OOC

Alrighty -- I hate to be the confused goober, so I'm going to ask a question over here where it's not going to gum up the game. I'm just not grokking how you're seeing skill or attribute type checks working, @Phil_Ozzy_Fer.

So taking the Aaxi stealth example from the game:
Not sure if you mean positive or negative modifiers here since you mention roll-under. Aaxi rolled a 15 and has a +1 from his Dex. So am I right in thinking that roll is a 14 if we're rolling under, or a 16 if rolling over?

Did the DC14 you mentioned come from you, or was Aaxi trying to roll-under one of his attributes?

Enquiring Minds and all that...

I'm a little confused but that is likely because this is my first game with this system. I didn't have my book when I rolled but I was looking at the halfling in the book today and they have a Near Invisibility ability where you roll a d6 to sneak.

I think I see where the confusion was. Yes, it should have been a success, a 14. Its always fair to ask question, but the die result for Aaxi was 16. I squeezed my update in when I didn't have a ton of tim, saw the net result and left it at that. I should have taken an extra moment to double check. It's worth pointing out that it's possible to subtract from a die roll as well. I know the bonus says "+1" on the character sheet, but for our purposes that should be, I believe, reducing the initial roll, rather than increasing the final number.

The DC 14 came from me. I felt like it was a fairly large number to roll under which would increase success, but still have a reasonable chance of missing the check.

This is my first time running this game, so for stuff like a halflings "Near invisibility", please remind me its being invoked so I don't overlook it.

As an aside, it's becoming clear to me that I'm mucking this up a bit from my end. My apologies. You're right to be asking these questions. This may be due to not having as much time in my daily life as needed to ensure things are running smoothly. I'm going to have to take that into consideration as things move forward.

Appreciate the clarification -- I get it now. And you're not mucking anything up. With WB and a bunch of other OSR games there's a lot left to the table and the GM to firm up, so this kind of conversation is to be expected. I'm familiar with a variety of approaches to different things in OSR games, and the pros and cons that go along with them, so just let me know if you want to bounce ideas.

Nice roll btw!

I agree with Harrigan and Its up to me to know the rules at least for my halfing, so thanks for your explanation and patience.

So I don't remember anything about this game or why I got the invite, I'm very sorry. My brain doesn't keep up with things like it used to. If you're needing another player, I can give it a shot. If it was for some other reason that I don't remember, just let me know. >__>

I think you had initially expressed interest when I'd posted it up in the Games Tavern so I sent the invite. I have no idea what your schedule is like, so there's obviously no obligation to join. The invites went out to people that sounded interested, however, when I didn't hear back Id assumed you changed your mind and weren't going to play. No worries! I'd be happy to have join if you'd like, but there's no issue if you don't want to.

The invite only showed up for me two days ago. NO idea why. I'd like to see how it goes. I'll try not to be too slow.
What should I look at for characters?

Wow! The invite must have been stuck in the mail because of COVID, lol!
The whole game is just right out of the core book for White Box fantastic medieval adventure game. Put together whatever kind of character you'd like to play. Will you need a recap of the events thus far?

I have a couple of thoughts to share in response to the OOC portion of Harrigan's latest post.
No offense taken. I will admit to being slightly taken aback at the party's refusal to take Phineas at his word when he turned up on the scene. It didn't take me long, though, to admit to myself that I was 100% responsible for the situation being what it was.

I told the bandit story because in my mind an Itererant Priest, particularly one who had been sent on a mission by the ruling body of his church, ought to have a horse. It was a completely unnecessary detail that I sabotaged myself with because I didn't take the time to think it through. I feel like I did an ok job of digging myself out of that hole with the "maybe they weren't 'professional' bandits" backpedaling I did. Time will tell, I suppose.

The point is that you all, whether intentionally or not, politely let me know that if I tried to hand you a bunch of crap, you weren't going to accept it. And rightly so. I should have thanked you for it then but didn't. So, Thank you for gently encouraging me toward better role play.

Our characters come from very different backgrounds that inform how they view the world. Phineas has no idea that he has led a sheltered life up until now. He is a bit naive, but not a lost cause, I think.
I was expecting some IC pushback regarding Phineas' suggestion (from both parties, actually) and was surprised by the jump, too. That said (and I could be wrong about this), we ended up more or less where I expected that we would, ultimately, be.

I actually like Phineas' bandit story, and the fact that all of it may or may not be true. There are loads of reasons he might not have, or might have lost, his horse -- many of them embarrassing enough to lie or at least embellish the truth about. No issues with any of that, though it did play pretty hard into our presuming there were bandits that needed chasing.

This being an OSR game, I'm trying to have Arden look at things with cold eyes and see them for what they are, or at least how they present themselves to him. I'm enjoying the game, but my biggest struggle so far is the gap between character and player knowledge that exists over this rebellion. I feel like Arden would know which side he was on, but I'm fumbling a little trying to determine that with pretty limited info. We're getting there, though, and I'll just make some assumption about things and keep moving forward.

There was no ill intent. I moved things along because you were surrounded, outnumbered and made an offer to accompany the bound Swaneke, offering to join him in jail, so to speak.

Arnd wasn't going to do much, Phineas made the offer, and Rose refused to abandon Swaneke. That just left Arden. And Aaxi, but our hidden friend is sneaking right now.

It didn't seem worth it to me to prolong that particular scene, but I can make sure everyone gets to add their voice as the game progresses.

