
GM Hmm |

Ah. I'm much, much shorter than that. I barely top five feet. I'd make a good kitsune!

GM Hmm |

Hey gang, I've got a scheduled power outage at my house tomorrow. Workmen are cutting the power so they can go do dangerous things without getting electrocuted. I'll try to keep up with combat on my phone, but we may be slow going tomorrow.
Just a heads up!
Hmm

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Nice welcome back.

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Hey everyone. I am in the military and just found out today that I am going out to the field for training tomorrow night until the 22nd. I apologize, I just found out today.
I do not know if I will have any internet access (on my phone), and if I do, I will make every effort to post and check in. But I honestly do not know if I will or not until I get there. Again, I apologize.
Please bot me as needed and if I am able I'll post when I can.

GM Hmm |

We'll take care of you, botting you when needed. If you miss the start of Overflow Archives, we'll understand.
Are there any special abilities or tactics you want me to consider for the final battle?

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Id swapped out spells, so Remove Fear, plus Bulls Strength, Shield of Faith and Barkskin for Crowe and Oloch. Bless for all, and then I was just going to try Searing Light, which would have actually been my first time using it in a game, ha ha.
Then Channel to Heal as needed.
But, if I can post, I will. Thanks for understanding.

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Yep, see you when you get back, and thank you for your service.

GM Hmm |

Hey Gang,
I've got a question about pacing. What sort of pace would you like us to maintain through Overflow Archives? Our pace in Risen Sands has been a bit rushed due to the GM being ever aware of the upcoming deadline. With Overflow, I'd like to be a little more leisurely.
Opinions? Thoughts? Feedback for a 1st time pbp GM?
Hmm

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I agree with her. Easy fun and enjoyable. No need to rush. Unless we have to be finished at a very specific date and we are not close to it yet

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No need to rush indeed. But I enjoy a fast (but not rushed) pace. It guarantees we don't forget anything about the intrigue. :)

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I agree with the above - decent rhythm, but without rushing from one encounter to the other. Then again, this is as much player responsibility as it is the GM's.

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1 person marked this as a favorite. |

I think you are doing very well. I honestly didn't realize that Risen from the Sands would have such a large map and so many encounters, but you are handling like a champ.
As a DM though, especially as a PbP DM, watch out for burn out. PbP is kind of unique in a lot of ways, as there is a lot more prep involved, and the pacing of the game, over weeks or even months can get very hard to keep track of. It also really doesn't help when you need to bot people, so I apologize again for that. There is also a nasty tendency to bite off more than you can chew with PbPs, and that can really lead to a lot of burn out if you are not careful.

GM Hmm |

I can see what you mean about burnout. I'll admit that both the botting and the pace that this has required has been stressful. Fortunately, I am keeping to only PBP to GM at a time. And I have the most awesome group of players that anyone can ask for.
Thank you for all your feedback, guys! I think in Archives I will only bot after 24 hours, and then only in combat. But I will keep things moving at a reasonable pace. I am really looking forward to both the roleplay opportunities and the wackiness that Overflow Archives has to offer. I want to have fun and let loose, and I hope you all do too!
We're in the home stretch for this adventure now. I think we'll finish Risen Sands on time, so long as we all keep going.
Thanks for giving this brand new PBP GM a chance.
Hmm

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Thanks for all your hard work. This has been really cool. I get the chance to play more than most VOs but I really enjoy the differences in the PbP format so far. I'm okay with whatever pace you want to set, personally.

GM Hmm |

What has surprised you the most about PbP format, Jan? What changes most intrigue you?
Hmm

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I think the extra time to figure out what exactly you're saying has been nice, I've played this character live a bunch, but still feel like there's been more moments for growth and expressing himself (albeit in broken Common) than in a F2F game. The pacing has still felt good (at least to me) with the faster pace and everyone (especially you with bots) has done a good job of posting so it doesn't feel like you're always waiting on something to happen. Also, your selections have both been good modules/scenarios for mix of RP/Combat IMO.

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Along the same lines, I like that we can go back and refresh our memory on things if we need to.

GM Hmm |

Hey Gang, it looks like we're headed to the final fight of Buffed Team: the Mummy Slayers.
I'd love it if you could all look at the buffs you're getting and note temporary bonuses to AC, hitting and damage in your headers. Just to help me keep track? You can throw it on the very end of your tagline, but just keep it where I can see it. I'd hate to have anyone miss the bad guy because we forgot to track the math.

GM Hmm |

Thank you! Although I know as a GM that I shouldn't have to track your buffs, I just want someone to be tracking the buffs...

GM Hmm |

Part of the reason that I'm not botting Quinn here is that I know too much about the monsters and I'm having a hard time separating my knowledge and Quinn's possible actions. I much prefer botting when the character choices are obvious and don't require creative thinking.
If someone else wants to bot Quinn here, let me know.

GM Hmm |

Does anyone other than Wadi have a job roll here in Risen Sands?
Wadi can you give me another perform acting roll?

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OK here ya go!
Perform, Acting: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23
+20 gp.

GM Hmm |

Thank you! Gang... Are printed signatures acceptable in pfs on chronicle sheets or do I have to find a scanner?

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Also, a PDF is perfect. If you like, I can show you a trick to save paper, but it does require your computer.
-
It's best if you start with all the information that will be the same for everyone, filling just that portion in and then saving that file. From there, simply add in the basic information that's unique to each character, and save those files individually. When you are done, make sure you select them all, right click, select Properties, and then select the box that says Rea Only, (which means others can not alter it after you send it). Then, simply upload all those files to whatever medium you want to use to distribute them, (Google Drive).

