Alright, recruitment is closed, so let's hear your thoughts on the submissions.
Personally, I'm leaning towards choosing Arradir, Kresh, and Rodok. Do guys have any input?
Definitely like Rodok, very solid character from concept to visual execution.
Arradir also appeals to me.
I'm sort of neutral on the other two,they both seem like good entries, neither tips me in either direction..
I'm more inclined to take Kresh than Jorvin. There's more opportunity for a fun story I feel. That and I feel his background is a better fit for the world than Jorvin's.
Anyone else? I'm planning on announcing who's in tomorrow, so speak now of forever hold your piece.
I am on the same boat. Arradir, Kresh and Rodok appeal the most to me. Double the dwarves! They may even tie their backstories together if they so wish.
They all seem like good choices to me, not sure I could decide on just one of them. I leave it to your judgement.
Okay, seems like we have our choices then. I'll post in the recruitment thread to let them know.
Ey, thanks for the selection guys! I won't let you down.
Here be me guy...
Vaenathis "Vaen" Konnal, Summoner of Blades
And here be his description and (brief) backstory...
Time with his father was... interesting, to say the least. There was teaching of skills and knowledge both mundane and arcane, as well as training in the proper use of weapons, mostly swords. Vaen had talent in the ways of magic, that much was obvious, but his magic was different, perhaps in part to the fey blood that Celeador said the elves of his House had running through their veins, however small after centuries of dilution. Whatever the reason Vaenathis was not so much capable of shaping magic in the way of mages and sorcerers, though he could with a little more effort, as he was able to summon weapons of all sorts, seeming out of thin air, and wield them from afar, a power he was very interested in learning how to use and improve. And considering his father's penchant for adventuring and taking his son along with him after deeming him able enough... well, there was no lack of opportunity to do so.
The years passed and there came a time when Vaenathis felt a longing for home, his other home, and for seeing his mother again. Celeador did not stand in his way. Quite the contrary. With a smile he took Vaen's compass, the same compass Eira had given him when he had left to go join his elven father, and placed an enchantment on it before giving it back. Something to light his way back home, as he put it, before bidding him farewell. They would meet again of course, they both knew that. After all, Celeador would resume his yearly visits.
As for Vaenathis? Well, he did begin his journey back to his mother's home, but he was an adventurer at heart. There were -and are- distractions.
By the way, I could use a suggestion as to where his mother lives, i.e. which of the Holds would be most appropriate and perhaps useful and interesting to the GM. ;-)
I'd have to say Everwatch or one of the surrounding villages would make the most sense. If we say Vaen came back via the deep roads that run through Black Keep, he'd have to travel clear across Nordholm to get to Everwatch, which offers plenty of opportunities for distractions.
Everwatch it is then. :-)
Hi, thanks for the invite! It's a bit of a surprise, since I didn't end up getting around to a fleshed out backstory, but welcome nonetheless. I'll get it down on "paper" as soon as I can, and I'm looking forward to things here.
Hey all, thanks for the pick, and I'm looking forward to playing with you all.
Rodok is a fun character, I hope, and should contribute to the party with buffs/debuffs, condition removal, and heals, mostly.
I'm picturing him as a sort of an odd duck, with the big cloud of Ioun stones (to which he plans to add, of course), the unique tattoos, and an otherworldly fortune-teller, sort of 'removed' personality. I'm also VERY much looking forward to the Wild Magic drawback, so sorry in advance if I turn you purple, or something like that.
He's not much for combat, but he can take a hit or three or four before going down- good as his aura abilities require close proximity to the action. Let me know if you've got any questions, or if there's some overlap or deficiency in character roles (skills, spheres, talents, &c.) you'd like to address.
--Dev
Okay. Things seem to have settled. Hopefully I can kick this off without too many more hassles.
Will post in a bit.
Today was a bit hectic. Will post tomorrow (well, my tomorrow anyway...). :-)
Hey all, posting this in all my games to let people know I'll be away for a few days. My family is headed to camp later today, and I won't have Internet or my computer while I'm there. I should be back and posting Friday afternoon/evening (Eastern Time), but please push the game as needed, botting my character if you need to do so. Thanks!