As for character/player information, is there something in particular you'd like to know as a player? My goal was to force PCs to take ethical stands based on what kind of perceived outcome they would think is the best. So far, the group has decided to go along with their orders, and are acting as members of Emil's army. It's a perfectly rational position, but I assumed that eventually, the PCs would be making a choice about what objective they wanted to achieve because it was the right one to pursue. Every time I've introduced a character, it was to present another point of view on the same situation. Everyone has a stake in what's happening, but what they see as the best possible outcome varies.

The commanding officer that gave the orders, Swaneke and Arnd, the farmers, and now the militia all have offered varying ideas on the situation. Do the PCs have an opinion on what the best possible outcome might be, why, and how they might achieve it?

Everyone that's been in the game wants some possible outcome. Do people support Emil's rule, do they reject it and seek to re-install a regime like the one that had been toppled, or is another solution going to be proposed? (I was half-expecting all the players to abandon the story and head out into the unknown!)

Does that help, or was there other information you wanted?

Oh, I know it wasn't ill intent! I'm just (perhaps overly) sensitive to players losing agency in situations like the one we're in. No harm no foul here, I'm just hoping we hear all the voices in a scene before we move on.

The additional info does help, btw, and as you'll see from my IC post just now I've decided to just pick a course and run with it. I do have some additional questions that might help color in the picture and make sure we're all working from the same basis.

1. When Emil and the rebels swept into the city, what did they do with the ruling class? Were they executed, imprisoned, banished -- or do we not know?
2. Just how much inequity was present in the situation before? Were there citizens starving while others hoarded wealth and power?
3. At a personal level, what is Emil like? Is he charismatic? Cruel? A man of the people? Vicious and driven?
4. Was the victory hard-fought, or did the rebels wash over Arden and the other aristocratic soldiers in such great numbers that they might as well have not even been there?
5. How equipped do Emil and his cohorts seem to rule? Are they inept, are they skilled and fair-handed, or is it simply too early to tell?

Don't mean to bombard you, Phil_Ozzy_Fer, but some of this will go a long way towards cementing things for me.

Sorry to be a bother -- I like to raise and openly discuss this stuff rather than let it sit and possibly fester. That can make me seem a little forward at times; I don't mean to be.

I don't mind that you're asking questions. I'd rather you be engaged and asking questions about possible holes in the content, rather than bored, indifferent, and looking for the exit.

For your questions:

1. As far as anyone knew initially they were kept alive. Prison, public humiliation in stocks, and possible death sentence after a trial. They vanished from the pubic eye, but no one knows what their ultimate is going to be at this point.

2. This is a very open question, and it doesn't really have a clear answer. How people look at inequity is going to depend on who you ask. For example, Swaneke clearly feels like he got the short of the stick in life. Not being born into a well-connected family, he'd see himself as permanently on the outside. That's certainly inequity, but people who backed the regime would have seen all of that as perfectly reasonable. Consider debates around the distribution of wealth and power where you live in real life. (I have no idea where that might be.) Are the rich and powerful at the top because they earned, or because they were born into the right family? Are the poor simply exploited by people with means, or do they have less wealth because they're lazy? Arden believed in the aristocracy if I understood his character correctly, so he's going to have a different view than Swaneke. Phineas will have an even different view because he's from somewhere else entirely. If people are starving to death in a system that is comfortable with that outcome, does it count as inequity, or is just normal? The problem in this particular city, according to someone like Swaneke, would probably be likened more to a sense of opulence and aloofness on the part of the rulers. They did their jobs admirably but lived in a separate world. Perhaps intentionally so.

3. The reports around Emil are that he's an excellent soldier and a harsh but effective ruler. He commands respect and fear in equal measure.

4. Emil's victory was quick and surprising. Why? Might be worth asking around...

5. Emil's soldiers are capable, but few in number, hence the forced conscription.

Hopefully this helps and feel free to keep asking questions.

Yup, helpful. Thanks -- much appreciated.

A recap would be great, I'll read from here on out. I'll have a character asap.

All the PCs come from a city, or at least the general area that was run by an efficient, if not somewhat disliked aristocracy. That ruling clutch of dukes and duchesses has overthrown someone calling themselves Lord Commander Emil. In the aftermath of his usurpation of the previous rulers, he began forced conscription, this is where the players come in. Them, along with two NPCs, were ordered to the outskirts of the territory to start helping farmers can safely get their goods back into the city proper. Along the way they spoke with a couple of residents and met Phineas (the PC). Phineas comes from a theological community where members play a role as diplomats. He met with the group after being relieved of his horse by bandits. The PCs were in pursuit of said bandits, until Swaneke (an NPC) got himself captured by a militia rebelling against Emil. In an act of solidarity, the group has accompanied Swaneke to the temporary camp the militia is using, and that's about where we are.

Once we resolve how to manage a botched stealth roll, it will be morning, and the group will be heading out, possibly as willing prisoners in the short term.

Hey guys. I am still not able to participate in GP to the degree that I would like to. I am very far behind on reading the in-game posts so I am not entirely sure what is going on right now. But I did notice Rose was directly called out and don't want hold you guys up.

So while I am not sure about the exact context, Rose would be on board with abandoning Emil's cause and would go along with the group consensus.

Sorry for the lack of a proper in-game posts. I hope my absence won't continue for too much longer but it is difficult to predict these things. Thanks for your understanding.

Take care of yourself Griffrpg. Thanks for letting us know and for Rose's sentiments.

Argh, griffrpg, I just saw your note in the Absences thread. Sorry to have called on you directly here. We've got it covered. Hope you get to feeling back and can join back in, I love Rose's spark.