calimport ooc

@vagueGM,@Chalrytharendir,@Dhakhan hi.

Hey everyone!

Looking forward to playing with you all. I know vagueGM a little from the community forums and helping to test GP development, but I don't think I've played with any of you before. So, hello 👋. My username is a bit long so feel free to call me Chal for short.

Does anyone have any ideas for characters yet?

One idea for my character is a Fire Djinn who's trapped in their human form. They've lost most of their magic and memories from before getting trapped in their human form. I was thinking of using the mage class but with Presence instead of Reason because that feels more like what Djinn magic would be associated with. Also might reskin a few other things, e.g. instead of a spell book, they carry their lamp with them, which grants them their magical powers. Perhaps over time they will remember more about their past and their magical abilities, but I'm happy to stay mostly human for the entirety of the game. Without much of a past or connections they are just trying to survive at the moment so recently joined the party as there's more chance of survival with a group.

Maybe something like this:Just an idea so far. I'm open to feedback or adjusting to fit with the group, or trying a completely different idea if no one likes this idea or feels it won't work with the game.

Ciao!!

I'm very new to this site, so haven't played with of this party yet. I have been hanging around Tavern keeper for a while if any of you played there.

I've haven't had a look at the ruleset yet, or really about a specific character concept though thoughts of a steotypical "Aladdin" did spring to mind as soon as I read the word Calimport. Or maybe an ex-guard seeking to balance some shame with acts of valor and daring do. Or a pirate! I remember the old open shirt, high boots and scimitar thing from those old Sinbad movies with fondness. Will have to mull things over once I get a clearer idea of what the setup is... :)

Likewise. :)
Your diligent help has been much appreciated.
No, we haven't. I remember when you first joined that I did think about offering a Dungeon World game if there was enough interest in your Welcome thread (also thought about turning that into Fellowship (or, later, Chasing Adventure) since the DW rules are a little clunky and outdated, but I am finding myself tending more and more towards simpler rules (like 2400)).

As always: I can play anything, so I will let the others choose characters first and then fill in any gaps.

Anyone is welcome to make suggestions if they want me to play anything specific (possibly as a foil to their gem).

I am least inclined towards Warrior in 2400 Legends, but can easily make something interesting of one if it comes to that.
I had exactly the same thought, possible because that is about all I recall about Calimport, that it was a Djinn-founded city? And the humans were slaves? Is that right?

I was thinking Air Genasi (Djinn are specifically Air not fire, but that is semantics), and Genasi are 'humanish' descendants of genies. I was thinking Magical for (free/permanent) Levitate. But this was just a thought, I can do something else since I don't suppose we want two Mages in our group.
I was also thinking about a Cleric, which sorta amounts to a 'Mage that casts with Presence'. Sorta along the line of the Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch (excellent books for examples of both Thief and Cleric, and how they can combine).

Might the Cleric, with Theurgy rather than the Mage with reworked Wizardry not suit you better? Casting with personal power rather than intellect seems to fit the 'Hindered and need sleep' more than the 'your spells misfire and hurt your friends' kind of consequences. Just a thought.
I was also thinking about hiding my Genasi nature, I don't know what the current political climate is like in Calimport, but I was thinking people (humans) might not like the Djinn all that much, so such a heritage could be a source of tensions.

Maybe we share some connection in this regard?

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We should discuss if we know each other from before this job, or if we are working together for the first time, possibly because we have a shared interest in freeing our mutual associate.

Maybe we were rivals before and are forced to work together on this job, but we do need to consider (and possibly play out reasons) why we stay together afterwards.

We can work on the details when we know more about the characters.

I am sure we will be kind... :)
Do you have the rules? They are very simple... which can make them difficult. Feel free to ask lots of questions.

All you should need is the 3 pages of Legends, but I did find Emergency Rules to be a useful read to get an idea of how things are intended to play. The fighting rules in Battle Moon could also be interesting as an example, but I don't tend towards fighting much.
Aren't we criminals? Would you not be 'an ex-guard seeking to balance your acts of valour with something shameful'? :)

It's a nice quick read. A lot is left for the GM/table to decide themselves with a focus on rulings/guidelines rather than rules, which leaves lots of room for creativity, but also miscommunications if we aren't careful. But as Vague said, we should all just ask lots of questions to make sure we're all on the same page and be open to edit if we need to.
Maybe your character found my lamp and released me but somehow accidentally trapped me in my human form??
Given that we are starting as petty criminals, this could work well. Maybe you lost your ship recently and are having to start from scratch.
Thanks! It's felt good to help out and give back to the site that I've gotten so much enjoyment from.
I wish you had because the DW game I did get in got ghosted quickly XD. I liked DW, but I'm also finding myself drawn to lighter rulesets now. I checked in on your World of Dungeons game a few times (I was too busy to join myself then, but looked fun), it seems like a nice simplified version.
Ooh, that's interesting! I didn't know that. I mentioned in the recruitment thread that I don't really know much about Calimport, but I've just given the FR wiki a quick browse today and you're right, it was founded by a Djinn with human slaves, but is now 90% human, so yeah, could be some cool tension playing with a Djinn background.
I didn't know this either ... I'd better brush up on my Djinn lore! So my character idea would fit a Fire Genasi?
Haven't read it but sounds cool. I'll have to check it out.
I would be fine having two mages or two clerics as long as we don't step on each others toes in terms of types of spells. I think two Genasi might make for an interesting party. It would imply a shared bond, but also if we are different elements (Air/Fire), then we might have lots to argue about as well (in a good in-game way, not ooc arguments).
I was wondering about this too, but I thought the lack of control/misfiring might play into the fact I had lost my powers and was trying to remember them, but not very well yet. But definitely not 100% sure about this yet. Straight cleric might make more sense.
Agreed, that could be great tension in the game. Maybe your character recognized that I was a Genasi and recruited me to the party because I seemed lost and alone and likely to get myself killed without a little help.
I like the idea that we're fairly new companions, but have been together for a few jobs now, with Ginseng as our other member. Although, starting as rivals could be interesting depending on how our characters and backgrounds shape up. I'm open to both ideas or other possibilities too.

