There are ample stressors. Fingers crossed that they're doing well.
I'm still hoping to have a chance to play Karina with you all at some point
Still here. But I am starting to get worried. The last time our GM was gone this long we nearly took on new GM, before he suddenly came back.
Hmmm We can wait a while and see how it foes from here.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I finally heard back from the GM in discord. He’s been busy. He said he will try and post soon. I told him there was no hurry. Just glad to know he’s OK.
Cool! Thanks for stalking him!
Hej BrOp, or Karmid(via discord - I think one stalker is sufficient :D )
No hurry, all good, all ok - just wanted to ask if he wants to call a "formal" hiatus until after holidays?
I know I am currently in a lot of stress, both with work, family, etc...if it's the same for him it may be better to not look immediately ahead and feel compelled to try and post(which adds to the anxiety the longer it's postponed).
As in, maybe he just wants to call a break until, say, January 10th, and then come check back, so that until then there is no "shadow" hanging over him?
Just a thought- I know it helps me deal with stuff when there's too much I need to do...and too little time / capacity.
I can live with that if everyone is up for it.
It sounds fine with me. Fully endorsed.
Aye.
I got to clear year end paperwork.
Works for me.
Still here.
Yea we need to bring Karina in as well.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Merry Christmas to all of you!!!
Merry Xmas one and all!
Happy Winter Solstice and all the others stuff being celebrated around this time!
Got to handle a spot of RL over the weekends.
Be back after that.
Hi all. Since it's been almost 6 months since I first posted in this campaign and haven't been able to bring Karina in, I'm going to hide the campaign from my campaign tabs to reduce clutter. I'm not officially dropping from the campaign. However, if this resumes at some point and there is still interest in bringing the new players onboard, I can be contacted here on this site through private messages or on Discord.
I hope that all of you are well.
Understood.
Aye. Understandable. Thanks for sticking around "active" as long as you did. If this resumes, we'll be sure to give you a notice.
Hi there. Karmid contacted me recently via the Discord link on my home page (thanks again, Karmid!) to see if I was doing ok. I am doing ok, but feel terribly guilty for having abandoned you along with the other games I was running here on the messageboards. I know you have heard this from me before, but things can build up in my life and suddenly a game like this one, that would normally give me joy, suddenly creates nothing but stress and anxiety as I begin to slack off in my posting and then feel guilty because I have done so. This continues in a vicious cycle and leads me to wonder if running games like this is actually healthy for me in the long-term.
The problem is that I DO really love running them and miss them when I am not actively posting.
So here's the question again: should we continue this or do we call it a day for good this time?
I can't promise that I won't ever disappear again, because I think I've promised that in the past, and that obviously didn't stick, but I will try.
If this doesn't work for you anymore, I of course understand.
Let me know.
BrOp (Alex)
I'm in it to win it. Let's go for the gold...and gems...and magic stuff...!
I'm glad to see you BrOp! I'm ready to keep on going!
If you are up for DMing, I am down to play.
Thanks. Will wait for others to chime in before moving forward in case we need to make adjustments.
I've sent a PM to Karina to let her know.
Thank you, Ro.
Thanks for the chime, Rojava. I'll unhide this again (that was fast!) and hope to be able to bring this character to life at some point.
GM, I have recently been experiencing something similar. I think it can be very healthy to take breaks, and I'm very familiar with that guilt. I hope that you are taking care of yourself.
I have been talking with other gamers who have dealt with similar issues in the past, and they have suggested that I break down this game into discrete time periods or sections of the storyline after which I (or anyone else!) can decide if they need a break or not. For example, we were just tackling the Clockwork Tower (or whatever it's called, it's been such a long time, sorry!). Following this idea, before we begin this section I could say: "OK, let's run this set of encounters, after which we can decide if we want to push on or take a short break." Doing so would help me not get overwhelmed as in my mind I would know that I only have to get to the next "break point" and not have to run the rest of the AP without stopping. Instead of dividing the game with storylines, we could also set an arbitrary time frame after which we would break, say every other month, or have mandatory breaks at certain times of the year such as the December holidays or the beginning of the summer. The "break" would be a predetermined time period we all agreed upon when it began. After the time period had passed, we could assume we'd be continuing unless someone else needed more time.
Let me know what you think of this. As always, I appreciate y'all being willing to assist me in this matter.
This is actually quite ingenious. I learned about breaking things down in this way because I have wicked ADHD and it helps with all sorts of task management. It never occurred to me that it could apply here as well though.
Thumbs up from me for some version of it.
As long as we can continue, and barring a TPK, anything that helps the GM works for me.
I am generally in favor of any strategy that those who enjoy this hobby want to use to ensure that they can keep enjoying it. So breaks and regular check-ins both sound good to me.
My long-time in-person gaming group has stayed together largely because we have had flexibility. We take weeks off, or sometimes even months. Individual people might only jump in for a single module, and then only jump in when they're available. We're experimenting with a change in our usual day right now because that will allow one person to stick with us instead of having to duck out for the next 4 months due to work.
So yeah, I'm down for this.
