Anyone Willing To Run Kingmaker? (Full)

[Shayuri]

Good point. A streamlined system for exploration determination would be wise.

Maybe a PC or NPC leader who could take counsel, but ultimately made the decision. Then everyone could weigh in with a single post, but the decision of the leader would stand.

 

[HolyMan]

I've read Kingmaker and actually, it seems like it would be better for a PBP than a face-to-face game (at least, with the resource management aspects). I do not have time to run it, unfortunately.

Maybe better from the players end. But not so sure about the GMs. The game is really opened-ended and when you give players decisions they tend to veer of course a lot.

Keeping track of your hold/castle and all seems easier on pbp as you can make a post tracker. But since combats could take weeks if not a month and people play more than one game at a time, losing track of what's going on seems inevitable.

The problem I see with it in PbP is that decision making takes a long, long, long time to happen in this format. For an overly open setting/sandbox like kingmaker, it could take a week to decide which hex to explore. Then after a few months of that, people have already forgotten what happened in the first few ones, or what they were looking for. I've found in PbP, that there needs to be a bit of a railroad, too much sandboxiness can lead to paralysis. Too much railroad is no fun either, but although this is one of the coolest adventures I've seen, having like 26 or so hexes to get through plus all the bases/dungeons, or whatever you want to call them to explore it just may be too difficult to run.

Maybe a smaller map and just those needed encounters. I don't use the XP system when running an AP as it really slows things down. Instead I figure out (and usually the module does this for me) when a player should be what level during the game and set a goal for them to reach it.

The adventures are always full of fluff encounters that (while usually awesome) don't progress the story. Taking those out I believe helps to fit modules into the pbp format.

Good point. A streamlined system for exploration determination would be wise.

Maybe a PC or NPC leader who could take counsel, but ultimately made the decision. Then everyone could weigh in with a single post, but the decision of the leader would stand.

Great idea. Just no more or I may find myself looking to run a game.

HM

 

[Kaodi]

The campaign is called " Kingmaker " . It would not be entirely unsuitable to designate an empowered leader to make executive decisions, such as where to explore, and when the time comes, how to develop the nation (not necessarily the same person for all types of decisions).

The group as a whole perhaps decides a strategy for exploration upfront, and the leader is responsible for implementing it. For instance, " Let's explore the Northern plains first, " or, " Let's explore everything North of the river first. "

 

[Kaodi]

The simplest guideline for exploration is probably just whatever is closest to base camp (the trading post), plus whatever lands travelled through when not in a hurry.

 

[HolyMan]

What would happen if each character went exploring alone?

Well not totally alone maybe a few hirelings along (wearing red tunics).

Then they each come back to base to fill in the parts of the map they explored. Then when they find an "Event Site" they search that as a group.

6 characters exploring 4 hexes each before returning could be 24 hexes done in two - three months.

HM

 

[Shayuri]

Thats actually a pretty good idea!

 

[renau1g]

That is, except the DM will have 5-6 times the work updating each PC for their actions. I find it challenging updating a game post when the group splits into 2 or 3 separate groups. Just a note of caution to a DM. It would be fun though as the unprepared lonely PC could stumble on something too strong for them and actually be forced to retreat....and you could have men-at-arms..... ahhh nostalgia

 

[Kaodi]

Two things: Weather Forecast & Reports - Long Range & Local | Wunderground | Weather Underground is an amazing website if you want realistic and variable weather. Just pick a city that conforms to the climate of the area in the game, a year, and voila! Because a Golarion year is the same as an Earth year, it is literally perfect.

The other is that I think that the fluff of the campaign favours sticking together: after all, where is the comraderie that leads to a stable governing council going to come from if not tramping through the wilderness fighting monsters together for months on end?

 

[HolyMan]

Hence what I said about it being not so good a game for the GM of a pbp. Lot to keep track of for sure and getting your point across sometimes is hard in this medium.

And Kaodi I did say that teh group should team up for the more important areas. Plenty of time to save someone or have banty RP during those times. Just not needed for the other mundane hexes.

HM

 

[Kaodi]

Thought that I could perhaps bump this once before it fades away.

I had one other idea for a character in the interim, though it is kind of odd: a sort of manic female human ranger who is a bandit herself, spared execution because she promised to help hunt down her ex-comrades. She knows who all of the named bandits are, and thinks of many of them as a fan thinks of a celebrity: she gets star struck, so to speak. Her idol is Kressle, whose fighting style and specialty she emulates. I have never played a female character on these boards that I can recall, but I kind of liked the concept so I thought I could at least throw it out there.