Eternal Horizons - Gameplay Thread 1 (Inactive)

Game Master Jacob DeCourcey

Welcome!

I'm here!

Little blue-haired gnome, I can just imagine her standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot and looking impatient - kinda like sonic if you don't move the controller for too long.

should we start rping heading out, and assume gimlet is with us as we go? or should we wait and how long?

Just start without him. If he shows up soon, we'll pretend like he was really groggy from sleeping, and is just then coming around or something like that. Or, he could end up going with Ax and Jackson.

well, i'd rather have a group of 4 than 3, but i guess we can do that - what do you say, ira and tensen?

I think everyone else went to bed or something... sigh...

*just sits down and cries* I was hoping to get some rp in tonight.

Must be. I was looking forward to another strong start like our other campaign. Hopefully we'll pick up some steam once you get going since you won't need to wait on everyone to take actions.

Wow! I hadn't thought my day would be that long. Oh well. Looks Finn and crew have left, but Ax and Jack are here, possibly waiting for me. What do you say DM? Go with midget crew or with the late comers, as befits the latest one. Tell me quick and Let's go!

Sorry Finn! You know how unreliable goblins can be.

I don't want to break up our group, but i feel like ooc going in and picking up the bard and ranger and going with them since they are active lol... but that's uncool, i like our little group of druid, barb, cleric, sorc, i just wish everyone had stuck around to play. and that Gimlet and Chuff had shown up. I'm going off to watch Family Guy on Adult Swim and sulk a little lol...

CHUFFY!!!!! you made it... we haven't left - we are standing around outside waiting for you and Gimlet.

but i think everyone else is gone :(

Maybe I was totally confused, but isn't this a PbP so we don't have to all be online at the same time? Not that I mind, but it is doubtful I'll have a chunk of time that I can regularly plan on being in front of a computer, except possibly 10-12am MST.

We're all here, so let's decide what we're going to do, wait for the cycle(12hrs, 24hrs, etc) to pass and see what happens.

well, jacob was going to kick it off with everyone meeting up at 9pm est tonight... that didn't work out as planned.... but if you still want to come with us - we can get started and the others can just say they came with us lol.

I approve! Let's do it. Haven't had time to read everything, but it looks like DM mentioned something about exploring hexes. Let's do that and head for the west. Favored enemy is goblinoid(Since it's one of the things I do know we can face.) and we can fit in the warrens.

well if we wait, and your time is mostly 10-12mst, that isn't necessarily gonna sync up with anyone except maybe me because I have no set time, i am usually near a computer whenever I'm awake... on and off that is. So if you want we can get started, move out, assuming tensen and ira are with us... if we encounter something we can pause and jacob can then run things from there as he sees fit. if we don't encounter anything, we can get some movement in, towards our goal. how does that sound?

ok sounds good... you ninja'd my post, but it basically agrees with yours... jacob are you still here?

Jacob - we are heading generally west, probably depending on the survival skills of either Chuffy or Tensen (not sure if barbs get survival as a class skill, but clerics definitely don't). we'll start with SW and zig zag from there, if that's okay with everyone else. that will take us in the general direction of the X, which technically we know nothing about.. but we know the goblins are west, so it takes us generally west.

Yup. I say we travel three or four squares straight west(I'm after some goblins.), taking time to explore and map each fully. Unless you and Gim have mounts, the party speed will be 20ft. However, Nose and I have a speed of 50, which should let the party, between the main group traveling to/through the most direct/interesting/dangerous looking areas and Chuffnose zipping to and fro to everything else, explore a single hex a day.

That actually sounds a lot like hiking with our dog. We walk in a straight line to wherever we're going, more or less, and she runs everywhere else.

no mounts here, sorry... but yeah, we can explore fully each hex - probably dont have to do the first one as it is unforested and probably well explored... up to you tho - the second hex is the first one that is forested, though it look like lightly forested. don't go TOO far away from us, splitting the party isn't a good idea. by the way, finn bought everyone a signal whistle so we can signal each other... also - she has paper and ink and pens and a map case so we can make maps as we go. - probably she will actually make the maps while camped so it doesn't hold up the party much. I'm betting the other group is probably going much faster than we are, but that's life, they don't have any short people lol

I'm here for another little bit.

although Tensen said that Lilith might let me ride her when she gets to know me better, that is for the future. We are still getting to know each other. When/if it happens, it might solve our speed issue

ok Jacob - did you read our posts - we are moving out - SW first, then NW and so on, alternating between the two - moving generally west.

if Gimlet shows up and wants to make it a party of five, we'll take him, and welcome him along, otherwise he can go with the bard and ranger.

I, also, need to turn in. I await your decision of which direction to travel.

ni ni jacob... see you tomorrow i hope... we'll see which way we go when the others chime in.

Ira - did you delete a post, or am I imagining things? It IS late and I did take a vicodin, so I'm just not sure what's real lol

Drugs make everything better, unless you're trying to folk dance, then it makes everything hilarious. True Story.

I concur with everything that's been said so far. We'll keep the pattern, exploring each hex thoroughly. Chuffy and Nose will be keeping a special eye out for indcations of kobolds in the next hex, since the tracks seemed to go in that direction. Also, keeping an eye out for potential food sources. Not just for immediate survival checks, also for areas that would be good to visit in the future. General idea is taking it slow and careful now, so next time we travel through we can do it quickly and not worry about finding food.

