Welcome to the discussion thread for our campaign. Here we can talk about recruitment, questions, the campaign, etc. However if you have any comments about specific applicants, please pm me. In the end, I will make the final decision on who will join, but your input will be given due weight.
Hi there, your frigid winter elf sorceress here. Look forward to playing with y'all.
Hi again, Mirri.
For the record, DM, Gii is going to be a Reach Oracle, spending most of his time on the fringes of combat casting spells, summoning stuff and stabbing things. He's going to have little to no healing, so picking up someone who can might not be a bad plan.
Hello everyone.
Grimkell checking in! i am also looking forward to playing with all of you (especially after spying on some games you played in!). Oh, that sounded like I am some kind of stalker.... which I am not ;)
Hi Doc!
And no Grimkell, that doesn't sound stalkery at all.
*makes sure to set perimeter traps for possible stalkers*
Hello everyone. Glad you could all make it.
I will definitely look for a healer then, any other thoughts or suggestions on roles to recruit for? I've got my vision of what role your characters will fill in the party, but as I've said elsewhere, I mostly chose based on background. What specific roles do you see yourselves filling?
I'm assuming Mirri will be our arcane spellcaster who hangs in the back of the group (blasting? summoning? not entirely sure from what I can see of her character sheet), Grimkell and Gii will be frontliners (possibly with a D10+/Full BAB character to serve as the primary frontliner). The healer could probably hang with Gii most of the time, because it's pretty boring just sitting around waiting for people to take damage.
Since Skald can handle a good bit of skill-related stuff (especially knowledges and face skills) I think we probably need the following (assuming you wanted 5-6 players):
- A dedicated frontliner martial (Paladin/Bloodrager/Ranger/etc.)
- Someone who can heal (this doesn't need to be their primary role, because spamming channel is not fun)
- One other character of any general role
Technically we should be able to get by with me and Grimkell being able to use wands of Cure Light Wounds, but that will eat into our resources.
I will be focusing on cold spells for direct damage, but as they will likely be largely reduced/ineffective in some cases I will be picking up various battlefield control spells along with the occasional buff or debuff.
As far as schools of magic I plan to focus largely on conjuration magic with some from evocation and transmutation. Add in a few dips into other schools as well. I might very well go for augment summoning and it's affiliates for the sheer utility of them.
I am always open to suggestions/requests on what you would like me to take.
It's been a while since I last though of Grimkell's advancement and build. Also, I think I have much less experience than the two of you at building characters, so if you see any obvious flaws, or if you have any suggestions, don't hesitate to tell me about them!
Here's what I remember:
Grimkell will definitely be a in large part the face of the group (by taking performance (Oratory) as his versatile performance (for sense motive and diplomacy). Personality wise though, he will try to plead and present his companions well rather than take the centre place.
He will also slowly advance most knowledge skills (history and the others will depend on the composition of the group, left to is own, he would probably max things like knowledge nature, geography, local and nobility).
Fighting wise, Grimkell will always be on the first line of battle. However, I am not expecting him to deal a large amount of damage (yielding a shield and such).
Otherwise, I am still unsure. Based on his character concept, Grimkell would be a character who will try to help the others in battle, so I was thinking of either taking teamwork feats (if other characters are intrested) like:
-allied spellcaster (will spell kenning allow him to be considered as having all wizard/sorcerer spells for this feat?)
-escape route
-fighting frenzy
-outflank
-precise strike
or taking feats to boost the group
-Bodyguard
-Battle cry
-Dazzling display
-Improved dirge of doom
As for rage powers... I am unsure, I was thinking the spirit totem... but it does not seem like a good long term choice. I will look this week.
As for party roles, I don't know how trap heavy this campaign is, but won't we be in need of someone who can find and disarm them?
Also, I think someone with good survival skills would be incredibly useful. Grimkell will likely be putting points in that skill, but with his low wisdow, he will likely never excel at it.
Somebody with a decent perception and a few points in Disable Device should be more than enough. I honestly haven't played any PF game where you couldn't get by traps by just being attentive and careful.
Alright, gotta admit I really like the Brawler from Brooklyn idea, very original and potentially interesting with what happens later in the campaign.
Just as an fyi I know most of what happens in the first book as I thought of running it locally but decided playing it would be far more fun first. I'm usually pretty good at not using ooc info but if I slip up please call me on it. Other than that I've only read the blurbs on the site for each of the following books (a large part of what has drawn me to want to play this campaign first).
