OoC Chat

These are all great questions. And I appreciate the communication - nothing is more important in a pbp game!

Pacing is probably one of the biggest challenges in PbP. I am wary of going too slow because that is often the death of pbp games. You might laugh, but imagine if it was now March and we were still trying to decide what to do about this fallen log. I'm in a game right now (as a player) where that kind of thing is happening!

In general, I will wait for an opportunity for group consensus when major decisions are at stake. Kaa's action moved the story forward and gave new information to help the group make a better plan, so I responded to it without waiting for others. But I am definitely waiting until everyone has had their say before we decide how to deal with the situation. Like if Kaa now said "Okay I charge at them with my greataxe" I would not resolve his action until I checked to see what other people were doing and give them a chance to talk him out of it, or join in.

Let's proceed with these things in mind. Don't worry, I won't let any one player overpost or rush headlong into action and dictate the flow of events. I think that as things move forward you will see this, and hopefully I will earn everyone's trust.

Callan, yes we will assume everyone is geared up and wearing armor. As a rule, I will consider your characters competent adventurers and assume they've made smart choices. There won't be a situation where I'm like "Ha! You forgot to say you put on your armour!" No 'gotcha' moments in general. There are some DMs in the world like that, I know, so it is probably good to ask about that. Sound good?

First person or third person is fine, whatever you are comfortable with. Third person is the most common.

Hey folks, I'd you'd like to see an example of what a pbp game looks like, this is a log I created of a chapter from a Gamers Plane game from a couple years ago. It might help you to know what to expect.

Good to know 😁

The bits about pacing seem fair and agreeable too.

Yes, seems good.

Woah, you guys are crushing it with some great inter-character roleplay! What a treat to wake up and read.

Looks like we have two ideas: ambush and capture the bandits, or circumvent them through the woods entirely. I'll stand by until you've made your call. You are also welcome to discuss the plan out of character - sometimes as a player your thoughts are different than your character's :)

Jusika - let's treat your roll of 2 for stealth as you being interrupted by the party to continue discussing the plan. I can just see headstrong Euphoria about to head into the brush when others are like "hey, hold one a second!" If we decide to do some stealthy moving you can roll again.

Keep up the good work everyone!

It seems to me 2 characters are for the fight and 2 others aren't.
When we see Mike's post, Hilmar would have the final decision. So I say we stick with what he decides to move the story forward, I don't care either way!
It's good fun so far, I like everyone's characters!
And I wanna thank Len especially for you being such a sweetheart! I'm glad my first D&D experience is so good!
Excited to see what's next!

Yes, we have a strong and diverse group of characters.

Given our characters' inclinations I'm pretty sure this dispute will come up again in other scenarios.

Aww, thanks! And hey, nice work on seeking out help on the discord channel for working on your character!

Hey folks, just so you know you can declare your attacks to be 'nonlethal' which means you're going for the knockout rather than the killing blow. Nothing changes, except if your blow lands and lowers them to 0hp, they go unconscious instead of dead.

Normally you can only do this on a melee attack, not a spell or ranged attack. We could house-rule it that any attack can be nonlethal to make it easier for characters with a more peaceful ethos. What do people think about that?

Some DM feedback: The sleep plan is a solid one. Good chance of taking out around 1-3 right at the start of the fight without harming a hair on their head. The spell has a range of 90 feet and Hilmar can choose the point behind the log without even seeing it.

Firing arrows and slinging spells through the brush is harder than if you have a clear shot. Engaging from the bushes will increase the target's AC by +2, and yours will be similarly increased as well, to account for cover.

As the lawful-good boy scout of the group, I would rather not alter the rules to make non-lethal damage easier. I like the idea that we would need to be more creative and use different strategies to capture rather than kill our enemies.

But if we do want to make the game less deadly for NPCs, another option would be to give them saving throws against death, like PCs have, so we'd have a chance to heal them after they're defeated. I prefer this option since it feels fair, and it's more dramatic -- they could still die on a bad roll. But then it would be more stuff for Len to keep track of if we did that every time.

I agree with that

Yep using sleep sounds like a nice plan, and Kaa's attitude towards the discussion doesn't mean mine also :)) and yes we have a quite nice group of characters.

I also agree with not making non-lethal damage easier. I think that would make the conviction of a pacifist less meaningful, while making everyone else seem worse for not prefering it.

Death saves for npc-s might make things more interesting, but indeed it is more to keep tally of for Len. Or instead of repetead rolls for them just a single one when they reach 0 for dead/K.O./crippled/dying/smt? Although this also depends if as a group we are looking for a grittier game or a more straightforward one (where its clear and simple when we want to spare someone and when we don't)?

This also made me think of giving Kaa some randomness of lethality, maybe unless he is specificely looking out to capture someone. Something simple, like if his attack roll is even then it's lethal, and when the roll is odd it's non-lethal? I am really not sure yet tho...

I see Naeris and Hilmar both rolled 8 for the stealth roll, however, I think we had to get above 7 so should be OK.

Also working on a late shift tomorrow so may be delayed with my next post - sorry - I can see we're reaching a really exciting part quickly.

I hear you all loud and clear with regards to sticking to the standard lethality rules. Done! If you want to alter your character to make sure you have a melee weapon for bonking NPCs unconscious, feel free to adjust. Or you can just buy one when we get to Hope.

I generally give death saving throws to important NPCs but I don't mind giving it to all NPCs that are morally questionable to kill outright (like humans). I won't bother for creatures that you are clearly trying to destroy like zombies.

Pitrio, I'll leave it to you to decide if you want to create a unique mechanic for deciding the lethality of your character's strikes. Some older RPG systems used this kind of mechanic to simulate the chaos of combat, you might find inspiration from them.

Sounds good, Len :)

Hey Pitrio, I'm loving the new character art, by the way! Is that the one you drew? I'd sure like to see the full-res version.

Hey thank you! :)

Yep, that is the one I drew. I put a link to the full one at the bottom of his sheet.

That's awesome Pitrio!!!

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post everyone. Will post first thing tomorrow morning! Need to get a couple of things ready for our first fight!