To avoid any other people dropping me notes, and because GM has not posted a clarification:
Obviously my previous post was sufficiently offensive to be called out on it via PM with an ultimatum that I would get kicked out for good if I made one more mistake.
I explained that this was not my intent, I don't see it as deliberately hostile, and offered to quit right away if after my explanation he wanted me to.
GM TWO took me up on that offer and set me as inactive.
As such, I will not be rejoining and would appreciate no further notifications in any of my other games. Thank you.
TWO: This bothers me. A lot actually. I don't know what went on in the PM's but here in discussion, I have to agree with Nimue in that their post did not sound deliberately or even mildly hostile. Must I fear the ban hammer for the slightest criticism? Cause that's going to color every conversation from here on out. I didn't say that to harshly did I? Should I add an emote to show I am only kidding? Am I being too confrontational? I don't like that I have to self edit, that I can't speak my mind without fear of reprisal, that literally one post could be the difference between playing and expulsion.
This game is...head and shoulders above most in complexity, depth, drama, intrigue and more. It's like a whole different game compared to the original AP and we haven't even gotten out of Restov. I want this get off the ground. I want to see where you go with it. I want to know who's already trying to f!@$ with us with this mass summon of demons. But first and foremost I want it to be fun. Seeing someone get kicked right of the bat, irregardless of the reason, less fun. No suggestions or critiques, just wanted my feelings to be known.
The only change I need to make to either Kliment or Bartek is that Kliment is taking combat reflexes in place of power attack.
I will not say 'don't let it bother you', because GM/Player interpersonal issues should be a concern for any other player in the game. This is not, however, the first blowout problem that MordredofFairy has had in this game, and as such it is IMO very unlikely anyone else will have anything near the same sort of issue as he mostly has had with me; for complete (and I mean complete) information, both for situational background and on execution, read the spoiler.
My issues with Mordred of Faerie began almost immediately -- his fifth post in the thread -- due to him having sent me character-build questions in PM (despite a recent request to another player in regards to the very same thing) for no declared reason other than to 'not bump' a thread that was still very active. I brought the PM back to the thread, somewhat brusquely asked him to not do so again in the future -- in part because I want such things to be all in one location so that I don't have to hunt through six or sixty different PMs to find the information I'm looking for -- and responded to the PM/post.
His response was ... bilious. I did not respond to it, because I had other players to work with and because I as a GM I would prefer not to continue a cat-fight inside the box I'm trying to build (as it were), but a couple of days later he PMed me to ask me why I was 'hostile and uncompromising'.
Mordred: Something That Is Needed
First, thanks for not making a scene because of my post schooling you on flanking. I appreciate that, because I wrote it when I was angry.
Second: I felt hurt and insulted by what how you handled the recruitment situation, and I would very much prefer that to not bleed over into this game. And honestly, I am not certain I can simply "let it go" and ignore that completely.
I simply can't get it out of my head because I don't understand it...why did you decide to be so hostile and uncompromising in that answer? Was it something else I said or did? Something unrelated that made you change your mind?
Right now, I come to the boards, and I inevitably think about it trying to make sense of it, re-reading it and even old correspondence between us. I can't understand it and I'm left in a state of emotional disarray that impairs my ability to get into my other characters and make a proper post as them.
That may seem childish to you, but it's very real to me. Since my daughter was born almost a year ago, RP on these boards is one of my main sparetime activities I get to enjoy. So if, after finding it in you not to overreact to the flanking post, you could possibly try to help me understand just what happened or lead to that response I would greatly appreciate that.
Cheers.
I explained that I was not, that as a GM I am necessarily different than I am as a player, and gave him a point-by-point explanation in detail, such as not seeing knowledge of canon as compared to the PFSRD.com information (e.g. using 'Collegiate Initiate/Arcanist needing local flavoring' instead of 'Maagyamban Initiate/Arcanist needing reflavoring/explanation') and extensively explaining why I gave the warning in 'about me' at the beginning, and my of-necessity brusqueness when answering build and background questions in a campaign of this size.
GM TWO Response
I honestly regard it as a basic misunderstanding - that my viewpoint and attitude as a GM is necessarily different than that as a player. I have no problem with you; I didn't write what I did in order to hurt, insult, belittle, demean, or otherwise degrade you. I wrote it in order to begin development of understanding, on both my part and yours, in regards to a) my expectations (which I think you might agree that, as GM in such a large game, are fairly important), and b) your character creation in the midst of other people asking questions and creating characters.
Yes, I confess that I was irritated by your 'either/or' statement in regards to magic items:
Not sure if the intent was to allow them, thus specify magic items, or to forbid them(making "magic" an oversight).
I am still not completely certain I've parsed it correctly, but I believe I have. What I think you meant to say is this:
Not sure if the intent was to allow (nonmagical items over the stated GP limits), and the limits are thus specifically in regards to magic items, or to limit all expensive items, thus making the statement about magic in the limits a redundancy.
Now, I hate repeating myself; I really do. (I'd make a terrible politician.) So part of that came through in that statement. What particularly irked me there - and in other places, including your posted response - is the statement that it had to be either one thing or the other. I suppose I felt that by making your either/or statement you were trying to establish the limits / restrictions on my game, instead of seeking to understand what the limits / restrictions of my game were. Had you not made the statement, I'd've been fine with the question, even the specificity. So yes, there was some irritation there, which came out when I said that your if/then statement was snotty.
In regards to the reflavoring of the Arcanist classes, it is again a lack of knowledge about you in specific on my part, and thus a different interpretation of my words than what was intended because of it. Coming from my own experience building a character out of the d20PFSRD site, I know that there are plenty of people who build characters there but, because of the fact that that site can't use PF-exclusive information (e.g. 'Magaaymban' at all), I have become exceedingly careful to discuss background when I run into someone who shows by way of the class name that they're utilizing an archetype or class from there - i.e. 'Collegium Apprentice/Arcanist'. This is Part 1 of why I explained to you the origin of the class. Part 2 is my very first statement in what is now the 'New Character Builds / Valid Sources and Options' section of the Campaign Info page:
In general, all Paizo if it can be explained into the region. (Like I said, background counts.)
Your question and background revealed no knowledge that the classes you were using were area-specific for the Pathfinder world, only that "... obviously Collegiate Initiate/Arcanist will need a local flavoring." The word choice - 'Collegiate' instead of 'Magaambyan', and 'local flavoring' instead of 'reflavoring' - did not show the world knowledge that I want to assure myself players have before they start doing the reflavoring - a reflavoring which I would probably be in favor of, though I disagree on certain cultural attitudes that I think we'd have to clear up before proceeding.
The third piece - my stated opinion on your class choices ... well, yes, you took offense to it, and yes, I was a bit shirty about it, but here's the bottom line on that: it was my opinion not my ruling, and I said straight out 'but hell, it's your character build.' The shirtiness I can explain; there's a bit of residual irritation in regards to the Daring Champion cavalier which I can explain; it comes from one of the other players wanting to play a Daring Champion cavalier as the 'military commander', and me looking at eighteen characters and seeing almost every fighter being a lightly-armored duelist with a love affair with the Aldori dueling sword and basically wondering how the hell they're going to be able to stand the shock of a field battle without a bloody front line that can receive a cavalry charge. Tossing the Order of the Green to spin some of the ranger stuff in there somewhat added to that frustration, but again, a) my opinion but b) your character, your build. Hell, watching what you're doing with Flutter and Lia, I KNOW you know WTF you're doing with builds. That wasn't my issue, and my issue was never an official GM issue.
Yes, I very much have wanted to respond to your subsequent post, particularly in regards to the statements you made about what I am or am not allowing in my game. Your post makes a lot of assumptions, incorrect statements, game-limitation-markings, and the like, many/most of which are simply untrue. If I could make one basic statement of my belief about the entire situation, it would be that you reacted and took offense, instead of seeking explanation, clarification, and requesting GM flexibility.
I didn't respond about this in the KM thread, as I didn't respond to the two nasty parts in the ROTRL thread, because in neither place would have served any useful purpose. I'm in ROTRL to play; I'm running the Mythic Kingmaker campaign because I want to run a campaign, and Fey Winds Blowing will allow me to basically run something like eight to ten interconnected campaigns simultaneously. Yes, keeping control of the game world is a part of any GM's job, as are making sure the players know where he's coming from, making sure he knows where the players are coming from, challenging the players (from which RP challenge, yes, one of them has already walked away), telling a whopping good story, and getting my players to have fun.
