[Virtual TableTop] P&P RPG

[Tyroki]

Well, assuming you're DMing, what sort of campaign do you want to run?
That's the big question.

Lots of fantasy elements works well for me.

I do recommend that the first session be to outline the game and roll up stats for characters, as the DM should always be present for that. You then have until the second session to finalise and get DM approval. Roll20 is useful for that, as the DM can see everything fairly easily.

[Mr.Anderson]

Honestly, I'm kinda fine with using the honour system and the rule books. It's only for when you want to be a little creative (or a lot ) so we both know what you're trying to do and if it's likely to break the game.

I know I always roll insanely good rolls during character creation. This one time my colleague asked to roll an NPC (he didn't tell me but he wanted me to play that character during the final session so he wanted me to roll it). So he and the party thought the rolls were a bit too good to be true and reduced it, but when the final session came around one person was like "yeah he cheated, even if he uses the adjusted stats he should just roll character stats now in front of us" which was shortly followed by "how did you roll the exact same stats, with 3 18s in a row no less, again?" ;P

But roll20 is good for honesty and I have no problems changing your character a bit during session 0.

As for what I want to DM, assuming I am, I haven't decided yet. Definitely some level of politics, factions, and an overarching high/epic fantasy plot. You know monsters (both human and non-human ;P), magic, horrors from beyond the veil of space and time, and earth-shattering events

You know, your average Tuesday

[edit]
A friend of mine may wants to join, but he doesn't want to play PF, prefers 5e. Also he may have a total noob that might join if it's 5e.
[/edit]

[Tyroki]

I'm not really interested in 5e.
Sorry man, but 5e just doesn't have enough options.
I've played it decent amount, and while it's got some good stuff going for it, as someone who prefers the giant, incredibly open mess that was 3.5 to any edition afterwards (hence the preference for Pathfinder), the lack of options hurts too much to really play it.

[Balmung]

5th edition is fine, it just depends on how you handle it. It can be rough sometimes in terms of rp, but with a heavy RP focused group we get it done. It's been an enjoyable experience for my table, and I play with some vets. It's started feeling better to me then Pathfinder, so much so that I rarely touch it if I can help it.

Even running a Dresden Files campaign on Sundays at the moment via 5e Roll20.

Of course, I'm also playing Dungeon World, so hah!

My opinion is this, you are the DM. You make and run whatever you like, at the end of the day it's you who has to deal with the system to tell your own story. It's your decision.

[Mr.Anderson]

I'm not really interested in 5e.

Just wanted to make sure you knew.

My opinion is this, you are the DM. You make and run whatever you like, at the end of the day it's you who has to deal with the system to tell your own story. It's your decision.

Sure I'll have to 'deal' with whatever system we end up going with story wise, but it's the players who'll have to play with it.

While I enjoy the more streamlined and free form rules of 5e, my first encounters were 3.5e and modified ADnD 2e rules. So unless they went apeshit with it in PF, I don't really care. It's just that most of my rulebooks are 5e or earlier DnD versions.

[Balmung]

Nah, it's like the holy trinity. No one cares about the DPS, just the tank and healer. Those players should thank their lucky stars they're in a game! :rofl:

[Tyroki]

Pathfinder 1.0 is basically 3.5 but with a lot of the bullshit toned down. Still has options galore, and you can quite happily convert most 3.5 content to Pathfinder. There is an official guide on how, and it doesn't take much effort.

Really I just want an opportunity to try out Spheres. That being said, I thiiiink there was a fan project that had converted most of Spheres to 5e.

In Pathfinder, you have to run Spheres as the main magic system due to Vancian being... well... Vancian.
For the 5e fan conversion, I don't know, because personally I felt magic users were already weak as hell there. Sure Bal said they're plenty strong, but they lost a huuuuge amount of versatility. Soooo... Spheres would fix that for me a bit.

[Mr.Anderson]

So assuming Balmung, RDKnightZac, and Tyroki agree.. PF1.0 + Spheres of Power.

Is Wednesday late for Europeans OK for everybody?

[Tyroki]

I'm down.

Do you have a more specific time in mind?

[Mr.Anderson]

I wanted to answer sooner, but it's been a bit weird at work. There's a restructuring and some of the work is moving to a different location. Other stays here. Other stuff is vaguely between the both...

tl;dr I might be forced into normie day shifts. If this is so, then the time I can DM will change to 18.00 UTC. Not just on Wednesdays, but the whole week.

Edit: This'll be from 01-Jan and onwards

[Tyroki]

Ah nuts. That's 7am.

I can try to survive at 9am my time, though I won't exactly be cognizant.

[Mr.Anderson]

Well that means I can basically start from anywhere from 18.00 UTC till 21.00 UTC and still have say a 4 hour long session.
So if later is better, we can do later. I can't do earlier though.

[Tyroki]

Alright. I'll try for the 2100 at first, and if I can dial it back to 2000, I will.
Fat chance though. I really struggle to go to sleep at a decent time

Got any ideas for the campaign?

[Mr.Anderson]

I've got some ideas, been reading a bit through the core rule book to familiarize myself with what's different and what's the same from 3.5e. I'll probably start writing a rough outline one of these days to get a little more specific (actually I had made the barest of minimum outlines and then rebooted my PC ).

Also there's no immediate problem with continuing to play later (though starting even later might be an issue) since I have the next day off. But also I might be forced into a 9.30 to 18.00 work day soon (as I said earlier) so ruining my own schedule isn't advisable either

[Tyroki]

So... what's the haps, Anderson?

[Mr.Anderson]

Well aside from the fact that these semi-holidays are forcing me to work my regular and 'normie' shifts is ruining my sleep pattern (as bad as my regular one was); I've started making some quick reference pages and made the first few steps on my campaign document.

I mean, a lot of it is still conceptual, but I know what I'd like to attempt.

Also I don't know exactly when my work schedule will change since it looks like they can't find enough people to work the shifts. Meaning my hours won't immediately change upon the new year. Oh well, if they want to ruin the analytic and solving power of their departments then that's their choice.

[Tyroki]

Your bosses do recognise that overworking staff leads to a dramatic drop in both efficiency and morale, right?
The overall quality of work drops significantly. It simply isn't worth it.

[Mr.Anderson]

Yeah they do, it's not overwork, it's moving around work and personnel in stupid ways.

Anyway, I've just been told that from the 7th and onwards my office building is closed (or, since I'd be the only one working on the physical floor and, since you're not allowed to be alone, is thus 'closed'). Nice and on time, absolutely no issues for other people. So I changed my schedule and should be able to DM every week

Maybe get a normal sleeping and eating pattern too ^^'

[Tyroki]

Nice. I'm glad to read that things will be less chaotic for you, and definitely look forward to some D&D

[Mr.Anderson]

Just rereading what I posted, the office won't close entirely, just after 18.00 I'd be the only one and you're not allowed to be working alone in case something happens. So I'll get a boring 9.30 to 18.00 schedule instead.

In other news, I also got the pocket edition of the core rules and the Game Mastery Guid.

Since it's coming along nicely, I think we should talk character creation. Core Rules + Spheres of Power?