|
No need to spoiler this sort of thing for me, GM. i am in a house with four kids so I kind of expected the odd mistake.
You are right about Improved Trip, I thought that was a freebie of being a wolf shaman but forgot to double check - and that only kicks in at 9th level.
Endurance is a freebie from the ARG half-orc racial trait, Shaman's Apprentice, instead of the Intimidating bonus.
Thanks for the spot on the hide armour. Always thought it was +3, go figure. He is looking for a dragon to slay for his breastplate. One day at a time though.
The Shattered Star doesn't explicitly state you need to be a fighter for Defender of the Society but I'll change that if you like. Not a biggie.
As for the Wolf Cub trait that is the only one I could find that is wolfish and I'd like to keep that one, goblin trait for a half-orc didn't seem a stretch to me. Should have mentioned it up front though - apologies.
Let me know about the traits and I'll make the changes later today.
Cheers
Arknight here....
This is the background for my Magus, the fluff will be forthcoming later this evening as I have no access to Herolab at work (darn RL work commitments... lol)
FW, thank you as well. I overlooked that you selected the Shaman's Apprentice racial trait. No problem there.
You know what, let's go ahead and have him keep the traits he has now. He's sufficiently fighter-y and sufficiently goblin-y to justify both choices.
If you drop the Improved Trip feat and fix the AC, he should be good to go.
Arknight here....
This is the background for my Magus, the fluff will be forthcoming later this evening as I have no access to Herolab at work (darn RL work commitments... lol)
Quit your job and become a full time gamer! :)
FYI all, Angelica is next on my review list.
Looking forward to getting the final specs on Soval, as well as Tiessa's sorcerer(?) later on today.
That leaves...Camris. Is Sir Manfred all ready to go, or did you still have some tweaks to make?
|
|
FW, thank you as well. I overlooked that you selected the Shaman's Apprentice racial trait. No problem there.
You know what, let's go ahead and have him keep the traits he has now. He's sufficiently fighter-y and sufficiently goblin-y to justify both choices.
If you drop the Improved Trip feat and fix the AC, he should be good to go.
Ta. Will do.
I just read a thread including comments by James Jacobs about how underwhelming this AP is for some. How using the Society to start the ball rolling puts some off.
JJ states that greed or perhaps the search for treasure should be used as a prime motivating factor to keep PCs on track. I have never played a greedy PC, not even a rogue. But when I was writing the background for Ulfak, I fixed him as an honourable half-shoanti and that honour is what drives him to succeed.
Food for thought and hopefully comment.
Cheers
P.S. I like to get introductions out the way early. I am a 46 year old house husband and part time maths tutor with two young kids and a beautiful wife. We live in sunny Devon in the UK by the sea. And aside from DnD, I enjoy sport, supporting Liverpool FC and the Green Bay Packers.
About me: I am 38 years old, work as a pharmacist for a large drug chain, live in Northwest Indiana very near to Chicago (and yes, that makes me a fan of the Bulls, the Cubs, and...DA BEARS!! Take that, FW!)
I've had a love for role-playing games, particularly D&D, since discovering a 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual when I was in 3rd grade. I also collect comics, Legos, and play some rpg's and adventure titles on my X-Box 360 when I find time. Oh yeah, I'm also married and the father of 2 kids (boys, ages 5 and 3)...so I don't find the time too often these days.
In the interest of full disclosure, I also will point out that I have a track record of starting pbp games that don't last long (although there are a few exceptions). My sincere hope is that this game will break that track record. I know this was already discussed on the recruitment thread, but I bring it up again in the interest of being completely transparent. My history is being discussed in other threads/PMs, so I want to make sure everyone knows. Thanks.
I just read a thread including comments by James Jacobs about how underwhelming this AP is for some. How using the Society to start the ball rolling puts some off.
JJ states that greed or perhaps the search for treasure should be used as a prime motivating factor to keep PCs on track. I have never played a greedy PC, not even a rogue. But when I was writing the background for Ulfak, I fixed him as an honourable half-shoanti and that honour is what drives him to succeed.
Food for thought and hopefully comment.
I expect I'll be able to respond to this topic once I've had the opportunity to read the opening adventure. In the meantime, I'd like to see what the other players see as their PCs' primary motives for adventuring with the Pathfinder Society.