A big part of all of those is knowing what can and can't be done by any particular player at any particular moment - in brief, to not be totally screwed, to not have a sequence composed of this and this. (Not that I'm out for a complete psycho murdershower TPK as my endgame, but I do anticipate a large number of PCs, cohorts, and cohorts' cohorts going out with a cataclysmic bang as, basically, they save the world - or maybe the universe, or a big chunk of universe, I'm not sure how it'd technically be defined. Anyhow.) So yes, I want to know, and I want to know you know, what the hell is going on.
In turn, because I'm currently running 16 players, and I'm looking to add two more, which means a whopping thirty-six characters, and because I too have a RL with wife-and-kid, I am in regards to the campaign exceedingly time-limited when it comes to responding to a specific person about a specific item. You know already how well I can write; you have probably also realized by now that I am not innately a courteous person. This is the entire reason for the emphasis on 'I am an assh0le' in the 'About Myself' section in recruitment: because I do want my players to understand me, but I do not want my players to take how I say what I say personally. I need to say what I have to say quickly, concisely, and quite basically with a minimum of bullsh!t - which means that for this game the politesse I normally use as a player takes a back seat to the clarity I need to possess as a GM.
Mordred, I don't dislike you, and I wasn't hostile towards you; I hope you come back and finish your application, because though I think it'd be a tough fit, I also think it could fit. Granted, your character design would be a better fit for the group 'Mageford' that's basically a band of Kyonin elves trying to figure out how to retake Sevenarches instead of 'The Frozen Flame', which is a group of mages looking to open up a school for elementalists, but hell, you'd be surprised at how completely I can twist sh!t around to fit the needs of the story. (Actually, you know the Shoanti monk, so you might not.) Nor was I uncomprehending; what you saw was me acting to make sure you understood the game-world origins of what you were trying to use.
Yes, I am a bit rough on the players and potential players - as a GM. But please don't think it's a personal attack, because it ain't.
In turn, he responded:
Mordred to GM TWO
First, let me thank you for that elaborate explanation. It goes well beyond the basic explanation I had hoped for. To the point of making me feel bad about how I reacted in the first place.
I feel I should also explain why I reacted those ways...with the magic items, the "either/or" was simply in regards to wether that limit should say "magic" or not. Which is a binary thing. Either it was supposed to cover all items, OR it was supposed to cover magic items only. Those were the two possible interpretations I could read into it...and I simply included those as a reasoning for asking. Not to establish limits of the game, but to understand them.
(Instead of flat-out assuming that "magic items" would of course not include special materials...in that case I would have attempted to establish restrictions)
Not sure if that makes more sense that way, but in the end, it was only about the possibly 2 readings i discovered: "applies/does not apply", and trying to find out which one is true. I included them to show that I simply needed guidance on the interpretation, not on the overall understanding of the limitations placed, trying to minimize the work for you to explain, by reducing it to a simple "yes/no" answer, rather than a long block of reasoning.
With the Collegiate/Magaaymban dilemna...first I use Collegiate because I always have to look up the writing of Magaaymban - secondly what irked me there was that I thought I was clear enough, which maybe in retrospect I was not...regarding the need to base the class near the river lands, with a local flavor. As in "local flavoring" would not be necessary unless a reflavoring was needed. It made perfect sense to me.
When you dismissed it, you flat out stated I would need a reason for my Mwangi-Expense-based Gnome to be in the River Lands...which would take an overly convulated backstory, which is a showstopper as per your own words. So to me, that seemed like you were unwilling to allow the archetype and intended to force a complete character rebuild simply based on the lore.
That irked me further since the class does not state any limitations...(unlike Brightness Seeker who is only open to Elves, e.g., or regional/religion traits also stating their requirements). Honestly, I was not even sure if a "reinvention" would be necessary. The original idea was that an Elven Adventurer spent a century or so in Garund, came upon the Insitute, and spent a year or two there retraining all his wizard levels into the Initiate/Arcanist set...then, in his old age, returned near his ancestral homeland, Kyonin, to settle down. And because just waiting for death quickly gets boring for elves, he instead opened a school to pass on the teachings he learned on his travels, which, due to it's nature, was well received by other elves. A small "Magaaymban College" in Cordellon, in other words.
@Daring Champion: Makes more sense with that residual irritation. Main idea was that I did not want to be dependent on horse charges. Because I believe there will be plenty situation where being mounted would be a stretch or impractical(or gamey, with narrow frame or undersized mount).
Plus it is a pretty strong archetype, especially in a Mythic Game(where a dex-focus is that much stronger), trying to make sure the Cohort is individually able to stand up to what is thrown at us. @Military: honestly, would be a defensive application...with Nimue hopefully having her forest village(dynasty founder) under control, them followers would keep things running and protect there, unless banners are called/war looms. You won't see duelist frontliners there(in fact the warrior NPC's use longspears...spears were the most popular weapons in human history for a reason). The Stronghold would simply support that, and the fact that IF either of them was to act as commanding officer and lead them into battle, they best at least know what they are doing.(as in, care about their man- and woman-at-arms, if war takes place)
Order of the Green is mainly for fluff reasons, yes, and he will be very skilled in Forest Terrain - that'll be the end of Rangeryness. :)
If I could make one basic statement of my belief about the entire situation, it would be that you reacted and took offense, instead of seeking explanation, clarification, and requesting GM flexibility.
I did. Guilty as charged. Because I read too much into it. Where I hoped for clarification, I read I was snotty, where I hoped for flexibility, I read that I needed to be from Garund, where I was hoping for explanation, I read none(as you did not respond to the first PM at all, and did not tell me about the second being in the recruitment threat)...to me, things seemed clear. There would be no flexibility, and the other parts would simply offend me more if I was to inquire further.
I am glad, however, that I decided to write you. And very thankful for you taking the time to respond so eloquently, and being open about things. And that we cleared out what basically amounted to a collosal steaming heap of mutual misunderstandings.If you would still have me after all this drama, I would finish the applications. You do know I'm a dedicated and active player, and do generally try to be helpful(even at times when I feel snarky).
So I appreciate that you are not going to hold these communication problems against me.
I'll even post in the recruitment thread so things are "orderly". But work is harsh the next few days, so not sure when exactly I would get around to finishing up.
I failed to immediately respond, but eventually sent a quick note:
GM TWO to Mordred
He allowed as to that he would, and a couple weeks later (and after some board goblins interference) followed up, after which things continued along the standard character creation track of background modification suggestions, etc. etc.
Then I disappeared.
Yes, I agree, a s$%&ty thing to do with no warning, and entirely my fault. I apologized via PM to each of you, and do so again here (and will strive to keep this a consistent and steady game from here on in), but to my knowledge and in my experience, to receive such and not send at the minimum a statement of receipt -- even so much as an acknowledgement of the apology (which is not, please note, an ACCEPTANCE of the apology) -- is general courtesy throughout most civilizations of which I am aware.
I received numerous messages quickly, and a few somewhat more tardily; Mordred was one of the handful who simply never replied. The reasons for such could be several, but in my viewpoint (reinforced by those who replied months later) it was either because they don't read their PMs (a statement made by a couple of players), or because they were still so irritated they didn't want to read or reply to the message (which DeviousDevious has stated as basically being his reason).
Armed with that belief, I made the contact post, indicating the several people who had not replied who (in my understanding) might either not read any PM from me, or who might not read any PMs at all. I suggested ('might') that those in games give them an elbow-nudge, because even if they were ignoring me, they might not ignore y'all.
Mordred's reply is as you've already no doubt read. As you have now also read, this is not the first time he's tried to educate me on netiquette, which I've been practicing for quite possibly longer than he's been alive -- thirty years, in my case. Yes, in fact, I did take this as being intentionally offensive, especially in combination with what I took to be the patronizing 'I know you are excited, but ...' However, again instead of causing a stink and crapping in my own sandbox, I took it to PM:
GM TWO to Mordred
I received the PM less than 24 hours ago.
Please at least allow that much time for a response before writing me off as 'no answer' (or asking people to drop us notes - which they did :) )I understand you are excited, but you know, a.: time zones and b.: some people like to take a moment to pause and consider before making a decision, rather than rush things for sake of an immediate answer - one of the advantages pbp offers, usually.
This is, I believe, another example of leaping before you look, and reads to me as being rather deliberately offensive. I am not excited, which here seems to be meant to imply impulsive and rushing into things; I have operated as stated, in a non-accusatory manner, offering a simple statement of fact - which, in relation to you, is that you did not reply to my message from October. From that fact, I made an assumption: you either do not check your mail, or did not care to read my missive.
