On the Road (OOC)

Out of character chatter about On the Road can go here to avoid cluttering up the Roleplay thread.This is for longer questions and answers related to that Roleplay, general rules questions can go in Help! or in General.

Add a link back to the post in question so we can have context. After posting you can right-click on the orange header and select 'copy link address' (or whatever your browser calls it), then paste that in your OOC post.

First person (I, me) text can become very hard to read, especially if there are more than one person saying 'I'. See Help! - Viewpoint and Tense.

In our first post, there is also no mention of who is even 'speaking' (a pitfall of first person). Consider rewriting this as 'Growing up as the son of the town's blacksmith has given Leiland a strong body...' to alleviate these Play by Post problems.

You can also post as the character so we see them on the side and see their portrait to remind us of who they are. This also allows us to click on the portrait to see the character.
For this to work the character needs a name entered in the 'Character Name' box on the sheet as well the name you gave them when you created the character, these names need not be the same. Meht does not appear to have this done, so they can not be posted as (they also don't have anything in their sheet at all, theatreofcomets let me know if you need help making the character sheet, or copy from one of the other players if you can see them).

You can go back and edit a post and change the character posted as, this does not change anything, just neatens things up.

Got it! Will be posting in third person

Cool, you can edit the existing post or leave and do the rest in 3D.

PbP can be janky when it comes to timing.
We don't need to assume that events posted earlier happened first.
As an illustration, we could easily say that Meht arrived before Rook and Leiland and they see him standing there looking lost, or we can decide that they didn't/don't and that they meet up later (we can decide when here in the OOC), or that Meht knew one of you already.

Obviously don't contradict what an earlier post said, but feel free to post something that came before where it makes sense. You can always add the text 'Earlier...' or 'right before that...' to the new post to make it clear, or we can work out the timing in OOC.

Yeah I've twice filled out the same character sheet and saved it, and been able to go back to it, but then later it's empty again. I must be doing something wrong, but not sure what.

Would Meht go to the bar? He seems like he might not want to be around people, but I could see them end up talking there. Or does he have an animal companion? That could be a point of connection as well. Or possibly, they could just be guards who happen to be near each other on the trip and get to talking.

You will definitely meet on the trip. The question is how much time you guys want to spend before setting off and whether you want to do that together. I am happy to run you separately (easier on PbP than live), but that can also take a lot of time.

Let me know where you each want to go and what you want to do in town, and when you want to have the caravan leave (your characters know he departure time).

Have you made any other characters on this site?
Can you try just adding a name to the Character Name field and then saving to see if that sticks?

Have recreated Meht in a new character sheet, and submitted to this game. Will see if that makes a difference!

Approved and this one appears to have something to say. I guess you removed the taciturn trait? :)

To add, could Meht be a hunter? Bringing fresh game to the town market? Lots of ideas to jump on once established.

Sorry Meht is awkward around people! But yes he does have a pet stoat and has just pulled him out in the RP thread. :)

Should we think about a color to write character name in? Maybe blue or green since red seems to be for Player names?

Blue is very hard to read on the dark theme. Red is very jarring.
Bold is probably the best all round for both users and characters. Bold is also easier than colors since it is just a ctrl-b away.

What might underlining be good for then? Since bold also contains spoken words and italics are inner thoughts.

Bold and Italic are for emphasis, we don't need more than that, and they are optional.
Too much formatting and things get confusing. Formatting should not be used as a substitute for clear writing or for punctuation. I see some people leave the quote marks off their speech when they bold it, this gets confusing and some devices (e-ink) don't show the formatting at all so everything is lost.
Clear writing should not require any highlighting, so leaving it off (handy on a mobile) is better than using too much formatting.

Gotcha

theatreofcomets: I really like how you are bringing across Meht's focus on using his Intelligence to manage his social skills in your post.

I'm ready to set out whenever everybody else is

Meht can lead the way, and tell us about their clever traps.

Happy to! Given the outcome would be uncertain each time, is it my job or yours to tell the group whether a given trap has caught something? And/or is it a move of some kind?

The outcome does not really matter in the larger scheme of things, and failing does not seem interesting, so no rolls are needed.
However, if something about this ends up noticeably impacting the story we may need dice to tell us how, or how much.

If you want, narrate the first trap, with whatever you find in it, that way we can see they types of traps you are thinking of, go ahead and include something reasonable in the trap --or what sort of thing Meht was hoping would have been in the trap if you want this one to be empty, thus upping the stakes for the next one. Then I can introduce a minor wrinkle at the second. If we don't want wrinkles, then you can just narrate the lot with little mechanical impact (maybe you find lunch for yourselves, maybe lunch for the guards).

A tepid Die of Fate has me a bit stumped. :)

Are we, as players, looking for a fight, or a mystery, or a chase, or a social meeting, or something else?
The gods have not spoken, your destiny is your own.

If we're taking votes then I'd say social meeting or a mystery.

Even if we weren't taking votes that would be what you said. :)

Who else wants what? Tell us what you want, don't be influenced by what others before you have said. We can compromise later.

Well, what I want is a big pile of treasure, but my actual suggestion is someone that might be in the woods but has reason to hide. Illicit lovers, or maybe somebody trying to poach Meht's traps?

Meht talking to the birds sound like Magic, using the spirits (or elementals) of nature to achieve a goal. Magic takes time, though.
We can forego the Summons requirement for a Druid in nature, but it still takes time.

Can you convince me how this is not Magic and bound by those rules?

Disregard my previous.
This is 'Wild: you can converse with and attempt to command animals'.

Very well. Though it almost looks like the dice disagree. :)

I have thoughts on the Attributes and will post something shortly. The distinction between INT, WIS, and sorta CHA is always a bit nebulous and messy anyway. As is STR vs DEX for which weapons they apply to and whether DEX or STR would cover acrobatics (acrobats would say STR and CON:)...

Sorry all, I didn't subscribe to this thread and have just seen this whole last week of posts and the context they provide! My bad, apologies for not answering any of your previous questions @vagueGM.

Have subscribed to it now.

I missed this too previously, sorry - thanks vagueGM!

No worries.

You can also subscribe to a Forum, and thereby cover all threads created in it. Click the 'Back to the forums' link at the top and then you will see a 'Subscribe to forum' link at the bottom, between 'Mark Forum As Read' and 'Manage Subscriptions'.

Oh thanks! Have done that now.

Ouch

Is there aiding in this system?

Not as such. But there are --rare-- bonuses for fictional positioning. If a player's actions sets up a better position and someone follows through on it they may gain a bonus (maybe even up to +2), but often this better position would serve to lessen the consequences. This setup can be done in a flashback if appropriate.

Remember there is a lot of noise going on right now (setup), so no one can hear anything except birds. This makes sneaking easier, but not only for you. This advantage applies to both parties, but also lessens the severity of the consequences.

theatreofcomets: More detail is welcome, but not needed in the case of returning to the caravan.
Let's say it has left, but you will not have trouble finding it. It is on the road and you know the direction.
If anyone wants to add any more detail here, then I will leave it open for a day, else we can jump to you catching up to the caravan (or waiting for it to arrive where you are, or whatever), and then we can deal with who it is you first run into and what sort of trouble that brings.

Rook: For now you appear to have avoided Calum's notice. Does he suspect that you set him up, or is the hate still all about the girl?

For Rook's part, he still bears a grudge about the girl, and Calum knows that. Whether he's figured out enough to suspect Rook, I'm willing to leave up to your judgement or to the dice, whichever way you want to do it

Let's see how it plays out. If it proves interesting he will know. :/

If no one wants to play out talking to the captain, we can skip ahead, if you also don't want to play out any interactions with other NPCs (guards, drovers, merchant, whatever) then we can skip ahead even more.

If we want to jump to some action, we can skip over the night watch and have a fight tomorrow.
Your call.

I was trying not to dominate the conversation, so that's why I stayed quiet. I'm OK with pushing forward, there was nothing else for my char in the scene I think

Trying not to dominate a conversation is tricky in PbP.
Let's rather post when we can and only stop and wait for others if there is an indication we need to.

Rezart: Where/when do you want to push forward to?

I got plenty of chances to lead in the forest scenes, and my character is less comfortable in this context, so very happy for you to drive the interactions more here.

Sorry for the delay. I'm fine with us pushing forward until trouble starts. Rook's assumption is that this is a set-up, and the reason that Calum gathered volunteers so quickly is that he's working with bandits to either steal from the caravan and escape in the night, or ambush it on the road. He's basically just going to avoid Calum and be on the lookout for trouble

Let's see when the 'lookout' sees the trouble.