I expect I'll be able to respond to this topic once I've had the opportunity to read the opening adventure. In the meantime, I'd like to see what the other players see as their PCs' primary motives for adventuring with the Pathfinder Society.I just read a thread including comments by James Jacobs about how underwhelming this AP is for some. How using the Society to start the ball rolling puts some off.
JJ states that greed or perhaps the search for treasure should be used as a prime motivating factor to keep PCs on track. I have never played a greedy PC, not even a rogue. But when I was writing the background for Ulfak, I fixed him as an honourable half-shoanti and that honour is what drives him to succeed.
Food for thought and hopefully comment.
I read how it was suggested that PCs either be already in the Pathfinder society or looking to join. That in mind, I had Pakak save a Pathfinder (via healing) and learn more about them from the fellow. He's intrigued, and looking to join up. Most likely he sees what they do as a natural extension of how Cayden Cailean used to live as a mortal (Taking the jobs he liked, seeking adventure, and doing his own thing without malice and having fun).
Pakak thus sees this as an extension of his faith. That isn't to say he doesn't have hopes and dreams. He has few long term goals, but one of them is to buy his own tavern (perhaps have it double as a temple), hire many attractive ladies to serve drinks and keep him company and spread a little joy to others in doing so.
Sir manfred is 99%the ready. Going to tweak background and maybe the noncampaign trait, otherwise ready to go.-
I think Val is ready. When carrying the backpack, he's carrying 15 lbs more, and moves to Medium Encumbrance.
Well, no subscription shipment today, so no PDF in my downloads (not that I really expected it...but would have been a pleasant surprise).
Perhaps tomorrow?
OK this is it for Sir Manfred.
Aardvark, it looks like you shorted Angelica one known language. Otherwise, she looks like she's ready to go.
Soval is up next, then Sir Manfred.
It says they (changelings) get the primary language of thier host society, but I figured for Magnimar that would be common. So I gave her nothing extra. I'm not well-versed in Golarion, but looking it up, I could give her Varisian?
As for the warning we were given about your track record, it was in the recruitment thread, yet we are all still here. I think it shows we are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. If I got upset every tiime a PbP didn't survive, I wouldn't keep signing up for them. I probably played in almost more that died than you have run that didn't last.
For my part, I currently run 2, and play in 7, not including this one. I also have a TT group every Fri, run RotRL for my wife and kids some Saturdays, work full time and start 3 college classes in a week. If you need any tips, tricks, or questions, or if you just need a little help just let me know and I'll see what I can do in order to keep the campaign going (short of taking over). I imagine some of the other players may be willing to help as well if you just need a little assistance to stay on track.
As for introductions. I am 37, married with two kids (14 and 11), and my youngest is eager to start running a game of his own. *sniff* So proud *sniff* I work full time, but am going to college on my GI bill for an English degree, as I would like to be an English teacher.
On a side note, you sound like someone I used to play WoW with, but for the life of me I can't remember what his and his wife's character's names were.
Aardvark,
Sure, you can go ahead and add Varisian, that seems sensible.
In order to avoid beating the topic to death, I'll simply say thanks for the benefit of the doubt.
And, I assure you I'm not your old WoW companion, because I only played the game for about a day or two on a free trial...not because I didn't like it, but because I realized it had a pretty good chance of taking over my life. I decided to just say no to drugs. ;)
Just a little about me. I'm a programmer for a major retailer, turn 45 in October, am married with 2 kids 15 and 12&11/12ths and am taking an online course or two for my MBA with an IT focus. The oldest talked his mother into trying to play Pathfinder a couple of weeks. Ack, and she actually enjoyed it when I ran it. The time she tried gaming D&D 3E with the gaming group used to play with, she got frustrated because noone, including myself could really explain and help her along as much as she needed. Sine my son is really just learning, he's able to explain and help he better than i can so she's getting into it a bit. :) I can't do a lot other than Hack and slash at the moment, but am planning on running a module (Shore to Sea I think is the name of it, don't have it here at work to be sure.. Lol) which if I read it correctly is more of an investigative/horror adventure which they might enjoy.
