Hello all! D&D convert here. I do have experience running games, but it's been almost 20 years since my last one, and I haven't played any PF games yet other than the CRPGs. That said, I love the PF lore, and have written a whole bunch of material. I think I'm ALMOST ready to take the plunge, but I'll need to round up about 4 or so patient souls who'd be willing to give me a little grace on our first few outings. I'll be using Foundry, and I still need to set up the servers, etc., but it doesn't seem too hard (I work in an "IT-adjacent" role IRL).
If any of this is a dealbreaker, so be it. If you're still with me though, here's the basic premise of what I'd like to run for you (I'll be light on details to avoid spoilers):
One way or another, you've found your way to Restov in Brevoy (most likely you responded to recruitment propaganda from the local Pathfinder Society lodge).
After a few sessions, you'll likely migrate to Iobaria, the Casmaron Steppes, or other sites of interest in North/Northeastern Casmaron, potentially even voyaging the Castrovin Sea.
Exploration and discovery will be dominant themes. I'll introduce a (hopefully) fun mechanic in which nearly any hex/square on the overland map could present an opportunity for "discovery," complete with dungeon crawls, treasure vaults, and bits of lore ripe for the chronicling.
Chances of a "discovery" increase the further from civilization, and nearer to peril, that you roam.
You may bump into "Gary" style rival expeditions looking to scoop you, but you can lower the chances for these encounters by doing original research in towns, libraries, etc., or ramp up the chances by consulting "bulletin boards" for rumored sites of discovery.
The plot itself is highly dependent on your course of exploration. You may pick up clues about one villainous scheme, while missing clues about others. I will subtly tip the scales so that clues you've already uncovered begin to selectively filter out other subplots for a tighter story.
There should be a good mix of RP and dungeon crawl content, with a bit more emphasis on the latter. This will depend on your preferences too, of course.
I have enough content to move us from level 1 to at least level 15 or so, but plan to go all the way to 20 if you're game for it. There will be BBEG battles of epic proportions if you can make it that far.
So, anyone interested? Reply to let me know. Thanks!
That sounds interesting...can you tell me more?? I was thinking of a ranger possibly.
Daniel Stewart wrote: That sounds interesting...can you tell me more?? I was thinking of a ranger possibly. Sure can, and a ranger would be great! Again, I'll try to avoid providing any significant spoilers, but I'll provide some background that's freely given to you extremely early on:
A few years before the start of the campaign, Lord Vollod Kilmorry, Pathfinder Society venture-captain and acting director of the Birchwood Hall lodge in Restov, launched a regionwide exploratory operation to recover Mistcaller, a wondrous artifact dating to the old Iobarian empire of Casmaron. Adventure-seekers poured in from all of Brevoy and many nations besides to join the expedition. Adventuring parties were deployed to several different sites, with most of the activity focused on excavations along the fringes of what historians believe to be the far western extent of that storied empire.
Most of these missions returned empty-handed. When discoveries were made, they were always tangential to the expedition's chief objectives: a cyclopean ruin here, a haunted mineshaft there, but never any sign of the old empire. Worse than that, some missions never returned at all, having succumbed to any of a myriad of dangers that beset the land. The initial wave of excitement that brought so many to the doorsteps of Birchwood Hall quickly waned in light of these factors.
Fast forward to today and you might expect to encounter a gloomier, less self-sure Kilmorry--or perhaps a wiser one anyway. You might expect he'd have thrown in the towel by now and retired into obscurity. Instead, there's a new spring in his step thanks to a curious stretch of fortune:
The Pathfinder Society's leadership has issued a ruling waiving the usual requirements of training and initiation at the Grand Lodge in Absalom for Pathfinder applicants seeking to join on with chapters further afield. The policy is designed to increase recruitment and create a more egalitarian organization over time (it can be expensive to travel all the way to Absalom from some places after all, not to mention boarding fees, tuition, etc.).
