Hey folks,

I started pre-game discussion threads for each party, so feel free to start discussing things on there. I wanted to mention a couple of things:

1. First, in regards to gear, don't worry about buying and logging every small thing. Spend your gold on magic items and gear that give you mechanical bonuses. Other minor items that are purely for story reasons are fine, and I'm not a stickler on having everyone spend a few cp/sp/gp here and there for things that are just adding flavor to your characters. I think that will save everyone an unnecessary headache :)

2. I'll be giving folks a whole week to finalize their sheets and discuss backgrounds with each other. I've already got some story ideas in mind for each group, so once that week is up, we'll get rolling with the IC threads. You are free to continue discussions in your respective OOC threads after we officially start the game, but I would like for the parties to have a general idea of their shared background as we are getting started.

3. Have fun and be respectful of each other. Part of that is being respectful of each others' time. Once we get going, I hope to keep things moving at a decent pace. Please try to post at least once a day in your party's IC thread. Let us know if you are going to be away for an extended period of time. I'll be more lenient on weekends, because I know folks have other things to do that don't always involve rpol. If you have an issue of any sort, please PM me and it will be addressed accordingly.

4. Character advancement will be handled a bit differently than normal. I like running very story-driven games, so having to keep up with lists of XP and other pesky things like that detract attention from things that are of more importance. I'll be leveling up parties as they complete "chapters" of the greater story lines. To give you all a rough idea, as long as we keep up with the 1/day posting rate, I think things will move fast enough that we will see these "chapters" taking 1-2 months to complete. Side quests and minor stories will award other benefits such as gear, gold, character development, and other things that I'll keep a surprise for now, but won't count towards leveling up.

Feel free to ask any questions on here as well :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:38, Sun 12 June 2016.

Are we using any particular established pantheon of deities? If not, the existing Tian Xia pantheon of the Golarion setting should work well enough.

In reply to Izem (msg # 2):

I believe someone else asked about this, perhaps via a PM. The pantheon from Tian Xia that you mentioned does work quite well for this setting. I'm still working on getting things posted and updated, but the patron god of the Jade Empire is in fact Tsukiyo. Overall, the cult of Tsukiyo and Shizuru are the most popular faiths in the continent. Ancestor worship is also pretty big in regards to religious practices.

Below is a list of already published deities that will be used in this setting:

http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Tsukiyo
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Shizuru
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Hei_Feng
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Lady_Nanbyo
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Lao_Shu_Po
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Sun_Wukong
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Daikitsu
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/General_Susumu
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Irori
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Shelyn
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Fumeiyoshi
http://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Yamatsumi

Other than those, I'm happy to borrow from Shinto, Buddhist and Hindu traditions for inspiration for custom gods as well. I think that a good general rule of thumb would be to use what's already published, and come up with custom deities for things that have not been addressed by Paizo's published materials.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:16, Mon 13 June 2016.

Also, just wanted to let folks know that I've unlocked character sheets, so you guys should be able to edit them now.

Just wanted to check in with folks in regards to character sheets. I know a good amount of you have already finished them, and others are still applying some finishing touches. This is simply a reminder to have them completed by Sunday evening, since we'll be officially starting on Monday.

If you have questions or concerns, feel free to PM me. Otherwise, make sure you update the character sheet section on your profile once your sheet is ready for review.

Thanks! :)

I had it offline just need time to type it in. I will only do it day after tomorrow.

My sheet is done!

Thank you. Looks good :)

YES, indeedy. Also complete.

Mine is also finished.

Thanks for finishing up sheets. I have reviewed them all, and I think we are good to go at this point. I'll be starting the IC threads for each party this morning, so keep an eye out for yours :)

Aaaawesome!

*sets off a fireworks display for the occasion*

Just FYI, I have added the necessary language groups and everyone should be correctly assigned to them now. I filled up every possible language group with stuff that came from your sheets.

Ah, I think I still need to pick my languages. Forgot about that small bit.