I've been gaming since 7th grade, with all kinds of genres. I've tried running a mutants and masterminds game on here, but RL got in the way and haven't revamped it yet...
Looking forward to this game for sure with all the interesting characters and players :)
Arknight, I looked over Val, and he looks great. Ready to roll.
Next up, Sir Manfred!
Alas, no subscription copy of the AP went out to me today.
This is Tiessa. I'm still writing up the background, but here's the stats/numbery bits. I still haven't picked my feat (nothing seems to grab me, all the 'practical' choices look boring), but other than that, it should be complete.
As for me, I'm 37, divorced, mother of one. I'm a software engineer for an Internet company in the Pacific Northwest.
I've been playing D&D and many other games since high school and I've been DM/GMing a weekly game since my second year in college, with only a few short breaks in the middle and a break for the past 2 years as everyone I know decided to have kids all of a sudden.
Angelica's backstory is done. It's a little vanilla, as far as I'm concerned, but it's what the character build spoke to me.
Okay, backstory is in and I realized that in addition to the feat, I actually need to pick a familiar as well.
Also, the only fire cantrip for sorcerers "acts like flint steel to make a spark", whereas all the other elemental cantrips do like 1d3 damage. Not that I want damage from a fire cantrip, but something more impressive than, "a small spark". That's anti-fire discrimination I tell you.
So...goofy Hero Lab question, for those of you who use it:
How do I make armor/weapons Masterwork? Is there some trick to it?
EDIT Never mind, figured it out!
Sir Manfred looks ready to go.
Valtyra is last but not least. :)
(Just realized, we have Soval and Valtyra...are they both going to go by 'Val'? Could be a source of confusion...for me, anyway).
We can go with the full Soval, no biggie :)
Besides, before long I'm sure Angelica will have established annoying nicknames for everyone, much to their chagrin. ;)
EDIT: Also, how do you plan on handling mapping and initiative for PbP's? Everyone does it differently. I know I'm kind of an odd man out when I run mine, just because I do everything in init order, to include updating the map. It does, however, really slow down the game.
Still no PDF today. :(
As for mapping, I'm going to post jpeg images to ImageShack and post the links here. I believe the new AP PDF files have spoiler-free maps for the various locations, so I hope to use those to facilitate easy combat maps.
I will roll Init for any new combat, so we can get right into the action. From there, we'll break you guys out into 'clusters' (PCs whose initiative scores are grouped together without any adversaries interrupting them); for each 'cluster' I'll resolve actions in the order they are posted, rather than the actual numerical initiative order. I think this method should help keep things moving along.
Regarding dice rolls more generally, I will always roll Initiative and sometimes I will roll Perception checks and saves for you, if I think it will avoid a delay. But most of the time, I want you all to roll for yourselves, using the dice function on these boards. I'm even considering pre-posting some dice rolls (results of Knowledge checks for example) hidden by spoiler tags. If you make a check, and hit the target number, you can read the spoiler. Obviously, this will involve extending a certain measure of trust, but I've seen it used in other games.
Oh, and whenever attacking, please do roll damage as well, even if you think you probably missed. Liberal use of skill check rolls is always a good thing too.
Okay, modified to add a hawk familiar and the feat Angelic Blood - I like the follow on feats like wings, skin, etc. :)
Cry Havoc!, in looking at the Aasimar feats in the ARG (love that acronym), the Heavenly Radiance one requires the Daylight racial ability. Since I went with a variant Aasimar sub-race that has a different racial spell ability, would you consider modifying that feat to enable all Aasimars to take it? Especially with the variant racial spell abilities table in the Blood of Angels book that provides a whole host of different spells as possibilities.
I like the idea of adding spell-like abilities (even though most are spells I could just cast as a sorcerer). I like the sub-race I chose for thematic reasons (the fire spell-like ability to go with the general 'fire' theme), but might switch it around now that I discovered this feat (yes, I'm completely the opposite of a min/maxer at times - I sometimes do things because they are 'cool' to me :)
A couple of possibilities:
1) Disallow the exception.
2) Modify the feat to enable any Aasimar to take it. [I'd like this.]
3) Modify the feat to enable any Aasimar to take it and add Daylight (their usual racial spell-like ability) to the list as an additional option for the 3rd level spell choice. [I'd love this.]