So-called scouting stones, invented in Numeria and piloted first at the Numerian lodges, are catching fire. Sold under exclusive contract to the Pathfinder Society, these devices essentially function as mini-computers, aggregating data from the complete Pathfinder Chronicles in super-compressed layers of skymetal "hard disks." They're also imbued with divination magic, and an inscrutable, alien intelligence. Scouting stones "speak" into the minds of those attuned to them, alerting them when there is something of unique and fabulous importance awaiting discovery in the vicinity. Birchwood Hall has been granted an allowance of these stones on a provisional basis. The PCs will receive a semi-broken hand-me-down from the early Numerian trials, but it's serviceable.
Madelain, a reclusive chronicler of esoterica, has gifted her sprawling hilltop estate in Restov to Birchwood Hall. There's just one catch: her towers are etched with glyphs of sealing calibrated to repel Pathfinders, and they're frustratingly effective. Madelain always was an eccentric one... still, Madelain's archives may prove quite the windfall for the Restov chapter if only Lord Kilmorry can manage to scrounge up a few plucky novices (read: not-yet full Pathfinder operatives) to recover them.
The plot branches out significantly from here, but this is just the setup. Many outcomes are possible, but it's likely you'll make a few early "discoveries" and rack up reputation with the Pathfinder Society, in addition to helping Birchwood Hall replenish its coffers. By level 4-ish, certain events will strongly pull you into the vast unknown that is Casmaron, but the premises of discovery, acquisition of knowledge, and unlocking the full potential of YOUR scouting stone will carry on and build throughout the campaign.
Phew, that was a whole lot more than I originally intended to write, but since this will be a not-negligible commitment on your part, I figured I owed it to you.
One more thing though. Just a flavor sampler; here are the names of some potential dungeons/sites of interest that you might turn up in your journeys:
Madelain's Tower
Chapel of the Bellmaidens
Runebearer's Requiem
The Rootways
Braedle's Locker
Grubtimber Hill
Hope this helps! Thanks for your interest.
(edit: minor cleanup, grammar, etc.)
I have played PF 1E since its inception and have played PBP for about ten years. I've been a moderator and a player. I've played other systems as well, but I'm finally getting around to learning the 2nd edition of PF since opportunities to RP in 1E are fading as 2E takes prominence.
I'm near retirement and can devote time to multiple PBP games, so this is a good opportunity for me to learn another class in 2E. I've currently got a rogue, an inventor, and a fighter. I tend to enjoy playing clerics and oracles, so I'll work up one of those to enter into this recruitment. Should take me a week as I am still working nearly full time.
Let us know if you have any restrictions on any character creation features.
OK...colour me interested and sign me up. I will try to get a character with basic info completed and we can work on the background later. Looking forward to this adventure.
This sounds interesting! As we have a ranger type and a healer type, that probably means you need a skilly/trappy person and a magicky type. Let me think about this. Maybe a face/sorcerer, but I'm not sure yet. Seconding the question about whether there are restrictions on race, archetype, background, etc. Thanks!
Hey again all, thanks for the interest. A few points of clarification:
I do intend to run our sessions "live," in real time. I'm watching all the Foundry VTT tutorials I can to make sure I'm at least not an epic fail for y'all out the gate, but it looks like the right platform for this.
This is where my inexperience with this system probably rears its head, but... I'll just say my knowledge of character creation primarily comes from the Archives of Nethys (2e.aonprd.com). All options are on the table as long as they are the baseline rules I've read up on. That means anything goes as long as you use standard point-buy.
I'm not in love with anything flagged as "rare," in general, but as long as your goal isn't to min-max the hell out of everything then I'm cool with it. That said, frankly, if it turns out everyone's a min-maxer, I can be ok with that too with some coaxing (I'll turn up the heat accordingly).
I'm on board with "Remastered" rules, meaning alignment is whatever (no divine lance). I would encourage you to think about edicts and anathema as relevant, though.
Happy to answer any other questions. Thanks!
Hey Hademair_GM if you want any help in the character creation process let me know I would be more than willing to help you out.
That being said can you clarify what you maen by "the right platform" are you saying you will be running on ? "Foundry VTT" ? as I am not familiar with that. Further you are going to find that creating a Play Online Game (POG) is harder to get started and keep going due to time contraints with real-life and real-life hiccups which effect such and endeavor even more than it does a PbP game.
