It seems everyone is still interested in maintaining this game, so long as someone steps in to GM it.
I am willing, but I am not calling dibs or anything. I am totally willing to discuss it if there is there anyone else who is interested, or if someone knows a GM on the boards who might be.
I have been considering running a game, but I'm not sure I'd have chosen this AP to run; it looks like one that was more fun to play. Taking over somebody's game can also be a bit more restrictive than starting a new one. All said though, this group has a good dynamic, and I don't want it to drift apart.
If there is no one else, then I will do it. There are a few challenges for me: I haven't run a PbP before either, though I think Ringtail and Martinaj were in that boat as well, so that may not mean anything. Needless to say, it would be a learning experience. Second, I mostly post at work, on my breaks and such, so my the timing of my posts might be limited to mostly M-F. I'd have to read the AP, as this was my first time through it, and I haven't read it. And lastly, what to do with my character, since I was a character in this group?
If all of these are ok with folk and we get it figured out, then I am good with it.
If you feel like stepping into the GM's position Kirill will gladly fill Zhan's slot.
Time limitations and casual pacing doesn't bother me much as I also post primarily from my work PC, so I understand the restrictions.
For a moment I thought you might offer to pick up the gm role, but yes, I had been thinking of inviting you back regardless. I enjoyed Kirill.
Thought about it...but I don't own CC, and it isn't an investment I can afford to make in the wake of my impulse buy of the Kindle Fire. I'd gladly do so (since this is a three paycheck month for me), but everyone would have to be willing to wait at least until the month is half over so I can pick up and read through at least the first PDF. Also, until I have a functioning left hand again...ouch.
As for Harrowstone, I have a friend who has them in print form that I can barrow. I'm not sure how many he has of the CC path but I know he has at least the first one, so the cost for this part at least is not an issue.
I haven't heard anyone weigh in for a while, so I'm going to assume no one else is chomping at the bit to GM. I'll start looking at doing some prep to switch to a GM role, though there is likely to be some general questions that will need to get figured out, as mentioned previously.
Yeah, we'll have to figure out the new houserules and all that stuff.
Agnar still going to be the action hero I made him to be.
I'm also new, and just started running a pbp, so I don't think I could run this game.
I've heard interesting things about this AP, so I can wait a bit for whoever runs this to get up to speed.
Oh yeah I had a question Ember what did Ember's parents say about guys from the Realms of the Mammoth lords?
Martinaj, if you are still reading, is it possible to transfer authority over this campaign over to me, or will we need to start a new campaign thread?
Ringtail/Kirill? You would be most welcome to come back to the game. It is good to have you back.
I think it is important to keep it in mind that this is a campaign already in motion, so my intention would be to keep any established house rules in effect. Otherwise, it might affect people's characters or create other complications. I think I would consider adding in some of my own preferred house rules as well, but I will be open to any discussion if any of those rules is considered to be too disruptive by one or more players.
If anyone wishes to rebuild their character for some reason. in light of having a new GM and new opinions on applicable rules, I would be open to it, though it is by no means necessary.
On the topics of Zhan
So, obviously moving from player character to GM presents a few difficulties. First and foremost is what to do with Zhan? He has been very vocal up until this point, and has been something of a leader or at least strong guiding influence in the group; if I am GM, obviously he cannot stay in that role in the group.
There are a few options:
1) Write him out. Create an in story reason for him to leave the group.
2) Write him in. Into the story, making him an NPC.
3) Kill him off.
4) Continue to play him. The always controversial GMPC.
Let me know your thoughts. I tend to think option one is the easiest, and creates the fewest complications, although it sounded as though Agnar at least preferred another option.
Well since I had to ask before I shall ask now you cool with Wild Rager? Yes I know we have AM BARBARIAN and he would be upset with my choice but meh. As for re-building can I change a feat?
On to Zhan: I say we keep him.
Zhan, I would be happy to hand the reigns to you, if I can simply figure out how. I've been looking around at all the shiny buttons, but I can't seem to find anything that allows me to relinquish control of the thread. Could anyone explain to me how this is done?
And man... Now I'm getting a little bummed about backing out all of the sudden, because I had PLANS for Zhan...
When the first came up with the campaign threads there were requests to be able to take over a game someone had assumed GM control of. At that time, I know it involved an email to one of the Paizo tech people. If you look under the webite feedback threads there should be a post or two about it and what is needed.
