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So, Can You Make This Game Better Than It Is?

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You see, a while ago, there was this game, called “Blast from the Past” started by another Game Master.

Blast From The Past - Recruitment

(since taking over as GM, I have changed the name of the Campaign, thanks Paizo!, to Hysteresis Loops - The Gion Cover Up)

Well, started is a bit of an overstatement. That game hardly got going at all before the GM mysteriously vanished (let’s hope all is well with him or her).

The players who were recruited for this game felt that contained within the material they were given was the seed of something potentially, well, good, I suppose, and they asked for someone to step in and take over the game.

And I volunteered. Unfortunately, one or two of those players seemed to feel that with the new direction the game would take, their interest had waned.

But, two of the players remained, and I felt that I should do my best to try and give them an adventure they could enjoy (not sure I’m hitting that mark, yet).

I’m looking for new players.

Here is what you would be up against if you thought it would be interesting to join this game.

The original GM decided to set the game in the Golarion Campaign setting, in the city of Absolom.

(I am not at all familiar with the setting, or the city, but I’m winging it the best I can)

The original GM seemed to suggest that Time Travel would be a significant aspect of the campaign

(I took this hint, and ran with it, so to speak)

The original GM seemed to imply that the adventure would involve exploring/discovering/interacting with, the lost empire of Azlant

(Again, not familiar with it, and will probably skew this in ways that do not make any sense to people who are familiar with it, but I’m going to keep insisting that it is Azlant, no matter how off it might be, so, yeah, there.)

Currently, I have an NPC rogue, who has led the party, two current player characters, a Wizard and a Fighter, into a catacomb below a cathedral in the city of Absolom, where they have discovered some strange device that may have an influence on space and time.

What I’m hoping to see are two to four new players willing to work with me in joining this game as fist level characters, created under the guidelines of the original recruitment thread, and who will be tolerant of my poor understanding of exactly how things are “supposed to be” in Golarion and Azlant.

I really would like a PC rogue to be a part of this adventure (I see it as being trap/trick heavy) but otherwise I am not firm on any other class/race choices.

So is anyone interested in finding out if they can make this game even better than it is?

Finally, I must point out that as I was not the creator of this game, it is likely that I will be asking for concurrence from the existing players on the final choice for who will be asked to join this game.

I know little about Golarion, Azlant, and the like. So you won't get any flak from me~

From the looks of the original thread, every character needs to follow a "theme". Will you still be going along with that? And if so, what themes are already taken?

Originally, other players filled those theme roles, and I never was given enough information about how those themes were meant to be factors in the game

So, unless you see a theme that is very interesting to you, and you want to create a character with that theme as a starting point, you will not be expected to follow the theme concept as presented in the original recruitment thread.

I am interested, though I've never done a PbP before. I'd be willing to fill in whatever role is needed really. What to do next? come up with a character concept and post it?

Thanks, yes that sounds like a good idea, and perhaps take a moment to familiarize yourself with the game, if you can.

I've read that linked thread and some of the helpful intro to PbP posts. I do play PF with a group so I'm familiar in that way.

So far I am thinking of an urban ranger, to provide trapfinding, though I'm not sure about melee vs ranged, also not sure about race and who this guy might actually be.

Any limitation on races?

edit: could consider an actual rogue if you think trapfinding is necessary from level 1 instead of waiting until 3.

Why not a Trapper Ranger? You won't get Trapfinding, but you get a nice bonus to disabling traps.

Anyway, I started on a Rogue but found myself really wishing that he could wield firearms. So I think I'll be going for a Gunslinger. Are Gunslingers okay?

utsutsu - I won't put any race restrictions on characters, but please, be gentle, I'm not up to speed with a lot of this Golarion stuff. I'm more of a traditionalist and Homebrew kind of guy.

CCCXLI - hey now, wait a minute have you been reading a lot of recently moved threads? No, just kidding, I've never dealt with a gunslinger before, but if you can see the character as a part of the game, I'm just going to have to tell myself to do a lot of homework.

