Pathfinder 1E Bin Thinkin' About Running A Game [4th LVL, Adapted Adventure]

Kaodi · Mar 18, 2018

[Edit: tl;dr 4th-lvl characters; classes: alchemist, cavalier, inquisitor, magus, mesmerist, unchained barbarian, unchained monk, and unchained rogue; races standard plus goblin and ratfolk; every race gets an additional +2 boost to an ability score that does not already get a racial bonus; 20 pt buy for stats (I may not enforce the wonky system I describe below); official PRD is the accepted source material; bad/inexperienced/unreliable DM; Jump to post #8 for the "Introduction".]

For a number of reasons I have been thinking, against my better judgment, about running a Pathfinder game. I do not really want to have to check the boards multiple times a day again, but at the same time I am doing that anyway due to the hunger quitting Hearthstone and the announcement of Pathfinder 2nd Edition has caused.

This would probably be a horrible idea. The last time I decided to try running a PbP game it ended... poorly. And I have some weird ideas about character creation too that might feel burdensome. And I would be prioritizing people I have gamed with before or at least are familiar with who can post every two days at least. Because one of the reasons I chafe in PbP is it is just not fast enough for me. Yet I do not really have other options right now.

So if I were going to run a game, which I probably should not do, it would, I think, be set in the Golarion I can piece together from the wiki. I would like to have a limited class list though, with archetypes probably subject to some approval as well, and options in general would be limited to those on the official (though incomplete) Pathfinder PRD. Though perhaps I could be persuaded otherwise, option wise. The class list, in any case, is alchemist, cavalier, inquisitor, magus, mesmerist, unchained barbarian, unchained monk, and unchained rogue.

I am a bit torn on ability score generation. Back in the day I probably would have insisted on 15 pt buy, but perhaps 20 would be more player friendly since most of the class list is kinda MAD. But I was wondering what people would think of doing "25 pt roll" - you start by roll 6 scores using 4d6 drop lowest. And then you have to reroll ability scores one at a time until you have an array that could be purchased with 25 pts. If you just need to reroll one last score multiply times to get it to a specific number to conform then you can just set it to that and then you have your complete array, because anything else would be a make work project. And all rolling would be done with the EN World roller.

So it is definitely a terrible idea to run a game on my part. My current thought is that I am going to reskin an adventure I have on hand. If by some miracle we got to the end and I wanted to keep running the game I might repeat that process with another adventure, or might do something more fully homebrewed.

I would be an awful DM. Save yourselves.

Kaodi · Mar 19, 2018

I should probably add that in this game that I should definitely not run the races will be the standard races plus goblin (best to get on that bandwagon early) and ratfolk (as a tribute to the Starfinder game I was in that is also completely supported by the Advanced Race Guide). And the starting level would be 1.

mips42 · Jul 1, 2018

interested if you still are.

khouji · Jul 3, 2018

May you should try running your own game.

Kaodi · Jul 3, 2018

I am somewhat shocked that this thread has been resurrected. It was mere chance that I even noticed. I no longer have the itch from then to run a game, but I suppose I could at least give it some renewed thought.

In the intervening time though two things have changed from my original post: one, I think I would start the game at level 4 now. This might make it both easier and harder for me to DM, given my inexperience, but one of the things I got out of the "Lessons For PbP" thread was that starting at the lowest levels is kind of a drag. Second, I would change my weird stat generation system a bit: instead of being 25 pt Roll it would now be 20 pt Roll BUT you also get PF2s extra floating +2 to an ability score that you do not already get a racial bonus to.

Though now that I mention PF2, maybe it would be better to wait for the Playtest anyway and see how that works out. When I first posted this thread that was closer to five months away. Now it is just one. In any case, of the two of you I am afraid I would only be able to take mips42 as a prospective player. Whether games work out is a bit of a diceroll to begin with, and in my experience players with no history on the boards are the most obvious risk to a game falling apart.

Kaodi · Jul 3, 2018

Hmmm... A test.

[rollv]4d6b3[/roll]
[rollv]4d6b3[/roll]
[rollv]4d6b3[/roll]
[rollv]4d6b3[/roll]
[rollv]4d6b3[/roll]
[rollv]4d6b3[/roll]

Kaodi · Jul 3, 2018

Also new plan: I cannot figure out the EN World Dice Roller so Coyote Code would be it, lol.

Testing to see how this 20 pt Roll would work out.