DeJoker wrote: Hey Hademair_GM if you want any help in the character creation process let me know I would be more than willing to help you out.
That being said can you clarify what you maen by "the right platform" are you saying you will be running on ? "Foundry VTT" ? as I am not familiar with that. Further you are going to find that creating a Play Online Game (POG) is harder to get started and keep going due to time contraints with real-life and real-life hiccups which effect such and endeavor even more than it does a PbP game.
Great questions (and food for thought...). I may be a little naive here, but my hope is that by recruiting here, given Paizo's visibility, we SHOULD have a realistic shot of making it come together in real-time. I wouldn't really want to go PbP.
Regarding Foundry, you can find out more about it here (https://foundryvtt.com/). I'll set up the servers, etc., and if you don't know much about it, I don't think it will be too much work for me to load in your character sheet. It basically has all options available by default barring homebrew.
I start my sabbatical (edit: this is NOT an academic sabbatical, meaning I can do whatever the heck I want) on 6/17 and I'd like to shoot to have "Session Zero" somewhere between 6/14 and 6/16 (I'm not too picky). My proposed session cadence is 3 weeks on (probably Saturdays or Sundays, with flexible start time) and 1 week off for prep based on your curveballs, etc. In theory, there's enough time between now and then that if I can build up my roster gradually (and, sadly, part ways with any hard "no's" for live play), we'll have our plan together in time without issues.
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool idealist and self-confessed Pollyanna though. We'll see if that pans out! :)
By the way, as you might surmise from my post-count, I'm really not terribly well-acquainted with the Paizo forums. Is this the correct spot for this type of recruitment? I'll be honest, there are so many forums/subforums here that I couldn't be sure! :) In looking around some, it appears most of the recruitment threads here cater to PbP; is the lack of threads re: synchronous VTT play an indication I'm barking up the wrong tree?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
As long as the sessions are on the weekends and not more than 4 or 5 hours, I can manage to play each week. My wife and I like to go on weekend trips now and then so we'd need some time for that. I do think the chance of keeping this going long term is low just because in any group of 7 people, it is likely one or more are going to have a change in RL that will force them to drop out.
PBP is slower but more likely to last longer. I've had a couple of PF AP campaigns that have been going for years now.
I've worked out some ideas for my character.
Female Halfling Cleric
Archeologist background since it seems that will be useful if we are looking for ancient sites.
Deity: Chaldira, a common deity worshiped by halflings who has trickery as a domain, granting training in thievery. That, along with a halfing ancestry feat will give the character some ability to pick locks and disarm traps.
At 2nd level, I will probably add an archetype such as rogue or monk or investigator, depending on how best to support the goals of the party. So she will not be a classic cleric but will have the healing spells to help keep the party alive and enough support spells to be useful in combat. She won't be a front line fighter as some clerics can be.
Clebsch73 wrote: As long as the sessions are on the weekends and not more than 4 or 5 hours, I can manage to play each week. My wife and I like to go on weekend trips now and then so we'd need some time for that. I do think the chance of keeping this going long term is low just because in any group of 7 people, it is likely one or more are going to have a change in RL that will force them to drop out. Totally get it! I'm also married, although we don't have or plan to have kids so that helps. We're homebodies for the most part, so we can get away with having immersive hobbies. Even so, I'm not the Cheetos-dusted, 48-hour marathon gamer I was in my teenage years; I'd keep sessions to 4 hours max. And while my life situation is perhaps uncommonly stable, I won't rule out the possibility of a shakeup.
Not everyone will be in the same boat as me, of course, but I'm patient enough to let the pieces fall into place (I might even get picky if it comes to it). I just want to be sure I'm going about this the right way, if that makes sense. I'd like to be shrewd about how I allocate my recruitment efforts.
Clebsch73 wrote: I've worked out some ideas for my character.
Female Halfling Cleric
Archeologist background [...]
Sounds great!
I know there are recruitment forums on Discord for PBP and remote tabletop games. I'm not familiar with how to find them, however.
