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paz AKA Matt Lewis
United Kingdom
Great Sutton
Cheshire
All hail Lord Fudge!
[PFRPG PBF Games] GMing: Crypt of the Everflame, 2x We Be Goblins! · Playing: Vestige's Margreve 'Hollow', Bearpaw's Pathfinder Society
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This is the out of character thread for a play by forum game where we'll be playing through the Pathfinder RPG module Crypt of the Everflame. First of all, welcome to the players:
John Morgan
Australia
North Parramatta
NSW
Cathy Griffin
United States
Seattle
Washington
午餐先生
United States
San Mateo
California
Daniel J
United States
Santa Monica
California
daryl gilroy
United States
Colorado Springs
Colorado
John Brown
United States
Illinois
This is the thread we'll use to discuss character selection, and then any admin, game rules, or general chat. Once everyone's ready and is happy with their character, I'll create the main 'in character' thread.
It's probably worth starting off by having everyone introduce themselves; I'm interested to know if people have any experience of RPGs in the dim and distant past, or if you played through the Mountains of Madness recently, or if you're completely new to RPGs. I'll go first:
My name's Matt, and I'll be the gamemaster (GM) for this adventure. I've been playing RPGs for about 20 years. Most of my experience in the past few years has been D&D v.3.5 and the Pathfinder RPG, and I run games a lot more often than I play these days. I also enjoy a euro board game every now and then.
I'm based in the UK, so most of my posting will be between 20:00 and 01:00 GMT. I'm generally OK to post on weekends (although having two young daughters makes it difficult to post in the day). Mondays are my weekly game night, so I'm less likely to be able to post then.
OK, who's next?
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午餐先生
United States
San Mateo
California
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I'm mister lunch, but you can call me Jesse.
I have an affinity for games of all kinds, but not much time to play.
My dad had the old blue D&D book and I read the descriptions of monsters over and over. I checked out Monster Manuals from the library. I drew maps. Never played though. I'm sad I can't seem to find my dad's old book.
My friends and I tried some role-playing back in grade school, mostly free-form storytelling in a hack and slash setting. I got a Robotech book (man, oh, MAN I loved the art in that and the backstory) but we found dice rolling tedious, so we went back to the storytelling.
Another friend in middle school was into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the comic, not the kids show) and had that book. I rolled up a character then, but neither one of us wanted to GM so nothing came of it (except a sweet picture I drew).
Fast forward 20+ years and my younger brother and a mutual friend want to play some D&D... and they want me to DM. We bought the Red Box...
That was a disaster. Too many rules and bits for noobs. They kept trying to figure out the best moves to make, not play an adventure. I couldn't answer any questions they had.
So I pulled out some OD&D rules I had on PDF (Labyrinth Lord and Swords and Wizardry) and quickly salvaged what I could and BS'd winged our way through a room (from the Red Box, but with the modified characters). Given our complete non-experienced status, we were stoked.
We haven't played since...
Since then I've done Dungeon of Doom here on the Geek and Mountains of Madness. And that's my experience.
I'm intrigued by Pathfinder. Thanks for taking this on.
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Daniel J
United States
Santa Monica
California
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Hi, all. I'm Daniel. I'm neither neurotic, nor a ninja; so I apologize for any confusion.
I've never played an RPG before. The closest I've come is videogame RPGs. And I've only recently been introduced to the world of boardgames beyond the Monopoly ilk, but I've loved what I've found.
I'm looking forward to getting started. Thanks for setting this up, Matt.
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daryl gilroy
United States
Colorado Springs
Colorado
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Hi, I'm Daryl.
My experience hasn't been for awhile. As a kid played a lot, mainly Rifts. After high school, left town and hence the group I played with. Haven't played an RPG since. Currently play videogames and board games. This is the first by forum RPG I've played.
I am a shift worker soo posts and such can come at anytime.
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John Brown
United States
Illinois
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Greetings and Salutations,
my name is John.
Been a gamer before being a gamer was popular. Started playing old school DnD when i was 9 years old been playing one form of game or another during the years.
Last played a little third edition years ago but living in a college town our group slowly fell apart.
Been getting into euro board games last 5 or so years played a little 4e at the local gaming shop. been interested in Pathfinder cause i did really enjoy the 3rd edition when i was playing it.
