Volunteer Chat

Thank you both for volunteering to help me get my 'wizard' though their studies.

You can download the Volunteer's Guide and Bestiary from the https://lumpley.games/the-wizards-grimoire/ website, but I have copied it here for your convenience.

Per the rules I am to come up with the character and stuff but, to make my life more interesting, I would like you to set as many of these options for as you can.

You tell me what my name is, what pronouns I use, and how old I am, and such.

To set my Tallies (Stats), the book has a questionnaire. I would like you to answer these questions for me. I have not looked at them, and leave it to you if wish to answer them without care for what they affect or want to try to tailor my Tallies through your answers. We can change these between each session (so, pretty much 'whenever' in PbP:), as my characters changes, and grows based on their experiences, so don't stress too much about the answers, just say what feels true or looks interesting, I will live with what you come up with.

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You volunteers can use any system you like to 'chat amongst yourselves' to reach a consensus on answers (you have to both agree before something is true). If you want to have a thread on this site, we can make that and I promise I will not look at it so you can conspire in private. :)

Is this required? I think it's likely to delay the game. From my end I'm happy to build on what Kara thinks works. So more like, the first one to post gets to decide.

It is required by the rules. But I have no say in how you decide. If you want to rule it that the first one to answer has the final say, you can do that (technically you both agree), but a little collaboration can be good too, it takes some of the stress off each of you to come up with 'the right thing', and turns that into a conversation. A little delay is not a bad thing.

I read the Grimoire rules now, I see how it might be a good thing indeed.
Kara, what do you want to do? We could start out RAW (Rules As Written) and evaluate how it's going after a few weeks.

Character Creation Questions:
You are a conjurer, scholar, rogue, and ambitious minor wizard. What's your name? What are your pronouns?

You are, yourself, bold, cunning, virtuous, and ambitious, in measure. Answer the following questions, and keep a running tally: there's a space for it on your character sheet.

1. Suppose that you face a dangerous obstacle. Will you confront it readily, or take pause to consider your possible courses? If the former, tally 1 to bold. If the latter, tally 1 to cunning.

2. Suppose that your chance companion departs the table in the precise moments before the proprietor arrives to settle. Will you pay your companion's share? If so, tally 1 to virtuous. If never, tally 1 to ambitious.

3. Suppose that an upright cosmopolite delivers a complaint against you to the law. Do you suppose that you are wrongly accused? If justly, tally 1 to cunning. If wrongly, tally 1 to virtuous.

4. Suppose that you come upon an enemy helpless and alone. Do you strike swiftly, or announce yourself and give your enemy an opportunity to explain themself or make right? If the former, tally 1 to bold. If the latter, tally 1 to virtuous.

5. Suppose that you have a certain companion who has happened upon an opportunity to profit, and now requires investors. You have a measure of wealth set aside. Will you place it at their disposal, unstinting, or else count and calculate the risk? If the former, tally 1 to bold. If the latter, tally 1 to ambitious.

6. Suppose that you have learned the hidden weakness of a potential rival. Will you exploit it now, to eliminate the threat at once, or will you preserve it for future, unforeseen use? If the former, tally 1 to ambitious. If the latter, tally 1 to cunning.

You guys can take a stab at answering the above Character Creation Questions individually, or you can discuss them. Or you can each just answer the ones that sound interesting to you and leave the others. If both of you answer a question you can decide between yourselves which answer is true, or combine them.

Isn't this your character?

So? That's no reason for you not to be involved in this part too. I can play anything, so I usually wait for other players (most games have other players:) to make their choice and then fill in the gaps or take requests. In this game we can make my character together, or you can leave it to me if you really don't want to be part of the character creation process. It is up to you.
By 'read the Grimoire rules' do you mean the main book? There is mention in there (page 4 (or 1)) about the book briefly being in the safekeeping of 'a scholar-nun of the Monast' (centuries before now). That tidbit did grab my attention and I thought about being a nun of a new version of the Monast, just a thought to help guide things if they go that way, but it is nothing more than that, ignore it freely.

No, I meant the rules you posted here. The volunteer rules. :)
I'll have a look for these char creation questions.

I'm going to fill in these prompts as if your character is a scientist. I'm not sure what a 'scholar-nun of the Monast' is, but I'm imagining some kind of theologist.

1. take pause to consider your possible courses -> Cunning
2. Will you pay your companion's share? -> yes -> Virtuous
3. Do you suppose that you are wrongly accused? -> yes -> Cunning
4. give your enemy an opportunity to explain themself or make right -> Virtuous
5. Will you place it at their disposal, unstinting -> Bold
6. exploit it now, to eliminate the threat at once -> Ambitious

So that's:
2 Cunning
2 Virtuous
1 Bold
1 Ambitious

Looks good to me. With those stats I am even more inclined to make a clever and virtuous nun. :)

@karabooo, do you concur?
I don't know any more than you do. :)
I copied all the historical data from the book to the Volunteer's Guide, that is all we have to work with, the rest we make up ourselves.

Absent protestation I have put together a rough character sheet for a nun [sheet].

Spawning Circumstances
Begin each session with a spawning circumstance. Choose one from this list and explain it to your volunteers to start play.

