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Good morning Paizo! My name is Ubo the Talker and I have lurked for years here. I have observed many inspirational games during that time, ranging from "oldies but goodies" like 'The Avalon Chronicles' to promising new games like Yasss Queen's 'Welcome to the Other Side!' game. Of course, Paizo is not the only website I lurk on for inspiration. I have also lurked on Giantitp, Myth-Weavers, and Obsidian Portal. After seeing so many Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society games open on here and elsewhere, I asked myself: Ubo, you know what these types of things need? PLANES! No, not the kind you fly... planes of existence. I had one of those aha moments that you see advertised on TV all the time and here we are a few days down the thought train.
Groups are completely interchangeable between, and in some cases during, adventures.
Unlike PFS, characters who join this game are not necessarily just going to be going on adventures. I will also have dedicated roleplay sections for those times when players want to roleplay and experience the planes from a perspective that is not necessarily adventurous.
Heck, crafters and more mercantile players can open a Society-sponsored shop in one of the major planar metropoli if they are intent on it. I certainly won't stop you from opening a dive named 'The Drunken Flail Snail' or the unnecessarily wordy arcane reagent shop called the 'Arcane Mercane Arcanium Merchantium Consortium'.
I want people who are dedicated and enthusiastic. Even in threads like 'The Avalon Chronicles', I have seen some people just slowly fall out of the game and I don't want that for this game, even if it does make little difference because of the way it will be set up.
- My services as a dedicated GM for a group or two of players.
- A possible dedicated player with a flair for exotic characters and deep roleplaying.
- Nice little information packets for prospective GMs regarding the construction of games and expectations in the game itself. The expectations and rules are relatively simple, so I'll reiterate them here: don't build campaigns with plots that could disrupt the setting in ways that would ruin the other ongoing games, such as the usual "If you fail, all the planes collapse like a zombie flumph after getting whacked by Conan the Barbarian." plotlines, and GM fairly.
- My willingness to help fill in for potential GMs who have special events or other reasons for an absence in this event.
- Nice little packets for PCs listing all the allowed, changed, and banned rules for the game, full character creation guidelines for four complete level tiers (gestalt 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level), a general overview of the Planeswalker Society, their bases in each of the major planes, the general code of conduct members are expected to follow, and descriptions of the six major factions within the society. These information packets will also contain a small primer on the planar metropolis of Basrakal, where the Society's first lodge was established, and details on each of the six founding members of the Planeswalker Society.
- I am also willing to host maps for GMs on either my Google Drive or my paid Roll20 account. My Roll20 account has collected dust since a game I applied for as both a player and Co-GM fell through. I have kept the profile active in case I want to do any high-grade GMing that involves the heavy use of maps and special effects like the Fog of War common to RTS games.
Golarion's multiverse. It has a suitably rich variety of planes, each with their own individual style, yet is vague enough in some ways to allow myself and other potential GMs a great deal of creative freedom.
"How do we travel the planes if no one can use the proper spells?"
The Planeswalker Society provides the appropriate Planar Tuning Forks and their attuned amulets to members on missions or those who 'rent' them for personal excursions.
"Can I play as a monster?"
Possibly. Monsters are much harder to run games for than basic players and so I need to look at a monster so I can give a definite answer for your specific monster.
"Can I create my own race?"
Also a possibility, but perhaps less likely than a monster PC being accepted. This is not because of power levels, but the place of created races in the Golarion multiverse. While I understand that some races would fit, things like Equestria Ponies, Wookies, and Vulcans would not.
"Can I be a petitioner?"
Yes and that includes even the wonky larvae. Spoiler alert: if you play as a larva and venture to the lower planes or get spotted by a night hag, do take precautions so that you are not made into a snack or currency.
"Can I play as someone from another franchise?"
No. I don't want any Super Mutants running around and making best buds with Moogles and a rogue Xehanort clone.
"Can I play as a pre-existing character within the Pathfinder universe, such as Abrogail Thrune, Alison Kindler, or Avimar Sorrinash?"
That's going to be a definite no.
"Can I play as an evil character?"
Why yes, yes you can. In fact, the Society even has a few lodges in the lower planes, specifically Dis, Urgathoa's section of Abaddon, and the Midnight Isles. Just remember that the Society has rules and regulations regarding member conduct when on missions and has a minimum code of conduct for all members, even if it is pretty low.
