General Chit-Chat Thread

To be fair, your first post wasn't until two days ago. As of this moment, we're waiting for DeJoker to post the results of our Skill Checks which we made yesterday. I imagine he'll post today and we'll post our next move .... thus 1 post/day.

Things have slowed down as we tried to accommodate Carric, but DeJoker more than holds up his end of the bargain of daily posts expected of the game. I've not been playing pbp all that long, but it seems reasonable to allow the DM time to respond to skill checks. I play in some games that DO play at a much faster pace with multiple posts per day, but this isn't that nor was it promised to be.

For combat ... yep not much combat. But we haven't exactly been seeking it out as a party. I expect we'll be get into some soon.

Exploration ... DeJoker seems to really emphasize the worldbuilding aspects of his games, and I personally feel there's plenty to explore. Perhaps your concern is more with the pace?

Role Play ... I'm kind of left scratching my head on this one. What is it you're looking for that we're not doing?

Maybe?

I don't understand what the party wants to do other than they have sworn an oath to protect the village.

Usually (especially in slower paced campaigns) things like DCs aren't hidden so players can 'run with it' like Does a 17 net a brace of coneys or not.

The holes, people have been searching since before I joined: no results.

Maybe you're right, maybe it is the pace, the campaign has been going for a year and nothing at all has happened. That's a bad sign.

I want to be wrong. I like the character, I like the idea of a wilderness open world hex crawl, I like all the rules modifications the campaign has all the ingredients to be a fun adventure but... without any action, it's just wandering around looking for holes and foraging.

Like I said, maybe its not a good fit for me. I just want to be open with everyone what I'm thinking.

Okay to perhaps clarify things some here for you SJoyner72 let us examine what has happened thus far story-wise

The group joined a caravan heading to Far Reach a fairly long journey during this journey there were many days of boredom, highlighted by times of intense fighting where some folks died. This group (your character included) found they fought fairly well together and learned to trust one another enough to decide to join forces upon reaching their destination since everyone had a shared goal of becoming successful adventurers in Far Reach.

Party arrives and starts to get acclimated with their new surroundings and pick up their first assignment which they are hoping will help them make a name for themselves as well as maybe have some added benefits. While doing this one of them (or a few of them) make friends with another adventurer whose friend is missing and decide to help them -- this segues into a new player joining the group as a friend of this NPC (which was not planned ahead of time but was a fairly organic approach). So now they are out on this assignment as well as searching for this other missing friend -- thus one adventure --or-- two adventures in one which has actually yet to be determined

Prior to the assignment one of the players --- Carric who is no longer with us so I am giving it too Quo - surprise ;) ---- discovered some odd stones in the small copse of trees near the village and the group then unearthed (literally) this mystery and have given their findings over to be studied as it was beyond their abilities to comprehend --- no one skilled in that within the group which happens but I have learned to give various avenues to get information to prevent bottle-necks or stop-points due to not knowing something but I do require the players to make some effort in finding that information or let them choose to ignore it and have it come back to haunt them later ;) --- so this adventure seed is now currently awaiting their return from their current adventure(s)

The Assignment : Determine if the seemingly coincidental reports of lost animals, lost crops, and damage objects is actually coincidental or if this seemingly hodge-podge activity has a more nefarious backing to it. No search for holes in ground as of yet.

Then group happened to stumble upon (lucky roll) a tunnel that might be a clue to figure out what is actually going on but apparently that tunnel was not currently in use as they found no living bodies close by within 150 ft of the surface as that is all the rope they had and not everyone could get down this rather small hole. Perhaps purposefully dug in a manner that only small creatures could utilize it.

Not to be forgotten -- they have encountered many other NPCs some of whom they have interacted with (aka roleplaying) and gathered other information not related to their current assignment but in truth they have barely scratched the surface of the village and its surroundings. One of these side items is gathering a list of ingredients to in order to become suppliers of reagents to the local Mage Guild (Carric mostly now Quo mostly) which I assume they are hoping not only may prove lucrative but also get them exposed to reagents that they can use for their own purposes -- along with their proficiency in Alchemist Tools, Apothecary Tools, and/or Herbalist Tools -- as these actually have some meaning and use in my world if someone is interested in exploring that which not everyone is.

So yes no combat as of yet -- but this is not a movie where I can start the game with some meaningful combat and then jump back in time and show all the stuff that led up to that combat --- further unless you get some random encounter (which has not happened yet and I do periodically check) I will generally not through some meaningless combat at the group --- further even if it were a random encounter often it then becomes something of meaning anyway as I tie it into something I have or something new I have not put into place as of yet -- of course there are the random encounters that are meaningless just in the wrong place at the right time but I try to mix this in so players are never sure if it is meaningless or there is some meaning behind it as this adds to the mystery. Also keep in mind combat is going to be dangerous in this world, not every encounter are you guaranteed to be able to overcome via combat as that is part of learning and gain experience. Knowing when and when not to start a fight. Further I have always warned my players if you find that you are fighting every encounter that you come across then you are probably doing something wrong and you can expect to be dead sooner or later. Oh and do not forget this world is dynamic it does not wait on the players to find it and then react it reacts regardless and if encountered their could be repercussions from that encounter that affect things later on. For instance you find a handful of villains and decide to beat them up and successfully do -- maybe next time you find even more villains -- or maybe the villains allies come hunting you down in force -- all options are always on the table so-to-speak.

