Ship of Fools: Circus: SOF RPG: Metagame for Prince Testwe's Peregrination

Thread: Circus: SOF RPG: Metagame for Prince Testwe's Peregrination Board: Limbo / Ship of Fools.

To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=001201

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

SOF RPG: Metagame for Prince Testwe's Peregrination

Roleplay gaming is a sort of communal story telling. You have a gamesmaster (GM) and a group of players. The GM has an overarching plot for the players, and acts any people they meet. The players each have a character with specific knowledge and abilities, and the group of players will be told they have some sort of mission. A set of rules provides a way of resolving chance, conflict and interesting situations.

To cite Jeff Vogel, any game system that can't be understood by someone's significant other on their first night playing the game after they've had two beers is too complicated. With that in mind this is the Ship’s very own system, and we hope it meets that test ! It was generated out of a circus discussion thread once upon a time ...

Generating Your Character

There are six fundamental Potentials, which reflect your strengths and weakness in dealing with the world. You have a rank of Useless, Weak, OK, Good or Excellent in each Potential. There are six fundamental Potentials, which reflect your strengths and weakness in dealing with the world. You can distribute a total of 18 points across these six potentials, investing from 1 to 5 points into each individual potential, whereby you can obtain the ranks of Useless (costs 1), Weak (costs 2), OK (costs 3), Good (costs 4), or Excellent (costs 5).

These Potentials are Wits, Finesse, Charm, Soul, Muscles & Vigilance. To give you an idea of what they are good for, here are some suggested synonyms:

Wits - Intelligence, Strategic Insight, Learning Capacity 
Finesse - Dexterity, Agility, Precision Handiwork 
Charm - Charisma, Social Capacity, Speak 
Soul - Magical ability, Spiritual Strength, Wisdom
Muscles - Physique, Constitution, Strength, Melee Combat 
Vigilance - Perception Ability, Sensing Capacity, Reaction

You then select 6 skills, these can be anything it is possible to learn. Each skill will be based on one of your Potentials - for example, if you have bluff based on charm and your charm is good - then your bluff will be good. If you attempt a skilled action when you do not have the skill, it will be Ridiculously Hard to succeed.

You may then agree a perk with the GM, this is a unique special talent your character has, it will usually add a bonus to a dice roll. What is acceptable as a perk, and how frequently you can use it is primarily a game balance issue.

Additonal skills and perks will be acquired through game play. This system has no levels, or experience points - and it is through perks, skills and special items or abilities that your endeavours will be rewarded. 

You then choose 1 special item or transformation. In a magical setting, you may choose an enchanted object - in a non-magical setting this may be something unique, valuable or highly unusual. In a magical setting you can choose to have a Transformation instead. Transformations work by switching the ranks of 2 Potentials and roleplaying the effect.

Now you have the skeleton of your character, you need to flesh out the details. Where do they come from ? What are their motivations ? what race or social class are they ? What experiences have they had that lead them to be who they are today ? What Mundane equipment are they carrying ? Races are ornamental, because some feel that racial biases can be an issue that bleeds over too much into the real world. This means the characteristics of fantasy races are toned down, a troll may not like the sun, cover up a lot in daytime and grumble - but she is not going to turn to stone.

 Contest & Combat Mechanics

When you want to do something narratively important, the GM tells you how hard it will be, based on your rank in the relevant Potential or Skill.
 You then roll a 20 sided dice to see if you succeed, (if you do not own one you can find websites to do this). It will be either Ridiculously Easy (0 fails), Easy (5 and under fails) OK (10 and under fails), Hard (15 and under fails) or Ridiculously Hard (only rolling a 20 will do, regardless of bonuses.)  You will only need to roll one die for anything, and magic objects or weapons will just add a set bonus e.g. +1 to your roll.

If you succeed on a Ridiculously Hard roll, the GM will give you a permanent additional skill, working it into the story. If you fail a Ridiculously Easy roll, you will suffer a temporary ill effect woven into the story by the GM. 
In some cases, usually combat, an opponent will be trying to stop you succeeding. In this situation if we start from an equal - OK - contest, each rank of difference between you and your opponent moves the difficulty up or down one. The GM will tell you the difficulty you have to roll for. Weapons add a bonus to your combat roll, this will be listed on your character sheet. If it is important to know who goes first, it will be based on who has the best Vigilance rank or the direction of the story.

Combat Damage 

Ridiculously Easy Combat Success - wound & leave for dead (recipient is unconscious, can't be attacked again unless they are seen to recover - or you are assassinating outside a combat scenario)
Easy Combat Success - wound and disarm (recipient has no weapons bonus till next turn)
OK Combat Success - wound
Hard Combat Success - wound
Ridiculously Hard Combat Success - wound & stun opponent, they can't hit you again for a turn

 (Ridiculously Easy fail, you wound yourself with an explanation from the GM)   Every wound taken by a character or opponent moves the difficulty up or down. So if combat starts off OK, and you take a wound, it will become hard. However, if you wound them it will become Easy.

Setting

This system can be used for any world, with any level of technology and both with and without functional magic.

*This story is taking place in an earth like world, with magic and a late medieval / renaissance technological level.*

Metagame

There will be a story thread, with an opening post by the GM, and this metagame thread. Anything you need to say out of character should be said here. When making reference to game mechanics on the story thread, please use starred qualitative descriptions - this is an *easy* fight, it will be *ridiculously hard* to climb that cliff, I would like to see if I can*find hidden* gems in this cave etc

You can make multiple posts per day, but only upto one post per day per character should require dice rolling. You can use the metagame thread to ask for help from other players or the GM if you are not sure about something.

Below is a model character sheet format.

Model Character Sheet

Player:

Character Name:

Brief Physical Description:

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)

Rank Wits
Rank Finesse
Rank Charm
Rank Soul
Rank Muscles
Rank Vigilance

(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)

Skill (Linked Potential)
Skill (Linked Potential)
Skill (Linked Potential)
Skill (Linked Potential)
Skill (Linked Potential)
Skill (Linked Potential)

Perk:

Special item / Transformation:

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may have:

[ 15. June 2016, 18:11: Message edited by: Belisarius ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

(Squeeee!!)

Player Name: Kelly Alves

Character Name: Brandon Covey

Brief Physical Description: 12 years old, 4 ft 8 in. tall, stocky and muscular, dark eyes and dark hair in a "bowl cut", Dressed in rawhide. with very big boots.

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 20 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)
Good Wits
Weak Finesse
Weak Charm
Excellent Soul
OK Muscles
OK Vigilance
(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)
Discernment (Wits)
Animal Kinship (Soul)
Tracking (Vigilance)
Traditional Medicine(Soul)
Stealth (Wits)
Light Weapon (Muscles)

Perk: Quick learner, x2 to wits roll up to x1 per week when you have noticed something new and interesting.

Special Item: Coyote Spirit, x1 per week wits swaps with muscles and becomes a coyote.

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may give.

Camping gear.
Steel toed boots
Short Sword (+1 to combat roll)
Folk medicine kit

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

(Ditto squee !!)

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

Player: Dafyd

Character Name: Daniel Van Adescant

Brief Physical Description:

Van Adescant is tall and thin, with a thing for wide-brimmed hats and long black coats. He has blondish hair with pale skin, and a slightly unfocused stooping gaze. He keeps a scarf about his neck at all times.
He carries a spear and a crossbow when he's travelling.

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)

Excellent Wits
Good Finesse
Weak Charm
OK Soul
Weak Muscles
Weak Vigilance

(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)

Occult (Wits) - Van Adescant knows a lot about undead, lycnathropes, dark magic, etc. He can probably rustle up rituals or so given time; whether it is wise to do so is another matter.
Turn Undead (Soul) - using a holy symbol or pair of candlesticks, etc, he can temporarily ward off undead. He can also perform ninor infusions of positive energy - healing cuts and scrapes, minor blessings, etc.
Crossbow (Finesse) - useful for stakes.
Investigation (Wits)
Interrogation (Charm )
Staff / Spear Fighting(Finesse) - also, flaming torches.

Perk: Uncorrupted, you can sense undead and you are immune to the first non-physical attempt any undead source makes to harm you x1 per week.

Special item / Transformation: Van Adescant has a curious contraption made of wire and two pieces of glass. If he puts it over his eyes (resting on his ears and nose) his Vigilance, for the purposes of looking at items close by, rises to Good.

Equipment:

Stakes and hammer (+1 to combat roll when used as a weapon) holy water, holy symbol, garlic and wolfsbane, crossbow (+1 to combat roll when used as a weapon), silver arrows, ordinary arrows, spear (+1 to combat roll when used as a weapon), pocket breviary.

(Note, stake and silver weapons will give +2 when used against appropriate undead.)

Letters of Introduction, from scholars, antiquarians, and a high priest (+1 to rolls when making first impressions with those professions and clergy).

[ 07. May 2014, 01:32: Message edited by: Ariston ]

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

Player: Jay-Emm

Character Name: Prince Testwe Rakta

Brief Physical Description:

20 years ago a printer dropped the pages for the pink guide to "bringing up "beautiful princesses" and "training heroic princes". A couple of pages may have got muddled. This had massive repercussions in the land. Having been trained to prick himself on a spinning wheel needle buried under 40 mattresses, faint at will and over skills essential to fantasy princesses
(rather than the traditional princely ones) Prince Testwe can still show surprising dexterity and wits until his arm is grabbed or a stranger offers an apple.

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)

Weak Wits
Good Finesse
Excellent Charm
OK Soul
Useless Muscles
OK Vigilance

(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)

Reputation (Charm)
Fencing (Finesse)
Regal-Hunting (Soul)
Credit (Charm)
Courtly Poetry (Soul)
Flower Arranging (Finesse)

Perk: Night-watchman: Gives you +2 to vigilance rolls made at night, as you sleep poorly on the rough ground.

Special item / Transformation: Magic flute, plays so sweetly birds join in, wild animals will think twice before attacking and no one can bear to take it from you. You may use it as a weapon giving a +3 attack bonus.

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may give.

Princely fine rapier (+1 to combat rolls)
Spinning thing

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Here we go! (DT, perhaps mention that this is not a thread intended for posting new character sheets? Just in case someone didn't read the starter thread?)

Player: IngoB

Character Name: Bayani "Aguila" Dagohoy Jr.

Brief Physical Description:
Bayani is just under 6 feet tall, with the wiry but powerful body of a dancer. His looks are vaguely Hispanic with light brown skin and an Asian touch around the eyes. The most remarkable feature of his face, however, is the substantial nose, which is prominent and curved - leading to his nickname "Aguila" ("eagle"). The black hair framing his triangular face is neatly trimmed, and he sports a fine goatee. A few white hairs in his beard and some wrinkles around his eyes suggest that he is at least in his mid thirties, but his smooth skin and limberness belie his age. He usually wears simple brown and green linen clothes that hug his body tightly, as well as soft leather shoes. On hot days it becomes notable that he always keeps his torso covered by clothes, but he does not seem to sweat. Bayani's moves are supple, flowing and graceful, but when stationary he becomes so perfectly still that people often overlook him in plain sight.

Potentials:
OK Wits
Excellent Finesse
Useless Charm
Useless Soul
Good Muscles
Good Vigilance

Skills:
Parkour (Finesse) - Bayani will fearlessly run and jump up and down steep walls and buildings, or propel himself through small gaps and slide along the edge of a cliff, all at great speed; and he has an uncanny ability to roll unharmed out of devastating falls.
Siniwali (Finesse) - Bayani can use two weapons with ease, weaving their strikes together into an irresistible attack pattern that is both graceful and deadly.
Blades (Muscles) - Any object that can be used to strike and/or pierce, which can be held with one hand, instantly becomes a deadly weapon for Bayani. But he has particularly mastered bladed weapons from pen knives to one-handed swords.
Swimming (Muscles) - Having grown up on an island, Bayani is a consummate swimmer and diver, and a natural at dealing with any kind of human-powered moving about on the sea (surfing, paddling in a canoe, ...)
Hunting (Vigilance) - When on the hunt for big game, be it animal or human(oid), Bayani will slip from shade to cover, approach against the wind, move swiftly without a sound and quite generally make sure that the first thing the victim notices of Bayani's presence is a flash of steel.
Bush Tucker (Vigilance) - Whether it is digging out plant roots, collecting hidden berries, catching all sorts of small to medium size animals, squeezing water out of a cactus or even catching edible insects, Bayani is excellent at findig food and drink where others would die of thirst and hunger.

Perk: Mr Natural - Bayani is naturally resistant to black magic or other negative spiritual effects, and will make anything / anyone evil and supernatural fail even in his immediate surroundings. However, he is receptive to white magic and positive spiritual effects. (The first time in every 7 days you encounter offensive magic, or a magical trap it will fail.)

Special item / Transformation: Anting-Anting - Bayani wears a silver pendant with a lapis lazuli stone around his neck. The pendant confers a powerful magic: at random moments he will have some extra luck. This can range from finding a penny in the street to a meteor strike killing his enemy - just how lucky he gets is also random. (Re-roll x1 per week.)

Equipment: Bayani travels lightly. He carries / wears:
A leather knapsack, filled with basic camping utensils, a felt mat, a change of clothes and various shaving tools. The knapsack has release hooks at its shoulder straps that allow it to be dropped with a flick of the hand.
A belt with two curved blades that look like a cross between a machete and a saber (+1 bonus to combat roll each), carried in two sheaths left and right for a front draw, plus a down-facing dagger carried in a sheath in the middle of the back for a back draw (+1 bonus to combat roll).
A thick brown leather jacket that ends at the waist (somewhat covering the weaponry, but without impeding the draw). The sleeves of the jacket have steel reinforcement hidden beneath the leather at the wrists.
A snug cap of very stiff dark brown leather from which a leather sheet can be rolled down to cover the entire back of the neck.
A few small knives (+1 bonus to combat roll each). Don't ask where they are kept, or Bayani will show you. In a dark corner.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Player: JFH

Character Name: "Rollin'" Stone Miller

Brief Physical Description: 6 ft tall, lean, somewhat bent stature, brown curly wild-growing hair, brown curly wild-growing beard, blue eyes, looks 30-50 years old, grimy trousers and jerkin, surrounded by a dust cloud.

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)

OK Wits
Excellent Finesse
Good Charm
Useless Soul
OK Muscles
Weak Vigilance

(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)

Repair (Finesse)
Survival/Cooking (Wits)
Light Weapon (Muscles)
Scavenging (Wits)
Crafting (Finesse)
Scrounging (Charm)

Perk: Dutch Courage x1 per week, Miller can consume liquor if in possession of it to gain -1 Charm, -1 Wits, +2 Muscles.

Special item / Transformation: To be discovered, is that a riff you hear carried on the wind …

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may give…

Trousers of the Cold Ground, Jerkin of the Dark Night
Toothpick, Swiss Army version.
The Blues. (How it works? If you have to ask, you'll never know.)
Broken whiskey bottle (+1 to combat rolls)

Background:
A dust cloud moves closer, and suddenly stops in front of its interlocutor. A friendly, strangely reliable voice speaks and a hand is reached out in greeting, and the words "Spare some change?" are heard - that's all you'll remember of Rollin' Stone Miller, unless he wants you to. Behind that dust cloud rests a heavily bearded face with a constant smile, smooth-talking blue eyes and an eerie sense that although you might call him a tramp, it goes a little deeper than that.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

Player: Gwai

Character Name: Jerthro

Brief Physical Description:
Very fit looking young man. Probably 18 or so though he claims to be 25 usually.

General Description:
Sometimes bumbling, usually over-confident, but always cheerful, Jerthro is seriously excited to be on this adventure, and he knows it's going to be great!

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)
Weak Wits
Weak Finesse
Good Charm
OK Soul
Good Muscles
OK Vigilance
(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)
Plant/Animal Knowledge (Wits)
Bows (Muscles)
Light Weapon (Muscles)
Scouting (Vigilance)
Intuition (Wits)
Soothe (Charm)

Perk: Power Through, x1 per week Jerthro can try to power through an unfamiliar skilled task on muscle strength alone, but only the first time he encounters it.

Special item / Transformation: Leather Armour, looking at the size and the way it fits Jerthro, one suspects he inherited it from his dad. x1 per week if Jerthro wonders what his father might have done in a similar sticky situation, surprisingly useful advice will occur to him. He doesn’t realise this is a blessing conferred by his armour.

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may give…

Bow and arrows (+1 to combat roll)

Sword and dagger (+1 to combat roll when either is used) Plain but decent. Again look like they've had more wear than Jerthro has.

Backpack and camping supplies --New, unused even, and rather excessive. For instance, no one needs three different ways to start a fire, surely?

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Player: Autenrieth Road

Character Name: Arabella Adventurer

Brief Physical Description: Somewhat muddy and scuffed, having tried to squeeze through a four inch grate, Arabella thinks she might be quite slight. Lacking opportunity to refine her appearance, others would see her a unkempt.

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)
Good Wits
OK Finesse
Useless Charm
Good Soul
OK Muscles
OK Vigilance
(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)
Climb (Finesse)
Navigation (Wits)
Night Vision (Vigilance)
Find Hidden (Vigilance)
Intuition (Soul)
Improvised weapons (Wits) - this will allow you to use any plausible non-weapon thing you find as a weapon, or clubs as weapons but not swords, axes or bows etc

Perk: Teleportation x1 per week, Arabella can use a magic word to return to a place she has known before

Special item / Transformation: To be discovered …

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may give…

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

Player: Hart

Character Name: Hestor Snear, cupbearer to the elite

Brief Physical Description:

Hestor, though tall, is sufficiently slender to lurk unnoticed in the slightest of shadows, enabling the best eavesdropping. He is one of those people whose age is impossible to guess. No one can quite remember when he wasn't around, and he's certainly not young, but no-one would call him old. His black robes are in no way ostentatious, but the precision tailoring that produced them must have been paid for by the GDP of several prosperous villages. Depending on who he was blackmailing at the time, it probably was.

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)
Good Wits
OK Finesse
Excellent Charm
Useless Soul
Useless Muscles
Good Vigilance
(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)
Lurking (Vigilance)
Free Running (Finesse)
Poisons (Wits)
Blackmail (Charm)
Treasure evaluating (Wits)
Lock Picking (Finesse)

Perk: Call in a favor, Hestor has accrued a vast network of people who owe him favors. You can, x1 per week, summon a "friend" with a specific skill lacked by the team.

Special item / Transformation: Enchanted Periscope, an oiled black leather funnel the end of which moulds and shifts to fit into small gaps & keyholes. You can use this see through keyholes and round corners without being spotted.

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may have

Banquet set. The ceremonial part of Hestor's role might be notional, but it's not imaginary. He can furnish a feast at a moment's notice. Poached quail egg anyone?
Black cloak, perfect for lurking unseen in the shadows.
Vials of poison x5

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

***REVISED CHARACTER SHEET***

This band of adventurers needs a fighter! To that end:

Model Character Sheet

Player: Marvin the Martian

Character Name: Ik the Big

Brief Physical Description: Ik is a really tall, really hairy chap with a certain passing resemblance to a brick outhouse. Contrary to most expectations he's not particularly unsanitary, mostly because very few bacteria have the guts to take him on. He acts more on instinct than any kind of forethought or strategy, but is an effective adventurer nonetheless

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)

Useless Wits
OK Finesse
Weak Charm
OK Soul
Excellent Muscles
Good Vigilance
(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)

Weapon Proficiency (Muscles) - a veteran who can find his way around common weapons
Sniffer (Vigilance) - you can't hide. He smells you.
Ride (Muscles)
Survival (Vigilance)
Craft Basic weapons (Finesse) - nothing that needs metalwork, but fire hardened spears, flint knife etc

Perk: Gut Instinct, x1 per week Ik may act first in a contested situation.

Special item / Transformation: Bear Hide Cloak, enchanted, may resist up to 1 attack - magical or mundane - per week. This was a gift from Ik's shaman grandmother

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may have:

Leather armour
Dagger (+1 to combat roll)
Club (+1 to combat roll)

Quote:

ME NOT BE GOOD WITH TALKY STUFF, BUT ME BASH HEADS IN GOOD.

[ 07. May 2014, 08:15: Message edited by: Marvin the Martian ]

Posted by Joan Rasch (# 49) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
<snip>

Player: IngoB
Character Name: Bayani "Aguila" Dagohoy Jr.
Brief Physical Description: <snip>

Looks rather like your avatar, no?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Marvin, I will send you a character sheet with a few minor changes - when I pm you the finalised character sheet please can you post it on this thread (and preferably edit it out of your origunal post avoud confusion).

But you are the 12th and final party member, otherwise my head will explode trying to keep to track of everyone.

I believe we are waiting for three more sheets to be posted to this thread and then I will know that the party is ready to go.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Please could a kindly host or admin player please add:

quote:

Letters of Introduction, from scholars, antiquarians, and a high priest (+1 to rolls when making first impressions with those professions and clergy).

To the bottom of Daniel Van D's character sheet.

Thanks.

[So done. —A]

[ 07. May 2014, 01:33: Message edited by: Ariston ]

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

Player: Banner lady

Character Name: Crazy Clawdine

Brief Physical Description:

A troll woman of indeterminable size, thanks to the many layers of tattered shawls that hang from her large frame. Her wild black matted hair has a life of its own, owing to the insect life that lives in it. She may look crazy, but her beady black eyes rarely miss much of what is going on around her, and she has a number of hidden and surprisingly useful talents.

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)
Weak Wits
Useless Finesse
Weak Charm
Excellent Soul
OK Muscles
Excellent Vigilance
(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)
Stealth (Finesse)
Light Weapon (Muscles)
Find Hidden (Vigilance)
Spot Deception (Vigilance)
Survival (Soul)
Hypnotise (Soul)

Perk: Call Water, Clawdine senses water at all times and x1 per week can cause something withered to grow.

Special item / Transformation: A compliment turns Clawdine into a tall, leggy, well endowed and fast young woman, with blonde hair and a desire to run naked through water. Her finesse and vigilance ranks swap and she turns into a young naked woman. She can trigger this x1 per week in a situation where she has received a compliment - but if she is talking to herself she can choose to compliment herself, provided she roleplays a convincing reason.

equipment:
Divining Rod (+1 to the roll when used as a weapon)
Distinctive blue caravan drawn by a draught horse called King.