Any idea what sort of level this might run to?

The trapper ranger is a possiblity, though I don't much care for their trap making abilities. I do really like ranger archetypes that ditch spell casting though.

Well, I'll be honest. I've only been doing this PBP stuff a short time myself, and it's very possible that I don't understand how it is supposed to work.

Basically, so far, the games I have run have moved slowly, and only one game has had characters that have leveled, to level 2, wow, yes, all the way to 2! But I don’t anticipate there being any reason to stop the game soon and maybe I can level these characters a little faster.

How high a level will that be?

I do not have a clue.

Alright, I think I got it.

After reading through the gameplay I see that the party is going to encounter some goblins soon. What if I played a Gunslinger Goblin? He could be a member of the goblins in the next room, either late to the fight or fiddling with his gun on a high ledge. By the time he arrives to the fighting, the other goblins are dead and he promptly surrenders.

If it works then, I've decided on a half-orc ranger, with trapper and infiltrator archetypes. He'll be a hunter and dungeoneer (for profit).

He could be in these catacombs now, perhaps hunting goblins or other nasties, or maybe looking for other spoils. I figure he could fill the "treasure hunter" role in the original recruitment thread if you still wanted to go with that. Would definitely be interested on input as to my favored enemy, but I have a few options in mind. If this is all sounding good I can work up the rest of the fluff but I figured you might want some input in how exactly to introduce and integrate. He would be very comfortable and adept in their current environment so maybe the party recognizes his skill set would be valuable? Just an initial thought, I'm open to whatever. I have a good handle on the crunchy bits, just finishing that up now.

CCCXLII - I think the idea of a Goblin Gunslinger is kind of interesting, but I worry that if the character is introduced in a conflict situation, surrendering, it puts a burden on the party trust aspect that is difficult to overcome. Maybe there is a better way to bring that kind of character in.

utsutsu - This sounds like a good character concept, probably in the catacombs below the cathedral looking for clues and information about where certain other treasures could be found (the folks upstairs, in the cathedral, would not appreciate people visiting the catacombs to take things from the dead, so keep that in mind, but examining the dead, looking for clues to ancient treasure, AKA Indiana Jones, would be alright, and there aren’t supposed to be any dangerous creatures of any kind in the catacombs, so the presence of the goblins, right now, is sort of a mystery).

Looking at the way these two character concepts are being developed, I am thinking the Goblins that are about to be encountered, could turn out to be something very different from what normal Goblins are expected to be.

CCCXLII here! Here's what I have so far~ Appearance and backstory will be next, once we get the background sorted out.

So instead of being a surrendered enemy. Perhaps he could be a partner of the Half-Orc? And if not, maybe a member of an enemy clan of the catacomb goblins, riding in on his Goblin Dog guns blazing. Y'know, an enemy of my enemy is my friend type of deal.

That's a fine character. In the original recruitment thread there was no prohibition against “dump stats” and even though I abhor them, I am not going to make it an issue, now. However, I do have some questions about how you managed to start with the gear you have listed (Isn’t a Musket a 1,500 gold piece weapon?). If there is something I don’t know about it, please help me understand how you can start with the gear you have listed.

Otherwise, I think the idea of this character and the Half-orc being a working team is very interesting, and a rival, “these are the goblins that aren’t as bad as the other goblins” , background works for me (I don’t know how it works in Absolom, but let’s run with it.)

All Gunslingers start out with either a Pistol, Blunderbuss, or Musket, as per the Gunsmith class ability. Technically, it's supposed to be a Battered Musket, meaning it functions as Broken for anyone else who wields it. I've edited it now.

As for the stats, I knew I wanted three things; a Int of 12 (for Common language, as none of the party members epak Goblin), a Wis of 14 (needed for Grit), and a very high Dex (which is at 17+4, for ranged attacks). Unfortunately, this meant losing a bit of Str (8-2), Con (9), and Cha (8-2), two of which are at a -2 penalty for Goblins. This means he's agile, dextrous, and even a little more keen and intelligent than the other Goblins, but he's also shorter and weaker than the average Goblin, and not to mention ugllier and more brutish

I'm open to integrating the backstories like that. I believe I'll actually be going with trapper and guide archetypes now. I'm working on creating an alias with what I have so far... will post from it later today I think.

