Out of Character (OOC)

Welcome to the game, everyone! Thank you for your interest! I have played Dungeon World a lot, but this is only my third time running a DW game, and only my fifth time running a game in any system. I hope you are as excited as I am!

Some questions to start with (you may message me your responses privately if you prefer):
1. Can each of you please tell me how much DW experience you have, if any?
2. What made you sign up for this game?
3. What do you expect from this game?
4. Any expectations from your fellow players? How about from me as a GM?
5. How do you feel about portrayals of graphic violence, torture, slavery, substance abuse, sexuality, and the like? Is there anything that would make you uncomfortable? Something you would rather we didn't "go there"?

Received your PM, SJoyner72. I appreciate your input! I think two of your responses, at the very least, should be shared as they pertain to your fellow players:

1. Can each of you please tell me how much DW experience you have, if any?
None at all, but I'm a fast learner...

2. What made you sign up for this game?
Two answers here: A) New system to try
B) Jabes's the DM

3. What do you expect from this game?
I already know it's gonna be fun...

4. Any expectations from your fellow players? How about from me as a GM?
I'm not shy to go dark, so I expect everybody not to hesitate to tell me if I go to far.

5. How do you feel about portrayals of graphic violence, torture, slavery, substance abuse, sexuality, and the like? Is there anything that would make you uncomfortable? Something you would rather we didn't "go there"?
No problem with me there. Think about the worst situation possible and my home group has probably done a lot worse, many times...

Yeah, of everyone here, I've played with deadpool_qc the most, and already know he's as crazy as his namesake! XD

1. I am brand new to DW
2. The setting was different than any I had played in and I like learning new systems
3. I expect to have fun and meet new players
4. I expect a level of respect among all of us, myself included. I much prefer it when the party works together towards common goals. I am pretty open to any kind of GMing.
5. I am OK with pretty much any content if it is important to the plot and not gratuitous. I am also OK with playing straight G rated.

Thanks for the invite, I look forward to the adventure.

Some questions to start with (you may message me your responsea privately if you prefer):
1. Can each of you please tell me how much DW experience you have, if any?
- Never played DW before but I've read some of the source material
2. What made you sign up for this game?
- The setting and my interactions with Jabes in other games made me want to join another.
3. What do you expect from this game?
- a cool group of people that want to tell an interesting story together
4. Any expectations from your fellow players? How about from me as a GM?
- participation is the only thing I hope for. I would like to mention that I usually post in the early morning (PST) on week days and I'm not very active on the weekends.
5. How do you feel about portrayals of graphic violence, torture, slavery, substance abuse, sexuality, and the like? Is there anything that would make you uncomfortable? Something you would rather we didn't "go there"?
- No issues from me here. I'll let you know if things go too far.

My turn to answer those questions:
1. I've played quite a lot of DW, and ran two other games of it before this one. That doesn't make me any kind of expert, but it's a very forgiving system so let's just have fun with it!
2. I've always been fascinated by Egyptology, and I really love settings that are out-of-the-ordinary.
3. I'll do my best to deliver! I've always tried to be as supportive of player creativity as possible, and DW in particular is very conducive to that.
4. Yes, mutual respect, please. But I don't expect any problems in that department. In-character conflict (as long as we don't overdo it) can be good for the story, but OOC let's be respectful of one another at all times. Apart from that, I'm really hoping for reliably regular posting.
5. I don't intend to go hardcore with anything too sensitive, but I know you guys have some idea based on some of the discussions we had in the interest check thread. If at any time I or a fellow player goes too far, please don't forget to speak up.

Given your party Bonds, and your Alignments...
...it looks like we're pretty wide open as far as the kind of adventure we want to go on. I'll try to give you guys a good variety of dungeon crawling, desert exploration, monster-slaying, and social encounters (did I miss anything?).

All good for me ! Ready to start when you are !!

Since we all at least know of each other are we hoping to start together? Is there a festival or something that we are all attending that would get us in close proximity?

Super excited about this group of characters and learning a new system!

I think the "she" here is Jana. The druid mentioned some ruins she knows about in response to the mage looking for ruins to explore. ;-)

Great posts so far, folks! Don't worry about the mechanics just yet... we'll ease into them soon enough!

You may be right lol, the "mage" part probably mislead me here...

That is how I meant it, but it was awkwardly worded

Reminder: please make sure you are tracking HP and XP on your sheets.

I have you at 7/25hp as well.

