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Is what it says. I'll probabaly start in about a month, possibly sooner if there's sufficient interest and I can get all of Soul's ready to go.
I have the AP on paper, and without shredding my copies I don't have an easy way to get the maps on a site. I'll probably draw up something simple for combat encounters (think X's and lines). If I have enough in the entertainment budget and I like how everything goes, I might just swing for the PDFs; if not, consider it "theater of the mind."
Thinking 25 PB, gestalt. No variant multiclassing, automatic bonus progression, or Occult Adventures materials. Background skills would be okay, but let's leave out Lore. Artistry is fine; Bob Dylan put plenty of points in that, but not quite enough into Perform...
No 3PP, no homebrew. Not sure on races; this in an interest check though so I'd say it's okay for now, but I'm leaning to Core only. I'll probably hand pick a few extras that I'll allow between now and the actual recruitment thread.
Probably 3 players since it'd be gestalt. Posts every 1-2 days, again I'll make it more clear on the actual recruitment, but I won't go below one post/2 days barring RL incursions.
If there's super, super interest, I could possibly run 2 concurrently; wouldn't have to do a terrible amount extra if it's the same AP.
Everything else is pre-made, so I think I got everything covered.
Oh, and my personal preference is for players who have not done the AP. I'm not a fan of people replaying things they've run to death, as it gets increasingly difficult for said people to mitigate metagaming and stay IC. Having played it before isn't an auto-exclusion, but my preference stands.
sounds interesting. was in one that died early.
Serpent Skull gestalt, sign me up. If you get less than 20 interested people in 2 days I would be very surprised. I have not played it before. I would much prefer at least 1 post/day but understand it if you are too busy for that.
As for maps, I would buy the PDF myself if selected if we don't find another method to get them if that's what it takes to get them to you.
I've run it before for my home game, but never played it. That's probably worse than playing it though from your POV.
It is an interesting story with important parts of Golarion lore tied in.
Oh man, my dream come true. I've been wanting to play SS for ages. I'm hesitant about gestalt, though. So just a dot from me for now.
Gestalt is a great idea for combating one of the biggest problems of pbp, the fact that more players bog the game down. It let you cover all the needed roles with fewer people. I also love how it offers much greater room for customization.
So that's 4 people dotting before the hour edit limit even ran out; I'd call that interest.
I'll format up an actual recruitment; I'll have it up no later than Monday, but probably far sooner, depending on how quickly I go through everything.
I've run it before for my home game, but never played it. That's probably worse than playing it though from your POV.
I'm not going to disbar people from applying on the basis of having played, and I won't necessarily make my choices on that aspect. Especially in a PbP, anyone could have the copy of the AP open next to them, and I'd never be the wiser. But if I do only hold one, and there are a large number of entries, it is likely I'll choose from those who have never done it. I hope you understand.
Oh man, my dream come true. I've been wanting to play SS for ages. I'm hesitant about gestalt, though. So just a dot from me for now.
I'll echo what oyzar said. Gestalt, in terms of action economy, isn't all that powerful, and provides a more manageable series of post for me to handle. However, when taken individually, characters do tend to come out as far and above the typical level of PCs.
I'm tossing around limiting the gestalt choices: martial characters would have no restrictions, but casters would be required to gestalt into either a martial class, or their two casting classes must rely on different primary stats. That's still feasible with a 25 PB, but since magic is the end-all, be-all of the game, it would hold some of the ridiculousness of gestalt mages back.
I'd appreciate thoughts while I build the thread.
Just trying to help you out with my thoughts here:
I don't think that limitation is going to do what you want. It's seldom very overpowered to combine two casters together due to action economy. You can still only cast one spell per turn (or two if quickened). A bloodrager or paladin can often offer more to a caster than simply taking more of what you are already good at.
One limitation I've seen frequently is to not allow more than 18 in a single stat after character creation. That puts quite a nerf on casters, though it does hit mostly at lvl 1-3 when they are usually weaker than martials due to the 1 less spell per day. For that reason I quite dislike this fix.
There is actually a natural limitation on casters in gestalt already due to action economy. It's much easier to combine two martial classes and get full benefit from both than it is to further enhance a casting class.
You could also simply state that you much prefer characters able to do multiple things well rather than characters very specialized in one thing. It makes sense since it'll be less party members than normal.
You could think about if there are any feats or such you want to ban (sacred geometry? leadership?). How many traits are we allowed and would you allow a drawback? Will there be time for crafting? How much starting gold will we get?
I do like gestalt, I just happen to already be in a gestalt game and find building a cohesive gestalt character (in terms of fluff and crunch) to be a tad exhausting. That's just me, though. Gestalt as a concept is great.
I am very excited about this. Very excited.
Also, I forgot to mention that I haven't played a single second of SS and only know as much as what is in the player's guide.
Sigh love the AP hate the gestalt. Have fun all.
@scranford and @Zahir, can I ask why? As a bit of curiosity more than anything; I don't see the drawback, unless you feel the same as Sixteenbiticon.
It is a good AP, I played it once and only finished the first book, I wouldn't mind revisiting it.