Just as an fyi I know most of what happens in the first book as I thought of running it locally but decided playing it would be far more fun first. I'm usually pretty good at not using ooc info but if I slip up please call me on it. Other than that I've only read the blurbs on the site for each of the following books (a large part of what has drawn me to want to play this campaign first).
I will definitely do that, but I don't expect any problems from it. Most people I've seen on these boards are able to keep ooc knowledge from in game knowledge.
Edited to delete discussion better reserved for pms.
I grant the character could be an issue, but I hope it can be done right so it could be played.
I generally am too.
For full disclosure, I also played Grimkell through a major part of the APs first instalment.
As for the submissions, maybe it would be best to give our opinions on PMs. Simply to avoid discouraging people from applying or to keep our some of our critics to ourselves. No?
For full disclosure, I also played Grimkell through a major part of the APs first instalment.
** spoiler omitted **As for the submissions, maybe it would be best to give our opinions on PMs. Simply to avoid discouraging people from applying or to keep our some of our critics to ourselves. No?
Yes, you are correct. I did ask for that in the opening post, and then did not sick to it. I an sorry. Let's stick to that.
As stated above, just keep ooc knowledge separate and foreknowledge will be fine.
That would probably be a wise idea Grim. Is it possible to do multiple recipients on one post? Never tried it before.
Yeah, I don't think we can PM multiple people at once.
Looking at Jammin' previous campaigns, I noticed he used Virtual tabletop. We could use the forum there for dicussions, it is only accessible by having the link to the campaign.
Yes, of course. Roll20.net. I never thought of using that for this purpose. But it is perfect. Let me get things set up there, then I will send you the link.
Followed the link and got set up on it.
So, about our own characters, do they know each other before the start of the campaign? Where do Mirri and Dr. Gii usually reside? What do the people of Heldren know about them?
For Grimkell, he passes most of his time trapping various animals throughout Taldor stopping every so often (for at least the past 10 years) in Heldren.
EDIT: More information in the "Background for other players" spoiler found in this alias!
As far as my story goes I haven't been in the town more than a few days. I reached the village and found the compulsion to travel south ended.
As far as what I have been doing to make money, I sell handcrafted jewelry made of various stones, bones, beads, and other things I found while on the road.
Gii will have been serving as a healer, scholar and missionary in Heldren. He's ostensibly there to try and start a branch of the Church of Nethys, but that's unlikely to happen once he finds reason to take off on the events of RoW. :)
Cydrius brought up a point that I've forgot to mention. I like to give away a free skill point at first level that must go into a craft, perform or profession skill, to represent how you made your living before.
I caught that in the recruitment thread and added it already.
Gii will have been serving as a healer, scholar and missionary in Heldren. He's ostensibly there to try and start a branch of the Church of Nethys, but that's unlikely to happen once he finds reason to take off on the events of RoW. :)
How long has he been trying to install the mission in town?
A couple months, at best. Long enough for people to know his face (it's not hard to remember the lame-legged guy with a big white wolf) but not long enough for people to really know him.
Also, I didn't notice the bonus skill point. I'll add that.
Alright, good to know! Unfortunately, I would seem unlikely for Grimkell to have ever met Gii or Mirri.
So, GM Jammin', I was wondering if it would be possible to use the mechanics of the unchained barbarian's rage for Raging Song. This would actually prevent TPKs from occuring if Grimkell falls unconscious while the melee characters are low on hits points.
Similarly, I plan on taking the unchained rage powers.
So, after rereading the Spirit Totem rage powers, I have decided for Grimkell to go this way. This should provide defense against reach attacks fo Gii and extra damage from those who are in close quarter combat. I will also be throwing in a Linnorm death curse (which I think a really cool, especially if there are some summoned critters on the map).
Any opinions on which other rage powers would be interesting?
Added info about Heldren in the Campaign Info tab, as well as a map on roll20. These are common things most everyone familiar with the town would probably know.
Welcome our whole party to the discussion thread. I have to go now, but I will be back later tonight with some housekeeping things. In the mean time, introduce yourself to one another, discuss your place in Heldren, your role within the party and your experience with pathfinder/pbp.
As I've said in the thread, Gii is a recent immigrant to Heldren from the Temple of Nethys in Absalom. After receiving a divine mission from the All-Seeing Eye (and losing most of the mobility in his left leg) he set out to spread his religion to southern Taldor.
