A few months ago a group of excited dwarfs set out to reclaim their ancestral homeland of Dammerhall in Fire Mountain's kickstarted Throne of Night: Dark Frontier, a lvl 1-5 Pathfinder adventure and the first book of a series. Alas, their GM's life quandaries interrupted their quest, and they are looking for a new GM to pick up the reins.
The group initially started with 7 dwarfs (as is tradition), but 1 seems to have vanished and another is currently experiencing some difficulties at work, but is around. The remaining 5 enthusiastic and very active posting dwarfs have not adventured far, and any GM could simply start where they left off or modify the campaign if they so choose.
Any GMs interested in picking up this game can view the Discussion thread of our game, look over our gameplay posts, or see the recruitment thread where our character creation rules originated. We can discuss making changes to our characters/builds if you have some concerns.
Please discuss/answer the following points/questions in your application:
(1) Tell us about your experience GMing. (if any)
(2) Why do you enjoy Gming? (If not answered above)
(3) How often do you post?
(4) How often do you expect your players to post?
(5) What is your GMing style? (Do you focus heavily on NPC interaction, enjoy weaving intrigue and mystery, salivate over the thrill of the combat dice, or do you prefer laughing manically as the foolish players step into your cleverly laid trap?)
(6) What kind of tone do you prefer for your games? (or does it change with the game?)
(7) What are some house rules you include in your games? (if any)
(8) If you were to GM this game, would you play the campaign as written, or add your own flair/content?
*Have you ever played Dwarf Fortress?
*If yes, what is your preferred method for dealing with a Catplosion? (Conventional, NOT thermonuclear).
*If yes, how Dwarfy (or !!FUN!!) are you willing to make this game? A scale of 1 to Urist to express yourself is optional.
The other players will probably be chiming in with their questions/comments soon.
Thank you for your time.
Dasur Deepborn, dwarf wizard and mathematician.
"Indeed! a'd loue fur some yin tae come 'n' pick this yin aff th' ground 'n' hulp leid us deeper intae th' mirk!" The tiny monk cheers, grinning wildly.
Seriously though, I was super excited for this game and was sad to hear our former GM couldn't continue it and I'd love for it to continue onwards!
I am one of the players in this game and I am honestly hoping someone comes along and decides to take in a group of orphans.
Don't let the dwarven people die out!
Heir to the throne here, hoping for a chance to actually see the throne.
Seriously though, we're a pretty excited group and very good posters (if I say so myself) and we're really hoping to continue the adventure and uncover more about what was going to happen and all that fun stuff.
Bump and an update. Our sixth dwarf has returned to active posting.
As an added bonus, I'm happy to buy the adventure path for any GM willing to run the campaign. A 10 dollar value, absolutely free!
Is anybody there that would run this!
Looking forward to any help you can offer, Corsario!
As added information to all, we (the players) are willing to discuss homebrew options for the campaign if the written adventure path seems creatively stifling.
I'm surprised no one has stepped up here. You guys have a great post history and fun characters.
(1) Tell us about your experience GMing. (if any)
I'm in my 40's and I've been running games since about 1982. I've run and played many different games, but primarily DnD, Shadowrun, and Mutants and Masterminds, with a brief diversion into some World of Darkness games in the 90's. I currently run a weekly Pathfinder game (Crimson Throne right now). That group has been together for 14 years. I also run several Mutants and Masterminds games here on the boards and just started playing in a Star Wars Saga game. I previously took over an ongoing high level game here on the boards and that experience didn't end well. I still don't think I'm a great PbP GM. There just are some things about the format I haven't figured out, but I'm working on it.
(2) Why do you enjoy Gming? (If not answered above)
My favorite games to run are Pathfinder and Mutants and Masterminds. Also a really old comedy game called "Tales from the Floating Vagabond."
(3) How often do you post?
I can post as many as 3 times a day. I've not yet run a game here where my post rate was slower than that of the players. I would love to post on weekends, but that seems not to be a thing.
(4) How often do you expect your players to post?
I'd like to see 1.5 posts per day, on average.
(5) What is your GMing style? (Do you focus heavily on NPC interaction, enjoy weaving intrigue and mystery, salivate over the thrill of the combat dice, or do you prefer laughing manically as the foolish players step into your cleverly laid trap?)
I think my style is a little like a chameleon. My personal preference is for a lot of player initiated storytelling. I like for my players to have agency in creating details, especially in a PbP game. No need to wait around for me to say everything about everything. Happy for players to make stuff up. My live game is a lot more hack and slash, though, because that is what my players prefer.
(6) What kind of tone do you prefer for your games? (or does it change with the game?) I think tone should match the game.
(7) What are some house rules you include in your games? (if any)
In tabletop games I allow prepared casters to re-memorize prepared spell slots in 15 minutes. We usually do hit points with half the die +half the roll, but that varies by campaign. Otherwise I play Pathfinder pretty straight.
