The Shackled City - Golarion Interest/Recruitment (CLOSED)

[ahayford]

Once I realized what the problem was with the orphanage scene, I took deliberate steps to try and tailor the adventure more towards the group's preferences. In Ghelve's workshop, I made an effort to call out specific things that were clues. I took kind of a narrative approach where I called attention to the specific objects that were clues and warranted further investigation rather then just leave you floundering wondering if something was just fluff or posed some relevance to the story. I think I did a better job there. I think, if I had to do it over, I could have done the orphanage scene in a way that would have been more interesting for this group...but C'est la vie.

As for leveling, I have definitely considered it, but due to the nature of this being an Adventure Path, it makes it difficult to do that. I had considered shortening the dungeons and perhaps eliminating side encounters...but I didn't want to do you a disservice of not presenting the full AP. Right now, I'm presenting the full Jzadirune dungeon as published...if you would like I could streamline it if you want things to move forward faster.

 

[jkason]

In Ghelve's workshop, I made an effort to call out specific things that were clues. I took kind of a narrative approach where I called attention to the specific objects that were clues and warranted further investigation rather then just leave you floundering wondering if something was just fluff or posed some relevance to the story. I think I did a better job there.

Oh, I definitely felt much surer of what was going on in that scene. There was still room for player choice, in that I think there were probably a couple different ways we could have dealt with knowing Ghelve was in trouble. So, at least from my point of view, much more to my play style, I think.

As for leveling, I have definitely considered it, but due to the nature of this being an Adventure Path, it makes it difficult to do that. I had considered shortening the dungeons and perhaps eliminating side encounters...but I didn't want to do you a disservice of not presenting the full AP. Right now, I'm presenting the full Jzadirune dungeon as published...if you would like I could streamline it if you want things to move forward faster.

My general thought was one of streamlining, yes. I get the impression that most APs have a certain number of encounters which relate most directly to their over-arching plot, and then a fair number of more random encounters which are more "stuff you run into on the way." When I've used pre-printed stuff to GM over in the Living Pathfinder board, I've tended to trim the latter, to varying degrees of success.

Certainly I don't think you should cut anything that you feel is essential to the AP, but if you don't think it robs the story of anything, I'm a fan of a focused storytelling approach, I think, especially when there's a lengthy plot to work through. I'm good with whatever you decide, though. The atmosphere's worth it.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

I'll add my kudos to those of jkason and Dragonwriter for the narrative - your descriptions and storytelling are making the game for me!

There's really nothing that stands out as being "least liked." If I had to pick something I'd also say the orphanage stuff, although the helplessness I was experiencing when I didn't have a clue what to ask or where to go would have been much like what Val would have felt (though not to the same degree, since it's only a game for me ).

With most of the APs coming out now, the characters top out between 13th and 16th or 17th level. This leaves room for leveling a little more rapidly - and thus gaining a few more levels than called for - so long as the GM's willing to tinker with the encounters to raise the CL a bit. This seems like a less complicated approach than streamlining the story to compensate. But my understanding is that this one goes pretty well all the way to level 20, so I don't really see another option besides streamlining if we want to advance more quickly. However, I'm not really in a hurry. I'd be fine with taking the XP granted by the encounters and leveling as the AP suggests.

 

[Shayuri]

Hehe...I don't feel like I have much original to say here, but I'll add my voice to the chorus. You're a storyteller, Ahayford, and it shows. You have a grasp of how to write for the senses, and seem to understand when detail is needed and when to gloss over in the name of brevity. In a game that has featured relatively little combat so far, your narration and nuanced NPC's have gone a long way to keeping the game interesting and in setting a tone that keeps us coming back to post again.

I'm not sure what I'd like to see that's different. I'm pleased with your performance. I do think, in a campaign as potentially long-term as this, it's a good idea to explore PC backstories when and where convenient...working it into the plot where possible...or even spinning it into subplots. Feel free to consult privately with the players and brainstorm ideas for ways to do this, if you like. More communication is rarely a bad thing in my experience.

 

[ahayford]

I definitely have ideas for all the characters and how they'll connect to the campaign itself. Its hard for me to get into too much detail though because I don't want to ruin the story .

Also...truth be told...sometimes I just drop a detail in because I think its interesting...and haven't necessarily figured out exactly how its going to fit into the big picture until we get there. I try and include details from all your backgrounds when I can as well as run with the prompts you give me when you post. The fact that this is a pbp lets me get away with it...plenty of time between posts to think. If there is something specific though you'd like to explore about your character, by all means mention it here.

I think I've brought up a bit of Marcus's past...some of Svexyns...A teeny bit of Caytis's and Val's here and there. Wilbur and Nia have been a bit on the sidelines, though Nia did have the interactions with the Innkeeper's wife at the Lucky Monkey (name escapes me at the moment). More is coming though

Speaking of combat....

Are you guys happy with how that part has been? For me Shayuri, you definitely hit the nail on the head...I tend to favor the RP portions more in these post games because the combat can get a bit drawn out. Although, the last few combats we've had have been a bit more optimal in terms of length then some of the early ones.

 

[Dragonwriter]

Speaking of combat....

Are you guys happy with how that part has been? For me Shayuri, you definitely hit the nail on the head...I tend to favor the RP portions more in these post games because the combat can get a bit drawn out. Although, the last few combats we've had have been a bit more optimal in terms of length then some of the early ones.

The combats we've had have felt interesting and the fairly short length was good, IMO. PbP combat tends to bog down a lot... Which factors into at least my concerns about advancement. As pointed out by jkason, a lot of module and APs have filler encounters, designed to just be something to fight and pad XP, without a real connection to the story. With PbP's tendency to slow down a lot in combat, accelerating or removing some of these filler pieces is probably a good idea. IMO, at least.

 

[ahayford]

I will take that to heart. Given that I'm doing advancement via milestones...IE, when you get to this point, you level up, rather then XP awards, there really is no need for filler combat. I don't really believe in filler fights (grinding XP in tabletop? blah) unless the group really really enjoys the combat aspect.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

I was in a PbP game where the GM used a separate thread for combat. When the fight started, all of the crunch was done in that thread - with as much description as the players wanted to toss in. After the fight was over, the GM wrote a descriptive post in the main thread, melding the players' descriptions from the combat thread with his own interpretation of events. This method didn't shorten the fights, but it did make it more pleasurable to go back and read through the thread later - we got a nice narrative of the fight without all of the crunch and unavoidable OOC stuff getting in the way. It also made it easier to go back and find combat specific details in the combat thread without wading through the fluff if there was a question later about the fight.

This seems like the sort of game in which that approach might work well.

 

[ahayford]

Combat update tonight. I will ghost any players that have not made a move. Probably will update around 9:30pm est when I get home.

 

[Shayuri]

Mew. Low level witching is tricky. It's like being a low level wizard, only there's no magic missile to fall back on.

I suppose that's one reason witches are cleverer than wizards. The ones that aren't don't last long.