3d image of the beginning stages of Calignis.
I took a little bit of license by making the tower on the outer slopes of the volcano instead of in a cave on the inside.
Excellent! But just remember - on the south-east side of the island you'll see the remains of a dock and some buildings. More on that later - but just something to consider...
Taking the niece pony riding then back home, today. So I'll be out all day and won't be able to read or post on the board until my time tonight.
Barony problem...
So I have a pretty well built council, in as much as i have pretty round bonuses and all my councilmen add a +3 or +4 to the relevant stats.
In my initial barony build, I have a +14 to econ (+2 from buildings, +12 from Council, and no penalties.) as such i have to roll a 18 to make my econ check to generate any BP. I have to get a 19 to pass my loyalty check, and a nat 20 to pass my stability check...
I have yet to allocate my Ruler and Spymaster so that adds a +8 to one of my checks, and i can mess with with taxation, to boost my econ a bit more so that there is a chance that I can pass my check and generate some BP, so there is a little bit that i can do, but it's really hard to pass any of these checks at the moment
The question is: Do you intend for the beginning of the baronies to kinda be on hard-mode for the start?
There's only a 10-15% chance of passing one of the rolls, and either there's a pretty huge risk balancing the other two, or get a somewhat safe bonus on one roll, and have pretty bad chances for the last one too.
What's the other's experiences with these bonuses and stuff? Cause you need to pass that Stability roll, or Unrest jumps up, but you need to pass Econ or else you get no BP to move forward. So what have others people got goin on to be able to advance and not backslide...
Yeah my stability is the same as your econ. I can't pass a loyalty check at all but my econ is good in the sense that I can pass that pretty easily but I won't be able to generate that much BP the way things are now.
I had geared my barony towards magic item creation to boost BP and economy but that is kind of up in the air with how that is working right now. Also I geared it that way for story purposes as it makes sense that a city founded upon magical learning and experimentation would have a thriving magical economy. The economy system as it is written, without help from magic items is VERY hard to generate BP due to the fact that you have to beat the check by so much in order to generate sufficient BP.
The real difficulty with Baronies is that the Base CR is up by +10 - as you notice in the House Rules for Barony's your CR is much higher - as you may have noticed.
This is because it is quite difficult to succeed in Baronies with the standard methods - they are extremely powerful in general - granting you guys a lot of bonuses that aren't available in the book - but of course, those bonuses kick in later.
Bottom line - you probably won't generate much money the standard way. With your Base DC set for 30 - not counting penalties (if any) - your chances are quite slim at succeeding.
However - that is generally okay - the penalties are not as severe as they are in the book. Bottom line is - don't sweat it too badly. Generally there are ways to earn BP to simplify things - but more on that later.
We'll see how things roll - when the need for it comes down - we'll see what happens next. Meantime - things will develop in time.
Good hunting in the caves...
In about two or three days I'll get down to the nitty-gritty and have you roll things up for each month.
It looks like the rules state that if you beat the check, you get 1BP per 5 that you roll. So if you roll a 33 to beat the check, you get 6 BP for the month.
It's not 1BP per 5 you beat the DC by but 1bp per 5 you roll
Book also says you can swap the magic items generated by your town for BP, but the minor item still has to be worth 4000 gp to generate 1 BP, so it's tought to start the magic item economy.
It looks like the rules state that if you beat the check, you get 1BP per 5 that you roll. So if you roll a 33 to beat the check, you get 6 BP for the month.
It's not 1BP per 5 you beat the DC by but 1bp per 5 you roll
Book also says you can swap the magic items generated by your town for BP, but the minor item still has to be worth 4000 gp to generate 1 BP, so it's tought to start the magic item economy.
Indeed - so if your total DC was 35 - and you got exactly 35 - you'd make 7 BP. Good times - sort of - we'll see below...
Second - the magic thing allows you the chance to sell something magical - maybe. You still have to beat the Econ check to confirm if you can sell it; just because you have it doesn't mean you automatically get to sell it - also - it depends on what I generate for your "magic item" thing via the shop. I toss up the roll for your random item - then you can decide to buy it yourself - or sell it.
Third - this is the most frustrating part - perhaps - a BP equals 4,000 GP. However - for the first 3 months - via Fiat of The Council - you'll be taking out 15% of money earned as "Federal Tax" to be paid to Saravale. This means for every 4,000 GP you get (re: 1 BP) - you subtract 600 GP - leaving you with a total of 3,400 GP per BP.
This means if your total BP for the month was 6 - i.e. 24,000 GP - you'd really only be earning 5 - basically a total of 20,400 GP - and the rest is kicked back to Saravale in terms of coin.