Well, the timing's inconvenient, but I hope you have fun!
Sooo... I thought to ask this here instead of cluttering up the IC thread, but the plan is to bluff and then teleport all sneaky-like? Any of the more charismatic folks willing to give the ol' bluffing thing a go? Or should I just have Vaen try it? Not his forte, but if no one else is going to, well, he might as well. :-)
I'd been waiting for GM too introduce the guards, I missed the post where he asked for the bluff. Sorry... Really sorry.
It's fine, I probably should have reminded you guys that I was waiting on you to act.
And back. Before I post, DM, is there a way around these guards? That is to say, is their hallway the only way to keep moving, or does it branch off from the one Yngvild and I are in, meaning we could creep past?
You and Yngvild are currently at a T-junction. The guards are to the right but the left is clear.
Alright, I think I need to address pacing issue... again.
I have tried to be prompt in my posting and I think I've been doing a good job, but things have been going far too slow. I know that real life gets in the way and can make things slow, but so far no one has said anything to that effect. I also have to stress that I can only do so much. This is on rails, so to speak, but I need you guys to do stuff that I can react to. If I have to start throwing events at you, then why are either of us playing this? I can go write or play Skyrim if I want to play an RPG by myself and if I start having things happen after a set time, instead of letting the PCs drive the story, then what's the point of you guys playing?
This game is becoming a frustration point for me because while I don't want to shut things down, I feel like that no one but me really cares or is motivated to play this game. It's just another game on my campaign tabs that I need to check when I get home and if I'm lucky I'll have enough posts to actually move things forward. The fact that things haven't really changed despite trying to make things more linear and less sandboxy and running a re-recruitment for this and doing the soft reboot is more than a little disheartening.
All of this said, I'm going to ask you, all of you. Do you really want to continue? Do you honestly want to keep going. I don't think I'm asking too much by asking at least a post from each of you every weekday or two. If I am, then I apologize. I'll be closing the game down in that case as well. because it's clear that it might be better if everyone's PBP load was lower.
I hate having this conversation, especially only a few months after I had it last, but I don't want to run a game that people aren't interested in.
I feel most at fault here. I really do want to play this character and I really do want to continue. I would hate to cause the death of a campaign because of my inaction which I seem to be doing right now. I will pick up my g#+ d~+n slack and punch some major motivation into myself. Very sorry for making you post this DM.
Trust me, it's not just you, so no reason to be so hard on yourself.
As for me, I do want to continue as well. I do admit I tend to be a bit on the slow side, one part because I just am these days and another because I did not want to have Vaenathis put his foot in his mouth in this latest interaction. But for the sake of pace, I think I am going to simply start thinking differently. More spontaneously. A bit more... chaotically, if you will. :-)
So far the set up isn't especially conducive to rapid fire posting since we're supposed to be making delicate decisions. The earlier example of us not having hammered out backgrounds beforehand, resulted in a pause when in game we were supposed to tell our stories, understandably so since it required some thought.
It is in some part also a credit to your storytelling that the players feel the press of what is at stake enough to put thought into their actions and try to plan carefully rather than running roughshod over things.
It';s easy to go murderhobo, playing out a delicate situation takes some time and isn't as easy for some people. It's easy to shoot off a post in a game you don't care all that much about and just keep it moving. This isn't that kind of game. When actions matter more than who's the next person you're going to kill, posts can take a bit, but it's usually worth it.
If that makes it not worth your time because you feel that there needs to be x number of posts per person per day...well I guess I understand, but it's a shame. There's definitely the potential for something great here.
Sorry, I know I am probably one of the worst offenders. Depending on what's going on some games slip through on me at times. I am trying very hard to avoid letting that happen and I'll work on picking up my posting pace a bit more.
Things should be easier when the groups together, I'd think?
It's not so much that you guys aren't hitting a quota as I feel like there's a lack of interest. If you're thinking things over a quick OOC post to let me know would go along way towards alleviating that feeling on my end. I also don't mind if you collaborate or ask me questions in the discussion thread. That's what this is here for.
