Topic: Pathfinder Adventurer's Guild-Interest Check

[kckolbe]

There's no debating that Pathfinder is very much in demand right now, so I've been buying up modules and adventure paths like mad.  I'm heavily considering starting my own game, and here is the idea I have in mind.  The PCs (all of which will start at level 1-3) will all belong to an adventurer's guild.  Missions will be made available for them to choose from, with PCs working out among themselves which ones they take and which other characters go with them.  PCs will not receive a lot of money from doing these missions, as a huge cut goes to the guild.  Doing missions earns the characters xp and increases their rank within the guild, which increases their cut of other missions. 

As missions are completed, PCs will invariably network a bit with other PCs and NPCs as well.  Eventually, PCs will be given the chance to get involved in other organizations and/or politics of nearby nation-states and villages.  This is encouraged.  The goal is that the guild eventually becomes just one organization among many, each wielding different types of power.

I *will* need at least one co-GM for this, one who can play the bulk of female NPCs, and/or someone good with handling maps.  If one person is able to do both of these things, then wonderful.

Please post here if interested in this type of game, especially if interested in helping out as a co-GM.

[Muse]

I'm afraid my GM slots are jam packed, but I'd love to play. 

[AndyZ]

Bookmarked for possible interest.

[Countdown0]

I'd be interested in this, though not as a GM. My GMing muse is just not working right now

[Ghostwheel]

I can handle maps, stat up encounters, keep things moving with rolls and such if you want.

[Rhaegar14]

Question: Is this a kind of thing where I could make a character, then sign on for adventures whenever I have the time/desire and otherwise remain largely inactive, kind of like an actual guild? Or are you seeing an overarching plotline focusing on a core group of characters?

[EroticFantasyAuthor]

This sounds very interesting

[kckolbe]

I can handle maps, stat up encounters, keep things moving with rolls and such if you want.

Great!  Hopefully we can get someone to play one or two female NPCs, as well as some female PCs, then we'll be looking pretty good.

Question: Is this a kind of thing where I could make a character, then sign on for adventures whenever I have the time/desire and otherwise remain largely inactive, kind of like an actual guild? Or are you seeing an overarching plotline focusing on a core group of characters?

A little of both.  Most "missions" will require a group of PCs.  You could sign your char up for easier missions by himself, yes, but it would mean encounters below his level.  Obviously, if you were with a group, I would expect you to not hold them back too much in terms of posting.  You could remain inactive in between missions, though there will be RP opportunities and some plot hooks outside of missions.  Also, a contact from a previous mission may try to get a hold of your char to ask for help or offer your char a job of sorts, and if your char can't be found but someone else is available, you may miss out.

So, short answer, yes, you can do that, but you will likely miss out on some things.

[Medical Miracle]

Also bookmarking for interest.

[EroticFantasyAuthor]

What's the expected/desired level of erotic content?

[kckolbe]

There isn't an expected level.  I, personally, enjoy tease scenes and the occasional shorter sex scene, but I won't force any scenes or make them overly convenient.  I am striving for a bit of realism, at least as much as is feasible for the setting.

To those who have bookmarked, but seem unsure: what are you hoping for, and what are you wary of?

[amol]

Great!  Hopefully we can get someone to play one or two female NPCs, as well as some female PCs, then we'll be looking pretty good.

I could co/GM some female NPCs or play a female PC in this one.

[kckolbe]

Thanks amol!  Everyone feel free to continue posting interest as well as letting me know what you would want out of this game.  Since I've not worked with Ghostwheel or amol before, I'll take some time to coordinate with them as well, and I will have a proper recruiting thread up in a week or so.

For now, off to work!

[Ghostwheel]

I'm willing to go in and get my hands dirty already, but one thing that I'm wary of is the rate of posting slowing down and combat taking potentially weeks (rather than days) to finish. I've been in enough games like that (or am, at the moment) that I'm not really interested in another game that moves at a snail's pace and leaves me bored and uninterested due to the lack of momentum that keeps me engaged.

[amol]

I understand your concerns. It's one of my major problems with PbP games that uses rules.