Clebsch73 wrote: I know there are recruitment forums on Discord for PBP and remote tabletop games. I'm not familiar with how to find them, however. I just now today discovered this. I always thought Discord was a voice-chat application like Ventrilo or Teamspeak. Turns out I'm probably just thinking of Ventrilo or Teamspeak!
I'll be putting out some feelers over there as well once I get the hang of it.
By the way, after brushing up on my halfling deities a bit, I'd like to think you made an excellent choice. With a bag of tools, a little bit of luck, and whole lot of mischief-making, you'll go far.
I'd definitely be interested as well, really would come down to time zones. I'm in Alaska so a bit behind time zone wise.
I love the theme and hexploration style campaign and could definitely start puzzling out a fun character for something like this.
Codanous wrote: I'd definitely be interested as well, really would come down to time zones. I'm in Alaska so a bit behind time zone wise.
I love the theme and hexploration style campaign and could definitely start puzzling out a fun character for something like this.
Alaska! Talk about a great place to explore! Well, I live in mid-Missouri so that would put you 3 hours behind me. I tend to be a “morning person” but I’ll remain flexible. My preference would be to have sessions wrapped up by 5 or 6 pm my time.
Thanks for your interest! It’s back to the salt mines with my RL full-time job but I’ll likely post back to the thread in a day or two with sort of a list of “highly thematic / plot-relevant” background concepts for folks to consider (in addition to their own ideas, of course).
Hello again everyone,
As promised, here's some background concepts you might consider for this game (in case you're interested); the "spoiler" tag is just to de-clutter a list of rulebook "Background" options that would be on-point:
And here are some more campaign-specific concepts; these aren't necessarily associated with any one background from the rulebooks. They're just some basic character frameworks that would fit well with the campaign's themes and plotlines:
The Sword IS Mightier Than the Pen, Actually - Yes, Pathfinder expeditions have been known to fail, but never for lack of trying. No, what they've been lacking is bitter steel and a pair of arms that can actually swing it! You may not have booksmarts, but at least you know the pointy end of a sword from the not-pointy end. You're not "anti-intellectual." But you *are* strongly pro-"big cutty sawblade of annihilation." You could use a new weapon or thirty, and you suspect that you'll have your pick of the litter if you can just find someone to get you to the nearest ancient arsenal of almighty destruction.
Correcting the Record - Historical inconsistencies make you itchy. In the circles you run in, there is ample debate about the historical basis for many of the Pathfinder Society's ongoing expeditions, but few people seem willing to openly question the illustrious chroniclers of yesteryear whose monographs remain the gold standard across Golarion. You've decided enough is enough; you'll be leaving the relative comfort of the city you love to join an expedition of your own. To put a finer point on it, you have your sights trained on Mistcaller, convinced its resting place lies much closer to the heart of the old Iobarian empire than its fringes. Maybe with the evidence you gather from the field, you can finally prove you're more than a contrarian with a chip on your shoulder.
Sorrows in Sorroclaan - You're a Mitzenki catfolk from Sorroclaan (a remote forest commune located near some old ruins in modern Iobaria), and exploration isn't just in your blood, it's in the blood of your kin and everyone you hold most dear. Yet lately the only exploration you've undertaken has been in service of keeping a low profile; a few weeks back, your tiny, insular village came under attack from zealous hunters and paladins of Erastil who'd mistook Sorroclaan as a haven for predatory werecreatures in league with cultists of Lamashtu. A close friend or relative of yours was slain in one of these raids, but you managed to flee into the wilds and escape notice. You're not sure if you want payback or just a proper chance to pay your respects to the fallen, but now that you're comfortably out of harm's way, the time seems right to make yourself a target again--with a few new friends at your side to keep you safe.
Family Ties - While much of northern Casmaron remains sparsely populated, a few cities do exist, especially along the coast of the Castrovin Sea. And while you did make an honest living serving aboard your home city's marquee merchant vessels, the awful taste of hardtack never did grow on you. Maybe it's time for you to hang up your sailor's mop and set a course for adventure on dry land. Your family in Restov seems to be getting on alright; maybe you can borrow a guest room for a while as you sort out what you really want to become in life. You can tie a heck of a knot, no question about it, so maybe that will get you somewhere. And if you should ever get homesick--who knows, maybe the Sea will beckon you once again some day.