Don't forget your healing potions. And your racial move: Once per battle you may reroll a single damage roll (yours or someone else's)

ohhhhhh...... You just gave me an idea !!

Sorry for the bad timing (right at the start if this dramatic duel!) but I’m going camping today through Sunday. I won’t have signal.

See you guys Sunday night!

No worries! The game will be here when you return. Enjoy your trip!

how many raiders are left and their locations? With how much damage the swordsman has taken its not really a fair fight so I'm inclined to intervene but I don't want to leave the other raiders just hanging out.

BTW is this the right place to post a question like this or should I do it OOC in the main thread? Do you have a preference?

Yeah, this is the right place. This first fight I've got a lot of lengthy OOC in the main thread, but I hope to minimize that as we all become more comfortable with the mechanics.

No, it's absolutely not a fair fight (meta: especially with that poisoned khopesh -- but you don't know that yet).

There are three remaining raiders, all clustered around Akh. One has a knife to his throat. The other two (a knife guy, and a spearman) are watching the rest of you.

Congratulations on winning your first DW combat! You can roleplay the aftermath (there's some minor loot, and a bit of a mystery in Alramal's dying words), or we can jump to the next thing. I have no preference either way.

So how do you find the system so far?

I really like the simplicity and the improvisation that goes on. Its fun!

Very enjoyable. Hate my rolls. Lol

Do I have to roll for cantrips ? Or only for level 1 and higher spells ?

I'm glad you guys are enjoying it!

Yeah Jana couldn't catch a break!

You always roll to cast spells. Even cantrips.

@Jabes: Is a sorcerer diffenrent from a wizard in this world ?

did we find any loot or anything that might help us identify this mysterious person?

I have just made some final edits to an earlier post.

That remains to be seen. ;-)

other than the weigt, is there any "class" restrictions on weapons and/or armor usage in dungeon world ?
If Akh wields a shield and or spear, can he still casts ?

You need at least one free hand to spellcast. No "class restrictions" on weapons/armor other than the weight. Bear in mind that most weapons have little effect on your Hack & Slash & Volley damage output. Even with a spear, a wizard would still deal d4 damage.

On the loot list, I listed the scimitar as "close, 1 weight" but I just remembered that at the beginning of the fight I specified that it was "+1 damage."

I've fixed the error. Correct stats are: 1 scimitar (close, +1 damage, 1 weight). Still not as good as Magic Missile, specially given your STR modifier, but hey.

Was torn between the scimtar or the spear. With the spear, I had in mind that the ennemies would have to defy danger to get to me, but that meant my hands were full. So instead I'll go with the shield and scimtar, and keep the scimtar in its shealth until needed (like if I forget my magic missile)

No one said it, but I assume you guys took the raiders' money?

I'll write it on Akh's sheet.

Should we start a party loot thread? or should we split everything evenly among us? Would it be worth trying to carry some of the extra gear to sell?

For straight treasure, like coins and the like, I think we should split it evenly. Magic and/or weapons we can deal with on a case by case basis. Makes sense to out things in the hands best suited to use them.
With the weight rules I am not sure regular gear is worth taking.

All the unclaimed stuff is gone now anyway. Taken by whatever stole the bodies in the night.

Well, that makes it easier. Lol. Good to work out for next time

Apologies for failing to post today, folks! It's in my head, but can't seem to translate it to coherent narration! It's one of those days. Will keep trying!

No worries

Jana with the big rolls this time! Nice!

Lol. About time.

We are a watchful bunch tonight

As posted on the Absences thread:

Have fun and worry not.

We'll be waiting, don't worry ! Have a nice trip !

Imma steal this helpful graphic @deadpool_qc posted to our Dark Sun game.

That doesn't quite make sense. Why couldn't you have completely refilled your waterskins?

So that should be: Picking dates adds 1 use to your rations, and drawing water replenishes your water to the full 5 uses.

Its possible that the spring in the oasis doesn't produce enough water quickly enough to refill 5 waterskins that quickly... Or maybe there isn't enough water coming to the surface and we would ahve to dig down farther to collect the amount of water that we want.

Just some thoughts.

Or, before we get to the oasis, we have three water and can add 1 at the oasis

I considered these. But no, the well here is good. Take this opportunity, because circumstances will rarely be this much in your favor.

I'd like to know how rituals work. Would it be possible for Akh to do a ritual warding us against insect for a few minutes ?