Don't worry - that Federal Tax only lasts 3 months - then you can vote on a potential change of taxation again from how much the local Baronies are required to levy for the Nation.
Anyway - off to work - you guys have a great day - and I'll see you soon in the caves!
New map of Saravale. I actually found a real town named Saravale in Romania and I used the same street layout they had there to give it a little bit of real world connection lol. Anyway let me know which buildings you would like to be which and I will put the labels in. I hope you all like it. I am happy to work on maps for anyone else if they would like them for their baronies as well.
do we have one water boarder, or two?
do we have one water boarder, or two?
Sorry we don't use those "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" in this country pal! lol
I didn't know myself so I had the borders just off the screen wherever they are and I can add them in later.
New map of Saravale. I actually found a real town named Saravale in Romania and I used the same street layout they had there to give it a little bit of real world connection lol. Anyway let me know which buildings you would like to be which and I will put the labels in. I hope you all like it. I am happy to work on maps for anyone else if they would like them for their baronies as well.
Excellent work, by the way!
Two answer your question - and allay a concern:
1. You have 2 "theoretical" water borders.
The western side of the town has a river that runs south, right into the swamp. Everything on the western side has that river running by it.
The "southern side" of the town has a very steep cliff that runs right into the swamp itself. If you dam the far side of the cliffs - and let the river flood the valley - you'll have your city flanked by two water areas - the west side - where the river is - and the south side where the lake flooded.
2. Concerning BP?
Arasmes has brought up an interesting point without even asking - namely - earning extra BP!
Yes folks - you guys have a whole lot of hassle to deal with to even break even on BP - but the main reason I set your DC so high (not counting all the other good reasons - like giving you an entire barony to control) - was because I wanted to force you to come up with creative ways to get BP.
You recall you gain extra BP for frequent posts - as well as various unusual quests - (instead of bonus XP - you now get bonus BP) - but you also get little bonuses for "creative concepts".
Generally - this falls under things like writing. But not all! For example - this is the second detailed map Ras has made - which means he's been unknowingly earning a little extra BP and Coin for his people on the side.
He won't have access to these extra BP - neither will any of you - until after the first "year" is completed and you're fairly "ensconced" with what your barony has - and so on. Then those bonuses will hop on and get things cooking. But only after the first year.
Remember: while this all sounds daunting and rather challenging - you guys are looking at it with a glass half-empty way. At the end of the year - you'll have an entire barony to yourself - with pimped out staff the way you want it - and troops and specialty items the way you like it. Sure it may be harder to do awesome things with this quickly - but it's only a little bit of land - it should be hard - it shouldn't outshine your general capital.
In time - things will improve - and at the end of the in-game year - you'll be doing quite well - even if you only succeed 1/4 of the time.
If no one earns 1 single BP do to rolling - who cares? You're still earning extra's with frequent writing - and bonus posts - among other things. By the end of the year - if you fail every single one of your rolls for extra BP - you generate not one BP with taxes - you'll still earn some from posting - and other creative ideas.
So - don't worry - it will be spectacular!
But not as awesome as the Spectacular Spiderman - which I just saw today with my nephew and sister! Whoo ho! Quite amazing indeed!
But that's a tale for another night - and so - good evening.
Updated Saravale with water/swamp borders
Let me know which buildings you want for businesses or residences and i will mark them and build them to your specs.
Dain, I just emailed you all the information pertaining to my barony.
Ok seriously the last update before you give me which buildings you want as what lol.
Looks great!
One point of note, however - while the western "river" is a wide riverbed, the actual river is more shallow to the bottom. This is because it was wider when the valley was flooded. Which is the other point - the valley itself is the southern flank - right now a really steep valley - not actually water, yet - unless you dam up the far end of the cliff walls. Then - you can make it lake and gain bonuses to the port and docks that are in "ruined form" and can be rebuilt soon.
For now - both the valley and the river can't be built on, or traveled on - and that's the important part, though if you want to change it for aesthetics - that would be cool, too :)
That's not water right now it is dense muck and swamp that can't be built on so it's fine how it is for now.
Dislocated my shoulder and/or pulled a rib and can't do much but be in agony. Off to get some medical attention. May not be on the boards today--sorry. Please npc me if necessary. Thanks.
Omg I hope you feel better! Let us know how you're doing when you can.
i'm sorry! fell better =]
Dislocated my shoulder and/or pulled a rib and can't do much but be in agony. Off to get some medical attention. May not be on the boards today--sorry. Please npc me if necessary. Thanks.