He's going to be a secondary frontliner, buffer and maybe dabble in summoning, while using his Cha-focus to either be the party face or help out with it.
Lars is what you would call a guest who's pretty close to overstaying his welcome in Heldren. He does locksmithing work to earn his keep(especially after most of his ill-gotten gold ran out), but had made no move or showed no intent to make his stay in Heldren permanent, so the residents aren't sure exactly what he's planning to do, and while he's a pleasant enough fellow to any who would strike up a conversation with him, it became to clear to some of the people of Heldren that he's keeping them at a safe distance from himself by not really divulging any specific details of his past life, so the more perceptive individuals of this village have begun to think that there is more to the jovial locksmith than he is willing to share.
The front lines are Lars' playground if you will. He'll be there making the lives of the parties foes as difficult as possible. Slamming them with debuffs while buffing the melee inclined party members to better smash their enemies.
Good morning, everyone! I don't have a profile up yet, but I'll be bringing in 'Mother' Theora, an inquisitor of Grandmother Crow with the witch hunter archetype. She's archery focused, not really built for melee, so if people can make sure she gets a clear shot, that would be great! ;-) She'll also be a minor buffer, secondary or assistant face role, a spotter of lies and spells, and a terror against casters thanks to readied actions.
Residents of Heldren may know Theora as the town midwife. She's a kindly middle-aged woman who spends plenty of time at the temple and with the herbalist. She makes a good cup of tea, has something nice to say about everyone, and is first to comfort the bereaved. She tends to fuss a bit too much over her adolescent son, Ambrose, but his father hasn't been seen or mentioned.
As for me personally, my name's Veronica, and I'm a twenty-four year old SSO (teacher's aide) from South Australia. I've been playing Pathfinder for a couple of years now, home and PFS, with a love of PBP. Mondays to Wednesdays can be rough for me, as I'm picking up more social commitments to escape a step-family very difficult to live with. Theora explores some new ground for me, and if I handle her in a way that seems untactful or off, please tell me how to improve! I'm a non-confrontational person who doesn't like causing offense.
I should have an alias up after work, and I look forward to playing with you all!
Good evening and good morning (depending where you live) and welcome to our new trio.
To reiterate what was mentionned earlier in the thread, Grimkell is not a resident of Heldren. However, he does come to town twice a year usually bringing furs to sell. On all his previous visits, he was accompanied by and ancient Ulfen man (whom he called father), but not this year. Grimkell appears quite stern at first glance, yet, every time he comes to town, her performs at the Silver stoat and spends the evening drinking and making new "friends".
People who have been staying in Heldren for at least 10 years can remember the first time Grimkell and Ogmunder (the ancient Ulfen) came to town. Interestingly, the apparently young and beardless Grimkell does not seem to have aged since then... might be due to the fact that he seems slightly inhuman.
As for party role, Grimkell will be boosting all the melee combatants (and the one archer maybe?) and summoned critters with rage. I plan on taking the spirit totem powers and.. well, I am not sure about the other ones... wether the accurate stance or powerfull stance. Other than that, either debuffing using dazzling display or boosting allies AC with bodyguard feat... not sure which one yet. Or, even better, teamwork feats, Grimkell is a sucker to make others look good and these feats are perfect for that. Would anyone be interested in taking some too?
Since El Ronza was nice enough to introduce herself I shall do the same. My name is Maxime (a guy's name in french) and I am currently studying and doing research at the university. English is my second language, so if keep making the same spelling or grammatical mistakes, don't hesitate to tell me. I have been playing dnd or pathfinder for 18 years now and pbp for almost 2 years. Interestingly, Grimkell was my first character to be ever chosen, unfortunately the game died out after a few months.
Theora gets free teamwork feats, so she'll be taking the archery-appropriate ones. Don't know if any of them are the kind of thing Grimkell would get any use out of, though. If you wanted to, though, the help would be appreciated ;-)
And I will be the evil overlord trying to destroy you, ha ha ha. . . .
Really, I do not subscribe to the idea of the GM versus the players. We're all here to have fun and create a cool story together.
My name's Ben and I'm a student whirling on becoming a teacher. Math and language are my passions (interestingly enough, in my pursuit of language, I have studied french, though that was 12 years ago). I have been playing pathfinder for about 5 years or so now. I've been gming for about two of those. I've done pbp games for 3 years, but most of that was before I found the paizo forums.