"Are the Akhashic, Gonzo, Legendary Class Variants, Pact Magic, Path of War, Psionics, or Spheres lines available?"
While I am against rattling off a huge list of third-party content before I even finalize the recruitment itself, I can confirm that most of the options from those lines are allowed.
"Do you have any adventures ready for your specific groups?"
Indeed I do! There are quite a few, in fact, with several adventures scattered across most of the known planes and a campaign arc that takes place in the Elemental Plane of Fire titled '1,001 Nights in the City of Brass', where PCs get involved in Efreeti politics before being sent on a quest to find a lost satrapy that was swallowed by the Cinder Dunes millennia ago.
"How will you deal with gestalt? Isn't that broken?"
Gestalt isn't broken unless you just allow PCs to level dip like mad on both 'sides' of gestalt. I don't allow that and force PCs to choose one side of gestalt that cannot multiclass, although taking a single prestige class on that side is fine. I also build all of my monsters as gestalt builds except for the 'mooks'.
"Can we use fractional level up bonuses?"
No. This is a gestalt game.
"Will we be using the Michael Torno's Feat Tax rules?"
Yes and we will be using the revised version available for free on his website. No longer will martials have to pay ten feats to be able to swing a sword effectively!
"Will you allow unchained classes?"
Yes, but they are not necessary, not even for Summoner.
"Can I use the pre-errata version of this rule or that rule?"
Depends on what rule you are talking about. If you mean something like the pre-nerf Scarred Witch Doctor, then probably.
"Do Fighters and Chained Rogues get any good toys?"
Yes they do. Fighters actually get enough to make them somewhat viable even without an archetype.
"What is the state of guns in the planes?"
Commonplace guns in terms of rules, even if they are not actually that ubiquitious.
"Can I get an Exotic Weapon Proficiency for free?"
Everyone starts with a single free weapon proficiency in addition to what they get from their classes. I see no point in taxing people for weapons that are not OP.
Looks fairly flavorful with some great 3pp options. Planes and planar adventures are always awesome.
Am I correct in understanding this is for, at minimum, 8th level, gestalt characters?
Interesting concepts
Definitely interested!!, as both a player and possible GM!! Much excite!!
Hmmm. Consider me interested.
Dotting
Dot
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I thought of some additional questions that I suspect that people will ask, so I have made another FAQ section. We're off to a promising start, with another potential GM and a few potential players having posted, so let's keep this interest ball rolling!
Yes you can. In fact, everyone with a Familiar gets Improved Familiar for free. There are a few new ones as well, such as the Elysian Thrush or one of the Elemental Motes.
"What about Animal Companions?"
People with Animal Companions get goodies too. Available 'upgrades' include one of a pre-selected list of templates, such as Resolute, and some unique planar creatures, such as a Moonhound.
"What about Mounts?"
Those rare classes with the Mount ability were not left unconsidered. Besides the obvious templates available, there are also options like the Sleipnir, Nightmare Foal, and Abaddon Wasteworm.
"Is Leadership allowed?"
No. The reasons are pretty obvious as to why not.
"Can I play a Souleater/soul merchant?"
No. One of the big rules the Planeswalker Society has is that souls are sacrosanct. One of the last things the Society wants is to anger Pharasma or draw the ire of their patrons in the upper planes despite the heavy amount of courting lower planar patrons do to convince them to ease that rule.
"Can I play as one of the monster classes from the 'In the Company of...' series by Rite Publishing?"
Yes. I have all of those books and love them to pieces. If you want to play as a sentient gelatinous cube psion, a minotaur paladin, an efreeti bard, or even a motherflipping dragon, then do so.
"Is there a Shadow Lodge equivalent in the Planeswalker Society?"
No and betrayal is looked down on. When I say betrayal is looked down on, I mean that the last traitor was sent on a mission in the Nine Hells and subsequently had his membership revoked, invalidating any protection he had. It's said that a particularly hideous and scarred lemure with a distorted dragon tattoo still lingers in a forgotten corner of Dis. The one before that tried to mutiny and take over a Society-owned Maelstrom Skiff to sell on the planar markets. He was subsequently stripped of membership and thrown overboard near the Eye. People got the idea after those two incidents.
