OOC Chatter

Yup. Blather on.

As you guys are discussing splitting up into a pair of groups, would you prefer I:

A) Set up sub forums for each subteam to play out their sessions in that only they have visibility to
B) Set up separate threads for each subteam to play out their sessions in that both sides can see
C) Use the main thread and put each teams actions in notes so only those involved can read them
or
D) Use the main thread and we just let each group see what the other group is doing

D is obviously the easiest for me but requires the most from you in terms of player knowledge vs. character knowledge.
A is the easiest in regards to player knowledge vs. character knowledge, but is more convoluted in terms of tying everything together.

I leave it up to you, I don't care one way or the other.

B seems preferable

B or D is fine. I'm usually pretty good with keeping info separate.

B or D sounds good to me, slight preference for B

I would go with B.

I'd go with B.

While Couch hasn't weighed in, seems like we have B in a huge majority with a minor acceptance of D. I'm going to go ahead and just use the two thread approach. You'll all be able to see (and will get pinged) for each thread. I trust your player vs. character knowledge will stay properly cordoned off. :)

As soon as you guys RP out who composes each party, I'll get those set up.

Yeah, I would have said the same as everyone else.

Holy moly, Drama... I've never felt bad about healing an NPC before. Loving it!

:D

Haha, yeah. I like that dwarf.
Also, feel free to ask what Kaio's up to. It's not a secret, he's just not great at communication and since time is very short so are his explanations.

So spoiled ;-)

Yikes, it's getting real serious in there. Xaar is gonna be so bummed... if we live to tell about it.

Oh yeah. The sheriff and the watchman were both luck of the draw. I'm interested to see how you guys handle this now.

Well he interrupted my speech, so... I don't see it going well for him ;-)

If the Sheriff's response is "Yep, we hold you till Notter comes," Kaio is going to appeal to the common people to help him, and then he's going to fight like he never has before. Hopefully, if my luck holds, he'll make them wish they had never seen him.
Though unfortunately, I have a feeling the sheriff isn't a pushover. He'd better not be a veteran from the PHB.

I'll be updating this a bit later this afternoon. Need to knock some work out after being home with all three kids the past 2 days. :)

And no, he isn't a veteran. For your OOC interest piquing, a veteran is far and away weaker than your lovable sheriff here.

1hp, no spell slots... yup, lets take him; shouldn't be hard right? XD

Meanwhile, Group A is taking a romantic walk under the stars, the smell of sweet grass in the air...

Aw, butts.

Well... Maybe a jailbreak isn't a terrible play. If we don't manage to talk ourselves into the grave.

Group A had the right idea... We maybe chose a romantic walk to the gallows.

Drama, did we get any exp at all for killing the 2 guards and the Lieutenant?

Yes/No?

I typically don't do classic experience. Instead, it's story driven/milestone experience. As you guys advance the plot and undertake things which are important, you gain skill and power. In the end, you'll likely end up with a "fast" advancement track because of it. At least through the first swath of lower levels.

So yes, you guys got some "credit" for what you did. However, given that conflict is still ongoing, you wouldn't have gained a level just yet.

Well, seeing as veterans have an AC of 19 and a multiattack, that's not cool.

Just for clarification- Willowdark is in Telluria, right? So the guys from Markindale would still be of interest to the town, no?

Yes, Willowdark is in Telluria and yes, the guys are soldiers of some sort from Markindale, or so you'd gather from their behavior and statements regarding the two lands. Not sure how familiar Xaar is with the sigils of these two particular kingdoms, given her origin.

Probably not, luckily they announced themselves!

Jean was in the Tellurian army, would he recognize them?

Eager young scouts, desperate to show they've got what it takes, try to kill those nefarious agents of The Court of Three Lords. Whoopsy, it's adventurers with more blades than f***s to give.

Yeah Jean, you'd recognize the cut of their uniforms, at least enough to corroborate their boasting.

Just want to doublecheck: Team Murderhobo is cooling their heels while Team Romantic Walk catches up timeline-wise?

At the moment yes. Unless Team I Like Pina Coladas spends more than the next 9 hours doing stuff out in the field.

It's about time we did a team-bonding exercise while stargazing.

Trust falls, and pottery class, and kumbaya sing alongs

And ambushes!

We'll do our own team bonding... shiv carving, pacing, keeping count of days with tic marks on the wall.

And busting out of manacles. >:)

And sleep xD

Exactly. Team bonding isn't about doing the same activity at the same time, or even being able to see each other.

On second thought... maybe that's how we ended up in the slammer?

... *nudge*

*Bump*

What's the delay? Can we discuss out of character what needs to happen right now?

Can we move on w/o the others response? They seem to have gone dormant?

You guys need to leave the jailhouse and tell me which way you are headed. I think Geran was waiting for a confirmation from Jean that he was unlocked (or that someone took the keys and unlocked him). I know Moofs character was keen to just get moving. Once you say where you head, I'll provide you details and such.

On it.

