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IMPORTANT INFO - READ ME.

Posted by Dungeon MasterFor group public
Dungeon Master
GM, 38 posts
Sun 2 Apr 2017
at 20:11
  • msg #1

IMPORTANT INFO - READ ME

Keep these in mind and you'll do fine:


  1. When in doubt ask.
    If you're stuck in-game or out-of-game, not sure how to react or feel like there is anything preventing you from posting, either drop a line in any OOC chat or send me a PM. If you don't get an answer within 24 hours, poke me in the GM poke thread. While I may not update every day, I do keep an eye out for PMs and questions.


  2. It's your character.
    I spend my day trying to figure out plot lines and run encounters. I do not memorize character sheets. If there is important information pertaining to your character (like how you have dark vision so you don't get the dark penalties I posted) it is your responsibility to bring that up, not mine to remember it. You are the advocate for your character, it is your job to give them every advantage they can have. If you have questions, see Rule #1.


  3. If you have to leave, drop me a line.
    If you're going to be absent for longer then a week, or your RL schedule means you're going to be busier then normal, or school is starting and RL has to be adjusted...whatever the case, drop me a PM before you disappear for longer then a week. If you haven't posted in a week I will view you as an AFK player. I will then begin to NPC your character if they are vital to the plot, finding a replacement player, or working them out of the story. If you disappear for two weeks without prior warning, don't be surprised to find that you no longer have a character. This doesn't mean I can't work you back in, but it would ALL be resolved much better with a bit of forewarning. Even if you don't KNOW but just THINK you might have difficulty posting, see Rule #1: When in doubt, send a PM.

    If you have not logged in for a couple of weeks I may mark you as (AFK) after your name. If you have (AFK) on your name I am NPCing your character through encounters and you are at risk of either being replaced by another player OR being killed off for dramatic purposes. To remove (AFK) all you have to do is come back and post.


  4. If you take too long, I will advance the story.
    PbP can be slow enough without spending weeks/months trying to create a plan. I've seen this happen game after game after game where when the party has to make a decision nothing gets done and the game grinds to a halt while people just mill around without anything to do. When you are ready for the scene to advance you can notify that clearly by writing in an OOC line at the bottom:

    OOC: READY!

    This will signify to both me and the rest of the group that you're ready to move on. When the majority is ready (or I get bored :P) the game will advance. I will post a default plan and if the plan hasn't changed before then, then that is what you're going to be doing. If you don't like it you'd better speak up and get a new plan in the works before I get bored and hit the fast forward button.

Dungeon Master
GM, 39 posts
Sun 2 Apr 2017
at 20:51
  • msg #2

Content

Please note that this game is set to "Mature" and not to "Adult". While I expect absolutely terrible language and there to be some brutal violence I do not plan on this game going into "porn" territory of any kind (goreporn, tortureporn, porn porn :D).

I'm of the mentality that while the story won't shy away from "adult" concepts like hookers or senseless violence that it doesn't need to be explained in every filthy detail and personally I find the imagination of a "fade-to-black" much more immersive then anything people would actually type.

Therefore if we encounter a situation that would cross the line I/we will either take a step back and either fade-to-black or just describe things in a high level OOC way before getting back to the action.

So don't worry, you'll get plenty of hookers, get to perform a scene out of Reservoir Dogs, even have a romance or two if so inclined but for the extreme stuff that would require an Adults Only access you'll have to use your imagination to fill in the the blanks :P
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:17, Tue 19 Jan 2021.
Dungeon Master
GM, 50 posts
Mon 3 Apr 2017
at 14:59
  • msg #3

FIREARMS

I am taking some liberties with default Golarion setting with a small adjustment. Normal cannons (and gunpowder in general) are very rare. Instead most combat ships have magical items that work similar to cannons but work by translating the energies of a spell into a projectile.

They are just as devastating as cannons but their use in battle is very limited as you need powerful wizards to "fire".

Cannons are just making their way onto ships in Golarion at this time and they are game changers because not only can you have a whole row of them going, you can fire them over and over again with the only limit being your supply of cannonballs and gunpowder, not the number of mages and how many spell slots they can sacrifice.

If you see me reference "cannons" without any other context that will mean these magical weapons. Gunpowder cannons don't really have names of their own yet but are sometimes referred to as mageless cannons.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:22, Tue 19 Jan 2021.
Dungeon Master
GM, 52 posts
Fifteen Men and a
Dead Man's Chest!
Mon 3 Apr 2017
at 17:52
  • msg #4

SKINNING

Skinning is the idea of taking a set of rules or mechanics and applying a new "skin" to it to provide a new and unique experience for the purposes of roleplaying.