[ 06. May 2014, 19:37: Message edited by: Banner Lady ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Two more to go !

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

We will start, assuming Eliab and Ariston will turn up sometime in the next 24 hours ...

Eliab is Guriana and Ariston is Guardian Jetse Vos.

[ 06. May 2014, 20:08: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Story thread is up.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Just reposting this in case anyone missed it on the discussion thread, and to add in Ik !

quote:
This is my working of the character ties that bring the disparate group of people in the party together.

Party ties

Testwe is taking the grand tour to see the world, his father may also be hoping this journey will accomplish some other things.

Teswe is escorted by a small retinue.

Retinue (official)

Bayani, Ik & Jetse are the armed escort, they have reluctant respect for each other's abilities if nothing else. Hestor has been included on this trip to smooth out any wrinkles in the prince's path, and of course is always on the look out for new opportunities for himself. He agreed the inclusion of Guriana in the party on the grounds that it is always wise to have a along a person with magical abilities as you never know what you might meet - or what they might do if you say no. Jerthro succeeded in talking himself onto the mission because of his enthusiasm, and because Hestor had thought he would do as general go-for for the higher status members of the retinue. Hestor has found Jerthro less compliant with this last aim than he would have liked.

Retinue (unofficial)

Clawdine seems to have attached herself to Teswe on route, in an inn Hestor remembers, no one saw their first meeting but every so often the prince pays her an elaborate compliment and then looks disappointed. Clawdine followed on after the party left the tavern, in her caravan, and the prince decreed the retinue should not drive her off - Hestor has resigned himself to this; consoled by the fact she has proved herself useful as a dowser when they have to camp.

Stone Miller was picked up at a different tavern by Clawdine, and rides in her caravan when he needs, the official retinue are unimpressed but it is surprisingly difficult to argue the point with the two of them. Brandon, engaged as a local guide by Jetse, hangs out in Clawdine's caravan, or sleeps on the animal pulling it.

The party meet up with Arabella and Daniel during the first day of the journey we are being told about, in rather fraught circumstances.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Think I must ask you to alway include character name in your story posts, even if it is just name: xyz - otherwise I think it will get hard to follow, didn't think of this before.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Joan Rasch:
Looks rather like your avatar, no?

That has occurred to me as well. However, it's unclear to me whether that is accidental or whether I have a fetish I'm blissfully unaware of. [Big Grin]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Hart, need you to make your charm roll, its **ridiculously easy** - so you just need to roll more than 1.

[ 06. May 2014, 22:42: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

I got a 16.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

PS. I think "0" needs to be changed to "1" here.

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
...
When you want to do something narratively important, the GM tells you how hard it will be, based on your rank in the relevant Potential or Skill.
 You then roll a 20 sided dice to see if you succeed, (if you do not own one you can find websites to do this). It will be either Ridiculously Easy (0 fails), Easy (5 and under fails) OK (10 and under fails), Hard (15 and under fails) or Ridiculously Hard (only rolling a 20 will do, regardless of bonuses.)  You will only need to roll one die for anything, and magic objects or weapons will just add a set bonus e.g. +1 to your roll.

[ 06. May 2014, 22:48: Message edited by: Hart ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Yup, & you succeed !

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

Clarifying question: I know we're only allowed to do one die-needing thing per 'day.' Does a day conclude at your midnight (in 7 minutes time, right?)? Or, do I have to wait 24 hours before I can next do something that requires a roll?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Midnight to midnight my time. So day turns in a few minutes.

FYI am 1 hour ahead of server time, or GMT +1 hour.

[ 06. May 2014, 23:02: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I have marked the day turn on the story thread, labelling it noon in game.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

We're using rolls rather than roleplay to resolve player interaction? I appreciate the need to get things moving.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Wouldn't normally, but need to merge party - plus - wanted to model the request - roll - resolution sequence.

Usually player will ask to ***find hidden*** or whatever.

Once we have done it often enough, I am hoping the *** phrases in the story thread will be sufficient without a metagame post except for the x roll passed / failed - possibly ridiculously so.

[ 06. May 2014, 23:17: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

[cross-posted]

I think the rolls are for when Doublethink posts about an *asterisk* task for us. Is that right, DT?

Arabella trusts this guy? Hoo boy, is this going to be interesting :-) . Your wish is my command, illustrious GM.

[ 06. May 2014, 23:15: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

Player: Eliab

Character Name: Gunriana De Vanės

Brief Physical Description:

A young lady, dressed either in an ornate and expensive dress not quite on the cutting edge of fashion, which suits her reasonably or, when travelling, dressed in rather more practical fur-lined leggings, short-ish shirt and stout jerkin in which she seems much more at ease. Her left hand is always gloved, and the observant will note that she uses that hand as little as possible, though she shows no sign of any disability. Her speech is careful and polished, though not quite polished enough to pass for true-born aristocracy. Her eyes are intelligent and intense – enough to make many people a little uncomfortable in prolonged conversation.

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)
◾Good Wits
◾Weak Finesse
◾OK Charm
◾Excellent Soul
◾Useless Muscles
◾OK Vigilance
(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)
◾Etiquette (Charm)
◾Stealth (Finesse)
◾Bluff (Wits)
◾Seamanship (Vigilance)
◾Runelore (Soul)
◾Healing (Soul)
◾Light Weapons (Finesse)

Perk: Rune-casting with Guriana’s fate-marked left hand at any time gives +2 for the success of the effect, however, any failed roll by either Gunriana or the recipient of her rune magic for the next week – will be a ridiculous fail. Gunriana is afraid of using her magic to full effect and this is why.

Special item / Transformation: An heirloom from your similarly gifted great aunt - a very old wolf-tooth strung on a twisted leather thong. It has the virtue that if a dead body is marked with it, it will hasten their passage to their final reward, and entirely frustrate any subsequent magical or necromantic attempt to enchant the body or call back the soul. Obviously those who died in the act of cowardice or treason are ineligible for such protection.

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may give.

Expensive dresses (several), cosmetics, jewellery and accessories for every season.
Travelling clothes (in tasteful silver-grey fur and matching silk lining).
Dark blue murder robes for special occasions.
Elegant and practical footwear.
One long dark grey silk glove.
Light pack containing provisions, a coil of rope, wood and stone chisels, a small mallet, a wickedly sharp pen knife, quill and ink, with a few sheets of vellum if she remembered to pack any, a few pots of foul-smelling ointment, several rolls of bandages. Money – she's not short of it, but the amount she thinks to take with her varies wildly. She's a hoarder, and her pack and pockets will gradually accumulate stuff until she periodically clears out and starts again.
A few needles and stout thread (for stitching sword rents, not hemlines).
Scramasax in a plain leather sheath, hung openly across her front when travelling, concealed in a sleeve (or left at home) when finely dressed (+1 to combat rolls).
A light throwing spear or two if she's expecting trouble (+1 to combat rolls).

Background:

One of Prince Testwe's retinue is a young commoner from an exceptionally rich merchant family. Gunriana De Vanės has been pushed into high society by her father's ambition to improve the standing of their House – his daughter is betrothed to a younger son of powerful (though heavily indebted) Duke, but as her future husband is currently eight years old, she has some time on her hands before settling down to a life of elevated tedium. Her father has pulled more than a few strings to place her in the Prince's entourage, and given her instructions to (1) preserve her virginity; (2) learn how to behave as a lady; (3) keep an eye open for opportunities for profit; and (4) enjoy seeing something of the world. Gunriana does not exactly demur from any of those instructions, though it should be said that she precisely reverses their order of priority.

In truth Gunriana was born about two generations too late. Had she lived in the days when the Vanės clan spent six months a year raiding up and down the coast, and was more concerned with looting and burning trade-ships than investing in them at high rates of interest, a sharp-minded girl born with the hagall rune marked vividly on her left palm would have had but one destiny. She would been put into service of some embittered old crone, and settled with aplomb into the role of barbarian witch, to become the servant and symbol of the dark ladies to be feared and appeased by men of a race that fears nothing and bows to no one. Gunriana's life in these more civilised days is more ambiguous - to be marked so unmistakeably as a daughter of the Fates, and yet also to be obliged to take the part of a refined consort for a civilised aristocrat is perhaps asking too much of anyone. It remains to be seen which path she will ultimately choose.

Rune magic. Gunriana believes that runes cut or cast with her fate-marked left hand are especially strong, but destined to bring at least some measure of grief as the price of their power. She conceals her mark with a glove, and tries to avoid touching anyone with that hand, not only to avoid superstitious hostility, but also because she is more than a little afraid of fully using the darker side of her talents.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

I was also a bit surprised there (in a crosspost way): I wrote my part in the assumption that you had basically requested the prince to speak up next.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
[cross-posted]

I think the rolls are for when Doublethink posts about an *asterisk* task for us. Is that right, DT?

Arabella trusts this guy? Hoo boy, is this going to be interesting :-) . Your wish is my command, illustrious GM.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
I was also a bit surprised there (in a crosspost way): I wrote my part in the assumption that you had basically requested the prince to speak up next.

Sorry that wasn't clear, But your post works fine in context - having been persuaded by Hestor, it is consistent for the Prince to then give the instruction to change course (which is implied by your post.)

[ 06. May 2014, 23:22: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

This is something that will clearly come up a fair bit with the asynchrony, thus far, most story posts allow wiggle room - which is very helpful from that point of view.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Are rolls always going to be handled like this? I mean, report outcome on meta and then have you (GM) describe the outcome in story? Since we roll ourselves, I could imagine describing the outcome myself. But this might not be the regular procedure, I have no idea.

Would it be helpful to have rolls included in the story thread? For example, now I have to check the meta thread to see what Hart rolled. But if you (or he, if he were to write the outcome) added a tag "{roll: 16}" in the story thread, then I wouldn't have to. However, that would be sort of "story external" and perhaps disturb the narrative flow...

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I would rather not have numbers on the story thread if we can avoid it.

I would be happy for you to describe the outcome of most rolls. But if you get a ridiculously hard success or ridiculously easy fail, you will need to let me do it.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Does it matter that anyone know what was rolled? We're trusting people to roll themselves; I'm fine with simply knowing the described story outcome of their roll, which I would also trust players to describe themselves. (Describe the story outcome, I mean.)

[cross-posted yet again]

[ 06. May 2014, 23:49: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
But if you get a ridiculously hard success or ridiculously easy fail, you will need to let me do it.

Why?

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Because of the special advantages/disadvantages that are supposed to come out of it, I think. The GM can keep those effects balanced and proper to the story.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I see. Thanks, JFH.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

Player Name: Ariston

Character Name: Guardian Jetse Vos, formerly of the Mystery, Fellowship, and Company of Merchant Adventurers in the Canton of Ijzerhaven, Duchy of Joux and Mørkborg Palatinate.

Brief Physical Description:

While not especially tall, Jetse is still an absolute bear of a man, seemingly occupying the whole of any room he walks into. His black hair and moustache are turning grey at the corners, and his face, hands, and arms show the signs of long exposure to the elements, as well as a few fights that could have perhaps gone better for him. Whatever caused that necrotic wound, now a nasty scar, on his left arm couldn't have been even remotely friendly. Yet somehow, through his many campaigns on land, sea, and underground, Jetse survived.

Jetse is generally gruff and curt, sometimes bordering on rude. Being around him is slightly frightening—it's clear that he's watching you, judging your actions, determining how likely you are to attack him, and, if you are fool enough to try, how he's going to make you very much regret it. Something about being around a gruff, heavily armed, hypervigilant, and not especially friendly (ex?) mercenary who seems to be quite capable of landing a blow exactly where it would hurt the most tends to make people shy away

His arms and equipment are as unusual for these parts; perhaps, in the fjords and cold of the far south, they might be more common, but here, their strange design stands out, especially the sun emblem on his breastplate and (you think—it's hard to tell, as battered as it is) the chief of his shield. Why would a soldier from Joux wear that device? Isn't the Duchy supposed to be underground?

Potentials:
(Ranked Useless / Weak / OK / Good / Excellent, you have 18 points to buy ranks at 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 points cost respectively)
OK Wits
Good Finesse
Useless Charm
Useless Soul
Excellent Muscles
Good Vigilance
(Rolls for these will be Ridiculously Easy (2-20) / Easy (5-20) / OK (10-20) / Hard (15-20) / Ridiculously Hard (20) on a D20 as advised by GM)

Skills
(Each skill is tied to a specific potential, to start with, no more than two skills can be associated with any single potential.)
Intimidate (Muscles)
Ride (Wits)
Climb (Finesse)
Weapon Proficiency (Muscles)
Spot Trouble (Vigilance)
Scrounging (Charm)

Perk: The Human Wall—Sometimes, it's good to be an imposing, hulking presence. In any fight, you can choose that all opponents attack you - but the first wound you are dealt has no effect.

Special item / Transformation: Finely Crafted Breastplate. Though battered and repaired, a coat of arms depicting a three-peaked mountain over a field (a plain, or perhaps a lake?), with the same sunburst design in the chief as his shield, is still visible, etched above the front of his right shoulder (-1 to opponents’ attack rolls).

Please list equipment you acquire, with any bonuses it may give…

Halberd (pole weapon, slashing/piercing, hook can be used to disarm or trip opponents, effective against charging and mounted enemies). The blades and haft of this fearsome looking poleaxe are jet black (+1 to combat roll).
Short sword (bladed weapon, slashing). Jetse's sidearm, rather than being straight, has a series of waves in the blade, and, like his halberd, is also black (+1 to combat roll)..
Longbow and 20 arrows (+1 to combat roll).
Shield (wooden). While the arms originally painted on the shield have been mostly obliterated in combat, you can barely make out a sun symbol in the chief.
Helmet. Both the breastplate and helmet are made out of a strange metal that seem more like pale and faded shadows than glittering steel. Or maybe they just need a good polish before the next parade. A really good polish.
Heavy oilskin cloak. Wherever Jetse's been, it doesn't seem like it was especially warm or dry.
Mundane equipment: pack with bedroll, waterskin, cloth sack, flint & steel, whetstone, and nigh-unpalatable dwarf bread of unknown age for very dire emergencies (starvation might be preferable, actually).
Small sun charm
Clay sea-pipe
Leather breeches and gloves
Wearing: sturdy leather boots, puffy breeches.

[ 07. May 2014, 01:56: Message edited by: Ariston ]

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Ok, I hope I did this the right way, expressing my action like that - or should I weave it in better with the story? I may be a little too used to Mafia voting requiring absolute clarity. Also not quite sure what will happen as to scavenging. If successful, will the GM select rewards based on how successful the roll was?

Ah well, we'll wait and see. Just as with the consequences of rummaging around in a churchyard.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Just remember to star your action (***scavenge***).

Roll please !

In this case could you let me write the outcome post on the story thread, as I need decide what you find if you are successful ...

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

(We seem to be sans Ariston, I know he is very busy, if necessary, I will narrate Jeste.)

[ 07. May 2014, 05:44: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I believe we have yet to hear from Jetse, Jerthro and Ik.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Hope this is the place to ask questions-- how well does the party know each other? My inclination is to ask questions about what that weird guy is doing in the graveyard, but if I have traveled with him a while, I would know.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Well, the party ties post gives a rough idea - but I hope that gives some freedom to develop it whichever way you feel will work for your character. Essentially, in terms of moving on the roleplay, all I would ask is that you try - as far as possible given crossposts - to avoid directly contradicting anything previously posted on the story thread by either myself or any other party member.

I don't know how recently Jetse engaged you as a guide, nor how often you have passed graveyards or how much attention you have paid to Miller's exploits previously. Perhaps you have seen him scavenge before but never expected ti see it in a graveyard - perhaps you have no clue.

(And yes, this the right place to ask the question.)

[ 07. May 2014, 06:06: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

OK, I just re-read the party ties post to refresh my memory...

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Oops - forgot to say - that would mean you need to try to take into account the comments made about you in Claudine's post.

[ 07. May 2014, 06:08: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Marvin, I will send you a character sheet with a few minor changes - when I pm you the finalised character sheet please can you post it on this thread (and preferably edit it out of your origunal post avoud confusion).

But you are the 12th and final party member, otherwise my head will explode trying to keep to track of everyone.

As a grumble, I've been following these threads for a bit, mostly quietly, but got behind when w*rk got busy at the end of last week, thinking that I'd look at the weekend when I had time. When I caught up with the first thread though, I was too late to join in as Doublethink had said no more people on Saturday on the linked post, so I haven't put in a character, and nor has someone else, another gamer, who would have liked to.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Also-- I just posted to see that another character (Banner Lady) had-- basically role-played my character, and I had done something I hadn't realised I had done.

In my mind it would be much less confusing if each person directs their own character-- if there is something another party member thinks I should do, they can ask me to do so in game play or by PM-- right?

[ 07. May 2014, 06:14: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Oops - forgot to say - that would mean you need to try to take into account the comments made about you in Claudine's post.

The comment was of someone describing Brandon doing something I hadn't stated I was doing. See above post.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Daniel I need you to roll vigilance at a hard difficulty - you need over 15 to succeed - if you do, you detect the arrival of the rest of the party at the graveyard.

Likewise

Arabella I need you to roll vigilance at a OK difficulty - you need over 10 to succeed - if you do, you detect the arrival of the rest of the party at the graveyard.

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
I was also a bit surprised there (in a crosspost way): I wrote my part in the assumption that you had basically requested the prince to speak up next.
Sorry that wasn't clear, But your post works fine in context - having been persuaded by Hestor, it is consistent for the Prince to then give the instruction to change course (which is implied by your post.)

Was more intended by that comment? I thought it was just referring to the need to put my name on it. If so what are my intentions?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Also-- I just posted to see that another character (Banner Lady) had-- basically role-played my character, and I had done something I hadn't realised I had done.

In my mind it would be much less confusing if each person directs their own character-- if there is something another party member thinks I should do, they can ask me to do so in game play or by PM-- right?

It is a tension.

It is difficult to post about how your character is interacting with the party without to a certain extent modelling another party members actions. Though everyone playing should ideally keep this to a minimum. I think players with less experience may take a little practice to get the balance right.

If you want to cook up a joint strategy for something with another player it would be best to do that on this thread. Unless there is a compelling reason to keep it secret. If that is the case, you might want to pm me to check the plan is a goer.

For the purposes of the coherence of the game, comments such as you made are appropriately posted here - but once something is on the story thread - it has happened and all characters involved or observing have that as part of their reality. As GM I will try to fix any weirdness that may occasionally introduce.

[ 07. May 2014, 06:30: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
without to a certain extent modelling another party members actions.

Modeling makes sense.

Just to work out another kink-- it is nearly midnight here, so I will probably stick around about a half hour and go to bed. Would it make sense to announce that here, too?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Marvin, I will send you a character sheet with a few minor changes - when I pm you the finalised character sheet please can you post it on this thread (and preferably edit it out of your origunal post avoud confusion).

But you are the 12th and final party member, otherwise my head will explode trying to keep to track of everyone.
As a grumble, I've been following these threads for a bit, mostly quietly, but got behind when w*rk got busy at the end of last week, thinking that I'd look at the weekend when I had time. When I caught up with the first thread though, I was too late to join in as Doublethink had said no more people on Saturday on the linked post, so I haven't put in a character, and nor has someone else, another gamer, who would have liked to.

Sorry about that; but if there are any drop outs you are first on the list for a slot in the party. That said, this is just a short trial run, prolly no more than a week.

Then we tweak the system, hopefully you will get the benefit of a more bug free version.

[ 07. May 2014, 06:35: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
without to a certain extent modelling another party members actions.
Modeling makes sense.

Just to work out another kink-- it is nearly midnight here, so I will probably stick around about a half hour and go to bed. Would it make sense to announce that here, too?

Can't do any harm, it gives people a sense of who's around when. Not a requirement though.

[ 07. May 2014, 06:38: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jay-Emm:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
I was also a bit surprised there (in a crosspost way): I wrote my part in the assumption that you had basically requested the prince to speak up next.
Sorry that wasn't clear, But your post works fine in context - having been persuaded by Hestor, it is consistent for the Prince to then give the instruction to change course (which is implied by your post.)
Was more intended by that comment? I thought it was just referring to the need to put my name on it. If so what are my intentions?

No, I had just meant to associate your character name clearly with your comment.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Maybe if CK wants to play now, I can offer her Brandon when I do log off, and we can test drive a communal character.

Just remember he's a twelve year old boy! Have him do twelve year old boy things! [Big Grin]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

If you want to cook up a joint strategy for something with another player it would be best to do that on this thread. Unless there is a compelling reason to keep it secret. If that is the case, you might want to pm me to check the plan is a goer.

I was just talking about the kind of thing Clawdine wound up doing-- "Hey kid, get off your butt and get us some food!", in character.

(oh and I rolled a 5 on my tracking-- just in case I split before we get to that.)

[ 07. May 2014, 06:46: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I would be OK with that if you want to run the character jointly - perhaps you could arrange by om and let me know if you are going ahead ?

Please could you make a tracking roll at OK difficulty, you need more than 10 to succeed.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

I'm not sure I know how to respond to the GM's post replying I have an OK chance. Do I roll a die, and is my action already in place or is it at this point still regrettable? Do I inform the GM of my result by PM, here or in a post on the story thread?

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
I would be OK with that if you want to run the character jointly - perhaps you could arrange by om and let me know if you are going ahead ?

Please could you make a tracking roll at OK difficulty, you need more than 10 to succeed.

AAAANd I suck. [Big Grin]

(see above-- I got a 5)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

If you want to cook up a joint strategy for something with another player it would be best to do that on this thread. Unless there is a compelling reason to keep it secret. If that is the case, you might want to pm me to check the plan is a goer.

I was just talking about the kind of thing Clawdine wound up doing-- "Hey kid, get off your butt and get us some food!", in character.

Yeah, asking you in game is definitely preferred to predicting your response. Good to see Bannerlady finding her feet with this [Smile]

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

Daniel: ***vigilance*** gets a 20.

(Can I make an occult roll as well to work out what just happened in the back story, or is that my action for the day?)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:
I'm not sure I know how to respond to the GM's post replying I have an OK chance. Do I roll a die, and is my action already in place or is it at this point still regrettable? Do I inform the GM of my result by PM, here or in a post on the story thread?

