as well. It'll be similar to how I played when I was first introduced to AD&D.
I don't own any of the programs, so let me know which, if any, I'll need to get. I'm okay with using Google Docs to keep the tech to a bare minimum.
In that case we'll probably want to stick with MapTools or D20 Pro, if we use a VTT; you have to buy the Fantasy Grounds software in order to use it.
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Okay. So it looks like the game is shaking down to be:
Sundays at 4pm Central (6pm Atlantic, 10pm GMT).
Using d20 Pro (with Google Docs as a back-up in case of technical glitches), Ventrilo Chat, and my Whitethrone Camapaign.
A few questions first:
Does anyone have a problem with using Ventrilo? Voice chat is going to be a big part of the game.
Has anyone read Cities of Golarion? I need to know how closely I should keep to the published canon, or how much I should mix up to keep things "fresh".
And what classes (just the classes, for now) does everyone want to play?
Just want to point out for you guys that the Council of Thieves is probably the (or one of the) worst rated APs from Paizo. Supposedly it starts of pretty well, but has a weak finish and is also plagued by mechanical problems, as it is the first AP to use the PFRPG rules - i.e. before the designers were fully familiarized with them like they are now.
I don't speak from personal experience, as I have not played, run or read the Council of Thieves, but that's what I read about it in reviews, so I just thought I would throw this as a fair warning in your direction. :)
Sounds good to me; I've not read Cities of Golarion, and if I do start flipping through the book I'll avoid the section about Whitethrone. I'm also fine with using Ventrillo.
I'm considering a summoner for this game, though I'll also think about a sorcerer. I'd want to fit the character into the setting, so a bit of campaign background and information on the region would be helpful.
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If you have room for one more, I'd be interested in this. I'm thinking a half-orc alchemist.
I do have C of G and have read the Whitethrone section, but I wouldn't hold you to anything in it and am willing to forget what I know :)
I've also read Winter Witch; I wouldn't hold you to anything in that either.
-Stratton
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Okay, Cleric of Shelyn and a Summoner/Sorc so far.
If you do get Cs of G in the future, please skip the Whitethrone section.
I'm going to codify my plans, and I'll post the "Player's Guide" sometime this weekend.
Looking forward to this. I think this will be fun!
I do have C of G and I read all months ago, but as we're outsiders, I'll forego my hankering to play an ice mage.
I am thinking a bard, oracle or witch. I'll need to consult the bones and figure out which one when I get home from work.
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If you have read the Whitethrone chapter it's no biggie. Just try to forget some of the less "player-friendly" bits.
@Reckless: Great, the more the merrier. An alchemist would fit in pretty well with what I've got planned, actually.
@Drayen: Don't give up on the ice mage. You won't be locals, true, but an ice mage need only be connected to Irrisen by birth. You needn't have grown up there.
Again, give me a bit to write up a Players' Guide before you think up too detailed characters. I don't want you to get too far into a character I'm going to have a tough time fitting in...
Again, give me a bit to write up a Players' Guide before you think up too detailed characters. I don't want you to get too far into a character I'm going to have a tough time fitting in...
Must ... stop ... brainstorming ...
Yeah, I don't think I can keep myself from coming up with detailed concepts while we wait. It's not too bad, though; whatever doesn't work for your campaign I'll just use as a character at a later time, or turn into an NPC in one of my own campaigns. This does sound like it's going to be a lot of fun.
It might be a good idea to get a VTT head count, though. How many guest passes do you have, uriel? And how many of us already own a d20Pro license? Unfortunately, I don't have one currently.
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Don't worry about brainstorming, so long as you don't lock yourself down to a character concept that isn't going to fit.
As for d20Pro, I've only got the player license, but I was planning on upgrading, anyways. That'll give me two guest licenses. Does anyone already have a Player's license? Otherwise, it looks like it'll either be a $10 admission fee to this game, or we're back to the basic Google Docs idea.
I should have a Player's Guide for the game ready by tomorrow afternoon. Can I get everyone who's interested in playing to send me an email with your preferred character class to uriel222@yahoo.ca. Note that that's .ca not .com.
Thanks
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Don't worry about brainstorming, so long as you don't lock yourself down to a character concept that isn't going to fit.
As for d20Pro, I've only got the player license, but I was planning on upgrading, anyways. That'll give me two guest licenses. Does anyone already have a Player's license? Otherwise, it looks like it'll either be a $10 admission fee to this game, or we're back to the basic Google Docs idea.
I should have a Player's Guide for the game ready by tomorrow afternoon. Can I get everyone who's interested in playing to send me an email with your preferred character class to uriel222@yahoo.ca. Note that that's .ca not .com.
Thanks
Is the $10 for only this game or for a player's license for the software?
Is the $10 for only this game or for a player's license for the software?
It's the cost for a d20Pro player license.
Nice, it looks like one of my concepts will fit into the campaign perfectly. Ironically, the character will be the son of a previous character I played, a tiefling bard, originally designed for a Council of Thieves PbP that never got off the ground. I later had the bard relocate to the Hold of Belkzen in search of his twin sister, for a campaign that has now ended.
It sounds like it's time for the son to continue the search for his aunt; I'll get a full character concept together for review in short order.
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Since we have a cleric of Shelyn and now a bard, I'll go with an ice mage who was born to one of the previous ruling bloodlines that had moved farther south in Irrisen several generations ago. The character always loved the visiting bards tales of the Frosthall Theatre performances and longed for the day when he could travel to Whitethrone. News of his ability with ice brought the recruiter and now his dreams are being realized.