I am going to give until tomorrow for anyone to do anything to maybe try to preempt to sudden but inevitable betrayal.

Then I will jump to the action but you can still do any relevant preparation in flashbacks.

I want to try and write a post now, apologies for the delay.

Should I also mention decisions regarding what character did till this point, - I picked to have her join the caravan previously - and also choose time when she would be on watch?

Go for it.

No apologies necessary, that is how PbP works. Don't feel any pressure to hurry up and respond, do so when you can. Though, if it likely to be more than a day or so, let us know so we don't end up waiting.

LizzyPinkHood: When you post you should see a 'Post As:' dropdown list above the toolbar, this allows you to post as your character and makes it easier for us to keep track of who is doing what (but still keep using the character's name in the text of the post, like you did).

Unfortunately this site does not remember who you posted as last, so you have to get in the habit of selecting it every time.

You can also go back and edit the post to change who it was posted as, just select the character and hit 'save'.

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Do you need any response from any of us? Your post was pretty standalone, but if you wanted to enter into some dialogue or interact with an NPC or a PC we can do that. Else we will set off and see what comes.

I understand, thank you, and shall do so in the future.

Well, I don't mind if someone would like to interact amkng players, if any of the NPCs have anything to say or add, and finally if from your perspective as DM character could see or hear, or maybe she needs to make a check or something else. Otherwise, I might think of adding myself a bit.

I was not sure if that meant you were going to post more. Feel free to blow Calum off and post your own thing, or talk to him as you please.

Leesha is free to continue ignoring Calum or to talk to him more, but we will wait for the other players before anything big happens.

Dealing with the caravan ambush:

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Rezart:
No problem having Rook be focused on Calum, that makes sense given the history.
If you want to just roll your damage, you can do that. But you could also choose to maneuver to set up a better position (probably DEX, but the fiction will tell us what to roll). A 7-9 will see you rolling your damage as normal; a 6- would see you rolling half; but a 10+ would see you rolling double; and a 12 or would see you killing Calum outright (or 'incapacitate' if you want to), in a spectacular way (of your choosing) with whomever you want seeing/knowing, and being impressed.

Did you deliberately make your Exs name similar to 'Leesha'? It could become confusing (less so with NPCs (and dead ones at that) than with PCs with similar starting names), but maybe you wanted that confusion and association?
Chat with LizzyPinkHood first if you are thinking of pursuing a romantic relationship with Leesha.

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theatreofcomets:
Does Meht have a bow?

Calum is still on the wagon talking to girl. With a roll of 11 you have time to react slightly before the ambush happens, and he knew about it so he also reacted pretty much simultaneously, so he is not 'fleeing' quite yet.
However. Would Meht's focus be on Calum rather an the road and the world around you? It is fine if it was, we will turn our focus there as well and have the ambush be background that the NPCs will deal with. That can make an interesting backdrop to the Calum scene.

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LizzyPinkHood:
You showed Leesha not paying attention to her surroundings --nor to Calum, really. If you are happy with it, the others might deal with the Calum issue without waiting for Leesha to react. But if you want to take action (he is holding out his hand to you, and the touch of your hands hurts:) then say so and we can coordinate.
I don't figure that Leesha would be choosing to leave with Calum, but if you want to do that, say so and we can work out how to play it.

I think this is an impulsive decision on Rook's part, just taking advantage of the distraction, so he probably wouldn't try to maneuver for a better shot, but he would immediately try to hide, maybe duck under a wagon or something. I will edit the post to add in a damage roll and a roll to hide (I know we don't edit normally, but I think it might be cleaner that way)

I didn't choose the name Layla specifically as a connection to Leesha. I'm not opposed to having a romance, but it's not something I planned at the moment, it was more just a way to explain why he hates Calum so much. If the story does go that direction between Rook and Leesha, I'll talk it over with LizzyPinkHood.

The Hide roll does not have any fiction to support it, so we can't judge the outcome. Roll the damage, and we will see if Calum survives, he is just an NPC, and you might roll good.

Then show us the character hiding in a new post (once we know the damage outcome) and roll to hide in that post.

OK. I see I was too late and you rolled stealth.
No worries.
Next time: Fiction First.
But show us Calum taking an irritating blow to the head but not being really hurt, then go ahead and hide with great success.

Oh sure, sorry. I'll add a post for that

Rezart: Just to be clear. Rook is not actively trying to distract the guards from the real threat, right?
Is he directing them towards the bandits? The difference between slings and bows is academic.
What are you trying to do?

Cool. Just making sure you were OK being irresponsible and a bit unheroic. :)

Gonna give Leesha until tomorrow before Calum reacts and possible takes options off the table. He will get brained during whatever she does.

Ah an earlier Meht did have a bow but I forgot the current one doesn't: oops.

I think Meht has mostly been keeping his eye on the road, but also remembers what Rook said about Calum, so has been making sure he knew where Calum was too in case something went down.

If Rook is slinging a rock at Calum's head though, I think Meht's attention is better kept on the situation on the road ahead: he's employed as a guard after all. But I'm currently a bit stuck as to what he should do without a ranged weapon; I'll think on it.

Oh, I meant that the ability is consciously activated, so it wouldn't hurt everything Leesha touches, and I will write my post now, I wanted to see if others will do anything as well.

vagueGM, Do I make checks for using Cure ability, and either way, should I roll dice for how effective the healing would be?

Makes sense. Decide where your focus was and we can play it from there.
Could be. If you want.

Or maybe we all focus on the Calum situation and let the bandits and other NPCs take care of themselves. There is no problem taking the story that way, and it keeps everyone together now that Leesha is also more focused on Calum.

It might be the end of the Caravan Job, but that is unlikely to be because you were boringly 'fired', but rather because something more interesting came along. This might be a diversion and we can pick up the Cravan Job again later, once it is dealt with.
A fact Rook appears to have forgotten with his personal vendetta and hiding. :)
Which may come back to bite him later. :)
We are still early days. If you want to rejigger your inventory to include a bow you can do so and pretend you always had it.
If you want Meht to have thought ahead and known he would need a bow out here, maybe he took out a loan to buy one? We can work out terms.

LizzyPinkHood: I actually thought about the loan idea above for your character. You described her as having heavier-seeming armor, but could only afford 'light'. We can negotiate a loan if you want to buy better armour, though, in your case, it might not be a thing you were 'buying' so much as a debt related to its history.

Up to you if you are interested.

Yep...

Well, not unless you roll badly, then having that magic up is one of the realms of consequences open to the GM. :)

Yes. It seems like WIS to me? Right?

Roll 1d6 for how much healing.

I also meant to add:

• This does not have to be a fight.
•• If this turns into a fight, you don't have to win it. You don't even have to fight.

Hm. Perhaps it could be, sure. I imagine there could be something like gradual repayment over the time, or owing some kind of service*.

And check for Cure:

Please, don't anyone hesitate to call me out and discuss how things work. WoDu provides very little guidance (and I am being generous with that term, it really provides 'none':) and every roll is up to the GM (OSR-like), but I always, in all games, prefer to have the players opinions be part of the decision.
By the --limited-- rules, 'Healing' only happens 'When you rest and consume a ration', it takes time, so can not happen during active scenes.

I am playing it the way the author plays it, (as codified in Breakers):
• Medic Cure: You can use first aid during a conflict. During a rest, give +1d healing.

Normally there is no healing during conflict, it all takes time.

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That is nowhere in the rules, and actually against the rules. But I have implemented similar homerules from time to time.
Something like:
• if rolling HP in a 'safe' place you can choose to keep your old HP; otherwise rolling HP is a risk and things could turn out to be worse than you thought, which you only discover when doing first aid

So, yes, you can go for healing and end up with fewer HP than before the healing. This is a feature not a bug. This is reminiscent of the Harm Move from Apocalypse World and adds fiction.

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Hit Dice and Hit Points don't escalate very fast in this game, and there are some weirdnesses around the number you roll possibly being lower than the number you could keep, but that is the price you pay for low CON scores. :)

Other than that, the more dice involved the more predictable the HP and Healing, but the number does not necessarily go up. You seldom have max HP, 'medieval' people were seldom completely healthy.

In the game this is based on, you never get more HP. DW's HP does not go up with level at all, it only increases when your Constitution (not CON) increases.
Yep. We use whichever stat best applies, based on the fiction at the time. I suggested WIS here, but it was only a suggestion, the more we play the less I suggest, leaving it up to the player (this is a John Harper game, so BitD rules can influence things:).