Roll. Needing more than 10 and then post your result here - then I will post on the story thread telling you what happens.

(Ack ! Bloody flood control.)

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:
I'm not sure I know how to respond to the GM's post replying I have an OK chance. Do I roll a die, and is my action already in place or is it at this point still regrettable? Do I inform the GM of my result by PM, here or in a post on the story thread?

So, not sure too, but based on the fact that I rolled and sucked, I am going to go ahead and role-play that... let's see how that works...

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

*Wits roll* 6. Fail.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
Daniel: ***vigilance*** gets a 20.

(Can I make an occult roll as well to work out what just happened in the back story, or is that my action for the day?)

Woot, Ridiculous Success [Smile]

give me a min to think about how to buff you.

(I am afraid that is your dice action for day 2 - but you can still post just nothing that needs a roll, but please wait till I have posted about the outcome of your vigilance.)

Arabella - you no longer need to roll vigilance as the person with you has already succeeded - you can save your action for something else.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

DT, sorry I stepped on your GM prerogative, cross post mishap!

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:
*Wits roll* 6. Fail.

So that is not a *ridiculous* outcome and I don't need to generate any new information for the outcome, so you can go ahead and roleplay your failure to find on the story thread.

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

I'd love to play along today, but I can't either. I'm just about to go offline (and fill my hands with the level of difficulty a real life 14 year old can provide)

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Roll high, CK. [Big Grin]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
DT, sorry I stepped on your GM prerogative, cross post mishap!

No worries.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
Daniel: ***vigilance*** gets a 20.

(Can I make an occult roll as well to work out what just happened in the back story, or is that my action for the day?)

Harrumph, you've snuck in an extra dice roll there - but go ahead and roll and we'll see if you get a bit more backstory - in future just one a day though please. Your difficulty for this ridiculously easy.

Please don't post again on the story thread until I have done your vigilance outcome.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

So, I am heading to bed... I was going to roleplay something that will keep him out of the way unless you want him.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

The roleplay would be handy, thanks.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

How about having Brandon spot some strange inscriptions with clear origin in the ancient precursor civilization of Realios Lyffos? I feel that could be something that could distract most players every once in a while...

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I just had him pass out in the back of the caravan. Maybe the GM can decide this means something horrible has happened to me. I leave my unconscious form in your trembling hands... [Big Grin]

(Relios Lyffos-- hee.)

[ 07. May 2014, 07:12: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
(We seem to be sans Ariston, I know he is very busy, if necessary, I will narrate Jeste.)

Nope, I'm here, if still, perhaps, busy. Jetse isn't especially talkative—not a grunting barbarian by any means, but I think he generally prefers to glower first, ask questions later.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Daniel you have gained navigation based on vigilance, please add it to your character sheet.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
(We seem to be sans Ariston, I know he is very busy, if necessary, I will narrate Jeste.)
Nope, I'm here, if still, perhaps, busy. Jetse isn't especially talkative—not a grunting barbarian by any means, but I think he generally prefers to glower first, ask questions later.

Cool, I have to leave for work shortly, so if you want get a roll resolved before I am off for 10 hours you've just time.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

How about a quick **spot trouble** check, based on Jetse's good **vigilance** score/skills?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

OK - you need to do a story post then roll and post the resut here please.

In the story post you need to include a sentence like "Jetse, on the alert as ever, looks around to see if he can ***spot trouble*** in the shadows of this place."

You don't need to mention vigilance specifically in the story post.

[ 07. May 2014, 07:35: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Story post is fab, please remember to include your character name next time tho.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

OK - off to work I go, I will check in later.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

A lot of people are taking actions early today! I'm going to save mine in case something rises from the crypt at nightfall and Ik has to bash it over the head [Big Grin]

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

Daniel's Occult roll is 10.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
A lot of people are taking actions early today! I'm going to save mine in case something rises from the crypt at nightfall and Ik has to bash it over the head .

Well, take a starved, empty-pocketed and homeless drunk to a graveyard - what were you expecting was gonna happen?

Also, how hard are we on the rule that thoughts are not heard and cannot be used for conversation?

[ 07. May 2014, 09:02: Message edited by: JFH ]

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:
Also, how hard are we on the rule that thoughts are not heard and cannot be used for conversation?

Unless you've got a mind-reading skill, pretty hard I'd have thought.

I've not done RPGs before, so I'm not sure how such things go. I was thinking that it would be good to give some idea of my character's thoughts and motivations as part of the actual story, but not necessarily in a way that would mean the other characters would know about them. For the same reason, Ik isn't going to respond to IngoB's character on the grounds that he was talking to your character instead.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

He wasn't talking to mine, but to Ariston's. I don't think Stone's vigilance is high enough for him to have heard his name being mentioned in a whisper some bit away.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

No, I mean Ik was talking to you. Sorry.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Ah. Watch out, switching fate and characteristics with one's role-playing characters is increasingly common these days. (Hi, Fictitious A!)

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
A lot of people are taking actions early today! I'm going to save mine in case something rises from the crypt at nightfall and Ik has to bash it over the head .

My thinking precisely. Though I would like to ask DT if we can consider general weapon skills as always on. I mean, I can accept my "sinawali" double attack as a special that has to compete with other special things I want to do. But if I wanted to find some food now, which requires a roll, then that would formally have to forget about my "blades" (light weapon) skill till next day. That seems strange to me?

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
For the same reason, Ik isn't going to respond to IngoB's character on the grounds that he was talking to your character instead.

Actually I was talking to Jetse (Ariston). By virtue of how we have talked, I would see Jetse and me standing together in one spot, you and Stone standing somewhere else again, close to the caravan probably (but Ik not prominent in my field of view), and Hestor and the prince (and perhaps others) in a different spot again.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

Ik resolved to stay near the prince due to his unease at being in a graveyard, so it's unlikely that the two of them will be particularly far apart.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

I am assuming that days in game time may last longer than days in real time (or less long depending on the situation).

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
Ik resolved to stay near the prince due to his unease at being in a graveyard, so it's unlikely that the two of them will be particularly far apart.

Well, you were talking to Stone without shouting, and Stone 1) is staying with the caravan and 2) was the one exploring the graveyard. So I would actually expect that you are closest to that side of things of all the guards currently.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

Fair enough.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

OK, so I have done my first self-compliment to transform. I get one of these per week of game time. I have rolled a six (=easy). Not sure if I have to roll the die to transform, pretty sure I have to roll it to go hunting.

No idea if I have messed up any protocols by doing this, or if the GM should be doing the rolling for me.

Sorry for directing other characters when perhaps I shouldn't have (but hey, they ARE in my cart!). Hopefully, by the end of this I'll have a much better idea of how to navigate the game appropriately.

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Midnight to midnight my time. So day turns in a few minutes.

FYI am 1 hour ahead of server time, or GMT +1 hour.

From this post it looks as if days are in real time.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:

Sorry for directing other characters when perhaps I shouldn't have (but hey, they ARE in my cart!). Hopefully, by the end of this I'll have a much better idea of how to navigate the game appropriately.

Ok, just to give you an idea, using my limp form to illustrate:
If you want to refer to me snoring, snoozing, etc. that's fine-- It ties into something I said I was doing. You can also root through my pockets, move my limp form from side to side, or throw me out on the ground-- i just stay asleep through it.

If it is anything that involves initiative on the part of the character- like, someone is rooting through my pockets and I hit him in the face-then that is directed soley by the player, or someone designated to play the character in the player's abscence. I suppose on rare occasions the GM can direct a player character-- especially if there is something involving a loss of will, like a curse or a charm that makes me hit people--but otherwise, ithe only way you can affect a character's action is to try to talk them into something.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

Still trying to work out what does and doesn't require a roll. Hestor just asked the strangers to identify themselves. Presumably, it's up to Dafyd and AR whether they do (and in how much detail, how accurately, etc.). I didn't really intend to use my charm skills to force anything out of them, so I'm understanding this as a normal PC2PC interaction, no rolls needed. Does that make sense?

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Hart, FWIW that makes sense to me and that's how I understood it! However, if I may offer a suggestion: a one-liner like that does not help others much to attach to your side of the story.

One one hand, I don't know your current state: Where are you? (close to the church? close to the stranger? close to the prince? close to me? close to the caravan?) What have you been doing? (looking at the church? chatting up the prince? basking in the sun?) On the other hand, I don't know the background to your action: Are you actually surprised / afraid? Are you in any way or form communicating by looks or gestures with us guards or the prince? Etc.

Point being, I don't know how to properly connect to your action. And actually, given the continued silence of the prince (paging Jay-Emm) I'm treating you and the prince as a kind of package deal (probably unfairly, but that's what happens to cupbearers). So I'm sort of hoping for some useful info from you to help me work out my "guarding the prince" shtick. Obviously, you don't need to write novels on my behalf. But just a few sentences situating yourself before new action helps a lot...

[ 07. May 2014, 16:07: Message edited by: IngoB ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I have no good idea where anyone is, either. It had occurred to me that my behavior would be contingent on who I can see doing what.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I have no good idea where anyone is, either.

Without some form of communally-available map, I think that's going to prove to be the hardest part of this whole endeavour to get right.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

How about a google maps screen shot of a suitable location?

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

I think most people are rather well accounted for, actually. I'm drawing blanks on the prince in particular, and on Hestor except for just having shouted.

Located together near the caravan, or moving about close to it: Ik, Stone, Brandon, Gunriana, Jethro. A bit removed from this, closest to Brandon: Daniela and Arabella (hidden). Somewhat apart from both these groups, probably halfway between the caravan group and Testwe & Hestor, stands Jetse. The prince and Hestor are probably close to the church (though that is pure speculation), and I am on my way from Jetse towards the prince and Hestor. Clawdine is off at unknown but probably substantial distance ("off the map") hunting.

All guards are on full alert and mostly focused on Daniel. So are Gunriana and Hestor, in a different way. Brandon and Jethro seem to be only partly aware of the situation, and Brandon is about to stumble on Arabella (though in character we don't know that).

I'm curious whether Jetse is still going to roll his surveillance, or whether that got sort of cancelled by Daniel standing up?

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

[cross-posted]

Regarding locations: can't we just make it up as we go along, and paper over any inconsistencies with creativity?

[Ooh, look what we learn in Styx: I can edit multiple times as long as I'm still in the Edit window!

Curiously, because I'm usually a very visual person, I don't need to know all the locations in such detail as IngoB has described. I figure everyone is milling around anyway. And who knows if Kelly will choose to have Brandon discover Arabella or not. Anybody else could choose to discover Arabella instead, or eventually (for example, when Daniel swings up on a borrowed horse and the whole retinue heads out the churchyard gate) I'll be compelled to get up and reveal myself.

[ 07. May 2014, 16:48: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Some of us are very good at visualizing this stuff, and some of us need assistance.

Here's something that might help people picture the topgraphy of a game setting:

Rural graveyard.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Oooh, the dangers of late editing: my edit of my prior post cross-posted with Kelly's later post!

Fair enough, Kelly.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I am just leaving work and will get home in about an hour - so will come and do stuff as soon as I am set up in front of great british menu with a coffee.

But Days: for the purposes of how many rolls you can do per day -combat needs to be a separate thing, though we might have to agree a time to meet up on thread to do the resolutions in sequence, as it will involve multiple rolls. Otherwise one non-combat roll per day.

Story days may warp for plot reasons. I wil write D2,3, etc into the story thread for the purposes of the narrative.

Per day for rolls is real time, because that is about making the process managable. Rolls for non-combat actions reset every midnight my time.

[ 07. May 2014, 16:50: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Hmmm... But maybe we can just use the talents if those with good mental maps as a resource, meaning, i can come to the metagame thread and say, "IngoB, (or whoever is handy)can you remind us where everyone is stationed? " that kind of volunteer assistance might help a lot.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

Now that Brandon just said he sucks at finding things, I'm really tempted to try to encourage him toward Arabella. It seems the perfect time for him to stumble over her [Big Grin]

[ 07. May 2014, 17:03: Message edited by: Gwai ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

[Big Grin]

maybe this is a good time to invoke "don't use player knowledge!"

Question for the gm-- what is your understanding if the animal kinship skill? I'm trying to look up a reasonable definition.

Posted by Yorick (# 12169) on :

Is this an appropriate place for uninvolved Shipmates to say they're really enjoying all this weird RPG shit?

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

<crosspost, this answers Kelly not Yorick>

I'm happy to help if that helps you.

[ 07. May 2014, 17:15: Message edited by: IngoB ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I think we may still need to allow ourselves as a whole to be creative and loose as needed. Because my mental map of where everyone is may not be exactly like IngoB's mental map (just to take an example).

The key part of my mental map is this: "Prince and his retinue milling around, with Brandon and Clawdine currently outliers. Daniel has stood up, Arabella is still trying to hide". I think this illustrates how differently IngoB and I are thinking about where people are, and how much (or little) we're mentally tracking.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Yorick:
Is this an appropriate place for uninvolved Shipmates to say they're really enjoying all this weird RPG shit?

Cool!

One of the goals is to make this a good read, so as long as you don't distract the gm with cross chatter, occasional feedback as to how things look will help. Occasional. I defer to the comfort level of the gm in this, but that's one players opinion.

The gm has absolute power to tell people to shut up if the are interfering with game play, though. And stay off the actual story thread unless you are playing.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
OK - you need to do a story post then roll and post the resut here please.

In the story post you need to include a sentence like "Jetse, on the alert as ever, looks around to see if he can ***spot trouble*** in the shadows of this place."

You don't need to mention vigilance specifically in the story post.

Gah! Sorry, still getting the hang of this.

Rolled a 14, if the story hasn't moved too far past the point of it mattering.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
I think we may still need to allow ourselves as a whole to be creative and loose as needed. Because my mental map of where everyone is may not be exactly like IngoB's mental map (just to take an example).

The key part of my mental map is this: "Prince and his retinue milling around, with Brandon and Clawdine currently outliers. Daniel has stood up, Arabella is still trying to hide". I think this illustrates how differently IngoB and I are thinking about where people are, and how much (or little) we're mentally tracking.

I guess the question came up when I increased the chance of tripping over you. Just deciding I did felt like"player knowledge" to me. Perhaps under our circumstances, as you say, lenience is more productive than strictness in terms of invoking player knowledge.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Well, we are all constantly establishing things for others by what we write. For example, that I wrote that I'm taking long strides towards the prince indicates that I'm trying to bridge at least some distance to him. By saying this, I've sort of made it be the case for everybody else: the prince is not that close, or I would not be walking to him. Likewise, I had actually no idea where Jethro is until Brandon climbed out of the caravan and nods at him, and then they start to interact with each other. So they must be fairly close to each other. And Arabella actually was the one who decided for me that Daniel and her were close to the caravan, because she wrote that she see Brandon close by. Before that, I wasn't sure...

I don't think that this sort of "reality-crafting" is a bug, I think it is a feature.

[ 07. May 2014, 17:33: Message edited by: IngoB ]

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

It seems in character for me to do something provocative to the environment. Though hopefully not too much.
Also it might provide a good excuse for the wayfarers to join the party formally.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

Roll to see if Jetse notices Prince Testwe sneaking off:

16

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

[cross-posted: responding to IngoB]

Actually, Arabella wrote that Brandon was in her line of sight, and she worries about what will happen if he comes much closer. That doesn't necessarily mean he's close to anyone else. In fact I was thinking of him as rather far, because everyone else is on one side of the dell and he was on the other side. But it's a very small dell, really not much more than a ripple.

So even when we think we're understanding each other, we're not.

I agree with you that this is not a bug, it's a feature.

Part of the fun is seeing what wrinkles people throw at you in what their characters say and do with what you've already said and done, and then you find a way to throw it back to them, and so on.

[ 07. May 2014, 17:42: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Well, we are all constantly establishing things for others by what we write...

I don't think that this sort of "reality-crafting" is a bug, I think it is a feature.

HMMMMMMM!!!
Ok, the whole point of this is to test stuff out, so screw it- I'm off to roleplay. Be prepared,AR.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Hart, FWIW that makes sense to me and that's how I understood it! However, if I may offer a suggestion: a one-liner like that does not help others much to attach to your side of the story.

One one hand, I don't know your current state: Where are you? (close to the church? close to the stranger? close to the prince? close to me? close to the caravan?) What have you been doing? (looking at the church? chatting up the prince? basking in the sun?) On the other hand, I don't know the background to your action: Are you actually surprised / afraid? Are you in any way or form communicating by looks or gestures with us guards or the prince? Etc.

Point being, I don't know how to properly connect to your action. And actually, given the continued silence of the prince (paging Jay-Emm) I'm treating you and the prince as a kind of package deal (probably unfairly, but that's what happens to cupbearers). So I'm sort of hoping for some useful info from you to help me work out my "guarding the prince" shtick. Obviously, you don't need to write novels on my behalf. But just a few sentences situating yourself before new action helps a lot...

Point taken. FWIW, I think you're right to assume that Hestor stays at Testwe's side unless either of them deliberately acts to separate, as has just happened...

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
Daniel's Occult roll is 10.

That roll is a success:

Daniel, You recall that it is known for some ancient vampires to guard their coffins as they sleep with Servants of Shadow, minions that bleed the warmth from the bodies of the living as the icy winds of winter kill the unwary. You had read about these, but this is your first experience of their attack. It lends more credence to the the rumour of vampire activity that originally drew you here.

You may share this information, or not, as and when you feel it maybe appropriate.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
Roll to see if Jetse notices Prince Testwe sneaking off:

16

OK, I am treating your multiple spot rolls, as 1 ( as I think you were a tad confused and the functional outcome is the same.). You succeed in spotting trouble, what you spot is the prince unaccountably sneaking off.

I am treating this as the outcome post for the combi-roll.

[ 07. May 2014, 18:24: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
HMMMMMMM!!!
Ok, the whole point of this is to test stuff out, so screw it- I'm off to roleplay. Be prepared,AR.

Excellent!

(Steel-toed boots, ouch [Smile]

)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

The party is assembled, GM does happy dance [Yipee]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

[Yipee]

Brandon is finding his voice. I love when that happens.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

As explanation for my "hunt" roll: Bayani is trying to be reactive to what he finds, rather than trying to strike first at all costs. So there should be a slight increase in difficulty connected to making a choice to either grab or kill whatever is in the bushes. But his decision then should be appropriate.

I also already rolled, but I'm not sure if it is a good idea to announce my result prior to DT announcing the difficulty? It feels that this somehow puts more of the responsibility of the outcome with DT.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Bayani is trying to be reactive to what he finds, rather than trying to strike first at all costs.

I'm gonna like Bayani. [Big Grin]

quote:
I also already rolled, but I'm not sure if it is a good idea to announce my result prior to DT announcing the difficulty? It feels that this somehow puts more of the responsibility of the outcome with DT.

That question crossed my mind, too.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
OK, so I have done my first self-compliment to transform. I get one of these per week of game time. I have rolled a six (=easy). Not sure if I have to roll the die to transform, pretty sure I have to roll it to go hunting.

No idea if I have messed up any protocols by doing this, or if the GM should be doing the rolling for me.

Sorry for directing other characters when perhaps I shouldn't have (but hey, they ARE in my cart!). Hopefully, by the end of this I'll have a much better idea of how to navigate the game appropriately.

You did not require a roll for the transform. You may change back at will - but you may not now use the ability again for another 7 days.

I have treated your roll as a survival roll for fishing. You succeed and I have done you an outcome post on the story thread. You have now completed your non-combat action roll for the realtime gm day.

(Shall we short hand "game day" is in the story and is plot-driven, "GM day" is midnight to midnight my time.)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
As explanation for my "hunt" roll: Bayani is trying to be reactive to what he finds, rather than trying to strike first at all costs. So there should be a slight increase in difficulty connected to making a choice to either grab or kill whatever is in the bushes. But his decision then should be appropriate.

I also already rolled, but I'm not sure if it is a good idea to announce my result prior to DT announcing the difficulty? It feels that this somehow puts more of the responsibility of the outcome with DT.

I am slightly confused, are you hunting *whatever-Jetse-saw-in-the-bushes* ?

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Daniel, You recall that it is known for some ancient vampires to guard their coffins as they sleep with Servants of Shadow

Does Daniel know:
A) whether they're likely to leave the crypt, either at night or in the day?
B) Are there any special ways of getting rid of them or ways that don't work? (e.g. they don't like fire/ mundane weapons go straight through them?)

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

(adding to the queue of erratic questions-- at your leisure:)

Should I get a modifier for my steel toed boots? They could probably do as much damage as a club, if used as a weapon.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

They won't leave the crypt, you don't know exactly what would effect them, but you know anti-necromantic techniques would definitely work.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
Arabella trusts this guy?

If it helps I'm currently envisaging Daniel's speech patterns and general body language as a cross between this guy and this guy.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
I am slightly confused, are you hunting *whatever-Jetse-saw-in-the-bushes* ?

Correct, I have no idea what's in the bushes, but I'm using my hunting skill to approach it (hopefully) undetected. If it is an animal, I would probably just kill it unless I have a particular reason to leave it alive. For example, both a rat and a rabbit would be sliced (the latter to be kept for food), but a domesticated cat would stay alive (and I might catch it). This would complete the hunt. Whereas if this is some kind of enemy, then success at the roll should either allow me to overwhelm them if weak (completing the "man hunt") or deliver a "surprise attack" advantage to me for the ensuing combat.

Well, that's how I would see it. You are the GM.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
(adding to the queue of erratic questions-- at your leisure:)

Should I get a modifier for my steel toed boots? They could probably do as much damage as a club, if used as a weapon.

Yes OK, +1, but it is either dagger or boots on a particular attack - not both.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Got it. Thanks.

Brandon is gonna fall in love with ik, I just know it.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
As explanation for my "hunt" roll: Bayani is trying to be reactive to what he finds, rather than trying to strike first at all costs. So there should be a slight increase in difficulty connected to making a choice to either grab or kill whatever is in the bushes. But his decision then should be appropriate.

I also already rolled, but I'm not sure if it is a good idea to announce my result prior to DT announcing the difficulty? It feels that this somehow puts more of the responsibility of the outcome with DT.

K - I have storied your difficulty - what was your roll ? I will need to the outcome post.

(Essentially, the GM needs to the outcome post anytime hidden knowledge must be revealed.)

