OOC Discussion

J has said elsewhere that he needs to go on hiatus from gaming to deal with stuff in The Real. I'm sure I'm not alone here in wishing you all the best, J!

Where does that leave the rest of us, though? Kinda lame to retcon Urban out of the scene again, so I think I'll control him for the rest of this battle at least. After that, we'll see.

Best of luck to you, J! Hope things go well and you can come back to us eventually.

Thanks, fellas. I do have to fade out eventually, but Jabes if it is alright with you, I feel like I can manage Urban for a while longer, at least to a point where he can come to a soft landing or somewhat realistic departure point narratively. Gaming as a player is something I can still probably handle. It’s the DM job that is killing me of late.

Unless I hear otherwise from you, I’ll stand ready to actively participate here on Foray, and will keep in touch with you along the way if/when I need to bow out gracefully at the right time in the story for Urban and the character team.

That's great to hear, J! I love it that you can continue to participate for the time being. New post is incoming.

I have made some small edits to this post to correct some inconsistencies in the narrative. The new post will be up in a little bit.

Fellas,
I thought I could stick with it at a slower pace for a bit longer, but I've got to make a hard shutdown on gaming. I regret to say that I have to bow out again, but it is what must happen for now.

I wrote to Jabes separately, but wanted to post up to say that I have to leave Urban where he is and ask Jabes to take over to either manage him as an NPC or just write him out of the story. Urban is a character I enjoyed exploring with. He's got some strain inside because of past failings, the weight of sin, and a confusion about what to believe. That being said, he's trying to sort himself out and he has good relationships with friends. That's more than good enough; that is a godsend and he knows it - you won't see him bitter or wallowing in self-pity. I hope he would make it to peace one day. Or die while striving for it, which would be just fine too.

This is a great game. Excellent design by the DM and excellent execution as Jabes is joined by such veteran and good-natured players. I can't say how much I like the characters, story, and also the fun interchange on the boards.

I hope there is a day when I can catch up with you guys in the future. Until then, I hope that you are doing well where you are. Have a great summer and best wishes in all ventures.

Sincerely,
J

With J and Len on hiatus, and HypCo only making occasional appearances on the site as well, I'm officially putting this game on hiatus until we achieve quorum again. Thanks, everyone!

I completely understand. Keep us updated!

Thanks everyone!

We're here for you, man!

Working on a cake over the next 22hrs. No post from me today. Will move us forward tomorrow. Thanks!

Oof. I'm kind of stuck between forgetting or not having enough time. I either sit down and fall asleep while attempting a post then forget about it or have to workworkwork. Picking out a tattoo I want Rydler to have isn't helping either. That shouldn't, in anyway, be a fault on you Jabes, if anything it's a compliment for creating a game where choosing a tattoo ingame is equivalent to picking a tattoo for real. All in all, glad to see this game back up and I think I know which tattoo Rydler's getting.

Working now, and just in case I fall asleep before I get a chance to post (if you wish to move forward with things: he's getting wind mixing with or accenting his Lathander tattoo on his chest).

How is everybody? I know everyone has been dealing with stuff. I'd love to gauge whether anyone is in a place where they feel like they can continue here. PM me if you prefer.

For my part, I know you're aware of my IRL struggles, but in addition to that, I seem to find myself in a place in this game where it's no longer what I intended. This was originally going to be an episodic story rather than a longer, world-saving saga. The Bimar episode, in particular, has turned things around and has given the story a kind of gravitas that I wasn't really aiming for.

Obviously none of this is necessarily a bad thing, and I will have fun with it either way, but I think it wouldn't hurt to ask you guys how you feel about the tone and direction the story has taken, and gauge whether a course correction might be beneficial.

As always, thank you all for your patience, trust, and support. This continues to be a valuable learning experience for me.

I am doing well, thank you.

From a player perspective, I don't see the current scenario as having the weight of the world. To me, it feels like we're just finding ourselves up against a "Villain of the Week" while receiving hints about a Big Bad that will be revealed at the season climax. Of course, if all of this is connected somehow, that's fine, too.

And maybe that's what you can try to do. If your intent for the tikbalang's worm-fiend was to be a connection to Sardo Numspa, maybe sever that connection and make the worm-fiend something that's just plaguing the tikbalang, and Makisig was at the temple by coincidence to move the party to a new location. Turn this scenario into your episodic experience, and if we survive into denouement we can proceed to the next stage.

Don't have the Big Bad on a time table. That is, if the players take their time with the tikbalang, the Big Bad's plot doesn't progress until we've reached an appropriate spot. I honestly won't lose verisimilitude of your world if things happen when it's convenient to the plot.

I'm really happy with the current situation, honestly! I don't feel like we have a weight-of-the-world problem on our hands yet, either. This game has been really great so far and I'm sure that no matter what direction you take it in, it will be satisfying!

I want to echo what the others have said that i'm very happy with the game.

"I seem to find myself in a place in this game where it's no longer what I intended... The Bimar episode, in particular, has turned things around and has given the story a kind of gravitas that I wasn't really aiming for."

Things can cool down after this ark. I feel like we have been pretty passive in terms of making choices. We take the first choice you present to us. Maybe after all this goes down, we head back to Pradesh, get wasted, and get in some trouble with Csgearean (sp?) agents.

Thanks, guys!

Haven't heard from HypCo on the site or on Discord. You wanna continue with just the three of you?

HypCo would probably tell us to go on without him. I'm in no particular hurry and I am happy to leave it to the will of the group.

Either way is fine with me. Hopefully he returns one day and can re-join when he does.

HypCo will join us when he's available. I'm fine with continuing with the remaining three characters.