There was a consequence, he has noticed Leesha and her magic, though it is a Clock and long term. Magic can get us into trouble, so having him spreading the news of 'extra-clerical magic' and 'amazing, eerie glowing eyes' may become a problem. This is very 'soft' and can easily be dealt with, in many ways.

I am just waiting to see what Meht is going to do with the 'information' gleaned. There was a hint that Meht might initiate combat by firing upon the bandit leader, I don't want to take away that option.

Tomorrow, your guard captain will take charge and organise a response --it as been less than a dozen seconds since the ambush started.

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Players: If you want to have a fight let me know and the captain will arrange that, else we will roll the dice of fate and see how well threats and a show of power works.

LizzyPinkHood: What in the fiction makes Leesha suspect Calum of 'working with less savory people' or of having anything 'planned'?

She does not know Rook's tale --we have not seen those character interact on screen-- and your employer trusts Calum a lot.

Calum is not going to lie to Leesha at this time, and will happily tell her the whole story, but his reaction to her knowledge will be flavored by how reasonable it is for her to know this stuff and to ask such a pointed question. I would prefer the answer not be 'mystical', but he might assume it given recent events.

He might not know how you know, but without my knowing it is hard to react.

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The characters don't know everything the players know. I like to be open with the players and trust them to keep player and character knowledge and separate.

OK, that went well. What are your thoughts re what we should do next, Rezart and LizzyPinkHood?

Ya, rolled a 5 and got a one-shot-kill! Maybe the GM does not understand bad results? ;~/

Two obvious strategies are to wade in and fight, or to try to organise a resistance. Fighting will see you mostly one-on-oneing them with hack and slash or volley type moves. 'Organising' will be whatever you do using relevant skills and then the outcome will be decided (somehow) based on those choices and any rolls needed during that process.

Many other strategies exist as well, do whatever you think is interesting.

We don't know if Calum's cronies will flip back to our side if Leesha can get Calum to commit, and we don't know if Rook will accept his help if he does.

Agreed!

What are your thoughts, Rezart and LizzyPinkHood? Do you want to tackle things individually, or shall we develop a shared plan?

I am fully aware of the separation between meta knowledge and what characters know, it just seemed like something that could be deduced from the events and my character's train of thought was something like: 1) Calum approached her and started flailing around his personal reputation (which, if I understand correctly, was not the common point of view among guards), as well as attempted to acquire her assistance in a questionable and kind of suspicious manner; 2) Leesha didn't jump to conclusions that would drive her to action immediately, but Calum also foretold the caravan's potential demise or at least certain problems; 3) From that Leesha deduced that he was some kind of 'troublemaker', possibly dangerous to caravan, judging by his own words; 4) The ambush springs, Calum behaves basically like what my character assumed traitor among caravan guard ranks would do - she doesn't want to hurt him heavily, but she does take her role as the guard seriously, so she intended to prevent him from running off with her powers; 5) Calum gets hit in the head, Leesha hurries to heal him as she still doesn't mean for him to suffer or die, even; 6) At the moment girl is confused, since his original behavior was suspicious, yet he got hit and there was warning about the assailants among trees - as such, Leesha decided to deal with everything step by step, firstly wanting to prevent further problems for caravan, then herself, and then Calum (in that general order of priority) by asking him to halt whatever original plan he had;

I am uncertain, but if Calum is ready to follow her, she would probably go to the Captain's side and then try to go to frontlines - primarily to stave off the attackers with other guards, as well as, possibly, save those who have been brought down already.

That is what I was asking. What we see in the fiction is a bit of a logical leap with no substantiation. It is OK for her to know/suspect the truth, or even for her to have had a discussion with the other PCs where they relay their suspicions, but we did not see any of that. I would prefer to play out such an interaction with the other PCs, but that could be done in a flashback.

It is always hard to judge how much to explicitly narrate in these posts, too much and it gets repetitive and boring, too little and it becomes hard to gauge a proper response. Hence the questions.
Sorry if it came across as accusatory. I am also trying to balance how much meta-knowledge I provide, the right amount varies from group to group.

Given the above, let's say he will.

LizzyPinkHood: Just to be clear, given the above discussion, then I say in the RP 'there is no way your character could know this, but..." that is a standard phrase, used all the time and not directed at you personally.

It occurred to me after posting that it might seem to be a dig at you. It was not meant that way and was used out of habit, possibly insensitively at this exact time. Ignore this if you did not thing that. :)

Rezart: What sort of opportunity is Rook looking for?

With an 8 you can go ahead and narrate some small advantage (possibly in position or effect, or lethality, or impressiveness, or subtlety, or subterfuge, or something).

It won't turn the tide of the battle on its own, but you may be able to find a single vulnerable target (for a one hit kill on a good medium roll), or save another guard (with a distraction or an assist). Anything on that sort of level that interests you is fair game.

Well, it's dawning on him that Callum appears not to be going anywhere. And none of the attackers seem to be slinging stones, so there's gonna be questions. So the optimal version of this opportunity for him would be something where he could get into the battle, shank a bad guy from behind without exposing himself to danger, and in doing be seen saving somebody important (like the guard captain or the wagonmaster), and just hide away his sling. So a partial that gets him some of that stuff would be good.

Rezart: You are welcome to find an attacker bearing a sling unless you think it will be particularly interesting to have someone work out could only have been you. In the heat of battle things happen, so I don't foresee any immediate repercussions from that shot. This is free and does not affect the opportunity you find unless you turn it into a big thing.

Anyone you save would become important, the level of effect this would have on someone like the captain is less than on a novel guard. The merchant is hidden in his wagon and not coming out till things are resolved.

You can narrate the fight moving within reach of your shanking, or move into the thick of things and probably lose concealment without seek another place to hide. Hiding will diminish any "oh, my hero, you saved me" effect, of course.

LizzyPinkHood: Is Leesha heading towards the captain as suggested by Meht in the last post? It is up to you.

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Rezart: What do you want to do? It is up to you what sort of opportunity Rook finds with his roll. It depends on what you are wanting to achieve.

You can still go after Calum, he is primarily your NPC even though he has glommed onto Leesha for now.

Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I misunderstood your earlier post. I didn't realize you were waiting for me to frame the scene. I'll post something in a few minutes.

No worries. We are finding our rhythm and 'communication is hard'.

Either frame the scene or let me know what you want to get from your roll and I can frame it. Whichever you prefer.

Razart: You got this. :)

That is 1 damage after armor. It is unclear if you did any real harm to the bandit (failed hack and slash) but you did impress the captain (from the previous roll).

Depending on what you do next, the captain will start to organise things (with a small bonus (to effect) from your having her back).

Another 6... Rook does not have this... And no XP on a miss in this version :(

He needs to get his hands on a finesse weapon, but I'm guessing that would be sort of a specialty item?

You just need to learn to roll better... But I don't have any tips for how to do that... Well, I do, "be a PbtA GM and stop rolling", works for me. :)
Nope. Just misses on a miss. :)
The stat you roll with depends on the fiction more than the item (though the item is part of the fiction and a dagger can 'finesse').
I thought about this with your '9 on hack and slash but a 1 on damage' and how an 11 would make a difference, but your description was not conducive to ruling it as an attack with DEX, that option will not always be viable and seldom in stand-up-put-down fights, but you can try to arrange the fiction such that you can benefit from it. The attack from above also sounded like a STR attack, but was borderline --especially with your opportunity to set it up-- so I ruled low-impact consequences with the reward of 'captain's notice'.

Rook is not a lucky guy, at all...

Wow! You are not wrong about that.

Combined consequence is a little more harm, but also the revelation of a bigger truth...

What's Rook's situation right now? Did he just get hit, or did he get tackled?

They both hit Rook, but were not very effective due to the distraction and the sand and Rook's running away (or trying to), so only 1 harm total after armor (armor does not always apply, but it does in this case (did not for your first hit from above, but that missed:)).

With a 5 you will not get clear of them, but they do not have you pinned or anything. Runcold is pissed about the sand in his eyes and will give chase. Fenslow might get distracted by Calum, but will probably follow Rook, and Calum might follow Fenslow, no way for you to know (even I don't know:).

There is no evidence that Calum has recognised Rook yet.

Rezart: With a 10 Rook can break contact with the two bandits pursuing him. They will turn to deal with whatever is nearby.