As for the survival DC check -- I do not generally give that out but I do communicate the results mainly because its a roll for the entire day not just for that minimalistic moment in time and kind of depends on how everyone does on their roll and what happens for that entire day. Because if the travel pace changes this effects that roll, if you encounter something that could effect that roll, etc....

As for other rolls where I have a solid idea of the DC I do give that to players so they can incorporate it into their dialogue but sometimes I have a vague DC and I wait to see if the roll is really high or really low as if it is I do not need to drill down and decide on the actual DC which helps make things easier for me. Why create detail when it is not needed kind of thing.

I hope that helps you understand all that has happened and where things are currently at and I will keep your issues in mind as we proceed forward -- I am a GM that believes that ALL the players are important and I do my best to accommodate everyone's desire for the game as a whole.

Also I support kibitzing as I feel that reflects the fact that some of the characters have better attributes than their players and a collective mind helps to allow more ideas to be brought forth -- if it comes down to figure out what player actually came up with the idea I do a roll off --- this has led to funny situations where the barbarian seemed to always have the best ideas -- and the players decided to attributed this to his very simplistic view on life -- it was something that just happened and it added unexpected fun to the game.

Lastly thank you for being open and honest and I hope you find this game to be fun as we progress forward but yes I understand not everyone's play style is the same -- but what I am doing PbP wise is not all that uncommon so I would find it hard to imagine that unless you were playing a hack-n-slash game or a one-off module or something that you would dive directly into the meat of the story within a couple of days of starting the game. Heck most folks spend several weeks just getting the game up and going if you enter it from inception. PbP is a game of patience but can be very rewarding in that you have much more time to get to know your character and do role-playing as you have more time to consider each of your moves and such.

I hope this helps

Pinging here because my edit will probably get lost...

Your instruction regarding choosing a target was for next round, correct? After casting my shield spell, you don't need anything further from me this round?

Yes for next round as it only really applies to folks in melee as they are experiencing the chaos of battle and do not have the luxury of just choosing any target.

Okay I have updated Healing Word to bring it in line with the other various Healing spells within the game. First off I was not even aware they had denoted it as being an Evocation spell ?? -- it is now appropriately a Necromantic-Positive spell as it should be and it works because things that come from deities do not fluctuate in power -- another issue I have always struggled with when it game to divine versus arcane magic. And this one blurs that line even more taking me back to the question of why, if Healing Word is an Evocation spell, Wizards cannot cast healing spells. Something I answer within my games with aesthetic reason that are then back by mechanics -- not some arbitrary mechanic that has absolutely no rhyme or reason to it aesthetically

Where did you update it? Does anything change for me mechanically?

Oh so as to help you all -- if after the battle is over -- you need spoilers to help you feel better about what happened and what you are not sure happened I am willing to do so -- just keep in mind they would be like telling you the spoilers to really good movie ;) but I also understand when you are deep within the dark scary forest you want to be able to trust your guide.

Its in House Rules under 1st Level Spells -- and yes but the changes are all nice changes for your character -- oh and if you do not have one you have one now -- aka you have a holy symbol but you just often use your musical voice or a musical instrument - so for that spell if you do not want to have a specific holy symbol then I would suggest a small pair of cymbals that you wear attached to your wrist on a braided leather thong or some such.

Flavor is up to you and I am willing to work with you on it but most of your spells pretty much are going to require a material focus component just like a cleric.

How about an earring that dangles down a little bit in the shape of some musical notes? Also do I need to roll a Necrotic Spell backlash too?

No because yours are divine spells and your deity protects you from any necrotic backlash -- this is why Arcane spell casters leave the healing to Divine spell casters -- as for the holy symbol you usually have to present it not just wear it which is why I am good with going with other means of using your current magic. Keep in mind your character stated he was not even aware his was divine magic -- perhaps now that he knows the magic is divine in nature perhaps he might be looking to whom is providing that magic to him.

I think though that a pair of small cymbals which he could also use in performances that dangle a short distance from his wrists would be an interesting aesthetic but that is ultimately your call. So unless you want to start presenting an appropriate holy symbol musical items will work fine -- I mean you have been doing a wonderful job with your bardic inspirations ;)

Of course him wearing an earring with his deities symbol upon it unknowingly seems nice as well and I would be willing to give that to your character for free ;)

BTW the Hin diety of beauty and art is Sheela

Oh and btw when I am talking cymbals I am talking Zills the really smalls ones

Also a small silver earring of the Clef Symbol seems appropriate does that sound good to you?

Ya I like that. Let’s go with that. Maybe it was something he has kings always had but just thought it was cool or maybe a gift from his sister.

Okay we can work on what instruments you use for your various spells going forward -- I will think on where the Small Silver Clef earring came from and/or whom and get back to you ;) on that.

Are we good with those Zills for your Thunder Wave spell?

Yes that’s good with me

okay removed lock sorry about that

Okay just a heads up to you all -- this weekend was a nightmare sort-of -- they went live with something on Friday without testing it and of course I spent the weekend fighting the resultant fires it created looooong hours so was not able to do to anything this weekend my apologies.

Sorry for the delay folks work has been hellish on the mental juices and I have been barely able to just maintain but have not forgotten and hoping things will settle down a bit as I get a better handle on the new job.

Hey guys, my priority balance has changed recently and I think it will be best for me to withdraw from this game. Thanks for letting me play, and thanks DeJoker for all the work you put in!

Okay I am hoping everyone is still with us -- and again my apologies for the recent delays in my posts.