The Whole Truth - Whether as a scholarly endeavor, obsessive pasttime, or expression of your religious/mystical beliefs, you have dedicated much of your life to the repair and restoration of mortal knowledge. But you're not physically mending the pages, or stamping out silverfish in library basements. Your project is much more ambitious. You're striving to create a world in which the written record is never sanitized, where falsehoods are excised with extreme prejudice, and lazy methods of historical deduction are called out for what they are. Your singular dedication to the truth can sometimes get you in trouble, however. For example, you might assume conflicts of interest or ideological biases motivate a particular author or institution, when in fact it's your own bias clouding your judgment.
If any of these catch your eye, feel free to drop me a note. Thanks!
Hi.
I am interested in being a potential player in your campaign.
I run a Saturday evening game (I am in Eastern time zone) and usually play in a game on Saturday afternoons (which probably will not be resuming until after the summer).
I sometimes have plans Friday evenings, so a game that wraps up by 6 p.m. my time (which coincides with you wanting to wrap up sessions by 5 p.m. (instead of 6 p.m.) your time would work for Fridays for me. Only some Fridays would that be an issue, and on Fridays I do not have evening plans I am good to play until whenever.
Sunday afternoons would be good. One of my friends who is too busy with RL thinks he can time budget in a monthly game so I offered the potential to run a monthly Sunday afternoon/evening game for him; which would coincide with your thoughts about have 3 weeks on and 1 week of for your own GM prep.
I have never played on Foundry - for ones not familiar with it, only the GM has to pay to use the website to host a game, so for any players who might not have known if it would cost them to use Foundry to partake in your campaign, it would not.
As for character ideas, I have no qualms creating a character to fill a niche that is not already covered by the group. I will list a few non-rare ancestries I would be interested in playing (I will list those in a subsequent post so you have a chance to read this post first).
I like the Family Ties background you posted.
Some questions about character creation:
Which, if any, of the following variant rules are you using for the campaign?
Ancestry Paragon
Simplified Ancestries
Free Archetype
Dual-Classed PCs
Proficiency without Level
Simplified Skill Feats
Gradual Ability Boosts
Stamina
Potential Group Members so far:
(Daniel Stewart) possible ranger
(Clebsch73) cleric or oracle
(Axolotl) maybe a face/sorcerer (noted probably need a skilly/trappy and magicky person)
(Dejoker) [looks like Dejoker was only providing useful advice and not an interest in joining based on Dejoker's post - clarify please, Dejoker)
(Codanous) no specific class mentioned thus far
(GM Drake) happy to create a character for a role not covered if needed, so will come up with a few character ideas to cover
Working with the above, using the classic c/f/m/t group composition:
c (cleric) - looks like Clebsch (cleric or oracle)
f (fighter) - looks like Daniel (ranger)
m (mage) - possibly Axolotl
t (thief) - possibly Axolotl
-> Daniel: Are you thinking a melee-focused, ranged-focused or a mixture of the two for your ranger?
edited: class c/f/m/t to classic c/f/m/t
Have a character concept in mind.
Ancestry: Catfolk
Heritage: Clawed Catfolk
Level 1 catfolk ancestry feat: Cat's Luck
Background: Fightbreaker (Ular Kel)
Class: Monk
Level 1 monk class feat: Crane Stance
Archetype: Clawdancer (taking dedication feat at level 2). Clawdancer is a common archetype from Howl of the Wild (pdf drops on May 22 so should be on AoN soon).