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
K - I have storied your difficulty - what was your roll ? I will need to the outcome post.

I had a 14.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
Still trying to work out what does and doesn't require a roll. Hestor just asked the strangers to identify themselves. Presumably, it's up to Dafyd and AR whether they do (and in how much detail, how accurately, etc.). I didn't really intend to use my charm skills to force anything out of them, so I'm understanding this as a normal PC2PC interaction, no rolls needed. Does that make sense?

Yes thats fine.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
Arabella trusts this guy?
If it helps I'm currently envisaging Daniel's speech patterns and general body language as a cross between this guy and this guy.

(after reading your last post)
[Killing me]

Oh, dude , dude, how could you do this to me? How am I going to stay in character when you are carrying on like that?

DT--THIS IS WHY I WANTED RESIST CHARM! [Biased]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
K - I have storied your difficulty - what was your roll ? I will need to the outcome post.
I had a 14.

I have done your outcome post on the story thread.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Going offline-- for story purposes, consider me hanging around with Jerthro and agreeing with everything he says.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Righto

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

So - whilst we have a breathing space in the action - how are you feeling ? Is it making enough sense ? Any burning issues ?

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Thanks DT, it's been great fun so far for me.

Burning questions, well, so far the only real problem I have had is having to wait for other people to make some move, and slight synch issues (I actually deleted an entire post when I saw that it was crossposted with a key move by Ariston, and now we have the prince being helped to his feet twice. Oh well...)

I do wonder though if we can have some guidance on the food situation. There seems to be quite some worry about getting food, but I'm not so sure how realistic that is. It is unlikely that a convoy of a rich man would leave without sufficient provisions. I would prefer to roleplay on the assumption that for now we have food, and that we only need to hunt and gather if we feel that we need some fresh stuff. What do you think?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I think the food issue is something you need to decide amongst the party either in game or out of game on this meta thread.

Synch issues are awkward - I would reiterate it is important to read previous story posts carefully. It is also helpful - for that reason - not to over specify too much. But I think occasional synch issues are unavoidable to a certain extent.

For example, there has been quite a lot of concern over exact spatial location. The less you specify the less synch and adaptability problems it causes. (Bearing in mind that we don't really have any mechanics based on exact positioning, no flanking etc). However, enough information to make your choices is needed - again an issue of learning to balance well.

[ 07. May 2014, 20:55: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

Gunriana is looking for stuff that will burn. I don't have a skill for that, so am relying on whatever general knowledge might be assumed.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

I'm off to bed soon. Consider Ik to be watching the cart, but ready to step in should any trouble kick off.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Eliab:
Gunriana is looking for stuff that will burn. I don't have a skill for that, so am relying on whatever general knowledge might be assumed.

I am modelling that as basic vigilance, roll please - you need more than 10.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

It appears that we are moving in the game somewhat more slowly than real time. This is completely understandable as players clock in to post from different time zones around the world. A more realistic time frame might be 2 hours of real time = 1 hour in the game.

If an adjustment is needed, then we may need to adjust how often some special abilities can be used. Like one transformation every 3 days. Waiting a fortnight would make that ability quite a peripheral one.

Was I supposed to roll to see how many fish Clawdine caught?

[ 07. May 2014, 21:15: Message edited by: Banner Lady ]

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
I'm off to bed soon

Ditto.

Testwe is sulking, (feel free to flesh out).
Jay-emm is not (though finding it hard to keep up to date, not sure how I'll cope when things happen)

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:
Also, how hard are we on the rule that thoughts are not heard and cannot be used for conversation?
Unless you've got a mind-reading skill, pretty hard I'd have thought.

I've not done RPGs before, so I'm not sure how such things go. I was thinking that it would be good to give some idea of my character's thoughts and motivations as part of the actual story, but not necessarily in a way that would mean the other characters would know about them. For the same reason, Ik isn't going to respond to IngoB's character on the grounds that he was talking to your character instead.

I agree that it's good role-playing not to 'overhear' other PC's thoughts, when your character wouldn't know them, but I think the only workable 'rule' is that if you post it, people can respond to it. Otherwise they'll be potential disputes about what's IC and OOC, what X could reasonably have noticed about Y, where exactly someone was when Z happened, and so on. It's very easy to make mistakes in separating player and character knowledge, or misremember posts that happened when your character was really elsewhere, and we want to avoid declared actions having to be retrospectively rules invalid.

You can usually assume from my post that any internal monologue from Gunriana might be transparent to anyone who cares enough to observe her body language or engage her in conversation (can it be assumed that we aren't modelling every second of our characters' lives and they do occasionally chat to each other when off stage?).

So, for example, on the evidence on the thread so far, I think it would be perfectly legitimate for Clawdine to know that Gunriana is sizing her up as a possible rival IF Banner Lady thinks that's a deduction that Clawdine might make. It's something that has been at the forefront of Gunriana's mind - and hence was posted, so as it directly concerns Clawdine, and the tension Gunriana might feel in talking to Clawdine, I could not possibly object to Banner Lady deciding that her character can work this out. I wouldn't especially expect Ik to know or care about that, but if you decide that, for whatever reason, he would notice, then he noticed. Similarly, I think it would be fair for Gunriana to have noticed that Ik has a certain degree of respect for Bayani - she can't read his mind, but there will certainly have been non-verbal clues from which that could be deduced.

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
I am modelling that as basic vigilance, roll please - you need more than 10.

9. I guess Gunriana has mentally filed the churchyard trees as the possible abodes of guardian spirits and neglected to observe that they are made of wood.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
So - whilst we have a breathing space in the action - how are you feeling ? Is it making enough sense ? Any burning issues ?

I think the action is picking up, and the creative collaberation on this thread is almost as exciting as the adventure itself.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

IngoB: re food & shelter - yes, these are things real people think about, along with survival and sexual/physical tensions. A story without these things is sadly lacking IMHO.

My take on this is that as a camp follower I am surviving on my own wits - the main party is not going to serve me, for I am there to serve them, or at least that's what they think. Clawdine might have her own ideas on that.

The main regal party would no doubt have money, royal and guard tents to set up, provisions and clout. They might have a barrel of water & a barrel of wine, but I would have thought these would need periodic refilling. Fresh food supplements along the way would also be necessary.

I am assuming Clawdine's caravan is following at least one royal cart of provisions and possibly even a royal coach with outriders and the princely horse on this peregrination. The GM may clarify this if I have a wrong visual. There is no way a cart horse and a caravan could keep up if it was an equestrian only party.

But maybe I am being too practical for this kind of game. You will have to let me know - I tend to inhabit the worlds I create somewhat enthusiastically, and enjoy exploring them. It is easy to over engineer it. Slap me down if I get annoying. I'm a troll woman, I can take it.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Thanks DT, it's been great fun so far for me.

Burning questions, well, so far the only real problem I have had is having to wait for other people to make some move, and slight synch issues (I actually deleted an entire post when I saw that it was crossposted with a key move by Ariston, and now we have the prince being helped to his feet twice. Oh well...)

I do wonder though if we can have some guidance on the food situation. There seems to be quite some worry about getting food, but I'm not so sure how realistic that is. It is unlikely that a convoy of a rich man would leave without sufficient provisions. I would prefer to roleplay on the assumption that for now we have food, and that we only need to hunt and gather if we feel that we need some fresh stuff. What do you think?

I just saw that as me dragging him up, you actually being helpful. I think only one of our characters would be big on subtlety in that situation.

As for food/torches/random common gear like that—I figured it was all in the wagon. We've been traveling for some time and haven't starved yet, so I assume we have some supplies at base. It's something I thought might only become an issue when we leave the caravan behind.

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Any burning issues ?

I've received a PM (I won't say from whom - it was entirely polite and constructive, and I am happy to respect the confidentiality of the sender) suggesting that I was perhaps a bit too snarky with my IC posts.

I don't think I was particularly, but it wasn't my understanding that our characters are committed to being nice, and I certainly see verbal abuse as one of the many tools in Gunriana's witch's armoury. Does anyone think that IC insults are out of line or inappropriate for this style of game?

(I really don't want to offend anyone in real life. I'm quite happy to role-play searing hatred of any of you on a strictly IC basis.)

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

Re success at fishing (or number caught) I rolled a 4. Whatever that means, if I needed to do that.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

re Gunriana...she's a character... she can be as conflicted, snooty, curious, distant, dismissive, insulting or combative as she likes. If she wants to make Clawdine arc up, Clawdine will react in some way.

Clawdine was hoping to sit down opposite her over a campfire dinner to do some more eying off of each other, but so far the silly chit can't even find any kindling, thanks to the dice rolls.

It is going to take me a while to get used to this mode of action/inaction and seriously, you will need to call me out when I run on ahead with the narrative side.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Eliab:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Any burning issues ?
I've received a PM (I won't say from whom - it was entirely polite and constructive, and I am happy to respect the confidentiality of the sender) suggesting that I was perhaps a bit too snarky with my IC posts.

I don't think I was particularly, but it wasn't my understanding that our characters are committed to being nice, and I certainly see verbal abuse as one of the many tools in Gunriana's witch's armoury. Does anyone think that IC insults are out of line or inappropriate for this style of game?

(I really don't want to offend anyone in real life. I'm quite happy to role-play searing hatred of any of you on a strictly IC basis.)

Justme, but the only thing I could see that seemed alarming was the thing about severing corpse heads, and I thought you were trying to be helpful.
The goid thing about this game as opposed to Mafia is that you can turn to someone in character and snarl stuff like,"Do you have to be such an officious dickhead? "( or whatever might apply. Maybe you could encourage your correspondent to hash outwhat is bugging them in role-play, even just internal monologue.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Eliab:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
I am modelling that as basic vigilance, roll please - you need more than 10.
9. I guess Gunriana has mentally filed the churchyard trees as the possible abodes of guardian spirits and neglected to observe that they are made of wood.

Yup, that's a fail. You can do an outcome post on the story thread if you like, or just leave it without further comment.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
Re success at fishing (or number caught) I rolled a 4. Whatever that means, if I needed to do that.

Not needed, you already succeeded at fishing, and you have already posted your outcome on the story thread.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Eliab, I have no concerns about the in character tone of your posts.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
The main regal party would no doubt have money, royal and guard tents to set up, provisions and clout. They might have a barrel of water & a barrel of wine, but I would have thought these would need periodic refilling. Fresh food supplements along the way would also be necessary.

I am assuming Clawdine's caravan is following at least one royal cart of provisions and possibly even a royal coach with outriders and the princely horse on this peregrination. The GM may clarify this if I have a wrong visual. There is no way a cart horse and a caravan could keep up if it was an equestrian only party.

If you read the story thread op, you get the layout of the main party. No additional outriders, coaches, wagons or baggage train.

And most of the party are walking, only the Prince was on a horse. (Apart from Brandon asleep on King.)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
It appears that we are moving in the game somewhat more slowly than real time. This is completely understandable as players clock in to post from different time zones around the world. A more realistic time frame might be 2 hours of real time = 1 hour in the game.

Story days will warp to the plot, there will be occasions when the connecting post will be "and three days later they arrive at the city of Jarg, exhausted after a hard slog to get there."

It looks likely that we may get through more than one gm day in the current story day.

The thing that delays us somewhat is the size of the party - 12 is a lot.

[ 07. May 2014, 22:56: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Eliab:
Does anyone think that IC insults are out of line or inappropriate for this style of game?

No, not as far as I am concerned - as long as it is not disruptive to the game, which you certainly haven't been. IC is IC, you are playing a role.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

We have entered a new GM Day, everyone now has the opportunity to have a rollable non-combat action. Or continue to have diceless story interaction.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
T There is no way a cart horse and a caravan could keep up if it was an equestrian only party.

If you read the story thread op, you get the layout of the main party. No additional outriders, coaches, wagons or baggage train.

And most of the party are walking, only the Prince was on a horse. (Apart from Brandon asleep on King.)

OK thanks. I was obviously getting some of my ideas from earlier posts on the locked thread when we were hashing out our characters & accoutrements.

Clawdine's caravan is therefore the default luggage & provisions cart for the well named Prince Testwe.

This could make it interesting (er).
[Big Grin]

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

As for food, I think it's natural for a tramp-character, finding himself in someone else's caravan, used to living off daily alms and in a group where he's seen as not belonging, as well as indebted to the person owning the caravan, to be worried that the general food supply might not include him in its rationings. That's why Stone Miller's been worried about it.

So the assumption as it seems to him is that the caravan has enough food, but that he's not likely to get hold of any of that any time soon, unless some friendly character declares that of course starvation cannot be seen in relation to the prince, but rather his benevolence, or some other character's, will extend to those characters of dubious use or belongingness (ahem) to the caravan.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

So how fast is time moving in game? I get that every time it's a new day in Doublethink, but I'm not sure if that means that it's a in game day. Judging by how things were going in game, I thought time was not progressing at the same rate as our time, but now I'm not sure.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I think in-game, time is moving at an elastic rate.

For getting another dice roll, that's refreshed every 24 hours of Realios Lyffios time -- midnight to midnight in Doublethink's time zone. That might represent a few hours or a few days or anything in between of in-game time.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

It seems I have completely misunderstood the time/day structure between the GM & the story thread, so DT, feel free to delete or alter the last thread I posted. I do not want to create confusion for the characters.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

Clawdine was busy transforming back and forth. It makes complete sense that she's a bit confused about time [Biased]

(Not just you were unsure about time. I asked that because I really was confused, not as a way of saying you were wrong.)

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I don't think it creates confusion, Banner Lady. More room for creative adaptation. For example: Look at Hestor and Daniel, locked in complete concentration on each other, taking from shortly past noon until well after the stars are up to take the measure of each other and start sharing information. While I'm sure the interaction to them seemed to take just minutes [Big Grin]

.

It's up to DT of course for what she thinks.

I seem to have morphed overnight from terrified "I have no idea how this works" AR into loosey-goosey "Creativity, it's all good" AR.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

For those who didn't follow Mafia, Fictitious A is the imaginary creation of then Mafia-Ios, now DnD-Arabella. FictA channels the Reallios Lyfios adventures of yours truly (AR). During Mafia there was a truly amazing/unreal/frightening/hysterical/ridiculous synergy of Life Imitating Art Imitating Life Imitating Art for Ios and FictA. Arabella hasn't yet noticed any such synergy, but characters often outrun their creators, and FictA suspects said synergy is only concealed, not absent.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Hestor, Your wits roll would be easy - I have rolled for you because I need to do some contextual posts on the story thread.

You failed your wits roll (I rolled a one) that is a ridiculous fail. So you will get an in scene consequence.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I have operationalised the wits fail as a decision not take advantage of daylight - and to camp in the graveyard. Effectively Hestor is sure vampiric creatures can't leave the crypt and Daniel is wrong about the threat posed.

I have also used the context posts to try to draw the character's timelines together.

It is now dark, you are now sat round a campfire in the church yard, you are eating the fish Clawdine caught. There is half a small tree near you, that Ik felled, not all of which has been turned into logs.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Please make sure you read prior posts on the story thread carefully, before you post into the story thread.

Though to be honest, I think we are doing pretty well for a story written by thirteen people across multiple timezones.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

A quick run-through of the time zones implies something like 6-7 time zones (at least two European, two Asian/Australian, and probably two or three in North America).

Also, hope you don't kill me for my recent triple post, writing a song seemed to demand its own post whereas I needed to clear up the geographical mess created by the previous cross-post with Banner Lady.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

I'll be in meetings for the next 7-8 hours. You can assume Hestor is sulking after his uncharacteristic misstep.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Spectacular, Father. [Big Grin]

Regarding this : is this basic knowledge that my character has, or do I have to roll for it? (discernment?)

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

I was wondering that myself because Jerthro's player could answer that question somewhat herself without looking anything up and she doesn't have much specialized knowledge in that way.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Perhaps I have erred on the wrong side, but I have taken it that rather undramatic events could go on without skill checks, otherwise it would be hard to have a good narrative... But I don't know. One example would be Stone hiding a skull in Gunriana's backpack, which might have been something that would've needed a roll. Rolling for that however would've meant it was much more likely/bound that it would have story-changing impact rather than just a bit of mischief on the side. I think the GM will set us straight, and also patch up our possible mistakes.

There's always going to be a bit of leeway in which things that didn't seem to matter can become useful story turners or things that would matter for the sake of the story could be downplayed somewhat. For example, will grave-robbing affect Stone or the party negatively due to some sort of Karma? I don't know, and I'm not sure the GM's decided on that. It sure was looking for trouble of course! [Biased]

Likewise, a successful roll does not always mean what we would've hoped for it to do, like Bayani reaching out his arms in the bushes and "only" catching the Prince... Ah well, the joys and jocularities of life's twists and turns.

I'd say if your vigilance is decent, you can role-play spotting some things like that. But IANAGM.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

That makes a lot of sense.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Spectacular, Father.

Regarding this : is this basic knowledge that my character has, or do I have to roll for it? (discernment?)

He knows what is in his pack, if he asks Daniel, it will be something Daniel could answer without roll - but there is no obvious backstory reason why Brandon would know anything beyond garlic as anti-vampire.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Gwai:
I was wondering that myself because Jerthro's player could answer that question somewhat herself without looking anything up and she doesn't have much specialized knowledge in that way.

Bear in mind you are effectively in a parallel earthlike place, there will be similarities but folklore etc may not be exactly the same.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Essentially I need you to request rolls for things that are narratively important, rather than just atmospheric. Obviously, that is always a bit of a judgement call. In most cases we wouldn't roll for player interactions. Obviously, we have had some of those exceptions - but I wouldn't expect it to be regular or common.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Gwai you have requested an awareness intuition roll on the story thread, that doesn't really work as you are effectively saying - I am going to be hyper-vigilant for a bit. You are not trying to be vigilant to anything specific.

If the party were to be attacked, I might ask people to do vigilance rolls at that point. If people then had a trait that gave them an advantage, or were on watch or something, I might rank their roll as a bit easier.

Therefore, I am going to treat your roll request as a bit of roleplay. We won't roll it, and you still have your non-combat action roll in hand.

[ 08. May 2014, 18:58: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Can I just re-emphasise this:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Synch issues are awkward - I would reiterate it is important to read previous story posts carefully. It is also helpful - for that reason - not to over specify too much. But I think occasional synch issues are unavoidable to a certain extent.

For example, there has been quite a lot of concern over exact spatial location. The less you specify the less synch and adaptability problems it causes. (Bearing in mind that we don't really have any mechanics based on exact positioning, no flanking etc). However, enough information to make your choices is needed - again an issue of learning to balance well.

If we need exact locations for something, it is likely I will ask a given player themselves where they are - or possibly put in a context post on the story thread consistent with previous accounts to define that information.

[ 08. May 2014, 19:09: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Marvin, if you are up for it you could you could use your craft basic weapons skill to check the stakes are all finished correctly and usable ?

[ 08. May 2014, 19:29: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

The tune for Arabella's hum.

And I never knew it was by Tom Lehrer -- how cool is that!

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Marvin, if you are up for it you could you could use your craft basic weapons skill to check the stakes are all finished correctly and usable ?

So done. I rolled a 14, so dd I check them well?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Marvin, if you are up for it you could you could use your craft basic weapons skill to check the stakes are all finished correctly and usable ?
So done. I rolled a 14, so dd I check them well?

Your finesse is OK and you rolled over 10 so that is a success [Smile]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Outcome post is done for that. "Folk see Ik do good, think Ik big man, not dumb man"

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Eliab, you could consult runelore to devise a strategy if you want.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

OK - this is an unfamiliar rite - you have excellent skill in this sooo - I think that will be an OK difficulty.

Roll please.

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

Gunriana's charm is create a zone of protection against necromantic beasties, to form a rallying point in the event of trouble. Jetse's prophetic word makes Sol the rune for the job, but as it's night-time, she's placing the rune so as to receive and reflect the Sun's power. It will be of little effect until first light, even if the charm works.

Jetse's involvement in the rune-cutting is intended to boost the power as he has a particular connection to the Sun. If he doesn't want to cooperate in the magic, Gunriana will proceed without him, but the rune will be weaker (scratching one-handed is less potent than cutting) and will lack any power that might be gained from his patronage.

(This is pretty much how I want Gunriana's magic to play out - using circumstances and omens, and drawing ideas and symbols together, rather than point-and-click spell-casting.)

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

15.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Thats fine, you need to roll over 10 for a success.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Can you do the outcome post pls.

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Can you do the outcome post pls.

Done.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

Daniel just rolled 12 to **Investigate** the significance of the overturned coffin.
(If this were a television series the camera would now be doing a Sherlock style zoom about his memories of the crypt.)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Difficulty was hard (needed over 15) so that is a fail.

Please could you do the outcome post.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Difficulty was hard (needed over 15) so that is a fail.

Please could you do the outcome post.

Why was it hard? Hasn't he got excellent wits and investigation based off wits as a skill?

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

Sorry, just read story post. That makes more sense.

[xpost]

[ 08. May 2014, 22:00: Message edited by: Hart ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Because he was trying to investigate away from the location.

(Crosspost)

[ 08. May 2014, 22:00: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Difficulty was hard (needed over 15) so that is a fail.

Please could you do the outcome post.

Crap. Arabella is going to have to figure out some other way to find out [Biased]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Please see special story post for your character. A thing has happened.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Timely edit there Jay-em [Smile]

You roll is at hard difficulty, frankly court poetry is not investigation/interrogation - but I admire your chutzpah, so you can have a crack at it - roll over 15 to succeed.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

[cross-posted]

I see!

I shall be interested to find out if Prince Testwe's **poem** helps Arabella sort out what this all means.

[ 08. May 2014, 22:36: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

11

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Kk, you may wait until a suitable moment tomorrow to try out your poem (but you will find out little) - or you can decide that your inspiration fails and you don't complete the poem. Up to you how you outcome it.

[ 08. May 2014, 22:41: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

We have entered a new GM Day, everyone now has the opportunity to have a rollable non-combat action. Or continue to have diceless story interaction.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I am going to bed, will look in again in the morning.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

DT, when you awake feel free to roll for me, as it will probably be a while before I'm at a computer and, if I'm successful, I imagine you'll want to do the story post.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
[cross-posted]

I see!

