It's a fun and active game. We all post at LEAST once a day or let somebody know if we can't.
XD
Russian fairy tales and trench warfare. Intriguing..
...3100 posts, be a bit of back reading to catch up on. Books to be bought.
So I am tempted. Let me read a little of the campaign to get an idea of the tenor of the campaign thus far. It looks like 6 active players. Was Mezegis using a community generated 6 player adjustment (if anybody knows).
I might be interested in picking this up.
Nice to see some immediate interest, we're very eager to continue! We've been going strong for ten months, and have a lot of fun together.
Kalt has already died once, and Sven and the gang carried his nearly-shredded remains in a sack for many leagues to get him put back together. So we're all pretty close.
I might be interested as well. I have the books but haven't run thought the campaign. But I love Baba Yaga and her hut.
Was Mezegis using a community generated 6 player adjustment (if anybody knows).
This I do not know, and I'd be surprised if the other players do - but we can get in touch with Mez and ask him.
No, that's OK. Mostly just curious. Getting a summary from Feral now on the story so far.
Hello again. This is Tangaroa's GM account. I haven't totally committed to the idea of running this yet, but I am intrigued. Also, if Red is chomping on the bit to run it I would certainly stand aside for him, since he has more PbP experience then I.
I thought I might say a little about myself as a potential GM. I've gamed with Red and Feral in tabletop, although that was several years and two states ago. I've recently gotten into PbP, but have only run one module online and no APs thus far. It turns out my inner PbP GM enjoys long-form narrative and heavy doses of "player agency", as Feral likes to call it - which is to say, players directing the story, not the other way around.
I don't have the books yet, but I've started perusing your campaign thread and backstories, as well as poking through the GM threads a bit. Some of the stuff I'm seeing is intriguing, but it's been a short time to ingest it all; I might need a few more days.
As a writer and narrator, I make no claims to among the ranks of some of the luminaries on these boards, but I always do what I can to tell a good story.
In terms of AP experience, I have a RL Kingmaker game I am currently trying to wrap up - just starting book 6 and year three. Most of my experience has a been in official play environments, but I try not to let it define me :).
Anyways, take a look through this profile posts if you care to see how I've affected a GM'ing style on the boards. I'm still learning and evolving (aren't we all?).
Howdy, potential DMs.
I brought a few questions for you all to help us get a better feel for your style - Red, I realize I know the answers to these in your case, but the rest of our crew probably doesn't (with the exception of that Feral guy). And now, on to the questions...
Do you have any house rules we should know about?
What part of DMing do you find most fun? Has it ever conflicted with what your players found fun, and if so, what did you do?
What's your posting schedule like?
How do you understand the "social contract" of a PbP? Do you view it differently than you do a live table?
I do have a healthy amount of PBP DMing experience. And I did help DM one of the only AP PBP to ever finish on these boards. Now that I've got that obligatory self promotion out of the way, on to the questions.
I've been thinking about some house-rules concerning rogues. I can't think of anything else right now, but if it comes up I'll let people know and adjust accordingly.
I find that the most important thing is that the table is having fun. I like challenging PCs, but I don't go so far as to #hopecrush or anything. I prefer fun over realism any day. I also like to joke around alot which has come off as antagonistic sometimes though.
While I'm at work, I can get in a post or two but nothing super substantial as I'm posting from my phone which my bosses discourage. Currently that means weekdays noon to six or seven Pacific time. But when I'm home, I will post several times.
PBP is a bit different from a live table obviously. A social contract is simply what I expect from my players and what they can expect from me. Like if I make a mistake, then I will own up to it and retcon as needed.
Howdy, potential DMs.
Do you have any house rules we should know about?
Not really. I'm fairly by the book in terms of rules, although I'm willing to field requests for variant rules (i.e. called shots, piecemeal armor) if people are interested - but any rule goes both ways, monster and hero.
However, I believe I might institute hero points, which I've never done. I think it's a reasonable mechanic, particularly if the feats, spells and items that increase them are removed from play. The only downside is that it's very much DM fiat, which some enjoy and some do not. I would lean towards stinginess in distribution beyond the one per level freebie.
I've been experimenting with format in threads a bit. What I tend to favor does make things a bit more work for the player. Thus far, I favor all dice rolls (gm and player) spoilered and at the bottom of posts. This helps with the storytelling flow and prevents any rampant omniscience with payers.
Out-of-character chatter I prefer as much as possible in the discussion thread - tactics, questions, commentary, witty banter. Especially tactics; complicated plans are not made in combat, but before. In turn, monsters have motivations, intellects, and egos of various measure, and will not necessarily fight with maximal efficiency (particularly the mindless or stupid critters).
I would reserve the right to make initiative rolls, as well as passive perception and sense motive rolls (you can always call for active sense/perception rolls)
What part of DMing do you find most fun? Has it ever conflicted with what your players found fun, and if so, what did you do?
I like so many different things it's hard to say. I like making a good puzzle, I like building interesting characters with interesting backstories to interact with. I like when a good (DM or PC) plan comes together, something that has been building since three levels ago :)
I've had players occasionally complain about how I give treasure - I've done some ridiculous things storywise to ensure PCs find the gold. These are usually folks who feel strongly that +1 swords are things of exceeding rarity, not wielded by every Tom-Dick-and-Jane. I don't think that the world of Golarion or Pathfinder rules supports such a supposition.
What's your posting schedule like?
I am a full time professional, but I can and do post from work, as well as after hours. Long posts are, however, reserved for non-work hour.
How do you understand the "social contract" of a PbP? Do you view it differently than you do a live table?
At the end of the day running either a live table or a PbP revolves around telling a good story. I endeavor to provide means for characters to develop as the story does, and to keep people engaged and having a good time. Like anyone I respond better to a player invested in their character.
PbP is definitely nice in that it provide a much more descriptive media, and perhaps a better way to enact complicated storylines.
You all seem to be very capable writers and I'm a little intimidated by living up to your standards for the length of time this AP will take :)
Player feedback has asked that I relax my position of wanting all OOC conversation in the discussion thread in order to help keep the mood lighter and the action flowing, which I am happy to do. Like I said, I'm fairly new to this particular medium and willing to experiment with my style.
Well, do you have a preference then for GMs. Would you like Red or myself to run?
If you folks prefer that I run, I will need perhaps a week to skim through the AP, generate a few maps and figure out how to properly tweak the thematic elements to my liking. I could start running before then, but I would probably end up flailing around a bit until I find my feet (some flailing will probably happen anyways. :) )
...alternatively, Red, do you have a preference?
It's up to the players. There are some houserule/homebrew stufc i'd like to try out, but they are the ones playing so the consequences would be on them.
While minds are being made, behold the wonders of the Russian movie industry:
So, after discussing it amongst the players, we’ve decided we’d like to have DM Ranginui take up the mantle of GM in our Reign of Winter game. It’s really great that we had a couple of solid GM’s step forward and offer to keep the story going with us. Both had strong suits, from an incredible depth of PbP experience to a more elaborate writing style, and we’re lucky to have had a hard choice to make, instead of having to watch a great game grind to a halt.
If it matters to you guys, we settled on Ranginui for a couple of reasons. First, and most simply, he was the first one to throw his hat in the ring and he was very engaged in the recruitment thread (although you both posted reply’s to Lana’s questions, so that latter point wasn’t critical). Second, Ranginui’s style of posting and writing matched what we’re used to in the game more, and this seemed like it would make the transition less jarring as we switch GM’s.
I’m happy to provide any further feedback by PM if it’s desired. Thanks to both of you for offering to help, and we’ll see you around the boards!