Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

This forum is for the rotating GM campaign started by Joe the Rat.

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Joe the Rat
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Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by Joe the Rat »

This is a brainstorm that came out of a chat line (O Ye Men of Action, you know who you are):

Play-by-Post has its ups and downs - one of the biggest advantages being flexibility. We can miss a day, or life will happen, and we make adjustments. If someone needs to duck out, it's fairly straightforward to pick up more players. When the GM needs to step out, picking up a new GM usually means picking up a new game.

But not necessarily.

Rather than a single GM show, we could set up a "campaign" that anyone could take over if needed. What if we pick a general setting, and a single set of house rules that everyone likes - or at least would be willing to run. That way we can keep the same characters and story line (that there is), but not be lost if the GM needs to step out - or if someone else has an idea to run. Ideally, we'd switch out between "modules." Character and setting continuity, insulated against absent-minded deities.

Sound good?


So, what would we want for a setting, and what do we want to play with?

----
Current People:
GM- Joe the Rat

Players:
Hywaywolf
jcm
Blazeguard
Joe the Rat
Solomoriah

Current Ideas:
Races: Add Gnomes and Half-Humans
Classes: Core+. Ask if you want to add something.
Rule Supplements: Combat Options, Thief Options, Equipment Emporium, Backgrounds
Other House Rules: Magic Disruption, Health, Death, & Injury
Setting: "Wildlands," a Points of Light/Borderland type generic crawl setting.
Last edited by Joe the Rat on Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:25 am, edited 7 times in total.
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Blazeguard
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by Blazeguard »

Are we looking for a pre-made setting or do we want to come up with something from scratch?
The problem with doing something really stupid to impress people is that they may just be impressed by how stupid you really are.
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Hywaywolf
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by Hywaywolf »

I think we need to just concentrate on houserules and use the basic settings for The western Lands as spelled out in Morgansfort. Let the first DM pick a module - homebrew, commercial or community developed - and run with it. If we need a new DM at some point thye can run whatever they want.

IE, what particular supplements to use like duel combat, thief and MU options, zero level spells, etc. What rules to roll up new PC's - straight 3d6, 4d6 drop one, in order as rolled or move around as you want, etc. Do the PCs die at 0 or use the bleed out if not tended to rules, how XP is gained, and so on.

we should start simple on supplements, additional races and classes, etc. so that any future DM can add some spice to the game when he/she takes over. Its easier to add to a game than to take away something we are already using.
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jcm
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by jcm »

Yup, stock rules and settings for the start would probably be best. I think supplements can wait until we're more comfortable, unless it's to fix something obviously broken.
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Metroknight
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by Metroknight »

I guess good minds think alike. I'm in the process of doing this exact thing over on another forum for a campaign I'm going to be running in the future. I have 2 other people helping me and have it posted that others may offer suggestions and comments.
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xav++
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by xav++ »

Setting gotta vote spelljammah. But I think we should do magic users with the arcane bolt and int bonus bonus spells
Droyson Fillif Level 3 cleric
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Hywaywolf
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by Hywaywolf »

I don't like the arcane bolt. A wizard is not supposed to be a fighter who gets in there every round and dukes it out. But if enough people want it and we have to have it, then it shouldn't be an every round weapon. Crossbows take 2 rounds to load then one to shoot. It shouldn't be any better than that. If you want an active MU then get creative with cantrips. The ones written for MU's can definitely be used offensively ...

Summon Vermin can drop a spider in a Fighters helm and cause him to be distracted or like the spells says a swarm of gnats to disrupt a spell.

Mage hand can push a bucket into the way of an attacking opponent causing him to trip or shove a candle into some straw to start a fire.

Flare can be used to temporary blind an attacker.

Animate Tool can be used to entice a band of enemies into a trap.
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Joe the Rat
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by Joe the Rat »

Going light on rules is a good place to start - but race and class probably need to be addressed early. This can also flavor the game quite a bit. Using the Monsters as Races supplement can make for a rather... interesting party.

I like the idea of the arcane bolt, but I thought it would be better as a cantrip than a at-will power. That does limit your shooting quite a bit. But I was also contemplating introducing some sort of cantrip-powering focus as a minor magic item, or exploring cantrip & orison recovery at a later point, if needed.

We may also want to think about a theme - not an underlying storyline, but maybe a bit of flavor. I'm leaning towards the comedic.


...


Okay, tackle this one piece at a time. What races do we want to have to start with? Any add-ins? Any we want to toss out?
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xav++
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by xav++ »

I like gnomes! And heres how I do arcane bolt. You make an ability check. LVL 1 you have to roll above a seventeen! That is high for lvl 1! If you succeed it hits and does 1d3 damage. Think about it, its not a lot of damage. You still have to stay out of combat, you keep the magic theme and after level 5 or 6 I take it away. Also 90 percent of the time dms treat archers to at will shots. They don't check on arrows or anything with ammo. What about the possibility of your sword getting dull or breaking? At will low damage spells seem kinda normal in a group like that. Another thing, if the mu fails the check crazy crap happens in my games!
Droyson Fillif Level 3 cleric
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Blazeguard
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Re: Roll With It - Flex GM PbP

Post by Blazeguard »

Some of these decisions could be affected by the type of game being run, theme, etc. but as far as races I would say allow the Gnome supplement as well as the Half-Humans supplement and depending on what kind of game it ends up being see if anyone wants to use those options.
The problem with doing something really stupid to impress people is that they may just be impressed by how stupid you really are.
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