World of Dungeons does away with all the defined complexity of Dungeon World, leaving it up to the GM and the group to make up everything. It is basically only the Defy Danger Move (but then that move (along with Ritual) really is all PbtA:).

I feel weird, for the first time in three years that game is inactive.
We might want to check how long it has been since the Djinn ruled, though our group can, presumably, define that ourselves if we want to. If we want there to be tension with our race choice we can have that.
The terms are often used interchangeably. It does not matter much and I am sure we will get it wrong repeatedly. :)
Well, I was thinking Genasi, but you might be an Efreet (checking the wiki you mentioned... yes, Efreet are fire genies, and apparently we should say Genie rather than Djinn as the general term?:) trapped in human form.

Genasi are mostly 'human', born of humans with some genie in their blood from long ago. They are the 'playable race' version in DnD. But we are not DnD.

I really like how 2400 can model the 'races' by adding an innate magic ability, Levitate for a Air Elemental, or maybe Transfiguration for a Changeling. We might want to rework it that those 'spells' only work on 'self' since a Changeling being able to Transform others seems weird (though they could learn that later).
That could be interesting. If you are not Genasi there would still be something similar enough that I might be drawn to it. If there is stigma to be being genie-related, maybe I don't admit I am Genasi, or don't even know it, but this comes out as we deal with each other?
I don't believe we get to 'choose spells' as we 'level up'. We need to find 'spell texts' (which we 'learn with Wizardry or Theurgy') in the random Treasures table. So our characters might squabble over who gets to learn a spell we find, but that will mean we don't have much overlap. Sounds like fun. :)
"Yes. Because your element is stupid!" :)

Air and Fire work well together, once we get over our disagreements. Could lead to interesting effects later as I learn to stoke your fire with Boon, or similar.
Using your lamp instead of a spell book also seems more 'holy symbol' like. I am sure you can negotiate with the GM what the risk is for each roll, especially if you are tossing around fire magic. As you gain more control it might fall back to 'tiring'?

My concerns is how the 'praying' would fit in. That does quite seem to fit what you described, but a simple re-flavoring might solve that?

Having one of us casting with intellect/intelligence/reason and the other casting with passion/presence could also be an interesting tension. This works with your suggestion that I recognise you and your nature due to my more studied approach.
Let's see what our third party member is. Maybe I am a mother hen type who adopts you all for your own good?
Cool. This connection might be different for each of the characters.
Maybe not 'starting as', but 'previously'? That does not work much with your character idea, but could be something to think about for Dhakhan's?

Ah! I wasn't sure if we'd settled on one of he three starting points yet, but I am leaning towards a Sinbad-y type.

Had look over the rules and the blog post about combat in 24XX in lieu of the Battle Moon game rules. Think I have a better idea how things should work. Still a bit hazy on character creation with a well defined framework, but will poke around some more.

The GM implied the first one [ref]

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I am not all that familiar with the Sinbad tropes, I mainly know him from Scheherazade's stories.

Are you thinking of a fightery type character? In that case take a look at the Warrior options, raise your Strength to a d8 and pick one of the Talents on the list (maybe Martial Arts from my memory of Sinbad? But don't feel bound to what came before). Sinbad could also be a Rogue —though that seems a bit less obvious.

Character Creation is also simple, you pick a Class, follow the instructions for that class (usually raise a predefined Skillset (Strength, Reason, Speed, or Presence), and pick a Talent (the Mage does not get to pick and must take Wizardry); then you either raise any Skillset, or pick two Characteristics to define your 'race' or ancestry. Feel free to ask if anything is unclear or you need help.

Wow, that's epic. I bet that's a werid feeling. Hopefully, we can fill that hole in your gaming a little bit.
Yeah, it sounds like Calimport has a long history. We should figure out roughly when we are playing in it or if we are handwaving that history and using a generic Calimport-like city filling in our own history as needed. @tibbius any thoughts?
Just read up on the links you included and yes, I think Efreet trapped in a human body seems like what I was going for.

Yes, this is a cool concept, although my initial thought was that 2 characteristics seems overpowered. But I think legends (and FR too) are higher magic than what I've been playing recently, so I might just be me.
Yes, any of these options, just being Genie-adjacent is probably enough for our characters to have this type of "bond".
Top of page 4:
Although, I'm happy for these sorts of character growth to be more diegetic.
Pfft, who needs air??? ;) Seriously though, I agree, there could be some epic combos!
I wonder if meditating with the lamp helps bring back my memories a bit after I lose touch with my powers. Could be a good standing for "praying."
Yeah, just brainstorming, we'll see how it develops.
I'm not super familiar with Sinbad either, but I think it's a good fit, lots of room to make him your own since we don't have too many preconceived notions.
Thanks for sharing, I hadn't read that yet. It's a good read and has some great explanations and examples.

