Realisation (OOC)

Out of character chatter about the Realisation RP thread can go here to avoid cluttering up the Roleplay thread.This is for longer questions and answers related to that Roleplay. Basically: if it needs a back-and-forth, put it here.
General rules questions not answered in the PbP Help thread can go in General Chat or here if they are directly related to the RP.

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.

Your backstory does not need to come in one single post, if you need some back and forth with another player or the GM, post as much as you need for the other to react, just like any other post.

You can also sprinkle more detail in as we play, give us enough to understand how you got here, and enough to start getting a feel for your character.

Hey, Owlbeer: Great post. Looks like you are you are trying for a 'Star Wars Scroll' in your first post [ref]? You can achieve something like it by adding `display:block;` and `text-align:center;' (or just `center`) to the [ f]ormat code. In the sample below I also changed the background color to something a little less harsh than black, the movies had stars and other things that turned it more grey. (We really should add a 'block' option to the F dialog.) There are probably ways to get the full paralax effect, but they are probably not worth the tweaking effort.

The galaxy trembles under the Clone Wars. While peace talks on the Outer Rim falter, Jedi Master Solen and his Padawan, Taryn Devrane, have been dispatched to aid negotiations on the mountainous planet of Belor IV.

Unclear to Taryn, Master Solen turned against her. Thrown from a cliff, saved only by the Force, she survived—just in time to witness her Master engage the Republic's own clone troopers in combat.

Believing her Master has fallen to darkness, Taryn races to the nearest Jedi Temple, determined to warn the Order of his treachery. But unknown to her, the galaxy has already changed...

That was indeed my intent. Thanks for the pointers. I did fix it like that lo make it look better.

We will regularly need to frame the scene where another PC finds themself, but let's steer clear of saying what another PC actually does in that scene.

Purely as an example, the scene with Sera and Ka'el [ref] was well set, but it did not need to say that anyone other than Sera dismantled their lightsaber, that could have been open or assumed. And we should avoid saying that another character 'reaches for weapons', especially if we are also saying they 'forgot something important like that their lightsaber was dismantled'. Maybe their instinct is not to reach for a weapon?

Think about how far you would need to be pushed before you speak up and push back against 'small things' that were forced on your character. Don't put others in the position where they need to speak up.

Agreed and understood. Editing now!

Drgwen: I assume Findal and Jindal are the same person [ref]? Let's go with 'Findal' as that is what the others have adopted?

Whoops! Typo. Yes, with an F.

I think QTpi is gonna be Sera's emotional support droid.

Is Taryn staying inside the 'safe room'? Or is she stepping out the door to 'greet' the enemy?

Changing a post after it has been read (which means any time after it has been posted to the internet) means that some people won't know that there is new content, and won't respond. Some people will think it is still the old way, confusion ensues.

Instead, rather add a new post, with the new content. That way we get notifications and we can clearly see what has changed.

c.f.: Don't Edit

For clarity, can we use "quotation" marks around spoken words, and also state in the text that we are speaking (and to whom, if relevant). So: "We got to move." Voss says. (or 'says with urgency', as appropriate.:)
You tell me. Add any elements to the scene that you want to see.

If none of you feel competent to fly under these circumstance, then one of the NPCs will be able to, but then the story becomes about keeping them alive long enough to get you off this station.

If you can fly, and get a ship, then the story sorta becomes about keeping it, or about what you can do with it (you are a ship-capable crew). If you manage to get the fighter Taryn came in on as well, then you are a crew with a ship (of some sort) and an escort fighter, and that becomes the story... till you lose them and have to shift gears again... Thus it is.

Stealing a ship means risk, ongoing ones with people hunting you down. Keeping the registered Jedi fighter makes you recognisable... everything has pros and cons.

Stealing a ship is a great way to go. And I do hope we get to convincingly find an excuse to fly one. Taryn's fighter was basically Droid-Guided. So assuming she can tell the Droid to ignore these trap-guide-beacons, she can fly that one.

I am sure we can work something out ... if we will can get to the fighter. While the clones did not 'follow' you here, they know that is a Jedi ship, and they will probably be watching it (and possibly the hyperspace ring, though, maybe only after they realise the ship is missing?).