"Will there be the equivalent of PFS boons after each adventure?"
While that is up to each GM on whether or not to include boons and to set the conditions to gain those boons, I strongly encourage it and will have boons created for each scenario that I personally run. If GMs would like help coming up with boons for adventures, I can help with that.
"Will PCs be wealth-starved like normal PFS members?"
No, they will not. While the Planeswalker Society does take it's cut from each escapade as a sort of 'finder's fee', the founders wanted to be sure that members felt adequately rewarded. The real benefit the Society gets from members is the glut of favors from powerful planar patrons. The cut they take from members after each excursion is just used to 'keep the doors open', as it were.
Am I correct in understanding this is for, at minimum, 8th level, gestalt characters?
That's the current plan. If there is an outcry for lower level adventuring, I might add in a fifth tier of play for level 4 gestalt players. From my years watching other campaigns though, I don't believe many people will turn down the opportunity to play something eighth level or higher.
If other GMs would like to run a non-gestalt game, they are free to do so in the shared world. They need to be aware, however, that I myself will only run gestalt and so there may be conflicts if PCs from a non-gestalt game want to play with me or another gestalt GM. We could probably 'upgrade' them, but it's a potential player base split and the idea was for a unified play experience.
You mentioned the PWS has lodges in each of the planar cities, could you give us a few short blurbs about some of them? Also, could you tell us a bit about Basrakal?
Obviously we don't need all the info in the primer, but a little teaser would be awesome!
If you can't tell, I'm really excited! I've loved planar games/the planes for a long time now, but have sadly never truly played in one.
I got through about half of the lodges and realized what time it is. I am saving those in Word and will post them later today. With around thirty lodges having a description around a paragraph each, it's only natural that it takes some time to type!
Basrakal is the one stable part of the maelstrom, made so by an ancient kami, the former herald of Acavna, a dissonant protean who wants to stabilize the Maelstrom, and several outsiders who volunteer to serve as 'keystones' to stabilize the city of Basrakal and the islands surrounding it. The city is one of functional anarchy, with only three laws and no government.
In this city, one's past doesn't matter and few are willing to judge others. Basrakal is mostly populated by outsiders who run or challenge the roles they were given. In this city, the sight of drunken archon beggars lining the streets, pacifistic devil scholars of chaos and good studying in orderly scriptorums, oni chefs cooking grand meals, and psychopomp and sakhils performing alien theatrical and musical plays are all daily occurrences.
For all the dichotomy and disparity one can find in Basrakal, the city is surprisingly peaceful for a planar metropolis, as the outcasts all seem to have banded together against a multiverse that sought to constrain them in pre-existing roles. It was this very mindset that endeared it to many of the Founders and influenced them to build the First Lodge here.
I love the idea and ambition that went into this. Consider me interested as a player! Might even try to run a shorter adventure too eventually ... :-)
@Ok, thanks Ubo. A little overpowered//high level for my tastes, so I'll pass. Looks like you have some keen interest. Thanks for your quick reply, and thanks for creating a game/space that embraces so much 3pp and Paizo options wholeheartedly.
I love this idea. I'm definitely Yakkoing in.
Dotting for interest. I'll digest the FAQs and hopefully submit a suitable character.
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I have officially decided to run this game, so expect the recruitment thread for the Planeswalker Society in a few days!
The PWS thread will be the hub for people to find information about the setting and character creation rules, a place to post characters to be cleared, and general guidelines for GMs regarding adventure building and GMing.
The 'gameplay' section of the upcoming thread will be for people to dot so they can keep track of any new games being set up. Accepted characters will be allowed to post here so that they show up as 'characters' in the campaign, thereby showing GMs that they are greenlit and ready to be placed in a game of the appropriate tier.
The 'discussion' section will be where GMs can post links to their PWS adventures. After I complete this massive mega-thread, I will be posting a few options for people to choose from, including a max-tier adventure in the City of Brass that gets PCs entangled in Efreeti politics and will see them journey to a lost city in search of a cure for a cursed princess.
The 'recruitment' section is where people will be placing their completed characters to be looked over by myself and/or other GMs. If accepted, players will be allowed to post their alias in the 'gameplay' section to be counted as an official player.