@tibbius Anything you want us to know or consider before we finalize our character ideas?

I had the same thought. I had a hard time picking a second one, and, as I suggested above, also wanted to limit how Magical Spells should be used (limit to self unless pushing, for instance).

I have steered hard away from darkvision. That is both so powerful (as a night hiker- and mountain-biker, I have an appreciation for the dark, but many underestimate what a big deal it is); but also makes things boring, needing to struggle to cope when out of our element is a large part of RPGs and taking away the whole light problem has never sat well with me. I always tended to frame these as 'good night vision'.
True.
Oops. Must have blocked that out. Somehow I am disappointed. :)

We will chat when it comes up and avoid stepping on each other's toes. I foresaw myself being interested trying to learn Bolt from you, but finding that you use something different with your Flame. We can roleplay this sort of thing.
It actually feels like we have moved from the realm of speculating about a character pairing to having that decided. :)
I am liking what we have so far, let's nail it down.

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Do you know that you are/were a being of elemental power before being trapped in this form? Do you have 'memories' of a human life or do you 'have amnesia'?

Based your answer, I need to think if I know I am Genasi (yet). I am thinking 'probably', it seems more interesting for me to assume you are also Genasi and find you are something different, than to learn about my heritage as we play. (Maybe my perfectly-ordinary parents admitted to me that 'this happens every few generations, we have Djinn in our bloodline, but it is a secret, obviously.')

To be honest, I'm not that familiar at all. I'm going off of memories of the old 1970's stop-motion movies. :D They were a bit actiony but I seem to remember them only fighting after someone screwed something up or they pissed someone off, which was pretty much every time. ....forshadowing, perhap? :P

That is very in line with 2400 philosophy: Fighting can be lethal (one roll can kill you!), so avoid it if you can. :)

Are you thinking more of a Rogue? They have more options to avoid a fight, but may be less able to survive one.

Often —especially with simple systems like this— I build both options and see which I like most. This also gives some practice in making characters. :)

Heh. I don't have time for 1001 nights worth of stories but I might have a look at this for flavour. Never realized this included Sinbad. Heard of it of course but never cracked the cover!

Thanks, re Char creation!

He was added later, not part of the original stories.
I read some of them, it is a bit of a slog, to be honest. :(
Feel free to tell me to 'butt out' as well. Happy to help as much as you need ... or as little.

I have submitted a first draft of a character idea based on what we have discussed. It should be visible if you guys want to take a look. [character sheet]

Talk of my Helping fuel the fire of Chalrytharendir lead me to the Boon spell.

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@tibbius: Questions about how the Boon Spell works, especially as an 'always on' 'Characteristic' ability:
• I assume it is just a d6 and does not scale with my Reason? I am not actually 'Helping' with all that entails (though I am more than happy to accept some of the consequences when things go wrong for people it affects:).
• When this applies to my character, I still want to be able to use clever tactics and planning, and elements of the scene to my advantage, so if you would rule that this normal d6 does not stack with this 'Lucky' Boon then I will not take it, as only the 'always on' is boring compared to finding cleaver ways to get a bonus. Similar with letting my Luck affect others and also actively Helping with my own actions.

I would rule that the Boon spell would scale with Reason or Presence but I would have it *replace* rather than *help* as intervention by magic or divinity might equally interfere as aid.

@vagueGM anemone looks fun and has a good hook for a petty criminal.

If casting it as a Spell, sure. But that seems a bit strong for something that is always on and does not need a roll.

In the situation I am describing it would serve more like the Help from having an advantageous position (being lucky) and not as being Helped by another player.
What about the situation where I am not rolling to 'cast' it, so there is no risk of interfering? As per the Magical Characteristic: "... Cast without risk of side effects, ..."
In that case I will skip it as that sorta cuts out the whole need to look for ways to gain that Help from "advantageous position or careful preparation", or prevents the possibility of casting it on someone for the duration of a scene and then also pitching in and Helping in some other way.

Are you imposing a limit on how many Help dice are allowed on one roll?

Agreed!

I like your draft and I learned Anemone is a type of "windflower" ... Nice touch!

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I haven't put it into a character sheet yet (I'll have time to do that tomorrow), but here's my draft. Might change a few things around yet, but I think it is getting close.

And also means 'Daughter of the Wind'... but people assume it is about Sea Anemones. :)

"People" right here. :P

That is intentional. :)

Yes. One per roll.

OK. I will take others options. And not build a character around 'clever planning' (throw sand in their eyes for a Help dice but also have done all the research into their weaknesses for another, and such).

...

Maybe I will go with an Illusion?
• Phantasm: Conjure an image or sound that appears lifelike, but only at first glance.

As an 'air elemental' (scion) I will eventually pick up Teleport, but having that as a cast at will is too strong, so I will grow into it as a regular spell.

We have one character posted, subject to revision. I'd like to get the first game post up by the end of next week.

Submitted Asha as well now. I'm still happy to make adjustment as needed.

Also, welcome to the game @mathias0077 !

Any initial ideas for a character concept?

Hello all. New to 2400 is there a character sheet we are using?

I am thinking a rouge type character. Not familiar with the rule set or Calimport.

Can download the rules for free from itch.io

Calimport is old school middle eastern city from TSR forgotten realms setting. Lots of magic and intrigue.