Thanks alot for your effort and time Matt being a Gm is always a labor of love.
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John Morgan
Australia
North Parramatta
NSW
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Hi all,
My name is also John and I'm from Sydney, Australia with two beautiful kids of my own (a girl of 7 and a boy of 2). I share some similar experiences to the stories already shared. When I was quite young I had a few of the early D&D books such as the Monster Manual, Player's Manual and the like. I never really managed to play more than a couple of sessions though.
Apart from enjoying many of the classic video RPGs like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls and the like I have only sat in on a couple of actual sessions of roleplaying since then, and those were definitely more than a decade ago.
The last few years I have been enjoying a lot or Euro games, and after a recent but brief foray into the Mountains of Madness I am excited by the prospect of this roleplaying adventure.
Thanks Matt for setting it up!
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Cathy Griffin
United States
Seattle
Washington
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Hello All,
I'm Cathy. Sorry about being late... lost the link.
I've been playing Euro games for about 8 years but am a complete noob to RPGs. However, I've really wanted to learn how to play so I purchased the Pathfinder Beginner's Box, read through the materials, got real excited, called my group together to play, and then fell flat. I had no idea how to GM a game when I'd never played an RPG. My group has the attention span of a gnat when it comes to rules and, not surprisingly, they lost interest in about 8 minutes.
So I'm really looking forward to this adventure, and I thank you Matt, for taking it on.
Cathy
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paz AKA Matt Lewis
United Kingdom
Great Sutton
Cheshire
All hail Lord Fudge!
[PFRPG PBF Games] GMing: Crypt of the Everflame, 2x We Be Goblins! · Playing: Vestige's Margreve 'Hollow', Bearpaw's Pathfinder Society
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Thanks everyone for the introductions, it's really helpful.
It sounds like most people are familiar with the concept of a tabletop RPG, where each of the players (that's you) plays a 'player character' (PC), and the gamemaster (GM, that's me) runs anyone (or anything) that your group of PCs encounters. If anyone's not familiar with that concept, please say so now. There's no such thing as a silly question!
I think the best next step will be to get you all set up with a character to play. There are two parts to this, which go hand in hand.
One side is the mechanics of the character. Creating a Pathfinder RPG can be complex, so to get us into the game quickly, I propose to have everyone pick their character's race and class, and we can then use a pregenerated character from this extensive selection, which covers every race/class combo.
The races are:
Dwarf
Elf
Gnome
Half-elf
Half-orc
Halfling
Human
These are pretty much your standard fantasy races which you're probably familiar with from films, books, etc.
While a race is fairly self-explanatory, classes might not be. Basically, they are a vague 'type' of adventurer, although there can be wide variation between characters in the same class. The classes are:
Barbarian: The barbarian is a brutal berserker from beyond the edge of civilized lands.
Bard: The bard uses skill and spell alike to bolster his allies, confound his enemies, and build upon his fame.
Cleric: A devout follower of a deity, the cleric can heal wounds, raise the dead, and call down the wrath of the gods.
Druid: The druid is a worshiper of all things natural—a spellcaster, a friend to animals, and a skilled shapechanger.
Fighter: Brave and stalwart, the fighter is a master of all manner of arms and armor.
Monk: A student of martial arts, the monk trains his body to be his greatest weapon and defense.
Paladin: The paladin is the knight in shining armor, a devoted follower of law and good.
Ranger: A tracker and hunter, the ranger is a creature of the wild and of tracking down his favored foes.
Rogue: The rogue is a thief and a scout, an opportunist capable of delivering brutal strikes against unwary foes.
Sorcerer: The spellcasting sorcerer is born with an innate knack for magic and has strange, eldritch powers.
Wizard: The wizard masters magic through constant study that gives him incredible magical power.
Please pick a race and a class for your character. I'm happy to answer any questions.
The other side is the descriptive/background side. Your characters are all based in the small town of Kassen (population 750), located deep in the forest, and are on the verge of going through a coming of age ritual. You will each have a mentor among the townsfolk, which I'll give details of later. The essential detail that I need is a name for your character. Anything else, such as a physical description or any background info is great, but I'm happy to let this grow as we go on. A picture (e.g. one found via a Google image search) is also good.
