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I'm in the middle of brutal cold weather here in Minnesota as well. Brrrrr!!!
Shifty et al. --
If our timing for combats are 5 min/day, round up... There are a LOT of combats that will have to be completed in a single day. GMs, if that's the case, your tables are going to have to MOVE.
Most Play-by-Posts take multiple days to complete a combat. The timing of this will be rough, even for fast GMs like myself. Is that 5 min/day already set?
Hmm
Could you please explain what you're talking about a little more, so I have a better idea of how to handle it myself?
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When you read the scenario it gives very structured timings of how long each activity may run for (ie a combat may be given 30 minutes), so as we are not playing face to face we need a conversion from face to face play to PbP play. The working conversion is 5 minutes of face to face time roughly equals 24 hours in PbP world.
So when you read the scenario, you can gauge how long you will actually have to run each activity.
I have run this one live, and yes it IS a fast paced game, and no the players DIDN'T have lots of time to work out their best play, indeed the people who spent time in planning and strategising lost more encounters than those who simply went for the direct approach.
It was hectic, and the overthinkers/metagamers were the worst hit.
Be prepared for a lot of tables to fail tasks, that won't be the PbP medium, it is just the way the scenario works - high levels of failure were common (especially in the 'stage play' section)
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So if the scenario gives 5 minutes for a combat, you'll have one day real time to complete it. You and your groups are going to have to move.
Given that there will be little time for botting turn around, GMs, you and your groups should talk about botting protocols. Make sure the players are okay with being botted. Get "Bot me" spoilers from everyone. Ask if some of the players might be willing to help bot.
Hmm
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Looking at the document again, I may have overreacted. It looks like most of the 5 and 3 minute things are for non-combat knowledge checks, or for scrambling to do stuff like grab rubies.
Most of the actual combats are anywhere from 25-45 minutes long, so we'll have 5-9 days to complete. That looks a lot more doable!
Hmm cleans off her reading glasses, takes a deep breath and chills out.
Hmm
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From my experience running Shadow Lodge over pbp, the combats are still tight. I'll be asking my table to make sure they have boring protocols, and to try and get posts in at least once a day, though I'm probably going to ask that they try for two.
The amount of times I had to say "ok, well, a bunch of other pathfinders appear out of nowhere and finish off the bad guys" felt like it was way too much.
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Hmm the timings are tight, but they wont be 1 day tight :)
Steven take your point, but the players need to just bear in mind this is a timed event - so they can't dawdle, and that during Year of the Shadlowloge there were no less than fifteen parties rolling through the very area they are standing in - to a degree that is what I like about the specials, the idea that there is this massive wave of Pathfinders rolling through an area.
They really need to stick to posting 1/Day regardless, it is for a short time for a specific purpose.
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Hmm the timings are tight, but they wont be 1 day tight :)
Steven take your point, but the players need to just bear in mind this is a timed event - so they can't dawdle, and that during Year of the Shadlowloge there were no less than fifteen parties rolling through the very area they are standing in - to a degree that is what I like about the specials, the idea that there is this massive wave of Pathfinders rolling through an area.
They really need to stick to posting 1/Day regardless, it is for a short time for a specific purpose.
Aye, I did like the "feel" of there being a massive wave of pathfinders that you were a part of. It was just that there were more times than not where my group would dawdle, not even get into round two of combat, and then the Calvary showed up. The only part where they really got to get deep into combat was the very first encounter (where they got rolled for TWO of the big guys in a row) and the very last, where they seemed to post more frequently. Im going to stress 1/day posting even harder for this one. I just don't want the group to feel like they "missed out" a lot on this one. The group from Shadow Lodge all said they wish they'd posted more so they could have gotten more done themselves.
I want to make sure I'm not overlooking or misunderstanding anything: It looks like the statistics for randomly-rolled enemies have already been divided, but I saw Hmm/Shifty saying something about needing time to write up statistics (or something) for the random encounters. What's the story there?
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They are all divided up by tier, so you only need to worry about the tier you are running.
It may be worth a bit of your time now to work out which random encounters you will be runnning, so that you can read and understand the applicable stat block ahead of time - to save you doing it when time is at a bit of a premium later.
Similarly, pre-editing some of your GM posts ready to simply copy-pasta direct into your gameplay thread can also be a thing to do ahead of time.
You can also source any images now that you might need, such as enemies and the like.
None of this is essential, but the more familiar you are with what is coming up the easier it is to make sense of what is going on... there are a lot of moving parts and it is easy to miss the big picture.
In the final big combat we had a lot of tables where some bright spark just ran across the big room and bypassed their opponents to try get a touch on. Which when you look ata map you see a huge empty room with two enemies and a party of six, what ISN'T readily apparent is that in that room were about 24 other enemies (including top tier bad guys) and horde of other Pathfinders. The idea is that there is this massive melee taking place which is abstracted, but with a map where only the players and their direct enemy is depicted it is easy to forget.
The people pulling the 'running stunts'just would have been AOO'd to death by creatures waaaaaay over their normal CR.
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What about the Ronin interlude.. I assume that we are going to run that, correct? How should we handle the DC's for talking the barmaid and Ronin down from each other? Should they start off as Hostile, or just Unfriendly?
IDIYC: I think you are referring to my question about prerolling the encounters and the ensuing conversation. I went ahead and prerolled everything in one of the dice rolling threads to make the transitions easier for me, and even rolled up extra waves, since there is no telling how well/poorly the table will handle each round. (May the dice bots ever be in your favor) From there, I took all of the stat blocks and entered them into a word document I saved in my Google file so that no matter where I am or what computer I am using, I will have quick access to the materiel without having to go from PRD to Bestiary to Scenario text (oh wait, wrong page/wrong tier).. everything is right there, divided up and color coded for encounter/wave.