Character background:
Tawn was born in Watersend, the poorest of Ular Kel’s recognized districts. Watersend is so named for the fact that the aqueducts stop well short of its streets, forcing residents to haul water from public basins to the north. While it would be easy enough for the Water Lords to extend the aqueducts, grumbled rumors among the residents suggest that the aristocracy finds the arrangement useful for keeping the city’s underclass in its place. He grew up overhearing visitors talking about the Castrovin Sea, which they claimed is so large that you cannot see land on the horizon when looking out across the sea from the shore. He dreamed about one day being able to travel to such a wondrous place. When he became of age, he chose to go by the name, Cass, and he got himself a job as a fightbreaker at one of the taverns in Tokbolat, Ular Kel's entertainment district. After a few years he had saved up enough to book passage to the Castrovin Sea and was hired on as a deckhand on one of the merchant vessels. He became fast friends with a fellow deckhand who comes from Brevoy who told Cass about the Lake of Mists and Veils. Cass had started to yearn for the solid ground under his feet for a few weeks and did not want to go back to Ular Kel after living making his living where water was so abundant. His friend told him he was going to be heading back home and asked Cass if he would like to travel with him, which Cass gladly accepted the offer.
Note: Cass did not study at a dojo or under a sensei, though did grow up practicing the catfolk clawdancer martial art with his kin. His nature was more akin to wanting to prevent violence as opposed to inflicting it, and developed a defensive technique (crane stance) which allows him to better dodge attacks and also jump greater distances and heights.
Ability Modifiers: Str +1, Dex +4, Con +1, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +1
Trained skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Castrovin Sea Lore, Diplomacy, Stealth, Survival, Ular Kel Lore
edited: did not have the background listed, added ability scores and trained skills
I created a Hero Forge mini for Cass.
https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D518790456/
Daaaang.... I think it's safe to say you're a keeper, GM_Drake! I'll probably correspond with you over PM/email in the future; after our first playthrough, I can avail my Foundry content for you. The mechanics behind the curtain should provide good replay value, since you really can't predict what the PCs will do (true always, but unlike something like an AP, PCs can offroad as much as they want and still advance the story; offroading is kind of the point).
It also helps that something like 95% of Casmaron remains completely untouched by Paizo or anyone else AFAIK. That means you can play with a table of seasoned lore-heads, go almost fully by-the-book in terms of canon, and still introduce the players to whole swaths of Golarion that aren't even mapped yet aside from the general shape and proportions of the landmass as a whole. Those sites and the lore associated with them, will be revealed to them for the first time during this campaign.
Anyway, I'm digressing. I think you have a good character concept going here! I will say that I plan to use baseline rules, meaning any variant or optional rules won't be available. I reserve the right to change my mind about that, but I worry these things will make adjudicating a new system (for me) too complicated. I'd prefer to get a sense of how balanced and rewarding the base rules are first.
Thanks for your interest!
I consulted PF1E Campaign Setting: Distant Shores to see which, if any, city was detailed near the Castrovin Sea - and that is the one Ular Kel is detailed in. I know how to separate player knowledge from character knowledge (one of my first college gaming groups got upset because I did not meta-game when we (the players) had deduced my character was talking to a dragon in disguise), who had absolutely no idea he was talking to a dragon in disguise.
Cass's languages, in order of learning were Amurrun, Kelish (the common tongue of Ular Kel), then Taldane (the common tongue of Avistan).
I use discord to run my game and Owlbear VTT (free version allows you to have up to two free maps saved).
I find discord is really useful as a GM tool for organizing (both for private GM notes/sections as well as various player sections). If you are not familiar with discord and would like to check it out, I can create a server for your campaign if you like, then pass ownership of it over to you (so I cannot see the private GM sections).
The dual-class PCs and free archetype are good in they can allow players to create character concepts that they could not with just the baseline rules. The dual-class is the more advanced of the two variant rules, whereas the free archetype variant rule allows players to have archetypes without needing to sacrifice their class feat slots to gain the archetypes.
My build plan for Cass is using baseline rules, with most of his monk feat slots being used for Clawdancer archetype feats.
I did not name Cass's crewmate friend, to leave it open for his friend to be an NPC or another PC should one of the others want to to use the Family Ties flavor background you made and are interested in having a linked background with Cass.