Okay I have the 2400 legends rules. 3 pages to pdf right?

yes

Here's a quick template similar to the layout I used, but you might want to adjust it to your liking.Looks like vagueGM has a nice layout with some added features for keeping track of advancement and broken items for defence/consequences.

I can post the 'template' for my sheet. I don't think I will get a moment to generalise and remove the personal information, so I will just post the sheet as is, you can copy/paste it into a Custom sheet. It may be missing things, and the vertical checkboxes for advancing Skills is a bit strange (and displays a bit weird on Firefox, hence the negative margins which make it offset in Chrome (compromise)): but the ability to click and enter the dice size conflicts with the ability to click and add dice to the dice roller. We can adjust it as needed, I welcome suggestions.

Hi all! Reading up through the posts but my ADHD is having a tough time with all the inline quotes. I can see Chal's cleric, and that Mathias is leaning towards a rogue type, but I can't seem to find Anemone (great name btw!). I'm willing to step into any role we might need. I'm probably leaning towards Rogue as well - it fits Meta A obviously! - probably a scrappy street urchin, small, young and nimble, if that works. But if we have a need for something else, that's cool too.

I'm pretty new here too, and I don't have the best command of all the nifty stuff GP can do with posts, so please bear with me - I'll get there! Nice to meet you all and looking forward to gaming with you!

I am not much of a fan of the 'character sheet' 'template' system. I don't want to Create a Character just to see the results. Unfortunately, since I used 'spoiler' tags in the sheet I can not put it in a spoiler in the post (one reason to use the 'abilities' and 'snippets' tags, but those carry their own baggage).

You can use the Quote feature (as though you were replying to the post) and then copy/paste the text between (but not including) the [charsheet ... and [/charsheet] tags into your character sheet. Or you can copy just the bits you want. Ask if you need any assistance.

Is there anything we can do (or avoid) to make this better for you?
There is a Characters menu at the bottom of the page, you can click on that and see all the players and characters in the game. You can then click on the character to see the sheet. (You can also use the quill on that menu to insert names into these posts for those 'fantasy names' that can be hard to type.:)
I generally recommend ignoring all the fancy stuff and focus on just writing what you are thinking. 'Features' and such can come later... but only if they don't actually make things worse.
We should probably decide if we are all young thieves. It seems we may be new to being in a group with each other, and that might mean we are fairly new to being thieves? What do we all think? We don't have to be the same.

My character has already sort of 'adopted' Asha, maybe I look after or look out for yours as well? I am happy to be an older figure or 'group leader'?
I figure we are all 'rogue types', even if Ane is a 'Mage' and Asha is as 'Cleric', it fits the meta, so if we use the Warrior template or the Rogue template (or the Mage/Cleric templates) we are all 'rogues' at heart and by occupation. :)

Play whatever you find most interesting, I say.

Are the talents what is listed below the class description?

That is correct. So, for instance, the Rogue (if that is still what you are looking at) can chose from:
• Backstabbing: Silently incapacitate a foe while unseen. If risk is unavoidable, roll an extra d12.
• Blending In: Be unseen in crowds & darkness.
• Fast Talking: The gullible or unwary believe or do what you say, at least briefly.
• Intrusion: When bypassing locks or traps, treat disasters as setbacks, setbacks as success.
• Jack of All Trades: Roll at least a d8 for all mundane tasks outside combat.
• Light Fingers: Pickpocket and palm small objects in plain view, no roll needed.
• Tumbling: Falls that hurt others only slow you. Recover instantly when knocked down.

Yes

Where do we get the characteristics?

The Characteristics are the list that follows that note about "either increase a Skillset or gain 2 Characteristics":

• Bestial: Attack with fang or claw.
• Dark-dwelling: Sense perfectly in darkness.
• Fire-breathing: Spray an area before you.
• Magical: Take 1 incantation. Cast without risk of side effects, lasting while you concentrate.
• Mechanical: No need for food or air. Must be repaired, not healed. Limbs break as defense.
• Small: Helps evade, hide, and seem harmless.
• Thick-skinned: While your guard is up, deflect attacks from all but heavy weapons & magic.
• Unsleeping: Rest awake. Ignore Sleep magic.

Jasra the Urchin has been submitted for your approval!

approved!

We, the players, can not see Jasra.

In order for the other players to be able to see the contents of the character sheets, the sheet need to be Added to the Library.
You can do that by marking the grey 'note' icon that says Add to Library on your character list.

Red means others can see the sheet.

Else tell us about the character.

Garrett Jaxx has been submitted for approval.

To submit a character you need to use the pull down menu at the right side of the Game Details.


I do not see Garrett Jaxx for approval.

That is funny because that is what I did. I resubmitted.

This time it worked! Approved.

First GAME post is up!

@Dhakhan r u with us?

Just to clarify a few things before we get started:

Sounds like Garrett and Jasra were kids that grew up on the streets. How old are they now? Are they still kids/teens or are they adults now? (EDIT: just read Garrett is 20 yo). I'll say Asha looks like she's in her early 20s too. Asha has been living on the streets for the last year. Is it safe to assume that we banded together recently to better survive? Perhaps Ane is our ring leader?

How does Dhakan's "Sinbad"-like character fit in? Did he lose his ship somehow, effectively bankrupt, starting from scratch on the street too. That would fit in with the rest of us easily.