I shall be interested to find out if Prince Testwe's **poem** helps Arabella sort out what this all means.

I have to say, I think you're getting along quite well in the game so far. How do you feel? Still as lost and confused as to how things work?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Banner lady Please do not put roll numbers on the story thread.

Also, I am unclear what you are rolling for. The torch thing doesn't require a roll.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
DT, when you awake feel free to roll for me, as it will probably be a while before I'm at a computer and, if I'm successful, I imagine you'll want to do the story post.

Your roll was at easy difficulty, and I rolled a 17.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

OK, sorry. I thought I had to roll to see whether the thing I had made would work as I am low on finnesse. I was perfectly prepared to be waving a dud torch around. Dud torch = club, I guess.
Glad it worked though.

Does this mean I still have one action left for this GM time game day?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

OK, so what you would have needed to post on the story thread would have been something like:

Clawdine wonders if she has the ***finesse*** to make improvised torch hold together.

---

Yes you have an action remaining this gm day.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Dawn has broken

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

FWIW, concerning Arabella's IC analysis of the guards: while there is no official hierarchy, I see Jetse as mostly in charge, not Bayani. I see Bayani and Ik as roughly equals, with Bayani perhaps habitually underestimating Ik's tactical skills and knowledge but being respectful of his fighting abilities, and actually quite fond of him personally.

I'm pretty much treating Jetse and Ik as a solider would treat an officer and another soldier, respectively, if they had been lost together in a jungle for long enough to have dispensed with all formalities. However, in the end these relationships are being established by the shared job of guarding the prince, and if that were to go, there's no telling how things would develop.

Another quick comment: I'm trying to write some dialogues where I talk with one or a few people (and my IC narrative says so) but obviously everybody can read this. That's fine as OOC background knowledge and of course you can role-play IC to have overheard us or to have been informed by whomever I was talking to. But you shouldn't simply react to this as if I had spoken to the entire group, please.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
FWIW, concerning Arabella's IC analysis of the guards: while there is no official hierarchy, I see Jetse as mostly in charge, not Bayani. I see Bayani and Ik as roughly equals, with Bayani perhaps habitually underestimating Ik's tactical skills and knowledge but being respectful of his fighting abilities, and actually quite fond of him personally.

For Ik's part, as I write him he's coming across as one who defers to Bayani (and probably Jetse, though he hasn't really interacted with the latter yet) in terms of planning and strategy, but considers himself to be (more than?) their equal when it comes to actually fighting.

Whether that tactical deferral will hold once the weapons are out and there's a clear enemy to attack remains to be seen - Ik strikes me as the sort of chap who will follow a predetermined Plan A, but if that plan changes or goes wrong will default to wading in and bashing everything that's not part of the party rather than taking new orders in the heat of the moment. We shall see!

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Also, one lonely bat?

By the time we are through with that poor thing, it will look like a headless, limbless, poisoned, blinded, inverted porcupine...

Heck, if I was that vampire, I would be booking a quick holiday with the rellies in Transylvania right now... [Smile]

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Also, one lonely bat?

One boss, but many minions?

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
One boss, but many minions?

Is that a thing, only the main vampire can go bat?

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

Who said anything about the minions being vampires as well? I'm expecting a couple of fights against these "shadow people" before we get to the pointy-tooth git...

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
FWIW, concerning Arabella's IC analysis of the guards: while there is no official hierarchy, I see Jetse as mostly in charge, not Bayani.

Perceptions. Everyone has different perceptions. For example, nominally the prince is in charge. But Arabella perceives him as a prisoner (and not merely in a figurative sense).

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
But Arabella perceives him as a prisoner (and not merely in a figurative sense).

I saw that, and thought it was a good social commentary, so to speak.

Anyway, the above was mainly written for the benefit of Ariston and Marvin, to let them know my underlying ideas in roleplaying with them.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

OOC knowledge might not affect how Jetse and Ik perceive Bayani.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
One boss, but many minions?
Is that a thing, only the main vampire can go bat?

Maybe it was the least minion among the vampires, coerced into drawing the short straw to make a risky near-daylight scouting expedition.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
[cross-posted]

I see!

I shall be interested to find out if Prince Testwe's **poem** helps Arabella sort out what this all means.
I have to say, I think you're getting along quite well in the game so far. How do you feel? Still as lost and confused as to how things work?

I think I'm getting it. It's fascinating, on multiple levels. And quite fun.

I shall be a transformed Mafia player when Mafia returns, that's for sure:

(One possibility: Vampire Ios climbs aboard the Mafia-infested spaceship. She has no allegiance to anyone but herself this time around. Herself and songs. Herself and songs and hugs. Herself and songs and hugs and the Spanish Inquisition. Oh bugger, Herself and anything else she decides to be loyal to....

Another possibility: Vampire Ios climbs aboard the Mafia-infested spaceship. She has learned so much about teamwork. But how to persuade this motley set of passengers to trust her, especially when she has no ***charm*** with which to coerce their wills?)

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

Yes to crypt. Ingo. Welll post later.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

A question as to how Testwe deals with combat. His muscles are useless, but his finesse is good and that's what his fencing is based on. His rapier gives him a plus one and I imagine he'd have some additional bonus when fighting vampires if he has my poison on his sword. So, how does this all actually affect his chances?

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

If combat is on the same five-bucket scale from a D20 as the skills rolls, then it seems to me that any +1 weapon only makes a difference 1/20th of the time. Although it does rule out completely the possibility of failing in **ridiculously easy** combat, and doubles (to 1/10 from 1/20) the probability of succeeding in **ridiculously hard** combat.

[ 09. May 2014, 16:34: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

I don't think a critical un-hit can ever be removed, even by buffs. It's a floor level of a 5 % chance of total failure, just as even a negative buff will never remove the possibility of strangling the vampire with the dandruff in a ridiculously hard challenge.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Critical success or fails can't be undone by buffs etc, full explanation of combat rules is in the OP of this thread.

You lot appear to be spoiling for a fight.

Combat requires multiple rolls etc - so we will need to assemble on thread at the same time, which will be 21:00 my time (gmt +1) if you wish your character to participate but are unable to attend, you may either:

a) delegate another player to run your character for you
b) delegate me to run your character for you

Once combat begins, uninvolved players need to refrain from posting on the story thread until it is complete.

My guess is it will take us 1 to 2 hours depending on how many characters participate.

Any questions about this ?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
A question as to how Testwe deals with combat. His muscles are useless, but his finesse is good and that's what his fencing is based on. His rapier gives him a plus one and I imagine he'd have some additional bonus when fighting vampires if he has my poison on his sword. So, how does this all actually affect his chances?

He will fight vs finesse, unless he drops his sword.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
I imagine he'd have some additional bonus when fighting vampires if he has my poison on his sword.

Nope, it just means this mundane weapon will work against this creature - as opposed to being totally useless.

Good thing you thought of it, otherwise this would have been a significantly more perilous endeavour.

[ 09. May 2014, 17:59: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

So it is just turning 7:00 for you right now and we convene in 2 hours?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Yup

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

I won't be able to be online then, but here's what I'd like Hestor to do. Not sure if it'll be allowed (depends if these things are counted as combat moves):

Hestor will not enter the crypt, as he is lousy at fighting. He will, however, **lurk** outside being **vigilant** as to the danger level to our heroes. If things start going very badly, he will use his **free-running** to go to the nearest village and **call in a favor** with a counter-occult warrior. If this is all allowable as part of combat, I'll leave you (GM) to make any decisions for me about when I do these things.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I have the most horrible feeling there is going to be an undead twelve year old running around this game soon, but that's what tests are for, right? : D

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

*phew* just pm'd the world - flood control's a bitch.

That took me 30 min - this is the real time issue for combat. I will have a little think about any work around before 21:00.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

That's not a time I can make, I'm afraid. What's worse is I have very little idea what to make of Stone in this fight. I think he'll just follow with the assaulters in the background, grab a stake if he has to, but mostly wait for the others to fight it out but try to be first in for the loot. You think you could fix me up with that, DT? He's in your hands for the night. For what it's worth, he's equipped with a crucifix in his hair and in two minute's from now he'll have savoured the liquor bottle from last night. Good luck all and sundry.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Okey Doke

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Do you do combat by PM, DT, or is it all on the Story thread and the Meta thread? Where would PMs have to come into it?

/s/Arabella the Puzzled

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

Jetse's ready—I was already composing his post.

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

Not sure if compete r keyboard dry. If so will play, else use character as seems fit. Play up arrogance if want him to take risks

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I will retire to have breakfast and charge ipad. See you all soon!

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

I think this happens in an hour? If so, I can be around for about forty-five minutes, and delegate Jerthro to whoever thereafter. I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss something so exciting.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

I am off to sleep. Good luck!

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

We will do the combat mechanics on the meta thread.

I will do a context post on the story thread at the start of combat.

Then we will do story poss of the combat afterwards.

The process is going to be complex to keep track of - so I must ask you to follow my instructions as accurately as possible. We need to try to minimise crossposts, so please keep comments to an as needed basis once combat starts.

I will ask you to do things with your character name in bold.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Gwai:
I think this happens in an hour? If so, I can be around for about forty-five minutes, and delegate Jerthro to whoever thereafter. I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss something so exciting.

Yes, I'll run him if you need to leave.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

I will be there for the fight.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Cool

Btw everyone, v useful to have your character sheet in front of you when you start, and your d20 of choice

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

I don't know, but I think it's unlikely I'll be at the keyboard in an hour. And if I am, it's likely I'll be called away.
Any volunteers to run Daniel will be welcome to do so.

Daniel's rolled a 16 for Vigilance as he advances cautiously into the crypt.

In combat:
Daniel will start off by using ***Turn Undead*** on anything in sight that Turn Undead might work on.
Then: he'll either use his ***crossbow*** to shoot garlic covered stakes at vampires (aiming for the heart if he can do that at OK), or ***Turn Undead*** at any incorporeal shadows; he will target whichever group is causing the rest of the party most trouble. If *** Turn Undead *** isn't available for some reason, he'll use ***spear fighting*** to wave flaming torches at things.
If nothing's being effective he'll call a retreat. He will everything he can to get Arabella or Brandon out if they're unable to leave under their own power; and will cover the retreat of anybody else who can leave under their own power (but will leave if they can't get out and can't easily be rescued). If Ik, Bayani, or Jetse want to cover Daniel's retreat, Daniel will let them.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Please can I have a volunteer to run Daniel ?

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I am torn-- I would actually love to give it a shot, but worry about killing off Dafyd's character for him. YOu ok with an amateur like me handling Daniel, Dafyd?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

28 minutes before we get started.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

If Dafyd doesn't respond before then, consider me volunteered. [Big Grin]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Woot

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

I'm here, and Ik is in.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I'll have you all know I am eating garlic fries in preparation for this...

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

7 min

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I'm in. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm in.

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

Key board still dead.. Will watch.

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
7 min

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

For the record, I'm assuming that Jerthro put the garlic on his blades too although I forgot to say it, and to stick it in now would be sort of in the way, particularly since I have nothing else to narrate.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Ready to roll.

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

So that's Arabella, Ik, Daniel, Brandon, Bayani, possibly Price Testwe, and Jetse in, with Hestor standing by the door, if I have this right.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

And Jerthro

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

That group makes pretty good sense from a story perspective, when you think about it!

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

Alright, we're going in! Woo!

Should we be concerned about marching order or tactics yet, or are we going to de-vamp the baddies as they come?

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Can I have a roll to be exempt from bloody flood control, please? [Biased]

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

Yet another advantage of being a Host/Admin [Big Grin]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

That's fine Gwai.

Right we have begun.

I am now going to do a context post on the story thread (remember DO NoT post on the story thread).

Whilst I do that I want you to do a post on this thread, for each character you are running, stating their vigilance rank (not roll), what weapon they intend to use should they need to fight (and whether it has any garlic on it),

Any relevant perk or special item. (Anyone can choose to use a garlic stake if they wish, this would base off muscles and give +1 to their combat roll.)

As you know this is an experiment so pls bear with me if it goes a bit haywire or clunky.

And 5 d20 rolls please

[ 09. May 2014, 20:08: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

So excited! I can hear her typing from here!

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
And 5 d20 rolls please

Does that mean each of us rolls a D20 5 times, and has the number ready? Or roll the D20 5 times, and post our numbers here? Or there are 5 of us, and each of us is to roll a D20 once?

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

Ik has GOOD vigilance.

He is going to use his dagger (+1) in the first instance. It has garlic on it. His club (+1) also has garlic, should he change to that at some point, and he has a couple of garlic-coated stakes as well.

Ik has the Gut Instinct perk, meaning he can act first in a contested situation. Only once, but once may be enough.

Special item: Bear Hide Cloak, enchanted, may resist up to 1 attack - magical or mundane - per week.

ETA Dice rolls: 4, 16, 7, 19, 6.

(I fear for Ik's health with those rolls!)

[ 09. May 2014, 20:20: Message edited by: Marvin the Martian ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Brandon: OK vig, He will start with short sword (it has garlic) Perhaps I can use "perk" as I see Daniel attacking?

Daniel: weak vig, Has stated he is brandishing his holy symbol, is using his specs to detect a stealthy route in, I assume he would want to engage "uncorrupted."

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

Jerthro:
OK vigilance

Plans to use mainly his garlicked sword, but has a couple garlicked stakes on him too, and he's garlicked his dagger just in case while he was fidgeting and pretending he wasn't a bit nervous.

D20 rolls:
13
10
17
5
19

[ 09. May 2014, 20:16: Message edited by: Gwai ]

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

Jetse Vos

Currently wielding a garliced halberd; garlic-basted shortsword and garlic-dipped arrows are in reserve. Carrying no stakes.

Vigilance rank: good

Relevant perk: human wall (when used, all baddies will attack Jetse; the first wound he takes will have no effect)

d20 rolls: 11, 15, 15, 6, 1

[ 09. May 2014, 20:16: Message edited by: Ariston ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Oh wait, I see, the 5 D20 rolls are part of the list of things DT wants us to post.

I'll post shortly, it's taking me a few minutes to understand all of this.

[ 09. May 2014, 20:16: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
YOu ok with an amateur like me handling Daniel, Dafyd?

Go for it. I've said what Daniel's tactics will be. Prioritise keeping Arabella and Brandon safe, then the rest of the civilians, then use your judgement between killing vampires and keeping the three big fighter guys alive.

I'll spectate, as I may be called away to help with bath and bed time at any minute.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Please post all 5 rolls like ariston.

[ 09. May 2014, 20:18: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Brandon: OK vig, He will start with short sword (it has garlic) Perhaps I can use "perk" as I see Daniel attacking?

Daniel: weak vig, Has stated he is brandishing his holy symbol, is using his specs to detect a stealthy route in, I assume he would want to engage "uncorrupted."

Oops, he also has crossbow in hand. Don't see that he anointed it, though.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Bayani

Vigilance: 4 (Good)

For now fighting with a

bolo (+1 combat roll), with garlic poison

I'm unclear whether I can use Sinawali for the entirety of the crypt run, or just for one specific fight.

If Sinawali is on, fighting with

2 bolos (+1 combat roll each), both with garlic poison
or if one bolo gets lost
1 bolo and 1 dagger (+1 combat roll each), bot with garlic position

I will make the decision when to roll for Sinawali once I know how long this will last. If for the entire crypt run, then on first enemy engagement. If not, then I will wait for a "boss fight".

My 5 d20 rolls:

16, 19, 4, 2, 14

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Two handed fighting is a skill you can always use like light weapon or parkour.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Rools:

Brandon: 3, 14, 11, 20, 1

Daniel: 8, 2, 15, 20, 6

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Two handed fighting is a skill you can always use like light weapon or parkour.

I wasn't clear concerning that! Very cool with the parkour as well, if I had known I would have shown it off before... [Smile]

OK, it's double bolos then for combat. Do I need to give you another 5 d20?

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Oops, he also has crossbow in hand. Don't see that he anointed it, though.

I said the stakes were garlic covered when I outlined tactics.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Rools:
Brandon: 3, 14, 11, 20, 1
Daniel: 8, 2, 15, 20, 6

That roolz indead, two perk 20s!

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Got it! I didn't read far back enough I guess-- thanks for the corection.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Rools:
Brandon: 3, 14, 11, 20, 1
Daniel: 8, 2, 15, 20, 6
That roolz indead, two perk 20s!

Is it landing on the perks? Didn't pay attention! That is cool!

(I'm using an online roll generator, BTW-- need to find my dice!)

[ 09. May 2014, 20:27: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

teswe ok vigilance.
(unless already descr)
rapier no garlic, plus small gaelic stake.
(can't find dice, p seudo rand from boggle set) 15, 5 , 19, 5, 9 .

Mtm could you or ingo b control actions cheers.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

This your action order for the entire encounter (Ik will get the opportunity to use his perk once in the first combat he engages in):

Bayani 1st
Jetse 2nd
(Hestor if needed)
Ik 3rd
Jerthro 4th
(Prince, if he becomes involved)
Brandon 5th
Arabella 6th
Daniel 7th
Miller 9th
Undead 10th

[ 09. May 2014, 20:27: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Vigilance:

Arabella has OK vigilance

Weapon:

Arabella is a bit confused about weapons. If the weapon is to be chosen from one of the things she has about her person, she chooses to use the Lamp (waving light directly in the face of Shadows and Vampires seems like a possibility). There is no garlic on her Lamp.

If she's supposed to use her Improvised Weapon skill here, she'll do that. There won't be any garlic on her Improvised Weapon, unless her Improvised Weapon turns out to be one of Brandon's garlic-coated steel-tipped boots that falls off due to being laced up too hurriedly, or some similar pre-coated object.

She has also grabbed a Garlic Stake at the last minute, but isn't sure if that adds a +1 in addition to whatever else she may be doing. If she can only use one, she'd rather creatively use the Lamp than use the Garlic Stake, unless the Garlic Stake gives her better chances, but since she doesn't understand at all the scoring in use for combat, she can't make any final decision on that and is willing to leave it in the hands of the GM.

Perk:
Teleportation, can use a magic word to return to a place she has known before.

D20 Rolls:

19, 6, 10, 7, 18

(Arabella hopes her combat actions are: Confronts a vampire, steps on an ant, steps on an ant, steps on an ant, Confronts a vampire.)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Ingo pls could you take the prince and do 5 rolls - thanks

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I suggest Arabella ties a stake to her lamp making a cunning spotlight and stab combo (+1 to attack rolls)

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

DT, "action order for the entire encounter" -- is that like a batting order? Arabella will always act after Brandon, and Daniel will always act after Arabella?

I'm hoping that by the time 5 people have done combat in order before me, I'll have started to figure this out. Arabella figures that the only way to learn is by doing, and she'd rather be in than out. So here she is, unprepared and underarmed though she may be.

[cross-posted. DT, do I post that I do that here? Or on the Story thread? But you said not to post on the Story thread. OK: Arabella takes a gamble and ties her Lamp to the Garlic Stake using one of the drawstrings of the plover pouch.]

[ 09. May 2014, 20:33: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Ingo pls could you take the prince and do 5 rolls - thanks

OK, will do. Rolls:

16, 16, 2, 6, 3

Is his magic flute available for action?

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

I'd ask if it's made of silver, but that's werewolves not vampires...

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

It suits me to let the GM run Clawdine's character for the next 10 hours, as I will be unable to get back to the computer until then.

I have no combat capability except with water, which would be pretty useless in this instance. You may roll for me, or use the last (unused) one I did if an action involving vigilance or soul is required. I look forward to seeing what happens to everyone!

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Meta context post:

Led by Daniel, the party creep down winding steps into the crypt. It is dimly lit, a few old vigil candles in niches.

The room is oblong about the size of a small feasting hall (it may have been here before the church). The long walls contain shelves of rotting ancient coffins. The ceiling is supported by twelve evenly spaced columns about a foot and a half wide - in the centre is a closed, beautifully maintained coffin.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

(shiver) [Big Grin]

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

let it begin

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Ingo pls could you take the prince and do 5 rolls - thanks
OK, will do. Rolls:

16, 16, 2, 6, 3

Is his magic flute available for action?

Yes, Hestor called him back when he saw him make for the crypt and smeared some poison it.

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

Going to have to leave in a couple minutes. (Sorry!)

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I'm having flashbacks to the Nativity Play. [Big Grin]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Meta context post:

As you leave the bottom of the steps you all see black vapours roll out of the coffin shelves coalescing into shifting, terrifying forms.

Bayani where do you position yourself ?

(Feel free to put in story text, I will compile it onto the story thread after the encounter is complete.)

[ 09. May 2014, 20:44: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

"How the hell did that coffin get set back up on its sawhorses and closed so neatly?" wonders Arabella. Daniel would probably be able to make some wisecrack about vampire housekeepers, but Arabella is much too serious to think of anything.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

From now on pls only post in response to direct request.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Ingo pls could you take the prince and do 5 rolls - thanks
OK, will do. Rolls:

16, 16, 2, 6, 3

Is his magic flute available for action?
Yes, Hestor called him back when he saw him make for the crypt and smeared some poison it.

OK, if the prince has to defend (or decides to attack), this seems to be the weapon of choice. I hope Jay-Emm doesn't mind me using her special. Is it a one-off weapon, or continuously available?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Continuously available.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

Bayani where do you position yourself ?

(Feel free to put in story text, I will compile it onto the story thread after the encounter is complete.)

[ 09. May 2014, 20:50: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Bayani where do you position yourself ?

Bayani stops two steps into the room, slightly to the left, well within reach for a quick jump back to the entrance. He waves at Daniel to move up for investigating the coffin.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Jetse position pls ?

*%}.%*#.%*#,%^?%^?+^%?^+%?^%<%#~ing flood control !!!!!!

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

We have a sequencing problem, I am going to abandon positioning.

[ 09. May 2014, 20:55: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

In the middle, at the head of the main coffin

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

We could try to do this in the cafe, for quick responses and no flood control? (Haven't used the cafe for ages, but should work for this?)

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I haven't been able to make the cafe work for ages. [Frown]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

DT, shall we just post our positioning in order, as the person before us gets their's posted? That way you won't have flood control. That is, if you're asking the same thing of everyone.