The way I usually runs combat in the PbP games where I'm the GM is I set a time limit for when everyone has to post their actions and when the time is up I conclude the events for the round. Depending on the group the time limit can be everything from 24 to 72 hours. In this way the combat round is never more than a few days.

[kckolbe]

I agree that a deadline will need to be in effect for combat actions to prevent draggage.  Combat will still take about a week (for semi-significant fights).  I will make an effort to cut out as many random encounters and instead make them tougher, which will speed the game up.

I still am not going to advertise this as a fast game, in or out of character.  I want characters to have the opportunity to use craft and profession skills, or to train new levels (don't panic at that part, as it will not be required for every level, just levels in a new class).  I want players to have the chance to plot and make things happen.

The saying "no one ever got rich working for somebody else" will hold true in this game.

[Blinkin]

Posting my interest in the concept. It sounds like it has the potential of giving those of us who have to fight for a game the opportunity to actually play.

I have no problem playing a female PC, but I admit some concern over the return of investment. It's understood that the guild takes it's share, but as a generl rule, this has rarely been a significant amount unless the guild is actually providing something besides a "For hire" list.

I like the idea that there will be down time for skill use, but the Pathfinder system is notoriously stingy on incentive for doing real crafting and minimal income means minimal resources in the long term. If you're spending what little you get to replace supplies and cost of living, then why bother to adventure?

Anyway, I find the challenge intriguing, so I'll watch the thread and see what happens.

[kckolbe]

Well, here was my initial thought on the guild.  Imagine you are a level 0 weakling with almost no gear and no connections.  You learn of this organization that will equip you well for free, give you some training, help you find some work that normally employers wouldn't consider you for, and, on top of all that, should things go wrong there are others that can help you, to include several very experienced adventurers.  All you have to do is agree to do a certain number of missions for them and give them a (significant) cut of the payment.  On top of that, you get free room and board.

I'm not saying it's a fair deal, but it isn't without merit.  It does require PCs to create their characters with very humble beginnings or recent misfortune.

You are painfully correct about crafting, and I will be working with the GMs to speed up crafting for magical and non-magical items.  One way is by providing assistants and masterwork tools free of charge, giving you a +4, but it will also mean a slight adjustment to the current crafting rules.

[CurvyKitten]

OHH I am so in, ~bookmarks~ I may have another suggestion for the combat. We could work out the rolls and what happens over the ooc , pms, or a combat stat thread. Then once the technical stuff is done and we know what takes place in the combat (agreeing to it all of course), we all write up our combat posts and then move on from there. Again just a suggestion, and will go with what ever the gm decides.

 Also I'm am always willing to help out on stuff, I'm just not good at working out maps with some of these computer programs for them. Though Give me some graft paper and pen and I'm golden. hehe

[Blinkin]

Well, if the guild is providing all of that, it's somewhat reasonable to take a larger cut. I don't have a problem with that. It makes sense in a way and no, it's not fair, but if you look at most unions today, you rarely get what you're paying for in value on an individual basis and other organizations aren't that much different.

The problem I have with crafting rules is mainly that you can't really make anything out of actually crafting things. If you craft a shield, for example, you'll only get half value, after spending a third of that value, so you won't make much, even on magical or masterworked things when you take into account the feats and other sacrifices you make for it. Masterwork tools and a place to work helps on the actual making, but not so much on the other end. Aside from saving yourself a bit in character generation, crafting has always seemed pointless, as well as the feats to do it well. If the income potential was adjusted, perhaps as much as 75% value through the guild (Offering the items for sale for you for example), it makes character development in that direction much more appealing. Still, something to think about for the long term since magical items are almost a must when you get to even mid-level areas.

I'm not sure that putting combat into a side thread to work out actually saves either time or effort. You still have to work out rounds, actions and rolls. That will take just as much time on a side thread as it would in a main one and in the mean time, the main thread is waiting idle while you more or less do the same thing else where. The sad truth about nearly all RPG's is that combat is designed to take time and when everyone has a different schedule, it's only going to take longer. Unless combat is extremely simplified to "I attack Orc #3 and kill it... I roll a 12!" it's only taking the same effort elsewhere.

