By Sword and Sail
Game Master Rizzym Jaderenai

Fash'nyra Waterborn, Undine Cleric of Besmara. Fluff to come tomorrow.

God, I am having such bad option anxiety. I can't figure out what I want to play. We will see if I can get a character together tonight or not if not then I am out.

You know I like to help... give me an idea.

My current concept is a fantasy pirate confidence man since I have been watching to much White Collar and Burn Notice. I was looking at a Rogue, but I don't want to gimp myself in combat...

I was looking at Besmara's Blessing and Charming for traits with a focusing on Bluff/Diplomacy. Can't figure out feats, though I was looking at Swashbuckler with a Cutlass, thinking of going Fighter at 2nd level.

I also considered Weapon Master (Fighter) with Cutlass, but fighters get so few skill points.

I'm interested in putting a bard concept up.

I've just got the players Guide and this looks like a lot of fun! I don't know anything about Skulls and Shackles but I do know about pirates.

And I think that's the entire sheet updated. PDF is accurate to the Herolab profile.

Also, I have never been a fan of the Synthesist fluff as a "translucent suit." Do you mind alternate interpretations (provided it doesn't provide an advantage like the 'Free Disguise' that the designers were obviously going for to circumvent.)

I suspect there might be enough people already. But if not I'd like to present my Rogue.

Keeya
Sylph Rogue (Rake)

Stats: (after racials)
Strength 14
Dexterity 17
Constitution 10
Intelligence 14
Wisdom 9
Charisma 14
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral (leans good, but greedy)
Deity: Worshiper of Cayden Cailean

Background: Keeya's father was a smuggler and privateer, though never a very famous or rich one. He died recently. On his death bed he finally spoke about Keeya's mother: She was a mysterious woman he met in Port Peril years earlier while doing some 'privateering'.

Keeya, having been born on a ship herself set off for Port Peril from her hometown of Quent. With a notion to follow in her fathers footsteps. Although she is just as interesting in finding out more about her heritage and the source of her mysterious abilities. Keeya has always been light on her feet and naturally quick and stealthy, and always willing to pick a pocket or two when her father's 'business' was slow. Though she was never allowed to stay on the ship with him, or help him during his trips.

Keeya considers herself Human and identifies as Human. She has only recently been made aware that her mother, was likely a Sylph and thus so is she.

****

Okay I can post the full character sheet if theres still room =)

Coming from the same unfortunately stalled PbP as Lucia and Taize. Just dotting my interest, will whistle up an updated sheet when I'm back from work.

@arcmagik - Ranger Freebooter?

Here's Pai, a gnome bard. Comments and ideas are appreciated. :)

Character crunch

God, I am having such bad option anxiety. I can't figure out what I want to play. We will see if I can get a character together tonight or not if not then I am out.

Why not 'Swashbuckler' from the Advanced Players Guide? This is a pirate adventure and it might be fun playing an ol'fashioned 'Man in Black' pirate. You'll just have to say, 'As you wish,' to my character (if chosen) once in a while. ;p

Character crunch

** spoiler omitted **

You're welcome, I'm flattered! :)

Keeya wrote:

Character crunch

** spoiler omitted **

You're welcome, I'm flattered! :)

Keeya has fine wine! 0.0 Keeya and Pai could be quick friends!

It's sharin' wine! For sharing.

Ok, so Urk, the Goblin swashbuckler:

Str 13 (3pts)
Dex 15 (7pts)
Con 12 (2pt)
Int 14 (5pts)
Cha 13 (3pts)

Campaign Trait: Besmara's Blessing

Adjusted totals with racial bonuses and negs in a minute, when I get the character sheet up.

Urk is sorta done... haven't calculated skill bonuses. Need to sleep, and I'll finish tomorrow.

For your consideration...character sheet to come.