*AWESOME*!! super, hella excited!!
Question, would be able to put forth multiple characters to play in different games/adventures?
Hi, Ubo. If you have bee lurking in Yasss Queen's 'Welcome to the Other Side' campaign, you are familiar with my character, Zaidel Michigan! I would be interested playing in anything inspired by that wonderful campaign! So, if you would allow it, I'd like to play a godling class from Rogue Genius Games. He would be similar to Zaidel, but a godling of Pharasma in the vain of James L. Sutter's Salim Ghadafar, productive member of the Planewalker's Society along with whatever errands his mother would want.
That's nice to hear :-)
This sounds awesome! Looking forward to the recruitment.
I have a few ideas knocking around, but Kaelmourn Vexidyre comes to mind as a mercenary. An 8th level drow antipaladin (VMC Cavalier). I can work out how he'd look as a gestalt. Perhaps oracle to represent his devout (if twisted) nature or cavalier to further cover charismatic martial aspects. Feel free to comment on his suitability or helpful changes that I could make.
I have a few ideas knocking around, but Kaelmourn Vexidyre comes to mind as a mercenary. An 8th level drow antipaladin (VMC Cavalier). I can work out how he'd look as a gestalt. Perhaps oracle to represent his devout (if twisted) nature or cavalier to further cover charismatic martial aspects. Feel free to comment on his suitability or helpful changes that I could make.
Not sure how Ubo will handle it, but most of the gestalt games I've seen on the boards disallow VMC, as that's technically 3 classes.
Hmmmmmmm... I'll have to keep an eye on this.
I have a few ideas knocking around, but Kaelmourn Vexidyre comes to mind as a mercenary. An 8th level drow antipaladin (VMC Cavalier). I can work out how he'd look as a gestalt. Perhaps oracle to represent his devout (if twisted) nature or cavalier to further cover charismatic martial aspects. Feel free to comment on his suitability or helpful changes that I could make.Not sure how Ubo will handle it, but most of the gestalt games I've seen on the boards disallow VMC, as that's technically 3 classes.
To a degree, but it does cost limited feat slots in exchange for some class features. I can rebuild without it though.
I got through about half of the lodges and realized what time it is. I am saving those in Word and will post them later today. With around thirty lodges having a description around a paragraph each, it's only natural that it takes some time to type!
Basrakal is the one stable part of the maelstrom, made so by an ancient kami, the former herald of Acavna, a dissonant protean who wants to stabilize the Maelstrom, and several outsiders who volunteer to serve as 'keystones' to stabilize the city of Basrakal and the islands surrounding it. The city is one of functional anarchy, with only three laws and no government.
In this city, one's past doesn't matter and few are willing to judge others. Basrakal is mostly populated by outsiders who run or challenge the roles they were given. In this city, the sight of drunken archon beggars lining the streets, pacifistic devil scholars of chaos and good studying in orderly scriptorums, oni chefs cooking grand meals, and psychopomp and sakhils performing alien theatrical and musical plays are all daily occurrences.
For all the dichotomy and disparity one can find in Basrakal, the city is surprisingly peaceful for a planar metropolis, as the outcasts all seem to have banded together against a multiverse that sought to constrain them in pre-existing roles. It was this very mindset that endeared it to many of the Founders and influenced them to build the First Lodge here.
Nitpick here. Basrakal is -one- stable point in the Maelstrom. Galisemni is another paradoxically stable point, and quite a bit larger and metropolitan. Depends on what features you're looking for in a city in the Maelstrom.
I'd like to dip my toes back into the water of PbP after my hiatus, and this looks like the perfect venue for such a thing. Dotting.
Color me interested.
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Progress Report
- Lore is nearly complete.
- Most mechanical portions (i.e. point buys, et cetera) are complete.
- My selection of five 'starter adventures' for people to pick from for my personal games are almost polished to a shine.
Replies
*AWESOME*!! super, hella excited!!
Question, would be able to put forth multiple characters to play in different games/adventures?
Yes. It should go without saying that only one character of yours can be added to any given adventure/scenario, but you can have any number of characters active throughout multiple threads.