I would love to play as a member of a ship-capable crew.

We can definitely do that, when and where it is 'appropriate' for the story and the fun. It could come and go (or it could be another member of the crew (a la Firefly, or Scum and Villainy)).

It is up to us if we start (the next part) with such capabilities. We could just as easily start as a ship-desiring crew and need to play to get a ship, or we can start with a ship (or two) and need to play to keep the ship(s).

Whatever style of story the group is most keen on is what we do, we don't have a rulebook, but we also don't have a settings book telling us what happens and what we face. :)

So, 'the plan' [ref] is:

1. Launch all the escape pods to distract the clone troopers and draw them away from the hangar bay.
2. Infiltrate the hangar bay and assume enough control to try get the ships.
3. Find- and take control of a ship (or two)
4. Get away on that (those) ship(s).
5. Profit?

1. does not seem like it would be a challenge for someone like Sera. You can narrate that being done and make your way to the hangar (or hangars, up to you).

When you get to the hangar, we can see how well your tactic worked. (But I don't see that anything you do here will drastically affect the number of clones left in your hangar? Right? So no need to make a roll here.)

At that point (point 2 and onwards) we may need to make rolls, based on what you do and how you approach the situation. You may be able to further trick more clones out, or your noise may attract them all back... 'up to you'.

Let's do it! =)

We can have Ka'el catch up when Balthazar is ready.

Go ahead and show us how you 'launch all the escape Pods' [ref]. If you do anything fancy (with the timing or pathing or something?) to try draw even more clone attention, then include that in you narration and we will see if any rolls are needed for the extra effect.

We can then pick up at the hangar.

[ref] If Voss needs to fight —Brenya is still unarmed— we can assume Ka'el takes over manhandling Sera. Just pass her off to 'someone' (could also be Findal or Tai'ar), no need to specify.

To be honest I forgot Findal and Tai'ar was there.
I'm very fond of having a GM character sheet with npc with artwork that I can plop in. I don't know if you are familiar with this? Otherwise check out this post

[npcs="NPC list"]
Tai'ar  |https://i.imgur.com/5P97J6W.png
Findal |https://i.imgur.com/LTYisAy.png
Trooper | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Stormtrooper_%28Star_Wars%29.png
[/npcs]

Are you asking that in character? Maybe use writing conventions of "quotation marks" and 'Voss asks' to make things clear.

Does Voss know that this is a relevant ship? You probably recognise it as a Jedi Starfighter, but we don't know where Taryn parked it. I am assuming it is a Jedi Starfighter since it was described as: "A lone starfighter approaches" [ref].
@Owlbeer: Is Taryn the sort to know how to refuel a ship? Up to you. :)
@htech: Brenya seems less 'princess-like' (though I may be misjudging Taryn:), but, likewise, do you know how to refuel a ship? Are you able? (*)

(*) Jar Jar Binks was famously clumsy, so much so that he was banished from his society because of it. Presumably this clumsiness is not an inherent trait in Gungans, but you are welcome to describe your character as you like. That you have hinted at some clumsiness is the only reason I bring it up.
I generally prefer to discuss with words rather than using polls which limit the communication options. Only in the case where everyone is completely OK with the plan, and has nothing to add, do I approve of 'polls'. I don't ban them, but I don't use them.
Fine, if we want that. Though it is Taryn's Starfighter, and she suggested Brenya be her gunner (but that may have been in the Mulberry, up to her) (possibly while she deals with getting the droid to fly them where they want ("Flying's for droid" - Obi-Wan Kenobi)).

We can easily assume Ka'el is 'tagging along', rather than giving him separate responsibilities in a second ship. We don't need to reflect real-life complications in the game world, but this works fine as a solution if we want that. I don't want to force them to reply, though.

I don't think it changes anything much? I thought you were responding to Voss' plan. :)
There is a chance you may be able to fit the Starfighter in the Mulberry's hold, though it may mean filling it up so there is no room for cargo. You will only know if you try.

Rolling! For the first time!