_: 4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 4, 6, 3] = 14
4D6.HIGH(3) = [3, 2, 3, 1] = 8
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 1, 3, 6] = 14
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 5, 2, 5] = 15
4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 3, 1, 4] = 11
4D6.HIGH(3) = [1, 5, 4, 5] = 14

So in this case we have 5, -2, 5, 7, 1, 5 = 21 . 1 point can be subtracted out if the 11 were a 10, so I get as my array 15, 14, 14, 14, 10, 8 .

Editing in a few more of these:

_: 4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 4, 3, 6] = 14
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 1, 3, 6] = 14
4D6.HIGH(3) = [2, 6, 6, 1] = 14
4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 2, 6, 6] = 16
4D6.HIGH(3) = [6, 3, 5, 5] = 16
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 1, 3, 1] = 9

5, 5, 5, 10, 10, -1 = 34. That was a good roll. Too good by half, lol. I can actually manage to strip out 14 points by turning a 16 into a 7, leaving me with 16, 14, 14, 14, 9, 7.

_: 4D6.HIGH(3) = [2, 3, 6, 4] = 13
4D6.HIGH(3) = [1, 3, 1, 3] = 7
4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 6, 2, 3] = 13
4D6.HIGH(3) = [2, 5, 2, 6] = 13
4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 4, 3, 6] = 14
4D6.HIGH(3) = [3, 3, 1, 4] = 10

3, -4, 3, 3, 5, 0 = 10 . I could simply add 10 points to a 13 to get 17 or the 10 to get 16. I think having a high score and a low score is probably more interesting so I would make this array 17, 14, 13, 13, 10, 7.

_: 4D6.HIGH(3) = [6, 4, 3, 6] = 16
4D6.HIGH(3) = [5, 5, 3, 5] = 15
4D6.HIGH(3) = [3, 1, 1, 6] = 10
4D6.HIGH(3) = [6, 4, 3, 1] = 13
4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 5, 4, 4] = 13
4D6.HIGH(3) = [4, 2, 3, 5] = 12

10, 7, 0, 3, 3, 2 = 25 . I could turn the 16 into a 14 or a 13 into an 8. Having a high score is usually good so I would make this 16, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8.

Kaodi · Jul 4, 2018

The tap room of the Gilded Wyvern Inn is a small, shabby affair, made more inviting by the warm glow of the corner hearth. A few tables and chairs, and a bar with a handful of stools. All tended by a single middle aged dwarf with a long grey beard that flows over the front of his apron.

On the wall adjacent to the door is a well used message board with a number of buyers and sellers notices, announcements for weddings and other events of local importance, and a couple of faded posters, including a recruitment sign for the Isgeri Army that cites a conflict that petered out more than a decade ago. But all of those are secondary to a fresh sign with the grinning visage of a black haired woman: WANTED - Black Barbara - Dead Or Alive - By Order of the Town Council of Brink - Reward: 1000 Gold Crowns.

As you turn away a woman at one of the tables beckons to you. She wears a white porcelain mask over her face leaving only two holes for bright green eyes. It is framed by a mane of wavy blonde hair; tiny feathers in several hues are tied into it in various places with thin leather cords. She is clad similarly pale raiments and white leather; a tan coloured cloak with white fur trim hangs from her shoulders.

Her voice has an odd raggedness or raspiness to it: "I have a job for you, if you are interested."

mips42 · Jul 12, 2018

* As this is the "talking the talk" section, i believe its for Out of character discussion, character sheets, etc. Having said that:

He moved slowly around the room, taking a circuitous route to her table. the inn was somewhat loud and smelled of stale beer and bad food but it was what he could afford. Naturally, he suspected that the woman wearing the mask might have been he one on the wanted poster but, in the empire, not all who were wanted were guilty. Not to mention the fact that it'd been far too long and far too many miles since he'd even smelled a woman, much less one who looked like she most likely did. Sitting, he placed his watery ale on the gnarled wood of the somewhat grimy table and, keeping his eyes on the chattering patrons around him, said "I'm listenin'"

Kaodi · Jul 12, 2018

Oh, yeah, sorry. That text was just sort of meant as an introduction to see if people would be interested, not for actual playing, yet.

Seeing as we are only a couple weeks from the playtest it may be that I start a real recruitment thread and advertise as a PF2 game instead. I bet there will be a lot more interest then anyway.