How is Ginseng related to our group? Was he a member of our little gang as well (perhaps his connection to Big Zhad is how we got some of our previous jobs and why Big Zhad trusts us?) or do we not know him at all and he simply the target of our current mission?

Oh also, @mathias0077 is Garrett a different ancestry than human based on the characteristics you picked. For example, some kind of underground-dwelling race/species, or did he develop these characteristics from years as a street urchin.

Yup! Just tardy! Buzruc bin Shahryar submitted. Warrior! have I created him correctly?

How's this sound? He's gambled away his ship and crew the night after a particularly spectacular failure. His sure thing turned into an unmitigated disaster. The goods were not unguarded. Three crew were captured and imprisioned leaving the remaining 12 happy for new leadership. AND every shows up at the docks, the guards seem to feel him coming! Drunk though he was, he's sure that Layth ibn Kahlan is a cheater. There is no way that he could have lost at dice that night! His were loaded afterall! Aground with only meagre means left to him, Buzruc, aims to gain himself another ship and crew and show that Layth who is the real Rogue of the Waves. But first, money. ...peferably easy money.

I have updated my sheet a little. Mainly I have turned the 'headings' into [abilities tags. This makes it easier to edit that part straight from this page.

Click the Ink-pot and Quill icon for a small edit window of just that part, this works particularly well on regularly changing parts like the Items (and less well on sections where lines are longer:).


Feel free to quote and grab the new changes.

What is our main opposition to doing this? Is it hard to get up there? Are we not allowed on the sabban walls? Can we talk/trick our way past guards or do we need to avoid them?

Ane has no plans —nor desire— to go through the sewers (yuck!)... but others might suggest it. Are we 'required' to use the sabban walls for some reason?

I did not actually mean to roll in the post above. That was for illustration in the screenshot. :)

But it does raise the point. We don't care about the 8 I rolled with Reason and Help, we only care about the individuality dice.

tibbius, you can use the Advanced Rules Definitions below to tell the system not to show us the total, just the dice, and also to color our successes and failures. Feel free to pick and choose whichever bits you like.

{
    "diceRules": [
        {
            "rolled": "d",
            "autoSort": true
        },
        {
            "rolled": "d",
            "ge": 5,
            "highlight": "success",
            "hideTotal": true
        },
        {
            "rolled": "d",
            "le": 2,
            "highlight": "fail",
            "hideTotal": true
        }
    ]
}

... or the probably more elegant:

{
    "diceRules": [
        {
            "rolled": "d",
            "natural": ">=1",
            "autoSort": true,
            "hideTotal": true
        },
        {
            "rolled": "d",
            "natural": ">=5",
            "highlight": "success"
        },
        {
            "rolled": "d",
            "natural": "<=2",
            "highlight": "fail"
        }
    ]
}

He knows not where these senses have come from. he just figures it is obscure branch of his family tree. I have updated background.

That's amazing!! Thank you!

Give a shout if you need any help editing it into your sheet.

lovely! @vaguegm I will adopt that.

@dhakhan, loving your take on Sinbad.

I prefer these kind of questions in "[ ooc ]" tags in the rp thread. Easier (for me) to keep track of.

Righty-ho.

Testing your party luck …

Well ain't that fun. :)

I'm thinking my character might be something more along the lines of a Sin"not so good", rather than a Sinbad. :D Anyway, after a couple of weeks of humilation around the docks Buzurg retreated into the city to try to improve his luck and fortunes. After some fast talking and some luck he managed to get in with a local strong man's organization (i.e. Big Zhad). It had taken him a few months, but he thinks he's managed to get noticed by Big Zhad himself and that this could be his big break. He'd seen Garett and Jasra before and even had some dealings with them. This is the fist time as part of a team. He's thinking that his leadership skills must have shined through and that he's been put with their group to add some maturity and "wisdom", i.e. keep them from screwing up. He is quite keen to not screw up.

Fair enough. So Big Zhad has pushed us, strangers, together.
Specially those two and not Ane and Asha?

That can make sense. Ane has a family to protect —which is why she does not advertise her family name— and probably tries to keep a low profile, you might not have known she was a rogue like you. :)
Cool. Ane cares more about keeping her people safe than about 'being in charge', so you won't get push-back on your being the one to call the shots... until those shots prove sinbad. :)

If there is tension between the characters, we all know that it is purely in-character. We should also only keep it going so long as it is fun for everyone.

One wonders if Garrett and Jasra work together? Are they one crew, Ane and Asha another crew and Buruzg a third side to our coin?

Or are Garret and Jasra already part of Ane's crew?

@mathias0077 oh the fun I can have with

Garrett is always looking to work with others. He likes being part of a crew. He isn't a take charge kind of guy but will voice his opinion. Usually in a smart assed way.

That makes him well suited to this being the first time we work together, and him joining us afterwards (so the game can continue:) since he wants to be part of a crew. This lets us get to know the characters while they are getting to know each other.

But, if you prefer, we can just as easily already be a crew (we can work out the details of how that came to be here, or as we play).

Haha! Was imagining this more as a hopeful source of *fun* or comedy. I don't specifically want to be calling the shots. I'm in +8 GMT so not sure how in sync I'll be with folks even given the PbP format.
Definitely and well said! Easily done as I'm a natural conflict avoider. :P I get enough drama IRL.

First in, best dressed! Just an initial post to get the ball rolling, allow people to make an entrance? Assuming we'll head up the overhead route, but feel free to change directions if you've crafted a plan of approach.