Now some important things. I will be using roll20.net for maps, so you will all need an account (it is free). I will send you a link to our campaign page tonight or tomorrow morning.
I know most of you have experience with pbp,but make sure you know the basic ways to format (see "Hiw to format your text" below the submit button). To get us all on the same page, I intend for us to use standard format:
Bold for speech.
Italics for thought.
Things only you and the gm know.
Things that are happening away from the group.
That list was not all inclusive. If someone else shouldn't know it, put it in a spoiler.
I would also like to use spoilers for actions in combat. For instance:
Jerram moves past the unconscious minion. He swings his sword in a high arc. It catches a glimmer of torchlight as it streaks through the air, veering towards the neck of the waiting demon.
Standard action: attack demon#3
Try to be descriptive in your battle posts, I give you permission to even take a little license with npc reactions during battle. I will control their actions, but you can add small details without changing what they do.
GM Rolls: To help speed things up, I intend to roll initiative, most saving throws and reactive skill checks. If you have a problem with me rolling any of these, let me know and we will work it out.
Before we get started, please take a moment to place your main stats into your header such as Lars, Mirri and Gii have done. This makes things so much easier for me. If you need help with this feel free to ask, or take a look at their profiles to see how they did it.
Initiative will be handled in blocks.
Ex.
Mirri, Gii and Grimkell would go first, in whatever order they happen to post in.
The BBEG would go next.
Theora would be in the third block.
Then the demons.
Finally Lars.
I will usually post it like this:
Most of the time I will not GMPC a character until they have been missing for 48 hours. But in battle this can really slow things down. If we are in a battle, I will GMPC you if it has been your turn for 24 hours and you have not acted. I wish, for the sake of those waiting, that I could do it sooner, but I don't think that would be fair.
On that note, I set my expectations for posting times in recruitment. There will be exceptions, but please take one moment to let us know about them. To make it easier in the worst case scenarios you can even just post a two word comment "Out #" where #=the number of days you expect to be gone, then explain later if needed.
Finally, we're all in this to have fun. If you have any problems please handle them like adults. I don't think I need to have said that, but it sometimes surprises me how people act. If you have a problem with the way I'm doing something, or something I did, please talk to me. I like to think I'm a pretty reasonable person. I will try to get it taken care of as best I can.
Hah, looks like a good number of us are teachers.
I'm Steve, and I'm a senior elementary education major. I start my student teaching in August. :)
I've got Mirri, you're arcane caster who will be a mix of battlefield control, small amounts of cold blasting, and a mixture of buff/debuff and possibly some summoning.
Mirri is a winter elf who has only been in town for the last few days after journeying all the way from her tribe's home range near the crown of the world. She's been selling and trading handmade jewelry in this obscenely hot area of the world. She came here as she felt a pull to be here, the powers of winter guiding her to where they wanted her to be.
While I generally keep my actual identity to myself, makes the suspension of disbelief easier I think, but since everyone else is doing it I'll jump on the bandwagon. I'm Adam, and I work in supported living homes (think a group home with only three, usually higher functioning, special needs individuals). It pays crap, and I would love to find something that pays better, but I do enjoy the work most of the time.
As for my gaming of experience, I started miniatures in 2001 playing mechwarrior dark age and almost quite playing completely within a year or so as I found quickly that dice hate me guts. I stuck with it and drifted to Star Wars Revised Core Rules and DnD 3.5 a few years later. Once DnD went to 4th ed we were playing Star Wars minis and pirates constructable card game then moved onto Wizkids Pirates RPG system for a while.
We got started on Pathfinder when we were introduced to Legends of the Shinning Jewel, a living campaign that is the successor to 3.5s Procampur. I've been playing that for four (or is it 5?) years now mixed with some APs the last few years. I have one of the highest level clerics in the LSJ campaign, I should be tieing for the position this week as my next game with Lilly should see me hit level 16. Unlike society, LSJ is largely role play as opposed to combat, many modules if you have more than one fight you're doing something wrong, and doesn't have a level cap until you hit 21 (currently impossible due to the number of mods available, the highest level pc I know of is 17 currently, though 18 might be feasible). I work with the campaign as part of the campaign staff and am helping with the re-write and update of a large portion of the campaign materials. It's a great setting, and with the exception of certain mods, is a blast to play. If any of you have the chance I strongly recommend the setting.
