The PAG and What It Means To Players Looking For Great Times Without Commitment

GM Ajax and GM Deveraux are going to start a Project based loosely on an Organized Approach to Role Playing Society games. What we are proposing is allowing players and GMs alike to Participate in Single Adventures Open to Anyone using a Legal PAG Character. We want this to cater to New Players as well As Veterans. What is PAG? The Pathfinder Adventurer's Guild. To join you need only create a character, that's all, but you must follow the guidelines set down by the PAG. What are these Guidlines: Using the Corebook or Advanced Player's Guide. Character Name: Must Use this format PAG_Name_Level (using 01, 02, 03, 99, etc). Character Name: Must be a Single Name (use what you want In Game). Sample of Character Name: PAG_Ironballs_01. Must Use Mythweaver to Create the Character. 15 Point Ability Buy with Maximum Hit Points and 1 Trait. No Evil Characters (simply based on the limited play time you would get). Level Progression, for each event you participate in you get 1 XP, you level every 3 XP. Upon each level attained you get 1 Ability Point. The PAG will provide special Equipment Packs dependant on your Class (don't buy Gear). You may choose Normal Armor up to Studded Leather and Small Shield. You may choose one Normal Melee Weapon you are Proficient In. You may choose one Normal Range Weapon you are Proficient In. Wizards will start with a Spellbook as per the normal rules. You then start with gold equal to your Charisma Score. When you have completed your Character and are completely satisfied it is the way you want it, then Send the Mythweaver Link to Either Ajax or Deveraux.A Hero Lab version of your PC will then be created and if you like a PDF of that character can be EMailed to you.. Each time you level you will upgrade the character and save it as another version by simply changing the level in the Name, as in PAG_Ironballs_02, PAG_Ironballs_03, etc. What will the Audio Requirements Be? You will need to be able to hear and speak, a headset is recommended, video will NOT be used. We will most probably use Skype for the chat. When will these games be scheduled? There maybe some that will play weekly, others may be posted a few days in advance, there maybe a few that appear at a very short notice. When can I sign up for a scheduled game? As soon as the Game is Posted you can SEND a PRIVATE MESSAGE to Deveruax or Ajax with your request, we do however EXPECT YOU TO SHOW UP FOR ANY GAME YOU SIGN UP FOR. Requests should INCLUDE the Class/Race of your EXSISTING PAG Character. We will do this simply to avoid a group of 3 Wizards and a Sorcerer if at all possible, although this could still happen. Who can Play? Anyone who has a legal PAG character on file with the PAG. You will always use the the same character as long as he continues to Survive. The Primary Events will allow any PAG characters of up to level 5 to participate, so you could have a level 3 fighter teamed with a level 2 cleric and 2 level 1 rogues. What is the Party size? We have decided to limit the size of each party to 4 Players, this is due to the time constraint, as each event will last only 4 hours and should be completed within that time. Loot Distribution: Any items (not gold), recovered by the players will be distributed at the end of the event, if there is an Item that more than one player wants then the PAG will assume that there are two such items. The players request for the item must be logical and legitimate, this will be a call made by the GM, requests by Wizards for +2 Longswords are probably not going to succeed. Hey Could I Get In To This As A GM? Of course, but there a Guidelines there also and I will not explain them here. Lastly, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? Roll20 Ranks continue to Grow, with this expansion comes a multitude of New Players who just want to Learn and Play and a segment of Veteran Players who love to play but don't have the time to Commit to Long Term campaigns. We are hoping to put together something for both worlds. A chance to Play Your Own Character and watch him or her develop at a Pace of your Choosing, A chance to Meet and Play with Different Players, A chance to Play without having to make a Long Term Commitment, and a chance to Experience and Learn the Ins and Outs of Roll20 and the Pathfinder Game System. Questions about GMing games in this Project should sent to AJAX as a Private Message.

As a Reminder: THIS WILL NOT EFFECT ANY OF AJAX' EXISTING GAMES.