Now that I discovered these Aasimar feats I'm digging the entire concept of her slow evolution into a more and more celestial being.
Eek, looking further into the entire light-based and evolution aspects makes me want to change my bloodline away from Draconic and onto something like Starsoul. Since I can get wings that look like Angel wings with a feat (which I like even more than the dragon wings, which was one of the deciding factors in choosing draconic - it'd look pretty weird to have both angel and dragon wings :)
Hmmm, I need to think about this more :)
I'm only this mercurial when creating a character - once we start I'll be behind it 100%, it's just until then I enjoy trying out nifty ideas. Probably a result of being a DM all the time, where I get to try out 'cool' ideas all the time.
A couple of possibilities:
1) Disallow the exception.
2) Modify the feat to enable any Aasimar to take it. [I'd like this.]
3) Modify the feat to enable any Aasimar to take it and add Daylight (their usual racial spell-like ability) to the list as an additional option for the 3rd level spell choice. [I'd love this.]
I'll take number three for the win! I'd be okay with this if that's the direction you ultimately end up going.
Looking forward to this game kicking off. Sounds like a mature group of gamers. Just like at home.
Cheers
Same here! I've been somewhat obsessive about checking my e-mail the last couple of days, in hopes that my download link will arrive. Once it does, we should be able to get rolling very quickly.
Thank you! Once I discovered those feats, I finally found feats that sound *fun* as opposed to going, "Well, if I take spell focus now, I can do spell specialization, and then spell perfection, followed by maximize spell, and, then, when I'm 12th level be able to blow the bejesus out of everything doing 9,000 points of damage a round to everything in sight, but wait, I have to switch to being a half-orc first. I can rework this a bit..."
Blech! No thank you. I dislike feats that are "+x to y", no flavor, but probably better "in the long run for best effectiveness." Especially after poking around the forums looking at other tattooed sorcerers and seeing people min/maxing to a level I've never believed possible. Give me a break, at 15th level doing an AoE for over 200pts of damage and in the same round doing a quickened AoE for over 160pts, multiple times a day. That's no fun. Especially given the contortions required to get there - must be a half-orc, choose a tattooed sorcerer with the cross blooded archetype of brass dragon and I don't remember what else, but only for 1 level, because otherwise you'd actually suffer real penalties instead of all of the goodies , very specific level choices of a couple of other classes and a very precise set of traits and feats, some of which don't make sense, like the one trait that allows a slight bonus to metamagic for one spell, and choosing that spell to be a 5th level spell. Give me a break, a trait that says you are good at a 5th level spell? How is that "inborn"?
I have no problem with designing for effectiveness and making a few choices here and there that make you a bit more effective, you do after all eventually have to fight things and being useless is no fun and no fun for the rest of the party carrying your useless bum throughout every encounter. But give me choices with flavor and I'll prefer to take those everytime, even if they aren't optimal.
Not to completely redesign the character, but I did buy Hero Lab last night (after people referred to it, I don't like the UI, it's ugly, but it's an awesome program) just to test out the other big option and kinda see the progression of the two.
So, my choices are: stay a dragon bloodline, get a few more points of damage on fire spells, try to focus *a lot* on fire spells, a few points of natural armor, and dragon wings at high level. Possibly pick up a few of the Aasimar feats. The big bonus of these wings are that they are dismissible - which may be better since this may be a lot of dungeon delving. But it all doesn't 'hang together' quite as nicely.
Or, take the Starsoul bloodline, which dazzles everything that fails my evocation spells' saves (hurray for tracking endless minutia as a DM :( [sorry Havoc] but has better bloodline spells, gives me the ability to go without breathing instead of the natural armor bonus, and how cool is saying you have a 'star soul'? But then I can take the angel wings feat which I think are thematically niftier, even though they aren't dismissable (which may be a hinderance a lot in dungeons - but most pictures of angel wings show that aren't too big, certainly not big enough to actually scientifically support a man-sized creature flying under its own power). And I can take the other Aasimar feats and it'll all just 'work better', even though it'll do less damage.