Or if people will get different questions, can you post all the questions for a round, and then we answer our question in order, waiting for the person in front of us to answer, before we post our answer?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

The party are assailed by shadows. These shadows are weak.

Bayani 1st - your first strike dispels the shadow
Jetse 2nd - your first strike dispels the shadow
Ik 3rd - your first strike dispels the shadow
Jerthro 4th - you first strike dispels the shadow
Testwe 4ath - your first strike dispels the shadow
Brandon 5th - you first strike dispels first strike dispels the shadow
Arabella 6th - you are amazed by the skills of your comrades, the dark hunger is gone
Daniel 7th - hurries forward eagerly to look at the coffin
Miller 9th - remains by the steps warily

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

So, do we roll-play this out or are you going to add a narrative?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Essebtially the shadows were v weak, you all acted before them and they went phut - not v dramatic I am afraid.

It is clear current combat system is not workable for the party.

There is still a vampire to face. Do you want us to spend sometime revising the combat system, then come back to this final combat. Or would you like to pick one champion fromamongst you to face him - do the combat system as written for that one fught - then revise it ?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
So, do we roll-play this out or are you going to add a narrative?

Could we park that question for a moment and come back to it pls.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

I favour the "one champion" idea, mostly because I'm not likely to be able to be around for a massive amount longer.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I have no clue on one-champion vs. come-back-later.

I say this just so you know I've checked in on the question, so you aren't waiting for my input.

[ 09. May 2014, 21:13: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

SAme here-- I have to leave in a bit. I can volunteer Brandon, as if he dies, I won't be heartbroken about it.

(X post-- agreeing with Marv.)

[ 09. May 2014, 21:13: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

I vote for halting this where we are, and do a re-think on how combat could work.

We are all ready to get something done here together as a group, the champion fight seems odd given where we are at.

I suggest no more story posts until we have figured out what to do about (group) combat? We are after all (ignoring the shadow attack) just at the very start of this, convenient place to put in a break.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

I'm back.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
I have no clue on one-hero vs. come-back-later.

I say this just so you know I've checked in on the question, so you aren't waiting for my input.

Thanks, if we go one champion I suggest those who want to be champion role d20 and highest role gets to do it - then I will I will do the combat with them.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
I vote for halting this where we are, and do a re-think on how combat could work.

We are all ready to get something done here together as a group, the champion fight seems odd given where we are at.

I suggest no more story posts until we have figured out what to do about (group) combat? We are after all (ignoring the shadow attack) just at the very start of this, convenient place to put in a break.

(Hands over Daniel)

This does makes sense. I guess I could go either way, I am saying.

[ 09. May 2014, 21:14: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

I agree [that it makes sense].

[ 09. May 2014, 21:15: Message edited by: Marvin the Martian ]

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

If we're doing one Hero, I'll volunteer Jetse for that role.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I think I would prefer a 24 hr hiatus while we try to sort out combat myself - could a kind host lock the story thread for us during this period - and re-open Kelly's original thread so we can work on the combat system ?

Or Kelly could you do that ?

[ 09. May 2014, 21:17: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Will do, Mistress!

(thread on hiatus)

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

<crosspost with DT saying the same thing, essentially>

This is a test run after all. So we hit a bump, let's go back to the drawing board.

I suggest locking down the story thread (perhaps literally, to avoid stray posts), and having a discussion on meta (and perhaps some trial runs for different ideas) on how to make progress.

Once we know how to do this, we can switch back into the story. But I think it is pretty crucial to get this one sorted out. Even if it takes a few days...

[ 09. May 2014, 21:18: Message edited by: IngoB ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

That too, IngoB!

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

While this is the Circus, and thus, no kind Hosts are anywhere to be found, I can temporarily pause things.

Yeah, let's figure this one out.

- A, CH

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Thanks, if we go one champion I suggest those who want to be champion role d20 and highest role gets to do it - then I will I will do the combat with them.

Daniel volunteers. He got a 5.
I'd go for either a champion fight, or some really simple form of combat resolution.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

(thread closed for construction--- rules revamp in progress. See here. )

[ 09. May 2014, 21:22: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

(thread re-opened for trial run)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Welcome back. The combat mechanic we are trialling can be found here.

For the purposes of this trial, I consider the phase where the characters created a protective ward, made garlic based poison, and made stakes to have been the plan phase.

So we will now be entering the narrate battle phase. For the purpose of this trial, I would like you to make your meta & story posts on this thread. When its all over I will collate the story posts, and post the lot onto the story thread - provided it hasn't all gone horribly wrong [Big Grin]

So for your combat meta post - please title the post:

Bayani's Combat Meta Post

For your combat story post - please title the post:

Bayani's Combat Story Post.

(Obviously, insert your character name.)

---
Any character may participate in the combat, for the purposes of the story - those who do not choose to participate have gathered around the protective rune ward. (I will pm all players to alert them.)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Meta context post:

As you leave the bottom of the steps you all see black vapours roll out of the coffin shelves coalescing into shifting, terrifying forms.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Let's see how this works:

Brandon meta post: Brandon uses consecrated sword to try to discourage the vapors. making a slow, sweeping gesture with the weapon outstretched.

Brandon story post: Having heard vague things from Daniel about garlic having juju, Brandon waves at the vapors with his garlicked sword.Can't hurt, right?

[ 14. May 2014, 19:07: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

(I should add,"he is also really really creeped out.")

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

GM Meta-Combat Post

NB I have included difficulty ranks for all players, so anyone who wishes can participate. Please do not mention seeing other characters during the fight, unless they have already made a combat post.

Minion Fight begins:

Bayani: your combat is ***Ridiculously Easy***
Ik: your combat is ***Ridiculously Easy***
Jetse: your combat is ***Ridiculously Easy***
Brandon: your combat is ***OK***
Clawdine: your combat is ***OK***
Daniel: your combat is ***Easy***
Guriana: your combat is ***Hard***
Hestor: your combat is ***Ridiculously Hard***
Stone: your combat is ***OK***
Jerthro: your combat is ***Easy***
Arabella: your combat is ***Easy**
Testwe: your combat is ***Easy***

Your party is fighting shadow minions that coalesce into forms from your nightmares, shifting and changing in response to you and your fears. They have weak Vigilance, if your Vigilance is better than theirs you get +3 to your first combat roll in this encounter.

You have until 18:00 hrs GMT +1 on 15/05/14 to defeat them.

Please remember to use any applicable combat bonuses, - including your +1s for weapons - for your combat roll only. They do not apply to your spawn level roll.

Daniel, whenever you have the opportunity to run away, you have the opportunity to roll for "turn undead" if you succeed, your next fight drops a difficulty rank.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Let's see how this works:

Brandon meta post: Brandon uses consecrated sword to try to discourage the vapors. making a slow, sweeping gesture with the weapon outstretched.

Brandon story post: Having heard vague things from Daniel about garlic having juju, Brandon waves at the vapors with his garlicked sword.Can't hurt, right?

Your meta post should include your rolls, and their outcomes.

(NB I have based your difficulty rank on your best weapon skill, normally you would have told me your weapon choice during the plan phase)

[ 14. May 2014, 19:40: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Shoot, knew I forgot something-- hang on

Crap! 2 for light weapons roll. 5 for vigilance. Anything else I should be rolling?

[ 14. May 2014, 20:02: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

How many vapors? Is it one each?

[Regardless, Hestor will be lurking at the doorway, ready to run for help if needs be, but conspicuously avoiding seeing any of this ridiculously hard action).

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

You start with one fight, if you choose to enter combat, it may or may not spawn giving you further fights to complete or run away from.

If you are not fighting, you are up by the rune ward. In your case, not fighting seems very, very wise.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Shoot, knew I forgot something-- hang on

Crap! 2 for light weapons roll. 5 for vigilance. Anything else I should be rolling?

You don't roll vigilance is your rank in vigilance weak, or better than weak ?

You fight is OK difficulty, as per combat mechanic:

Ridiculously Easy, win = >1, lose = 1
Easy, win = >5, lose = < 3, spawn = 3-5
OK, win = >10, lose = < 5, spawn = 6-10
Hard, win = >15, lose = < 5, spawn = 6-15
Ridiculously Hard, win = > 20, lose = <10, spawn = 11-19

You rolled less than 10, therefore you are ***left for dead***

Sorry !

Spawning not relevant cos you are out for the count.

[ 14. May 2014, 20:10: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

FAN-TASTIC! [Yipee]

(Vig is better than weak)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Right so you roll was 2 +1 for your weapon +3 that I said you could have if vigilance was better than the shadows.

Added together that gives 6, which is more than 5 so you are ***continuing to fight & more enemies join***

So you spawn a fight. You now need to roll spawn level.

[ 14. May 2014, 20:19: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

So if I rush in to help Brandon does that mean I don't fight, or can I do first one than the other?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

You can't help brandon - you can only fight your own fight.

Full mechanic is here .

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Right so you roll was 2 +1 for your weapon +3 that I said you could have if vigilance was better than the shadows.

Added together that gives 6, which is more than 5 so you are ***continuing to fight & more enemies join***

So you spawn a fight. You now need to roll spawn level.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

And what does that tell you ?

Reference is here.

[ 14. May 2014, 20:32: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

Gunriana meta post

Roll 12
+3 for vigilance
+1 light weapon
16 total - wins hard combat

Gunriana story post

Gunriana's heart was pounding in her chest, and the skull, bound to her belt by a leather strap through the eye socket banged against her thigh with every step. "Soon! Soon!" it seemed to be saying. "Soon you will join me, dear sister!". Gunriana held it still, feeling the smooth bone under her fate-marked palm. If that was what was written, it had been written long ago, and there was no avoiding it.

The darkness was growing thicker, the shapes forming around the companions, and then, the shadow creatures were advancing, silent and dark, to defend the crypt.

The witch's fingers twitched. She had planned to cast Sol, but even as she formed the rune in her mind, she knew that this place had yet to be claimed for the light, and the shadows would choke the rune's power. Ar then, the rune of fertility, the rune of the fruitful earth and the turning year, a rune of power under the ground, and a call to the lingering half-dead to return to their place. The nearest shadow began to move towards her, thirsting for the warmth of life, as Gunriana scratches Ar on the ground between them.

"Ground and grave call you, shadow - your place is here no longer!"

The creature rushes forward, but Gunriana hurls the spear as hard as she can, transfixing the thing just as it passes over the rune. The spear jerks violently in the air as if it had hit rock, spins wildly and hits the floor. The shadow creature is gone.

"The fates claim you and that which you guard! Light is coming!"

Gunriana screams in triumph and steps forward aggressively, elated by victory foreseen, before realising that she no longer holds a weapon, and prudently slowing her pace for others to take the fight onwards.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
And what does that tell you ?

Reference is here.

Ummmm... my spawn is one level up?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
And what does that tell you ?

Reference is here.
Ummmm... my spawn is one level up?

Correct ! Well done [Smile]

so you now have your original OK fight, and a hard fight. You have the option to try and run away - you'd need to roll 7 or more.

If you don't run away, you then go into combat against your OK enemy, and then your hard enemy. You have the option to try to run away after each fight.

Once you have resolved everything - you can do a story post of your exploits.

(Remember you don't get the vigilance bonus again, they know you are here now ...)

[ 14. May 2014, 20:40: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I'm in it.

Combat roll 1--DUDE, I ROLLED A 17!

Combat roll 2 (I need to roll 2, right?)-- 14

Finally some decent rolls!

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Ok does my +1 save me from spawning on that second roll?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

So the first one you have 17 +1 = 18, your OK enemy has been ***left for dead***

Your hard enemy, you rolled 14 +1 for your weapon gives 15 soooo close, but you needed *more* than 15 to win so you ***continuing to fight & more enemies join***

It is spawning from a hard fight, so you spawn two fights - you need to roll spawn level for each.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I attempt to beat feet-- i.e., run my little ass away-- and roll a....17!

I'll take that, I don't want to risk my luck.Also, I have to step away from the keyboard soon.

[ 14. May 2014, 20:52: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Great, just need a story post now or before end of combat deadline.

[ 14. May 2014, 20:54: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Thats the perfect meta and story post Eliab [Big Grin]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Ok. (hopefully you walkiong my slow ass through this process step by step will help others-- thank you for your patience)

Brandon Story Post

Having heard vague things from Daniel about garlic having juju, Brandon waves at the vapors with his garlicked sword.Can't hurt, right?

Well that would be wrong. What Brandon does mostly is attract the attention of the vapors. Wow, they are sentient. And irritable. And now two are converging on him.

Brandon whacks mightily at the one closest, which disappears in a poof (or whatever it is they do.) He swings at the next one coming, and it evades his blade long enough for another one of those things to come over and help his buddy out.

"Oh, &%$# this,"Brandon thinks, and runs back to where Hestor is huddling against the wall.

[ 14. May 2014, 21:04: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

(And I am off...)

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

Daniel rolls a 7. +1 for appropriate weapon (garlic covered crossbow bolt) gives him a 8. It was easy so the shadow disappears.

I assume Daniel can now run or Turn Undead? He uses ***Turn Undead***. At this point, does that just affect his own fight, or everybody else's as well? Regardless, he just rolled a 20.

[ 14. May 2014, 21:27: Message edited by: Dafyd ]

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

Story Post:
Daniel sees the vapour gather and launch itself towards him. He has no time to do anything except fire his crossbow at it at point blank range. The vapour dissipates as the garlic-laden bolt passes through it. Daniel steps forward, and raising his holy symbol shouts, Go back ye Shadows! Back to the noxious pit which spawned you! Light shines out from him, filling the crypt.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

If I read things correctly, there's three nasties left over from Brandon? Daniel takes the hard one that Brandon spawned the first time.
So, it's one rank harder because Brandon spawned it at hard, but it's one rank easier because Daniel just successfully Turned Undead. So Daniel needs a 5 again.

Daniel rolls a 19.

Daniel steps between the boy and the great shadow. 'Here you,' he says. 'Take on someone your own size.' The shadow grows vast and twists attempting to take the shape of one of Daniel's nightmares. Daniel looks at it in puzzlement. 'What's that supposed to be? A giant pepper pot?' Deciding he doesn't want to know, Daniel shoots the thing down the eyestalk. It disappears in a puff of smoke.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
Daniel rolls a 7. +1 for appropriate weapon (garlic covered crossbow bolt) gives him a 8. It was easy so the shadow disappears.

I assume Daniel can now run or Turn Undead? He uses ***Turn Undead***. At this point, does that just affect his own fight, or everybody else's as well? Regardless, he just rolled a 20.

Well, it doesn't effect this part of combat because you have already succeeded - but come the crisis phase I'll ensure you get some kind of benefit.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
If I read things correctly, there's three nasties left over from Brandon? Daniel takes the hard one that Brandon spawned the first time.
So, it's one rank harder because Brandon spawned it at hard, but it's one rank easier because Daniel just successfully Turned Undead. So Daniel needs a 5 again.

Daniel rolls a 19.

Daniel steps between the boy and the great shadow. 'Here you,' he says. 'Take on someone your own size.' The shadow grows vast and twists attempting to take the shape of one of Daniel's nightmares. Daniel looks at it in puzzlement. 'What's that supposed to be? A giant pepper pot?' Deciding he doesn't want to know, Daniel shoots the thing down the eyestalk. It disappears in a puff of smoke.

Nope, in this version spawn do not linger to be dealt with by others.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

So far we have three completed asychronous combats [Smile]

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Ok, I'll try this out. But given that Stone is drunk/Dutch Couraged, shouldn't his fight be a little easier?

I roll a 9. Increased by a light weapon that's a 10. Crap. Stone's luck has really been rather poor so far. So that's a spawn, right?

Spawn roll 4. Great. So now I have one HARD fight and one OK one, right? (I'm beginning to think Stone's bad luck is due to him carrying "The Blues"...)

Followed by a roll 1. This is ridiculous. Stone's dead, baby.

Oh dear, I also missed the part that said I could actually run away. Ah well.

May I remind my interlocutors that Stone has yet to roll above 10, following 4 interaction rolls. Should he be revived after battle, you might want to walk on the other side of the road from him.

(But if the first battle was supposed to be easier, then the rest is discounted, right?)

Posted by Jay-Emm (# 11411) on :

Meta
A roll of 16 (so doesn't get any super luck).

Testwe's Ok vigilance is better than it's weak vigilance, and his weapon is good so the roll is effectively 20. 20 is more than 5.

This defeats the monster. I WIN
(therefore the mechanics are perfect!!! [Smile]

)

Story
Testwe sees a shadow take shape, while the darkness is still swirling he has readied his rapier and getting ready to strike.
His first hit breaks the structure of the mist, and his second sends it back into the hell it came from.
He looks to see what new forms are revealing themselves.

[ 14. May 2014, 23:12: Message edited by: Jay-Emm ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Question-- is there a limit to spawn? That is, are we picturing a finite number of baddies that keep coming over to us, or does this go on forever?

Posted by Ariston (# 10894) on :

Jetse's Meta
Roll 1: 12
+2 for my vigilance bonus
+1 for weapon (Halberd w/garlic poison)
Total: 15

15 beats this ridiculously easy combat's challenge rating of 1. The enemy is defeated; nothing new spawns.

Jetse's Story
No battle cries. No gloating. Silence. Efficiency. Waste not your last breath taunting your enemy. One stroke, one foe, one kill.

The halberd moved through the gathering gloom before it could coalesce. Best not to have to find out what it would have become. Destroy it before your curiosity destroys you.

[ 14. May 2014, 23:46: Message edited by: Ariston ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I am figuring this out one teeny tiny bit at a time. Am I allowed to post here as I figure it out?

I'll ask for help if I need it, but right now I'm trying to see if I can figure it out from the combat mechanic post on the other thread, and observing people's meta and story posts on this thread.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
So for your combat meta post - please title the post:

Bayani's Combat Meta Post

For your combat story post - please title the post:

Bayani's Combat Story Post.

(Obviously, insert your character name.)

Actually, not so obviously, so I'm glad you said to put our own name. I read this and my initial understanding was that we were all to label our posts "Bayani's Combat..." to show that we're trialing Bayani's combat proposal. Except I guess that should really be "IngoB's Combat..." Oh lord, I have completely lost all track of the distinction between IC and OOC.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Thats the perfect meta and story post Eliab

Why didn't Eliab's meta post report a Spawn roll? Is it because his Combat roll defeated the enemy, so no Spawn roll was needed?

[ 15. May 2014, 01:13: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I'm going to report my thought process trying to make sense of this. I think it might be useful to see how one newbie learns this. Then I'll turn them into a Meta post and a Story post.

I thought I'd get all the learning in one post, but it was getting long. So this is my first big chunk of learning:

The setup

Roll 2 D20: 14, 15

Compare my vigilance to the minions' vigilance: Them, weak. Me, OK. I am better.

Because of winning vigilance, add +3 to my first combat roll.

Wait a second? Combat roll? Need to check what that is. Is it one of the two rolls I just made? And "first" -- am I going to have to make more rolls? Back to Combat Mechanic post to hopefully find out.

Having re-consulted Combat Mechanic, I see that my initial roll was:

Combat 14, Spawn 15.

Add my +3 to Combat to get:

Combat 17, Spawn 15.

I don't have any weapons bonuses of my own, but I seem to recall the garlic or the stakes or something added a +x amount. Off to look for that post, and also examine recent Combat Meta and Combat Story posts to see if anyone is using this +x.

Ah, found this, here on the meta thread:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
You start with one fight, if you choose to enter combat, it may or may not spawn giving you further fights to complete or run away from.

This explains "first." It shows my level of wishful thinking that I had completely forgot the whole discussion we had of spawning on the other thread. When I read "two rolls", I was hoping that a pair of rolls were all I needed to figure out. Rats.

I don't see anyone else claiming +x for garlicked weapons, so I guess that's not part of this combat after all.

OK, I have my rolls.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

The next installment, in which our heroine AR flips back and forth between two threads to figure out: what next.

What to do with my rolls

From reading others' meta and question posts, I gather that my next step is to use my Combat roll to figure out the result of my fight.

DT's Meta Combat post on THIS thread says my combat is Easy.

DT's Combat Mechanic post on the OTHER thread says how to use my roll to determine my result:

quote:
Easy, win = >5, lose = < 3, spawn = 3-5

What does that mean?

Much staring and cogitation ensues, including wondering if thing like "win = >5" means "you win if your roll is greater than or equal to 5", and finally figuring out that no, it does not.

Ok, my Combat roll is 17, which means that I win, which means (check Combat Mechanic thread again) Enemy is left for dead.

And modeling after Eliab's post, I guess I don't need to use the Spawn roll.

OK, bare bones story would be:

"Slightly more vigilant than the ghosts, Arabella seizes the advantage in her first blow and completely overpowers the ghost, **leaving it for dead**."

Unsure if it needs to be jazzier than that. Need to find some unconventional angle to get me interested in thinking up combat narrative.

Real Meta and Story posts coming later.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Our heroine AR thinks she might be getting it, enough to be willing to consider possibilities that strictly speaking she doesn't have to bother with right now:

What if my enemy had spawned?

OK, from feeling completely confused, I'm starting to understand a bit, enough to be curious about spawning. What if my enemy had Spawned?

First, now I see that would only have happened if my Combat roll was 3, 4, or 5. If so, then my Spawn roll 14 would come into play.

(Consults Combat Mechanic post on OTHER thread to figure out what 14 means.

Lots to absorb.

Easy fight spawns one minion. So now I'm facing two ghosts.

14 spawns same difficulty rank: so the second ghost is also an Easy fight.

I have choice to try to run away (this should come after the information about what difficulty rank is spawned), but have to roll at least 7 to so.

Unsure how I fight two ghosts. Do I roll four dice: two Combat rolls and two Spawn rolls? I'll assume so, for lack of any other knowledge, and try to decide if I should run away.

I would prefer to kill them both. (Need to calculate probability of rolling a single 7 vs. rolling two rolls both greater than 6.)

I don't want to die: two rolls, at least one of which is 1 or 2, I guess. Wait a second, do I fight these two enemies serially or in parallel? And does it affect the probabilities? (More math to do.)

What if I kill one and the other spawns? That leaves me more or less in the same position I am now, except the new second enemy might be harder than its parent.