The real time savings of side threads in in interaction. Rather than bog down a story, for example, between Baris the Fighter and Sasha the Wizard having a discussion on whether blades are better than spells, the story can go on while that's played out in the side-lines.

Just my thoughts and no offense is intended.

[Florence]

I'm interested as a player.

Its not a deal breaker, but would it be possible to play a half-drow?

I believe they exist in Pathfinder as a racial sub-type of half-elves... -looks it up-

Yep: Drow-Descended These half-elves clearly bear the features of their dark elf parents, branding them immediately as a potential threat in the eyes of others no matter what their intent or character. These half-elves have the drow-blooded and drow magic alternate racial traits.

The character I had in mind is basically a port of a character I played in a Neverwinter Nights 2 server named Meredith. She was actually less obvious, physically, in her heritage, and often passed as a peculiar looking half-elf with pale-pink (nearly white in most lights) hair. She was a bard. Every group needs a bard. Also, if pale-pink hair doesn't work, I could just as easily make it white/silver hair >_> Similarly she had pink, overall human eyes. All in all, she stood out, but not so much that she was instantly identifiable as a half-drow. In Faerun, most people simply thought she was half-moon elf or something of the sort.

Of course, if the whole half-drow thing doesn't work, I have other character ideas. A female half-orc rogue, or perhaps a female dwarf with a big axe... or I could do an idea for a male, human barbarian I had a while back, but never wound up making.

[Countdown0]

The character I have in mind is a Lawful Evil wizard, who is going to always be on the look out for ways to increase his own power. If, along the course of an adventure, he happens to make some money, that just one more benefit

[kckolbe]

Blinkin, glad the guild premise makes enough sense.  At least one potential pitfall is covered.  As for crafting, I fully agree, and we are reading through variant rules that will both speed it up and make it more meaningful.  I've read a few already, and an old GM friend of mine had rules for increasing masterwork bonuses as well that I remember we really enjoyed. 

I am okay with half-drow, though the other GMs and I are still discussing tone, which will affect allowed races.  I will likely want to avoid anything too exotic.  As for your concept, though, I see more that fits than causes flags.  After all, that is a character that could well be in a situation to have to align with a guild to get work, yet isn't that odd by itself.  Chances are it will not only be approved, but applauded.

As far as concepts go, though, please don't send me stuff like "by level 10 he/she will..."  I just want to see level 1 concepts, with the rest being open for development through the game world they live in.

Lawful Evil is perfectly acceptable.  Some characters won't want to team with him, but they won't have to, so who cares?

[Florence]

!

I'd be happy to get to play Meredith again, especially since I just learned the original NWN2 server I made her on is apparently gone, so all her data is gone forevar :<

Her original story was pretty interesting, involving her finding employment at a theater in Athkatla, avoiding worshipers of Shevarash, and falling in love with a female Thayan knight.

I'm curious to see how differently her story will play out in a different setting

[Countdown0]

Blinkin, glad the guild premise makes enough sense.  At least one potential pitfall is covered.  As for crafting, I fully agree, and we are reading through variant rules that will both speed it up and make it more meaningful.  I've read a few already, and an old GM friend of mine had rules for increasing masterwork bonuses as well that I remember we really enjoyed. 

I am okay with half-drow, though the other GMs and I are still discussing tone, which will affect allowed races.  I will likely want to avoid anything too exotic.  As for your concept, though, I see more that fits than causes flags.  After all, that is a character that could well be in a situation to have to align with a guild to get work, yet isn't that odd by itself.  Chances are it will not only be approved, but applauded.

As far as concepts go, though, please don't send me stuff like "by level 10 he/she will..."  I just want to see level 1 concepts, with the rest being open for development through the game world they live in.

Lawful Evil is perfectly acceptable.  Some characters won't want to team with him, but they won't have to, so who cares?

Well, as lawful evil, he isn't going to be trying to murder them. He's just going to have a serious superiority complex though He might try to become a Lich once he's powerful enough too. Assuming he lives that long.