Here is what I have done. Anyone using tier 5-6 may use this if you so desire.
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Questions for Shifty....
Will we be posting our own Overseer box text into our threads or will you? Will you be opening up a discussion thread on the Overseer thead for the special?
Also, I requested one of the backup GMs to cover my con dates, and then discovered that he didn't know that he would be getting a GM chronicle.
Gang, backup GMs for this special are part of Shifty's HQ. As such, they will get GM credit. Please use them to give yourself needed breaks for cons, weddings and other real life events that may arise.
Thanks!
Hmm
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I'll be posting the text in as per last time. I know it seems a bit funky with it cutting across the middle of an interaction, but I'm dealing with Paizo boards AND Myth Weavers, and need to ensure consistency/pace. Also gives me a prompt to look at each table regularly and see how they are tracking.
I have opened up a discussion in the Overseer thread - we must be thinking the same things.
And Back-up GM's - please check the messages that I sent:
"I will make sure you still get your credit/boon regardless of whether you get a call out - you are still a part of the GM team"
And might I just say, the Boons for this one is rather special.
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Thanks, Shifty! I really appreciate this! To my fellow GMs... Don't be afraid to use the backups to give yourself a pre-scheduled mental health break. Six weeks is a long slog in Play-by-post. A pre-scheduled mental break is not abandoning your table, it is conserving your energy so we don't get GM burnout!
Hmm
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I've got a question on how to adjudicate act 1 where everyone is trying to get hold of the rubies. Other than the first round, it seems vague to me what the conditions that the party manages to get hold off one.
My intepretation is this:
Surprise Round: Only those with combat reflexes or can't be flat-footed can roll DC22 reflex save to catch one.
Round 1-5: There are two possibilities. (1) Only those who succeed at DC20 perception manages to spot one on the floor. I would then assume they are able to get their hands on it since no info given about any skill checks. As soon as that happens though, the party would get attacked by the opponents trying to get theirs in the next round. (2) Alternatively, if they don't manage to spot one, they can attack one of the opponents with one. I will assume that they can easily pick out one group that has a ruby to target. So either way, if they succeed at their first combat, they would have at one ruby.
Round 6 onwards: No more rubies on the floor, so only option 2 above would work.
The party has the option to flee after getting the first ruby, or continue trying to get more. Depending on which round they're in, they could attempt to pick one from the floor (and then get attacked), or attack another group of opponents.
Does that sound about right?
May I add to that: When competitors show up in that scene to fight the players for rubies, do they confront and fight the PCs one-on-one, or can the whole party take them on together?
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I could not have timed that better...
That was a crack up - I saw that as I was doing the rounds. Excellent timing.
By how much should I be advancing the plot in the meantime?
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You can let them see some of the other teams in the tavern and even talk to them. Or you can have them chat with the bartender. You can also let them scout exits. My team is currently chatting with the Ronin, at least some of them, because it is hard to miss a guy in ornate lamellar armor.
You have to wait for the Oni post before you can do ruby catching.
Hmm
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I have had fun making sure that they knew how clueless the Ronin is, by having him completely misunderstand the idioms the party was using.
Hmm
Questions:
Is every single PC going to need a glowing ruby of their own, or is it enough for the party to have at least 1 between them?
Also, someone in my party just caught a ruby out of the air - do I send rivals over to attack her immediately?
Furthermore, do I send a rival group at them for every single ruby they catch? I could see that getting out of hand pretty quickly.
Finally, one of the PCs in my party is a Conjurer - given that the Devil's Dregs is probably already in violation of fire department code at its present capacity, should a suddenly-summoned monster face (or pose) any particular issue with all the crowding (I realize nothing in the written rules says anything about that, but I feel a good DM doesn't just shine these things on - I despise the term "fluff" and its connotations).
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With the rubies:
Having one ruby is good, having more rubies is better. The more rubies they can collect the better the odds they have a glowing ruby.
With the party managing to catch a ruby, they will be attacked by an enemy group who tries to mug them for the ruby - and the person that caught the ruby is the one they will try do over first. So yes, she will be attacked immediately.
If they secure another ruby off the floor, they wont get hit by MORE muggers whilst they are still resolving their current wave.
In essence, this activity is designed to make them deal with trading off defending themselves and getting more rubies off the floor.
With regards the summon - it should face the same problem the players do, in that it is limited by how far it can push through a crowd (no more than its movement in a round).
I know what you mean about 'appropriateness' - but there's also a certain degree of bad 80's martial arts movie vibe in this scenario, so if it seems ok in such a setting...
Now, in the game I'm in as a *player,* the DM said this:
This doesn't seem entirely aligned with what you've said. Is it correct or incorrect?
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What about the Ronin interlude.. I assume that we are going to run that, correct? How should we handle the DC's for talking the barmaid and Ronin down from each other? Should they start off as Hostile, or just Unfriendly?
I have to crack out the timings and have a close look, but that might be an area that gets shelved - when we ran face to face the section before it was long and ran way over...
I actually hope we run the Ronin. He's one of the few times the group will have a chance to roleplay.
Hmm
What does it take (action-wise) to pick up a ruby?
Also, how should we handle it if they decide to escape through the windows? That option seems oddly consequence-free compared to the other two....