Rixon will join Kaio, but not til I can find some time tomorrow morning!

thorolf just wants to get moving

Well, he's got his chance now :-)

So glad this is back up and running again.

Anybody home?

Yep; we're waiting on the others to play out so we can get back together again. And they seem to be once-a-day posters.

Nothing wrong with that. It's just been a couple days. I'm antsy ;-)

Oh yeah, me too, I'm just in other games with the DM so I know he's still around. xD

Someone drew a picture of Thorolf and Rufus and I colored it in!

Just by the way, I'm going on Choir Tour to California tomorrow, so I'll only have my phone to post when I can. I'll be back on my PC when I get home on Monday.

@Drama, when do you return from vacation?

Hey guys, I got back Sunday night. Spent the last day and a half clawing out of e-mail purgatory, and am back in full swing now!

Welcome back! I know that slog well.

Yay!

Assuming Moofs is afk?

Looks that way. :( I'll give her til tomorrow and forge on ahead.

Have a good trip. this business trip has played hell with my ability to post. I'm looking forward to normalcy next week.

Are we on hold due to some aligned vacationing?

No, we were on hold because I'm a dumb GM and forgot that I posted a "I'll post tomorrow" post. Then when I checked on my forums, I saw I was the last to post and was like "huh, I guess they just haven't gone".

I'm back!

Haha! I've definitely done that exact thing before with work-related stuff. No worries.

Back in action! Also, damn. Smite is fun. Gotta get me some more spell slots...

Certainly helps that you whalloped on an undead.

The Great Old One picked the worst guy to be a Warlock I swear...

Heh, not your fault you tried magicking a necrocleric..... lol.

It was dumb luck the big guy made his save though.

I am going to be offline Tuesday and Wednesday for orientation.

Guys, please PLEASE let us know when you are going to be gone for more than a week.

ThatGuy, you've been utterly absent in game for over 10 weeks without any alert in the group other than the message on Sunday that you'd be gone Tuesday and Wednesday. I know we had a short PM about a different game in mid-may, but still, it's been over a month since then with no information to us.

CosmicKeyring, not sure if you're still watching this game or not. I'll send you a PM as well. I've not seen anything here from you in about the same timeframe as ThatGuy.

Everyone, please try to be respectful of the others you are in game with. If you do not have the time to maintain some small presence, let us know and you can retire from the game. I get that people get busy, myself included. I need to be better letting you all know if I'm going to be out for a few days. However, if you sense that you are getting busy, drop us a line in this forum or on the site's forum (here).

Thanks all.

I am back from orientation and I thought I had posted yesterday

I talked to Cosmic, hopefully he'll be back soon.

Hey folks, what's up? Have we stalled out?

Nope, not stalled, just had a long weekend with too much to do. Which is becoming more and more my reality lately. :(

Ah, no worries! I feel that feel. Just checking in :-)

Again, just wanting to check in and see who's still here and committed to playing. I know Drama and Couch are still around and posting. I suspect On3_Guy is still around.

You other guys still want to play D&D?

I'm still around. Today is just my birthday, so I might not be active if the game continues today.

Happy birthday! No worries, I'm talking about the general sense of lull. I doubt it'll bounce back today. I'm just hoping it bounces back at all.

I think it will, I just think Dramasailor is IRL busy right now. Job promotions and such.

Yeah, work has been rough and I know Moods is doing the new small human gig. I'm hoping to boost this one next week.

Sounds good! And, congrats Moofs! I remember reading that, now.

Hey all, I'll be out of Internet range all weekend. Feel free to bot me as needed!

We'll likely push on Monday. Have a first birthday party for my daughters today, and likely spending tomorrow recovering from having a first birthday party for the daughters. :)

Are you guys doing okay? I hope I played that scene decently.

All good here! Just getting back into things after a long weekend. It played well, definitely. I'm not sure what Geran wanted from them though, or what we learned (i.e. What are they up to, are they the bandits, etc). Posts shortly!

Geran was just studying his voice, so he can shift into the leader, and infiltrate their camp. I thought it'd prove useful.

Ah. That makes sense! I do wonder if hey have a larger camp or something nearby.

But, I think this is their camp (cuz bedrolls and treasure) and we're about to off them all.

No, this is an outpost. They have a main base. All we need to do is find it. Maybe if we kept one alive, Geran could read his thoughts. This is kinda meta-gaming, isnt it? Sorry Drama.

How do we know that? There's no hint of it. Guessing?

I'm curious how you came to that conclusion, both in-game and meta-game.

I'm not confirming or denying, but am also curious as to the thought process here.

Well to me it's really quite simple. Look at the facts- for one, they said they'd send supplies right? Well we know that there aren't any supplies except gold, books, and cloth- not food in that cave. Also, if this were their HQ, don't you think it'd be much more heavily guarded considering the loot? I bet you this is just an outpost.

