OOC

Greetings!
This is the Out of Character (OOC ) thread, where we can talk about the game, keep in touch with schedules and such.

I'll be ruminating about the starting situation you provided. Eventually some ideas will spark and I'll get an opening scene going for you.

Any particular East Coast city/location you'd be interested in using?

The one thing that tripped me up the most with Gamers Plane was how to make and submit characters. It is a bit weird. There are guides in the main forums. But for your character your description you've already provided is enough, you can just paste that into a custom character sheet. Then just have a place for Current Insight.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Hi! Thanks, I've already loaded the character sheet with the description.
About location, nothing in particular, I've always got vibes of it being some coastal town with shady reserved townfolks that hide a terrible secret at all costs.
Anyway, the only detail to get a hang of is the dices, as I'm new to this systems (usually was more into narrative oriented RPG), but I'll get it as the scene unfolds.

Sometimes I will preset you with a World Building Opp.
I use the spoiler tag, so look for the + symbol to expand it. I have found some folks using their phones don't see this and can miss the text hidden within.

These are completely optional. It is basically a "Paint the scene" technique, if you are familiar with that.
I just ask to keep the answer specific to the question(s) asked. A chance to create the world, but I will try to keep it narrowly focused--- as I might have world facts already established that you are unaware of.

Let me know if that makes sense.

Hey, fun first post!
I think I'm getting an idea of the narrative style you've mentioned.

I would like to emphasize some of the practices we'll need to keep so I can stay in my comfort zone as a GM for a game like Cthulhu Dark.

I run Cthulhu Dark very much following the vibe from a Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) engine.

Have you ever played a PbtA game?

Thanks! No, I've never played a PbtA game, but I just googled it and seems interesting. It would be more narrative oriented, right? More story driven over tactile combat.

In typical PbtA games I've seen the following techniques/rules. (I think they are implied in the Cthulhu Dark rule set.)

Players say what their characters do.
Players can always ask what their character can immediately see, hear, taste, etc.. (i.e., immediately experience)
Players can say what their characters are thinking.
Players can say what their characters are feeling. (Highly encouraged in PbP.)

I as a GM avoid telling a player what their character is thinking or feeling. I might describe physiological changes (e.g., Stomach turns, skin goes cold), but I leave it to the player to interpret the character's reaction.

The GM controls the world.
The GM decides if a Dice roll is required when considering a description of what the character has done.

GM and Players can ask each other questions about the world.
The GM is encouraged to turn questions back on the players.

It might sound rather constrained-- but my most favorite game experiences have come from PbtA like games, and I think following these constraints makes for really fun PbP gaming.

As the Cthulhu Dark GM, I have the responsibility to describe all of the Threats and NPC's actions and the situation.

Going to specifics, the description of the receptionists grabbing paper and filling in fields and such, stuttering and faltering is great color, but I felt a bit unmoored as I need to present a certain atmosphere, and I need to know I have full narrative rights to that NPC and environment to make that happen.

Does that make sense?
Given that, does this game still sound fun?
Any questions?

Yes, got it. Will adjust to play with only what my character does, thinks and feels.

Hey I wanted to insert the photo portrait to give a better look at the post, kinda like you do with the receptionist.... care to tell me how you do it? 🤣

HA! Found a map of the Hotel!

Even more rules talk.

Just so you know. When dealing with Insight, I will try to describe them as Checks and Tests.

An Insight Test, is when the character wants to overcome an obstacle, and you're "Testing" insight to see if it helps you overcome the obstacle.

An Insight Check is triggered when we need to check if Insight goes up or down, and if the PC holds-it-together or must act-out-their-fears.

Hope that helps.

Hey.... Wondering if this is still alive.

Yes! Did you want to have the last check stand or re-roll with Insight? (vs the threat of the Pele Hair)?

Also, maybe a time to check in. Let me know what you're liking and things you are wondering about (in fiction). Sort of my take on Stars and Wishes.

Yes I made an OOC comment, that I'm keeping the roll, and I'll be going with the dices that came up. I'll only roll insight if it's really important, I prefer to take the stakes and not do infinite reroll.

So far I'm liking the game, just started but looks promising.