@ Wulfrun,
Assuming you are using the French spelling "Duc" for "Duke" -- Duke Grenwald Mulcrow IV is at Grenwald Castle 28 miles east of Griffondale.
The Baron of Griffondale is The Scarlet Knight...
The Scarlet Knight, Baron of Grffondale and a modest handful of miles surrounding it, lives in a small Keep only 50 meters from the Tell-Tale Tavern. Despite being somewhat secretive and almost reclusive at times, he is more than fair regarding taxes and personally defends threats that come to the village.
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That's a huge sword, Mister Gnome! Even bigger than The Scarlet Knight's.
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The Scarlet Knight would have killed (Jojo) long ago (if Jojo "committed crimes against us"), yes?!
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Just so we're all on the same page with our NPCs -- I know, I know, my games tend to get complicated with all the NPCs floating around, each with quite a bit of background and dynamic to them. (and especially since we're not face-to-face over the table AND you're trying to learn the other PCs as well)
I am not having a problem with that but if people are in the same area as me, I am not going to see especially since Cayosin is well ... focusing on himself.
@ Wulfrun,
Assuming you are using the French spelling "Duc" for "Duke" -- Duke Grenwald Mulcrow IV is at Grenwald Castle 28 miles east of Griffondale.
The Baron of Griffondale is The Scarlet Knight...
The Scarlet Knight, Baron of Grffondale and a modest handful of miles surrounding it, lives in a small Keep only 50 meters from the Tell-Tale Tavern. Despite being somewhat secretive and almost reclusive at times, he is more than fair regarding taxes and personally defends threats that come to the village..
That's a huge sword, Mister Gnome! Even bigger than The Scarlet Knight's..
The Scarlet Knight would have killed (Jojo) long ago (if Jojo "committed crimes against us"), yes?!.
Just so we're all on the same page with our NPCs -- I know, I know, my games tend to get complicated with all the NPCs floating around, each with quite a bit of background and dynamic to them. (and especially since we're not face-to-face over the table AND you're trying to learn the other PCs as well)
Yes Yes, I meant the Baron, not the Duc
You should use the Campaign info tab to keep a list of the notable NPCs we've met by name, where we can find them and a couple of facts about them.
I've started a Campaign Journal on Obsidian Portal. When it's up-and-running I'll send everyone a link and you can all log on, add a profile for your PC, and look through the various NPCs, grouped and detailed -- even follow the campaign journal Log.
I'll have it by the time we wrap up the first little adventure, about the little blue devils, and are coming back to town.
Opening it up now, in my opinion, is a bit premature. Most everyone you've met is just a random, non-important NPC, presented to help Griffondale come to life with a personality and get you started on the adventure. (Sure, Louis or Gaston or Belle could become important, but right now there's not much to them except to get you started.)
The Scarlet Knight, obviously, has the potential for much more -- as do some of the, er, non-"serf-sounding" NPCs alluded to in passing, such as Duke Grenwald, The "viper" Duchess, The Ice Princess and Nellus Alakart. But that's all potential for after you first encounter the "little blue devils" and return to Griffondale with the "answer(?)" to the mystery.
DM Ray, how do you prefer players deal with their character waiting/standing silently. At the moment Raggo is content to stand by and Let Aerodus do the talking, chiming in if he needs to say something. I don't want to flood the gameplay thread with lots of "Raggo watches with a smirk and waits for the others to arrive" and such.
@ Raggo,
I agree with you on not needlessly flooding gameplay -- and you guys have more experience than I in PbP, so I'll defer to your judgement.
Cayosin - you're forgetting your Charisma bonus on those Diplomacy checks.
Cayosin - you're forgetting your Charisma bonus on those Diplomacy checks.
Oops ... Thank you but that will not help me on the last roll if it was needed ... :-)
Time to make some minor adjustments so I remember.
Gregary has no idea how old you are. There's no reason why aasimars need to be old, especially violent aasimars. Besides, he likely doesn't know about the lifespans of such creatures. No Knowledge (planes) quite yet.
Besides, he's in his late-20s and likely looks a few years older than you.