I'd love to have you guys post at least once a day, but I understand that may not be practical and that things may be busy on your end. That's fine and I understand that, but when things are quiet and there's only one or two posts a day in gameplay, then I can't help but feel that you guys aren't interested or that I'm boring you. If you need a push or are wondering about something, then don't hesitate to ask!
And things will be a little easier once everyone's together. As for the murderhobo thing, well... Let's just say that the source I stole– I mean borrowed, did go all murderhobo in the end.
I'm sorry if it sounded like "you guys need to meet quota or there's no point!" It's not that at all. I just felt like no one was interested in the game any more.
For my part, I'm incredibly sorry that I just disappeared on this one--if it makes it any better (probably doesn't), it wasn't just this game; I haven't been able to get on the site at all for almost two weeks. Last week I went on a somewhat impromptu trip and didn't have time or wifi as much as I'd hoped, then over the weekend I was on a paintballing trip. The last couple days I just haven't had the energy to check in, which isn't much of a reason or excuse, but it is what it is.
Like I said, I'm very sorry about not posting, and I saw your PM to check in with me, DM. I am interested in this game and would like to continue, and I'm definitely hoping to be better about regular posting.
Well, hop on in. You just helped Yngvild murder two guys and have the lady of the house appearing out of a secret passage way.
Sorry, got rear ended at a red light yesterday, been dealing with insurance and doctors all day. At work now with 1 1/2 hours sleep
Okay, just a heads up that work has me busy, so posting may be a little slow for a bit.
Can I get a "here" from everybody? I want to see if we lost anyone.
here!
Here, here, here. Just a bit busy this week.
Here. Went 28 hours without sleep then crashed for 12. Still dealing with issues from car accident.
Here! A bit out of steam, but here.
Still here
Also here!
Sorry, no update tonight. My grandmother on my mom's side of the family has been put in the hospital for the second time this month. I've not the muse to write an update tonight.
Sorry to hear that, sending positive energy.
They're supposed to do an MRI on her tomorrow. Hopefully things will turn up good and she can go home.
To be honest, this isn't her month. She had to go in because of chest pains the first time around. She was in for a week while they were waiting to do a heart cath. She fell Sunday, and then my mom checked on her this morning to make sure she was okay and she was slurring her words and not making much sense a couple of times. She'll be 89 this year and, well, frankly she's not doing too bad, but still, it has all of us a little worried.
Best wishes, mate. Take your time, this goes without saying.
Yeah, take your time and take care of it. My great-grandmother went through similar stuff in the last few years, so I understand how it goes. We can wait.
Whatever you need man, no rush.
LoL! 1 minute after the window ended I realize that I posted under the wrong Alias. Obviously the Elayna post should have been Schandra.
I figured. :)
Okay, I need to have a discussion about Kruuh, because it seems like the idea is to teleport him to the big bad and then trample and gore away. I know that I allowed this to happen, but I'm looking to future fights, and honestly, I'm worried that if I have something that is able to survive and threaten the armored bull, then it could very likely kill the party. For that matter, I like having villains engage in scenery chewing and hammy lines when I can. It takes a good bit of fun out of it for me when you can just teleport the bull and trample and gore away.
I don't know how to deal with this without killing Kruuh, or just saying, "No he can't do that. Yes I know what the rules are, he still can't." Neither option is going to leave a good taste in anyone's mouth. I could throw enemies he can't trample at you, but then every fight where I don't want trample to be an option is going to be against large size creatures or in five-foot wide spaces.
Honestly, at the moment, the side of beef is probably the most dangerous melee combatant in the party. He has the highest AC and deals out tons of damage. He can trample foes and if they can't dive out of the way, their only chance of retaliation is to hit an effective AC of 28! Because of the way the rules are written, I really don't have any recourse against it other than GM fiat, and that tends to not end well.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm whining, but I'm not looking forward to trying to make combats that won't likely kill the party while not being ridiculously easy because of the freakin' war bull.