An Example of a Sheet: <a href="http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=504102" rel="nofollow">http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=504102</a>

Not to come across as cynical, but isn't this what Pathfinder Society is for? It certainly isn't uncommon for VT sites like R20 to have seperate boards for this kind of play. I can credit my education in D&D4e via Living Forgotten Realms to similar setups over the web.

Hey Deveraux, can I keep my character I used in your campaign? You know, the "Beastmaster"

@Tsriel WAY LESS COMPLICATED AS THE PATHFINDER SOCIETY! And I am a Pathfinder Society Member, this is totally informal, and just wondering what the purpose of your post was.

As I have received some characters already, I have scrapped the screen snip and will simply port all the characters over to Hero Lab as I get them, and then save copies of them as PDF's this way you can get a copy of your PC as a PDF if you want.

I've never used mythweaver. Could I simply use Hero Lab instead, if you are going to port them over to that anyway?

Yes a Hero Lab .por file is even better than a Mythweaver. Please send them to: <a href="mailto:ajaxthecleanser@att.net" rel="nofollow">ajaxthecleanser@att.net</a>

Can you provide a rough estimate when during a week these event might be held?

When will these games be scheduled? There maybe some that will play weekly, others will be Posted at least 3 days prior to their date. As the project gets started, there will probably be at least one or two games per week, as more GMs become involved this should expand. Remember these events will involve adventuring groups of 4 players only, although they could be of assorted levels between 1st and 5th. Tentatively Deveraux I believe is planning on a weekly Monday Night event, understand they same players should not always be playing in these, we want to offer chances for as many people to play as possible. I will probably Plan a weekly event also it will be either Wed, Fri, or Sun. My Time Slot will be either 7:00 or 8:00 PM CST. The time will appear in the Post. Sessions will run 4 hours. Please Remember if you request a place in an event and are sent the link, usually be a Private Message, but sometimes right here in the post, WE EXPECT YOU TO SHOW UP FOR THE GAME ON TIME AND READY TO PLAY.

Are there any houserules for your games? I would like to know if there are any rule changes or something like that. Also it seems that heavy armour users are kind of screwed by your rules? Only starting with studded leather and 10g kind of sucks if you are going to be bashing in melee, haha. Anyway here is my man, gaze upon PAG_Denton_01, and despair (???) <a href="http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=504578" rel="nofollow">http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=504578</a>

It is going to assumed that the characters could not afford armor better than studded. It doesn't restrict them from obtaining it as the character progresses. Yeah, it sucks to be poor, ergo, let's become adventurers and become rich and famous.

Well it isn't really that we are poor, we just spent it all on the weapons instead, since a martial class can get two weapons at 100g each if they wanted

Are we taking into account the effects of ageing (middle, old and venerable ages), I'm just wondering this since I want to play an old character with all the buffs and negatives of being old

Oh sorry, I thought the normal requirement just meant that they are not masterwork. I picked it because it is a weapon I am proficient in. Are there any other weapons that are not "normal"?

happy to play with the Rules As Written above but I have a question. Were the Rules intended to include the advanced races guide as well?

Corebook and Advanced Player's Guide. We would like to keep things as simple as possible, so we are limiting it to Core Races.

As a bump for this post, i'm duplicating what I said in Dev's thread: Ajax, I talked to Dev a bit about this and my interest is piqued. Not only as a player but as a GM. I've GMed before and have done a few PF APs, I just need to learn the ins and outs of R20, and rebuild by archive of stuff. But i'll roll up a few 01's to play fill in the blank for any adventures.

Now yer talkin'

Ajax, quick question, are we allowed to use class archetypes as long as they're in the APG?

Like what? If it's in the APG should be alright.

Was thinking along the lines of urban barbarian archetype, it's in the APG.

how are prestige classes going to be handled, are we locked into the ones in the PG and AOG or will we be allowed to branch off into different books at that time. Its going to be a while before anyone reaches that point but I thought that I should ask it anyways

As if right now, if appears in the Corebook or the Advanced Player's Guide it's alright.