GM Ray
BUMP just in case it was lost in the talkative shuffle.
So,...
The motley band of angels and such have a few choices on how to proceed, considering the gendarmes of Griffondale are not particularly motivated to cross the street, let alone travel to the Verduran to search for missing persons or blue devils. And since The Scarlet Knight, holding to his reclusive reputation, is safely assumed to think that a threat is not imminent, the initiative lies with you.
Will you
1: Get more info from the Truffle Master and go straight to the Verduran where the creatures were seen?
2: Go to Jojo's first to see if the Ogre is involved, especially since his lair is closest to where the creatures were seen?
3: Go to Rudwilla's hut first to see what she knows?
4: Go to Nellus Alakart's keep first to see if he actually knows something?
My choice is one but then again that's or was my only lead ... lol
To keep continuity, everyone is in the tavern now, correct?
Was waiting on a reaction from young Eric but yes, I'd head there after that.
Um, sure -- back at The Tell-Tale Tavern.
Early afternoon.
@ Terra Minora,
Eric got a Nat 20 on his Will Save to see if he could muster the courage to talk to you, so yeah, turning him down doesn't discourage him; he'll try back later.
That's fine. Wasn't sure since you hadn't said anything that I recall. So yes, assume I have caught up to them.
I am waiting for to see Cayosin or Cayosin will if he doesn't soon.
Sometimes his diva vampire teeth get in the way of his vision (trash talk from another game).
LOL
I don't know what rolls ares necessary. Is Cosette being difficult or not forthcoming with information?
I vote option 1, but whatever.
Will you,...
1: Get more info from the Truffle Master and go straight to the Verduran where the creatures were seen?2: Go to Jojo's first to see if the Ogre is involved, especially since his lair is closest to where the creatures were seen?
3: Go to Rudwilla's hut first to see what she knows?
4: Go to Nellus Alakart's keep first to see if he actually knows something?
.
I'm gonna ask for y'all's input on this one....
Normally in a Homegame I would speed things up here by getting a Diplomacy for Cosette (the Baker who supervised the missing Luc) and a Diplomacy for Laurent Bellaiche (the Truffle Master) without roleplay and just move immediately to your next destination, which was voted to got to Nellus Alakart's & then the Verduran .
But this is a PbP and you guys may want to continue to roleplay conversations with each other, Cosette, Laurent Bellaiche, or (I reluctantly mention) Sydney's family. (Sydney is the missing arborist.)
I think the game has slowed down and am ready to speed it up and move on to, by your vote Alakart's and then The Verduran,...
Do you want to just roll Diplomacy to get a bit more info or go ahead and continue to roleplay in Griffondale a bit?
Personally I think PbP needs some streamlining. That being said if everyone else wants to role-play through I don't have a problem yet.
I'm fine with speeding through a bit, particularly since I was probably a large portion of the slow down.
I don't mind a speed up either since PbP games tend to die our faster than PnP games when the story is not flowing. And it has to be fun for everyone.
I easy about it, so we could move on.
Alrighty,
If you want any info from Cosette regarding Luc, someone post a Diplomacy for her.
If you want directions to where Laurent Bellaiche saw the creatures, someone post a Diplomacy for him (excluding Cayosin cuz he already tried and did poorly).
If you want a bit of info from Sydney's family -- his father is old and in poor health; he is recently engaged to be married to a young girl named Mary -- well, I just gave it to you; no need for any more rolls. But someone can still roll a Diplomacy if you want to have established a rapport before travelling to the Verduran.
- - - -
Once I get that info I'll segue to keep. On horse it will take 6 hours so you can leave on the morning of day two, arriving shortly after midday.
Holler if you have anything else you want to do in Griffondale prior to leaving for Alakart's.
I don't think it is at all a bad thing that this game is slowing down. The pace of perhaps four of five posts a week (total) is probably what I'd expect a healthy pace to be.
The problem is that the situation we're in is somewhat confusing. It's been hard to keep track of who is where, where things are, who is with each other.
If you think we've learned everything that we're going to, then feel free to move us forward to the next scenario but I might advise no takesie-backsies and definitely be VERY clear about where we are when you make the post, and that we're all there.