I have picked option 4 as it sets me in a strange city, away from home which makes for a good start, I think.
I will ask questions to set the scene shortly, but am adding the Content Warnings: Bigotry, Prejudice, Gender Discrimination, Racial Discrimination, Religious Discrimination.

@karabooo: Are you still interested in helping me with this? I see you accepted the Invite, but have not posted. If you are not keen, I can hit the Game Tavern and try recruit another volunteer.

Hehe nice name! :D

Okay, I'm all caught up here! Sorry about that...

I'm all for your character details/stats and chosen course, though still a little unclear on rolling mechanics and if that's something we'll need to help dictate.

I am comfortable with the content warnings.

I do think it might be helpful to have a private chat area where @TheGenerator and I can discuss our options behind the scenes....

OK, I'm reading the rolling mechanics in the eZine you sent. I think I got it now.

No worries.
Cool, I will get started in the first scene.
I will handle all the mechanics. When you need to provide input I will explain what is needed from you.

By the rules I don't think you are supposed to volunteer —excuse the 'pun'— ideas, but I tend to be very collaborative, so I welcome you both to step in at any time and suggest anything that you think of.
OK. I have created a Volunteers Behind the Scenes subforum where you both should be able to make and control any threads you want. I removed all my Permissions from that subforum, but that does not seem to affect me (as the GM):. Let me know if you can't create your needed threads. I have not subscribed to that subforum and will not read those threads (unless you ask me to). You are, of course, most welcome to use any other means you want (Discord, or anything else, maybe?) if that is quicker or more private, it is up to you, even without prompting.

Now I am going to have to see if I am able to cope with not reading all the posts that appear in my timeline out of habit... At least there is a Mark Forum As Read option. :)

The emojis at least help me recognise that they are not my threads. :)

I have no issue with you reading it to be honest :)

Then maybe put it in here? Keep the 'It's a secret' thread for things that are secret?

Kara, which kind of things would you prefer to keep secret? I don't think we're in charge of plot points, are we?

It says on page 17, quoted above [ref] '• Take time to ask questions to set the stage. Begin play by establishing the manner of your arrival in the city.' So it is up to us how much behind the scenes plotting you do in order to 'set the stage'.

If you want to work on 'plot points that might come up' you are welcome to do so. But, as with GMing, they might not happen and that can feel like wasted prep to some.

Is "you can pick" a valid answer from a volunteer?
For example if you were to ask "Is it raining or sunny today?" can we give that answers or do we always have to define?

If I ask if it is raining or sunny, you probably should not answer 'you can pick' since that is just lobbing the question back at me. But my questions are unlikely to be such coin-flips, so part of your answer to a more complex question may well be 'you pick if it is raining or sunny when ... happens'.

If you really have no opinion on a question we talk about it. I may well end up answering it myself if that seems most appropriate. We can also resort to dice, but that should not be our first instinct, we use Volunteers instead of Oracles for a reason. :)

What kind of answers would you prefer here?
- A simple yes or no.
- Something more descriptive like: "You wake up before prayers when the sound of the bell wakes you".
- Something that raises more questions: "You awake to a camel licking your forehead".

Still trying to see how much narrative you want us to add ;)

Whatever you feel like, on a case by case basis.
That would be fine in this simple case. Though the questions are separate, but slightly exclusionary. If I wake in time to tend to the elderly before prayer then I also, clearly wake in time for prayers (but might not make it to them if the tending goes funky:). If I don't wake in time for prayers then I clearly also don't wake in time for my duties which come before. Give as many yes/nos as you need.
If that specificity is important. If it is just flavour then you can add it as well, but I am expected to try incorporate the flavour into my RP.

These are OOC questions. So such 'pure flavour' might be wasteful. If you want to answer and add flavour you can post in the RP thread with a description of that happening, which makes that canon.
Raising more questions is cool, but putting the lost camel in my room may be a more gonzo than we want. If you said that I would be inclined to 'wake into a dream' and have a flashback to my time in the desert.
Go with what feels right in the moment. We can always adjust as needed.

I am assuming I was not meant to respond not the @mention in the secret thread?

Fortunately I find that whole @name system irritating enough that I ignore it and only tag other players when I think they need to pay special attention to a thread they might not otherwise look at (which is ironic since I would not be drawn to a thread that did that since that part of the frontpage is so full of random clutter from people who always @mention, presumably because it is thought to the way to refer to people):.

If I am needed in that thread, let me know.

Yeah, I accidentally tagged you in a kind of ironically hilarious way. Did you read the post? No worries if you did. We’ll just do something different from what I proposed there.

(Removed a duplicate post.)

Well, that bit is intriguing. :)
No, I don't follow links from there, by the time I ever see that part I have already read the posts, so I just clear that when I see it.
Good to see 'planning' happening... or do we call it 'scheming'? :)

Well it was ironic because I tagged you in the midst of making the suggestion that we try to keep you in the dark about what we’re thinking. Lol.

Pure, authentic Kara idiocy. 😂

It gave me a good laugh :D

I think it's closer to 'scheming' than 'planning'. Hehe.