We will need a roll from Brenya sneaking, hooking up, and getting fuel [ref]. I figure we can use a single roll of a d6 for the whole task:

• On a 1 (the only 'failure state') your actions are noticed before you can get connected up or get the fuel going. htech can describe what goes wrong. There may still be just enough fuel in the lines to get you away, but you might end up in a worse situation if try a jump in these conditions. You can deal with the problem and make another plan.
• On a 2: You can get just enough fuel (to get away and to a nearby system) before you are found out and interrupted. It may not be an idea place for you to lick your wounds and try work out what is going on, though. You will have to deal with the interruption, and with disconnecting the lines before you can leave.
• On a 3: You can get enough fuel that you will have some choices available to you, but they are not really ideal destinations for several reasons. Or you can push your luck and try to keep getting fuel, but this will bring problems (and possibly more rolls).
• On a 4: You can get most of a tank. You will have choices about where you go next, but none of them all that good.
• On a 5: You can get most of a tank. You will have some good choices for where you can go next.
• On a 6: You are able to fuel up fully. Once you get away you can travel to almost anywhere you want.

What do we think?

htech: You can describe Brenya's actions, up to the point they could fail, then add a roll and we can see how well you do. If the outcome is obvious (mainly the extreme numbers:), you can go ahead and describe that outcome in as much detail as you like.

---

---

The others may also need to roll, to get the ship open, to get it unlocked and started, (and to bypass the security protocols the smugglers have placed on it, but you don't know about these yet, many of them are 'in-flight' measures:). We will deal with these once we know what you are doing.

This ship is riddled with booby traps and secret features. It will take a lifetime to find all of them. :)
This means we can discover new features of the ship as we play, allowing us to 'upgrade' it without needing to 'get parts installed', and the like.
I doubt your Force Sense probing will set off alarms... unless you want them to... which would mean the previous owner deliberately took steps against Jedi?

We could save the roll for actually starting the engines? That is actually our intent. Rolling for each step along the way almost always results on a failure, and we don't want to get stopped all the time. We should only roll to avoid risk and only when both outcomes are interesting.
Sometimes this is appropriate, but I have never been a fan of hidden traps. "Rocks fall, you die" is so much less interesting than "there are rocks that would fall and you would die. How do you disarm or get around this trap?"

I am much more a fan of 'traps as encounters' than 'traps as surprises that chip away at your HP'.

If there is a booby-trap in the cockpit, and you can't disarm it now, then it can be an ever-present danger that y'all have to constantly work around till you can.
I don't really like 'out for the scene' consequence, they are boring for the player, and not very impactful to the character and story. We have already seen that pushing herself too far is bad for Sera, I think her choosing to do it again can be a choice she can make, and you might roll to try endure and stay operational if you do, but that feels separate from any roll for starting the ship. What say you?
That may well be available on the ship, but feels a bit 'out of left field' for what we are doing right now? If your characters find that they need fake IDs (I don't think anyone is thinking that far ahead, you don't know what is going on, yet) then the ship might provide, but we can deal with it then, as the story unfolds?
You are the tech expert, I don't think you need to roll to work out how to start the ship. You might need to roll to do it fast enough, while your companions fight to keep the clones off you long enough? ...

Actually I think we will just do that...

Sera: Starting the Mulberry's Engines

We can try a different resolution mechanic this time, see what we think, we can settle on a final system we like, or we can keep it fluid and treat each challenge differently.

If we don't want to try this, we can make it a simple roll, like the last time [ref].

Getting the ship off the station seems like it has 5 parts? (This number may change as I write it up.)

Sera can roll 5 dice (d6) for those tasks. She can also roll an extra die for this being her 'specialist skill area', plus an extra die for having people to help her (not sure about two dice for two helpers, thought, we can see if we use this more). (Maybe we could take away a die for hindrances like being in a firefight, but the time-crunch and such is already part of the challenge, so let's forget about that this time.)

After rolling, once you have your individual dice results (ignore the total), you can choose which die you assign to which task/goal/challenge/outcome. Arrange them to your liking (or to the least worse outcome:). You can prioritise the outcomes you feel most important. Discard any unused dice.

We can chat about what they each mean and so on.

Then we can narrate how each part comes to pass, sharing the responsibility between us.

(This is loosely based on Otherkind Dice [link] by Vincent Baker.)

Outcomes:

Do you get the engines running?