As far as Zhan, I think option 2 wouldn't be bad. He takes on a somewhat adoptive father role to Kendra, and has the Gandalf role of maybe feeding us hints if we are not seeing the forest for the trees.
I say keep Zhan. Option 2/4 is best (and NPC, but one that gains exp and adventures with us).
And Agnar, my parents told me stories about ruthless Kellid barbarian raiders from the Realms of the Mammoth Lords.
And tales of wicked unnatural elves and half-elves too.
She shouldn't care about that being who she is, but superstitious stereotyping while growing up has never been easy to ignore. She knows that people fear her for no reason, but still has a hard time overcoming her own unreasonable fears.
Oh I see, makes sense.
Well since I had to ask before I shall ask now you cool with Wild Rager? Yes I know we have AM BARBARIAN and he would be upset with my choice but meh. As for re-building can I change a feat?
I do not believe Wild Rager to be the most optimized version, but I respect the fun-aspect involved, and his Rapid Shot For Melee Attacks is freaking awesome.
Is not my place to tell others how to game.
Well since I had to ask before I shall ask now you cool with Wild Rager? Yes I know we have AM BARBARIAN and he would be upset with my choice but meh. As for re-building can I change a feat?I do not believe Wild Rager to be the most optimized version, but I respect the fun-aspect involved, and his Rapid Shot For Melee Attacks is freaking awesome.
Is not my place to tell others how to game.
With APG and half-elf you can do it pretty well with a low chance of attacking other people. Lower Cha to 8 than raise Wis to 12, than take dual minded and iron will. Your will save is now 5 and when you rage it goes to 7. You now just have to roll a 3 or higher to not be confused you could also take cha to 7 and take wis to 13 if you really want to not attack others.
I too would say to keep Zhan in the game, and just run him as an NPC from here out. More for continuity and flow than anything. Use him to facilitate as much as you feel comfortable.
Zhan...And man... Now I'm getting a little bummed about backing out all of the sudden, because I had PLANS for Zhan...
It's not too late to change your mind, Orlok. I had plans for Zhan as well. As I mentioned at the beginning, the last time I made an Inquisitor, I needed to redesign him as a Paladin, as that group had zero melee capability. Perhaps inquisitor is a cursed class for me. Hopefully, I will eventually get to play one through.
The game:
Sounds like the NPC option is favored, and I can easily make that work. Zhan has started to take on a serogate father role with Kendra, and this can be strengthened. He will likely spend most of his time with her, and only accompany the party when she does.
I have the AP book now and will be reading it over. It shouldn't be long until I am ready to continue. However, as I mentioned on the RotRL forum, my wife is getting ready to have a baby, and it's looks like that may happen in the next day or two here, so I will obviously be delayed if that happens.
It is tempting. I mean I really like CC, and was having fun running it, but I still don't have any kind of mapping software, and I feel like the (lack of) frequency of my posts will become too frustrating on the players.
Oh, and congratulations on your child!
Valachi, Delia, Sagaar: Losing Dehrisan (OrlokJr/martinaj) from my RotRL opens up a slot we need filled (maybe 2, another PC has been missing for a couple months). Currently there is a priest of Sarenrae, a bard, a fighter, and a starsoul sorceress. If any of you are interested we'd be happy to have you. The party is currently level 3 and making there way through the Nettlewood toward Thistletop for those of you familiar with the AP.
I'd be interested, I will look into the threads and come up with a concept sometime tonight.
So, I have almost completed reading the AP, and I am doing some prep for the game. I have sent in a request to have the Campaign moved into my name, under the Alias Rigor Rictus. I am exploring a few mapping options as well, as we are likely to need maps in the near future. I will use the Googledocs spreadsheet if nothing better is available.
At the moment I am assuming the active players are:
Dehlia and Father
Valachi
Agnar
Ember V
Trinam
Kirill
Zhan will be remaining with the group (for as long as makes sense in-game) as an NPC attached to Kendra. As we have heard nothing else from him, I assume this will likely take place with Sagaar as well.
As noted before, if there are any character modifications that you wish to make before we resume, please bring them up now, so we can avoid messy revisions later. Agnar, I am fine with the Wild Barbarian Archetype so long as your comrades are.