The 10 also gives you some control over what Calum does, though he wants to stay near Leesha.

We can also wait to see what the others are doing, if you want.

I think waiting for the others is probably the right thing to do. Rook is going to want somewhere to hide and catch his breath.

I'm a bit stuck sorry - I was hoping for Meht to talk to the captain with Leesha, but that interaction has passed, and I'm not sure where Meht is in the action at the moment. I am keen to coordinate though: I'm personally most interested in us acting as a party with occasional individual side forays rather than primarily acting as individuals. Otherwise the combination of PbP, primarily-individual play, a slightly rotating cast, and us not knowing one another outside the game means I lack a bit of context re what to do, as someone new to the game. But no worries if that doesn't suit what others are interested in - I can see that PbP may make that a little more difficult.

On reflection, maybe it'll slow things down too much to try to come up with a shared plan. Perhaps Meht should just look for whoever on the other side seems to be leading the charge and try to shoot them too.

Leesha is still by the captain and and has not taken any actions. From what we last saw, Meht went there with her, so go ahead and insert yourself into that scene, do it as though you arrived with Leesha or are arriving shortly after, or even (so long as it does not rip spacetime) insert yourself at a point before the captain speaks.
As much as possible I would like that as well, but it is not always an option in PbP. Unless we all commit to regular and predictable postings we can end up prema-waiting and all locked up in scenes that depend on other players.
I don't have an answer for that one. I do have to adjust my style for this since I am mainly character focused in most games.
I say that this game should not have too much deep impact on the landscape but have a whole complicated background with the bandits and Calum and something big scaring them and so on, which may never come to light if the fight goes the wrong way or the players are not interested in that.

I really need to remember what this game is meant to be and keep those plans for more committed games.
We can spin off some of this into its own game with he players who are serious about working togeter.

What would you want to achieve with the 'shoot them'? Focus on the outcomes rather than the mechanics, so we know what to do when you succeed. :)

Yeah none of this was meant to be a criticism of you, more just trying to analyse why I was feeling stuck, which I was worried was slowing the game down. Having written it down I can see that it's mostly structural factors, and that for the reasons you say, trying to land on a consensus about what to do isn't really practical.

No worries. I agree with you. :)

The more OOC discussion we have the less the IC tends to slow down, as well. We can't know what the other players are feeling/thinking (even after they tell us), but the more we know that they are 'stuck' rather than 'busy' the more we can offer guidance without concerns of applying too much pressure.

re Meht: Meht wanted to get out of town and start a new life using his skills. He's a guard, and also has a loan for a bow to pay back, so he's going to try to be a good guard while that's his livelihood. Having done something which has gotten things out of hand, he's going to want to try to fix them.

Good to know, these sorts of long-term goals help me know what will be interesting to throw at the characters.
Remind me: what did he do that have 'gotten out of hand'?
But, I meant in the short-term. Why would Meht 'shoot them'. Are you just wanting someone to die, or do you hope to achieve some bigger goal by taking out 'the leader'? Disrupt, demoralise, disorganise? Die? Something that does not start with a 'd'?

re out of hand: the group is under attack because Meht shot the bandit leader, which is not what he'd hoped would happen :)

re goal: yes, he wants to take the wind out of the bandits' sails.

re why shooting: I guess because I feel a bit stuck and it's obvious? :) I should probably think a bit harder about it though.

Oh, right. True, this is all sorta your fault. :)
It worked last time. :)
Though, I don't know about a 'leader', they are pretty much a wild melee now.
If your intent is to 'stop the fighting', and you were wanting to talk to the captain (with the healer nearby), maybe a check on the 'downed' bandit leader will offer solutions? I am not sure a human would be able to get to her body, but you have options.

That's an excellent idea, I've been wanting Oli to be more involved and that's a perfect thing for him to do.

Not sure what modifier to use for Pet though - any tips?

Depends what he is doing. He is an extension of your character and does not have his own stats. Just like a sword uses your character's stats, so does a pet.

It is tricky when pets act 'independently', but it is still Meht doing whatever is being done.

If no stats apply we can always roll the die of fate, but that offers very little control.

You would definitely need to roll. What you roll would depend on how you are doing it, as would the consequences.

If you try to sneak over there then that would probably be a DEX roll. Anyone noticing you 'sneaking to her body' might assume nefarious intent and treat you with hostility. And I mean anyone, your side and theirs.
Your side might assume you are running away, or that you are in league with them, or something and may attack you in the extreme case.
Their side would make you a priority target with any assumption about what you intend with her body.

If you want to try to convince everybody to stop and deal with the facts (that only you know) you would probably need a CHA roll, but it would be at a major disadvantage. Enlisting the captain, for instance, into your plan would be its own roll, but simpler and more likely to yield good results with any followup (like getting to the bandit leader).

Those are not the only options, merely the only ones I thought to write here.

I meant looking in the 'scanning, looking around' sense - looking to see if there's a safe way before trying to do anything.

If there's not a safe way, and it sounds that way, then approaching the captain becomes the likeliest choice.

Drat this language! :)

No, that would not need a roll, and you mostly have an answer above. Do you need more?
Definitely no 'safe way' without risks.

It's a real pity WoDu doesn't have that XP-on-a-miss mechanic :)

LizzyPinkHood: There are no downsides since you got an 11, but what does it feel like, for the recipient, when you cast your Protector's Blessing Ritual in a hurry?

theatreofcomets: I am not thrilled with the results of your 6. We can negotiate if you have any better ideas.

As things stand you have a choice. You can obey the captain, keeping your job secure but putting your life at risk; or you can take some other action (maybe related to the bandit leader or not, as you like) and risk your standing with the captain and the other guards. You will not lose your job here --since that is boring and breaks the story-- unless the players choose to part ways with the caravan.

I apologize for making everyone wait, firstly, I know it is PbP, but I was absent for some time due to work appearing in my life and it is demanding time-wise. I hope nobody felt too bad in the meantime.
As for magic, given it's nature and what we already had mentioned in the previous posts, I think Meht could feel it as a descending pillar of hot wind, invisible and lacking solid manifestation for anyone but him. It envelops and protects, but might also feel like a burden, since being performed in a hurry it puts recipient under pressure of otherworldly influence to which nothing born under sun should be used to, at least I think this could be interesting additionally due to Meht potentially acquiring some ideas of his own regarding nature of this power, or something like that ^_^

I know this is not always possible, but, if we can: there is a thread where we can let the others know we will have availability troubles.

I'm still here, just letting things move forward a bit in the main thread.

Not much time has passed since the fight started, we can consider things mostly caught up if you want to circle round and merge your thread with the others.

If you need something to happen or want something positioned for your reentry, let us know and we can arrange it. A little direction might be a benefit. :)

Did Rook get all the way away from the thugs chasing him? They were chasing and then Callum starting arguing with them, and I wasn't sure if that was going somewhere.

Rook scored well, so he can get out of their reach. What happens with Calum will depend a lot on what you choose to do with that success.

The thugs will lose track of Rook for a while, so you can exit the scene, or circle back to snipe them, or maybe even lead them to a position of advantage (for you or for your fellows), but complex actions may require more work.

This is mid-fight, so Calum is not having a conversation with them, so there is not much opportunity to learn anything from that 'argument' unless work is done in that direction.

Rezart: Do you want to give us a +CHA roll to get the captain to take you seriously and see your value?

Why would your luck have changed? :)

Yeah...

Oh my!

Well, at least you could not have done any worse. No one could have.

I mean. I want to say the only way is up. But I am not convinced. It is possible to just lie there on the floor. /-;

Technically there a suggestion that you each received a copper as part of your sign on, but it was not worth updating your sheets for one-twentieth of a silver.

Hmm. It's more interesting for Meht to accept Leesha's blessing than refuse it, but what are the numbers like on either side?

You can accept the Blessing and then ignore the captain's orders.

Summary
Five general caravan guards still standing. Three injured and out of action or partially out of action (no one has checked).

It looks like Calum has rejoined your side and it is probable his two compatriots will follow him. But your characters don't know all these details, so are less sure about this we are.

Then there are the three of you. So 5 + 3 + 3 makes it, maybe, 11 on your side to the, maybe, 7 bandits. It is hard to tell for sure.

Presumably all your fellow guards are converging on the front (and will sweep up Roncold and Fenslow). The more help they get from you, the PCs, the better they will fair, but that also puts you at more risk. Decide how much you are willing to put into this.

