Pathfinder Migration (Chat)

[Alethan]

Subject: More Anything Goes

Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 10:44 pm

Any chance any of you are a follower of Chris Perkins' game? WW sits in once a year.

I watched a bit of one video about a half year or so ago. I was all excited that they were playing a "red box" game, before I realized it was a 4E game. I watched the first part of adventure, but didn't move on to the next video because I really don't care for that ruleset and didn't even recognize the game.

I still don't recognize the game, but how much crow am I eating now that I've taken an interest in Pathfinder?

About tree-fitty worth.

[Alethan]

Are the Potential House Rules (I keep reading that as "Pent House Rules"... not sure if that's me or the topic heading) specifically for playing in the PbP format?

If so, I like that latest one about the GM rolling the skill checks.

[dmw71]

...how much crow am I eating now that I've taken an interest in Pathfinder?

About tree-fitty worth.

Nice.

[Alethan]

...how much crow am I eating now that I've taken an interest in Pathfinder?

About tree-fitty worth.

Nice.

<bows>

Obviously a reference to the amount of money you've spent on Pathfinder material at this point. But, to the unlearned, as well a reference to one of the best South Park episodes - the one with Chef's parents and the sea monster.

[dmw71]

Are the Potential House Rules specifically for playing in the PbP format?

I only have plans to game in the play-by-post format, so I guess it's safe to say, yes.

Keep in mind, this is just a very rough list. Thoughts I have that, at the time, seem like a good idea in my mind. They are all subject to revision, if not outright omission. I'm sure I will be adding more as I think of them, and am open to suggestions. I just know, due to the added complexity of the game, that it makes sense for the DM to make more rolls than "normal."

If so, I like that latest one about the GM rolling the skill checks.

I'm not sure if that will apply to all skills, but probably.

I would much rather have the player focus on what their character is doing, without having to worry about the mechanics that would make it happen. I will interpret the declared action, decide what rules (skills, feats, checks, etc...) are applicable, and determine the results myself.

I'm not sure if I'll share those roll results, or keep them private? That might involve a bit of trial and error, and will likely depend on the reason for the roll in the first place.

[dmw71]

Obviously a reference to the amount of money you've spent on Pathfinder material at this point.

Ha! I totally misinterpreted that as being a reference to 3.5, the edition of D&D after which Pathfinder was based.

(And, for the record, I verified the amount and I'm a little shy of $350 from Paizo, coming in at $347.79. I did make a Pathfinder-related purchase of $19.85 from a third-party vendor, so my initial claim of spending over "tree-fitty" still holds true.)

But, to the unlearned, as well a reference to one of the best South Park episodes - the one with Chef's parents and the sea monster.

Consider me unlearned. I've never seen a single episode of South Park. Or Family Guy. Or, probably any number of contemporary popular shows.

[Alethan]

I haven't seen SP in years, so it's definitely an old episode.

Have you picked up any modules where you could run someone through solo? If so, I'd be up for making someone and trying to run them through, just to jump into Chargen and start learning the rules.

[dmw71]

Have you picked up any modules where you could run someone through solo?

My preference is definitely for entry-level adventures, and I own eight modules (seven of which are entry-level) and parts of three Adventure Paths, but none of them are solo adventures. (Interestingly enough, "solo" adventures are really that -- games for a single player (not a DM plus a player). I'm sure one could easily be run by DM for a player, though.)

I'm looking on Paizo's site as I type this, and I did find a couple of solo adventures that I've added to my cart and will look at more closely before pulling the trigger. I also discovered a collection of 1-on-1 adventures, written for a DM and a single player, which sounded promising. Per the only review for it, "[the] adventures range from 2nd to 11th level, and you'll find at least one suitable for virtually any class." Intrigued, I went to the publisher's website (it's not a Paizo product) and the first adventure in the series is described as follows: "Although it is designed for a Rogue level 2-4, with some minor scaling, Gambler's Quest is suitable for use with a traditional four-player party." Definitely too tough for a single player.

If so, I'd be up for making someone and trying to run them through, just to jump into Chargen and start learning the rules.

I would still definitely encourage you to jump in and try to make a character (or ten).

For something as simple as creating a simple one-off adventure to try and learn the game, I'm sure I could easily throw something together that wouldn't take too long.

[Alethan]

Cool.

I'll start with maybe 4d6c1 in order and see what comes out of it. I'm a huge fan of letting the dice do the talking...