For contact purposes, Ash.., DeviousDevious, and Kain Gallant apparently don't check their PMs here often (and said so in their belated replies to my apology); five others (Jereru, Lessah, Mordred of Fairy, Rostam, and Zayne Iwatani) haven't answered at all. (This is informational, not accusational; I have NO room to talk. :P )
Since that statement was related to your your original explanatory PM from October: I had not answered to it as it was purely informative(and multi-recipient) in nature and I felt there was nothing really to reply to, without either making it seem less of a deal than it was(and I was pissed off about being ghosted after jumping through some hoops to conform to what was needed to get in), or adding blame after an apology given(you did write and said you are sorry, why give you more trouble about it).
So I opted to simply take that PM as-is and not start a conversation, then.
This, you see, is not something I considered -- that you (and DeviousDevious, for that matter, and possibly the others) made a deliberate choice to not respond. I myself DO try to show basic courtesy in responding (my absence being a notable breakdown of that standard courtesy), and presumed that you would have at the very least acknowledged.
I take offense at the implication that you were put through more 'hoops' than others in order to 'conform to what was needed to get in'; reviewing our previous conversation and clarifications, I am confident in my judgement that indeed I worked with you extensively, and in truth did not force you to any great extent to jump through any particular hoop or another.
Here, now? I'm interested. As Theodric pointed out, I have a newborn at home. My post rates will be slightly shifty for the close future, before I return to work and things 'normalize'.
So yeah, when I create characters, when I join a game, I do so to see things through. I would rejoin this as well. As said, my schedule in the next couple weeks will need a certain amount of...flexibility - but that does not in my opinion clash with an expression of interest in a game that should run over years.
At this time, I am wary; not because you have a newborn at home, but because this is the second time you have attacked me in the public forum of the game.
If you are willing to give over your antipathy towards myself and my modes of interaction, with you and with other players, then I am willing to continue with you in the group.
If, however, you trying to tear my head off because you take offense at something I do is going to be a recurring event, then forgive me if I do not wish to deal with such drama; thank you for your time and the effort you have put into the game so far, and I wish you luck and the joy of playing in your other games.
The choice is yours, but understand that if you choose the former but are unable to at the very least take it to a PM, a third such public attack will result in your removal from the game.
The response:
Mordred to GM TWO
It did seem rushed. And it felt, in a way, pushy for a quick decision. If you don't feel comfortable entering another game thread, how could it seem a better idea to have someone else to it in your stead?
With the amount of time that had passed since the game was dropped, I expected that you would allow for a few days, at least, for responses to come in, not ask people to drop extra notifications right after sending out the PM.
@Deliberate Choice: I was, after receiving the message, considering writing back. I could, out of politeness, have asked about the explanation. Or I could, out of curiosity, have asked if you intended to pick up any of your games(player or GM). But ultimately, I decided that if you had wanted to share your reasons, you could have done so in the initial message, and asking more would be impolite, especially since it seemed to be a personal thing. I could have sent a simple acknowledgement, but that would have seen dismissive. While I appreciated the notion of the apology, I did not feel a desire for small-talk at that point of time.
@Hoops: Not what I stated. My hoops where not more elaborate than any others. You DID work with me exensively. But thats not what this statement is about: It is about the fact that the creation process to a point where you felt the characters were acceptable was a long one, and the game was abandoned before I had more than ~20/~10 posts on the aliases(23 and 11, including several discussion posts). So what this is about is that I went through a very elaborate process of making the characters up to the standards you expected, then basically the game stopped.
That is what I am saying. Not that I had more work to do, everybody who joined had quite a lot of work to do - but that I essentially did that work and a handful of posts after joining, you were gone. An side-effect of being late to the party, but I got even less gameplay before it stopped than many others.
@Waryness: I have not attacked you.
I was irritated that one of my players posted in my completely unrelated game to notify me of the PM I received only a short time previously. I stated that this approach seemed weird to me. That is not an attack.
I also explained why I did not respond to your first PM. Because there was nothing to say about the game, I did not feel like small talk, and if you had been comfortable sharing more information, you would have, without people asking.
Not an attack, either, even if you seem to have expected a response - something I seem to have misunderstood.
You seem very insistent on taking all these things personal. The first time, as I remember, it was very clearly a mutual misunderstanding where your review process left me with the impression of needing to completely redo both characters from scratch because of a perceived unwillingness to reflavor an thematically fitting, existing archetype into a locally available one. Not making options available based on fluff for them seemed overly strict, and being called "snotty" for asking questions, or being told that my design decisions are "bad" when I had reasons for them put me over the edge. I could have posted that in PM, but you VERY SPECIFICALLY posted in the previous message that you did not want to discuss these things in PM(not replying to my PM, simply copy-pasting it into the thread), so the public recruitment was the only place left I could bring it up.
So, yeah, that first "attack" and public drama thing? Yeah, well, if you re-checked, you did tell me to keep things public, and the fact your wording in the previous post was not very courteous, either, I maintain that that was on both of us. But I did believe we put that behind us and it was no longer an issue. The question is if it is. Or if you will dwell on that.
Once again, in the PM, you told to post in Discussion. I did, instead of replying per PM(which you very specifically did not want during the character creation).
Also re-reading my post, please do point out what exactly you found offensive. The fact I used the word "excited"? Be assured that it was not meant in a negative connotion. Simply that telling people to drop us notes seemed to not allow much time at all for those you called out to actually respond to your PM before you attempted alternate channels(or concluding that we do not read PM's for some reason).
It was certainly not intended that way, but please, do help me out, which part is deliberately offensive?
The first paragraph? It simply seemed strange to me, as stated, and I wanted to point out that I would rather not get notifications in other games if I don't respond to a PM quickly enough. I even attached a smilie to make clear that it was not a problem this time.
The second paragraph? In which I explain my reason for not replying? You may have read too much into that, but yeah, I explained it above, hopefully. I did not say that only I had to do something. I had to do it nonetheless, and you did disappear soon after. I even went both ways and made clear that I also had no(and have no) intent of giving you more trouble because of your disappearance.
The last part? Where I pre-assume flexibility, rather than properly asking for it? I suppose thats because most other players and GM's have been very understanding about that. And technically, it's a necessary basis for rejoining - if that flexibility is not available, then I cannot join. So IF I join, I would assume the flexibility to be there. That said, I only expressed interest and stated I would rejoin, which I thought made it clear that you can decline if you are not willing to accept this - I had not assumed to be in automatically.
Once again, a lot of writing. Just to try and clear things up. That said, it's your call. I am not a native speaker, and I usually tend to mirror writing styles used in correspondence to the best of my ability.
I have no antipathy towards you or your modes of interaction, but as I clearly have no proper understanding of what is and what is not offensive to you or constitutes an 'attack' in public, the call is yours to make, not mine.
Please do understand that to me, that was a perfectly normal post, not meant offensive or as an attack. I am simply unable to comprehend, even re-reading it, what the problematic part is - or wether the whole post is worded or written in a manner that you disagree with.
What that means, then, is that you could arbitrarily remove me from the game for a perceived public attack in what, to me, seems a perfectly normal post.
(I am not saying you would do that arbitrarily, only that you could, and I would be none the wiser)
I am used to games being fun. Being about having fun. With people. Not used to needing to watch exactly what I am saying for fear of being expelled when mis-stepping.
What I am saying is that even if I would try, very hard, to make sure not to post anything in discussion that you could misunderstand, I would eventually, in all likelyhood, slip up.
Because I don't seem to understand what constitutes an attack, and I will eventually let my guard down on extensive self-censorship.
As a result, the choice is very much yours. Sooner or later, I am certain that something will come up that you can find offensive. The question is if you will ignore the intent behind the post in order to feel attacked, or willing to be a bit more relaxed and only feel offended when there is no other interpretation.
What you gave me is essentially an option to quit inmediately, or choose a timed removal for an inability to dodge the minefield(as per my inability to actually understand where I messed up this time).
So I'm handing that choice back to you, as you are the ultimate arbiter - both as a person and as GM - to decide where your limits are and how much it will take for you to feel a violation of your stated terms has taken place.
If you rather not have me in the game with sufficient other people coming back, I do understand. But I'd prefer to know that ahead of time, rather than let being kicked out for what I deem a perfectly innocent post 1.5 years down the line.
While I was irritated at any number of items in this response -- particularly his viewpoint that the previous issue was 'a mutual misunderstanding' -- I realized that he was, in essence, correct: that despite my request to take such issues to PM (for future note, I prefer to have player/GM issues in PM, character build questions in the thread), he might feel that he needed to watch his step, that he might do something which he saw as innocuous (as he clearly saw his recent post as being educational), but which I might take as being insulting.