I am very sorry - feel good soon :(
Thank you, Ras, Waiph and Dain. I have been popped back in and on pain meds and rest.
Quick Questions for all:
We essentially have 2 quests going here – the primary quest that you’re on to rule the nation – and a secondary quest with the SID board.
To be honest – I don’t see much posting on that board – most of the stuff you’ll get there will help you out a lot in the primary board, because unlike the primary board when I make you solve a lot of riddles/puzzles on your own – the SID board gets it done typically with knowledge checks and basic rolls that go right from the book on how things get done.
In short – you could really help your primary quest a lot if you used the board. But I’m not clear how interested people are in thread – so I’m just asking now – do you guys still want to use it? Do only some of you want to use it, and the others not really? Let me know that especially – because I want to utilize that board to help you a lot, and when I ask for basic stuff on that thread (like how I’m doing Diplomacy Checks/via Gather Information – or where to post something via a Dossier) – it feels like that the majority of you aren’t reading those directions, or – if you are – that you are ignoring them.
Not all of you – and not all the time – but it has happened enough that I want to know if you want that board to continue – or if you are overwhelmed by this.
Second Question:
The momentum in general has slowed down a lot. I know that I am largely to blame for the pacing, because I’ve been slack lately – but I was hoping that we could see a little more action from everyone.
Not trying to tell anyone what to do - but you’ve got quite a bit of unusual information in the Spider Cave – and other then trying to smash stuff – there seems to be little effort to solve these oddities. While I have gotten some good knowledge checks from Isani/Lia and earlier from Ras – I have heard little from the rest of you. This was meant to be a combat – but it has turned into a very slow dungeon crawl.
Do you need something to help pick up the pace? Would a Skype battle be faster/more efficient? What can we do to make things work better so we can all have a better time playing? I think everyone will post more if they are genuinely interested in the game – as it is – there seems to be little interest. What would interest you?
Final note:
There is a bit of trepidation I’m sensing for the baronies and the BP – don’t sweat it!
I’m going to make a slight modification for your baronies the first year – and possibly the kingdom as a whole – to get the ball rolling.
Basically – you roll your first month’s economy; put that success or failure aside.
The same month your roll your stability and loyalty – if you succeed on each – no worries. If you fail, all that happens is your Economy DC is penalized for the next month by 1 point, for each failure (be it Loyalty or Stability – 2 for both). If you fail either by 5 or more – you are penalized 2 points each, and so on (10 or more is 3 points added to your Economy DC next month).
HOWEVER – if you beat the DC for Loyalty or Stability – nothing happens. But if you beat the DC by 5 – you lower the DC of your Economy by 1. For every additional 5 you beat the DC - your Economy DC goes down by 1 point for next month.
That’s all – no chance of revolt in first year for baronies – no stress – no worries. Worst case scenario is at the end of the whole year you have almost no extra BP to play with all year, because you rolled terribly for every month. But – if you succeed – then you’ll have lots of BP to play with each month, with no chance of revolt or destruction.
But even if you gain no BP for the whole year because of bad rolls – that will change – because at the end of a “year” in game, you’ll all be getting extra BP as a bonus at the END of the year to dump onto your city at the last month for free.
Generally bonus’s come in the form of participation. You gain bonuses for frequency of posting. As of now – I’m starting to keep track again for extra BP that will kick in at the last month. But there are other ways – for example – Ras got some extra BP (he has no idea how much) for his cool 3d Map he did. There are other ways you can get it – but creative additions to the game facilitate this.
What does everyone think of that strategy, by the way? It is also not set in stone – but if you like it, we can have some fun with it – and use it for your kingdom, too.
Please let me know what you think of these statements and questions. Thank you!
Typically you don't have to roll Loyalty checks unless something goes wrong, like an event or drought or invasion or something like that. The only other time is if you are making a withdrawal from the treasury.
The only two rolls you normally do every month are stability and economy unless this change supersedes that.
As far as the rest goes, I guess I am just having a little difficulty getting into the SID quest. It's nothing you are doing wrong. I'm not sure what it is from my perspective.
As far as the rest goes, I guess I am just having a little difficulty getting into the SID quest. It's nothing you are doing wrong. I'm not sure what it is from my perspective.
Sounds good - then in that case, no worries about doing the thing with loyalty.
Also - for the SID - for now there isn't much to get into. It it's really about you guys setting the stage. That's enough to tell me what's wrong.
I've GM'd enough to know that completely sandbox worlds don't work well for players - you guys need structure and direction to keep the course directed. Same issue with the main thread, I guess.