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John Brown
United States
Illinois
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i will play a dwarf fighter if thats ok.
Thyrax stalwartshield
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daryl gilroy
United States
Colorado Springs
Colorado
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I would like an Elven wizard. I am thinking Gil-doriath as a name.
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Cathy Griffin
United States
Seattle
Washington
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I'd like to be Duvenel, a female Elven Bard
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John Brown
United States
Illinois
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like the pic choice Cathy!
yours also John!
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John Morgan
Australia
North Parramatta
NSW
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I am thinking a Half-Elf Druid who goes by the moniker 'Greenclaw'
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午餐先生
United States
San Mateo
California
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There's quite a bit of elvish blood in this band... I'll be human.
A human ranger by the name of Tyr Ironcutter.
I'll draw a picture to post later today... one thing is sure, he'll have a beard!
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Daniel J
United States
Santa Monica
California
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I will be the gnome druid known as Rahl Zorander, with my badger companion, Gratch.
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John Brown
United States
Illinois
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Interesting party a fighter, ranger, mage, 2 druids, and a bard.
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paz AKA Matt Lewis
United Kingdom
Great Sutton
Cheshire
All hail Lord Fudge!
[PFRPG PBF Games] GMing: Crypt of the Everflame, 2x We Be Goblins! · Playing: Vestige's Margreve 'Hollow', Bearpaw's Pathfinder Society
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I've now found out that the document of pregenerated characters I linked to above is also hosted on RPG Geek here.
Thanks for posting some great character ideas and pictures! As it stands, we have:
Duvenel, elf bard (Cathy)
Rahl Zorander, gnome druid (Daniel)
Greenclaw, half-elf druid (John M)
Thyrax Stalwartshield, dwarf fighter (John B)
Tyr Ironcutter, human ranger (Jesse)
Gil-doriath, elf wizard (Daryl)
The main thing concerning me is the doubling up on druids; also the only half-elf druid pregenerated character I possess is focused on mounted combat, and horses are going to have a very limited part to play in this adventure. John M, could I persuade you to switch to a different class, e.g. a cleric? For example, there's an elf cleric of Erastil (god of farming and hunting) that would be reasonably close to your concept. There are also half-elf clerics of a couple of other gods. Let me know what you think.
Daryl: I have two elf wizard pregens, one is a conjurer (summon monsters, create objects/effects, magical transportation), the other a diviner (learn the truth, predict the future, find hidden things). Which would you prefer? You can see them on pages 84-85 of the document I linked to, if it helps. Anyone else is also free to have a look through the PDF; the characters are arranged alphabetically by class, then by race.
Once we've got any outstanding questions sorted about character selection, I'll write a post about some key rules (so you can make sense of your character sheet) then we can start the adventure proper.
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John Morgan
Australia
North Parramatta
NSW
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Ok, I will go with the Elf Cleric of Erastil character then.
(I knew i should have just picked the elf druid with the owl in the first place. That horse really screwed me!!) 
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Daniel J
United States
Santa Monica
California
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Hey John, I didn't see that you had already picked a Druid. Since you were the first to the party, I'm happy to let you pick a different Druid and find myself a different character.
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daryl gilroy
United States
Colorado Springs
Colorado
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I will try the conjurer pregen.
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午餐先生
United States
San Mateo
California
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Sorry about the delay on the illustration. Yesterday was waaaaay busier than I thought.
So here is Tyr Ironcutter.
sorry for the scribbly black and white!
edit: whoops! Now I see in the linked file that ranger has a battle axe... 
The sword is just for looks then. He left his battle axe at home. 
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John Morgan
Australia
North Parramatta
NSW
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Nice drawing Jesse! Maybe Tyr will end up with a sword somewhere along the line if we find one lying around the dungeon or get a chance to pick up some new items at some stage.
Daniel, thanks for the offer. If we were sitting around a table I would most likely take you up on it, as a Cleric is not really one of the character classes that initially appealed to me. Given we are all in different corners of the globe, are dealing with conflicting time zones and are most likely all keen to get things rolling, I think it best I just take one for the team at this stage and go with what has been suggested. The skills and abilities of the cleric do look pretty powerful, it is just more from the roleplaying side of things in terms of relating to and developing a story and connection to my character that I may need to work a little bit harder.