What I read in the last two paragraphs of his PM above, however, was him functionally pointing out the fact that I could remove from the game the issues he presents immediately, or that I would eventually need to do so in the future. On consideration, I found that I agreed with this analysis; while as players we might mesh, due to culture clash and linguistic issues as a GM and player we were having significant issues, and it would be kindest, as it were, to call it as it was, and accept this as a resignation.
Not trusting myself to not blow my top in mid-posting, I sent a simple straightforward PM shortly before 1 AM:
GM TWO to Mordred
As with other players rage-quitting (such as when Aolis quit due to the head of security getting a sense that Nakir was trying to pull something on him and consequently chose to not let him in until he gave over the Pathfinder pouch or since he was guilty but claimed he was innocent, he was going to bust Nakir up some -- which was a pressure tactic, but hey), I simply moved on with the game, dutifully moving him from current to past player/character, and got on with answering Jereru, Amavin, and Darivan's questions.
He first posted his uniformative and provocative response at 6:23 AM, followed by a PM at 6:25 AM:
Mordred to GM TWO
Mind you, I expected your decision, but not the one-liner.
You reached out to me with the PM you sent.
You tried to lecture me on courtesy.
I took 2 hours to reflect, to read up on past posts, to compose an answer. To get a one-liner?
After I specifically stated that I avoided doing that in response to your previous PM because I consider it dismissive and inpolite?
It always takes two people for one to be offended - and it takes a certain amount of self-awareness to know one is so easily offended that it will be impossible to work around that. Kudos to you for the self-awareness that you can lash out, but not stand even the slightest offenses, regardless of actual intent.
But the way of delivery? That gives no closure. A one-liner, really? No matter what the reason...I don't matter as a person any more because I am not a player, or specifically replying in a manner I just told you I find insulting to come back at me for some perceived slight, or simply because you don't care about other people and how they feel out of self-centeredness?
Even if you reached the expected conclusion, I believed you would have the courtesy of giving a proper response, after your previous complaint(in public, no less). Tell me just what about the post you did find offensive.
Because if it's simply the quoted section as they stand, then you wanted to feel offended. You wanted to read an insult into this. I could probably have posted anything at all and you would have called me out on it. Why you even reached out to me, I have no idea - if you clearly did not want me to come back in the first place.
So yeah, not by your decision, but by cutting of the communication in a such dismissive and probably intendedly offensive manner, those bridges are burned.
There is no further response necessary, in fact, please do not contact me ever again in any way.
Best of luck with the game. Primarily for the sake of the players.
I am not entirely certain what he expected me to have done; perhaps to do what I had done before, stay cool and collected, inform him of all the points where his word choice and sentence structure set an offensive tone, and finally take the time to write something out to elegantly remove him from the game, I don't know. Do I think I could have handled him better? Yes, perhaps. I certainly do not feel I was wrong the first time, nor do I feel that there was any 'misunderstanding' on my part during his character creation. Do I think I was wrong in this case? Again, no; if I had thought about it at the time, I would have included the suggestion for people to contact those who had not replied (or who had replied tardily) in every PM I sent out.
That he responded to my acknowledgement and good wishes in his future endeavors with such spite speaks to me of ... well, as Shakespeare put into Queen Gertrude's mouth: "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." I feel that the spite to be found in both in his final PM as well as his post ('Obviously my previous post was sufficiently offensive to be called out on it via PM with an ultimatum that I would get kicked out for good if I made one more mistake.') is of such intensity that a good deal of the sensitivity he accuses me of having is, indeed, his own.
In any case.
The short form is simply that I've been wary since Mordred's original blowout rant, and in taking my reaction to PM sought to nip a repeat in the bud. Perhaps I read him being snippy as him being offensive; considering the responses in the spoiler above, well ... suffice it to say that he has blocked/ignored me, and would likely not touch me as a player or GM with a D&D-standard ten-foot pole. I would like to note that I do see most of his last post as inflammatory, designed to vastly misrepresent the situation and cause trouble; for this reason, I strongly encourage reading the Long Form above. As Chalm said to his daughter, only with good information can good decisions be made ...
However, even if you don't, please recognize that I have had (to my recollection) no interpersonal problems with any of you, at least nowhere near the scale of those which I have had with MordredofFairy; I can take a joke (or a 'dude, not cool') as well as anyone else, and better than most.
I'm not passing judgement on the two individuals (as usual, could have been handled better by both parties) but I don't see anything that I need to concerned about as a fellow player.
I'm staying.
GM, Dargaryen will benefit from the feat tax rules. He has the following affected feats:
Dodge
Power Attack
Combat Expertise
Improved Disarm
The following feats have been added:
Dodge/Mobility
Furious Focus
Spring Attack
Deft Maneuvers
Dargaryen's profile has been updated. I'm going to have to restore Merlovaur, since he was rebuilt during the hiatus - should be done this weekend.
Theodric and Darvan are ready, as far as I can see.
For the former, I swapped Weapon Finesse for Quick Draw, updated Weapon Focus and Exotic Weapon Proficiency, and noted former feats being combat options now.
For the latter, I dropped Power Attack entirely and replaced that with Two-Weapon Fighting, updated Improved Unarmed Strike and Weapon Focus, and made note that former feats are now combat options instead.
Their Mythic advancements are going to need going over though, since I did select Mythic versions of several feats that have been altered or removed.
I was incorrect, I forgot about the dodge+mobility combination.
So in all,
Bartek - Unchanged
Kliment - Swap power attack for combat reflexes, swap mobility for toughness
Kliment's Mount - swap mobility for toughness
Williams changes where simply turning power attack into step up and converting his weapon focus and specialization to heavy blades rather than bastard sword.
Winnie changes point blank shot and deadly aim into another extra-discovery that gives her the Fey aspect mutagen and dodge.
Williams wolf loses power attack and gains Run.
Changes have been made. Ready to go.
Whoops! Kain Gallant chiming in here, sorry for the late response. For some reason, I never notice the PM alert until days later...
I'm still interested in continuing (odd coincidence, the other PbP I was in also restarted after a long hiatus). I'll read over the past couple of pages because it seems there's some feat changes to do.
EDIT: Ah! The Feat Tax changes! Great choice, I've implemented this a long while ago in my own campaign, glad to see it here as well. :)
Ishana's updated and fixed.
Amara also should be unaffected and ready
Right. Putting people and changes in!! :)
I am reminded.
In regards to cohorts/followers, the Feat Tax Refund only applies to the former, not the latter.
For Dargaryen, I still have him with 7 background skill points available; for Marlovaur and Daeroch, I have them as having 1 feat each still available, and their information (converted with Feat Tax Refund) as follows:
Male half-elf cavalier (strategist) 4/cleric (crusader) of Erastil 1
LG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+9 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 58 (5 HD; 1d8+4d10+10)
Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +4; +2 vs. enchantments, +2 morale bonus when threaten challenged foe
Immune sleep
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee +1 lance +8 (1d8+4/×3) or
. . gauntlet (from armor) +6 (1d3+2) or
. . heavy mace +6 (1d8+2) or
. . mwk cold iron longsword +7 (1d8+2/19-20) or
. . mwk longsword +7 (1d8+2/19-20) or
. . mwk silver dagger +7 (1d4+1/19-20) or
. . unarmed strike +6 (1d3+2 nonlethal)
Ranged mwk composite longbow +6 (1d8+2/×3)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with +1 lance)
Special Attacks cavalier's charge, challenge 2/day (+4 damage, +2 to saves while threaten), channel positive energy 7/day (DC 15, 2d6), tactician 1/day (Paired Opportunists, 5 rds)
Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +1)
. . At will—speak with animals (4 rounds/day)
Cleric (Crusader) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +1)
. . 0 (at will)—light, stabilize
. . D Domain spell; Domain Animal
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 19
Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 17
Feats Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Mounted Combat, Paired Opportunists[APG], Power Attack, Ride-by Attack, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Spirited Charge, Weapon Focus
Traits reactionary, rostlander
Skills Acrobatics -4 (-8 to jump), Bluff +8, Diplomacy +15, Handle Animal +8, Heal +4, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (geography) +1, Knowledge (history) +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Knowledge (nobility) +4, Knowledge (religion) +4 (+6 on checks involving your chosen faith), Linguistics +4, Perception +4, Profession (soldier) +8, Ride +4, Sense Motive +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Elven, Hallit
SQ calling 4/day (+4), drill instructor, elf blood,mount (horse named Daeroch), order of the star
Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds, wand of protection from evil (50 charges); Other Gear mwk full plate, heavy steel shield, +1 lance, arrows (40), heavy mace, mwk cold iron longsword, mwk composite longbow (+2 Str), mwk longsword, mwk silver dagger, cloak of resistance +1, 1,339 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Animal Companion Link (Ex) Handle or push Animal Companion faster, +4 to checks vs. them.