On both sides of the fence there's a lot of "Okay - now what?"
But you guys at least deserve a little more direction from me.
I'll be a little more pro-active with that soon, just waiting to see if anyone else is going to check in first - Look for something regarding that later tonight!
Sounds good! :-)
I personally enjoy the SID thread and would like to continue it -- it would be good to have one designated place to find and put down the answers to the puzzles/mysteries we have to solve.
I think your strategy for the new baronies is good and will take some of the pressure off the foundling provinces. So, thank you.
I personally enjoy the SID thread and would like to continue it -- it would be good to have one designated place to find and put down the answers to the puzzles/mysteries we have to solve.
I think your strategy for the new baronies is good and will take some of the pressure off the foundling provinces. So, thank you.
No worries.
Yay, Ariarh!
On the road today, but I'll try post tonight
I'm interested in the SID and continuing the misadventures of Euwag, but I'm just a little unsure of how to do that with him. He didn't seem particularly helpful to me in that last case, although it was fun introducing him and playing him.
I do like him and am interested in the thread, as I said, I guess I'm just a bit lost.
Actually i just looked back, and somehow i missed the question about how Euwag was going to interrogate...gah. my brain isn't working right. I'll try to catch up and get back into things. sorry all.
yup, daed to the world tonight, driving all day, but i'll be on tomorrow to post.
I like the sid board, jsut this weekend went out of town on a road trip so been off- line... so as long as the party don't movve on too far w/o me i'll be able to post stuff
Sounds good - hoping to see some follow up soon.
Okay – I know it’s the Combat Thread – and there is supposed to be action, and less RP. But one post a day is kind of wearing me down. You don't have to do more then that on the Combat Thread, though, for now, as you are waiting to react. I understand that - in fact, one of the reasons you have the SID board is to allow you to do social RP when your other character is potentially doing the combat thread.
That's one of the reasons the SID board is there - to see social RP, but I don't see it happen from everyone. There is very little interaction with all of the characters, someone talks to one character, and the other character does not answer. It's annoying and frustrating for me to read - and probably frustrating for the person asking questions in game to other players who don't bother posting there, but seem to have the time to post other places.
Now, not everyone has the time to post at all. I understand that - and if other circumstances pop up in which a person can’t post on both boards at least once a day – please at least just tell us you'll be gone for a certain amount of time so people don't bother trying to social RP with your character if you're not going to be around to run them. That's just courtesy and something I want to see more of. We can all use a text message on the road to say "can't post today - I will be on the board again in X time" - or whatever.
The SID board counts; there may not be much formally "going on" but you could all be doing social RP there with your new characters – but, if doing social RP on the SID board is just not your thing, or if you don't like your new character, or whatever – let me know that formally with either a private message or email, and I’ll remove your character or we can make changes.
If you can’t do social RP on the SID board for just for a while because life is busy for some reason, but want to continue posting there in the future – let me know that too and I’ll take you “off the case”, as it were – and put you “back at the station” and your character can jump in later for a chance to help out later on another quest. I want to see people interact with each other - they can't do that when they say something to a character, and the character doesn't respond to them.
Also, be open, be upfront and tell me honestly what you guys want in terms of frequency. There was a time when I would see (no joke) over 30 posts a day from less then 5 players. That’s a lot – and I’m not saying it has to be that – but once a day posts (or less) just aren't what I'm looking for.
I'm going to be honest with you guys - I want more then one or two posts a day. This game is hard work, and if I keep going with this, I have to get what I want, too. I want social RP with you all - I want to see you guys interact with each other, and I want to believe you guys are working on bringing me into YOUR story.
If that's not the case - let me know that, too.
Meanwhile – if the SID board is not your bag, tell me now and I’ll drop you from it, because I know that it may not be a "genre" that you're really interested in.
If you want to do the SID board, but just not right now, tell me and I’ll take you “off the case”, put you back at the station and let you do your thing later.
If the combat board has little in the way of social RP – then please use the SID board for social RP and do it there.
Don’t mean to sound harsh – but I know what I like, and that’s writing stories and reading stories. That’s the main criteria here – if that isn’t happening, than there is little reason to keep this board going.
Okay, again – everyone has stuff going on, I’m not singling anyone out – I just would like to know for my own edification where everyone stands on the issues so I know what to do.
If someone asks your character a question - answer them, even if it is to say "OOC - my character refuses to answer" - so at least we all know you bothered to read the thing. If that's not your bag - then it's probably not going to work, I just need to know what's going on.
Thanks for your help!