Edit: I am now feeling more at peace with my god. As a novice I guess it is only natural that I should experience the odd crises of faith? 
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paz AKA Matt Lewis
United Kingdom
Great Sutton
Cheshire
All hail Lord Fudge!
[PFRPG PBF Games] GMing: Crypt of the Everflame, 2x We Be Goblins! · Playing: Vestige's Margreve 'Hollow', Bearpaw's Pathfinder Society
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OK, I think we're sorted then. To recap, we have:
Cathy: Duvenel, elf bard (page 11)
John M: Greenclaw, elf cleric of Erastil (page 20)
Daniel: Rahl Zorander, gnome druid (page 33)
John B: Thyrax Stalwartshield, dwarf fighter (page 38)
Jesse: Tyr Ironcutter, human ranger (page 65)
Daryl: Gil-doriath, elf wizard (page 84)
I've included the relevant page number from the PDF I linked to for each of the characters. I'll put something neater together in the next few days, but this will do for now.
In terms of understanding the character sheets: if you look at one, you'll see plenty of '+X's (where X is a number) scattered across the sheet, e.g. next to Init, Skills, and Melee and Ranged in the Offence section. The main mechanic of the Pathfinder RPG system is to roll a twenty-sided dice (d20), add a bonus (the +X) from a relevant score on the sheet, and try to match or exceed a DC (Difficulty Class) set by the GM. Attacks in combat work the same way; the attack is a d20 roll plus the attack bonus, against the defender's Armour Class (AC).
There are a lot of nuances to it, but in general terms, any time you're trying to overcome a challenge, you'll be rolling a d20, adding a bonus, and trying to beat a target number. You always want to roll high, so the bigger the modifier (+X on the sheet), the better your character is at something.
We can talk about other rules as we go on, but it's important to understand that key game rule mechanic.
Tomorrow evening I'll start the In Character thread with the opening scene of the adventure.
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paz AKA Matt Lewis
United Kingdom
Great Sutton
Cheshire
All hail Lord Fudge!
[PFRPG PBF Games] GMing: Crypt of the Everflame, 2x We Be Goblins! · Playing: Vestige's Margreve 'Hollow', Bearpaw's Pathfinder Society
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OK, I will create the IC thread in the next few minutes (a bit later than planned - sorry). Before I do, here a few quick guidelines on game play:
In character formatting
The In Character thread is for all actions and speaking that your character does. PC actions should be described in the normal font. Speech should be in bold and quotes:
[b]"like this text here"[/b]
It's OK to add a brief out of character note to an in character post; they should be in grey:
[color=gray]like this text here[/color]
e.g.
Quote: Breftnar takes a deep breath and spits on his palms as he prepares to cross the rickety rope bridge, and looks down at the tightly knotted rope around his waist. He calls back to the party: "You boys better keep a tight hold on this rope, y'hear?"
He carefully steps from rung to rung, testing his weight on each one as he goes.
Can I make a perception check to try and spot any particularly unsafe rungs? If so, I roll: parrais previously rolled 1d20+6 = (4) + 6 = 10 (Example roll)
Absences
If you know you’re going to be unable to post for a significant duration, please let me know in advance so we can work round it.
Spoilers
If there's something that's only to be seen by one/some of you, I'll put it in a spoiler and clearly mark it for the attention of them. Obviously, if it's not for you, don't read it.
There are probably some key questions that I've forgotten to answer, so please feel free to ask any that come to mind here!
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paz AKA Matt Lewis
United Kingdom
Great Sutton
Cheshire
All hail Lord Fudge!
[PFRPG PBF Games] GMing: Crypt of the Everflame, 2x We Be Goblins! · Playing: Vestige's Margreve 'Hollow', Bearpaw's Pathfinder Society
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The IC thread is up!
Paz's Crypt of the Everflame - IC
I suggest subscribing to that thread (and this one, for that matter). For reference, Neth is the Golarion month equivalent to November.
Also, everyone should have a look at this thread, which is offering a free microbadge:
I love RPG Geek Play-By-Forum Games - Free Micro!
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