As some of you may know, I have been in a wheelchair for 3 years (well, you know, not 24/7, I get in bed as well)
Anyway, my wife is my caregiver and is going on a well deserved vacation and I am going in to respite care. The facility is awesome but the wifi is not. From the 11th to the 28th of this month my posting may be down. I will do my best to get at least one post a day in.

I appreciate the heads up. Don't worry, just post when able. We won't leave anyone behind.

Thanks. I never doubted it

I don't track your hp myself. I trust you to do that. I've gone back through the threads, and it seems the Swordsman is back to full health.

Thanks! I’ll do the bookkeeping from here.

Happens to the best of us! :-D

Lol. I am glad.

Choose Your Own Adventure time. I've taken so long to post here because I've written and rewritten several versions of what comes next, but can't decide which direction to go. Shall we collaborate?

Did Khut-Hotep deserve to be overthrown? No matter what the histories might say, who was the real villain, Khut-Hotep or Nechepso? What were their motivations? Let's right now decide not to do the plot of the Brandan Frasier film. XD

Some of my (random) ideas:
1. Khut-Hotep's was not a benevolent reign. He sucked the land and the people dry with his endless quest for magical power. This was why Nechepso did his best to put an end to him.
2. Khut-Hotep was a kind and just ruler. Nechepso was your typical snake in the grass.
3. Both were evil. Nechepso just got greedy.
4. Someone else was controlling Nechepso. Made him do it.

I bet you guys have even better ideas than me! The more twisted the better!

I like 3

Also like 3, but I can also see 4 in an interesting way... The "person" controling Nechepso could be one who has brought down the era of the god-pharaohs from the shadows...

I send a very long PM to Jabes.plays.RPG.

I think 4 could be very interesting.
He was kind but someone or something felt threatened by him so he took over/threatened/bribed Nechespo to do the dirty work.
This shadowy whatever could be the power behind other bad things that happened to the land.

Maybe a remnant of that power still lurks somewhere, or maybe some evil acolytes are trying to resurrect it.
Could be hooks for further adventures if we keep going.

Posted on the Absences thread:

I agree that #4 has the most opportunity to expand on and leaves the motivations of Khut-Hotep open for later investigation.

Hi, all! Sorry, I was away from GP over the entire holidays because of my workload. Then, as soon as that started to slacken, we had the Taal Volcano eruption. I'm aiming to get this game revived within the next couple of days. Can I have a head count?

The Swordsman grunts in the affirmative!

I'm glad you're still here, SJoyner!

Great! Thanks for sticking around, guys!

I am here and ready to go

I see in the tracking thread that I have enough xp to do something, but I don't know what I can do?

We'll Level Up when your characters have safety and a chance to rest.

Okie doke

Don't worry, it's really difficult to unlearn the rounds-turns structure of TRPGs. Personally, I find it helps to think of the scene cinematically. The action keeps flowing, happens simultaneously. Sometimes we'll zoom in on one or several characters, sometimes we'll see a slow-motion sequence. Admittedly, PbP does tend to break the fluidity of it, but we'll do what we can to stay away from a rigid, turn-based structure. :-)

Folks, I just realized that because we advanced the story via cut-scene, we forgot to Make Camp.

When you arrive at Alwadi al-Sab'atayn (this river you're now crossing) you should all be at full HP, should be 2 rations lighter, and Jana should be at Level 2, because she earned enough XP back at Shunet El Zebib. I apologize for missing that! Please adjust your character sheets accordingly.

Thanks!

Damn, that gave me chills! Didn't want to ruin this scene by posting any OOC in the main thread. Mark 1 XP, Soro.

Very nice

Thank you, I think @deadpool_qc's is pretty amazing as well. And can I say that we are in some royal trouble with 2 of us down affected by the ghosts...

Howdy, friends!

No matter where in the world you all are I know everybody's having to make some difficult adjustments. I'm going to keep this game going in case it helps you guys cope the same way it helps me. But at the same time, I'm not going to add to your stress in this already stressful time by bugging you about posting rate. If you're here, you're here. We'll go slow. It's okay. If you need to be away to keep yourself and your loved ones safe, healthy, and sane, that's okay too, and I wish you the best. We'll be here for you when this is all over.

Jabes

Hoping for the best for everybody, I'll be trying to post a regularly as I can. (Love your game Jabes!)

I'm with Deadpool, GP has been a place for me to come chill for a bit while things are going crazy around us. I'm trying to keep my kids on the level with their school work but I check as often as I can.

You guys are amazing!