Ai yi yi, I'm glad I killed my enemy on the first blow. I've got too much going on to want to sort through this. Especially because I can't remember what happens if I run away: do my two enemies turn on other players? In which case probably better to do my part for my teammates and stay and fight.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

In which our heroine AR wraps up her treatise, preparatory to going off quietly for awhile to compose her Meta and Story posts.

Conclusion

And finally, perhaps I can read and understand how Nemesis combat is different.

Hmmm, Nemesis can recover five times from being **left for dead**.

And now my brain is completely full. Might try to understand Nemesis combat tomorrow, starting from my initial 14, 15 roll and working out what would happen if Arabella were fighting a Vampire Nemesis instead of a Ghostly Minion.

Conclusion: this seemed terrifyingly forbidding and uninteresting at first, but if I can get the hang if it enough to work through the mechanics with more ease (and I now think I can, whereas initially I didn't expect to be able to) I will at least be able to do a workmanlike job.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:
Ok, I'll try this out. But given that Stone is drunk/Dutch Couraged, shouldn't his fight be a little easier?

I roll a 9. Increased by a light weapon that's a 10. Crap. Stone's luck has really been rather poor so far. So that's a spawn, right?

Spawn roll 4. Great. So now I have one HARD fight and one OK one, right? (I'm beginning to think Stone's bad luck is due to him carrying "The Blues"...)

Followed by a roll 1. This is ridiculous. Stone's dead, baby.

Oh dear, I also missed the part that said I could actually run away. Ah well.

May I remind my interlocutors that Stone has yet to roll above 10, following 4 interaction rolls. Should he be revived after battle, you might want to walk on the other side of the road from him.

(But if the first battle was supposed to be easier, then the rest is discounted, right?)

Your combat roll was 9 +2 from your dutch courage perk and +1 from your weapon. So 12 in total. This better than 10 so you WIN. Your enemy is ***left for dead***.

You now need to do a story post of your victory.

(Your vigilance is the same as the shadows, so you didn't get the vigilance bonus that some players had.)

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Caught after Edit window: my Spawn roll was 15, not 14.

Sorry for the mega multi post.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Question-- is there a limit to spawn? That is, are we picturing a finite number of baddies that keep coming over to us, or does this go on forever?

Spawn is not capped, but, you have the run away option and if you are left for dead by your enemies - they then seek safety they do not hang around and attack other members of the party.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ariston:
Jetse's Meta
Roll 1: 12
+2 for my vigilance bonus
+1 for weapon (Halberd w/garlic poison)
Total: 15

15 beats this ridiculously easy combat's challenge rating of 1. The enemy is defeated; nothing new spawns.

Jetse's Story
No battle cries. No gloating. Silence. Efficiency. Waste not your last breath taunting your enemy. One stroke, one foe, one kill.

The halberd moved through the gathering gloom before it could coalesce. Best not to have to find out what it would have become. Destroy it before your curiosity destroys you.

The GM's combat meta post specifies a vigilance bonus of +3, but the functional effect is the same.

[ 15. May 2014, 02:14: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

If you run away, what do your enemies do?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Go away and gloat, they do not linger and attack the party.

Why am I am awake at three in the morning ? Insomnia sucks.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

(Waves to DT, from the mere hour of 10:20 pm.)

I see from Jetse's character sheet that his halberd is already +1, so the garlic doesn't add anything. What advantage, if any, is the garlic giving us in this fight?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Thats the perfect meta and story post Eliab
Why didn't Eliab's meta post report a Spawn roll? Is it because his Combat roll defeated the enemy, so no Spawn roll was needed?

Yes.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
(Waves to DT, from the mere hour of 10:20 pm.)

I see from Jetse's character sheet that his halberd is already +1, so the garlic doesn't add anything. What advantage, if any, is the garlic giving us in this fight?

It is making mundane weapons effective against undead. You made an improvised weapon from a garlic covered stake tied to your lamp. This would add +1 to your combat roll, for the benefit of having a weapon.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

If you spawn fights, you fight them in series. With the option to try to run away between fights.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Nemesis fights are against a unique individual non-player character (NPC)

The GM's meta OP would specify the NPC's unique abilities, including what they do on a spawn role. They won't all have exactly the same profile as Boftzag. Because Boftzag can recover from left for dead five times, this means that the entire party attacking him would need to accrue 5 successful combats before he is finally defeated. That total might be achieved by five different characters fighting him successfully, or a couple of surviving characters fighting him several times.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
(Waves to DT, from the mere hour of 10:20 pm.)

I see from Jetse's character sheet that his halberd is already +1, so the garlic doesn't add anything. What advantage, if any, is the garlic giving us in this fight?
It is making mundane weapons effective against undead. You made an improvised weapon from a garlic covered stake tied to your lamp. This would add +1 to your combat roll, for the benefit of having a weapon.

Why only mundane weapons? Why doesn't it add another +1 to Jetse's halberd, making it a +2? And what if Arabella hadn't picked up a garlic stake, and had just her lamp (perhaps tied to her wand, instead of to a garlic stake). Would that mean she couldn't do combat at all, because it was too mundane a weapon? Or would that just mean that she didn't get the extra +1 added to her combat roll?

Plus, Arabella's using an Improvised Weapon, but didn't have to do a dice roll to use that Skill. Is that allowed? Is it an exception because this is combat? Is the Improvised Weapon skill something other than what I'm thinking it is?

Just when I think I'm getting it, there's another twist on the rules to keep track of. It's like Mafia meets Mornington Crescent.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Can you run away before the first fight? Or are you committed to having to do at least one Combat roll?

What's the benefit to winning a battle? Why not just almost always run away?

For example, in Arabella's hypothetical spawn case, the odds of defeating both of them (two rolls of 6 or greater) seems lower than the odds of just running away immediately (one roll of 7 or greater). (*) So what possible advantage is there to Arabella to stay and fight? And if it were any harder than an Easy fight, then running away would on the odds seem to be the only choice. What kind of interest does the spawning possibly give to the combat system in that case, if one should almost always run away, and the abandoned enemy and spawn don't bother to attack anyone else? I'm now completely confused by what the spawning was supposed to add to the combat.

(*) Although often I would be interested in working out the probabilities precisely, right now I'm completely exhausted with too much mental work in both work and volunteer roles, and I'm Just.Not.Going.To.Bother.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Your fight difficulty rank was based on your weapons rank, that is what you rolled for your combat roll.

Jetse's halberd did not become pointier when in was poisoned, it just meant it would work - whereas it would not otherwise have done so.

If your improvised weapon was not poisoned it would have been ineffective.

This is why the planning stage is important. During the planning stage of this fight, party members did two things to prepare for a fight with undead, they made stakes and the poisoned the surfaces of *all* the party member's weapons with a garlic based poison.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

You can always try to run away instead of attempting combat.

Running away from battle changes the narrative. The potential opportunities characters gain through victory are lost. Some characters are better at fighting than others, characters like Hestor may always be better off avoiding combat if at all possible.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
Your fight difficulty rank was based on your weapons rank, that is what you rolled for your combat roll.

Huh? I thought my fight difficulty rank was "Easy" and was assigned by you as GM before I did my rolls. And I don't know what went into your deciding the "Easy" status. Was it because in the planning stage I had armed myself with a Garlic Stake? But then how come Ik and Jetse and Bayani all have Ridiculously Easy fights -- from a Story point of view it certainly makes sense, I'm in no way objecting -- but I don't understand because now it seems like there are point values on something-or-other used to determine the difficulties, and I have no idea what they are. Was this supposed to be explained somewhere? It's OK if it isn't and is just GM's Prerogative, but the only way I can understand your quote is if somehow there are rules about numbers that determined this that somehow were meant to be obvious to me.

I am totally totally confused.

quote:
Originally posted by Doublthink:
Jetse's halberd did not become pointier when in was poisoned, it just meant it would work - whereas it would not otherwise have done so.

If your improvised weapon was not poisoned it would have been ineffective.

But wait a second -- it seems as if we're being allowed to go into combat with ineffective weapons. How does that make sense from a Story point of view? Suppose Arabella hadn't picked up a garlic stake at the last minute -- and it was very much a last-minute decision on my, AR the Arabella-controler's, part? I still would have rolled a Combat 14, upped to 17 by the Vigilance +3, and have defeated my Ghostly challenger. With an ineffective weapon. Huh?

quote:
This is why the planning stage is important. During the planning stage of this fight, party members did two things to prepare for a fight with undead, they made stakes and the poisoned the surfaces of *all* the party member's weapons with a garlic based poison.

I see that we achieved this in the planning stage, but it was up to each player to choose whether to have their character pick up something garlic coated, or not, and I haven't seen anything yet to say that the Combat Mechanic includes that if for some reason your weapon is ineffective (whatever "ineffective" is defined to be, whether in qualitative terms, or numerical terms) you're not allowed into combat. So I just don't get it.

Sorry to be so slow at this. I thought I was making such progress, working through something that initially made almost no sense to me (how to turn the Combat Mechanic and the Meta Combat post into information that could lead to my own Combat Meta and Combat Story post). But now I'm utterly at sea again.

I understand this is the Making Sausage phase of the RPG, so my difficulties may be just that I'm unsuited to making RPG Sausages. Do you think once all the rules and procedures are worked out, that it's going to be easier for new players to pick it up? And that it's going to be inviting to new players, so they'll think "oh I can learn this", instead of seeing long posts of dense rules and thinking "I can't do that"?

I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm normally a numerically oriented logical type (or at least, quite capable in that realm, even as I come to wonder if it's truly my type at all), and I'm finding this completely difficult. I wonder if it's because my role-playing, especially after a Mafia trip with Hophtrig and Otto, comes from a completely different part of my mind.

[ 15. May 2014, 03:20: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Arabella's Combat Meta Post

Combat Roll:
14
+3 vigilance
+1 garlic stake
----
18 total

Spawn Roll:
15

Arabella's Combat Story Post

Arabella clutched her improvised garlic stake lantern carrier. She didn't know what to expect, but what she particularly didn't expect was the complete confusion that erupted as soon as she got to the bottom of the stairs. In the melee, she found herself face-to-face with a wraith. It reached for her, but Arabella's reflexes were faster, and she thrust the lantern straight at the **easy** target. The wraith howled and dissolved into bits of mist.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I've just reread all the posts from when the thread reopened, and am slowly starting to make sense of things. Sort of. I still don't get why combat is considered fun, but maybe it will make more sense once it unrolls on the story thread, and once we get a chance to do it with the full momentum of the uninterrupted story behind us.

[ 15. May 2014, 04:09: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:

quote:
Originally posted by JFH:
Ok, I'll try this out. But given that Stone is drunk/Dutch Couraged, shouldn't his fight be a little easier?

I roll a 9. Increased by a light weapon that's a 10. Crap. Stone's luck has really been rather poor so far. So that's a spawn, right?

Spawn roll 4. Great. So now I have one HARD fight and one OK one, right? (I'm beginning to think Stone's bad luck is due to him carrying "The Blues"...)

Followed by a roll 1. This is ridiculous. Stone's dead, baby.

Oh dear, I also missed the part that said I could actually run away. Ah well.

May I remind my interlocutors that Stone has yet to roll above 10, following 4 interaction rolls. Should he be revived after battle, you might want to walk on the other side of the road from him.

(But if the first battle was supposed to be easier, then the rest is discounted, right?)
Your combat roll was 9 +2 from your dutch courage perk and +1 from your weapon. So 12 in total. This better than 10 so you WIN. Your enemy is ***left for dead***.

You now need to do a story post of your victory.

(Your vigilance is the same as the shadows, so you didn't get the vigilance bonus that some players had.)

Actually, we have had a misunderstanding in this case. It's no problem now, but I think we need to establish this because my impression is that more than just me have got this in another way than the GM.

My Dutch Courage Perk is said on my sheet to raise Muscles by 2, not Combat. Likewise it lowers vigilance and wits by 1 each, it says. What I meant when writing the character, and what I've taken it to mean up until this post I'm responding to, is that Muscles go from OK to Excellent, whereas Wits fall from OK to Weak and Vigilance from Weak to Useless. This would, the way I see it, turn the battles quite a lot easier than just a +2 (rather a +9).

Either case, this battle is fine, but I think this is useful to straighten out: when potentials can be affected and how to write that on the character sheet, contrasted to when rolls are affected.

From a game construction viewpoint, it may be that Dutch Courage affecting the potentials makes a character overpowered, but I'd say that it only affecting the rolls by Wits -1, Vigilance -1 and Combat +2 seems a very poor effect for a perk. Sorry to interfere with all other things that are going on just to effectively complain about my character not being good enough, but I'd like to at least make sure how weak or strong he actually is.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Ok, reformatting the information from my previous roll post, to fit the set up.

Stone's Combat Meta Post:
Roll 9, +1 weapon, +2 Dutch Courage (at least), beats the Shadow at 10.

Stone's Combat Story Post:
Stone looks around him and is rather disappointed. Usually the darkness and them eyes and characters and laughing eerie faces went away after a nice, cold, smooth and calm-inducing drink. His step somewhat (very) uneasy, he decides to stop those jerk-like faces laughing at him at swings the bottle bravely in wild strokes, almost accidentally hitting straight between the eyes of that thing all around him, and for the first time, ironically thanks to his drunken primal strength, able to fight off one of his personal demons that usually plagued him when sober. He decided his victory clearly deserved a drink.

[ 15. May 2014, 05:01: Message edited by: JFH ]

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
What's the benefit to winning a battle? Why not just almost always run away?

This is definitely another character from another game speaking so it may be somewhat misplaced, but still:
"Because oof LOOOTINGS!"

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

As you will notice from your character sheet, you don't have a potential called "combat". So when you fight, you either fight unarmed using your 'muscles' or you fight with a skill and a weapon. So for example, Testwe fighting with a rapier is using his light weapon skill. His light weapon skill is based on the potential 'finesse'. So his combat roll is related to this potential.

Jetse's weapon profociency skill is based on his 'muscles' potential.

I organised your difficulty ranks in this fight thusly, if ypur relevant potential was excellent - your fight was ridiculously easy, if it was good - your fight was easy, if it was OK - your fight was OK, if it was weak your fight was hard and if it was useless your fight was ridiculously hard. If the shadows were more powerful, the fights would have higher difficulty ranks.

AR your improvised weapons skill is based on your 'wits' potential, which is 'good' and therefore your fight was ranked easy.

Re garlic and mundane weapons - these are special circumstances deriving from the story. You know that they are relevant in this dircumstance because the GM has told you.

[ 15. May 2014, 06:08: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

JFH, sorry for the confusion. The perk you suggest would make your character too powerful. Almost all perks involve +s to specific rolls.

However, you don't yet have your magic item so we maybe able to work something into that.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

DT, I understand. Good thing this came up during the trial run - there's a couple of similar things I've gotten wrong and will improve on for future characters. As for the magical item, if you have anything particular in mind, could you PM me? Unless of course that's to be a public affair, but I'm thinking it might be easier to settle the combat mechanics if others can focus on that rather than further character-building discussions.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

Ik's Meta Post:

Rolled 5. +3 for Vigilance, +1 for weapon = 9.

Ridiculously Easy fight, so the shadow is no more.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

Ik's Story Post:

The vapour coalesces into a hideous, many-legged blashpemy of form and rushes at Ik. Ik swings his garlic-coated club in an arc of pure mathematical precision straight into what passes for the head of the beast. The head explodes on impact, and the remainder of the body falls twitching to the floor.

Ik stands over the twitching form, raises his club high over his head, and brings it down with savage force. The shadow disintegrates into nothingness.

"puny shadow thing chose wrong ik to fight. ik destroy!"

Bouyed by his victory, Ik raises his club and waits for the next challenger to approach.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Stone wondered, "Are there more than one Ik in this world? Whatever the answer, I'm somewhat concerned."

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Bayani's meta post

Roll 15
+3 for superior vigilance on first hit
+2 for dual light weapon with Sinawali skill
20 total - wins comprehensively on a "Ridiculously Easy" fight

Bayani's story post

Bayani moves to the side, so as to have a free path to the central coffin, yet to stand between it and the Prince. His body is slightly crouched, like that of a runner waiting for a starting signal. For a moment there it seems like he is concentrating too much on the source of evil in the middle of the room: a shadow creeps up on him from his right side, silently... But just as the shadow grows larger and darker close to him - ready to strike - Bayani's arm flicks out, driving his garlic-poisoned blade deep into the foul vapour. As he pulls back his blade just as rapidly, the shadow appears to get sucked into the clear pocket of air created by the stab, like black water swirling into a vortex. Then it is just gone, like a bad dream. But it is not clear how much Bayani has seen of the shadow emptying into nothingness, for all this time his eyes never once left the coffin. And they have not blinked.

[ 15. May 2014, 10:19: Message edited by: IngoB ]

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

DT, I' don't think my above rendering of the Sinawali skill as adding +2 instead of +1 makes that much sense. I think more correct would be a double throw, with +1 on each? But I wasn't sure how that would fit into the system... On one hand it is possibly overpowered to simply add the points into one evaluation (de facto a 2xd20+2 roll for a Sinawali strike). On the other hand it seems broken to me if I just count these as separate strikes. Then the skill is basically just gone, since there is no real difference between just two sequential rolls with one weapon (as one fights down an enemy), and a double roll for double weapons which is however in practice evaluated sequentially.

It doesn't really matter for this combat sequence, since my roll is anyway far above what was needed. But we need to sort this for tougher combat. A roll with a d20 delivers on average 10.5 points. How about we say something like 2xd20-8 for a Sinawali strike? The "-8" is basically a coordination malus, it's hard to keep the pattern up (hence a subtraction), but if you do then you double-strike (hence 2xd20). To this however would be added the weapon bonuses, if any, hence currently I would be throwing 2xd20-8+2=2xd20-6. (Formally, I would translate zero or negative results into a throw of 1).

I note now as well that actually in the above post I am not doing a double weapon strike, so I really should have just added a +1 and the problem does not arise there. Or at least so if we say that Sinawali is a voluntary skill, rather than an "always on" skill. But it makes no difference to the outcome posted above, and I think it is important to ask this before we go any further.

Posted by Eliab (# 9153) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
JFH, sorry for the confusion. The perk you suggest would make your character too powerful. Almost all perks involve +s to specific rolls.

However, you don't yet have your magic item so we maybe able to work something into that.

I would bear in mind that the fall in Vigilance is going to deprive drunken-Miller of a significant first round bonus in all fights, to set against the boost to Muscles.

The Vigilance rule makes a big difference. With it, choosing to have Gunriana fight when the contest was at hard difficulty was "a bit of a risk" rather than "completely fucking stupid". That it's first round only doesn't matter so much, because the first round basically has the PC winning or losing at hard difficulty because spawning is almost a loss.

I like the way the combat system is working - specifically that we are describing the fight as it happens, not knowing as we post what anyone else's outcome will be. I think it will take a day or so to get all 12 PCs to act, though, and hopes of a combat being resolved in one dedicated evening were probably optimistic. I don't mind: I'd rather see more people involved and storytelling even if it takes up more time.

Time to open the story thread to move the fight there?

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

After we get the system worked out, will combat eventually run with each MyCharacter Meta post on the meta thread, but each MyCharacter Story post posted on the Story thread to start with?

Or will we always do it this way, where we all post our Story posts on the Meta thread and then the GM assembles and posts to the Story thread?

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

Jerthro's meta post:
Roll 9
+3 vigilance
+1 weapon

13 wins easy combat

Jerthro story post
Jerthro ran at one of the shadowy things. Finally a chance for a real fight. This was great! In his excitement he swung a bit wildly. Fortunately the thing hadn't seen him coming, and it was an ***easy*** fight so he smashed the thing into so many pieces of fog.
"Take that, thing! Take that!" Jerthro yelled gleefully.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Arabella was confused. She's carrying a lamp, not a lantern. Completely unsure if this nit needs picking, but I feel better to have corrected it:

Arabella's Combat Story Post (revised)

Arabella clutched her improvised garlic stake lamp carrier. She didn't know what to expect, but what she particularly didn't expect was the complete confusion that erupted as soon as she got to the bottom of the stairs. In the melee, she found herself face-to-face with a wraith. It reached for her, but Arabella's reflexes were faster, and she thrust the lamp straight at the **easy** target. The wraith howled and dissolved into bits of mist.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Eliab:
I would bear in mind that the fall in Vigilance is going to deprive drunken-Miller of a significant first round bonus in all fights, to set against the boost to Muscles.

The Vigilance rule makes a big difference. With it, choosing to have Gunriana fight when the contest was at hard difficulty was "a bit of a risk" rather than "completely fucking stupid". That it's first round only doesn't matter so much, because the first round basically has the PC winning or losing at hard difficulty because spawning is almost a loss.

In the defense of the GM, I believe the +3 from Vigilance is not going to be there in every fight but is a precondition for this one. But I was also under the impression when designing the character that finesse rather than vigilance was the basis for quick action. Still, I'll get better at this for next game.

As for the weighting of perks, given that we have lowered the potentials stats and that we only have one starting perk each, I could see players having pretty influential (starting) perks rather than just something similar to a good weapon - i.e. switching about stats a little or so, to create some uniqueness about that character. But I acquiesce on this one to the GM, and we can rethink it for future games.

I'll add also that of course the weighting is difficult with this many players, partially because we get so many chances at everything if we want to, just like over-spawned enemies will become increasingly difficult. With smaller parties, individuals can have greater powers, I think, so I can understand that we try to keep people on a rather tight leash from being overpowered.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Narrate Battle Phase - now complete

Please bear with me whilst I assimilate.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Combined Narrate Battle Story Post

Gunriana's heart was pounding in her chest, and the skull, bound to her belt by a leather strap through the eye socket banged against her thigh with every step. "Soon! Soon!" it seemed to be saying. "Soon you will join me, dear sister!". Gunriana held it still, feeling the smooth bone under her fate-marked palm. If that was what was written, it had been written long ago, and there was no avoiding it.

The darkness was growing thicker, the shapes forming around the companions, and then, the shadow creatures were advancing, silent and dark, to defend the crypt.

The witch's fingers twitched. She had planned to cast Sol, but even as she formed the rune in her mind, she knew that this place had yet to be claimed for the light, and the shadows would choke the rune's power. Ar then, the rune of fertility, the rune of the fruitful earth and the turning year, a rune of power under the ground, and a call to the lingering half-dead to return to their place. The nearest shadow began to move towards her, thirsting for the warmth of life, as Gunriana scratches Ar on the ground between them.