Thanks for your efforts GM Ajax and GM Deveraux

Bump

Sent a link to Dev

A quick word on why our initial creation rules are Standard Fantasy, we are striving to make the games challenging without having to warp the encounters to freak levels. The characters are created from ordinary stock who, through courage and intelligence rise above the average citizen ( this is what leveling is supposed to represent ), compare this with the 4E's concept that the characters are already supermen and not simply ordinary folk. This works fine for 4E because the system is built around combat strategy and not role playing. We however want to stress role playing , so we give the player a chance to make his character what he is by hopefully limiting the temptation to look at the character as just a bunch of numbers. Of course we realize some players will always feel if his Fighter doesn't have an 18 Strength he's useless, that is a sad philosophy but true. Many players simply cannot resist number crunching, but then when actually playing forget about that 8 Charisma or that 7 Intelligence. We want the players to ROLE PLAY your character to their best ability, and that means playing your Fighter with the 8 CHA and 7 INT as an almost mentally challenged lout. And doing so will make an interesting and fun character, but he shouldn't be making any Intelligent game decisions, Sorry for the Babble, I got carried away, You get the picture.................

hmmm before i make a char for this.. will these games be accesible for european players.. (or.. do they not begin in the evening american time) otherwise it's an pretty interesting idea

You seem to have pretty specific expectations on peoples stats. Have you considered making arrays? Or setting a limit i.e. no stat higher then 16 no stat lower then 8? Also I'd like to say some of my favorite characters I've played before have had a glaring weakness. Like my current barbarian I am enjoying in another game has an 8 cha and is a rude, dirty, ugly and ronchy to explain it. I think a barbarian with a low charisma isn't such an odd thing, nor a fighter with a low&nbsp;intelligence. Perhaps his low&nbsp;intelligence&nbsp;made him fit for little more then killing, thus his adventuring?&nbsp;

I think the point is, the practice of making a dump stat, to have a dump stat isn't conductive with roleplaying. Ajax is pretty good at spoting role playing from power gaming

Isn't conductive with roleplaying what? With roleplaying an average person, sure it's not. With roleplaying a clumsy&nbsp;paladin perhaps a 7 dex makes sense. Also a stat point every level is like to result in power gaming more. While in theory your warrior may grow more wise as time progresses I have a feeling most all of the warriors will be assigning a lot of strength buffs, and wizards a lot of int. This will lead to&nbsp;disproportant damage and spell DCs, from my point of view. But more then willing to try it!&nbsp;&nbsp;

As I said, if you are making your paladin have a dex of 7 for role play, as opposed to a dump stat, then I am sure that is a diffrent story. They are not wanting power gamers to ruin the experience for everyone else/

In short I think the message is this. You have a low stat then play it. Don't just drop your less needed points&nbsp;solely to max you others. I currently play a rogue with a&nbsp;strength&nbsp;of 8. With this I maxed my dex. The difference is this. Flint (the rogue) will avoid combat at all cost and he can't swim. &nbsp;His speed and guile is what makes him a much needed member of the team. So let us think of this also. One point per level toward an ability score. With these lower, normal stats it will be more difficult to power game. Sure you could keep jacking your main score higher and higher but what fun is that. This will happen I am sure and so be it. But remember Roleplaying has many encounters and not all combat based. You will be tested in all walks of life. Last but not least.&nbsp; This is supposed to be fun!!!!!!! Lets enjoy ourselves. <a href="http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=496468" rel="nofollow">http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=496468</a> Flint &lt;-----not a PAG Character)

I agree with everything said here. It just seems like what was being said was that high stats and roleplaying are mutually exclusive, which seems a bit perposterous.&nbsp;

PM with character sheet and a few newbie questions sent to you AJAX. Looking forward to it.

Simply put, role play to your stats. I need to say something about Mythweavers, some of the characters we are getting are not viewable and others are. The ones not viewable are ones that need administrative permission, a work around might be take a few screen shots and post or send them. I don't use mythweaver myself so I don't know how this is occurring.

Its just a tickbox when you make the character.

Thanks Alex, everybody get that, make sure that box is ticked when you create your character using mythweaver.