Calling (4/day) As std. action, gain +4 on a single ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check.
Cavalier's Charge (Ex) Mounted charge grants +4 to hit and -0 AC rather than +2/-2.
Cleric (Crusader) Domain (Animal) Granted Powers: You can speak with and befriend animals with ease. In addition, you treat Knowledge (nature) as a class skill.
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 2d6 (7/day, DC 15) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Combat Expertise +/-2 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Deadly Aim -2/+4 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Drill Instructor (12 minutes) (Ex) Spend 10 minutes and 1 use of challenge, to grant teamwork feat to four allies for 12 minutes.
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Mount (Ex) Gain the services of a special animal companion.
Mounted Combat (1/round) Once per round you can attempt to negate a hit to your mount in combat.
Paired Opportunists +4 to hit for AoOs if you and adj ally with this feat both threaten the target.
Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Ride-By Attack You can move - attack - move when charging mounted.
Speak with Animals (4 rounds/day) (Sp) You can use speak with animals as a spell-like ability.
Spirited Charge Double damage when making a mounted charge (triple with a lance).
Star's Challenge +4 (2/day) (Ex) +4 to damage target, -2 AC vs. others when used, +2 to all saves while threatening your target.
Tactician (Paired Opportunists, 5 rds, 1/day) (Ex) Grant the use of one of your teamwork bonus feats to all allies within 30 ft.
Weapon Focus (Spears) Choose one weapon group. You become better at using that type of weapon.
--------------------
Daeroch CR –
Male horse
N Large animal
Init +1; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 10, flat-footed 19 (+6 armor, +1 Dex, +4 natural, -1 size)
hp 20 (2d8+4)
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +1
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 50 ft. (35 ft. in armor)
Melee gauntlet (from armor) +3 (1d4+3) or
. . unarmed strike +3 (1d4+3 nonlethal) or
. . bite +3 (1d4+3), 2 hooves -2 (1d6+1)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +1; CMB +5; CMD 16 (20 vs. trip)
Feats Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Power Attack
Tricks Air Walk, Attack, Combat Riding, Come, Defend, Down, Guard, Heel
Skills Perception +5, Swim +2
SQ air walk, combat riding
Other Gear chainmail
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Air Walk [Trick] The animal can be ridden through the air when affected by spells.
Animal Companion Link (Ex) Handle or push Animal Companion faster, +4 to checks vs. them.
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Combat Riding [Trick] The animal has been trained to bear a rider into combat.
Deadly Aim -1/+2 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ ft. by sense of smell.
I sort of feel like I should jump in just to say that neither Darivan nor Sylvia are affected by the feat tax rules at all, so I'm ready to go.
@The Long Form - I think I am with Amavin on this one.
@Feat Tax Update - Velar only needs to replace one feat, Weapon Finesse, with something else. I thought I'd simply grab Boon Companion and bump his familiar up to an Dust Mephit right away.
Question 1) Does Familiars benefit from the Feat Tax Refund (Dodge -> Dodge + Mobility & combat options)?
@Skie - I'm thinking of something Rage Prophet-esque (Unchained Barbarian 2 + Oracle 3). I have a good idea of the build and it really shouldn't take too much time to flop it over.
Question 2) Does javelin throwing switch hitter feel close enough to the original?
1: Familiars, mounts, animal companions, all such benefit from the FTR.
2: Skie - hm. I ... would have to see the background and the build, but I have to admit I suspect it won't. Recall what I posted:
Lessah:
I would far prefer as much continuity as possible. I can understand the desire to burn it all down and rebuild from scratch, so I'll allow you to do so with one caveat: at the very, very least, the new character should perform the same function that Skie did, e.g. a social adept with some amount of up-close-and-backstabbing-ness. That's a fairly broad canvas for specifics; go to.
If you can do that with a javelin-throwing switch-hitter barbarian-oracle, go right ahead, but .... those don't seem to quite mesh with 'backstabbing social adept'. On the other hand, my System Mastery is very low, so by all means, build and show!!
@1 - That's good to know. I'll Dust Mephit things up then :P
@2 - Mm that's why I asked. It'd be more of a front-stabbing adept with some amount of up-close-and-talkingness.
I'll put together the sheet at least and give it a whirl, just in case.
Updated Kaellin's feats:
Removed Power Attack and Weapon Finesse
Replaced with Dodge and Weapon Focus (bows)
No feat changes for Sylvana.
Updated both characters to use Dex for CMB.
N Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +4; Senses Perception +9; Low-light vision, fey-sight
DEFENSE
AC 23 [21], touch 15 [13], flat-footed 18 (+6 armor, +5 Dex, [–2 rage], +2 shield)
hp 53 (2d12+3d8+5)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2 [+4]; +2 vs Enchantments
Defensive Abilities Uncanny Dodge, Immune to Sleep
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., 20 ft in armour
Melee +8 stabity stab (1d6+1) [+10 stabity stab (1d6+3)]
Range +8 throwity throw (1d6+1) [+10 throwity throw (1d6+3)]
Special Attacks rage (7 rounds/day), rage powers (Knockback), healer's way (1d6, 3/day)
Spells Known (CL 5th; concentration +7)
1st (6/day)— Cure Light Wounds, Divine Favor, Faerie Fire, Liberating Command, Tap Inner Beauty
0 (at will)— Create Water, Detect Poison, Guidance, Light, Read Magic
Spell-like Abilities
Constant - Detect Magic
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +8; CMD 19
Traits Fate's Favoured, Magical Knack
Feats Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Two Weapon Fighting
Skills Bluff* +10, Climb (1) +5, Disguise (5) +10, Diplomacy (5) +10, Intimidate* +10, Perception (5) +9, Ride (1) +8, Sense Motive (5) +7, Survival (5) +7, Swim (1) +5
Background Skills Perform (Comedy; 5) +10, Profession (Herbalist; 5) +11
Languages Common, Elven, Sylvan, Draconic
SQ keen senses, fey thoughts (perform, disguise), Fey-sighed, fast movement, rage power (1), Mystery (Whimsy), Curse (Lame), Master Herbalist +1, Healer's Way (1d6, 3/day), Revelations (1; *Versatile Comedy)
Notes: 4th level advancement is Dex, Favoured Class is Oracle & skill points
There - just wanted something poke-able up before I go to sleep.
Thanks to the Whimsy Mystery and Fey Thought racial trait there's a complete suit of social skills. Not quite as good as Vigilante version, but that's to the Revelations it has plenty of fun tricks (once there's more then one revelation :P Assumed Form in particular looks fun!).
There's obviously plenty more to work on and things are not set in stone yet, but this is probably what my idea of an barbarian+oracle social fey-themed character would start out as. Early yay/nay?
As a plan B I'm thinking of simply swapping old Skie's story and portrait around a bit. That has the advantage of being a bit faster, even if I'd prefer to burn everything down as mentioned earlier :P
Good night! //Lessah
I am reminded.
In regards to cohorts/followers, the Feat Tax Refund only applies to the former, not the latter.
For Dargaryen, I still have him with 7 background skill points available; for Marlovaur and Daeroch, I have them as having 1 feat each still available, and their information (converted with Feat Tax Refund) as follows:
** spoiler omitted **...
Thanks for including Marlovaur's stats - I forgot that I had posted that herolab file. Note the new profile link for Marlovaur. I will add his background, personality and appearance info when I have time.
Darg added Whirlwind Attack and Marlovaur added Furious Focus. Both should be good to go.
Dargaryen:
(I keep wanting to type 'Dargaeryen'. Go fig.) Dargaryen did not have a feat remaining; Dargaryen has 7 skill points remaining. Remove Whirlwind Attack. Spend the skill points; these have been in limbo since before we started, so please spend them lest you lose them.
Marlovaur and his animal companion, Daeroch, had feats remaining. Feat added to Marlovaur; please add a feat to his animal companion.
Lessah:
I ... admit I have a difficult time meshing an enraged barbarian together with a whimsical oracle in my head, unless the character is more than just a little unstable, and the barbarian rage is symptomatic of that deep-seated madness; that, for example, would be just about the only explanation I could come up with for allowing the 'Perform: Comedy' to continue to work during the barbarian's rage.