Cass has never done lethal damage, but as things progress he will feel he should start practicing his clawdancer katas on a daily basis again (which he has not practiced in years)...so he will be ready if he needs to stop 'pulling his claws' to keep others safe...with the intent to knockout threats before inflicting too much lethal damage on them.
You are welcome. :)
Cass, like many amurrun, is not particularly religious.
This sums up the core things he knows about the deities:
Cayden the Liberator (frees slaves, does not like mean drunks)
Sarenrae the Redeemer (makes bad people become good people, burns people bad people who remain bad people)
Desna the Traveler (guides travelers with stars and dreams)
Bastet: supposed creator of the amurrun. Doing the following are no-no's: kill/abuse a housecat, abandon a child, choose to marry
Hey there GM_Drake! I’m at work at the moment (shhh, I passed my Stealth check), but I did want to pop in just quickly to acknowledge your Discord server offer. I have a feeling I may just take you up on that! Also, while it sounds like you use a different platform to run your own games, I will just reaffirm that as a general policy, I’m very generous about sharing my material. And that’s a message I’d even broadcast openly to other GMs if the concept appeals to you. I’ve also toyed with packaging everything up and selling the amassed content as a licensed publication if I can ensure that all proceeds will be donated to charities I support (Alzheimer’s charities especially).
Anyway, I think I’ll plan to write back again soon with a little bit more lore about Mistcaller. That might also be helpful to some folks as they consider character backstories.
That’s all for now! Thanks again to all who have expressed interest!
Hey all, a couple of things:
For those of you who posted early on (Daniel Stewart, Axolotl), are you still interested in playing now that I've clarified we'll be playing "live" (using Foundry VTT)?
For everyone else: we're beginning to close in on the "Timeslot of Maximal Agreeability." For the weekly sessions that we do play, Saturday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Central Standard Time appears to be where we'll land. Please PM me if you're still interested and available. 3 weeks on, 1 week off will be the cadence, although vacations, etc., will certainly be accommodated (I HATE leaving people out of games once they've committed, so this will just be how it is; let people live, dang it!).
Now for the juicy bits! The artifact known as Mistcaller features prominently in this campaign. In-game, characters might observe leaflets tacked to bulletin boards, advertisements printed in the daily broadsheet they read, or even narrated announcements from the clockwork criers they've encountered in the larger cities of the Inner Sea--any of which will have conveyed the following boilerplate:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
"It could be a mighty horn, shed from the brow of an ancient cloud dragon.
Or perhaps it's a magic staff, the legacy of a powerful archdruid who commanded sky and sea.
It could even be the fragment of a dead god's will, spun out of the ardent dreams of her devoted.
Whatever the truth may be, wherever the truth may be, the time has come to lift the shroud of mystery.
Will you answer the call?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
This recruitment propaganda refers to Mistcaller, and goes on to provide details about where to go (Restov) and with whom you should inquire (Lord Vollod Kilmorry), to join in on the ongoing search for the mysterious relic. Kilmorry himself will openly provide the following information to the PCs when they meet with him:
The consensus among scholars is that Mistcaller is a wondrous and powerful device, capable of calling thick, impenetrable mists into the world.
Many believe primal magic brims inside of Mistcaller, and that its very purpose is malleable, shaped by the desires of those attuned to it.
According to myth, Mistcaller may be the sole reason that the ancient Iobarian empire lasted as long as it did. In the stories Kilmorry's mother would tell him, villainous pirate gangs were once numerous in the Castrovin Sea. Cruel and ambitious, these pirates fancied themselves the founders of a new empire, born of salt and sea. Their tyrannical obsession would only be quenched when all the cities along the Castrovin Sea fell under their banner. The pirates were not invincible, though.
According to these same myths, King Hrugil, son of King Iobar I, arrived in the port of Kridorn bearing Mistcaller, just as the pirate armada had begun its final push to take the city. In their moment of need, the brave king activated Mistcaller and in an instant, the would-be invaders were engulfed in towering, oppressive clouds of impenetrable mist. With the mists effectively blinding his adversaries, King Hrugil launched a devastating counterattack, defeating the pirates and dismantling their nascent empire.