Character Name: Savianna "Savi" Greycloud
Gender/Race: Female half-elf
Class/Archetype: Bard (Dervish Dancer)

Physical/Personality Description:

A tall, lithe, and graceful young woman, Savianna revels in the eyes cast her way. Ebon hair and almond shaped brown eyes provide great contrast to her pale skin. Savi accentuates her elven heritage through dress and manner.

Savianna loathes common labor and will use every tool at her disposal to live an easy existence. Savi's most oft-used tactic is dance, at which she is as exquisite as she is dangerous. While the half-elf is mercurial in nature she is practiced at hiding her true emotions from the world. Savianna is not above playing to the "fairer sex" biases of anyone stupid enough to believe such drivel. In the fews times she has been in physical danger Savi always tries to avoid conflict through clever words and enticing looks. Savi is well-versed in knowing what people want to hear and how to position herself to come out on top.

Background/Writing Sample:

"The Wharf District of Riddleport. Yeah, it makes people hard but I found the only way to live well in such conditions is to live as if unaffected by the hardships.

"So what now, Ms. Greycloud? I am not going to make the same coin in Port Peril. Information. That is what I need. Find the swab with the most dogs scrapping for his leftovers. There...he'll do. By the gods is he ugly! A few drinks and he'll be ready to give me anything I ask, so just keep it together, Savi."

"Hello, love. Just back in port? Well that deserves a bit of a celebration, now doesn't it? I've got a table that's a little more private if you want some more pleasant company. Of course I'm buying, love. Order what you will and you can thrill me with your latest adventures."

Many hours and nautical miles later.... "Ech...that is not a good taste. Oh, no...please, no...please still be in port. If not, that bastard will pay!"

@DM Cross - adjusted Str from 10 to 11, taking the 1 pt buy. Thanks! As to History... could come up with more fluff, that was mostly to explain "how he ended up there". Didn't think much else mattered at the time!

OK, I think Taize is completely updated to your requirements and is now a Cleric.

[sighs at the loss of skill points]

I'll post her here if you want, but the profile is now correct.

Everything ready in my prfile.

I'd like to submit Alivia Granuaile, The Sapphire Sorceress, for your consideration. I have a few crunchy bits left to finalize (like feat and languages) as well as formatting of the text, but I have all the important bits in, like background stories, notes, appearance, etc.

She's a Sorcerer with the Elemental (Water) bloodline and has been training to be a Sea Witch.

I'm off to work, but this evening, I'll finish up the formatting and do an RP introductory post.

Thanks for volunteering to run a Skull & Shackles PbP game, DM Cross.

I'd like to present the background for my character submission, a tiefling monk originally born in Cheliax, but now living the life of a pirate in the Shackles. I plan to complete his details and post them this evening. In the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions or require any clarifications.

Ceton Ayngav
N Tiefling (Hellspawn)
Monk (Martial Artist)
Traits: History of Heresy (faith), Dockside Brawler (S&S)

CaptMadJaq wrote:

Keeya wrote:

Character crunch

** spoiler omitted **

You're welcome, I'm flattered! :)

Keeya has fine wine! 0.0 Keeya and Pai could be quick friends!

It's sharin' wine! For sharing.

Whee! :)

Lilly has been updated a bit for this adventure path, and some of the new options. Story to follow on losing eye, and picking up Eyeball

Urk is done, let me know if anything needs fixing.

And here is my candidate...

Count me in! I'll finish my sheet in the next few days now I'm having problems with my Internet connection (I'm from my phone). Thank you!

Posting Ceton's character details:

I bring you Doc Smitty, a crotchety but brilliant engineer that any captain would want on board to repair your vessel, stitch up your crew, improve your ship, and blow up your enemies.

Hokay, looks like I still had a copy of the sheet in HeroLab:

Hey Folks... I was unexpectedly (out of the blue) asked to join a campaign.

Until I get acclimated to the game, character, other players... I think I should focus on it.

I regretfully and respectfully, withrdaw. The Accidental Pirate will have to wait on his adventure!

Sam I am! Game on!

Just an update =) I hope I can be a part of the campaign because I am looking forward to a long bit of RP, and it seems like a wonderful setting.

