In The Middle of Nowhere

Creating your character

A complete campaign guide to build a Pathfinder 1e PC for this campaign is shared as soon as you confirm as a player, before Session 0, & the GM will be available to answer questions & improve your Roll20 sheet before Session 0. Our goal is to have every detail of your level 1 PC filled in before the end of Session 0 so group adventuring can begin. This is a strict Paizo Pathfinder 1e RAW game, so sources you use for PC creation must be Paizo-published materials for first edition Pathfinder. Unchained RAW is used, but if you wish to play a Summoner, you are responsible for the extra work to have the complete sheets & tokens for creatures you plan to summon in the next session prepared ahead of time. You can play the classic class or unchained, but not multiclass both. Archetypes are available for PCs & their companions/familiars. Material from the Tech Guide is not used; this campaign is low-tech, so no: robots, androids, firearms or other complex tech. Clockworks, black powder for fireworks or spells, & alchemical explosives are allowed. Max HP at start, & each new PC gets an amazing 32 Point Buy for Base Abilities, before PC racial adjustments. Arrange the array as you like for your character's class. Ability Score Increase at usual levels 4, 8, 12, 16, & 20. Example 32 point buy: Superhero Array 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 Two Primary Stats 17, 17, 12, 12, 12, 10 Three Primary Stats 16, 16, 16, 12, 12, 8 16, 16, 16, 12, 10, 10 Monk Array STR 14, DEX 16 CON 14 INT 12 WIS 16 CHA 10 Balanced Array 18, 14, 14, 12, 12, 11 Min/Max Array 18, 18, 12, 10, 8, 8 Multiclass Array 15, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14 Players are encouraged to make effective builds that can survive the dangerous encounters & compliment the builds of allies, who all work together effectively in any situation. PC alignment should not be evil, unless by specific discussion with the GM regarding intentions & other aspects of the build & play-style, with a mutual understanding reached that evil PC behavior can never disrupt the smooth & well paced play, & could possibly lead to the censure or death of the evil PC if they are at odds with the party's goals. The best party is always a Cleric, a Rogue, a Fighter (or Barbarian,) a Wizard (or Sorcerer,) & a Bard (or Druid,) or at least the party should have 5 classes, each a specialist, who together cover all the necessary adventuring roles. One PC trying to be good at everything, such as the "salad bar multiclassing" philosophy ends up being good at nothing at higher levels. There are powerful & effective multiclass builds, but they need to be well planned ahead of time to avoid retraining. Additional info, such as vital statistics, hit points per level, campaign traits, homelands, deities, etc. are outlined in the campaign guide, & the aim is to use the RAW as much as possible to cover all the actions the characters want to take, which are played into the Roll20 chat with the click of a button from the sheet or token.

Preparing for the session

Be on time & provide at least 24 hours notice if late or absent. 2 five minute & 1 ten minute breaks during a 4 hour session. Pay attention to details the GM talks about; your PC's life depends on knowing them. If the GM can't be heard or understood due to tech issues or unintended noise, politely inform him by voice or in Discord game channel & it will be corrected immediately. The GM plays soft adventure music for himself, but players should never hear it, so if it is heard, politely inform him. Players are encouraged to have any or no music of their own, but it should not be heard by others when they are speaking. Outside of the game session, the GM can assist players with audio settings so that they don't affect the game. Be ready with actions & RP on your turn. Don't interrupt, but please do RP briefly, offering Free, Swift, or Immediate Actions out-of-turn as needed. Speaking out-of-turn is encouraged when the "Open RP while busy" icon is in Roll20 chat, eliminating pauses in gameplay when a rule is read or quick math is done. The "Open RP" should always be about what just happened in the last round, what is happening this round, or what party planning for next round. Detailed, complete PC Sheet updating is so very important. A Sheet needs to reflect the PC's current condition & change as soon as anything changes, & so keep it open for the whole session. When complete & current, any roll, ability, spell, item or other information can be put into chat with a button click. The GM will help you understand & use the complex sheet until you wonder how you ever did without it. Discord (free account) All players need to be able to hear & understand each other. Players can use a webcam if they wish, as long as no Discord or Roll20 bandwidth issues occur. Bandwidth is better used for voice, to prevent "roboting" or drop-out & for loading game assets more quickly. The GM does not use a webcam & none are required of the players. Discord text channels are used to post resources, player creation guide, in-game lore, etc. & are kept to a minimum so that information is easy to find. Roll20 (free account) Computers need to have enough memory, performance, & internet speed to use Roll20 & load large, high quality maps & full dynamic lighting. Advice will be made available about which browser to use & settings for that browser, to clear up lag or other correct unlikely issues with Roll20. After ten years of playing on Roll20, it is fast & easy to use.