I have been talking with other gamers who have dealt with similar issues in the past, and they have suggested that I break down this game into discrete time periods or sections of the storyline after which I (or anyone else!) can decide if they need a break or not. For example, we were just tackling the Clockwork Tower (or whatever it's called, it's been such a long time, sorry!). Following this idea, before we begin this section I could say: "OK, let's run this set of encounters, after which we can decide if we want to push on or take a short break." Doing so would help me not get overwhelmed as in my mind I would know that I only have to get to the next "break point" and not have to run the rest of the AP without stopping. Instead of dividing the game with storylines, we could also set an arbitrary time frame after which we would break, say every other month, or have mandatory breaks at certain times of the year such as the December holidays or the beginning of the summer. The "break" would be a predetermined time period we all agreed upon when it began. After the time period had passed, we could assume we'd be continuing unless someone else needed more time.
Let me know what you think of this. As always, I appreciate y'all being willing to assist me in this matter.
I know how much effort an AP takes.
Just curious though is it draining for you to get through each 'Arc' thus you need the break?I'm offering for you to make your own PC and join us. I'll alternate with you if need be as GM.
I'm in a few games where we do take a break after each Arc to allow the others to recharge.
Cycling the GM slot is also a good potentially viable option. That's how one of my groups did War for the Crown. It made long-term planning somewhat difficult, as the next person might not know major story beats and how to foreshadow them, but since each book can be (and often is) relatively standalone, it can work.
If I were to cycle GMing through an AP now, I would have one person in the group (probably the one who starts Book One) have a good sense of the overarching narrative, and then feed each subsequent GM the information that they need to provide the connective tissue that links each book to the next. Like...
And so on and so forth. The lead story GM knows where things are going but can still enjoy time as a player between their time GMing even if they know the story beats. This is especially the case if each individual GM puts their own spin on their books. The GM just has to ensure that their GMPC isn't the focus and doesn't overshadow the other PCs, such as by having metanarrative knowledge.
In the aforementioned War... game, we actually had the current GM's PC disappear for that book, usually as part of their character's story. For instance, I was set up to run Book Four of the AP. Some of the major enemies that we fought were of the same ancestry as my PC, and so he went to go find out more about his heritage during Book Four, using some breadcrumbs that the Book Three GM was kind enough to leave. Then I set up the PC of Book Five's GM to find out that his assumed-dead brother was actually alive and being imprisoned by the enemies behind the scenes.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Still around, and still looking forward to things.
That said,
... I know you have heard this from me before, but things can build up in my life and suddenly a game like this one, that would normally give me joy, suddenly creates nothing but stress and anxiety as I begin to slack off in my posting and then feel guilty because I have done so. This continues in a vicious cycle and leads me to wonder if running games like this is actually healthy for me in the long-term...
All that: totally unnecessary in my humble opinion.
Don't get me wrong - I know one can't "shut" that off.You can't decide "not" to feel that way.
But what you CAN do is consider my suggestion from 6th of December.
Getting in a gameplay post, reading posts, that all takes effort. Possibly more than can be mustered at a time.
But by know you should know we are an understanding bunch glad to have you.
If you pop into discussion, without reading any posts, and write something like "Overload. Need a break. Will check in with you in 3 weeks and let you know" and then around that time you can still prolong, or not - I think that would cut back a lot on anxiety and feelings of guilt - because you are not letting us down. It may or may not help you recover faster, but at least it would not add to your burden.
And if you know that such a message will be accepted with well-wishes for your mental well-being, then the hurdle to go and post it should be low when you consider the alternative of repeating your cycle.
I am not saying it would fix everything. But knowing you can "press" the emergency stop and just say when the service may possible resume(or an update be expected) might cause you a lot less tension, anxiety, and self-inflicted guilt. So just trying to look out for you here.
(That, and I do hope that you may be more willing to take a short break as early as you need it, or possibly recover faster without additional baggage weighing you down - and by both measures increase our overall uptime :D but that's just a bonus I can selfishly hope for)
What happened? This game got archived for me.
25th October was the last gameplay post.
Thats 3 months, I'd assume some automatic cleanup moved the game into archived...
Should be easy to remedy for GM.
Ha! That worked.
just post and it should get back up.
Ha! I guess I missed the excitement.
I'm back. Thanks again to Karmid for the "goose".
As long as we can continue, and barring a TPK, anything that helps the GM works for me.
As I GM, I tend to stay away from TPKs unless the party has been very, very foolish, and you have not been. You have simply had some extremely bad luck with your dice rolls.
I also want to say again that I appreciate everyone's comments and possible solutions concerning my problems with posting.
Walks into TPK.
Runs straight out screaming about Fiat!
We may have to bot Lia this time. New baby and such…
Yeah, true.
New baby? Oh wow! Does someone want to take over the botting? If not, I'll take over.
Oh yeah, within the last couple of weeks. Lia announced elsewhere but not here.
Probably best if you go ahead with the botting BrOp.
Probably best if you go ahead with the botting BrOp.
I can't seem to find a spell list for Lia. Does anyone know if she has one posted somewhere?
It's under her daily abilities. Reposted here for convenience.
Spells prepared (+1 caster level vs getting dispelled)
L0 - inf - 7: Ghost Sound, Light, Prestidigitation, Breeze, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Message
L1 - 3/5 - 5: Summon Kittens, Snowball, Comprehend Languages, Grease, Liberating Command
L2 - 2/5 - 3: Scorching Ray, Invisibility, Web
L3 - 1/4 - 2: Stinking Cloud, Lightning Bolt
4/5 - Bit of Luck (Sp): You can touch a willing creature as a standard action, giving it a bit of luck. For the next round, any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.