Like I said in recruitment, kind of a busy weekend for me, but please feel free to introduce your real selves and we'll get going for real tomorrow!
Mwahaha, I shall decorate this place to fit my own personal style.
Also, I will of course respond to your PMs, either tonight or tomorrow. Looking forward to it!
RL - My name is Tony. I am a part time college math instructor and full time househusband. I am also one of the Venture Lieutenants for PFS in Seattle, and coordinate two PFS game nights, so I don't get to play as often as I'd like. Online games are giving me a chance to play (and more specifically, roleplay) more. I'm looking forward to getting started!
Busy holiday weekends aren't normally a strike against the busy person. A healthy social life, especially with family, is far more important than these silly games.
As for the PMs . . .. I'm expecting to hear how disappointed you are, since I basically just discussed how broad the option set is and didn't do anything to create specific hooks for you to use. I was being slightly evil, I know. <g>
So, about me . . ..
I am a 48 year-old empty-nester, military retiree, civil servant managing a software development team and waiting, impatiently, for my wife to get rid of our former home and join me at the site of the promotion I moved to accept. Right now she gets almost all my money, and I spend as little as I can, meaning I tend to spend a lot of time sitting in my apartment with my computer or books. 5 months so far, and it is getting old.
I started playing table-top RPGs in 1979, and don't consider computer RPGs to be remotely the same thing. I was a Triad member for Living Greyhawk (Dyvers), spent years as a Demo Monkey for WotC at Origins and Gen Con, additional years at both as a large, organized play GM (for the RPGA, Arcanis & Witch Hunter, primarily). I have authored a couple of RPGA modules and am credited as a contributor in a couple of books by Paradigm Concepts, Inc. I founded a public game day club which I ran for over a decade (until I moved for my promotion) and have been involved in various parts of organizing and promoting local gaming conventions since the late '90's.
I enjoy Ren Faires and trying to help children grow and learn. My wife and I have both been active as BSA leaders (for which she has received far more recognition than I), but I've not connected with the local Council since I moved. Being an active Scouter spends money . . ..
So, was that the kind of personal introduction that you had in mind?
I'm a father of two living in North Carolina. For pay, I am a Vice President of a software development and government think tank company. For fun, I play Pathfinder and Mechwarrior Online - in between family outings, daddy duty, and hubby stuff.
I've been gaming since I was 12 (over 20 years ago), and have played many different tabletop and computer RPGs over the years (I also consider them to be wildly separate beasts). Pathfinder is my favorite, a welcome change from D&D 4e. Been playing PbP for 4 years now, and I am currently running 3 games on these boards (A Second Darkness AP that just started the second module, and two Shattered Star games). I am playing in this one and one other.
On a related note, I love making maps. Here is the map of the first floor of the big dungeon in Shards of Sin that I did in Photoshop. Then, I just pop it into MapTools and use custom tokens for my players and monsters.
Hey folks! I'm a IT Project Manager who works in the remote wilds of northern Canada at an online University. I live in a hamlet of 200 smack dab in the boreal forest. Love it.
I have a wonderful wife whom I play Pathfinder with regularly, and no kids yet. I've been playing rpgs since I was 12 years old (33 now), starting with a friend's dad running the canned Basic D&D. I believe I was an elf. Since then I've played whatever games I can, but my comfort zone has always been crunchy high fantasy stuff like Pathfinder here. I've only been playing PbP since the start of July but am loving this format.
I am primarily a game master in my gaming habits and although I love writing, have devoted myself to adventure paths because I simply cannot put in the time required anymore. So I'm running RoTRL in person and Carrion Crown over roll20. Looks like we have some very cool people in this group.
Also, Vaashti that map is gorgeous. I have no talent for such things so am always in awe of those who do. Have you ever checked out the Cartographer's Guild site?
Hello, reporting in. Since others are sharing their RL bios; My name is Matt, I'm presently living in Hobart, Australia and studying geology and marine science at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Science of the University of Tasmania. My background is also military, having served in the Australian Defence Force as a combat engineer, now discharged due to being too broken for them to patch up anymore. My brother has called me the $600 dollar man, as he estimates that's my scrap metal value - in second-hand orthopedic parts - if they yanked all the bits out of me.
Apart from roleplaying my other hobbies include blacksmithing, fossil-hunting and generally making a nuisance of myself. I've been gaming on and off since before I joined the army using various systems but my favorites are currently Shadowrun and Pathfinder. And lest there be any misunderstandings - while Cally is a girl I'm not. For some reason my male aliases on these boards rarely seem to get chosen during recruitment. No kids or significant other of my own, but two nieces who I dote on and whom will grow up to be geeks if I have any influence at all. Nothing else of interest to report which I can think of... :)
Nothing personal, but simply for the sake of my own sanity, I will refer to people based on the sex they are posting as . . ..
Side note: I used to LOVE Shadowrun.
What killed it for me was when the Shadow stopped being stealth and hidden and started being just outsiders taking jobs for the machine working against different parts of the machine.