Standard classes and races for now?

[dmw71]

I'll start with maybe 4d6c1 in order and see what comes out of it. I'm a huge fan of letting the dice do the talking.

Nice. I certainly won't object if that's what you want to do.

Standard classes and races for now?

I'm fine with any races or classes from the Core Rulebook, or any of the new 'core' classes from the Advanced Player's Guide (though, the later will probably be more complicated).

[dmw71]

Okay, I did go ahead and purchase two solo adventures.

I know you're probably just getting started on character generation, which I'd encourage you to continue, but these adventures each come with pre-generated characters for use in them.

I'm actually interested in running through them myself, so I will probably create a new forum for that purpose, but if you wanted to try your hand at them as well, I was thinking I could run the same game simultaneously in different forums -- one for each of us.

I haven't looked at either yet, but I could also look into whether characters of our own creation could be substituted for the pre-generated ones.

Just let know if you're interested.

[dmw71]

I could also look into whether characters of our own creation could be substituted for the pre-generated ones.

I'm going to just go ahead and use the pre-generated character so I can get started.

I read only the introductory section (none of the possible outcomes), and posted it in a new forum, here: Elgar Fletch and the Dark Army (Dave).

I will wait to see if you'd like to attempt this at the same time. If so, I can create a second thread for you and we can work our way through it at the same time, but independently.

[Alethan]

Definitely, will be happy to run it with the pregen. Might give me a better idea of how a build works.

As an aside, a lot of this seems to be very similar to DDO (D&D Online), so maybe the learning curve won't be so bad, as I played that fairly regularly for several years.

[dmw71]

Definitely, will be happy to run it with the pregen. Might give me a better idea of how a build works.

Cool. I'll start up a thread for you as well and will copy the introduction over.

There are some interesting choices right off the bat.

As an aside, a lot of this seems to be very similar to DDO (D&D Online), so maybe the learning curve won't be so bad, as I played that fairly regularly for several years.

No idea what that is, but it's good to hear it will help ease the learning curve.

Is/was D&D Online a good thing?

[Alethan]

It's an MMO. Lots of servers, lots of people. You deal with clicks and guilds and people that aren't fun to play with. Lots of repeat quests for XP, especially after you cap and start over as a new life level 1.

In short, it's an on-line video game.

It's D&D-esque in that builds which might work very well in pen and paper are horrible with the game mechanics and vice versa. But the terminology and Chargen concepts seem to jive with pathfinder a bit more readily.

We'll see, I suppose.

[dmw71]

I'll start up a thread for you as well and will copy the introduction over.

You've been set up, here: Elgar Fletch and the Dark Army (Ethan).


I figure we can work it like this, at least while we're on the same track. I will post the update in your thread, along with your choices, then wait for you to reply.

Once I see that an update has been made in your thread, but before I read what you've posted, I will make the decision in my thread first, so I'm not influenced by whichever course of action you decide.

After I update my thread, I will switch to yours and update you as well. Once our paths deviate, then I'll just update each thread as decisions are made.

Because I'm not going to look at your thread to check your update until after I've made my own move, if you have any questions, please ask them here in this thread which I'll obviously check regularly.

[dmw71]

In short, it's an on-line video game.

Interesting.

I've never tried any kind of MMO games, but it does make me want to go back and watch 'The Guild.'

[dmw71]

Once our paths deviate, then I'll just update each thread as decisions are made.

Ha! It's already happened.

[Alethan]

In short, it's an on-line video game.

Interesting.

I've never tried any kind of MMO games, but it does make me want to go back and watch 'The Guild.'

The one thing connecting DDO and USS is my user name. This was my first character name in DDO. As I played more, and tried different builds, I made sure to always come up with a name that had my real name in it. And I tried to go in alphabetical order, the first one being Alethan. Some were a bit dumb, but my two greatest were Hatchethands (monk) and Buckethandle (a random triple class toon that was in a sub guild of the guild I joined; the idea was to meet up once a week and run our completely random characters in the game, seeing how well we could do going the complete opposite of a planned build.) As it turned out, Buckethandle was an absolutely appropriate name for the character, who was the most useless build anyone had created. I reincarnated Hatchet twice, as a more powerful monk each time. She was super fun to play.

[Alethan]

Once our paths deviate, then I'll just update each thread as decisions are made.

Ha! It's already happened.

Maybe. They might both send him back to the girl for the next part.