OOC Chatter

Woohoo! Glad to have you on board man :)

Out of curiosity, what did Geran do to ensure that they were frozen in place for multiple hours?

He scared the living shit out of them... literally.

Sure but like... wouldnt they run unless bound? Are you really expecting them to stay frozen in fear while the thing they're afraid of takes a nap?

I wasn't expecting that at all, haha. The real plan was to let them run away, so we could follow them. Geran doesn't need to read their minds to know what they're gonna do. Grunts like them? They're obviously gonna do the stupid thing and run off away from the danger, to get help.

Why is it stupid? They're bringing the danger to their doorstep.

Listen, I know I do a lot of things without really explaining, but trust that I'm planning things xD

I don't, though. This is a cooperative game, not a one-man show. You need to explain yourself and involve the other players, or you come across as an antagonistic dictator. Maybe that's what you're going for with Geran, but then expect other characters to react to that appropriately.

I know its cooperative, but yes, thats what I'm going for with Geran. He's used to being on his own, and when with others, he's used to giving orders without question. If you want me to give you a run down of everything, then I guess I can. I just think thats ruining Gerans mysterious nature.

I'm alive!

Maybe you don't tell the group what you're planning, but at least put it in your narration so it looks like Geran is planning this in advance and not just making it up as he goes/being an ass. We can still react IC.

Mysterious is not trustworthy. Why would we be working together?

You say you understand this is a cooperative game, then intentionally created a character who's main MO is to treat all the other players like garbage (i.e. created a character fundamentally uncooperative) and to boot have shown no character growth on this point, even after being called out on it IC.

Yes, Rixon is frustrated with Geran. But also I as a player am frustrated with you as a player. I'm a huge fan of flawed characters, but flaws, especially those detrimental to other players, should be openly discussed at length in the OOC realm. I don't care if you want to keep the mysterious backstory secret, even from the players. But character flaws that affect cooperation, in a cooperative game, should be hashed out ad nauseam.

I'm also a fan of intraparty conflict, like the above-mentioned IC calling out of Geran's actions. But again, such conflict should be discussed OOC, and ideally should result in a lovely RP moment where the characters reach a better understanding of each other and their commitment to each other is fortified, rather than eroded.

This is a gritty game (and I love that about it), but in the game page it is explicit: You are playing the good guys. A seemingly sociopathic dictator is not a good guy.

Huzzah! Welcome back!

I apologize for irritating you guys, and I'll do better at narrating. Yes Moofs, I know its cooperative, but made Geran difficult for a reason. Immediately cooperatibg with the team is too generic, and Geran is a complex character. Trust me, he's definitely a good guy, you just need to get him to warm up to you. You want cooperation, then open up and get to know Geran- you guys arent exactly making things awesome either. I feel like we all could improve. But anyway, Geran will be much better if you prove to earn his trust, and help him earn yours. I again apologize for appearing to be an ass, but I'm no suck up either. We all need to work this out together instead of attacking each other, okay? Welcome back Moofs- I was afraid you'd get kicked off.

Followed up by IC threatening to attack? What?

Complexity is great, as I said before, but has certain OOC elements that make it viable, otherwise it's just conflict. We were recruited to be a team by the Harem, and ostensibly knew each other before. This is why I'm asking for more OOC dialogue about what's going on.

You asking us as players to blindly trust you feels like you are assuming we are bad roleplayers and will metagame reflexively, unable to distinguish between player knowledge and character knowledge. A better way to realize your story might be inviting all of us in to help co-create it rather than force it on unwilling subjects. I too have some ideas for Rixon's overarching story that I could share, but in this context, the most relevant is that he is a Vengeance Paladin and would not, under any circumstance, let people who had a person in a sack run away to possibly live. Geran should know this, but we haven't had a lively OOC discussion about characters and motivations. He's about to learn it IC.

Geran asking the characters to blindly trust him when he's proven to be selfish and cares little for them is also a big ask, and will likely get laughed at or ignored.

I'm not trying to attack you, or change the way Geran is played. I'm trying to have the OOC conversations that we all need to have in order to all feel satisfied with this game. You're right, we all can improve, and these conversations are the backbone of that effort.

Of course Geran is threatening to attack- you're outright killing an unarmed man, who is only suspected to be evil. The necromancer was evil, but obviously these guys just seem like scoundrels. Geran isn't selfish at all actually- he hates himself for not fixing certain things, and he acts on his own because he has serious trust issues. He IS good- just open up to him, and he'll open up to you.

On another note, I emphasize my apology. Life isn't treating me too well as I recently lost someone close to me, and I'm also dealing with stupid b.s., as well as working 7 days a week, and on top of that, I have chronic depression and insomnia. I promise Geran is good, but I guess I just haven't really portrayed him that way because I'm dealing with stress through him, and I realize I'm just screwing things up more. I hope you accept my apology, and I'm glad we're finally figuring this out.

Beaten lady in a sack confirms evil, to me.

I think the situation is salvageable in terms of Geran's plan. Hunter's Mark gives Rixon advantage to track the guy, and we only need one to run... but he'll definitely kill him once he finds him.

I'm sorry for your loss, and various stressors. Gaming is a fantastic escape, and also a way to explore some stuff safely. Sorry if this one was not that for today, but the hope in airing all this is that it can and will be. I totally accept your apology, and I don't want that to be the end of the conversation.

The way I see it, both parties have it right and wrong. On one hand, yes Geran didn't share his ideas with you, but I can understand why not, because after reading what you guys have done so far, nobody has really been friendly to him really- it seems everyone immediately jumps into interrogating him.

On the other hand, One, you definitely could help them out too- while your character is mysterious, you need to help the players not get annoyed with the little things Geran keeps doing.

As for this whole argument that's going on right now, I can understand both sides. Yes, they do appear evil, but outright killing someone that's unarmed, AND still set on it after Geran constantly asked for you to stop- that'll definitely ruin his trust and piss him off. Sure he was evil, and who knows? Maybe he wasn't! Maybe the girl is evil, and they were trying to get rid of her, so that's a possibility. Point is, I think I'll side with Guy on this one because you guys don't have all the info to really judge someone so harshly to kill them. If anything, capture the guy, get the info (Geran could dig into their minds- including the girl to develop a true solution.) Plus! IF the guy is truly evil, sure, he deserves death, but you guys are fighting to create a better country, so murder wasn't exactly the heroic/greater good moral choice in my honest opinion.

Anyway, and furthermore. I'm really excited to join in soon!

Happy to have you aboard! And I'm glad this game is back to moving along... with the addition of a robust OOC to hash it all out.

My points had little to do with what exactly we're doing in-character vis a vis good vs. evil, but everything to do with the way those actions were approached and handled and the OOC conversations that should be going on surrounding such conflict-generating character choices.

And a moral point...
If we didn't have all the info to kill someone, then we shouldn't have started that fight to begin with.

I'm happy the game is rolling again (partially my fault for not pushing things along). Moofs, glad to know you're still alive and well. Hopefully that new baby life is settling into a sense of normalcy! Couch, glad to have our punching/slashing friend back in the mix.

As for the rest, IC keeping things from characters is perfectly fine and normal. I would ask that you all work a little bit more on OOC working with one another (table chatter) to keep things flowing smoothly. Stress, depression, and crap things in life suck, and 0n3_guy, you have my sympathies for all of it. Thank you all for keeping the discussion as civil as you did. I opted to stay out of the bulk of this one because I'm a firm believer that the group coming to an agreement as players (and as 'adults', regardless of actual age) will go a lot further towards game longevity than me trying to keep behavior in line with an authoritarian fist.

Let the bandit hunt begin. :)