I reckon let's lean into the battle: it's what's happening. But it'd be better if our forces were stronger: they're a little too even for my liking. So I think we need to marshal all our powers.

What I propose is
- Meht calls on any nearby birds or animals to harry, distract, or otherwise freak out the bandits
- Meht and Oli then jointly attack whoever is closest - one attacking from the front, one from the back
- Leesha meanwhile heals/blesses whoever of the fallen guards she can, so they can help, and Rook buttresses his 'inspiring' words by wading in and providing cover for her to do this for as many fallen guards as possible.

With luck all of this will inspire the guards who are waiting for a sign, too, and freak out the other side somewhat.

What do you think?

Sorry, not trying to tell everyone what to do!

Perhaps it's easier if Meht just goes ahead with his bit of the above, and others can do what works for them? Though of course I'll appreciate anything which might increase his chances of surviving :)

GM, Meht's plan is:
- ask Leesha to bless the fallen, and call out to Rook, wherever he might be, for help
- call the local animals to harry the bandits (Wild)
- tell Oli to bite the closest bandit on the back of the neck (Pet),
- and then hack at the closest bandit from the front (Risky action with STR)

Should I roll all of those things in the post and let you work out how it goes? Or would you prefer me to do them in sequence?

No worries. I don't think it came across that way. It sounded like you were merely offering suggestions.
That can work, but we can also wait a bit for the others to get round to posting. A coordinated effort would have better chances, but posting rates are a bit slow for too much coordination.

It is your call.

That is a lot of 'things'. A lot of them depend on other things and on other players.

Perhaps we should tackle them in order? Others can join in when they get round to posting, but we can do as many as seem reasonable until they do.
• Wild (you can converse with and attempt to command animals)

Don't there need to be animals around for you converse with and attempt to command? It does not seem to have a summoning component, so only the animals that are reasonable to be around during a battle are available. So pack- and draft horses?

You might be able to find more animals in the surrounding woods, but they are also likely to have fled during the ambush setup and the ensuing fight, so picking may be slim. And you would have to go out there.
To what end? As a distraction? As an attack? Something else?
These would definitely put Oli at risk.
You have some extra protection, so this seem like a reasonable and expected action.
Makes sense, and would be a free action. Then it would be up to Rook what happens.
I am not sure what this means, or what would be involved. Discuss it with LizzyPinkHood.
What does Meht know about Leesha? Would it make sense for him to be giving instructions to her?

Oh good!
OK, happy to wait a bit :)

Oh I don't think Meht is in a position to tell Leesha what to do, I was just thinking he could ask if she could do for the fallen guards what she just did to him, having felt its power.

Makes sense for the character. They don't need armor though so it would be pure roleplay fluff with no direct mechanical benefit.

Still waiting to see what Meht does, since it may affect Rook. Otherwise he's continuing as he has so far, exhorting the troops to move forward and watching for trouble.

OK cool - I was waiting for others to respond to my suggestions and then realised you were all probably waiting for me to follow through on what I'd already proposed: sorry about that! I'll post something after work.

If the only animals are likely to be the caravan's horses, I'll drop the Wild bit of the plan.

And if Leesha's blessing wouldn't help the fallen guards, I'll drop that too.

However LizzyPinkHood what did Leesha want to do with the captain's contradictory instructions - telling her to go to the wounded while pointing in the other direction? If she wants to get to the wounded at the front, Meht can try to back her up / help provide cover etc.

- "Protector's Blessing": Temporarily envelops chosen being with a mantle of protective magic (grants +1 Armor)

The +1 Armor will make a difference if you are hit, which is likely given what you are doing. The shield probably will help there too.
Armor is unlikely to help the guards, but we can work something in if LizzyPinkHood chooses to use that as part of her action.
Mechanical advantage from the pet comes with mechanical risk to the pet (though probably not risk of permanent loss except in extreme cases).
What effect are you wanting Oli to have on this scene? Maybe reduced risk to you? Maybe enhanced damage? Maybe something else?

I want the bandit to respond to a biting pain in the back of their neck in a way which gives me an opening to whack them with a hand axe.

If that goes well - e.g. if they startle and wave their arms around and drop their guard - I think it'd be both reduced risk and greater damage.

Fair enough. No problem having them focus on your pet enough for both those advantages. Most of the risk will be where they are focusing, as well, though, so Oli may be hurt enough to be a factor for a while going forward.

Yeah there's risk, but I reckon Meht and Oli would have hunted together before and had some practice at coordinated tactics.

So, straight roll with STR, or something else?

Yeah. Attacking with STR seems like what you are doing.
The pet adjust the position and effect, if you will excuse my Blades in the Dark parlance.

Hey, nice a 12.
What are you ultimately wanting to achieve? Anyway: You do it brilliantly or get something extra.

If your intent was simply to harm that closest bandit then go ahead and describe you and Oli completely taking them out in what ever way you want.

Ah good question.

Meht's intent is to try to turn the tide of the battle by joining it decisively - the closest bandit was just the most convenient starting point.

i.e. he wanted to accept Rook's urging and Leesha's blessing and throw his own energy into turning things around too.

You can take the kill and hope it galvanises others, or you can roll damage, take your chances on the kill, and add a an advantage to the NPCs.

Sorry, can you please unpack those two options a bit? I don't quite follow.

Either way you will 'turn the tide'.

You can guarantee the kill, which is simple enough given the fiction of your attack. If you do, the bandit will be dead, dramatically, but it is up to chance what effect that has on your troops of the enemy.

Or, you can focus on the effect it has (pick what you are after and narrate it) but will need to roll damage and might still have an enemy standing afterwards. If you do that you will definitely have an effect on your troops or on the enemy.

OK, thanks for that. I think the second option is what I'm after, because it's the effect I want, not the death itself.

What should I roll for damage?

Take whatever your weapon is and bump it up one category (light to martial, martial to great, ...) as a result of Oli's help.
Oli's portion will ignore any armor since he is going for the neck.

Would you prefer to impress/intimidate the enemy (they may make a 'moral' roll, depending on what the others do), or do you want to bolster your side, making them perform 'better'?

I think bolster our side.

Also can you please clarify for me the scope of what I should narrate? Would I say the guards are inspired and leap into the fray etc, or is that going too far?

Show us that. Add a roll. The roll could be primarily an attack and we will use that outcome to decide how effective you are at exhorting your troops; or it could be something else (social, maybe?) with might not be as effective against the enemy but could keep Rook safer and focus on how well the troops do. Your call.

Since Rook is kinda 'leading' the guards, let's see how that goes before we say just how inspired they are.

For now: Roll damage. If you can score more than 4 (which should be easy with the Oli extra) the bandit can die for sure and you can go ahead and narrate that however you wish. Less harm than that and it will be a sliding scale of how hurt they are and how much that bolsters your side.

LizzyPinkHood: After resolving Meht and Rook's actions the fight might be over. We are not going to wait for Leesha to weigh in, but we do hope you are still with us and would like to get your input if time allows, there will still be plenty for you to do afterwards.

My bad, I should have messaged sooner instead of putting it aside again and again - I had some real life issues, and work. It's sad, I wanted to play with you alot, but I don't think I have time to do it right now. I am very sorry :

Sorry to hear that.

We will background your character.

Once things get better you are welcome to come back and join us again.

theatreofcomets: You have a choice in your post. You can stick with what we have already and I can roll (already low) morale for the bandits; or you can roll +CHA to intimidate them further.

If you score well on the intimidate their morale will just break, else I will roll for them adjusted a bit more based on your result.

A 12+ would give you a lot of control of exact how their morale breaks.

Meht has Heal as one of his skills, which he'd like to use on the wounded guards. It looks like skills, while always succeeding to some degree, still need a roll - do they also need a properly-justified modifier, or just a flat 2d6?

Pursuant to all rest of this, healing takes time "When you rest and consume a ration/waterskin/wineskin, you may re-roll your HP." so that HP mechanic might not be immediately relevant.

The guards, being NPCs, do not have --nor roll-- HP, so the rules are very open when applied to them.
Yes, the Skills change the bottom end of the dice curve, so, by RAW, they apply to rolls. But they also define the characters, and provide fictional positioning.

The fact that Meht has the Heal Skill justifies him taking actions related to first aid, triage, or even dealing with the dead. Without it people may look askance at such actions.

With the withdrawal of Leesha's player we can assume --for now-- that there is further NPC healing available off-screen in the general cases where you don't want to take on that ongoing responsibility. Play out as much as you want, but try to keep any references to sidelined PCs to a minimum in terms of impact on said PC.
This depends on the fiction. Show us what you are doing, bearing in mind that 'healing' or full recovery will take time.