As stated previously, all of Orlok Jr's house rules introduced so far will remain in effect, unless there are any that the group wishes repealed.
House Rules
Weapon Finesse: All melee weapons to which the Weapon Finesse feat would normally apply have the Finesse special property, which allows a proficient wielder to use their Dexterity Modifier for attack rolls in place of their Strength Modifier, just as if they had the RAW Weapon Finesse feat. The Weapon Finesse feat, in this game, allows you to use your Dexterity Modifier for damage in place of your Strength Modifier when using a weapon for with the Finesse quality. You do NOT get to add 1.5 of your Dex Mod to damage rolls when using such weapons two-handed, even when they can normally be finessed in such a fasshion.
Athletics: This is a new skill that combines the Climb and Swim skills, and the rules for jumping are covered by Athletics as well. Class abilities that rely on jumping and require an Acrobatics check require an Athletics check instead. Athletics uses Strength as its relevant ability score, and all DCs for climbing, swimming, and jumping are unchanged. All classes that have both Climb and Swim as class skills have Athletics as a class skill. Those who have only one or the other have been given Athletics on a discretionary basis. Athletics is a class skill for the following classes: Barbarian, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Cavalier, Inquisitor, Magus.
Called Shots: We are using the Called Shots rules presented in Ultimate Combat, but ONLY the base system for now. I want to see how it plays out before going further than that. For now, at least, no feats presented along with the system are allowed.
Things I will change will be that all classes and variants will be allowed, including Gunslinger, Samurai, and Ninja, should you wish, as will all "Official" archetypes.
In regard to Orlok's Weapon Finesse rule, I like it, and usually house rule that finesse weapons do not require a feat, but I do not usually allow DEX to add to damage as he did. I will leave it in as an existing rule, but I would like to say that such damage should be considered precision based, and therefore inapplicable to creatures that are immune to critical hits, etc. This makes sense to me, but please say so if you disagree.
If there are any concerns or questions, feel free to ask.
Still wanting to play.
I have no problems with your proposals.
I understand that your wife and baby come first (as they should) and may delay the game. So be it. I do want to play, so I'll wait for you to be ready.
I believe I am ready to go. I will be picking things up where we left off in the game forum. Since Delia has raised a new issue, we will assume that people have not yet gone to bed.
...
Thanks for the invite, but I'm already a player in 3 PbP and running my own campaign, so my docket is kinda full at the moment.
Sorry about not putting this up sooner, I have been busy with classes. I just want to change weapon focus on Agnar to Power Attack.
As we've only had one fight so far, I'd have no problem with that.
Okay thank you.
I've been lurking in the discussion thread, but haven't read the last 95ish posts in the game thread. Could someone summerize what I missed while I was away (otherwise it will take some time for me to catch up)?
Super Short Version:
After fight we went back to the house, three people were there. Talked to two new members of the group. Sheriff and the Father showed up, had a long talk about a bunch of different things.
Would of done a better job but I am sleepy.
I will see if I can expand on Agnar's elegant summation.
I checked your posts, and it looks like your last in-game post was October 17, but you didn't say you were bowing out until Oct 30 or so, so I'll assume you're mostly familiar with what happened there.
After Prof. Lorrimor's post mortem visit to the house we secured his body in the basement to safeguard it. Father Grimburrow and Sheriff Caeller came by the house to tell us that his grave had been desecrated and the body was missing. We made up some excuses, and they left. In the morning, Zhan met with Father Grimburrow and told him what had actually happened. He agreed to reinter the professor at the home, so we could ensure the body was not again attacked. We assumed that the Whispering Way had sent him to the house as some sort of threat.
Next we went to the graveyard to investigate the grave. All appearances made it seem that the body had dug its own way out, as opposed to being dug up an reanimated. As we were investigating, three more graves burst open, and three flaming skeletons emerged. There was a fight, and Valachi was badly burned, but the skeletons were destroyed.
When we arrived back at the home, there was a fancy carriage waiting and three strangers newly arrived at the house. The carriage belonged to a man called Adivian Adrissant, a former colleague/rival of professor Lorrimor. He had given a ride to two invitees to the funeral, who had been previously unable to make it. Ember V, a young Priestess of Pharasma, and Carol Silverkin, an explorer and student of ancient ruins.