Hi, Ubo. If you have bee lurking in Yasss Queen's 'Welcome to the Other Side' campaign, you are familiar with my character, Zaidel Michigan! I would be interested playing in anything inspired by that wonderful campaign! So, if you would allow it, I'd like to play a godling class from Rogue Genius Games. He would be similar to Zaidel, but a godling of Pharasma in the vain of James L. Sutter's Salim Ghadafar, productive member of the Planewalker's Society along with whatever errands his mother would want.
Ah yes, the John Carter of Godlings, right? I quite liked his attitude during the game. Godlings are allowed but, in Basrakal, you're likely to get some hard stares if you are known to have divine blood. It's just a setting element and one that I am not going to push super hard.
I have a few ideas knocking around, but Kaelmourn Vexidyre comes to mind as a mercenary. An 8th level drow antipaladin (VMC Cavalier). I can work out how he'd look as a gestalt. Perhaps oracle to represent his devout (if twisted) nature or cavalier to further cover charismatic martial aspects. Feel free to comment on his suitability or helpful changes that I could make.
Variant Multiclassing is not allowed, since it is really gestalt-lite and we're playing gestalt as-is.
Nitpick here. Basrakal is -one- stable point in the Maelstrom. Galisemni is another paradoxically stable point, and quite a bit larger and metropolitan. Depends on what features you're looking for in a city in the Maelstrom.
Well, well, we have Todd Stewart himself showing up here! That's definitely an honor.
I know that the Maelstrom has several stable points, some of which are larger and/or more metropolitan. However, Basrakal is more of a fit. It's stability is unnatural, influenced by several powerful forces, rather than the chaos of the Maelstrom 'folding into itself' to create stable anomalies. That, the city's generally lax view of everything apart from the 'big three', and it's diverse, quirky inhabitants are what influenced me selecting it, since it reminds me of the strangeness that old-school Planescape possessed.
I do see how my wording was misleading, however. If I could edit my reply, I would make the change to better reflect the reality of the setting.
YES.
Glad to see the enthusiasm!
Cheers for the clarification. When I've time, I'll rework Kaelmourn for an application.
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Progress Report
- Lore is nearly complete. Decided to rebuild two factions I had planned and add some intrigue between a few of them. I have a general timeline for the Planeswalker Society's history.
- Mechanics are complete. Reworked some rules, fixed general progression, and added in 'starting packages' for those unaccustomed to planar games. Also decided to create a few pregens for those new to planar action and high-level adventuring, but not new to Pathfinder in general, who have no idea where to start building a character. Added in some 'boons' that PCs can acquire from the Society with 'Prestige', which is gained through completing adventures.
- My starter adventures are now complete. If people want a general synopsis of the adventures, I can offer some short descriptions later.
Disclaimer
I am going on a 'vacation' of sorts with my family today, so I will not be working on the campaign until I get back this evening.
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My family's trip to the (almost) local casino was a bust from a financial point, but it was a pretty fun day. Just letting everyone know that I am currently back home and will resume work on this endeavor shortly.
Cheers for the updates.
I would totally be interested in short descriptions of the adventures you plan on running.
Dotting for intrest.
If you start another adventure I'd be happy to try putting a character together.
Ah, well... it seems I arrived a little bit too late. I'll be building something, though, to have at the ready when there's room.
Edit: Actually, I think I arrived too early :P There is still no official thread on this, am I right?
@Edit - Correct : )
(Unless of course that thread is very very sneaky!)
Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's been no actual recruitment thread created just yet.
Ah, well, nice to know.
For a total rookie in Planes things here, is there something you guys can suggest? Things to go for or avoid? I mean build wise.
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Gestalt!
love it!
is there any recruitment thread?
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The recruitment is about two days away from being posted.
Superb! I have an idea for an Undine Monk/Dread that could work.
Hurrah!
hype! hype! hype!
Sweet!
I have an idea for a fighter/rouge i've been toying with
Dotting as an interested player. I’ve got a few character concepts in my head that I would love to try out, and gestalt mid-level play looks like the perfect opportunity!
EDIT: Does anyone have a link to gestalt rules? The only thing I could find is from d20srd, which is 3.5e. Are the pathfinder rules the same as that?
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Yep! Same rules as the 3.5 ones from Unearthed Arcana.
hype! hype! hype!
And also..hype!