For example:
A tiefling ninja that generates the ninja's ki pool from his infernal heritage instead of the traditional Eastern flavor.

A Samurai class rebranded as a Knight wielding a bastard sword instead of a katana

A dog familiar that is a chicken or a goat or pretty much any animal.



I am all for skinning and rebranding as long as it follows the following guidelines:

1) It must have a good reason with some solid reasoning from the player. I'm not going to let you reskin your generic 15gp long sword as a negative energy blade just because you want to pretend to have a level 20 character at level 1.

2) The underlying game mechanics are unchanged.
In the above example the tiefling's "infernal" pool is still impacted and follows all the same rules as the ki, the bastard sword has the same stats, cost, and proficiency requirements of the katana, and the chicken providing the benefits of the dog familiar will find itself hated by every goblin it meets.


So if there is a feat or power or spell or whatever that you really want to use however the aesthetics attached to it aren't your style just let me know and we can work on re-branding it into something you can really dig but doesn't unbalance the game or alter the mechanics.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:22, Tue 19 Jan 2021.
Dungeon Master
GM, 53 posts
Fifteen Men and a
Dead Man's Chest!
Mon 3 Apr 2017
at 17:57
  • msg #5

COMBAT & POSTING

At the bottom of your combat posts you should specify via an OOC: tag the actual actions you are taking and the grid coordinates you are moving to or attacking.

For example:

quote:
Gnomey the example gnome lets loose a warcry, charging across the battlefield drawing his axe and burying it into the head of the lead orc!

OOC:
A1: Moving to Q9
A2: Drawing Axe
A3: Attacking orc at Q8


Using this format is essential to avoid confusions and delays. I have had numerous rounds of battle get delayed because I had to stop updates to ask clarifying questions: "Which orc are you attacking" "How did you get to this square?" "I only see two actions listed in your description, what is your third action?" etc.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:22, Tue 19 Jan 2021.
Dungeon Master
GM, 54 posts
Fifteen Men and a
Dead Man's Chest!
Mon 3 Apr 2017
at 17:58
  • msg #6

REACTIONS

Unless otherwise specified you get one reaction a turn. Because I do not want to have to constantly retcon turns here is how Reactions will be handled:

  1. By default I will use whichever reaction is first triggered in the round. I feel this is safest as it is better to use a reaction then to potentially waste it. The first attack that hits you, you will shield block for. The first monster that leaves your threatened range gets AoO'd etc.

  2. If you would like to prioritize a certain reaction or target it is up to you to specify that during your round's post. For example if you have an AoO and a Shield Block but want to focus on defense then add something like:

    quote:
    Reaction: Shield Block priority


    As I progress through the turn as long as you might potentially need to shield block I will save your one reaction per turn for that. If circumstances change so it is unlikely it will be triggered I will then activate any other reactions that might get triggered.

  3. You might also want to be very specific. For example focusing your Retributive Strike to protect a specific ally or saving your Shield Block specifically against the giant ogre attacking you. Again adding something like this to your combat post:

    quote:
    Reaction: Shield Block against Ogre

    or
    quote:
    Reaction: Retributive Strike to protect Gnomey, the wounded example gnome


    And again as long as that could potentially be triggered I will save your reaction. As the turn progresses and the ogre misses you and is no longer a viable threat then I will go back to #1 above and use whichever reaction triggers next.

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:23, Tue 19 Jan 2021.
Dungeon Master
GM, 240 posts
Fifteen Men and a
Dead Man's Chest!
Tue 19 Jan 2021
at 22:26
  • msg #7

INITIATIVE & COMBAT

I am not doing individual combat. Instead combat initiative is "PCs go, NPCs go". Which side goes first is determined in one of two ways:

1) If one side has an advantage over the other, like they are preparing an ambush or they "drew first" then they will get to act first initiative.

2) If both sides have equal opportunity to go first than I will make initiative rolls and average them for each side.

This does mean that feats/abilities that boost initiative will still be helpful as it might influence if your entire team goes before the other side but I can understand the opinion that this alters initiative oriented abilities so make sure you are aware of this and select abilities/features accordingly.
Dungeon Master
GM, 276 posts
Fifteen Men and a
Dead Man's Chest!
Fri 5 Feb 2021
at 01:36
  • msg #8

PIRACY IRL

Here are a couple of videos that help illustrate how piracy typically works. Now granted these are generalizations and not hard rules but they help get you into the mindset of how running a pirate ship actually works (and how it differs from a merchant ship or a government run ship).

Piracy from a Captain's Perspective
Piracy from a Quartermaster's Perspective
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