A few levels in (depending on circumstances) Keeya will probably take a level in wizard (Air element) or something very similar for role play reasons. I am very interesting the role play opportunities for using Alter Winds spell, with its minute long casting time. and that fact she would have to remove her armor, and basically perform a little ritual. while on a ship at sea. Plus the whole trying to learn about her heritage gimmick. But depending on who joins that might be redundant.

Fingers Crossed!

Right. As for how Lucia's going to develop, the idea is that after first level she'll be mostly taking levels of the Court Bard archetype, with an emphasis on singing being both a spellcasting method and generally weakening her opponent's willpower. Generally sticking to Aid Another with either longspears or whips when the buffing and debuffing is done.

I just noticed I butchered my sentence structure up there. Allow me to try again.

I am very interested in the role play opportunities of using the Alter Winds spell. Its minute long casting time, having to remove her armor, and basically perform a little ritual to control the winds while on a ship at sea all seem great from a RP angle

A tall, blond women in a black coat with silver embroidery and a high-low skirt wearily walks into the Formidably Maid, her boots thunking on the wooden floorboards with each ponderous step. Small pointed ears slightly protrude through her long, disheveled hair. She walks straight to the bar without looking at anything else and drops her brown leather bag at its base with a loud thump.

She leans on the bar, slumps her shoulders slightly, and pausing between each sentence as if each one was a severe drain she says, "Give me something with alcohol. ... Lots of alcohol. ... The stronger the better. ... And leave out the bits of fruit, they'll just slow me down." Straightening up, she reaches into a small belt purse, takes out some coins and places them on the bar with a slight clink. She grasps the battered leather mug the bartender hands her and says more steadily as if just the anticipation of the drink was rejuvenating her, "Thank you, keep them coming until all of those are gone. That should be enough to get me sufficiently drunk."

She turns around, taking in the room for the first time, her brilliant blue eyes literally glittering in the dim, smokey light. Her pretty face is streaked with dirt and the intricating carved, gold pendant on the necklace around her neck is prominently displayed, nestled in the cleavage exposed by her very low cut white blouse. The volume of the many conversations drop slightly as the grizzled sailors look at her and realize she's probably pampered and an easy mark, just ready to be relieved of the gold necklace and whatever coins are still in her purse.

She brings the mug to her lips, looks down, gasps slightly as sees the grime on the white petticoats protruding below the very short front of her skirt and the other dirt streaked on her blouse, corset, coat, and long legs exposed between the hem of her skirt and her black leather boots. She frets, "I must look a complete fright!"

She raises her free hand to the top of her head and slowly brings it down over her hair, face, coat, blouse, skirt, and legs. As her hand passes, her hair straightens out as if freshly brushed and the dirt and grime disappear by magic. As her hand reaches her boots and the oozing mud disappears, she says, "I don't know why I even bother with my boots what with all that mud outside." The conversations in the room resume to their prior level as the sailors turn around realizing she might not be as easy a mark as she appears.

"Finally," she smiles, "I really need this," as she raises the mug to her lips and takes a big gulp. She chokes slightly, coughs and says over her shoulder to the bartender, "I'll take the bits of fruit in it from now on."

The mug begins to steam as if becoming hot in her hand and she sprinkles something from her other hand as she passes it over the mug, "Hot and spiced may help." She takes another swig, chokes slightly and coughs again, "Then again, maybe not."

She looks around the room more thoroughly, taking in the crowd, her eyes twinkle a bit more with added mischief, she smiles seeing a table with some interesting folks around it. She grabs her bag, walks over to the table, plunks it down next to any empty chair, and without even a 'by your leave,' brazenly sits down in it.

She looks around more closely at the people at the table, lowers her head conspiratorily, and says in a lowered voice, "Now, what is there interesting to do in this town..."