I like the way everyone's characters are shaping up. Excited to get started!

How are we feeling about the game mechanics?

We haven't really engaged with the mechanic very much, but then I like games where the mechanics get out of our way and let us play.

I have occasionally felt a little lost as to what we are supposed to care about, or what, in a scene, presents as an obstacle (we were presented with a need to get onto the wall, but that was not a thing we needed to worry about and could have just done), but that is normal when first playing with a new group, we learn which 'signals' mean we need to take actions and how things are described. :)

Rather, I presented a choice whether to get on the wall or travel through gates in the plebeian level (or even through sewers). It wasn't an obstacle, but your collective decision informed what happened next.

Yes. What VagueGM said. It's early days (or minutes in game time!) so we haven't really seen much. But what we seem to have gotten past the initial confusion of a new game start which is good!

So far so good. Casting was satisfying ... specifically not having to follow any strict rules for how the spell works and just going with what felt right in the fiction.

I haven't played many games without a damage tracker (maybe only Microscope), so I'm trying to gauge the effect of getting hit by lightning, I hope it's okay, but let me know if Asha should be more impaired than how I've described.

Liking it. Don't have to look stuff up all the time for rolls which is good.

Everything with 2400 is fiction-first common sense. So if you are in a knife fight risking death and roll 1–2 disaster, you would describe the near-fatal wound a lot differently than if you were in a mage battle with bolts of lightning and got the same roll. Obviously treatment / recovery would be different, too.

Your description of Asha's condition is just fine.

What is 'sheesha'? Meat or drugs?

It seems they know me here [ref], so I should know what my character is into. :)

Cannabis resin

I will be on vacation today through Thursday.

Have fun and a Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Enjoy.

Have a great time, and happy holidays everyone!

I think Sheesha is technically the water pipe? In cafes and such it’s typically tobacco, but I’m pretty sure my parents didn’t put any tobacco in theirs when they had one. 😜

Double up!

Was going to say I’m out until Friday as well. Happy holidays!

Double double up!

I'm back!

I'll be traveling for the next few days. I'll be going through the mountains, so I might not have reception or time to check in and post. Feel free to npc Asha as needed if things start to move forward and I don't respond. Should be back on the 2nd as long as the travel conditions are okay.

Im so so sorry for the long delay - holiday guests in my computer room ended up staying through tonight. I'll be bcak to posting regularly again tomorrow. I hope everyone had a marvellous holiday and wish you all a happy new year!

Happy new year!

Happy new year!!

Happy New Years!

Happy New Year!

Ciao!

My apologies! I'm going to formally pull out of the game. I feel like I've been drained of all of my juices over X-mas and new year and cannot continue. Good luck to the rest of you on your adventure!

Best wishes, @Dhakhan!

Arianocturn, what is your reason? Mine is 1d6 if yours is better go for it.

High risk? On a 1 or 2, the guard would have moved forward so the pommel struck his shoulderblade, and then he would have knocked Garrett flat in the passage and raised the alarm. On 3 or 4, Garrett wouldn't be knocked flat but the alarm would be raised. On the other hand: doing nothing would have lead to the alarm being raised.

Did I roll wrong then? I thought I should roll speed since I was coming up from behind out of the shadows.

That was in fact the right thing to roll. Just giving an example of how the rules would work for different rolls.

First run complete, aftermath and wrap up phase now. What does everyone think / feel about the rules and pace and so on?

I really like the characters, and the world; I don't usually like playing in established settings, but this is great. The story we have told together has been fun.

I like 2400's ruleset, though they are very dependant on how the GM rules the many things it does not define. They have been fine.

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I did feel that the many Luck rolls felt a bit strange, and had difficulty seeing how they impacted the game (many 1-2s that did not lead to 'trouble now').

The post rate (pacing) has been troubling. Long periods of waiting, then an update from the GM and the whole situation resolved in a few hours based on the first player that got to post, without waiting for the other players. Then long pauses again. Aside from this niggle, it has been good.

Yes, the "trouble now" result is troublesome because if the GM jumps to it then it feels a bit deus ex machina in a bad way. Each 1–2 resulted in trouble asap in the story …

For the pace, I apologize that I have had COVID and been first chair attorney in a preliminary injunction hearing this past week, so the game was a bit lower priority and fit in where I could.

All good. Different games have a different pace.

becomes:
I have had an uneasy feeling about this the whole game, but this time I know this answer was not there when I read the post.

There have been several occasion where other players have responded in ways that did not fit what I understood the situation to be, but I found that I was, maybe, misremembering, and there was a whole paragraph in a previous post that I swear I had never read.

This site does not give us an easy way to know that something that we have read has been changed, and no way to know what has been changed.

Why not just add another post after the existing one with the new paragraph? That way everyone knows there has been a change and exactly what it was.

If we do need to edit the content of a post, we should, please, let everyone know that what they believe to be the answer is not true (or complete) anymore.

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Sorry to hear that. Hope you get well.
The delays are inevitable. I was more concerned about the sudden surge forward, concluding a situation without giving others time to post or respond to the single player who did get to respond.

There were several times where I was waiting for the GM, then the GM posted, one other player posted something, and before I could get back to a computer to respond, the GM had pushed forward and quickly finished the scene.

If we have to wait, we should wait. I would prefer a faster and more regular pace, but can live with what we had —life comes first, we all understand that— but let's not try to 'quickly resolve the issue that has been waiting for days' by cutting off the people who have been waiting.