OK, guys and gals, it’s pretty clear already that following the wilderness exploration RAW is going to be a horrible bore. Here’s the new plan:

1. Declare your route intentions, same as before. Except, I need to know how far you plan to travel each day so that I know what checks I need for things like a forced march. So, the new format would be “NW, SW, rest, NW, SW, rest” or something like that. The rates of travel are in the spoiler below.
2. If you are travelling on mapped hexes, no chance of getting lost. If you are travelling on new hexes, 1 survival roll per 5 hexes travelled.
3. If you fail the survival roll, you will not be able map your travels and I won’t update the Obsidian Portal map. I will roll to determine how lost you get, and you will automatically realize that you are lost at that point.
4. From there, you will make another survival roll to determine how quickly you make it back to mapped territory.
Sound simple enough?

I reworked my random encounter tables to mesh better with this system. Basically, there is 2/3 chance to encounter something (not necessarily combat) if you explore a hex, and a 1/6 chance to encounter something if you pass through a hex.

We will no longer track night watch shifts, assuming that your party works it out to get enough sleep for everyone. If the random encounter occurs during the night, I will apply it from there.

We will also not keep as close an eye on food. Just keep track of how many days of food you have for your entire party. If you are about to run out, then you will make a survival roll to determine if and how much food you can find. You can also feel free to scrounge up food from encounters as appropriate.

So, to get up to speed, here what I need from you:
No more getting lost check until you venture into unmapped territory.
How many days worth of food you have for your party.

I apologize for changing things up so abruptly, but I'm already tired of the perpetual stream of survival rolls. I'm totally up for more suggestions, too.

ok - not sure how much food anyone else has - Finn carries 5 days rations which she's willing to share in lean times of course.

our slowest speed is 20', which should have us moving through mapped hexes at either 2 hours or 3 hours depending on terrain. Remember though that we have Chuff & Nose roaming the hex at a speed of 50' while the rest of us are moving at 20, so if that might give us a little bit of a scouting bonus, we'll take it.

Our only decision is when & where to start fully exploring a hex.. when we're off the map or every hex regardless? I suggest when we reach the X or when we're off the map, whichever applies, that's when we start 'exploring,' but whatever the others want to do is fine with me.

so I guess we're going SW, NW, SW, NW, SW, NW, SW, which should put us at the X... unless of course we encounter something before then, in which case, we might pursue a different course (for example if we find signs of Bawldok Greenham, or something else of greater interest). Then we reserve the right to change our course.

This was the original course we set, so if there are any objections to it now, this is the time to speak up, before jacob plots our encounters or whatever based on it. This will take us on the most directly westward plot that will also reach the X on the map, whatever that might be.

ok... i guess we're fully exploring then - that answers that question. We might be late to the party but we may find a party of our own that is a lot more fun along the way! :)

So, Chuffy, you don't get free tricks until level 4, so you would have to spend a week and make a DC 20 handle animal check to have your wolf be able to track a scent. I don't deny that the wolf would sniff out interesting things, and perhaps indicate which direction the scent travels, but you can't use him to actively track yet.

Tensen - you, however, have 1 bonus trick to allocate, and I have no problem if you say it's track.

Otherwise, you will need to have someone make a survival check to track.

Ok, fine by me.

*Edit. Actually, how would you feel about switching out some of the combat trick for hunting tricks? Seek or track sounds more goblin-ish than guard. If no, it's fine. I'll just go into a corner, sob, and seek comfort in large amounts of confectionery.

Gimlet here. I will update with rations. I like the plotting concept.

@Fionn - I see we have his and hers pyromaniacs.
@GM - What do you think of crossblooded sorcerors? I am tempted to add orcish blood too, or is that too much of a good thing.

You can do crossblooded, as long as you make sure to include all the drawbacks.

Very very busy day, may not be able to post more than this. Tensen approves of any decisions made by Finn

As we started May 13, I assume we magically return to the tavern around June 13 real time.
That gives us time to try and tackle another encounter.

So - I'm moving in about 9 days. So for the next two weeks my posting will be spotty as best. When in doubt, Tensen will follow Finn around and agree with her decisions.

ooooh, i always hated moving, thank goodness haven't had to move for 18 years now. I feel for you...

Alright, no worries. Hope everything goes well.

Sorry, all, I’ll be away for the rest of this day. I wasn’t expecting to be out of the house for the whole day. I only have time to post this right quick. I’ll definitely be back on tonight, though. We’ll get all caught up, then.

thanks, see you later!

Just a heads up. Starting Weds I will be on vacation. For a few days at least, I will be driving about 10 hours a day and only able to post very late at night pst. So if you don't hear from me for long periods, that's why.

We will be staying at hotels with wifi, so I will check in as soon as I can after arrival each night.

This sort of schedule is likely to last about 13 days (we return on June 13th, so just giving a heads up -

DM - feel free to bot my character in combat if I don't post quickly enough to keep things moving along.

Whew!! Yesterday was exhausting. Got up at 8am to go get the moving truck and one of our helpers. Started shortly after 10.. Moving two people into one place is a LOT more work than we realized, didn't finish until after 4! We even had 7 helpers. We are nicely settled in our new basement suite and super happy. It will be a few days before I finally get my office area back together, let alone get my computer setup, but my partner has a laptop thank goodness.

Should be able to resume regular posting from here on out.. At least tensen had an excuse as to why he didn't get in there quickly :P

glad to hear you are all moved and in your new place. We are awaiting our ride to the ship right now. should be arriving in about 1/2 hour. Then I will probably be without internet access for a few hours at least. I don't think they turn on the satellite internet until they put out to sea. anyway... see you all later! I'm on my way to Alaska!!

I just made a 20' Macadonian pike(Sarissa)!

Whatever for? Are you expecting a big resurgence in the population of Germanic barbarians in your area?

Class project for History of Creativity, a GE history class that focuses on technology and innovation. Professor gave pretty loose guidelines on the project, so I attempted to recreate the sarissa used by Phillip II and his son Alexander, and a more typical hoplite spear, to illustrate the differences between the two. After some more fiddling, think I need more weight on the end spike for counter-balance.