Also,I mentioned it before to our gm, and maybe at the beginning of this thread, but I am headed to Origin's Game Fair in Ohio tomorrow. If anyone is going to be there and would like to meet I will likely be hanging out largely in the room where Legends of the Shinning Jewel is being played at, just ask for Droge ("o" as in dog, "ge" sounds like a "j"). I'll be there Wednesday through Sunday so Jammin' feel free to dmpc me as needed.
My name's Ben and I'm a student whirling on becoming a teacher.
*Working. Not whirling.
I know most of you have experience with pbp,but make sure you know the basic ways to format (see "Hiw to format your text" below the submit button).
And how. Not . . . whatever that was. Sorry, I posted those first two from my phone last night. I usually try to look them over anyway, but . . . Oh well.
Hoo, boy. Lots to read there! Thankfully, it looks pretty similar to what I'm used to. Good, good.
Finally managed to get an alias up for Theora, and I'm working on putting her info in now. I'll look over everyone's characters tomorrow, try to figure out if/how we might know each other, and my character's thoughts. I'm a big fan of character ties. :-)
Oh, and in OOC discussion, I tend to refer to people alternately by their real name and their character name. If you have a preference for one or the other, don't hesitate to call me out on it. (GMs, I usually just call 'GM', so same goes for you Ben. Just say what you'd like to be called!) (On a similar note, I'm happy to be addressed as my character's name, Veronica, or Ronnie. All are good.)
Hello all!
Bit about me, name's Rich, I do audit/accounting so I'll mainly be posting from work to dull the pain of working my job.
I've been playing tabletop rpg's for 4-5 years now and I'm looking forward to my first PBP.
Jamarcus was a gang member/enforcer/thug in 1970's Harlem and was brought to Golarion via unknown magical means. He suspects Baba yaga, and all he wants is to deliver a well-deserved beatdown to whoever did this to him and get home.
He was just starting to live the high life back on Earth as he was given a prime piece of real estate and had half a dozen girls working under him.
In terms of visuals:
http://blackdynamite.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/photo.jpeg
Replace the red jacket with a purple one, and add a large gold chain and we're good to go.
He worked as an enforcer for a local mob boss in a surrounding city, but is now on the run after he was caught in bed with the boss' daughter.
Jamarcus is proud, quick to anger, slow to trust, street smart, incredibly loyal, rough, and spits wisdom like none other.
As a brawler, Jamarcus is going to be in the front lines with his bare fists and light armor. Past level 3, I can combat maneuver some teamwork feats or flanking bonuses. Since my AC is low, I'll welcome any and all buffs for increasing durability.
Looking forward to playing with you all!
Edit: Nevermind
@Jarmarcus: Out of curiosity, what inspired you to make this particular character?
@El Ronza (and everyone): please use Grimkell or TheCelticCircle when writing to me. Right now, being called by my first name on the forums would just feel weird.
For teamwork feats:
-With Theora:
Reading through the ranged teamwork feats, they are only usefull for those using randed attacks (thus not useful to Theora's allies). However, intercept charge might be useful if we want to avoid Theora getting into melee with foes.
-With Jamarcus (or others):
Broken wing gambit (Grimkell would take the penalty to AC)
Paired opportunists (to go with previous one)
Coordinated maneuvers (my least favorite)
-With anyone in the group
Lookout -> more likely to act in surprise round, likely to get both move and standard action in surprise round. (I really like this one, gives a good edge to everyone).
Tribe mentally, pretty good agains mind control
Outflank if someone will dedicate their character to flanking opponents.
Precise strike, same reason as previous one
For Jamarcus' defense, I am more and more thinking of taking the Defensive Stance rage power which should do the trick.
By the way Grimkell, I just realized I never answered your question about the unchained barbarian rage stats. I answered it in my head, but never told you. That should be no problem. I think it makes perfect sense for the Skald.
@Grimkell: Had a few beers with friends and this is just something that spawned out of some drunken "what-if's". Seemed like a fun character from a role-play point of view.
Gameplay thread is up. Post whenever you are ready, then we'll all get going.
@ GM Jammin: Yes, I kinda assume so, thanks for the heads up though!
@ Jamarcus: Ok! Somehow I hope Jamarcus was also having beer when he was taken away. Also, does Jamarcus speak Taldan or english, or are both supposed to be the same?
Also, its getting late here, I will be posting tomorrow.