"Ground and grave call you, shadow - your place is here no longer!"

The creature rushes forward, but Gunriana hurls the spear as hard as she can, transfixing the thing just as it passes over the rune. The spear jerks violently in the air as if it had hit rock, spins wildly and hits the floor. The shadow creature is gone.

"The fates claim you and that which you guard! Light is coming!"

Gunriana screams in triumph and steps forward aggressively, elated by victory foreseen, before realising that she no longer holds a weapon, and prudently slowing her pace for others to take the fight onwards.

*****

Having heard vague things from Daniel about garlic having juju, Brandon waves at the vapors with his garlicked sword.Can't hurt, right?

Well that would be wrong. What Brandon does mostly is attract the attention of the vapors. Wow, they are sentient. And irritable. And now two are converging on him.

Brandon whacks mightily at the one closest, which disappears in a poof (or whatever it is they do.) He swings at the next one coming, and it evades his blade long enough for another one of those things to come over and help his buddy out.

"Oh, &%$# this,"Brandon thinks, and runs back to where Hestor is huddling against the wall.

*****

Daniel sees the vapour gather and launch itself towards him. He has no time to do anything except fire his crossbow at it at point blank range. The vapour dissipates as the garlic-laden bolt passes through it. Daniel steps forward, and raising his holy symbol shouts, Go back ye Shadows! Back to the noxious pit which spawned you! Light shines out from him, filling the crypt.

*****

Testwe sees a shadow take shape, while the darkness is still swirling he has readied his rapier and getting ready to strike. His first hit breaks the structure of the mist, and his second sends it back into the hell it came from.
He looks to see what new forms are revealing themselves.

*****
Jetse: No battle cries. No gloating. Silence. Efficiency. Waste not your last breath taunting your enemy. One stroke, one foe, one kill.

The halberd moved through the gathering gloom before it could coalesce. Best not to have to find out what it would have become. Destroy it before your curiosity destroys you.

*****

Stone looks around him and is rather disappointed. Usually the darkness and them eyes and characters and laughing eerie faces went away after a nice, cold, smooth and calm-inducing drink. His step somewhat (very) uneasy, he decides to stop those jerk-like faces laughing at him at swings the bottle bravely in wild strokes, almost accidentally hitting straight between the eyes of that thing all around him, and for the first time, ironically thanks to his drunken primal strength, able to fight off one of his personal demons that usually plagued him when sober. He decided his victory clearly deserved a drink.

*****

The vapour coalesces into a hideous, many-legged blashpemy of form and rushes at Ik. Ik swings his garlic-coated club in an arc of pure mathematical precision straight into what passes for the head of the beast. The head explodes on impact, and the remainder of the body falls twitching to the floor.

Ik stands over the twitching form, raises his club high over his head, and brings it down with savage force. The shadow disintegrates into nothingness.

"puny shadow thing chose wrong ik to fight. ik destroy!"

Bouyed by his victory, Ik raises his club and waits for the next challenger to approach.

*****

Bayani moves to the side, so as to have a free path to the central coffin, yet to stand between it and the Prince. His body is slightly crouched, like that of a runner waiting for a starting signal. For a moment there it seems like he is concentrating too much on the source of evil in the middle of the room: a shadow creeps up on him from his right side, silently... But just as the shadow grows larger and darker close to him - ready to strike - Bayani's arm flicks out, driving his garlic-poisoned blade deep into the foul vapour. As he pulls back his blade just as rapidly, the shadow appears to get sucked into the clear pocket of air created by the stab, like black water swirling into a vortex. Then it is just gone, like a bad dream. But it is not clear how much Bayani has seen of the shadow emptying into nothingness, for all this time his eyes never once left the coffin. And they have not blinked.

*****

Jerthro ran at one of the shadowy things. Finally a chance for a real fight. This was great! In his excitement he swung a bit wildly. Fortunately the thing hadn't seen him coming, and it was an ***easy*** fight so he smashed the thing into so many pieces of fog.
"Take that, thing! Take that!" Jerthro yelled gleefully.

*****

Arabella clutched her improvised garlic stake lamp carrier. She didn't know what to expect, but what she particularly didn't expect was the complete confusion that erupted as soon as she got to the bottom of the stairs. In the melee, she found herself face-to-face with a wraith. It reached for her, but Arabella's reflexes were faster, and she thrust the lamp straight at the **easy** target. The wraith howled and dissolved into bits of mist.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Crisis phase

Character's remaining with the opportunity to engage in combat are:

Gunriana
Daniel
Testwe
Jetse
Bayani
Ik
Stone
Jerthro
Arabella

[ 15. May 2014, 18:42: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

GM Meta-Combat Crisis Post

NB I have included difficulty ranks for all players able to fight the nemesis but you have the option not to engage the nemesis. Please do not mention seeing other characters during the fight, unless they have already made a combat post.

Nemesis Fight begins:

Bayani: your combat is ***Easy***
Ik: your combat is ***Easy***
Jetse: your combat is ***Easy***
Daniel: your combat is ***OK***
Guriana: your combat is ***Ridiculously Hard***
Stone: your combat is ***Hard***
Jerthro: your combat is ***OK***
Arabella: your combat is ***OK***
Testwe: your combat is ***OK***

Your party is fighting the nemesis Vark, the ancient vampire. He has OK Vigilance, if your Vigilance is better than his you get +3 to your first combat roll in this encounter.

You have until 18:00 hrs GMT +1 on 16/05/14 to defeat him.

Please remember to use any applicable combat bonuses, - including your +1s for weapons - for your combat roll only. They do not apply to your spawn level roll.

Daniel, whenever you have the opportunity to run away, you have the opportunity to roll for "turn undead" if you succeed, your next fight drops a difficulty rank.

*****

Vark is tough, he will recover from being ***left for dead*** three times. If he spawns an action, it will happen as follows:

Vark licks spatters of your blood from his hand, your fight becomes one rank harder (1-5)
Vark swirls his cloak momentarily blinding you, you have no combat bonuses on your next roll (6-15)
Vark dodges sideways, -1 to your next combat roll (15-20)

A roll of 20 on this die, reduces your fight difficulty by one rank.

(Please wait for the meta-context post before engaging in combat. Remember the nemesis combat is over once Vark has been left for dead three times or the deadline passes, so please be sure to read the prior posts carefully)

[ 15. May 2014, 19:01: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Vark's dodge should be on a roll of (16-20).

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Do those who have run away have the option of trying combat again in a later round?(not this one) and if so, when would be a good time to state that intention?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

GM Meta Combat Crisis Context Post

As the darkness swirls away, a ghastly figure is revealed. His lip curls and light glints from a half-hidden fang ....

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
Do those who have run away have the option of trying combat again in a later round?(not this one) and if so, when would be a good time to state that intention?

Not in this encounter, sorry, but as a tactical choice it has to have a consequence.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

OK, so, for future reference, if you run away, you run away from the whole encounter.

I'm not bothered, I am just wondering. My character is a twelve year old scrub who is quite likely to flee in terror from stuff at this point, and I had to make a quick decision based on having to give up the computer all of a sudden.

(given our system-- would it have been better for the party for me to state an action and then let you all know I was leaving? At the time I just figured getting the hell out of the way would serve everyone best.)

[ 15. May 2014, 19:15: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Narratively, him running to safety makes perfect sense - he is a 12 yr old tracker not a veteran soldier, would he really go up against a vampire after getting nearly killed by shadows ?

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

Ok, that's what made sense to me . [Big Grin]

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

DT, can you please comment on my issues concerning Sinawali above? Right now I do not know how to roll this against Vark.

Also, I don't quite get how communal fighting is supposed to work here... Does it make sense for me to post a single combat roll, and then wait for action from the others, before doing the next combat roll? Or am I supposed to roll it down to some kind of individual decision?

Posted by Gwai (# 11076) on :

Also I gather we aren't fighting in the original order anymore, right?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
DT, can you please comment on my issues concerning Sinawali above? Right now I do not know how to roll this against Vark.

Also, I don't quite get how communal fighting is supposed to work here... Does it make sense for me to post a single combat roll, and then wait for action from the others, before doing the next combat roll? Or am I supposed to roll it down to some kind of individual decision?

There is no combat order, you should attempt to complete an individual combat. I.e. Start a fight that ends in win lose or run away. Then look and see where everyone is up to.

Please resolve your sinwali as you did in your last fight, i.e. +2 one for each weapon on a single attack roll. The problem is essentially, that skill was defined with the old combat system in mind and it will need rethinking. However, if we go to a backkgrounds system, redesign maybe moot.

[ 15. May 2014, 19:35: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I think I have now pm'd everyone ** phew**

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Bayani's meta post

Roll 11
+3 for superior vigilance on first hit
+2 for dual light weapon with Sinawali skill
16 total - win on an Easy fight

Roll 14
+2 for dual light weapon with Sinawali skill
16 total - win on an Easy fight

Roll 14
+2 for dual light weapon with Sinawali skill
16 total - win on an Easy fight

Roll 4
+2 for dual light weapon with Sinawali skill
6 total - win on an Easy fight

Vark is dead.

Sorry, people. But that's what I got on playing it out individually... [Frown]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

I expect a suitably heroic and detailed story post ...

Nemesis Combat is Complete

[ 15. May 2014, 19:56: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

By the way, I noticed how weird the multiple 16s end results are, as well as the double 14, but that's what I got from this website...

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now, should I write a play post that actually finishes off Vark narratively, or are we ... uhhh ... reconsidering this to avoid player frustration?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

No we won't re-run, please do a story post killing off Vark.

[ 15. May 2014, 19:59: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

'Well that's finished off the shadows,' says Daniel. 'I think I should have a look around. It's ok, people, you needn't look like that - the vampire's probably still asleep.' He looks over his shoulder to check. 'Unless that's it materialising right behind me where you're all staring, in which case it won't take us by surprise because you're all staring there.' Daniel looks over his shoulder again. 'Oh, it is materialising there. I should probably do something about that.' As he says so, a shape slips past him armed with two sharp blades. There is a blur of motion and Daniel does not see what happens.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

In the spirit of game planning and this being a trial run, would it maybe be better if in combat against a multiple-wound enemy we restrict each player to a single win per "round"? Otherwise the first one to post may well end up doing what IngoB just odd and prevent the rest of us from even getting to take a shot...

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Please could we take further construction discussion to the other thread.

Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :

Bayani's meta post

At the very instant that the vampire appears in their midst, Bayani explosively releases out of his crouch position into a giant leap forward towards the fiend. For a split second he hangs suspended in mid-air, both arms raised high with his upper body in full tension bent backwards. He forms almost an image of the snarling wide open mouth of the vampire, as he hold his blades held in reverse grip, their glistening steel pointing forward and down, like fangs...

But then he crashes into the vampire with a sickening, bone-crushing thud. At the same time he collapses his upper body forward, driving both of his bolos with all his body strength into the torso of the vampire, piercing his weapons all the way through his pale body. Yet there is no blood, just the vampire with Bayani on top of him, pinning him to the ground with his swords, like a butterfly pinned with a needle for display. An incredibly loud, high-pitched shriek escapes the mouth of the vampire, the first sound either one of them makes. Then with astonishing speed and limberness, the vampire raises his feet to Bayani's chest and kicks him straight off, pushing the blades out of the ground and back through his own body as he sends Bayani flying backwards with them.

As Bayani tumbles to his feet, Vark gets up and makes a motion as if to brush some dust of his shoulders. Then he bares his fangs and his long pointy tongue darts out, licking them, caressing them. Raising his hands with their long claw-like fingernails, he starts to advance towards Bayani. Meanwhile the two large slit wounds in his chest start to close, like two open eyes being shut tight.

Bayani opens his mouth and starts to ... sing. Strangely, it is not a battle hymn but a sweet and simple melody, calming sounds that eerily contrast with the menace advancing towards him, hanging in the air like lost memories.

"Matulog ka na, bunso" (Sleep now, youngest one)

Instead of stepping towards Vark, Bayani suddenly takes a roll forward, avoiding the claws zipping through the air where his body should have been. Staying low and ducked down, he slashes hard at the tendons behind the vampire's left knee and drops his blade down to slice at the left Achilles tendon. To top off the move, he spins around and kicks the left lower leg of the vampire hard on the shin. With this, the vampire's leg suddenly seems to sag like so much boneless meat and Vark wobbles uncertainly as he desperately tries to catch his weight on his other leg.

"Ang ina mo ay malayo" (Your mother is far away)

Carrying the momentum of his spinning kick, Bayani flips around and drops into a kind of half-split, one leg bent the other half extended. Both bolos are chambered at his hips. He then punches them forward with all his strength, driving one through the calf muscle and the other through the thigh of the intact leg of Vark. Another howl escapes the Vampire, but this time it is low and guttural, and with just a hint of flutter and tremble as his throat clenches with the pain. Bayani twists both blades stuck in the leg with all his might and then tears them out - leaving big gaping holes in their place. Vark moans quietly and brokenly, a strange sound like chalk grating on slate far away, and drops forward, both of his legs rendered temporarily useless.

"At hindi ka masundo" (And she can't come for you)

Bayani postures up to chop off his opponents head. But his blade sings uselessly through the air. Where there should be the collapsing form of the vampire, nothing, emptiness. Bayani's jaw goes slightly slack as his eyes desperately dart around to find a trace of his vanished enemy. There is almost a hint of panic when suddenly his eyes lock onto a target. His face sets, he drops his blades and jumps high into the air, reaching up with his arms as if catching a ball. As he comes down, his hands hold tight a small bat. Squeaking fearfully.

"May putik, may balaho" (There's mud, there's a swamp)

Bayani looks at the bat in his hands for a moment... Then he bends down and bites off its head.

He spits it out with a disgusted frown, and throws the body of the bat to the side. He then picks up his blades and turns around to see the others staring at him, seemingly frozen in place.

He grins. "Nope, that didn't taste like chicken. ... And I need a beer. Anybody care to join?"

[ 15. May 2014, 21:38: Message edited by: IngoB ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

GM, can we make somebody do a penalty role if they make you spit Pepsi all over your keyboard?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

[Big Grin]

Great story post IngoB.

Please could we get the story thread opened again.

(Players please wait till after I have put the combat story posts up, and a outcome context post.)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

We are no longer in combat, so we are back to one non-combat skill roll per GM day. It is a new GM day. In story time we are not quite at noon and a new day - but it will be fairly soon.

For the purposes of the story we assume Guriana left the ward stone and followed on into the crypt once she saw Testwe head after the party, perhaps at Hestor's urging. (Likewise for anyone else not where we originally thought they were come the combat phase.)

I strongly suggest anyone heading out to call folk down to the crypt use the phrase "the others" in their post to avoid issues of narrative continuity.

[ 16. May 2014, 07:08: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

And on that note, Off to bed I go. Good game, y'all!

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Thanks for reopening the thread Kelly.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

Ik is using his Sniffer skill to see if he can detect anything dangerous in the chest.

the skill is linked to Vigilance, at which he is Good, so a roll of 5+ should succeed, shouldn't it?

I hope so, anyway, because I rolled a 5...

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

If I want to do something involving a die roll, do I have to have GM DT say what I discover? Or can I just make my Story post, do the die roll and post it on Meta, and then post the narrated outcome on Story?

That is, given the following Story lead-in (not yet posted to the Story thread, pending answer to my query here), can I go ahead and then post what it is I have discovered (assuming the D20 roll gives me a success)? I have a specific idea in mind, which may or may not affect the narrative, depending on what other characters do with it:

Arabella sees that Daniel is more interested in the inside of the coffin than the outside of the coffin. Using her **wits**, she wonders whether he has overlooked something: there might be a name written on the lid.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

In instances where we're rolling to determine if we see/hear/detect anything I think it makes more sense for the GM to tell us what (if anything) we find.

For one thing, we may be searching for something that doesn't exist (i.e. the coffin may actually be completely empty), in which case even a successful search won't reveal anything.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

I guess it depends on how much of the story is constructed by the GM and how much can be constructed by the characters -- in perhaps unexpected ways.

I have a specific idea for what name I want Arabella to find on the coffin lid. So if it's the case that the GM decides whether there's a name there, and if so what name it is, then I'll abandon this Story idea and figure out something else for Arabella to do. If I get to decide (subject to a successful roll), then I'll go ahead with it.

[ 16. May 2014, 13:48: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

A way to do this that seems to fit with how we're playing might be that you just write on the story thread that you look at the lid. On it is something written in an alphabet you only half remember from your school days. Do you have the **wits** to interpret it? Then, if you're successful, the GM would tell you what it says.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

That's a good way to do it Hart, in general. I could adjust the Story lead-in to do that, which is a better use of **wits** connected to reading the lid than what I came up with.

However, in this case I have a specific idea of what I want it to say. So if the GM would be the one deciding what it says, then I don't want to pursue this line of action for Arabella. (Of course the whole thing is subject to a successful die roll.)

DT posted a post early on showing the ways the characters can do things that affect the narrative in ways unforeseen by the GM. Can we affect the narrative in that type of unexpected manner with our narrated outcomes of die roll actions, or only with our non-die-roll narrative?

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

DT will have the controlling opinion, but here's mine FWIW. If you want the front of the coffin to say "Daniel" (Yup, I picked up on the dramatic foreshadowing), then my guess would be that only DT or Dafyd can make a call like that. We don't create other people's characters for them.

Posted by Dafyd (# 5549) on :

Daniel's Investigate with his opticals on is good. He rolls a 1.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
DT will have the controlling opinion, but here's mine FWIW. If you want the front of the coffin to say "Daniel" (Yup, I picked up on the dramatic foreshadowing), then my guess would be that only DT or Dafyd can make a call like that. We don't create other people's characters for them.

This - however - you could pm me with your idea and if it doesn't mod anyone else's character then we may be able to make it happen (or agree some version of it). And then roll, and if it happens, it will at least be a surprise to the rest of the party.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
Ik is using his Sniffer skill to see if he can detect anything dangerous in the chest.

the skill is linked to Vigilance, at which he is Good, so a roll of 5+ should succeed, shouldn't it?

I hope so, anyway, because I rolled a 5...

You are successful, there is nothing dangerous in the chest, please do an outcome post on the story thread.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dafyd:
Daniel's Investigate with his opticals on is good. He rolls a 1.

Oh deary, deary, me. You manage to stab yourself in your eye with your contraption, and vigilance drops a rank until you leave the crypt. Please do an outcome post on the story thread.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Are we allowed to mock and ridicule the self-stabber? (I literally just erased a post which suggested he'd have poked his eye with the glasses, poking fun at it.) [Razz]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Of course, but not until you have seen him do it. However, actions have consequences, do you really want to piss off Daniel ?

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

No, not Daniel. (That was in response to Hart, up thread.)

I'll PM DT.

Now that I've tipped my hand it will probably all be a horrible anticlimax.

[ 16. May 2014, 16:44: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

PMs sent and replied.

Arabella has Good **Wits**, and rolled 6.

Is that a Success or a Fail, and what difficulty did it mean for Arabella's coffin-script-investigation?

[ 16. May 2014, 18:51: Message edited by: Autenrieth Road ]

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Now, you see, ideally you should not tell me the roll before I tell you how hard it is ! However, good skill would normally translate to easy difficulty unless there is a good reason for it to be harder than that soooo - its a success, go ahead and write your story post.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Thanks, DT. I'll ask in the proper order next time.

If I/Arabella had decided to use my **wits** on something, and then say you told me it was **hard**, could I change my mind and decide not to try it after all? Or once I've decided to try my **wits**, am I committed to a roll?

I'm confused about the interaction between creativity and initiative in the narrative, vs. what needs to be cleared/created by the GM, and then add a third leg of "versus": what is acceptable interaction with other characters vs. what is unacceptable creating their characters for them.

I don't know if there's any way for me to learn this except to continue to engage and observe.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Yes you could change your mind.

It is all a bit trial and error, but basically:

Each player has primary control of their character - you should try to avoid posting for your character in a way that seriously constrains what another character can do.

The GM guides the story, any time you want *hidden* information - what's in there, why did that happen - the GM is likely to need to give it to you.

But you should realise that out of character discussion such as we have on the meta thread, is a normal and ongoing part of roleplay gaming.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

Clawdine is still sitting on the crypt stairs watching. She wants to use her ***vigilance*** to detect anything else that might be of interest to her in the crypt.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

So you need to post on the story thread, is there any particular skill you are wanting to use ? Find hidden for example ?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Arabella, if you haven't said aloud what you have read - no one will know. Which is fine if you want to reveal it later, but if you want other characters to react you will need to draw their attention.

Posted by Autenrieth Road (# 10509) on :

Ah crap. Thanks for pointing that out DT. Arabella, like AR, appears to be an introvert, living entirely inside her head.

I'm going to have to think about the least clunky way to put that in. If I'd thought of it when I posted, it would have been much more natural.

Grrrrrr.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
Clawdine is still sitting on the crypt stairs watching. She wants to use her ***vigilance*** to detect anything else that might be of interest to her in the crypt.

OK roll, if you get more than 5, you find a locked hidden door, behind which you think there may be something interesting.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

What do I see when I look inside the chest with my magic periscope?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

You can only see a little, as the chest is quite full, you think gold, some gems, and some objects wrapped in velvet.

Please do an outcome story post.

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

Rolled a 15.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Cool, please do an outcome post on the story thread.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink:
You are successful, there is nothing dangerous in the chest, please do an outcome post on the story thread.

The story has moved on while I was asleep, so I don't think Ik speaking up fits any more. Can we assume that he stayed silent as there was nothing dangerous there?

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Yes, that's fine. Hestor acted inresponse to your lack of findung anything.

Posted by JFH (# 14794) on :

Stone was trying to determine if he was still affected by the drink he'd had recently. He tried walking in a straight circle. He was not yet sure of the outcome.

(GM, following the commercial break I'm uncertain how to treat my perk. It was 8 Earth-days since Stone had a drink, but it's not really specified how long it will last and the commercial break lasted for about 7 of those days. Could I get a clarification?)

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

Till the end of the next story day.

Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :

I rolled a 4. The lock defeated me, I guess.

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

'Fraid so [Frown]