I hope everyone realizes that if you are a Player you can also be a GM, you can't of course play your character in a game you're running but you can play in any other PAG game. Fact is we are encouraging this, as long as the games you run stay within our Adventure Guidelines than any one who feels they can contribute by running a session or two should do so by all means. I'm sure any whose interest is now perked is asking what are these Guidelines, as soon as I finalize them I'll post them on the Web Site that Dev has put up. If we can get everyone working together this will be a really good time for us all. So far I have 20 official PAG Characters submitted by players ported over to Hero Lab, and have PDF versions of all 20 if players would like a PDF of their character.

I'm looking into joining this; the non-committal style sounds great! My only worry is timezone differences. What sort of times are we looking at please? EDIT: Nvm, my answer was found in another thread about this PAG system!

This is a rough draft of the Adventure Design Guidelines for PAG Adventure Design Guidelines for Creating a PAG Adventure First let me state the three most important things to focus on. One: The Adventure must be able to be completed in 4 hours! Two: The loot given out during the Adventure must not exceed a set amount (to be determined). Three: The setting of the Adventure must take place in the PAG selected part of the Pathfinder world of Golarian. For right now this is going to be Varisia and the Adventure's starting point will be in or in proximity of Sandpoint or for large city Adventure's those should be based in Magnimar. The typical Adventure will usually consist of a number of Encounters, these should follow something like this: At least two but not more than four Hostile Encounters, these are your usual monster or evil being combat encounters. Of course they should be tied to your story and not simply thrown out there with no rhyme or reason. Remember the event must finish in 4 hours. At least one Role Playing Encounter. This can include the Adventure's Introduction or anything else you can design. Remember the event must finish in 4 hours. At least one Puzzle, Hazard, Obstacle Encounter. Might include a clever series of traps, a wall that has to be scaled, a forest of webs that must be traveled thru, etc. Remember the event must finish in 4 hours. Believe me this is one of the hardest parts of the Adventure's design, getting something for all the players to use their specific skills and still keep it moving along. A Word on Combat: If you have Summoners, or Arcane Caster's that use Summon Monster spells, this adds more entities to a Combat, thus slowing it down, you have to be careful with what you are using in encounters where the number of participants is going to exceed the four actual party characters. If you find the party has Summoners you will need to decrease the number of enemies and increase their strengths. Where as a party of 6 CR ½ orcs might be a nice encounter for a normal party if there will be two or three more beings that need combat round actions, you now have 13 beings that have to have a turn, major delay. But if you decrease the orcs to say two orcs and one ogre, or maybe make it 3 orcs but make them champions. You see where I'm going with this. It is imperative that you keep the game flowing. A Word on Role Playing: Unlike combat which has a start and an end, role play encounters can be greatly influenced by the players. Some players love role play interaction not only with what you present them with but also with the other party member (players), ergo these can also take up a big chunk of your 4 hours, but remember it's a Fantasy ROLE PLAYING Game, so this is the meat of it, okay Combat is the potatoes. A Word on Puzzle Encounters: These are great but if they are slowing the game down too much, you'll need to step in with some kind of a clue or suggestion, try not to make too obvious. Whispers are great for this as they offer a nice role play cue. You as the PAG GM must do everything you can to keep your game moving but if in the end you find the group did not finish but had a GREAT TIME, then you did your job and everybody gets their 1 XP and we move on. Just try to learn from your experience. It took me several of these one shots to realize that 4 hours goes by pretty quick when everyone is paying attention and having FUN. You are only limited here by your imagination as to what you can put into a four hour session. Please feel free to provide feedback, ideas, improvements, or criticism.

I haven't put up my characters sheet here yet so <a href="http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=504622" rel="nofollow">http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=504622</a> Dr. Henry Baker Finch, amazing intellect and completely insane nut.

Is there going to be an email notification when a game is posted? Sometimes posts can get buried here on Roll20, I'd hate to miss a chance at a game.

Did you want adventures to be drawn our or written out in emails to you, or what exactly? Also in line with Kevins question would it make more sense to make an alternate forum or mailing list for this?