(8) If you were to GM this game, would you play the campaign as written, or add your own flair/content?
I ran the books that have been published with my group with lots of additional material. I added other settlements (Duergar, Ascended Troglodytes, and other stuff). I wanted a bigger sandbox to play in, and we were running on Slow advancement track because we knew the end of the campaign didn't exist.
Which brings me to a question: How can you run this campaign as written? It isn't written. I have all of the published materials and the outline and whatnot. I had lined up materials to fill out the higher levels, but we had a TPK and decided to relaunch from that point at a later date as a Drow party.
Hello SuperTumbler! Thanks for answering all the questions.
(1) Tell us about your experience GMing. (if any)
I'm in my 40's and I've been running games since about 1982. I've run and played many different games, but primarily DnD, Shadowrun, and Mutants and Masterminds, with a brief diversion into some World of Darkness games in the 90's. I currently run a weekly Pathfinder game (Crimson Throne right now). That group has been together for 14 years. I also run several Mutants and Masterminds games here on the boards and just started playing in a Star Wars Saga game. I previously took over an ongoing high level game here on the boards and that experience didn't end well. I still don't think I'm a great PbP GM. There just are some things about the format I haven't figured out, but I'm working on it.
A 14 year tabletop group is quite the achievement, bravo! Certainly an impressive addition to your GM resume. I'm a big fan of William Gibson's work, so hearing you've run Shadowrun games makes me a tad envious.
If you can elaborate, what aspect of the the PbP format do you struggle with most?
(3) How often do you post?
I can post as many as 3 times a day. I've not yet run a game here where my post rate was slower than that of the players. I would love to post on weekends, but that seems not to be a thing.
Weekend posting is hit-or-miss around here. I find people are sometimes able to post on the weekends, sometimes not. I'm one of those random ones.
(4) How often do you expect your players to post?
I'd like to see 1.5 posts per day, on average.
I think we can manage this, though let me ask a follow up question- what is your botting policy? Will you take player's actions for them to keep the flow going?
(7) What are some house rules you include in your games? (if any)
In tabletop games I allow prepared casters to re-memorize prepared spell slots in 15 minutes. We usually do hit points with half the die +half the roll, but that varies by campaign. Otherwise I play Pathfinder pretty straight.
Wow, that's quite the boon to prepared casters. What is your reason for giving such a strength to them? Does this extend to the higher levels, where prepared casters can be changing reality on a whim?
I feel Pathfinder has given prepared casters a few things to do outside of combat that has done a lot to solve this problem. Plus there's always the old "leave one spell slot open" adage that has helped me many a time.
Which brings me to a question: How can you run this campaign as written? It isn't written. I have all of the published materials and the outline and whatnot. I had lined up materials to fill out the higher levels, but we had a TPK and decided to relaunch from that point at a later date as a Drow party.
It... isn't? Huh, I had no idea. I don't have the material, I just assumed it was like any other adventure path.
In any case, you're the only GM on the plate to take over the game at the moment. I'll let everyone else pop in and ask questions/get to know you.
Yeah, the campaign fizzled out in the last few books, where the publisher dried up all his good will and didn't deliver the last book. It is a shame, for certain.
I'm excited to see a DM on board for the group; I was really excited for this campaign and to see where things would go. I feel that the group has really good plot-pushing capability and a pretty fun party arrangement while also having quite a bit to build on and roleplay in downtime sections.
My questions are this...
How did you handle the exploration/kingdom-building aspects of this campaign? I ask because that was a huge draw to me since I've been trying to get into a Kingmaker game and this was sold to me as a "Kingmaker-In-The-Darklands" kind of game.
Woo hoo! Hello it is nice to met you and I am very glad you are interested in adopting our band of dwarves.
The fact that the campaign is not finished was one of my concerns in this game. The previous GM was certain that it would be finished by the time we got to that point, since PbP's move slowly that is not an unrealistic opinion.
You mentioned that you had some material for higher levels so that is very encouraging :) If you take over our game I assume you will have to homebrew the later parts and if you are ok with that then I am very excited!
Dasur is right that the weekends are a hit and miss thing. Sometimes my weekends are free and others I do not see my computer except for the brief moments that I have to prep for the Sunday game that I run.
Hi there, thank you for your availability! I'm actually not too worried about the AP being incomplete, from what I've gathered it will be far enough into the plot that a GM will have got a good enough grasp on the situation to sandbox it.
As for posting rate, I live and die by the computer, so my posts are pretty frequent. I might have some weird weekends, though, since I'm moving around a bit.
Brothers of the mine, rejoice!
Sing, sing, sing with me!
Raise your pick and raise your voice!
Swing, swing, swing with me!
Down and down into the deep,
who knows what we'll find beneath?
Diamond, rubies, gold and more
hidden in a mountain store.