As the Lorrimor home was full, Adivian offered to put the two newcomers up in the local in, at his expense.
Ember healed V of his copious burns, and we gave the newcomers a sanitized version of recent events, keeping back a few secrets.
Father Grimburrow and Sheriff Caeller came calling to check on us after the battle with the skellies. The Father indicated that he did not believe that the bodies had been raised in any of the ritual manners common to necromancy. Caeller voiced his opinion that he was now convinced that the haunting of harrowstone must be involved. We were given his blessing to investigate the ruins, as long as we didn't stir up any new trouble.
That pretty much it.
What Zhan said.
Excellent-thank you.
What about the firepelt that almost ate Tardek?
Tardek was in Ringtail's Rise of the Rune Lords campaign. What about him? Did you mean to post over there?
The baby arrived last night, with no small amount of effort on my wife's part. It was a girl, and she was pretty big, 8 pounds, 11 ounces, or just under 4 kilos. Suffice to say, we are very happy, but very tired. I'll probably be hit a miss for a few days, but I will try to check in as soon as I can.
Congratulations on the baby girl. Note do not let anyone spoil her. I told them not to do this with my little sister and they do anyway. My little sister is bad....
What about the firepelt that almost ate Tardek?
Hah!
The baby arrived last night, with no small amount of effort on my wife's part. It was a girl, and she was pretty big, 8 pounds, 11 ounces, or just under 4 kilos. Suffice to say, we are very happy, but very tired. I'll probably be hit a miss for a few days, but I will try to check in as soon as I can.
Congratulations, indeed!
Congratulations on your baby girl!
It's been hectic lately, I'll try to have a post up soon. Thanks for the patience.
No problem, new borns and holidays do that to you let alone both at the same time.
Yup, yup! Don't sweat it...
So, if you are curious as to why I had your new patron offer more to some than to others... Orlok Jr. invited a few new members and instructed them to use level 2 wealth, though the core group has not really received anything of significant value so far, other than perhaps a few expendable magic items that will still likely be distributed around the group when you head out into action. Therefore, since some had their average starting wealth, and others had 1000 gp, I threw this in just to help out those impoverished team members in a way that makes sense in story. It is not perfect, but helps a little I think.
I thought you did it because it is Christmas.
Merry Christmas! That's part of it, and that is the reason for the credit and the torches, but I though I should explain the unequal gifting.
If there are any questions or private character questions any of you wish to discuss, at any time in the future of the campaign please feel free to e-mail me (or email, so forum searches will show either spelling) at lastaddressplanetearth@gmail.com
Well, I have been back to work for a week, and my wife and I are starting to get a routine developed around managing our household and our two kids; so life is about as stable as it is likely to be for some time. As I posted a while back, I actually have the most opportunity to post at work, since when I am at home, one of my little ones is usually in need of my attention, or I am using the rare break to catch up on housework.
All this being said means that I am ready to get the pace of this campaign moving again. I have been waiting to see if anyone has any additional comments or actions that they which to take with the present situation, but as there has not been much in the way of posting, I am going to assume that there is not. As a result, I'll skip ahead a bit, and if you indeed did have something you wanted to pick up from the shops at this point, please list it in a spoiler in your next post, or it will be assumed that you did not pick anything up at this time, and that you are saving your credit and/or gifts for later.
When next I post I'll put up a quick shopping list and rolls a few Knowledge (local) checks and Diplomacy checks to gather information if appropriate, but Kirill will have little to offer in the way of role-playing the section, so I've kept a bit quiet and lurked.
The webmaster has finally transferred the game into my name, so I can start to make modifications to the Campaign information. Before long I'll be changing the Campaign name from "Orlok Jr's Carrion Crown" to "Rigor Rictus' Carrion Crown". I wanted to give some advanced notice of this however, as I would not want anyone to loose track of the campaign when it happens. I don't believe it should affect your Focus lists, but if you have a link or favorite of the page itself saved (as I do), then the actual web address may change, and your link will come up empty. I'll make the change in a day or two, so, fair warning.
Keep an eye on the Campaign Info page, as I'll be updating it a bit over the following days, and adding in some of the pertinent information you've discovered and the names of important figures and such. This should allow the page to serve as a convenient reference should their be particular NPC's you wish to address.