If you want Meht to start helping the wounded, then do that, it might require a roll to determine how successful you are, or the fact that you are a Heal(er) might be all we need, depending on the intended outcome. Show us the fiction.

Just because the bandits ran away and the caravan settled down does not mean you can not chose to chase them, track them, or try to take prisoners, or something. Your characters don't need to have been there for the merchant/captain's reactions.

It is up to you.

Rook: These are, of course, poor and desperate bandits. Their weapons (where they are not sticks) are pretty junky as well.

How open are you being about what you are doing? Are you trying to hide the fact that you are being less than respectful of the dead? How clear is it that you are looting the enemy only? Are you in fact looting the enemy only?

So far as you know there is no official policy for loot or loot distribution, but the merchant may have thoughts on the subject now that it has come up. :)

Are you (in character or out) looking for anything specific or just for valuables?

It does not seem like any particular Attribute is in play so far. If nothing applies we can roll the Die of Fate (single d6 with high being good and low being bad) to see how it goes.

I don't think Rook will be particularly subtle about what he's doing. Where he comes from, this is just how its done. He'll be more surprised if he's only one looting. He won't hoard though, he's accustomed to the idea that everybody gathers, and everybody get s a cut. Nothing specific he's looking for (though he'd like to find a good weapon, as you say these guys were pretty desperate), so die of fate seems reasonable to me.

Add a Die of Fate (1d6) roll to your IC post and we can see how it goes. A 1 will garner negative reactions, a 6 will get you something special, and the rest will be a sliding scale of very little to little.

You won't find weapons better than what you have, but might be able to branch out or collect them for conversion to copper coins later. Maybe 10 times the Die of Fate, twice that if you collect weapons for later resale?

Hi vagueGM - from your post I'm not sure if there's still a chance for Meht to intervene to stop the wounded bandit being killed, or if that moment's already passed and Meht is where the bandit queen is? If the former, Meht would like to intervene. If the latter, then yes, Oli is always corrent.

Ah, yes. That was a bit of a jump ahead, sorry.

Meht can intervene and save the bandit. He will have to stop the guard and may also face an uphill battle convincing everyone to spend time, effort, and medicine to help a bandit (they don't know they are in a story or that there is more to the world then their little philosophy:).

It is too late for their queen, though, that ship has sailed.

Thanks for clarifying, have posted. Does this need a roll, or is Meht's prestige still high enough post-battle that he'll be listened to? It seems pretty quick for the other guards to ignore him, given the stories they're starting to tell.

Added Rooks Die of Fate roll - he didn't blow it this time, which is an achievement for Rook these days.

I think I'll take the 10x deal. He'd take the weapons too, but he's also sharing with the others as appropriate, establish a little goodwill and comraderie, and maybe just palming a few of the nicer pieces here or there.

You said this would be the amount in copper, right? So if I got 40 cp worth of valuables, that'd be only 4xp? Am I understanding your intent correctly?

It occurred to me, later, that asking you to roll the Die of Fate with a 1 being potentially serious was a risky endeavour. :)
Cool. The 20x reward came largely from keeping the weapons long enough to sell them, so sharing them out is a good idea. Buy yourself some goodwill now.
40 copper is 2 silver. 240 copper per gold. See: youtube: Lindybeige - Pounds, shillings, and pence: a history of English coinage
Well, it is currently coin and not XP, which can be converted to XP when appropriate. Spending it on other stuff does not count towards leveling up (though, remember the start of game warning: Don't bargain on leveling up) but 'stuff' can still make you 'stronger'.

This was not the most rewarding encounter. They were poor bandits and things did not go smoothly (those damn pesky dice!) and you did not achieve anything 'special' (as in 'outside of just doing your job, for which you will be paid).

If things go really well with Meht's bandit patient you may find there are hidden opportunities (or were missed opportunities).

Everyone take this many XPs. \\\\

I changed the NPC's name from 'Jojo' to 'Jonjo' since we might have a new player called JoJo. We can change the NPC even more if we need to, Calum can be insensitive about names, but Meht does not know that he is being referenced.

Rezart: You can take the lead and show us what Rook finds and how he goes about looting and distributing the loot.

I'm a bit stuck, sorry. There seem to be a lot of things to balance, so each time I sit down to write a post I'm not sure what to do.

I can drop the whole plan to heal the bandit so they can be interrogated, if that seems too unwieldy. Maybe it's best to invite Asha over to search the bandit queen for clues.

Sorry. Feel free to talk them out here. They were not meant to be conundrums, just opportunities with cost.
It is not unwieldy, just needs Meht to decide what is important.
[*] There is the issue of how much of his --always limited-- time he is devoting to the taking care of the guards and how much he is spending on the bandits.
[*] Then there is the issue of how much of that 'bandit time' is spent on investigating vs medical. Does Meht take care of the injured bandit and possibly lose the clues on the 'queen' or focus on the queen's clues and possibly lose the bandit?

Afterwards: You have been warned that the others might need convincing to help a bandit, and the level of medical care they get will depend on that convincement. (I know this tidbit muddies the water now, but I don't want it to come as a surprise to the player later.)
Sure. She is with you anyway, but personally inviting her would mean the world to her.
Doing so does not mean you have to abandon the healing effort --bandit and guard-- decide how much your character is focusing on which, and also decide for yourself how much you want to put that onscreen. You can summarise either one of them while saying your character spends time doing it.

---

If you still feel at all stuck we can talk it out here, in as much detail as you like. We can add or remove 'options' that don't feel right to you.

I reckon the bandit queen has a surprisingly arcane tattoo of a fantastic two-headed creature on her back, and a grimy map in her pocket, and that Asha finds both. Neither she nor Meht have ever seen anything like the tattoo; the map is perhaps a bit easier to make sense of.

Sure, Do you want to narrate Asha finding those (my, my, but she is thorough, no wonder she was embarrassed by the idea of your virtually strip-searching the queen:), you both being baffled by the tattoo, and the sense you make of the map and what Meht thinks it means?

FYI a couple of new players say they've tried to sign up today

When you say, tried? Do you mean to imply they had trouble or just that you don't know the outcome yet?

Watch the Welcome threads and feel free to chime in if they are your friends.

I believe people can apply to games before they are approved to 'speak' (via the confirmation email) so we should not worry about their being quiet after being accepted (unless they mention (somehow) that they are having problems).

Since this is a 'new users' game I still 'accept' everyone, even if I fear some of them are bots. :)

Okay, Gusset the Cleric is written up. As I understand it the party is travelling with a caravan, perhaps Gusset is walking the same direction?

I'll save a more florid description for his introduction in the story thread, but basically, I'm going for the Friar Tuck sort of thing, likes his drink, likes a good fight, takes happiness where he can. I don't know if you have any sort of pantheon of gods you want but Bast seems interesting- I came across the following describing Bast as both a protector, one who destroys 'failed' souls, and a party god, so there are some good options there for motivational stuff.

Bast, the feline-headed cat goddess, is a major figure in the ancient Egyptian pantheon of gods. Like many other deities in other religions, she was dichotomous in nature. In one role, Bast served as a protector for her followers; in another, she destroyed souls that failed any test required to pass through the underworld after death.

The goddess was allegedly the recipient of the Morning Ritual, a ceremony that required the burning of marijuana or hashish, along with other herbs and incense like myrrh. With the incense burning, her followers, mostly women, engaged in sex, the premise being that female climax produced good health [source: This Side of Sanity]. While this legend persists, it remains controversial and disputed, and may actually be based on more recent lore [source: Cass].

That said, Bast's followers were known to party. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote of pilgrims on their way to the annual celebration for the goddess held at her temple at Bubastis. Drunken followers assembled by the hundreds of thousands during the celebration, drinking wine and dancing [source: Seawright].

We don't have to put a lot of effort into it, but do you have ideas about the reason your Cleric joins the party? Do your current aims align or does one party have to change their plans? Why do they?
Nothing defined. That is up to the player. Bast sounds fine. You can fill out the details as you like.

Looks like a few have signed up, which is great!

I had someone ask me this morning whether there were more spots available, and wanted to check with you first, since I think we have maybe five players now and I'm not sure how many you're comfortable with. Should I send them along? If not, I should also close the Discord posts I put up. Let me know your thoughts!