Lord Kilmorry believes Mistcaller today lies somewhere beneath the Icerime Peaks, a stretch of cold mountains that defines much of Brevoy's eastern borders. The tale of how it got there remains the subject of debate, but Kilmorry is convinced it cannot possibly be anywhere else.
That's all for today folks! I'll plan to check in again soon. Thanks!
Hademair_GM wrote: For the weekly sessions that we do play, Saturday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Central Standard Time appears to be where we'll land. Mea culpa! We're still somewhat up in the air re: start time. In fact, Sunday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Central Standard Time is looking better for folks at this point.
Thanks!
Looking forward to the campaign.
Have enough players confirmed with you to have a full table or is player recruitment still open?
I'll be out of town from Friday through Sunday. Let us know how character sheet information will be provided. I've got my character mostly mapped out.
I tried a version of my halfling cleric as an oracle, but didn't like the options as well. I'm going to use the Cloistered Cleric doctrine, so that means not well armored, compared to clerics in 1E.
Been stalking this thread for a few days. Reached out to the DM via his game post on Discord Foundry site. If there's an opening I have a couple character concepts I'd love to throw into the mix depending on what's needed.
Hello again everyone! Wanted to answer a few questions that have come in:
GM_Drake wrote: Looking forward to the campaign.
Have enough players confirmed with you to have a full table or is player recruitment still open?
We have a good bit of interest going. Recruitment is technically still open, but my goal is to finalize our starting roster in the next few days.
Clebsch73 wrote: I'll be out of town from Friday through Sunday. Let us know how character sheet information will be provided. I've got my character mostly mapped out.
I tried a version of my halfling cleric as an oracle, but didn't like the options as well. I'm going to use the Cloistered Cleric doctrine, so that means not well armored, compared to clerics in 1E.
Excellent! I think you have a compelling character concept. I like that you have the potential to plug some gaps as well. I am certain the ability to disarm traps will come in handy!
I'm flexible on how you can share character sheet information. The main consideration is that I can read it :) I am partial to this website though, if you'd consider using it: https://pathbuilder2e.com/app.html
Emerald_wolf wrote: Been stalking this thread for a few days. Reached out to the DM via his game post on Discord Foundry site. If there's an opening I have a couple character concepts I'd love to throw into the mix depending on what's needed. Hmm... I believe I've responded to all my Discord messages... ping me again if you don't mind. Thanks!
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Also, just as a general request to all who remain interested: I'd encourage you to remain somewhat flexible about some aspects of your character build. Once we all come together, there's a possibility one player will have a great idea for you to riff off of. Also, I've been known to take suggestions about rules changes under consideration; for example, free archetype and dual-class characters might be permitted after all, but I'd need all players to be onboard, and respect certain guardrails to prevent degeneracy.
Thanks again everyone!
Emerald_wolf wrote: Been stalking this thread for a few days. Reached out to the DM via his game post on Discord Foundry site. If there's an opening I have a couple character concepts I'd love to throw into the mix depending on what's needed. Hmm... I believe I've responded to all my Discord messages... ping me again if you don't mind. Thanks!
I'm in disguise. on Discord I'm Dragon_Spyder because Emerald_Wolf is apparently taken.
Well GM Drake since you still seem to have room and while my appearance in the recruitment threads are not daily my appearance in games is usually daily. Further I would be willing to fill any vacant slot that you currently need filled. Look forward to hearing from you, I will try to check back here but a DM on Paizo will be even better as that I am assured to see almost immediately.
DeJoker wrote: Well GM Drake since you still seem to have room and while my appearance in the recruitment threads are not daily my appearance in games is usually daily. Further I would be willing to fill any vacant slot that you currently need filled. Look forward to hearing from you, I will try to check back here but a DM on Paizo will be even better as that I am assured to see almost immediately. Hi DeJoker; I think you meant to direct this comment to me. Rather than DM you, I figured it might be helpful to respond publicly for the benefit of other forum-goers as well: interest in this campaign has been robust, and we are no longer recruiting. If that situation changes, I'll be sure to post back.
Thanks everyone!
Recent threads in Recruitment
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