I should note, I think, that having a deep link to the fey will not necessarily always be a good thing; it will, in fact, be functionally useless more often than not, as the general opposition will (usually) be pretty mundane. I personally would prefer a reskinning of Skie, giving the background as much of a rewrite as you feel necessary, tweaking a few of the skills and a feat or two as appropriate, but if you can make the mad(wo)man work out ...
Acaciano:
Power attack → Fast Healer
Heartwood (Plant Companion):
Power attack → Powerful Maneuvers
Tai:
Power attack: → Weapon Focus (Heavy Blades)
Hi Everybody!
I've been invited by your generous GM to join this campaign. I'm in the process of updating G'Lyn to 7th lvl and trying to catch up on everything. Boy howdy, there's a lot to catch up on.
Anyways, happy to be onboard, this looks intense :)
@G'lyn - Hello!
@Rage - I envisioned the the rage more as a trance of sort, hyper focused on the task of stabbing or perhaps channelling the malice of the first world.
But I suppose raw insanity could work too :P That's usually fun - at least briefly. Can also get old really fast though.
@Faë - Well it doesn't have to be useful, only occasionally fun. Worst case there's always that long chain of feats for a fairy Improved Familiar :P
@Barbarian in general - However to render the second point mostly moot, the more I think about it, I start to realize that the two levels of Barbarian might not be worth it.
They ended up there from the start because I was looking to build a Rage Prophet-esque thing (actual Rage Prophet doesn't work with Unchained). But really it is adding very little except a bit of anger (and if that's a trance then the Oracle have plenty of that!).
And I think I like the Revelation side of things more anyhow! (And as a bonus that's probably closer to 1.0 Skie too...)
@Plans - So I'm thinking that I'll tinker a bit more with it and come back with a slightly altered cohort.
And on this topic; do you have any planned go-date or is it 'when everything is done'?
Dargaryen's background skill points were already added - I will remove the feat and will add the feat for Daeroch. FWIW, per Hero Labs, Darg had the correct skill points - we must be using different configuration options.
@Skills - human skulle point bonus traded away for something else - or not included?
Doesn't pertain the campaign, so I'm not using my alts to posts this.
I have two Steam coupons good for 75% off of Warhammer 40k's Dawn of War II: Retribution. I've no interest in the game myself, but don't want to see the coupons go to waste either. So I'm offering them, at no cost and first-come-first-served, to the first two PMs I get with a Steam name to friend and send.
Oh, and I also have a Steam guest pass, good for what I'm guessing is a weekend or so worth of time, for Killing Floor. That's also up for grabs.
Sorry for the quietude; RL interference, and computer and network nastiness. *kick kick kick* Aaaas I was saying ...
G'lyn Nalag
Welcome to the game. For the rest of you, I saw djdust's post in the 'up for play' thread, figured that having some down-to-earth Gorumness might be useful for y'all. G'lyn will not be getting brought in during the fight in the dining hall, nor will he have a cohort to play, but he'll be brought in via a different angle; he's been warned this'll likely be a while, but just to make sure he knows, G'lyn -- this might be a while. ;) You will be getting the free Leadership feat, though, so don't, erm, despair. If you're normally the despairing sort.
Back to a Far Earlier Item ...
Ah, sorry, I guess I didn't quite explain fully what I wanted to switch. I was only hoping to switch it from "monastery that seeks self-perfection through physical discipline and the exploration of self" to "academy that seeks self-perfection through the careful study and practice of magic" basically, it would just change the composition of the organization from mostly martial characters to mostly magical ones, but if you don't want that, no problem.
No, I got that; there is a difference, however, between a) a group of people who are trying to achieve perfection-via-self-control (which, by the philosophy, anyone could do through any means) and b) a group of people who are trying to all become mages. The latter are people trying to achieve some sort of magical apotheosis; the former is a village practicing Zen Buddhism, which is functionally what these people are (muahahahaa). This group of Zen Buddhists is what I'm actually aiming for, on a couple of different fronts, most of which you'll get to discover in-game; the important part for you, however, is so that Darivan and Sylvia have an anchor in the real. On their own, they are really intensely focused on the magic; with a village 'achieving perfection via magic', that 'anchor in the real' aspect drops away, in favor of more magic.
Darivan and Sylvia need a reminder of WHY they practice magic, and for whom, and why they practice magic in the manner they do.
Dargaryen and Marlovaur
You are absolutely right; you did spend all Dargaryen's skill points. My apologies for grumbling, I was clearly operating on an old copy. I have updated, and thank you for the updates on Marlovaur and Daeroch.
Bartek and Kliment Yaroslav
Unfortunately, Kliment has a DEX of 12, and cannot take the 'must have Dex 13' Dodge feet. (I'm just putting these two in, can you believe it??) However, Kliment has a few things still to be selected. He hs 5 standard skill points remaining -- 5 going to background skills, but he started with (4 class + 1 Int + 1 human?) 6 per level, unless I'm missing something you did to negate the human bonus. He's also got a Teamwork feat available from Cavalier, and a language available from Int. Likewise, Juniper the horse has a feat available; I guess with being the horse of a cavalier, he gets all three armor feats automatically. So yay!!
Lessah / Barbarian Rage Powers / Dark Side of the Fae
It not having come up before, I've taken a look at the Unchained Barbarian rage powers, and noticed that the standard barbarian rage power 'Moment of Clarity' (required for Rage Prophet) is absolutely equivalent to the unchained barbarian rage power 'Calm Stance'. You can therefore treat the latter as the former, and go with the whole Rage Prophet thing if you like.
Regarding the rage/insanity stuff, yes, the 'malice of the First World' bit is sort of what I meant; it isn't malice, though, just a psychological effect of living in a universe where there are no lasting consequences. (Kill me now, I'll be back in a couple dozen years laughing about the joke.) This can be considered malice, or it can be considered madness ... at least in a world where there ARE lasting consequences. (The real malice part would come from the shadow realm of the Lost Prince ... but you might not want to key into that.)
Short form on that, though, is keep going with whatever you like, and we'll come back 'round to it, see how well it fits in the old Skie slot.
River Freedoms
Just as an aside on Bartek -- I really appreciate the 'relationship with the Six River Freedoms' bit. GM kudos, and I encourage any/everyone else to do something similar, if only as an exercise as to how your character is going to be thinking about these things as they go into this chaotic place.
Steam:
I have it, but I haven't a good enough computer or a quality network with which to use it decently; thanks, but pass on to a better user. ;)
Release Date:
I'm intending to get this going again by Sunday, but this is dependent on me getting ALL the characters save G'lyn into Hero Lab; neither my computer nor my network are being nice to me in this regards to getting characters input/updated, but I'm still plugging away at it. Sunday is also my RL gaming day (well, alternate Sundays, but this is one), so at best it'll be late before I post.
To keep y'all updated on my progress, though, I'll post blurbs on how far I'm ... er ... progressing. :P
Updated
Lyda, Deneb Flynvias, and animal companions
Dargaryen Blanc, Marlovaur Fellnight, and mount
Theodric Valtrava and Darvan Singra
Bartek Yaroslav, Kliment Yaroslav, and mount
As of this writing, working on Aramil Wellys and Porablum Flapzit.
Bartek and Kliment Yaroslav
Unfortunately, Kliment has a DEX of 12, and cannot take the 'must have Dex 13' Dodge feet. (I'm just putting these two in, can you believe it??) However, Kliment has a few things still to be selected. He hs 5 standard skill points remaining -- 5 going to background skills, but he started with (4 class + 1 Int + 1 human?) 6 per level, unless I'm missing something you did to negate the human bonus. He's also got a Teamwork feat available from Cavalier, and a language available from Int. Likewise, Juniper the horse has a feat available; I guess with being the horse of a cavalier, he gets all three armor feats automatically. So yay!!
Kliment:
Looking at his feats, I am pretty sure I messed up somewhere other than just taking dodge.
What I have now: Feats (3 level, 1 human, 1 story, 2 Bonus) - Champion(Story), Mounted Combat, Ride-by-Attack, Dodge/Mobility, Toughness, Combat Reflexes, Spirited Charge
I can not for the life of me find out where I get 2 bonus feats from. I think 1 should be a team work feat and the other non-existent. Could you please look this over again as I am not sure wtf I did here.
What I think I should have is: Feats (3 level, 1 human, 1 story, 1 Teamwork) - Champion(Story), Mounted Combat, Ride-by-Attack, Dodge/Mobility, Spirited Charge, Escape Route
I have left Dodge/Mobility there as I would like to change from Int 12 Dex 12 to Int 11 Dex 13. This would remove the need to take 5 more skill ranks and the bonus language.