12/99 so technically, yeah. :)

Taking on a lot of new players in one go can slow down the onboarding process, but I am happy to do it. Not everyone will stay, and, as you say, most of those 12 are not real (anymore), so this is a short-term problem.

If we get sufficient consistent numbers we may want to split the players into multiple, independent parties. If we do that, it is best done sooner than later.

Are these people specifically interested in this game, or in World of Dungeons? I can always run other games as well if there is demand.

I'm not sure what the party's current aims are, to be honest? I have the impression they signed up as guards for the money, but if it's more than that let me know. I think it's likely Gusset intended to join up with the caravan but overslept and it left town without him, so he's been hustling to catch up ever since.

Adventure? :)
I am sure the money was part of it, but they were not obviously struggling, or not more than most people. A desire to see more of the world probably played a role too? Mainly it was a way to get the game rolling.
We can do that. They left a day ago, so maybe make it something a little more important than 'overslept' that prevented you from joining earlier? Basically, you can tell us if you get into trouble for being late, or if it was sorta-arranged.

Is Gusset friends with anyone here? (PC or NPC.) Either way is fine.

I'm not sure, but I'd guess they were just interested in WoD. In any case I'll let them know they can join :)

Gusset would definitely like to get out and see the world. He's been stuck in the monastery of Bast for too long, and he's determined to see more of the world.
Yeah, I think Gusset is in trouble for being late with whoever was hiring the guards (caravan master?). He can end up getting the least-liked duties for ... well, until he redeems himself. Latrine digging, mucking out the animals, etc etc. As to why he was late, if you want a better reason he could have been sitting by someone's bedside until their fever finally broke and delayed for that reason, but perhaps he'll just say 'I slept in' as his only excuse anyway....
Not friends exactly, but Gusset did win a notable amount of coin off of either a player or NPC a few days ago in a gambling game. He lent some of the money back, the guy made up his losses and paid off the debt... He's not going to go out of his way for Gusset, but he'll happily share a drink with him.

We don't need a 'better' reason. I was just saying that it did not need to be something that makes your character look bad if you wanted something else. Maybe think on it and decide at the last minute --as you arrive-- once we know where everyone else is and what they are doing.
Cool.
Anyone think this was them?

Cool.
Anyone think this was them?[/quote]
This could be Rook, I could see him falling into some gambling now that he has a little jingle in his pocket.

Ha, nah I'm happy for him to look bad. A nice quick redemption arc where he proves himself a little as time goes on sounds fun.
Sounds good. :)
No problem, happy to wait, just throw me my cue when it's time to enter stage left. On the IRL side it looks like you have some other new players joining so I'll let you manage the pace.

Cool. Though I can't promise it will be 'nice', nor 'quick' nor even 'redemptive' for that matter. :)
EGADS!! Does it never end. :)

Heh, that's fair.
The 'people wrangling' side of being a GM is not something they warn you about, going in, eh.

That is so true. I do make a point of including this when I teach GMing.

But it is also a special case here, both with normal 'pick up group' challenges, and the fact that it always seems to come in waves, all or nothing in terms of new players, or posts, or whatever.

Time for me to take down the posts telling people about this game? Very happy to, if this is as many players as you're comfortable with onboarding.

I was joking, but we will have to start thinking about splitting this party if it keeps growing.

Presumably your post leads people to Gamersplane, where they can find other games as well.

Very fair!

Well, the posts just ask people to DM me if they're interested; so far if they are I direct them to the sign-up page for this game. I have a feeling most of the people who were going to respond will have done so by now, however there are two who DMed me and were interested who don't seem to have popped up here yet.

I reckon I'll edit the posts to let people know this particular game is full but that Gamers Plane exists.

Some use different names on different platforms, making it hard to correlate.
They are welcome here when they show up, be it in the past or the future.
Can do. I am not marking it as 'full' nor closing it for applications, so if you get more inquiries you can send them along.

Meht and Rook: Whenever you are ready, make the meeting with the captain and merchant happen, I don't want to rush the RP that is going on between you two, so it is up to you guys when you are done.

- Everybody -

Meht and Rook are soon going to meet with the captain of the guard and the merchant boss, in the merchant's covered wagon.

Does anyone else want their character to be present for that meeting?

Not the best character introduction, but if you think it would be appropriate (establish some closer connection with the powers-that-be) then we can add you there.

If you want your character to have immediate input on the tattoo/map situation (planning) and where we go next, we can arrange for you to arrive there for some reason, else we will move on to dealing with what comes next and we can introduce you all as that progresses.

Sure, Gusset might be there, getting yelled at for being late, when the characters come in :)

Would you prefer that to being found near the site of whatever is going on with the tattoo/map, which is where we are going next? This will bring your character in a little bit earlier, but not by much.

I assume she is still with you.
It has only been a few seconds since you asked her to look into it. If you have something specific you want to her to have worked out before you see the captain/merchant we can do that.

I'm confused sorry: Is the 'priestess' Rook is noticing Gusset? Or someone else?

Also is there any way to see other player's character sheets before they've posted in character? If not, would others be up for posting the link to their character sheet in this thread or in the 'Current party' thread paladintodd started?

I'm just keen to check I understand who everyone is and what they've chosen, and am finding it hard to synthesise all the details from the threads.

My character Meht is here.

I am not sure. Sounds almost like Rook is addressing Asha? She is just another guard, nothing 'priest-like' about her, but Rook is welcome to assume she is what she is not.

Rezart: Let us know if this is the case and she can respond with puzzlement, else feel free to edit the confusion out.

There is a 'Characters' menu on the bottom red bar, it should list all the characters. Let me know if you can not see links to all 6.

In order for us to be able to see the contents of the sheets, you all need to mark the grey 'note' icon that says Add to Library on your character list.

Red means others can see the sheet.

You can also add a small portrait using the Change Avatar link (top right of sheet). It does not need to be a picture of the character, but having something distinct displayed with your post does help us keep track of characters.
Good idea, everyone should be able to edit that post (even though it is not a real wiki). Add a short (one line) description to help us keep track.

Ah that 'characters' menu bar is what I needed and somehow never noticed - thanks heaps!

It is new. Or at least, it was revamped recently to be more functional. :)

Excellent. Doing that I realised I hadn't added Meht to the library, so have done that now. I was able to see Rook and Cook, but not Gusset or Alicyne, so they might need to be added to the library by their players too.

Thanks. It is hard for the GM tell, since we can see all the characters.

Yeah it's always tricky guiding people on a platform when you have more access to information - it's hard to be sure what others can and can't see.

I should have made my character sheet viewable.

I feel like if the characters who currently have knowledge of the tattoo/map needed someone to come in a "decipher" it would be a good spot for my character to come in.

Makes sense.

If Meht does not want to involve the captain, then they can know to come seek you out afterwards (the meeting with the captain/merchant was a way to move things along before all the new characters arrived, it is not important anymore if we choose to exclude them, so it will be quick enough). If the captain is involved then she well know to call upon your expertise in this field.

Yeah I can see your character sheet now Nanoka, thanks for that!

re the Captain, I feel like Meht at his current level of knowledge about the world would ask the Captain first unless another character gave a good reason why he shouldn't, happy for any other character to talk him out of it though?

Involving the captain makes things much simpler, else there might be need to go AWOL and such.
I was just leaving the option on the table since you specifically asked Asha, even though she admitted her reading was not strong.

Might Alycne just be walking past, and able to intervene in the conversation about the map now? And she could then weigh in herself about whether it was a good idea to involve the Captain. Would that work?

Ah, just saw this - let's go with the simpler option then, I have no problem with the Captain being involved.

Whenever you are ready, go on in.

The captain will summon Aly into the scene.

Rezart, did you want Rook to have more time in here before we take the captain outside?

Not particularly. He's trying to horn his way in on Meht's find a little bit, and he wants to take a look at the map, but there's nothing else that he's needs to do first

Cool, cheers :)

vagueGM, what time of day would it be, currently? Am wondering how much daylight would be left.

Very nicely roleplayed, we can clearly see Rook's character there. How does Meht feel about the intrusion? Does he notice?

Rook: If you want the map, make a slight of hand roll for it. If caught: It may be strange that you trying to get a look at the map that you claim to have brought to them, but no biggie.

Also interesting that they seem to have value Rook's part in the fight more than Meht's. I wonder if there will be feelings about that. :)

Did we ever establish that? It felt like it was still morning?
Do you have a preference, we can make as early or late as you need if it furthers your aims.