I'm usually on the edge about gestalt because I'm not that into super-high-powered games - I want play to be difficult from time to time, and a full 4-6 player complement of gestalt characters steamrolls almost anything you put in front of it.
That said, I'll go ahead and start kicking around ideas for this one - I don't have anything definite yet, but I'll dot in while I wait for inspiration to strike.
My reasoning is simple: Hero Lab doesn't do gestalt.
Actually it does. It's a player add on. It works quite well actually.
Personally I love gestalt, but I find that there are two main reasons for disliking gestalt:
1) It increases choice/complexity manyfold, instead of 38 classes you have (38 2) = 703 class combinations. This makes it much harder to make decisions.
2) It significantly increases powerlevel per character. This can lead to encounters moving much quicker. 3 gestalt characters might be about equal to a 4-5 player party though, but it might be a good idea to consider adjustments to the encounters anyway.
My reasoning is simple: Hero Lab doesn't do gestalt.
You got me there; I don't use Hero Lab. I assume a lot of people do though, so it's a good point to consider.
I'm usually on the edge about gestalt because I'm not that into super-high-powered games - I want play to be difficult from time to time, and a full 4-6 player complement of gestalt characters steamrolls almost anything you put in front of it. (...)
I'd limit gestalt to 3 players. As oyzar said, I still may have to adjust things a bit, but with only three PCs it shouldn't be much harder than throwing a few extra mobs in, or advancing their HD a bit. There's a nice template for doing just that; a bunch of them actually.
Good deal y'all, I'll keep all this in mind. Don't worry too much about putting anything solid together yet; I wouldn't want to put down a restriction with the actual recruitment that negates your concepts.
I have to agree that while the Hero Lab gestalt add on isn't "official" content, it is readily available and works wonders. I've been using it for years.
Fantasy games are one of the few genre's of gaming that still has clearly defined roles. Warrior, Healer, Divine, Arcane, Rogue, which gives each player a chance to shine where they are most effective. Gestalt gives a lot of crossover so that the individual's chance to shine is decreased. I like Gestalt if you only have 2-3 players, and if it's tabletop, then you can fill out the lacking rolls, but it adds a lot of complexity to the game, that I just don't see as necessary with a full group of players.
You have to increase the difficulty of all encounters, which involves extra work, which can lead to burnout. In addition it requires a lot more attention from the players in order to fully utilize their characters. Just think it leads to a lot of "stepping on toes" especially in PbP.
It just seems that everybody has to do put a lot more effort into their character capabilities, instead of the story, and I'm a story type of guy. The games tend to be a bit "Super Hero" type games, and I'm more into having to think of ways around problems.
Plus the whole Hero Lab thing. I keep hearing there is a way to do gestalt on HL but haven't found out how yet.
Behold the magic of google:
It will require some reading of how to install player created add ons, but there are all links for that stuff.
I'm going to be running two; one gestalt with 3 PCs and one non-gestalt with 4-5. As stated previously, I'll have the individual recruitments up tomorrow.
I can give a few things to get started:
Gestalt: 25 PB, 150gp, 2 Traits, one of which must be from the AP. No Drawbacks, no Rich Parents, though you can take the Boarded option for an extra 200gp(and note "mundane equipment" does not include potions, scrolls, or alchemical items weapons and armor.).
Normal: 20 PB, 200gp, 3 Traits, one of which must be from the AP with the same caveat as above. Can take 1 Drawback, but you have to tie it in to your backstory, still no Rich Parents.
Paizo-only materials; anything but Occult Adventures classes (though some of the archetypes and most of the feats are fine).
I'll lax the race restriction; must be from Core, Featured, and Uncommon.
No Evil. CN is fine if you're not hyping it up; I've always viewed Chaotic as more lackadaisical and chafing at civilized rules rather than the Mad Beast, so keep it that way if you play it. On that note as well, you can play "evil-ish," but we're not torturing children or pillaging innocent villagers.
can we apply to both? but assuming we can only get chosen for one.
can we apply to both? but assuming we can only get chosen for one.
Fine by me. I see it as two distinct recruitments; just happen to be hosted by the same GM.
This looks great. I've never played the AP, and don't really know PF well enough to work with a gestalt character but I'd definitely be interested in the normal game.
For the gestalt game, I am considering an angelkin aasimar mesmerist/slayer. I've never seen the class combo used, but I am probably going for a vexing daredevil and vanilla slayer. Strength-based using a greatsword and vital strike. It's still heavily in the works.
Yeah, I'm open to Occult classes as well, addending the above. I had a couple questions explained to me so I'll take them along.
Might try to work up an alchemist/fighter perhaps.
I'm kinda feeling a Druid//unchained Monk for this one. It's just so fitting for delving into the jungle. However I kinda want to make a gnome as well and that's not all that fitting with druid/monk, maybe a Mesmerist//Oracle? How do you feel about summoners and synthesist? A synthesist//ninja or synthesist//vivisectionist would be kinda fun. I understand it if you want to limit either summoners generally or synthesist specifically though.
Sorry if I've left any comments/questions open; let's move them to the relevant recruitment, so I might not have to answer them twice.