Give everyone a day (or whatever the pace is set to) to respond. That is something I ask.

That's not a big ask.

Sorry for the delay, my wife and daughter are sick, so I just can't seem to find a moment to sit down and post. If you want to move forward feel free to npc Asha as needed and I'll catch up soon.

Now is the time to mention:

Please let me know how you level up, and adjust your character sheets accordingly.

Unless there is likely to be in-game time for an off-screen adventure where I could pick up a new spell, I don't think it makes sense to learn a new Incantation (spell). That is a high priority for Ane, but I would prefer to see that happen in in the fiction.

The two logical level ups are: 'Sixth Sense: "See" and identify magic effects', and a simple increase in Reason. I think I will probably go with Sixth Sense —possibly followed by 'Dispelling: Remove an enchantment or cancel a casting', once I can see them:)— but may adjust this based on what the the direction the others go.

I took intrusion for my new skill

There will be "downtime" coming up soon, so if you would prefer to montage an adventure where Ane picks up a spell, that would be fine. You would just need to wait a few more posts and open a new topic for your summary of the side quest.

Let's, maybe slot in a hint towards such an opportunity in the next adventure? (If I take Sixth Sense, hopefully there will be some magic involved?) Then we can think about something like this next time.

Let's talk about what would be fun for the next mission/quest:
a. Rescue friends from hungry monsters in the sewers under Jaleh Sabban
b. Obtain and deliver a parcel from the Lightning Tower to a wizard's home in Najja Sabban
c. Intimidate witnesses to a crime here in Erare Sabban
Here is a MAP:

OOC, I am not keen on 'intimidating witnesses', though I won't block it if that is what the others want.
Ane would hate to have to go back into the sewers, but, given our recent experience, it could make sense to send us (the experts:) if there is an issue down there. :)
Obviously Ane would be most interested in anything to do with magic.

I do not mind the sewers but would understand others not wanting to back so soon. Being a delivery service sounds easy enough. (until we start it that is. hahaha)

I, the player, have no problem with the sewers, it is the character —Ane— who would not want to go back down there, but we are not here to serve the needs of our characters, no one actually cares what they want. :)

@Chalrytharendir,@AriaNocturne do you have thoughts. Chalrytharendir, how are your wife and daughter?

Sorry again for the delay! I, of course, got sick as well and my wife and daughter are still not fully recovered, so it's been a rough week with a poor outlook for at least another couple days for me. Feel free to move forward with the game if you'd like because I'm not sure when I'll be back. I'm comfortable having Asha tag along so I can immediately re join the action once I catch up. But if it makes more sense the group can do the next job without her (maybe she got sick from the sewer ... Art inmate life XD) and Asha can rejoin the next time it makes sense.

I don't mind waiting, but, since we are in a city, it should be easy for people to rejoin the party at any time: "We told Asha to meet us at the corner of ... and ...."

Get better.

Let's move things forward with Garrett and Ane in foreground. I'll make a new ic post today.

I will go with Sixth Sense as my level up. "I see magic, people!"

I have survived 🙌 It was a rough couple weeks, but my family and I are mostly healthy again.

I've been following along, so I'm caught up on the story. We can bring Asha back into the mix next time it makes sense, but no rush.

I've decided Asha's absences was because she got sick from the sewers. It's a good consequence from taking that approach. She's been under the care of a healer during the interim, paying for the service with the gold she earned from the last job. But she has made the most of the circumstance, observing the healer closely as she recovered. In doing so, she has gained the talent "Laying on Hands - Roll Presence to fully heal someone at risk of taking their affliction upon yourself (1-2) completely or (3-4) partially." I'll flavor it with heat-like effects, like inducing a strong fever to kill off an infection or flames that cauterize a wound, etc.

Maybe the healer lives in Najja Sabban and Asha has just left their healing house after recovering and comes across Garrett and Ane in the next scene. I'm happy with other ideas to re-join as well, just a thought.

This is great news, @Chalrytharendir . Glad you're all feeling better.

I like the character choices and agree that it would make sense for Asha to rejoin here in Najja sabban

If we want to avoid the need for coincidence in our meeting, Ane and Asha are pretty close, so Ane would know where Asha is convalescing, so we can pop in and coax Asha out of bed? We can just do that right away if the GM does not have plans for this betting scene.

Or, since we have only been doing this job for a few minutes, really, Ane may have told Asha where we were going and it took her this long to meet us?

I like that idea. Let say Ane knows where Asha is recovering because she had been visiting while she was sick. She knows Asha is feeling better now and ready to leave the healing house, so they arranged to drop by to pick her up after Garrett and Ane got the package but before dropping it off.

We can leave it vague, probably Ane has not been able to visit yet, since we have established that Ane has not been in this sabban before —I assumed the question indicated she could not come and go as she pleased, else she would have spent all her time here (gated community or something?).

Maybe the package came with a pass to get us in? And Ane takes the opportunity to do a hospital visit. Presumably you have not been here all that long, what with magical healing and all (the Talent you learn from this takes mere moments to work its healing).

When we find you, you are well enough to rejoin the party.

I see what you did there ;)
Oops, I missed that detail. Okay, in that case maybe there are liasons for this healing house in each ward. After payment, they escort you to the healing house, which is how Asha got in. Maybe Ane dropped her off at the liason who advised how long the treatment would take. I agree, probably not too long, but maybe not instant because I'm thinking its a bit of a spa/bath house as well, so a little extra relaxation post treatment.