Thanks Leinathan.
I'm gonna depend on you guys to help let me know if things begin to go too quickly or too slowly. So please speak up. I think I am pleased that we started off with a fast pace; it set the tone that we're all here and committed to the idea on which this campaign stands.
And the same goes regarding your input about confusion and ambiguity. Over the table I can get a sense of who is a bit confused and who isn't; here I have no idea.
I'm glad that this campaign didn't begin with a combat element, but a simple get-to-know-the-village-NPCs element. In retrospect, I think that the confusion some players had was due to the 1d4 minus 1 hours for different PCs for Gather Info checks, separating not just place but time of day. Is that how you guys saw it?
I still feel, though, that it's wise not to have given you guys tons of NPCs, relationships and places to learn; I think it would have been too much. I don't think it will hurt at all when Gregary (for example) later is told more info about Count Wan, or Cayosin learns more about Baron Thrand. Those PCs have some of that info already, but throwing it all out there now, I think, can get a bit overwhelming and some bits may be forgotten.
- - - -
All in all, I think we've had a solid start. I think you guys know Griffondale's NPCs and can easily access them through my "Non_Player Character" alias. I hope that you have a beginning concept of how the Duchy is laid out, geographically: one Duchy divided into 4 Counties and 9 Baronies, most of the Baronies belonging to a County. Griffondale, an exception, has a Baron but is not part of a County due to its proximity to Castle Grenwald.
Count Wan's County is furthest east (closest to Oppara); that is where the Crowleys' hail.
Soderfjord, the Ulfen settlement from where Cayosin comes is part of the Thrand Barony nearer the Verduran.
And I think I've mentioned one or two of the other Counties or Baronies: You've heard of "The Ice Princess," Irinia, and how she's recently usurped her father's Barony -- that is the same Barony where Prism Keep is located (bad-ass-mage). You also know that one of the COunties doesn't currently have a Count but 3 powerful NPCs are jockeying for power, there.
But all that can wait; Griffondale, Jojo, Rudwilla, Nellus Alakart, Castle Grenwald, and of course the "little blue devils" are what we need to know for now.
I'll shoot it with my bow did I hurt it?
Filled with desperation I flee
I'm confused. Is this castle supposed to be the wizard's house? Or does it just happen to be on our path?
At least it's not a ford prefect.
:)
DM Ray - do you know how to use spoilers? Using them for skill checks can cut down on posts.
Thanks.
I will use spoiler tags when I'm confident that both the information will be obtained by at least someone (such as that DC 9 Perception), AND that providing the information a bit early won't step on my own toes, so to speak, later.
In the DC 9 Perception check situation, I wanted to see where everyone was going to be before I gave the results (not that it makes much difference in this case; I was being a bit mischievous trying to create a bit of nervousness: "What's in the box?!"
In the other cases I wanted to see if someone would get the result before posting the information.
But I'll keep in mind the possibility of always using spoilers; I just expect that many people will look at Spoilered info whether they get a check (or speak a language) or not.
Do you guys think that Gameplay is getting cluttered? Should this post be in Discussion?
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EDIT: Just noticed, this post IS in Discussion. (Told ya I'm tired.)
How do you guys feel the PbP is coming along?
My feeling is a bit nervous -- we slowed down to make the pace a bit easier, but are we slowed down too much?
Maybe it's slow only as the result of too little going on with the NPCs.
Maybe the pace is just fine.
Is the following suggestion a good one, or is it crap:
I give the post introducing Rudwilla & what she knows/doesn't know, followed by the post introducing Jojo and then the area of the Verduran where Bellaiche saw the blue devils.
You guys can post, in any order, your Perceptions or Diplomacies or Sense Motives or whatever, even enter some dialog with Alakart or Rudwilla, etc., and we don't have to trudge along so slowly.
Or, is that a horrible idea and we want to roleplay everything for Alakart, then everything for Rudwilla, etc.?
The pace seems good for now, sometimes it'll go faster and slower, it's just a matter of keeping things going on a consistent basis.