• 6: Not only do you get the engines running, you do it subtly enough that this does not draw extra attention.
• 4-5: You get the engines running.
• 3: You get the engines running. They are loud and 'smokey' from disuse, they draw a lot of attention.
• 2: You can not start the engines from the cockpit. What do you need to do in the ship?
• 1: You can not start the engines from in the ship. What do you need to do outside?

Do you do it without tripping any external alarms?

• 5-6: Yes, you are that good.
• 3-4: Your takeoff will be noted, but you manage to avoid alerting the whole station.
• 1-2: No, everyone knows that someone is taking this ship.

Do you do it without tripping any internal alarms?

• 6: Yes, there are tricky bits to the startup, but you manage to identify them and use them to your advantage. What?
• 5: Yes, there are tricky bits to the startup, but you manage to identify them and avoid problems with your takeoff.
• 4: Yes, there are tricky bits to the startup, but you manage to identify them, they will complicate your flight, but that is problem for later.
• 3: No, you can sense a circuit trip and a red light blinking under the dashboard. You can try tackle this before you leave, but think you can leave it for later.
• 2: No, you can sense an circuit trip somewhere, but you don't know what it is and it does not immediately impact your takeoff, so you will have to deal with it later.
• 1: No, you don't see any internal alarms or traps. It all looks good.

Do you do it in time to make your friends fight easier?

• 4-6: Yes, they only have to hold the clones off for a short while.
• 1-3: No, their task is hard and long.

Can you get off the space station? Are the doors/shield barriers open?

• 4-6: There is a clear way out.
• 3: You can see how to open the doors from here.
• 2: You can see how someone could open the doors from out there.
• 1: You can't see how to open the doors. This is the next problem to address.

Sera, if you choose to 'exert yourself', using The Force to control the ship instead of using your head and hands, roll an extra die and we can add that to the list of outcomes.

We can chat about what it means. Maybe a 1 means you pass out again, maybe a 6 means you do everything better with The Force... we can see, if we use it. Other outcomes could include The Force complicating the situation, or revealing something important.

This is not about 'sensing' —though that can be draining too, at times— this is about 'using magic'.

We can do something similar for those 'holding the hold' (Taryn and Voss and Findal) if we hear from them, else this outcome will affect poor Findal's fate as well.

Ooh bespoke dice mechanics! I feel spoiled. OK, sure, I'll roll 7 dice--5 for the task, 1 because specialty, 1 with force use. I won't roll a die for 'help' yet, since I haven't heard explicitly that anyone is helping. I'll roll, then assign/discuss in the next post.

Ha! I rolled so poorly, this will definitely be a challenge for the narrative. I just made things a good deal harder for my friends! Ok, let's assign...

Do you get the engines running?
3: You get the engines running. They are loud and 'smokey' from disuse, they draw a lot of attention.

Do you do it without tripping any external alarms?
1: No, everyone knows that someone is taking this ship.

Do you do it without tripping any internal alarms?
5: Yes, there are tricky bits to the startup, but you manage to identify them and avoid problems with your takeoff.

Do you do it in time to make your friends fight easier?
4: Yes, they only have to hold the clones off for a short while.

Can you get off the space station? Are the doors/shield barriers open?
2: You can see how someone could open the doors from out there.


So, someone has to throw a switch on the wall out of the ship to open the bay doors. But they don't need to hold off the clones for long, thus ship starts, and we should be good to fly. But... everyone will know we stole it!

Sound good? Hopefully that gives someone the chance to do something cool now, and then maybe we can have a ship battle later?

Sounds good. Looking forward to your post in the RP thread =)

No so much 'bespoke' as 'PSI*RUN' [itch link], but with custom outcome cards.
What are you doing with the force? What are the potential outcomes? What number do you assign to this 'card'? It is hard to make an outcomes card after we know the dice result, so we should chat about how you are using the force (or or any other dice added) and see what makes sense.
If you want to make use of Tai'ar's simple help, you can roll another die and rejigger where you assigned things. Or you can say you weren't 'using the force' and treat that rolled die as the 'help', up to you.

---

If we use this mechanic again —it can be a little slow in PbP, which is why I don't run Otherkind here— we will need to settle on a smoother system. We will need a little fiction before we can judge the outcomes, and it will be simpler if rolls stay in the RP threads. We can see how it goes.