Also, they were obviously not afraid to take on Caruthers, so they either have a massive trick up their sleeve, or they have an entire force to be reckoned with. If they weren't bandits, then why are they hiding in the first place? Also, they did mention 5% of the "business" right? I find it hard to believe that a functioning business would be run out of a cave with no supplies, a few sleeping bags, and a few chests of loot. You gotta think, how did these guys get such amazing treasure in the first place, right? Not some common folk, I tell you. They're hiding something, for sure, and Geran will intend to figure that out.

I wouldn't call that metagaming, then. That's just your character taking facts and drawing conclusions... all good. I'm happy to let Geran do his thing, and we'll find out if he's right or wrong together. Metagaming in this context would be something like getting a peek at the map and seeing 'super-secret bandit city' then making decisions based on that.

In a similar fashion, Rixon figures these guys are bad dudes because how else would they have so much loot and why would they be hiding, which is why he's okay with ambushing strangers, this time. But they might turn out to be hunters with an inheritance, and he'd feel real bad about that.

What I meant by Meta-gaming was how I was suggesting to keep a guy alive, when Geran hasn't communicated that yet. That's something that could easily influence your characters choices at the moment.

Ah, yeah. You'll have to communicate that IC. Rixon really wants all the baddies to die, always.

I edited my last post (not the actions of course) I just threw in communication, so I don't have to wait till next turn.

I'd say wait til next turn. If that had been in your post originally Rixon would've acted very differently at the suggestion of killing BEFORE questioning.

You're attacking the same guy Geran is, so I don't see the harm in it?

I'm saying his action would've been different. Rixon is already conflicted about attacking unknowns. What if they're good?

Suggesting Geran doesn't know, and wants to ask questions, would raise doubt. We're not killing them this round, and Rixon already went for the guy, as you say, so no harm delaying either.

True, I'll just copy it, and paste it for next turn then.

Just waiting on Cosmic, Moofs, and Couch, right?

Yup. Normally I'd say I'm just going to run a bot train, but with half the group not having acted yet, I'd almost rather wait a bit more than NPC half of them.

Heard from Couch at all? I'm dying to continue, haha xD

I know he's around now, but still playing catch-up I'm sure. I think life took priority for a couple weeks.

I completely understand that. Just wanted to know where he's at. Glad he's back.

I don't want to let this game die, y'all. I like the world and story and possibilities.

Same. I really want to finish it. I'm tired of games always ending early on gamersplane. This is one that needs to live.

Sorry about reality slapping me in the face for a bit. Still trying to get a number of things under a sense of normalcy.

We've got Tookie and Im_That on board.

Can I get a sound-off from
Moofs
ThatGuy
CosmicKeyring
Couchlord

If we need to, I've no issue dropping down to the few that are active and possibly recruiting some new faces to enliven things a bit.

I think for this, I'm going to put a 48 Hour count on this from right now. So, 1400 ET on Tuesday, I'll make the call if I'm dropping folks out and bringing in new ones. If you haven't checked in with a "hey, I'm here" post on this thread w/in that 48 hours, your character will be faded away in the narrative and I'll find some new folks to fill the gaps.

Sorry this has been dormant for those that are around.

still here

Ok, so it looks like Moofsalot, CosmicKeyring, and CouchLord will be be faded out into the background. That leaves us with: Geran, Rixon, and Thorolf as our three active folks. For right now, I think we're "OK" sticking with three. We can add more if we feel we need to have some additional depth.

Sorry again for the delay in this everyone.

I have a friend who just joined gamersplane. Coukd we add him? He's definitely active.

I've got no issue with that. What's the player name, I'll send an invite out.

TheHeroOfFerelden

Hey everyone! Glad to be here. It's my first game on gp, so bear with me if I'm a bit confused on how things work. Besides that, I'm super excited!

:) Welcome welcome. We'll get you up to speed quickly. There's clearly a bunch you can read through at your own pace while we wrap up where the party is currently.

Character Creation stuff is in a thread here. The only change for you on those posted rules is that we'll be starting you at level 3 so you are on par with the rest of the class.

Adding rolls to a post you do by clicking the "Advanced" button at the bottom and using the dice roller part that's on there. Left box is a description of your roll, the next box you put in what you want to roll. We can work on building you out while they wrap up. :)

Sounds good :)

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. :)

I'll be out of the country and without internet access starting Sunday, October 8th. I'll return to the land of the interconnected living on Sunday, October 15. Between now and the 8th, I'll be very spotty as I get everything ready for the trip. Starting tomorrow, Protectors will be on official hiatus.

See all y'all in a week or so!

Hey all, just checking to see if we still have the interest or folks to continue. I've seen Tookie and Moofs post in the last like 5 or so weeks. If we don't have the interest or time, that's fine, I'll close shop on this game. :) I'll give it 24 hours to see what kind of desire we have in group, and if not, I'll shut it down tomorrow. If we have the interest and want to try getting some fresh posters, we'll do that.

Though it pains me a touch, I think I will shutter this game. Perhaps a different time the Haremites will march back out of obscurity!