If you can elaborate, what aspect of the the PbP format do you struggle with most?
Mostly pacing, I think. I have a hard time knowing if silence implies consent, or consternation, or disinterest, so I sit around waiting for some sort of feedback and things stall.
what is your botting policy? Will you take player's actions for them to keep the flow going?
This is also part of my problem with PbP. I have a hard time borrowing agency from a player. At my live table, we tend to bot missing players as a table, but I can see how that would be impossible in PbP, so maybe we would just need to work out a policy for our campaign (amount of time or whatever).
Wow, that's quite the boon to prepared casters. What is your reason for giving such a strength to them? Does this extend to the higher levels, where prepared casters can be changing reality on a whim?
We created the rule early in the days of 3.5. It is really a response to an adventure design philosophy that expects casters to have certain spells memorized in order to complete the adventure. It is a boon to casters as a whole, but in practice it mostly ends up being a boon to the party. For example: We just reached a level where the cleric should have remove poison. The adventure throws at us a bunch of giant spiders. The cleric didn’t memorize remove poison. Wouldn’t you like for him to be able to change his spell selection?
Or sometimes there is a spell you need and the party sits down for a day to wait for it to show up the next morning. That drove us crazy.
Also, it is 15 minutes for 1 slot, not a total change in spell preparation. Not sure if I was clear about that.
It... isn't? Huh, I had no idea. I don't have the material, I just assumed it was like any other adventure path.
I think what is currently published goes through about level 10. But the object of the quest doesn't actually exist in print. There is an outline that the author published that gives you a sense of who the opponents are for the rest of the thing. I have lots of resources to flesh all of that out, and at the pace of PbP it will be forever before it matters anyway.
You guys asked a lot about by-the-book vs changing things as far as the adventure path. What are the group preferences? Do you want a more wide open sandbox? I would describe the adventure path as designed as a series of small sandboxes linked together by a railroad.
As for the exploration and Kingmaker-in-the-Darklands aspect, there are some rules in the campaign that adjust things like the length of the turn or something (maybe making it 3 months, I can't remember). I generally use the Legendary Games expansion to Ultimate Campaign to give more options. That really becomes a sort of minigame of its own.
Weekends aren't a deal breaker for me or anything. It is just a point of confusion. I'm a high school theater teacher, so my weekdays are long and my weekends are more open. I rarely get up to anything on the weekends other than ferrying my kids around or hiking or a movie, so I'm always twiddling my thumbs, often at a dance competition.
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For botting I? have no issue if my character is boted because it took me way to long to get to a computer. The common thing I see in games is that if you have not posted in any where from one to three days the GM will bot the character to keep the game going. This I am fine with. There is usually an exclusion for the weekends since some people post a lot then and some do not.
Pacing can be a pain to figure out. One thing you can try is that if we are not posting to ask what is going on in the discussion thread or to send PMs.
As to the sandbox question.. I would be fine with a nice open sandbox. The main goal of your group is to find a dead kingdom and bring it back to life or to unearth what happened there and then build a new kingdom. At least so far that is the goal.
Concerning the spell prep exchange I have no problem with it. I like things that speed up gameplay and that just makes things easier.
You guys asked a lot about by-the-book vs changing things as far as the adventure path. What are the group preferences? Do you want a more wide open sandbox? I would describe the adventure path as designed as a series of small sandboxes linked together by a railroad.
Some railroading isn't bad if it keeps a group focused in my opinion, but if we're going to be using kingdom building rules then some more sandboxing will certainly be needed.
I generally use the Legendary Games expansion to Ultimate Campaign to give more options. That really becomes a sort of minigame of its own.
I hadn't seen this plug in until now, and it looks fantastic. I may have to pick it up and look at Legendary Games' other books.
Anyway- you have my backing to become our GM. Once everyone else has their say we'll tally up the aye/nay. I would consider a 2/3 majority vote to be fair for adopting a new GM, so if
we get 4 out of 6 in favor you've inherited a fine group if dwarfs.
I am for you being our GM, I have faith in our ability to learn altogether and make things work. For the Dwarves!
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"Vote? Majority? I thought we were a monarchy!"
Just kidding. As for sandboxing, I was thinking of a classic structure, like Dragon Age: Inquisition, where there is one large sandbox filled with small secondary quests and primary quests, some time-sensitive and some to be dealt with once we're done choosing the silverware for the dining room.
"All this to say that my vote is Yea!"
One last thing, if we decide to bring the numbers back to Seven Dwarves, TheWaskally had made a nice character, as my brother, and he'd be my preference.
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We have officially accepted SuperTumbler as the GM for our game. Thank you to everyone that showed interest or pointed the way towards interested parties!
Huh, just saw this. Oh well, I probably shouldn't be adding another game to my roster right now anyway. XD Hope you guys have a great game - it looks like there are really interesting characters here! :)
Strike the earth! :D