A Hot Opportunity OOC

If you craft items. I would assume you have knowledge as to how things are made, and the tools with which they are made with. If we only interpret traits literally. We will be boxed in to only the trait usages the writer considered at the time.

I know we are an entirely different group, but in the campaign I finished last year. We generally could get an advantage so long as it made sense that we would hold knowledge that was relevant. I used blacksmith as it's "forge controls".

If it is not so. I'm sure the GM will make a ruling and either ask for a new roll, or interpret the results appropriately. In this case, seems I succeeded.

I was not trying to question advantage of the roll, as a matter of fact I totally agree. I was rather questioning the need of a roll and the need to explicitly state a PC is trying to make sense of what he see. It's more a question to @htech if he disagree your PC would by default always try to understand the purpose of any mechanism, just as Zyra would check for traps or Legolas try to perceive hardly noticeable things

I'm just trying to figure out what's expected from me as a player in this game. I hope you don't mind.
So far the only peace of advice I read is

No worries at all, I really appreciate you taking the time to check in about expectations.

So, here's how I see it: the general guideline for this game is, as you quote, "feel free to roll a Test anytime you think there’s a risk or interesting result in failure." That’s pretty flexible, and it’s meant to empower you as a player to drive action and interpretation, not lock you into rigid mechanics.

That said, when a player describes an action and rolls for it, that’s a strong signal to me as GM that the character is going a step beyond "default behavior."

So, no, you don't need to explicitly state that your PC is doing reasonable, in-character things by default. If your rogue is walking into a dungeon, I assume she's checking for traps, in general, but not necessarily in specific places. If your dwarf sees a strange mechanism, I assume he's trying to make sense of it, but not making wild guesses and poking at it.

In the case of Orryn, by describing what he did and choosing to roll, I understood that Gearspark was signaling a few things — first, that Orryn was out of his comfort zone (i.e., this wasn't just mundane smithing), and second, that there was room for uncertainty, curiosity, risk or even misinterpretation. That’s why I leaned into those magical inferences: giving him something more, but still not a wizard-level breakdown of the runes or the specifics of invoking a fire elemental. You get a bit of the mystery without short-circuiting the unknown, considering his Traits.

In summary:
- No, you don’t always have to roll or state default intentions.
- Yes, if you describe and roll, I treat it as going "an extra mile," which often leads to more details, risks, possible complications, or even narrative rewards.

I hope that helps clarify! And absolutely no worries—these kinds of questions are welcome and help make the game better for everyone.

Just sorta checking in. Do I need to move the scene forward? I wrote myself with Zyra, but if people are having trouble I can write something. Otherwise I'm just waiting on that post. No rush, just making sure people aren't waiting on me.

I think you are good. The pace has been varied and I think it's natural based on our player geography. And our goal is daily 5/7 days a week. To your point, it's something I am still learning in PBP. I don't see the point of everyone just saying essentially "yes, I agree" or "my character stands back and watches it unfold". Human nature is to fill in silences in conversation but that sometime becomes weird in a narration.

So far, I haven't felt that in our story.

I guess it's not the question of posting peace but posting. Sometimes you read DM describing the scene and want to do something. Or at least want to post a PC reaction to the scene. Other times you shrug and wait for other players to post.
Spotlight is illuminating empty scene.

Is it the case right now?

Are there any goals you wanted to accomplish before rejoining Legolas? I'm essentially following Zyra's lead. So I'm holding off posting to see what you do or suggest. The OOC guidance is only if you don't have a direction in mind.

I thought we were heading up to the forge from the lab and the DM had posted for Legolas... Since the party was separated I wasn't sure if Legolas was waiting for us to catch up or if htech was waiting for something else.

I went ahead and wrote myself into the forge room with Legolas. Still waiting to see what happens with the shoe trick before doing more.

@Gearspark I really liked your "Reasons" for rolling the dice =D

Keep it funny and witty :)

Totally agree!

Aww, thanks! I do enjoy messing with titles and descriptions from time to time. Glad to hear it's enjoyed by others too!

Does everyone hear the clicking?

Not yet.

It might be important to discuss this. I typically don't use private knowledge that isn't shared. Some folks play with the assumption information is shared upon reveal, and if that's how everyone plays, I'll need to adjust. Otherwise, just know I'll not react to an info dump unless you share it.

I would specify when I am sharing information... The info I gathered from the dwarven books, I will share in the narrative of my next post... I want to give it more thought... so a little later today.

I totally understand, and I guess your message is more to the group than to the GM. How do you want to play this @GreyWord,@Turanel2? Should I use notes to keep players and characters with the same knowledge?

If I leave it open, you can easily say "I told them what I know and...". If I use notes, you will have to share knowledge using your words.

We may need to vote here, I'm good to go with what majority want, but my preference is this

- Only hide information from players when stealing info from a player has a good reason, such as adding tension. Example I like when in DnD players roll their death saving throws in secret to other players.

- Give player opportunity (wait one post) to role-play information sharing, i.e
when DM posted Legolas hear clicking I would like everyone to wait for me to do a post. I did a post but didn't make big deal out of that information sharing. Now @Gearspark also has an opportunity to roleplay asking my PC about what he hear. If no player want to role-play we just assume Legolas say "I hear clicking" and move on.
While @Turanel2 want to role-play his PC info sharing which is great. I would suggest to wait for the post before role-playing reaction to fact that Zyra gathered significant info

I'm of the mind to play it like we were at a table. Open information and we can act accordingly. But I won't object to notes from time to time if the situation warrants it.

Sounds good. =)