I think I am going to drop from the SID thread. I thought I would get into it but it's just not really doing it for me so go ahead and drop me from that so I don't drag it down. I am still fully committed to the other threads.
I think I am going to drop from the SID thread. I thought I would get into it but it's just not really doing it for me so go ahead and drop me from that so I don't drag it down. I am still fully committed to the other threads.
Okay - and thank you for your candor.
By the way - did you want to be dropped altogether - or put "on the shelf" in case you change your mind. Either way works - just let me know.
Go ahead and put me on the shelf...i'll pretty up the room. ;)
as much as i'd like to do the sid, and i like Euwag, i think he should go on the shelf for now too. just focusing on one character right now is better i think.
Okay - you guys are on "the shelf" and for now I have the other two in play. At least - I presume so.
Cool, thank you for letting me know.
Hello guys,
I'm really not up to combat, today. So please feel free to NPC me. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but yes ... I just don't have it in me today.
News
Well, here's the thing, everyone.
I think that I will either need to shut the game down or do some kind of hiatus and figure out what I need to do.
I am running into way too many complications on this thing for it to be fun for me anymore. Most specifically a seemingly general disinterest from players.
I'll let you guys know what is going on when I figure it out. Meanwhile - I appreciate the fact that you guys have decided to tell me if you wanted to do the SID board or not; that helped me decide what I want to do with that.
For now, though - if anyone out there has any thoughts or suggestions please let me know, and I'll consider them. But to be blunt, I've seen recruitment threads with more energy then this game, and I have to ask myself - is it worth it?
In any case, I'll let you guys know what's going on when I figure it out. If you have any suggestions, I would appreciate them, I will probably check the board from time to time to see if there are any suggestions, but personally I don't believe I will be posting until I decide what I want to do.
When I know more what I want to do, I'll likely send you an email with details.
Anyway - I should add that it was fun playing the game - I enjoyed it while it lasted, and I may keep going, I just need to decide things.
Just adding my two cents: I would hate to see the game shut down but I think a hiatus may help. Speaking only for myself, I am a little rundown energy wise and it's been hard to get into any kind of combat. I love social rp -- that's my thing -- and not combat so much -- and so I'm not having so much fun in game at the moment and wanting to take a break and come back refreshed and with renewed creativity.
I think i've had trouble with expectations of power-level. We get some pretty huge bonuses liek a pre-built city, which is really cool, and new penalties that are really harsh, so things are complicated.
And combats are nightmares. The characters are tough, but the encounters are REALLY tough as a rule. To deal with that i know i need to stretch my characters to the absolute limit to avoid dying, so we get tougher encounters, till we get a party of two level 5's and 3 level 7's totalling a APL of 6or7 and a CR 11 monster, TONS of minions and huge saves we need to make, and it's more hassle than fun, least for me.
I don't know about the rest, but there's moments of feeling like it's really hard to do anything right. That's why i don't always post in social sometimes, cause it feels liek i have to weigh every consequence and have to act just right, but even then i feel like there's still negative consequences. My characters piss people off, never make the right decision, so I don't always post when there's something important...
I guess i'm stressed out. But i'm out of town for a week anyway, so I wouldn't be around anyway for a while.
But i really don't want to see the game die. It's been fun, just got to de stress
i have been enjoying the game, but admittedly have been distracted by other things going on in my life. i don't want it to die either, but maybe some time away from it will help everyone appreciate it more and come back to it invigorated...but again, i'm the new guy, so take that as you will.
I'm probably in the same boat as Waiph as far as power level. It's actually one of the reasons why I am running an Adventure Path with a 20 point buy that way the balancing for the most part is done and all I have to do is tweak for number of players. Running a creature with a CR of 11 vs an average part of 6-7 wouldn't be the end of the world but some of the abilities this particular creature had were to a point where a single hit and it is game over for us. If Arasmes got swallowed he'd have no way out. That coupled with the things INSANE swim speed and it was a recipe for disaster.
For me, I don't want the game to end either. A hiatus if that is what is needed would definitely be better than getting rid of the game altogether.
Have you decided what you will do with this game, GM? I'm kind of missing it. ;)
I believe I may be starting it up again soon - but I am pretty stressed lately - and I don't know what is going to happen next.
I will, however, get back to this question as soon as possible.
I haven't forgotten the game, either.
Even if it's an aside social rp in our own province page until your stress abates ... I'd be in for that.
I have several thoughts on that which I think I may put into play soon - maybe this weekend, actually.
But we shall see... Okay got to go; look for something soon, though.
Thanks, Dain. Will keep an eye out.