What Gregory brings to the table

My goal is to bring the highest quality tabletop gaming experience as possible, using the RAW of the most complete TTRPG & as many useful & fun features of the VTT. This campaign uses the style "a dungeon level of the week, a home base for downtime, an overarching story/mystery." Play stays fast-paced, turn-based, with open RP in-the-moment when the GM is setting a duration counter or crossing off the creatures the party just obliterated! If you pay attention on everyone's turn, you'll be ready for your turn & find that a wonderful story emerges from your choices. Intense, tactical combat: YES! This game is RAW & adjudicated by my RAI. The "Cool!" part comes from that, not before that! I bring you the collected assets & experiences of creating & presenting worlds for over 4½ decades as a GM & 5000+ hours at the table as a Pathfinder 1e GM. The longest campaign was played 20 hrs/week, many players coming & going during sessions. Combats with more than 3 dozen total creatures (friends & foes) on the massive battle map at the start of combat are not terribly difficult to run. Maps & Background: Only high quality color maps & backdrops make it to the battle boards. Expect high res, HD, finely detailed scale maps, & for the world map hex, battle map hex, & settlement hex grid to use the same scales. Miniature Figures, not Pogs: High detail & PC accurate tokens are generated, rather than using a "pog" style that can break the fantastic environmental map depictions. PCs' info & in-game actions are put in play chat from a token, so play quick & easy! Some illustrations, maps, & scenery are original art works by myself using original or OL 3D models/textures. Some visual content is generated by free algorithms & vetted for quality. "LLM" text generators are not used, as the GM is an educated & trained author who has decades of material to draw from. If you question my character, you will find instead that I am the entire cast! As a trained stage & award winning film & voice actor, I have a wide variety of voices for many NPCs & creatures, so each is voiced uniquely! My goal is to make each encounter recognizable through expressive impressions. Welcome the voice of the allied mage; dread the growl of the deadly foe! Expect & enjoy immersion, role playing, tactical combat, fantastic environments, crunchy/complete RAW for fair play, wilderness exploration, detailed world full of interesting NPCs, dungeon crawling, a variety of challenges, a story that started before you arrived but is now yours to tell & more! When all the players are either in character RPing, calling actions on or off turn, & otherwise only immersed, imagining & feeling the experiences of their PCs, the party's actions write a story that is fun, humorous, & dramatic. Want to create a detailed PC to play levels 1-20 in a fantastic, focused adventure, this is the table for you! I made the world; it's yours to play in! Your choices will write the best story.

Homebrew rules

Turn-based is most Based: using Exploration Turns, Combat Rounds, or Downtime Days, the Counter is always up & every player gets their fair turn & equal time, their turn announced with a sentence unique to the PC's current situation & accompanied by the appearance of the PC's icon in the game chat! Information is persistent between sessions in the Turn Counter (GM,) or the sheet's Notes section (player.) Calends, ToD, & any effect with a duration are tracked for all to see. Players can edit their Turn entry to "get ahead" & literally show initiative. For exciting, less static encounters, a table feature is pre-combat Skill Checks: 1 or more of Perception, Stealth, Survival, (& possibly others) are called for with Initiative. These rolls reveal the Surprise actions available, & may determine combatant positions, distance to adversaries, & other combat conditions. It's likely that Knowledge Checks will be called for at this time too, so that when Combat begins the amount known is ready. Cover & Grapple flowcharts are used to insure that speedy resolution of the complex rules follow. The target is going to have +8 AC if an ally is engaging with it in melee & standing in the way of a Ranged Attack, so plan Feats accordingly to fit the build. Very specific, "old school," or "classic" rules interpretations are being used, which I feel are actually RAW & RAI, but most GMs seem to ignore or grant fiat results instead of using "the specific rule over-rules the general rule" philosophy. This is especially true for Stealth, Disable Device, & other Skills, especially for Magical Traps created with spells which cite their own rules. For example, to actually remove, erase, or dispel a Rune or Symbol, see the Spell that made it, & otherwise it can only be bypassed or ignored with Disable Device, & only by & for characters with the Trapfinding Class Feature. Use of other Skills (Fly, Climb, Knowledge, etc.) are likewise strictly interpreted, to maintain game balance & the finely tuned tactical aspects of this, the crunchiest of all "D&D" versions. Hero Points are used, to avoid fudging rolls or ignoring rules if a sad outcome is likely. PCs may die in this game, but only with a combination of bad luck, unwise decisions/actions, & failure to use Hero Points. Raise Dead & other means to bring back a PC are in, or start a new PC with only a minor set-back in Experience, which can be regained during Downtime. Special Spell Components expand spell utility. If you use Called Shots, enemies will also use them against you. If interested, Caravans, Chases, Bar Fights, Duels, Exhibition Fighting, Gambling, or Social Conflicts could come up as the campaign grows beyond dungeon crawls & downtime.

How Gregory creates a safe table

There is no sexual content in role-play or out of character discussions. This is a high fantasy game of heroic storytelling about defeating monsters in dungeons & taking their treasures. While your PC might have a romantic relationship with, or marriage to an NPC (if the specific campaign includes it,) brief PG-13 appropriate RP is all that is required or desired in those situations. If anyone wishes to take a break or step away during play, simply message the GM that you're doing so, & later the issue that caused the discomfort can be addressed so that it will never happen again. To avoid any upset from the real world (politics & religion especially) intruding on our fun game, there should not be any talk at the table unrelated to the game. Quoth THE Bard, "The play's the thing!" We are here to play & the time is valuable & goes by quickly when we're having fun, so concentrate on what your PC is doing this round & we'll get the most adventuring done each session. There is no body horror, gore, depictions of abuse or psychological trauma at my gaming tables. Fantasy violence or "halloween horror" are kept to a minimum, such as describing the frightful appearance & actions of an undead creature or describing the results of a critical hit attack, or commenting that a creature is Dying or Bleeding. Any specific emotional triggers a player wishes to avoid can be told to the GM in a private message during Session 0, & those topics or depictions will be avoided during gameplay. Disrespect, mistreatment, or abuse of any kind toward any player at the table will not be tolerated. Repeated failures to comply with the terms of service of Start Playing Games, Discord, Roll20.net, or breaches of the code of conduct for those platforms & services or the game table, will result in the suspension of the player & a documented report to Start Playing Games, with the details of the repeated infractions. Session 0 will include expert advice & guidance through every step of completing a Roll20 Community Sheet, with advanced techniques such as macros, custom buttons, custom variables, & more, which enhance the Buff & Condition system, making your bonuses, penalties, & stacking rules as easy as checking & un-checking options on the character sheet, & placing your PC's action into the chat at the press of a button! The easier it is to play, the more fun we have & the more adventuring is experienced.