The ultimate end would be a golden skinned woman with fire red hair, angel wings, glowing eyes, and holy symbol fingerprints, covered in arcane tattoos and casting spells. She'll certainly stand out in a crowd :) I think Alter self might be a good spell choice for those occasions where a bit of discretion is required :D The progenitor of this Aasimar heritage is a angelic woman with flaming wings, so evolving to look like grandma. Now all I need is a flaming sword :)
Plus the roleplaying potential of the constant, inexorable transformation and having to deal with it would be neat. Imagine the day when she realizes those small bumps on her back that have been growing are actually wings, I don't know about you, but I'd freak out. Granted her skin had already turned golden on her...
I think I've made up my mind, option #2 is cooler, albeit with slightly less damage from fire spells. Now that I have Hero Lab, is there a way for me to send you the character directly? I'll certainly update the profile page as well, but I want to make it convenient for you.
Sorry for the long, rambling post, but in my RL games, we'd all kinda talk out loud about some of our concepts.
Wow! It didn't look like that much text in the little editing box :D To summarize for the ADD amongst us: lots of deliberating over character concept, bemoaning min/maxing, and off-topic side notes. You can safely ignore it :D
I updated Valtyra to the new 'vision' for her - no more changes I promise :D Since the SS traits aren't in HL, I'll tell you I want Alabastor Outcast. I used the HL output function to put it in the standard format I've seen on the boards.
Also, I noticed a bug in HL's output. It states in the bloodline arcana for Starsoul that the dazzling effect lasts for 1 round. The book says 1 round per spell level. I checked the errata, the version in the book is the correct one.
Glad to see you arrived at a decision Tiessa, even if I still don't have my download link for the adventure.
For what it's worth, I thought option #2 was cooler too. :)
I'll check over Valtyra's sheet and let you know if I see any issues...but I probably won't if she was made with Hero Lab.
Yes, I made certain there were no errors or warnings - I found out you can reduce the total number of traits you're allowed by inserting a -1 in the adjustment field :)
Val, looks like the Shattered Star player's guide was added to HL in an update yesterday. Should be able to add your chosen trait now :)
If my subscription copy of Shattered Star part one doesn't ship today, I may just plunk down 13.99 and purchase the PDF anyway. I really want to get this thing started, and don't want to wait until next week to do so. We'll see what happens today.
Ok. I've upgraded my HL. I'm still not sure any of the Shattered Star traits quite suit him. I may forgo that and pick a religious trait or something instead
I downloaded the update and added in it - I need to update the profile online now.
@wolf - yes, since I don't get to play very often - I've been the DM 95% of the time since high school, I tend to way over think the character because I'd like to maximize my enjoyment of each one. Also, since I'm new to the changes that Pathfinder made and the setting, I wanted to have a good idea of my options.
I got home from work tonight to find that my subscription volume has shipped, and my download link for the PDF is active!
Downloading right now, time to get reading. Gameplay thread will go live tomorrow. :D
|
|
Just a quick heads up, Cry Havoc.
I'm travelling home tonight. However the 6pm ferry sailing has been put back five hours so it will be about 4.30am when I reach our house. Consequently I'll try to keep on top of this game start but it may be Sunday evening before my kids let me fully recover.
Cheers
Just a quick heads up, Cry Havoc.
I'm travelling home tonight. However the 6pm ferry sailing has been put back five hours so it will be about 4.30am when I reach our house. Consequently I'll try to keep on top of this game start but it may be Sunday evening before my kids let me fully recover.
Cheers
No problem, thanks for the notice. :)
The gameplay thread is live! :)
Please take the opportunity presented to introduce your characters, and get acquainted a bit.
Good start, French Wolf and Tiessa!
I added a Player Handout section to the Campaign Info tab. The first link there shows the letter of invitation from Sheila Heidmarch. It contains the same text as the italicized portion at the top of the gameplay thread, but it looks nicer.
As the campaign progresses, I intend to post lots of helpful and interesting material to the Campaign Info thread. I'll announce updates here.
The gamesmanship between Angelica and Valtyra brings a smile to my face. Well done!
Oh, boy...Angelica and Sir Manfred. We're going to have ourselves some fun with these two, aren't we? ;)
I sense a budding romance in the works!
ok, maybe not ;)
Thank you. It helps that I'm getting really good back and forth between everyone else. It helps her really come to life for me.