I will wait for Taryn choices/descriptions before continuing.

I would also like to try a different resolution mechanism next time we have something this big. This one looked like too big a bite to chew. =)

I agree this should be 5 parts resolution but, maybe if we can zoom in, somehow, and put some fiction in between the dice rolls...

Agreed. Learning a new system at the same time does not help either. I really like Otherkind Dice, but there is a reason I have never brought it to PbP, I should have thought it through more.

With a little bit more structure and discipline, and with familiarity with the way it functions, I still think it could work out, especially in a game where we don't roll often (I say that, by 'seldom roll games' suffer the problem of everyone having forgotten how the rolls work each time we need them:).
Cool. Feel free to make suggestions as to what looks fun.
The size of the resolution mechanic can scale to the scope of the action. Simple things —when they even need a roll— can have simple rolls. This one was dealing with a lot of things at once.
Yeah, possibly. Especially out of the blue like this.
5 is a good number, I seem to recall that the original Otherkind RPG used 4, and PSI*RUN says 'at least 4, at most 6'. That just happened to be the number I ended up with here.
Yeah. I take the blame for that. The way I structured it was a little divorced from the fiction, and lacked explanation.

We could have rolled for each part separately, but that takes away the 'roll and choose' aspect where you can decide which outcomes to assign to which parts. Getting the doors open and not raising any alarms is a bit moot if you rolled a 1 on starting the ship, so individual rolls tied to each part has a different feel. We could have rolled to see if you could start the ship, then if you can, rolled to see if you did it quietly, and so on, but that would take a long time (when this runs smooth it can speed up PbP, 5 tasks being resolved in three posts:). We can try something else next time, y'all let me know how much ludographical discourse you want.

We need enough fiction to substantiate each die, and this outcomes chart was built based on the existing fiction (all except the Force roll, which we could add to the fiction after we decide it was happening). The roll should not change the fiction that went before, but that can be a hard balancing act and depend on timing.

I will wait for the weekend to be over everywhere (so ... like, Tuesday) and then move us along if they are not back, they can then catch us up on what they were doing.

Sounds good. And next time something comes up, I'm happy to draft and propose a roll table as well, so you don't have to shoulder all the burden.

Let's continue? If Owlbeer comes back we can see about getting Taryn back into the story.

How do we feel about running with just the two of you? I am happy to do so, but 2 is a hard number for the players.

Okay, let's try this. =)

I'm willing to keep moving forward! We can re-assess if it doesn't work well.

Suggestion for our first destination:

Ooh fun! Sure let's give it a spin. I think we should stipulate the (IRL impossibly unlikely but) Star Wars probable fact that each of these worlds is colonized in some way, so there will be small settlements on each.

Stipulating that it be an inhabited planet, and ruling out 'crash-survival' as the next adventure genre, is useful calibration.

I care less about the type of terrain than about the type of settlement and society, but if that is the part you want to decide on now, that dice table is great.

If you roll and find you don't like the result, and find you really would have preferred X, we can 'go with X', Oracles are meant to guides to what is most interesting. :)

htech: Do you want to roll it?

Well, at the most basic I would like for you to be able to succeed. But with no guarantees. So whatever their intent, it should still be workable.

I would have thought they were probably wanting a shipment, and will be disappointed when they find you have nothing. There will be confusion over where Hulo Kena is, and you will need to come up with a story about that, and about why you are kids. At a minimum, you will also need to find a way to pay for fuel and food... but that search for a payday could be your next quest, it makes sense for how inexperienced you are at independent living in the world.

If you want to go with any other options (from that list [ref] or something else), we can make it happen. I will respond when we have a consensus.

These people are not allied with the RepublicEmpire, so, if they arrest you, you will have the chance for a 'prison break' (as opposed to being handed over to the clones). If we think that is an interesting story, we can easily make that happen. If that is the case, you will be able to see troops of some sort in the skiff, if there are no troops (your choice), then you could assume they don't intend to arrest you (or, at least not Hulo Kena) and prepare for other outcomes.

If they did intend to arrest Hulo Kena, that may provide opportunities as well. Life is what you make it. :)