I thought I'd provide a kernel to jump start meeting. If any of you wish to meet before the end of the night, you can be at the table, or join our band of 'interesting looking' people at the table afterwards if you wish. I don't plan to always be this wordy, but introductions are a fine time to be a bit more verbose.

Hornan looks at the woman who sits down at his table. "Well miss, usually here in this town, we drink, go to work, and drink some more. But not always in that order."

Keeya smiles at the new comer, impressed by her obvious use of magic. As the warm inviting smile creeps across her lips she takes a sip from the mug in her hand. "Well you are somethin' interestin' aren't you?"

She looks quite young and is wearing relatively plane clothes blacks and browns mostly, covering most of her skin with the exception of an unbuttoned stop that shows off a small amount modest of cleavage and hints of blue markings running along her tanned skin. She has large expressive brown eyes, brown hair and a pretty face. At her waist is a sharp but basic knife, but she doesn't appear to be armed aside from that.

Keeya's hair begins to flow and flutter as if in the wind, she blushes slightly and runs a hand through it to calm it down, "I Just got into town too, but I like any place that puts such an emphasis on drink." She smiles at Hornan.

Looking at Alivia and Hornan she adds, "I'm Keeya by the way. Don' think I've introduced myself yet."

She takes another drink from her mug attempting to hide her nervousness.

She smiles at the warm welcome from around the table, "I'm Alivia Granuaile, it's a pleasure to meet you." She stops to take a drink from her mug, looking around the table at everyone briefly. "I'm new in town, I just got off the boat as it were."

The brief pause was to see if there was any reaction to her name. Grace Granuaile was an infamous pirate queen a long time ago in these parts. She's interested to see if anyone even remembers the name or were they all just family stories.

She sighs and looks frustrated, "I swear that captain had no idea how to go *around* storms and hit everyone of them on the voyage here. I'm very happy I don't get seasick, unlike many of the other passengers." She grimaces slightly as if remembering things she wishes she hadn't seen, "It wasn't pretty."

Another drink and she gasps out, "I felt bad for the poor sailors who had to, I believe it's called swab, up after them. I wouldn't like to be in their shoes. After all of that, I needed a drink."

Noticing Keeya's hair, she smiles broadly, "I love your hair, it looks beautiful. I wish mine did something besides just lay there." Looking down at her cleavage, "And are those tattoos? I've never been brave enough to get any. What are they of?"

She drains the last of her drink, shudders a bit, looks into her mug briefly, pouts, then turns to look at the bartender, "Another one, plenty of fruit this time. And one more for each of my companions here." Turning back to the table, "Maybe more will kill my tongue and I won't taste it anymore. Stopping is not an option."

She bends over the table and whispers conspiratorily again, "What a bunch of cariactures of humanity, and I use that word loosely, are assembled around us in this room. Most play the part of grizzled, weather worn old sailor very well. When I look at people I often wonder why they choose to look and act the way they do, why so many of them choose to fall into stereotypes. Are they hiding something? Are they afraid to be themselves? Are they afraid to even admit to themselves who they really are because they won't like the answer? It's like they're nothing but stock characters in a play. Too unaware to stand out and be unique."

She goes to drink from her mug, pouts again as she realizes it's empty and grumbles, "I wish he'd hurry up." She looks briefly confused, "Where was I? Oh yeah, the masks people wear. Myself, I'm too blonde, I don't have the extra brainpower to devote to being anything but me. I'm too busy trying to remember how to walk without tripping."

As the bartender arrives with a tray of mugs, she straightens back up, flips her long hair back over her shoulders, turns to him, places her empty mug on his tray and takes one from it before he has a chance to put it down. She smiles at him and chirps, "Thank you very much!"

She raises her mug to the table at large, "To having fun tonight!" She takes a big drink and continues, "Maybe tomorrow I'll even contemplate working as our large friend here suggests. Probably not though, I'll probably have a headache and sleep all day."

Looking slyly over at Keeya and chuckling, "Perhaps with a bit more drink we can get even our large friend here to talk more."