As I write my post, I'm thinking this healing house is pretty fancy, magic healing + spa. I'm wondering if Asha owes a bit more than just 1₡ (I have two more ₡ if necessary). Let me know what you think.

I did nothing! You did that all yourself. :)

Do we need to worry about those details?

This is a self-imposed cost, we could say we took it out of our profit and what we gained was what was left over, and Ane would have paid for her friend if we had to. (Expecting Garrett to cough up might be more than we could expect, what does he get out of it, after all (though, you are hot)).

Probably not, just trying to world build a bit in case the healing house comes into play again later.
Sounds good.

Also, sorry if the "temper" came out of nowhere. I was re-reading my initial character concept and I had wanted Asha to have a bit of short fiery temper and thought I'd try to work that in a bit more, but it might have been a bit jarring since I hadn't been portraying that much before and maybe over did it now. Still feel like I haven't fully figured out Asha yet.

It surprised both me an Ane, but made sense, and —more importantly— was fun. :)

The characters are all still very new, so we are finding our feet with them. I had not expected Anemone to be what she is turning into (she might be slightly autistic... or maybe just a little ADD?:), and I don't know where the drug problem is going to take us, I was just following the leads.

Asha is still very young, so dealing with emotions (and boredom!) is bound to be hard.

How many coins did we get for freeing Ginsing?

1 a piece. That was more of an impress-the-boss job. Success led to this more recent and lucrative job.

Maybe we open a side thread? This seems like an opportunity for Ane to grow her magic stuff the way you'd proposed before (can't remember details at the moment), low risk, maybe a half-dozen post montage and then she rejoins her companions. We can even do the training before (game time) but in parallel (real time) to next job?

Again, this might be a side game thread, or it might be something that we just handle ooc here, depending how much "character" you want the shopping trip to have. Please let us know. It could be done in parallel to Ane's training montage.

@chalrytharendir, does Asha have any off-beat plans for the off-beat?

I thought it was 2 coin? Based on the roll in this post. Should I adjust my sheet?

Works for me. I think, right now, Ane may be looking for a teacher (or a library)? Some way to further her education (and explain future growth). She is willing to invest coin into her future.

Whoops. You're right. I couldn't find that post and just guessmembered.

I just searched (using the browser's Find) for coin in the one-page view 14 of 14.

We could do a side thing if you like. I want to get some light armor and some more daggers. Maybe a brace to put them in for easy throwing.

"pagesize=10000"[posts] … cool.

Click on the page number / total marker to the left of the << First 6 7 8 to load all pages.

Asha is interested in learning more about her past. Her first memory in her current form is waking up to a blast in an ancient dungeon in the desert with a jeweled lamp at her side missing a large jewel from one setting (see Background on Char Sheet). She wants to go jewel shopping to learn more about the jewel market and who are the major players there. She doesn't expect to find the missing jewel from her lamp immediately, but wants to find clues that may eventually lead to the jewel and perhaps identify those involved in stealing it, which seems to have wiped her memory and trapped her in this human form. She has vague memories of the faces that fled the scene and thinks they were likely burned by the explosion, so might have lasting scars.

I was a bit slow this week, so I'm happy to just have a quick summary post for Asha's efforts if Vague's and Mat's side threads are wrapping up soon.

Does Asha (or do you) want Ane to tag along for that, as support? I can do both threads. Presumably this will be an ongoing thing, as will Ane's 'lessons'.

Sure! Asha would definitely appreciate Ane's support. Not sure if we've established much of what Asha has told Ane before, but I think she would have told Ane all about her mysterious past. She quite guarded about it with others though.

I think that Ane thinks that Asha is also descended from Djinni (air) and will be surprised to learn that this is kinda close to the truth while not being accurate.

oh the serendipity!

I like it!
Ooh, the intrigue has already begun!

Ideas for next adventure:

1. Retrieve treasure from beast-teeming ruins
2. Take down a rival encroaching on Big Zhad's turf
3. Track down a courier who disappeared with a valuable package — and recover the package

@vagueGM,@Chalrytharendir,@mathias0077 thoughts?

I'd prefer 1 or 3.

Seeing how Garrett has been tooling up for a fight [ref], do we want to try for an adventure where that comes up?

Maybe, given the more clandestine nature of those weapons, we want to aim for 'fighting' people —who can be tricked— rather than 'beasts'? 3 might be a good fit?

Ane has traded knowledge of her Sleep spell for a Disguise spell [ref].

I forgot that Asha has Charm already and we are trying not to step on each others' toes, so good thing the dice did not land on that. :)

Just to prove Ane does not judge Asha for using a spell she 'disapproves' of [ref], Ane will enthusiastically share what she learned from her conversation with Thet with Asha and look into trading spells between us, see if Ane can teach as well. :)

I am good with any but 3 sounds like fun. Garrett is just spending some coin. Burning a hole in his pouch.

@vagueGM,@Chalrytharendir,@mathias0077 I am going with "3" and we are wrapping up the shopping / training threads in favor of continuing the main game thread. I will post there soon.

We've completed two jobs, so this is just a reminder about the level-up mechanic of 2400 Legends:

Thank you for that reminder. I raised my speed to d10.

Ane has learned some stuff. I will raise my Reason to d10.

Asha's time at the spa improved her Presence to d10.