If that is not allowed then I will take 5 ranks in sense motive, change out dodge for furious focus, and take dwarven as the bonus language.
.
Juniper: While I would love to get all of the armor proficiency feats for free on my mount, I can only find a reference to getting Light Armor Proficiency for free.
I will exchange Medium Armor Proficiency for Improved Natural Armor if I do need to change the feat.
.
If I mucked something up let me know, refamiliarizing myself with the two characters is taking some time. Once all the above changes are dealt with I will have to grind through the numbers again to make sure all the math is correct. I am glad you appreciated the 6 River freedoms thing and can't wait to get started.
Have two more Steam coupons available: 50% off Bayonetta and 75% off Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai.
Kliment:
Good plan with the shift from 12/12 to 11/13, will execute. I'll look up the thing for Juniper.
Status:
Working on Velar Khion'Tal. Before the Headband of Vast Intelligence +1 (Fly), while the Background Skill Points are done right (21), I'm showing the spending of 46 adventuring skill points. You indicate you have 52 available (18 + 34); I'm showing that you have 39 available (Wizard 2 x 5 + Eldrich Knight 2 x 1 + Slayer 6 x 1 = 10 + 2 + 6 = 18) + (Int +3 x 7 = 21) = 39. While the class skills seem to match, if you could walk me through how you came up with the 34, it would be appreciated.
On the spell side, don't forget the impact of your opposition schools; with Enchantment as an opposition school, the spell Keep Watch requires two spell slots to memorize. (Great spell, btw.)
Also looking forward to your Rage Machine, or whatever you come up with.
Will be working on Kaellin Greenleaf and Sylvara Amalur next.
@Skill Points - Uhm yeah, past me definitely did something weird. It doesn't even make sense if I accidentally added favored class bonus (twice? Or the headband...). I'll stare at it a while longer and try to figure it out, but most likely 39 is the correct amount and I'll have to trim it down a bit.
@Keep Watch - I think I just assumed that that one was a Divination. Hmrph. I'll fix that.
@General note - I found a great big cold that seemed to like me very much. That means I have plenty of time (no work) but the quality of that time is questionable at best. Hopefully I'll be able to cludge things together at least somewhat until sunday. But if not - sorry in advance!
@GM TWO - I figured out what was wrong with Kliment's feats! He has the Gendarme archetype for the cavalier, which I forgot to write down on his character sheet. I only found out because I was perusing the original submissions spreadsheet and you had written the archetype in.
The Gendarme gives up the tactician abilities and gets personal bonus feats for them, which is why I did not previously have a teamwork feat. As such I need to change my feats to fit the requirements of the Gendarme archetypes bonus feat list.
Feats (3 level, 1 human, 1 story, 2 Bonus from Gendarme) - Champion(Story), Powerful Maneuvers, Dodge/Mobility, Mounted Combat, Ride by attack, Unseat, Spirited Charge.
Sorry for the confusion with this feats nonsense. All for want of writing down my archetype.
Now working on equipment. I'll definitely have an updated build up sometime tomorrow.
All right!
Skills fixed and Familiar updated (give me a heads up if I need to make a build summary - but it's really just the familiar improvements slapped ontop of a standard Dust Mephit with some gear).
However - cohort update hasn't materialized yet. So in the interest of having things go along smoothly I have a suggestion!
Suggestion) How about simply having Skie 2.0 not attending the party for [some plausible reason]?
That way there's no need to wait and I can ditch this damned cold before I need to finish that work :P
G'Lyn is updated and ready for review. Story still needs some retweaking I believe.
Right, not happening tonight. Still working on allay'all. Just as a reminder, it may be helpful to review from the start of the tableau, just to re-set you in the scene; or from the oathtakings if you want to really re-set yourselves in the scene/game.
I’m making some changes to G’Lyn’s backstory to fit this campaign better. Nothing major. One is to account for his new Lost Legacy story feat, simply that since his parents served as viziers to House Rogarvia and his father amongst the vanished, his mother had her station renounced by House Surtova. G’lyn is then set on proving his father still lives ...
Note that Brevoy is Eastern European -- generally Polish/Russian -- in flavor. A 'vizier' -- speaking of the word/title, not the position -- is distinctly Arabic in flavor. What you'd be looking for is a steward (the economic/political position) or a minister.
However, as I understand the Vanishing, it was only actual members of House Rogarvia (well, and the mystic isolation of the town at the top of that one mountain) that disappeared. I'm good with him having disappeared that same night, though this will raise questions as to whether or not maybe he had some more-direct blood connection to House Rogarvia, but I do have a bit of a notation.
Since the unification of Brevoy by Chorral the Conqueror was only 210 years ago, and your character is a minimum of 100 or so years old, it is thus possible that your father and mother knew Chorral. (Elven aging seems a little weird -- 110 minimum, but middle age at 175 -- you COULD be only 5 years away from middle age at the end of wizard training, whereas humans' max is 7 years away from middle age ...) Anyhow. I am good with your father disappearing at the same time, and because your mother was associated, being essentially booted from what position she had. (See some commentary about elven aging in a human society here.) Trying to find your father / establish his continued survival is an entirely workable desire.
... and establishing himself in the court of King Chalm. I also now have it that upon completing his ecclesiastical studies, G’Lyn served as a lieutenant under then Lord Commander Kowalskiy, thus his personal loyalty to the newly crowned king. I’m not sure when or how G’lyn Is going to be interjected into the campaign, so i’m not sure where to go from there. Thoughts, feedback?
Most of this, however, kind of has to go. First, the Vanishing happened a decade ago; if you wanted the mission to join Chalm as being a 'because/therefore' impulse, that's going to be a non-starter. Nor is Chalm out to prove anything about the Vanishing; joining up to expect him to do so is, well, counterproductive, both for him and for you -- his direction, and therefore yours, is away from Brevoy.
Due to the differences in the setup, though, you're coming at the game from a different angle, and a different insertion point; my suggestion is that you'll have been hunting for him since the Vanishing. This will be less of a problem than it may seem due to my suggestion for in-character ages, thus:
'Class starting age' + (Class Dice per level in months), +3 or 4 (that you've been 7th level).
For G'lyn, that would be 110 + 6d6 years + (6 x 6)d6 months + 3-4 months -- the average would be 141 years 9 months. My general 'minimum' would be as if you rolled a 2 on all dice -- 128 years, 6 of those being adventuring.
So with this, G'lym has -- needs -- no connection to Chalm. I generally haven't wanted the characters to have any considerably amount of connection to him; a lieutenant under the Lord Commander would be fine, but G'lym otherwise has no reason to be a soldier, including an utter lack of soldierly profession.
Then there's the bit about 'ecclesiastical studies'. While part of my response to dwilhelmi in this post is appropriate, the essence that I want to indicate is virtually identical for you as for the paladin: when your God calls, no matter what else is happening, you answer. You are a tool of your God, first and foremost; anything else that might be happening is secondary to that fact. In addition, because of that direct personal link to your god, there is nothing that requires him to be an instructed member of the clergy. In truth, for both paladins and inquisitors, instruction from the clergy can be somewhat counterproductive, because in both cases the individual is getting instructions directly from their god, and in the latter's case -- your case -- a good half the time your targets are followers, even clergy, of your god, which means the things they have to teach you ... might be self-serving, as compared to what the god's instructions are.
This isn't to say that you can't have been taught at the seminary attached to the Bulwark of Gorum, and then having been in the army, possibly (probably) attached to the 'chain dogs', i.e. the military police; what I mean to indicate is that your sheet shows no such experience, lacking Profession: Soldier. If you want to juggle your points around, though, to reflect having had that sort of background (probably from before the Vanishing), that'd be fine.
However, once more as an inquisitor, while between the god's inspirations you may act as you're required by your commander, when Gorum answers ... for as far as you're concerned, not even the king would be out of your jurisdiction.
Just ... wanting to get your character's psyche established in my version of the world. ;)
Suggestion for your mount -- take a look at the Animal Companion Archetypes, particularly the Charger, from the Animal Archive; gains part of your cavalier bonuses, reduces armor penalties for barding, all sorts of fun s%*$e; seems custom-made for a lance-charging maniac like Kliment.
Also, up Juniper's hooves damage to full strength (i.e. 1d6+4); this echoes the 'gauntlet' enhancement from the armor. IMO, if you have a critter that wears the heavier sorts of barding regularly, you'll have it shod with slightly heavier horseshoes; Q.E.D.
Working on Kaellin and Sylvara.