Keeya blushes and instinctively begins to button up her shirt. "Nice to meecha Alivia. They're... more like um.. birthmarks. I was born with them. I've seen Varisian tattoos, they're beautiful, but I was born with these. I mean um, guess I said that twice."

Keeya takes a long and nervous sip from her mug. On the mug was an engraving of another smaller mug, with a rapier overlaid on it. A variant of the symbol of Cayden Cailean. She gave a half smile to the sorceress before continuing, "I am from Quent... it's not very large, but I visited the House of Stolen Kisses there... um I mean just to see the head priestess as she knows quite a bit about everything. She suggested I might be a Sylph. My Mother... see I never knew her.

Her hand moved down to brush her own leg, verifying her dagger was there.

More embarrassed than ever she took another drink and added, "I'm sorry... I ramble when I am nervous and this place is new to me. What will you do? For work I mean. My pa was a sailor, so I learned a few things about the trade, I was going to see if any captains would take me aboard as a sailor."

Responding to the idea of getting the large stranger to drink Keeya giggled and nodded.

Tank thought, "I need to ask around...about...about a lot of things it seems.”

He saw that Port Peril was a very active place, a lot of mouths to feed indeed.

If this was a cruise for nobles the fare was all about variety and variety translates to gold.

Scallywags tended not to complain or compliment, but they still appreciated the hard work of a chef that knows more than just Vitamin C is important to prevent scurvy. Thousands of taste substitutes flowed through his brain, sweet poisons and sour nutrients clashed like witty waves of wild wickedness as he imagined the first palate impressions of anyone unfamiliar with true technique and the brilliant designs he could display all using the most Spartan of resources.

Anti-plaque and Anti-toxins seemed important, the Alchemist's fizz tablets were novel at first glance but pirate vendors in a pirate town seemed to treat him as an invisible spirit, whose questions seemed...as odd as his finely crafted armor against a swabby background of musty orcish seadogs drenched in cheap wine and filth.

Tank's own treasures were countless rainbow colored and highly detailed maps of the greatest underwater farms in Golorion. Millions of "un-tasted" underwater life samples. His library of conversations between him and the rarest of cultures, would be transcripts that he believed would eventually lead him to "The Spawning Grounds", the birthplace of all life on the planet. Aberrant Temples of otherworldly travelers once used these seas to discuss order and hoped for a perfect world of harmonious existence, they would be shocked to see the scenes of whores and chaos that Tank is now witnessing. Outcasts among the outcasted is a great feat in these parts, little did Tank know that his elaborate maps would gain the attention of so many with just the "Hook" he was looking for.

All OOC:

I feel that most online pbp and pbe games fail due to insufficient 'chemistry' between the people as well as insufficient interaction. I felt I'd try to get everyone into one area and see how well we interact and how everyone posts. This'll give our DM better info to make his decisions.

George Lucas, when he was casting for Star Wars, did auditions with groups of three at once, one each for Luke, Leia, and Han to see how well they interacted and he kept mixing things around until he found the threesome that worked together the best and played off of each other the best.

While character concepts are great and background stories very interesing, if the people don't, can't, or won't interact well, they may not even know how, the game won't continue. They may be great at designing interesting character concepts or writing up a story in a vacuum about a character's history, but the actual meat of the game is interacting, both with each other as well as the DM. It's more the art of conversation and shared story telling that is the critical skill. There needs to be good give and take between the participants and they need to inspire each other to post. They really need to *want* to see what everyone else posted each day to keep the flow going. And they need to be able to drive the game themselves in interactions and not depend on the DM to poke and prod things along, obviously, game actions and events are driven by the DM, I mean character interactions.

Just my two cents, I don't mean to overstep and speak for the DM in anyway or foist my philosophy on you, it's just my observations based on my past experience.

All OOC:

I feel that most online pbp and pbe games fail due to insufficient 'chemistry' between the people as well as insufficient interaction. I felt I'd try to get everyone into one area and see how well we interact and how everyone posts. This'll give our DM better info to make his decisions.