Loving this campaign. I’ll be posting when I can!

Does that mean level up for Akh ?

Yep! But let's do the End of Session stuff first. Take turns answering these questions:

1. One resolved bond (if any)?
2. Did you fulfill your alignment at least once this session?
3. Did we learn something new and important about the world?
4. Did we overcome a notable monster or enemy?
5. Did we loot a memorable treasure?

Awesome! So that's potentially 4 XP assuming Deadpool agrees with #1.

I agree for Swordman's #1

1. One resolved bond (if any)?
--Swordsman will play an important role in the events to come. I have foreseen it! (Despite the great distances, and against all odds, he has found a the scabard fitting with his sword. Destiny is arming him against a great threat in the future !)
2. Did you fulfill your alignment at least once this session?
--Discover something about a magical mystery. (Akh discovered the truth of God-Pharaoh Khut-hotep's "imprisonment"...)
3. Did we learn something new and important about the world?
--The God-Pharaohs can still have a hold on this world.
4. Did we overcome a notable monster or enemy?
--Necheptso (didn't kill him, but he didn't kill us and that's a victory for me lol)
5. Did we loot a memorable treasure?
--The Scintillating Orb.

1. The spirits spoke to me of a great danger that follows Akh...I don't know if that is resolved. Maybe?

2. Did I help someone grow? I helped them to grow in confidence in the desert. Maybe.

3.,4,5...same as the others.

Great answers, everyone! I'm looking forward to hearing from Soro.

Refer to the XP Tracking thread. If you have reached 8/8 then you advance to 2nd Level (I believe Jana already did, because she reached that milestone ahead of everyone). Guidelines for leveling up can be found here. As always, don't hesitate to ask for help.

If you are leveling up, it would be great if you could post some narrative description involved in "how" your character hones their skills and unlocks a new move, new spell, increases an ability score, etc. Make it grand. You can even include the other characters, or you can make up some NPCs. This happens during your time with the Dunestriders, in their home, the Golden Sky Oasis, so any NPC you create should be a member of that halfling tribe.

Write new bonds to replace the resolved ones. Note that "resolved" can mean not just completely explored, or no longer relevant, but can also evolved or altered in some way.

Record changes made to your character in your individual character threads:
● Jana
● The Swordsman
● Soro
● Akh

1.) I think I resolved "Ahk does not understand life in the wild, so I will teach them." when I lead the way through the myrmeleon field.

2.) Does not killing the giant bees count as "Help an animal or spirit of the wild"

3-4.) same as everyone else

5.) I looted the "small coiled cobra carved out of human bone" from the raiders.

So both 1 and 5 are from chapter 1 but we didn't actually do an end of session wrap-up before moving to chapter 2 so I thought they would still be fair game.

What would we pick for new bonds? Is there a list to chose from or do we just pick them?

1. Yes. As long as Akh agrees.

2. I don't know if that was necessarily helping, but I realize I didn't really give you any opportunities to play out your alignment. Yeah, mark XP. For sure, during your time with Jana's tribe there would have been much helping of animals.

5. Ah yes. That trinket is still a mystery. Questions 3-5 are meant to be about what you did as a group, although your group has yet to come across a group treasure.

Yes, stuff from chapter 1 are included. We've had a couple of chapters but really still one "session."
You'll find suggested bonds in your class playbooks but you can borrow from other classes, or even make up your own.

Akh agrees !

Ok I have figured out a nw bond. Let me know if this works:

Akh's level up...
-new bond ? (Swordsman has been nameless for to long. I will find him a name.)
-new move (Know-It-All)
-new spell (Telepathy)
- Int+1 (16 =» 17)

SJoyner72 & deadpool_qc: I approve of those proposed bonds, but you two need to mutually agree to them. :-)

@deadpool The Swordsman’s new bond is: Akh is keeping something from me. I will find out what it is.

I approve of Akh’s bond.

The Druid bonds are the tasting blood one, which I have with Soro. I am not sure how that would resolve.
I showed the Swordsman a desert rite. Not sure how that would resolve.
The danger following ahk, which we verified.
The only other on listed is that someone smells like prey and not predator, and I don't see that with this group.

I want to say I'm sorry to everybody for my recent inactivity... I've currently got a lot happenning in my life, both at home and at work. I do not want to retire from any games but I'll understand if you want to replace my character... For now I'll try to post as often as I can but if any Dm wants/needs to play my character to advance the story, you have my full benediction... I hope I can get back to normal as soon as I can...