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Jan no have job, serve Desna full-time.

GM Hmm |

If there's anything else special that you guys want the GM to record on your chronicle sheets, now is the time to tell me.

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I'm just letting you now that I played a scenario with Dioneo, my character for the overflow archives, and he leveled up. He's level 4 now. :)

GM Hmm |

Congratulations, Dioneo. Any new and special abilities that I need to be aware of?
Also, is anyone leveling up based on Risen Sands? You'll find that the session has been reported for everyone but Crowe, who was playing for no credit.
Hmm

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Thanks! No new special abilities, though. Dioneo (as a Spirit Guide) will always select the Flame curse of the Flame Spirit unless stated otherwise.

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2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Haha true! "Butter buddies ever!"

GM Hmm |

Crow should at least get a picture of him and Maurice, captioned "Better with butter!"
Ah, Mite #11! Always a faithful reader and a great commentator!
Maurice would love the Minnesota State Fair... The fair features butter sculptures.
Maurice would love a butter bust of himself, but would insist that the artist got the details of the sarcophagus right!

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Really? My spirit guide generally selects anything that isn't her home mystery to get access to the other spells...
Well, weakness to fire (no save) on a fire blaster build is just... a blast! :D

GM Hmm |

Okay, I can see that. As I said, have fun chatting with Maurice while I try to figure out Chronicle sheets and write the close out posts for this adventure.

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Thanks for running an extra game on short notice. It was awesome. I won't level up, but I probably spend at least a little gold.

GM Hmm |

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! So having run this live, how different was the experience? I know Maurice was different, but I'm curious about the run that your group made.

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I played not ran, but most stuff was very similar. Though I do also own it.(With the obvious exception of Maurice.)
We played with 4 players, I think the cleric and my archer were on the bottom of the tier (3.0/3.1 or so), and 2 of the included pregens (who were updated since, I believe, and brand new) I remember both the first fight (with the pyramid) and the final fight, being utterly brutal. That pyramids overrun+trample was nasty. I think the GM allowed us to use a greatsword as a lever to get a circumstance bonus on a CMB to flip it off it's wheels then the cleric literally drilled it to death. The final fight I think was both a running low on resources and failed saves combo. I know this scenario wiped many, many groups that played on Free RPG Day when it came out for a couple of reasons. 1. It wasn't clarified until like the day before that you could use actual characters. 2. The pregens that were included weren't designed for the scenario so there were a number of things they couldn't do. (They were the ones that had completed art). Hence the 2PP possiblity for a Free RPG Day module.

GM Hmm |

I know what you mean.
I looked very, very carefully at the composition of the group before deciding to run this module. I also made the decision to allow the rest break in the middle after reading the GM discussion on these boards. The final fight was still pretty epic, but at least you guys had the resources to run it.
This module was tasked to serve several masters:
1) Get people excited about Mummy's Mask;
2) Introduce newbies to Pathfinder via free RPG day;
3) Show off how great the new ACG classes were.
I think that it failed on at least two of the three objectives. I read the writer's post where he mentioned that a whole half-page of survival supplies and gear that he'd intended the party to have was cut from the module... My question: why not keep the gear and cut that dreary fight with the skeletons by the boats?
Oh well. The module did have two things going for it -- sexy undead princesses and a complete lack of monster tactics, which gave me a little leeway to go with the group's actions.
Oh and it had the artwork that inspired Maurice. How can you not look at this guy and be inspired? He's overflowing with personality from the get-go.
Hmm

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Yeah, we never fought the Zombie Queens, in fact only two of us ever even made the save (myself and my brother, the cleric) and we never told the group. Just chatted with them for a while, and then made our excuses and went around.

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I have never played or run this before, so I can not say as to how it was different, but I did like a few things that may or may not have been a part of it as written.
I did like the part with the two women. I'm not sure if I just missed it completely due to quick reading at work or maybe something was spoiled, but I enjoyed the banter in it's aftermath.
I love Maurice, and that Nat 20 Diplomacy was pretty amazing and unexpected, but played in perfectly. I think, in my own "head canon", I might make Maurice my new Handy Haversack for this character.
I honestly did not realize just how long this scenario was. And it also felt long, too. It might have just been that it seemed to really favor only a few skill checks repeatedly, or that it was sort of designed as a dungeon crawl with a large dungeon and many minor combats, but it felt longer than it was, if that makes sense.

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Apologies for the delay in posting people - my oldest is having her birthday, so we're running around to get everything sorted, and make sure she is as happy as possible ;)
Hmm, I've said before that I believed you would make an amazing GM, and now I am sure about it - Maurice is just another point to drive home my conviction.
You will always find groups more or less interested in details, but please, PLEASE, always keep up the attention to detail and to the 'story behind the story' as you did in this game.
One of the things that always threw me off when GMing was how much of the backstory the players sometimes missed - I think every effort that adequately gives players a chance to understand the backdrop of the adventure they are in is worth it. So, all the spoilers and possible knowledge rolls are welcome in my book, and increase my enjoyment.
Great pace (as needed), well fleshed out NPCs and monsters, a detailed environment - thanks for all of that. Don't stop GMing ;)
As for the 'undead sisters' - I did see the chances for roleplay, but I am not Oloch. I tried playing him as non straightforward, and I think I managed it to a certain extent. But I also envisioned him as a 'no-nonsense' kinda guy - he would never carry out a conversation with some undead girls who pretended they were not.
BUT he would have spoken to them after they came clean, and revealed their true selves - we never got a chance though, because THEY attacked (I'll keep saying this until everyone agrees with me) :D