George Lucas, when he was casting for Star Wars, did auditions with groups of three at once, one each for Luke, Leia, and Han to see how well they interacted and he kept mixing things around until he found the threesome that worked together the best and played off of each other the best.

While character concepts are great and background stories very interesing, if the people don't, can't, or won't interact well, they may not even know how, the game won't continue. They may be great at designing interesting character concepts or writing up a story in a vacuum about a character's history, but the actual meat of the game is interacting, both with each other as well as the DM. It's more the art of conversation and shared story telling that is the critical skill. There needs to be good give and take between the participants and they need to inspire each other to post. They really need to *want* to see what everyone else posted each day to keep the flow going. And they need to be able to drive the game themselves in interactions and not depend on the DM to poke and prod things along, obviously, game actions and events are driven by the DM, I mean character interactions.

Just my two cents, I don't mean to overstep and speak for the DM in anyway or foist my philosophy on you, it's just my observations based on my past experience.

I think its a great idea =) and fun.

Alivia looks concerned, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you with the tattoo remark, you needn't cover up. I just saw them and, well, my mouth says things without the brain even knowing what's about to happen sometimes." She faces Keeya and opens her eyes wider and a closer look at her irises explains why they glitter, they look like faceted sapphires framing her pupils, "I too was born a bit different."

Listening to Keeya's history, Alivia drinks more and listens closely. "I don't know what the House of the Stolen Kisses is, it sounds interesting if the head priestess knows so much,"

Her eyes widen, "You're a Sylph? That's great! I've never met a Sylph before. I don't know much about your people and would love to learn more."

She looks sad as Keeya talks of not knowing her mother, "I'm very sorry to hear you never knew your mother. I'm glad I've grown up with mine, she's taught me many things. I, myself, only knew my father when I was very little." She pauses, takes a drink from her mug, flips her hair behind her shoulder, and a troubled look crosses her face as she adds, "He went away forever mother's told me,"

When Keeya talks about being nervous, she chuckles, "You're in good company with the rambling; as you can probably tell, I'm a bit garrulous when I'm nervous." Laughing she adds, "Who am I kidding? I'm always a chatterbox. Nervous or not."

Drinking some more she shrugs her shoulders as she's asked about working, "I don't know what I'm going to do. My mother sent me here to find what I'm seeking; she said Port Peril is where I needed to go. I thought I'd hang around, take it easy for a while, and see what happens. I'm not too happy about the thought of hard work."

Another drink and her mug is nearing empty again, she looks down into it and frowns, "I'd better slow down a bit or I won't last all night." She pauses and looks as if she's trying to remember what she was talking about before drinking intruded, she nods, smiles and continues, "My step-father is a merchant and theoretically sailing is in my blood, some of my mother's ancestors were sailors. This voyage I just undertook was my first long one, I know very little about sailing, all the different types of knots, their names, and what they're used for confuses me. And don't even ask me about jibs or mizzen-masts."

She sighs, "Who knows what'll happen? I do know Water is in my blood, my father had some far back in his ancestry, so I guess I do too. Maybe the ocean is the answer for me too."

She purses her lips, "The frustrating thing is, I don't even know what I'm seeking. I didn't even know I was seeking anything until my mother told me I was."

Assuming a slightly mocking tone, "You'll know it when you find it my little jewel. All your life you've been seeking it, but didn't know it. Everything I've taught you will finally make sense and come together when you find it. I can't explain it to you, you need to find it."

Emptying the mug, she adds, "No matter how much I press her she just smiles knowingly and deflects my question."

"Oh, the heck with it, another one can't hurt too much." she says as she looks in her mug, sees it's empty, raises it above her head, jiggles it in the bartender's direction, and smiles at him when he nods.

*Also OOC* Alivia I would love to have you as a DM or the honor of playing with you just the same.

As we all patiently wait for things to come together, I was going to "join" everyone else then some players were giving the DM ultimatums then going to different games anyway.