The two look great, and should be a nice addition to the game

I hope I can get some input from the current Players.

Also, there is, possibly, room for one or two more.

Hi, I'd be interested in joining. Like Utsutsu, I don't have any experience in PbP, but I do have some decent experience with Pathfinder.

Looks to me that what's needed is a healer - how about a Dwarven Cleric? Seems like could provide some good opportunity for RP with a goblin and half-orc in the party.

Let me put some thought, and I'll post up a possible background.

Kudzu Rockfollower - LG Dwarven Cleric of Torag

Female priestess in a clergy dominated by males, thus eager to prove herself - but slow to trust.With that in mind, she voyaged into the catacombs herself to test her abilities. There she ran into a troupe of goblins which was a bit too much for her to handle.

Perhaps when the party encounters the goblins, I would already be in combat with them? Start off down some hps, calling for help?

I did a little bit of editing on the sheet, mainly filling out the favored class bonus and sorting out the equipment (making the buckler and things small, for example).

So from the looks of things, we have all the bases covered. Can't wait to see how the Ranger and Cleric turn out.

utsutsu wrote:
I'm open to integrating the backstories like that. I believe I'll actually be going with trapper and guide archetypes now. I'm working on creating an alias with what I have so far... will post from it later today I think.

In that case, I'll let you write up your history first. Then we can talk about how to include each other.

Wanted to make sure the GM was ok with the concept before statting up the character. Or should I go ahead and put her together?

So can I make a suggestion? I've already established that in the cathedral, above, there is a woman who is the sister of an important NPC (Refan, whom Ryko believes is dead.)

What if Kudzu was sent down into the catacombs, by one of the clergy above (who are all mostly men and relegate all of the “menial” duties around the cathedral to the women) to simply make certain that all of the people who have gone down there today (Ryko, Surana, and Krevek in one group, A Half-orc and a Goblin, in another group) are behaving themselves and not disrespecting the entered. Remember, the cathedral above does not suspect that there is even a possibility of there being dangerous goblins below.

That's valid - sounds a great idea. I'll be Grandmaw, making sure the children behave ;)

I'd recommend anyone interested go ahead and read through the Gameplay thread thus far.

It wouldn't make sense for the goblins to be in combat (since they've been seen at this same time before), and there's nothing with which to "test one's abilities" in the catacombs (at least as far as anyone on the surface is aware).

Edit: Double-ninja'd! The "behaving themselves" quest sounds plausible.

I just figured out how to get to the gameplay thread - I missed the tabs across the top.

Thanks, Oladon!

Utsutsu here, this is the PC's alias. Please check it out as I have it so far, some details may still be subject to change and I am open to suggestions especially for integrating him into the group. Please comment if any choices seem out of place or require explanation / justification.

I like the idea that me and the goblin are down here, respectfully looking for clues for our current wild goose chase (this could be a thread for the GM to latch onto, or not) in the great search for shiny things and profit.

If it turns out that the characters of Kudzu, Gruul, and Moq are willing to join the game, and there are no objections, there will be some sort of, kind or, well, strange and complicated things they will need to be aware of before they can actually start playing.

by the way, please don't be offended, but is that the Dwarf Rogue icon from the basic box set, cause, damn, she's hot (I've had a crush on here since I first opened that box, sigh) ;)

Not sure. :)

I searched the avatars available on here for female dwarven clerics, and this was the only one.

Edit: Statting up the character now - I'll also fill in a general background. Don't want to be too specific, to allow you to liberally apply hooks as necessary.

I think these characters are great, well done.

Please make a post in this discussion thread

Hysteresis Loops

if you are ready to join this game or if you have any questions.
Thanks
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