OoC Chat

Hey everyone, happy Monday! I'm looking forward to a great week of gaming with you!

To recap what's happened lately:

* Sheriff Ruth Willowmane offered the group a house in exchange for bringing the bandits / wayward citizens back alive! Waiting for inspection, but there's no hurry.
* Naeris discovered a mysterious tunnel beneath the drained hot spring! This is one of many possible adventure locations that are buried throughout the adventure. You can take it or leave it, possibly come back later for it, your call!
* Various interesting facts about the town have been discovered by chatting with the locals.
* The hot springs are magical and have healing properties! They restore 1d6 hp and have mental health benefits (bathers have advantage on saving throws against charm effects, also possibly useful for clearing minds!).

I hope everyone is enjoying the roleplaying and exploration of the town. We've been at this for just under a month now. What do you think so far? Is there anything we or I can do to better improve your experience?

I've been looking forward to the opportunity to say how much I like your guys' characters and enjoy this game! A methodical mage, a quiet, self-reliant and introverted ranger, a compassionate dragon-god cleric and a very bright and cheering barbarian. What's not to love here? :>
Also Len, I feel you're doing a very good job as a DM and you're being very helpful and patient with us.
As to improving the experience. I, being a huge fan of Dark Souls, love challenging encounters. So I would love to see some hardcore combat where we'd need to get creative rather than counting on brute force and days of healing afterward.
Of course, I presume the fight with the bandits was basically a tutorial, and I don't know what you have planned but I would enjoy my character being punched in her annoying smiling tiefling face and maybe even dying somewhere closer to the end of the campaign.
Or dying like an idiot trying to seduce a dragon or something. That's how people play DnD right? ;D

So basically I'm happy with the campaign, I enjoy the roleplay and am looking forward to seeing and experiencing more of it! Continue being awesome everyone!Also this spoiler doesn't work for some reason.

Haha, yes I agree, everyone's characters are magnificent!

Challenging combats are definitely a possibility in this game, if you choose that approach. You're right, that first one was a little too easy, haha, but it fit the story. The real Night Blades will certainly be a bit tougher, not to mention whatever else you find. Just like in Dark Souls, this game will reward creative thinking and planning, which is hopefully what people got out of the first encounter. Had the party just walked up to the big log, you guys might have been the ones surprised and it would have gone a lot worse.

Thanks for comment!

also - BUNNY! :D

I'm enjoying the roleplay side of it also, with the quest/mystery and adventures to feed it. For that reason I'm happy with the pacing though, inevitably, some people will have more time for posting than others and will feel a little frustrated that the story has stalled at some point. It is important that we all have some kind of input in a scene because what we do is influenced by what everyone else does so we can't rush ahead too much but we can pre-empt a bit - that seems to work okay, if not perfectly.

Our DM is being super friendly to our characters and I would be quite happy for things to go wrong more often but I guess there's plenty of time for that.

Jusika - add to your list a playful and charismatic tiefling rogue!

And thanks Len for all the work you've put into this and for taking on board a bunch of new players. We've been loading you up with questions both in and out of character so thanks for following up on those.

Jusika - Is that the same rabbit as the profile image? It looks a different colour.

Like the picture of the cute bunny :)

This campaign has been excellent so far - I've enjoyed it immensely. This has been a good adventure and Len is doing a great job as DM - helpful and patient with a group of newcomers to the rules. The action has not stagnated from our lack of experience with AD&D5e or PbP. The role playing has been very good with personality characteristics developing. I enjoy the posts.

I am sure there will be challenging times ahead. The fight with the bandits went well, but as Len says had we just strode up to the huge log things would have gone a lot worse.

In role playing games I enjoy 'being in a book'. I like there to be a plot where the adventure and the actions of the party are part of a story (or stories) which lead on to developments in the narrative. I also like the idea of some of the party's actions having an effect on the world and being a part of the development in the story/stories. This campaign ticks that box for me.

I look forward to continuing the campaign with you all.

Awww!~
Nope, I don't have any pets, these are just random photos I found. :>
Can't resist a cute bunny pic :3
Oh so it is AD&D? I've seen the term but I don't know what it means. Just how advanced it is and how do you distinguish them?

Yeah, I have to echo everyone else’s thoughts. When I read your posts, I can feel the enthusiasm for the game and the creative energy you guys are putting in. That has really been the magic that is making the experience work for me.

I’m also looking forward to more interesting challenges — be they combat encounters or mysteries to solve or any other weird problem that might come our way. Creative problem-solving was always what I found most fun about RPGs.

And I really appreciate Len’s positivity and the work that must be going on behind the scenes. Probably the perfect person to run a beginner’s game :)

I believe the terminology comes from way back in the day when D&D had two versions running simultaneously — Advanced D&D and Basic D&D. If I recall correctly, one of the reasons for the split was the original two co-creators of the game — Gygax and Arneson — had a falling out, and Gygax wanted to sell a game that Arneson wouldn’t be able to claim royalties from, so AD&D was created. The two games were different, but not that different. I think there was a whole legal battle and everything. Anyway, after the original publisher was bought out and a new company started developing the game, they dropped the concept of the basic/advanced split.

Ooo nice, a recap, how thoughtful :o
I really thought the bunny is yours haha, it is cute nevertheless! :)

I can echo everyone else's thought as well, I am happy and satisfied with you as GM, the game, and my co-players and the characters :)) I am curious how future events and interactions will go, and what challanges will make is stumble.

Thanks for all the nice words, I'm glad everyone is enjoying the game!

I'm fighting for enough consecutive minutes to update the game but it might not be until tomorrow morning. Thanks for your patience :)

Don’t stress, Len. Actually a post like that really helps. I’m quite happy to wait several days if someone’s unable to post for a bit but knowing what to expect makes all the difference.

Yeah, PbP is all about communication! I'm REALLY happy with how naturally everyone has excelled at this, and pretty much every other aspect of PbP thus far!

I've opened up a new thread - Chapter 3 - for starting on the next day! Feel free to wrap up your current roleplaying in town in Chapter 2 at the same time as discussing your plans in Chapter 3. I still have a couple things to respond to in Chapter 2 (like Astroloma asked a question about waterways around town and and such).

Someone should probably make a very short post stating that you guys (Hilmar and Kaa) have told everyone all you have found out about the hand and everything. Because you probably would not want to repeat all of it again xD

Haha, yes, that is a good call Jusika :)

Wow, there has been this really lovely shift in the game where people are starting to roleplay with each other more and more! This is a testament to your skill as players and storytellers, and friendliness as humans.

Good point - I have adjusted Hilmar's post accordingly.

Wow - pleased we can level up already :) - see my questions in the Character Creation thread.