I am loyal to this event and without knowing who was going to participate exactly where, I've been eagerly waiting to see how this would all pan out.

I posted as an Oracle right up front but then the DM stated we needed a healer. I'm looking at like nine Clerics later, and I am glad I built this guy from the "Lame" mystery and fleshed him out to whatever you guys think. I joke about a party needing a Tank and his AC can really be important with his main focus being healing and saving PCs overboard with my ability to walk on water.

I was close to jumping in when you mentioned your characters' hopes that her family's name was familliar to anyone, but my call was to say, that "A lot of Captain's were famous young one, don't you fret your pretty little head, the long standing theory that women were bad luck aboard a ship was started by ...someone who was very wrong." I could have showed her layouts of her mom's galley and the routes we used and the adventures we sailed. Told her about her mother's favorite meal.

I want to get the honor of serving the most extravagant meals before the pirate walks the plank.

I do appreciate the Star Wars reference, chemistry would be automatic if we were all in person. I will learn from you if I even can ask you to help me with the code to turn my letters blue. I read the conventions of the posts-- why we use italics and what your character says in bold, but I wasn't being paranoid, I feel that the DM should make the cut soon, and my walking around preparing for the game would really be logical, but I really think that my maps get me mugged or my extensive history or local knowledges might get me hired.

Frankly your characters are creative but if the system was first come first serve? I can't see why one Undine Cleric would be picked over the other?

If you do get a great game that models what you consider play by post fun, let me know and I'll really study everything that needs to be done to add some value here.

I have two offline games Sunday so I really was hoping to be selected by now, but I'm still curious to the 5 that he'll pick and why.

A problem with the S&S games is that people come in to Rp at the tavern, make great scenes and then 4-5 get picked, thus shutting things down. This repeats in other recruitment threads and people get burned out around the 4th time it happens. I love Rp but repeating things does get tiresome

All OOC:
Why thank you! I've DMed for *many* years and I never get to play, except in occasional pbp/pbe games. I'm very excited about playing in an AP, especially one I know nothing about. I'm resisting the urge to go over to my copies and get an idea about what's ahead - I'm being a good girl. :D

I know we get shanghaied and that's all - also, my character's campaign trait says I meet someone dashing and flirtatious during a night of drinking - therefore, I'm starting to drink in the bar and meeting interesting people. I *love* being surprised and don't want to know a single thing about what's coming up, I'm relishing the anticipation of the unknown.

I don't think the selection is first-come, first-serve at all. I bet the DM will look at the various characters, the balance of talents, the background stories and how many hooks you give him into doing interesting things. If you suggest interesting paths for future growth, that'll make it more interesting for the DM. Like Keeya's exploration and discovery of being a Sylph and her not knowing her mother - that has a lot of potential. Even if it's only a few lines now and then throughout the story, it'll add depth to the whole thing. If we each add a few lines now and then, there will be a constant stream of it through the entire campaign and it will make the whole campaign memorable. You want to be able to say afterwards, "Wasn't it awesome when the DM tied the whole thing together and revealed that Darth Vader was Luke's father? I never saw that coming. Wow, he was a great DM." Look at Star Wars and think of it as a campaign, it's an interesting way to look at things.

In the end, if you know how story progression works, you learn that character change and growth is really what drives everything. A character who begins the story and ends the story without learning anything about themselves and without changing in any way, is *boring*.

How well we interact with each other will help. In the end, he picks the ones he thinks would be best and that he can work with the best. A good part of it is just plain intuition and gut feeling as to which ones to choose.

I'd suggest you just hop right in and start interacting, don't worry about the formatting or making it 'good enough', it's the attempt that counts. And you'll learn along the way. Your intuition about what to say in reply to my character is great, explore that more :D I like the touches you add in your ideas.

I'd suggest you walk into the bar, see interesting people, and join us, or wait until my character sees you and invites you over because you look interesting.