Ranger: He has no favored enemies; take 2, upgrade 1.
Feats: As far as I can tell, he still has 1 remaining.
Skills: Sense Motive is +11, not +14; he doesn't have it as a class skill, unless you meant to give it to him with Fey Thoughts. (Instead of, perhaps, Diplomacy?)
More as I keep working.
Working on Kaellin and Sylvara.
RE: feats
I added Quick Draw to the list.RE: favored enemies
Ah, I listed them under "special attacks": human +4, giant +2
RE: skills
I can't remember why I wrote things the way I did, but yeah, made a mistake there. Fey Thoughts should now be (diplomacy, sense motive). I removed the +3 class bonus from Sleight of Hand.
@GM TWO - I am going to take the Charger Archetype for Juniper. I will also increase the hooves to full strength damage.
Updates might not get done today but I'll do them shortly.
Thank you for the notes, now back to the drawing board.
Bartek: got it, done. Thanks.
Kaellin: ditto; thanks. One thing - you can gain one more attribute point by putting the +2 into dex (starting at 14) and the +1 into Wisdom (starting at 15) instead of both into one of them (thus spending the cost for one starting at 13 and the other at 16). Otherwise, Kaellin done.
On Sylvara: Since you are putting skill points into it, you must define what form of art your Artistry talent creates. IMO, this is clearly something you're trying to use to put together Sylvara's magnum opus with Oratory, so just going off what they have in Hero Lab, you're looking at criticism, literature, playwriting, or philosophy. If you tell me the thrust of what she might be striving for -- what type of oratory she prefers -- then I can give some advice on specificity. I'm also willing to let you wait with those skill points technically spent but actually dedicated 'to whatever Artistry we nail down', but only so long as you don't use the skill until then.
G'lyn: if you have questions, ask. I (and these others) can be a great soundingboard for you.
[b]Now Assembling:[b] Avengers Amavin Zephyra and Ishana Tamanna
Kaellin: ditto; thanks. One thing - you can gain one more attribute point by putting the +2 into dex (starting at 14) and the +1 into Wisdom (starting at 15) instead of both into one of them (thus spending the cost for one starting at 13 and the other at 16). Otherwise, Kaellin done.
Thanks for the tip! I recalculated, and I'd like to reduce Cha from 13 to 12 so I can use the extra point to move Int 10 to 12. That will also give Kaellin 7 more skill points, which I've allocated as follows:
+2 ranks to Acrobatics+1 rank to Diplomacy
+1 rank to Ride
+1 rank to Sense Motive
+2 ranks to Survival
On Sylvara: Since you are putting skill points into it, you must define what form of art your Artistry talent creates. IMO, this is clearly something you're trying to use to put together Sylvara's magnum opus with Oratory, so just going off what they have in Hero Lab, you're looking at criticism, literature, playwriting, or philosophy. If you tell me the thrust of what she might be striving for -- what type of oratory she prefers -- then I can give some advice on specificity. I'm also willing to let you wait with those skill points technically spent but actually dedicated 'to whatever Artistry we nail down', but only so long as you don't use the skill until then.
I envision Sylvara's magnum opus to be a written saga of their adventures, so I think literature would be appropriate.
There's probably enough here now that a quick double check could be worth it =)
Spending the day finishing re-entries, edits, and the like in. Will be resuming tomorrow after 5-6 PM EST (my time). Amavin and Ishana below; Acaciano and Tai Reen next up.
I don't know if this was decided in the previous campaign, but with 'Nemesis', Amavin gets an additional favored bonus perk per level, starting at the level she gains the feat. On reconstruction, all her HP/skills/added spells are accounted for via only her standard 1 favored class bonus per level; what I'd like you to do is roll 1d6 (because I'd rather she not gain 'Nemesis' in the last few months) and use that as the level at which ...
...
No. No, I have a better idea. Set it at 1st level. This is going to be a much longer-lived Nemesis than you, who considers you their personal plaything to torment. Why do you think you were 'abandoned' as an infant? :>
Remember the restrictions on the Nemesis bonus -- at each level, one of the bonuses must be either a skill point or a HP; this does mean you could gain 3 more spells known if you wish, however.
Ishana:
I notice that in both Amavin and Ishana's background/personality notes, Ishana is indicated to be elvish; please change this, just to allow the GM to not be confused. ;)
Also, if a feat/trait/item has a choice (such as with World Traveler), please don't forget to indicate it. While I deduced WT went to Sense Motive, you need to indicate which body slot the hypnotic tattoo fits into.
So far as I can tell, Ishana's only remaining thing is to give her the +1 attribute bonus from 4th level. Optionally, keep Dex at 18, but have it as being bought at 15, and have 3 build points to use elsewhere.
Just making sure I was seen, again really happy this is starting back up.
Thanks for the run through GM.
Just a little confused though by a few things, since we both use HeroLab but get different results.
Amavin
Amavin took both +1 hp and +1 skill point at levels 1-3 because using the favored class bonus on spells would only allow me to use it on cantrips. I took +3 hp because at that stage of her career, she probably would have wanted it :)
I don't know how, on reconstruction, it appears as if she just has her standard bonus, since I have Hero Lab set to show me it effective from level 1. For recording purposes, here is what I took:
Level 1 (HP + Skill Point)
Level 2 (HP + Skill Point)
Level 3 (HP + Skill Point)
Level 4 (Skill Point + 1st level spell)
Level 5 (Skill Point + 1st level spell)
Level 6 (Skill Point + 2nd level spell)
Level 7 (Skill Point + 2nd level spell)
EDIT Wait I know what the issue is.
Amavin had full hp per level instead of half +1.
It was a carry over from Corsario's campaign and must have slipped through the cracks. Adjusting it - takes 12 hp off and hopefully corrects things.
Ishana
I fixed Ishana as well, which had the same HP issue as Amavin.
As she had 14/14/16(with a +2 in Dex), her 4th level stat boost went into Dexterity (bringing it to 19). I guess I could swift a few things around, but I'll always have that "dead" score increase either now or later, and there isn't anything pressing I want to give her.
RE tattoo, it should be triggered on a body slot. In addition, I was hoping to see if Ishana could purchase a holy symbol tattoo for 100 gp as a non magic item that is something in character for Ishana, but leaving that up to you.
lastly, I do need you to clarify something, Ishana is proficient in Whips, Scorpion or otherwise. Can I trigger my Serpentine Tattoo with current whip she is using, or do I need to use a Scorpion whip. Just checking now because theres probably no reason to have a Serpentine Tattoo in a body slot if theres no way for her to actively use it.
Just as a general FYI -- a look into my style when it comes to putting characters into HeroLab. When it comes to attributes, I try to maximize the effectiveness of your purchases: any general bonus (like humans or half-elves) goes to the highest attribute, and after that's taken off, your 4th-level increase goes to the next highest. This is why there's occasionally a point or two left over for you to use. :)
STR 18 = STR 15 + 2 Half Elf + 1 4th level; you have an additional point left over. ;) Everything else looks good.
Tai Reen:
Two item notes, otherwise good.
Boots of the Favored Terrain (Cold) are apparently boots of friendly terrain, just a naming thing.
However, I'm unable to find 'Mask of the Grinning Skull (525 gp, 1 lb)' at all. There's 'Mask of the skull', which is 22,000gp; 'mark of the grinning skull', which is 2,000gp. I can't find anything apparently similar which is 525gp. Let me know what's up there.
No, that's what I have for Amavin; having her set up that way puts her at 42 Adventuring skill points, and 21 Background skill points. (You have 35 Adventuring skill points spent for Amavin so far.)
If you want to shunt things around to boost her HP, (I have her at 52 HP) that's cool; I'm just not sure you're getting the full bonuses from your Feat. Also, don't forget her Thunderstaff ability.
For Ishana, for what it's worth, I have her at 55 HP (5d8 + 10 + 5 FC). In regards to the serpentine tattoo (which Ishana doesn't have yet), what is required is a monk or performance weapon (which a scorpion whip can be used as), or an unarmed strike. You would need the scorpion whip -- though y'know, there's only a 5gp difference between the two if you wanted to shift your +1 whip over to a +1 scorpion whip. For the more critical question, though, I would call the scorpion whip's use eligible for Slashing Grace. Just remember that when it's being used as a performance weapon, it loses the trip/reach/disarm abilities, due to its being used to be all flashy and stuff. Of course, this is still waiting on acquiring a serpentine tattoo.
And yes, if she has the GP, she can have a holy symbol tattoo; just make sure you define where it's located.
Moving on to the Lawsricks!!