Cool, yeah mid- or late-morning feels right, and I was more wanting to gat a handle on the time than having a specific plan, though it's nice if we'll be able to head off to the bandit camp without night intervening.

I know that editing is verboten normally, but it seemed a better fit here to add the roll into the old post than to add a roll to a new one that's otherwise empty

Don't Placeholder gives more specific cases of editing and explicitly endorses going back and adding rolls as needed. :)

I think having a "here's a part of the caravan where all the logistics people hang out and if she searches there the odds are high that Alycine's there" would be logical.
Alycine's not the pompous type - so she's likely to try to mingle and perhaps share living space with the merchants and other non-combatants. Someone can likely tell she's of a higher breeding from first glance but she doesn't go out of her way to wear flashy clothing etc, instead dressing in fairly down to earth outfit.
Alycine's very accessible for her social status, and can probably be called for without needing to go though her butler. If the guard is particularly socially inept she might not realize this, in which case she would be informed politely of such by Alycine herself.

(How would the scene start? With the guard meeting me at my current "logistics people hangout" area?)

Oops, I forgot, the Guard would likely just know me as "one of the non-combat/logistics staff"

I think Asha is 'shy' rather than 'socially inept', though she is of peasant descent, so I doubt she would even think about needing a go-between.
The 'caravan' only has one merchant (hey, it still qualifies) and so far he and the captain are the only 'logistics'. All the rest are --recently hired-- guards, and apparently a cook (who would be expected to fight if it comes to it (the last one died in this fight)) and no real 'non-combatants' aside from you.

If Alycne isn't a guard, then people would probably know she is someone who signed on for 'strange reasons of their own', and she may have been the topic of discussion amongst the guards? Do any of us know the reason she is traveling with the caravan (even OOC)?

If need be we can assume the captain pointed the way along with her order.
We can start by seeing where you hang out. Or we can jump to you arriving at the scene. Both can work.

I would say they probably know from rumors of the financial struggles of Alycine's House, and if they don't know her exact motivations, then they can at least have a good baseline of assuming she's here for base financial reasons or on a journey to look for opportunities to turn around the House's fortunes.
I think I'll just do that, let me know if I did it correctly

Did you, or your house, maybe invest what little money they had in the caravan?

Let's say its her House that invested (to separate Alycine's personal finances with her house somewhat, makes things easier for me :))

Perfectly correct. :)

Will give Rook an opportunity to do something before responding (else we can come back his actions in a flashback).

We don't have to have an investment if that makes your life harder. Invested money also makes any attempt to deviate from the route/plan a challenge, but that can be a good thing. :)

I don't think Alycine intended to say something insulting in her statement, when she changed "trouble" to "gentleman", but I think Rook mistook it that way. He's got a little bit of class based resentment, I think

Rezzart: Toss us a Die of Fate to see if there is anything that your sky-check could reveal.
This will also dictate if the captain is peeved by your actions. :)

Done. We'll see what happens with that before I respond in the IC thread. Though Rook actually does have a bit of a theory about what's going on, though it's based more on what he's observed recently.

Have Rook tell us what you think you discovered by your ingenious test, and what you think is going on.

Let me know if that's too much.

Unexpected wrinkle is unexpected. :)
The merchant is now tied up in what comes next, this may make it easier to branch off. (or more complicated... who can tell? not even time can tell.)

OK Rezart, I love this! Just to clarify before Meht responds, to make sure I've understood: Rook's accusing the merchant (and maybe the captain) of plotting to get someone kidnapped, and the most likely target for that is probably Alycine? Or have I missed something?

And also to check where the other characters are, Gusset is another guard and Cook is unconscious somewhere near our camp? Or is Cook near the bandit's camp?

..or have I gotten confused re where everyone is?

He's not accusing directly - he's just saying that someone with access to their records is involved. He doesn't actually know who all they have handling their stuff, which is why he's not accusing anyone. Like there could be a partner or a clerk or someone else he doesn't know about. If the paper was stored back in town, it might be someone in town.

Privately, he's still very sure that Calum is up to something shady, but he's not bringing that up because it was shot down hard by the merchant and the captain before.

He's moderately confident in his map theory (the starting point thing) there's no real proof though. He threw that out there because he was trying to impress Alycine with his "deductions".

I am interpreting it as 'someone is threatening the merchant' more than 'the merchant is the bad guy'. You are signed on to help the merchant, I am not a fan of 'betrayals by your employer'.

The 'next of kin' documents are meant to be back in town, safe in the event something happens to the caravan. Someone back there needs to pay your family, and that gets hard if the documents get burned up by the same dragon that ate the caravan... um, ignore that last bit. The merchant at least got that bit right.

More evidence of Calum's nefariousness will come to light as you look into where the map leads. He was also the last to sign on and the last to handle the paperwork, and you all saw the (not very well guarded) pile of papers as you were signing up. Why is he so highly regarded by the captain and merchant? Who back home recommended him? Does the merchant have enemies? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

I doubt the captain would have called Alycne (different spelling on the Character Menu?) to look at the map if she knew she was the target. The rest seems reasonable, but there is very little to suggest a kidnap rather than a theft, we will need to play to find out.

paladintodd and Bigvyner: There may be better opportunities to introduce new characters once we leave the camp and go to wherever the map points.

Cook and Gusset need not be attached to the caravan (yet). If they are though, let us know when you want to bring them in and what they are doing, before we leave preferably.

Myrddin: Take your time. As soon as you are ready we can work out how to get your character into the story, based on whatever is happening at that time.

Oops, I think it should be fixed now.

Yep.
Silly to have names in two places, but there are historical 'reasons', and we are working to make it display the actual name everywhere.

Nanoka: What does Alycine think about the map? What does it say? Anything important or just general information?

Has Alycine seen anything like the tattoo?

[ref]

Oh I just remembered there was going to be another line or two in my last post. I'll add it as a separate post to avoid it getting missed as an edit, though it means two in a row from me.

There is nothing wrong with posting twice in a row.

I was going to just do a "Alycine tries to interpret the map" then do a Decipher skill roll, am I supposed to decide what is actually on the map instead of the GM? Same with the tattoo thing.

It is up to you how much you want to decide. We will try to incorporate as much of it as possible, but many things we say can later turn out not to be true.
If you want you can use the roll to suggest how much you get, or even how extraordinary your findings are.

If you can't think of anything, you can roll and will come up with something for you to learn.

Nanoka: Decipher would probably be +INT, especially with the way you described it. You can type 2d6+1 in the dice box to have it include that stat.

That makes it a 7, so a partial success, and at something you are good at, to boot.

Do you want to say what you find? Or at least start us off, we can always add more and even refer back to this later to be help in times of trouble.

Tried something, let me know if that's fine :)

Remember: The Captain's dismissiveness does not equate to the GM's attitude, she is just an NPC. :)

Cook will hold off his apperance until the rest find the bandit camp.

GM, has Meht noticed anything from watching the way the others react to the information, now he's trying to understand people, or does everyone seem to be sincere (which is how it seems from the text, so perhaps there's nothing to find)? Happy to roll if necessary.

The captain definitely is worried about something the others don't know about. It appears she might know (or suspect) something from the tattoo.

She is the only one with any experience venturing away from the civilised areas, so it makes sense she may have encountered things like this before. She does not seem to like what she thinks is going on, and seems genuine in her desire to put a stop to it.

---

All your characters are welcome to pick up on this if you think they pay attention to that sort of thing, or to miss this if they are not (yet) good at reading people. Either way, there is not enough here for you to know anything for sure, if you want to follow up on this be prepared to get shot down for being presumptuous.

Hey guys. I've been a bit crook the last few days. Look I might pull out of this. I don't think this play by post sort of thing is really my cup of tea.

Sorry to hear that, but we completely understand, it does not work for everyone.

You are welcome come back again if you ever want to try again. There may also be other games around that suit you better.

Go well.

Rook: Maybe toss us a Charisma roll to see how they take your mercenary suggestion? :)
6- would get a negative reaction and move you down in their estimation. 7-9 would either get you some coin or avoid a negative reaction (choose after rolling), and a 10+ would have them agree and pay everyone d6x10 silver (netting you good will from the others getting paid), a 12 would get you four times that much silver (and thrill everyone).

Got a 7 - If it looks like the Captain or the Merchant are reacting poorly, Rook will let the matter drop rather than piss anyone off. He's not too hopeful about the bandits having worthwhile loot, considering how poorly they were armed, but figures there's always a chance he'll stumble across something and either way he gets away from the camp for a while.