Don't worry about making mistakes, I believe in the 'Reasonable Person Principle', all of us are 'reasonable people' until proven otherwise, that means that there are no mistakes amongst friends and everything is good. You needn't worry about making missteps, we can correct them because we will all deal with it reasonably without egos getting in the way. We're all here to have fun with each other. Mix it up, try new things, be playful, we want everyone to have fun - it's a game remember :)

I will tell you and everyone right out, I started this RP to prove that I would be a good addition to the game. I want to be part of it, there should be no question about that. But, to be picked you need to stand out of the crowd in someway, hoping that my character writeup would be selected 'just because it sounded good' wasn't enough. So, I took some initiative, starting the interactions and RP and wanted to prove that I could write, write well, interact with others, and post frequently enough that I'd be a 'no brainer' to be picked.

I suspect that if we have a good group of characters all interacting together, posting frequently, having a good time, and we're all reasonably balanced and fill the needed 'slots', it'll be a no brainer for the DM to choose from us - we're already demonstrating 90% of the things he needs to make the campaign a success. If we're having fun and interacting well, he'll want to join in - the more the merrier :D

Put yourself in the DM's shoes - if you had to choose between someone who just posted an "I'd like to join" post with a decent background writeup versus someone who was already integrated with a group of people who were having fun, which would you choose? The DM wants to have fun too, otherwise DMing becomes a job.

Of course he wants to have fun, but I'm one of the burned out people that he mentioned, and I kinda want to have fun as well rather than play groundhog day all day long. I've tried doing this several times (meeting at a bar) then not get picked. I'm sort of at the point where I'm just giving up. It's starting to seem samey and, as a result, boring.

Interaction is really not that much of an issue for most people, and if it got varied, rather than "oh we all meet up at a bar" because that's where the campaign background starts, it gets insufferable. And if that means that I can never get into a damned campaign on these forums, then so be it, I'm done being Bill Murray.

@Henk: I appreciate that so much, it would get tiresome.

I feel that if you had 5-6 characters interacting well in the tavern, you would pick the lot of them in order to keep the momentum going. Yes, it may be 1 or 2 more than intended, and yes, they may not all be your first choices of characters, but the entire game is a delicate balance and the DM is here to have fun as well. If the players are shouldering some of the burden by keeping things going, showing that they all want to make it work, and demonstrating that they are willing to make the effort, wouldn't it be wise and prudent to go with that group as a whole? Any extra characters have already demonstrated they are willing to go the extra distance to make it easier for you, therefore they won't be a burden. In the end, you ride the tiger rather than trying to tame it - it's far more fun that way :)

Again, I have to go back to the comparison, which is better, the one with the good writeup or the one who can interact and post? I'd go with the player who is excited to be there, unless you already knew some of the other people from prior games and know they'll work out with you.

Henk, I'd like to suggest that if the other DMs broken up a fun group in the other threads, they probably couldn't keep the entire thing going and would probably kill your fun at some point. You're better off here, having fun with us :)

@Berenzen: Sorry to hear you're burned out and feel like you're in Groundhog day, it sounds incredibly frustrating.

When I feel burned out, I need to walk away from things and take a break until I feel good again. If I don't make it into this one, I'll probably try to get into another with a DM that also sounds good. If that doesn't work out, I'll probably take a break for a month and try again. I know my enthusiasm for doing this will have flagged and my RP itch will have been scratched enough to tide me over. Then, I'll be willing to go through the effort again :)

Keeya smiles sweetly, and takes another large drink from her mug, "Sorry, its habit... I got used to hiding them at home... Well I am not at home am I?" She grins and takes a big drink emptying her mug. then unbuttoning her top button, leaving it open again. A sly smile creeps across her lips as she unbuttons the one below it too. Revealing more of her skin and the mysterious blue swirls.

"As for Sylphs... I don' know. I guess Pa met my mother here years ago... and the next time he saw her she gave him me. You're different? In wha' way? The magic? Tha' was pretty impressive. As for the House of Stolen Kisses, its the temple to Callistria in Quent. It's um popular with sailors."