Don't get me wrong, the early material was plenty in-your-face violent, but VERY quickly the stuff being published by FASA became about the Runners being the good guys and doing what they had to do to stop BAD THINGS. Blatant open-ended violence became reserved primarily for bug spirits and shamen. The last time I bothered to look at anything published as a run, the runners were simply disposable hired muscle intended to both throw and catch lead for money. The plot was an excuse to provide targets, and there was no right or wrong, just the contract.
I haven't purchased any Shadowrun material in years at this point as a result of that.
Nothing personal, but simply for the sake of my own sanity, I will refer to people based on the sex they are posting as . . ..
I concur - things would get far too confusing otherwise.
Alright folks, sorry again for the delay. I believe that I've responded to everyone's PMs now, and I think we're ready to get going.
A few housekeeping things as we start:
1. Please use bold text and quotation marks for things said out loud, and italics for thoughts. Use regular texts for descriptions, and text for things that are out of character. If you could also put quotations in a new paragraph, that would really help relieve my OCD.
2. Especially in combat, but perhaps when using skill checks or other things, please describe first, and then below that, in text, describe your actions in game terms (as follows);
3. In the "Classes/Levels" section of your alias profile, I would like two separate spoilers. The first should be like Cally, Vaashti, and Ruhk have, labelled "Stats," which lists relevant things like AC, Perception, Initiative, Saves, etc., so that I don't have to go looking through your profile when I want to roll those things. The second should be labelled "Status," and you should keep this current with hit points (9/12, 3/10, etc.), number of spells remaining/total (1/2 1st level, etc.), and any other limited resources (such as bombs, channel energy, rage, bardic performance, etc.)
Hope these things aren't too complicated!
@Vaashti that map is amazing!
I, on the other hand, have no talent when it comes to mapmaking, and actually prefer to do combat without it. This generally means more leniency on things like flanking, etc., for you guys. Does this really bother anyone? If it does, we can try to come up with some sort of simple solution, but I really have found that it works just fine.
Also, I supposed I should introduce myself as well:
My real name is Eric, and I am a recent graduate of a Masters program at the University of Notre Dame. I work with an organization called the Alliance for Catholic Education at Notre Dame. I am relatively new to RPGs (I've only been playing for about a year and a half), but I play pretty regularly over Skype with friends from college.
Because of my job, I'll be traveling all over the US over the course of the next 8 months, and there may be some times when I have to pause the game for a day or two. But it shouldn't cause too many issues.
Outside of roleplaying, I'm a huge sports fan, a craft beer lover, and a fan of fantasy and mystery novels.
I'm excited to get started!
@Seamus - Thank you. Like I said, I enjoy making maps. If you ever need a map made, let me know.
If we are going to bring up travel, because of my job I make a lot of 2-4 day trips. most places I have internet at least in the hotel, so I should never be completely out of contact. In fact, I have a 5 day trip starting on Thursday.
Hmm, so everyone but one person has reported in now?
Looks like it, and I heard from him on Friday, so I'm sure he's still around.
@Vaashti I certainly wouldn't mind sending you some maps to make, but I don't want to overburden you, or ruin the experience of playing through the map without having seen it. It's up to you.
Here, let me try something.
*Ahem*
I didn't expect the Spanish inquisition...
@Seamus - Tell you what. If you want to run combat in maps, I'll make the first map for you and we can see how it goes. I can easily separate out-of-game knowledge from in-game characters, so that shouldn't be a problem. Let's take this discussion to PMs (if you want) and discuss it further.
Sorry, also should've mentioned that the Gameplay thread is up (see above).
NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!
So a little about me...
I work in IT for the higher education industry, currently operating out of Chicago. I've been playing tabletop RPGs since high school in some form or another. Most recently I've been involved in a weekly local Kingmaker game that's been running for a couple years, but I have done some PbP in the past.
Aside from Pathfinder, my hobbies include reading (almost anything I can get my hands on), whiskey, and spending time at the range with old friends or helping introduce new shooters to a safe and fun experience.
Woho!
Bring out the...comy chair!
I cheated. I know those fields have maximum length, so instead of having to play games to make it all fit, I used two windows . . ..
Good enough?
I had to do the same, but I think I have it readable now. Let me know if you see any problems, or I'm missing something you want shown.
Bloody hells... I woke up this morning to discover that the IG postings had leapt ahead by 22 posts. And here I thought that I had time to get Cally into the story. I guess that's what happens when I'm in a different time zone. Time for Cally to play catch-up. :)
Yeah, the only reason I came close to keeping up today was because we lost power at work and I came home. Power's back up. I should be at work all day tomorrow. I can not post from work. Can't even read the messages.
If the group keeps up this pace, Brother Shartol may be far less useful than even he thinks he is.
I definitely don't think it'll keep up at this pace, since I won't be able to either. I think people were just excited to get going.
I see Shartol is not above lying to his sister. ;-) When I read the bit about offering her 20 gold per week, I had a "What? When did that happen?" moment ... then I saw your OOC note at the end about the expense. Nicely done.
I know I mentioned this before, but the storytelling ability of this group is so impressive! I'm more than willing to be someone who just fills in the gaps. As soon as people are ready, let me know on here and I'll move forward, but I don't want to keep people from doing what they're doing.
Also, if I don't respond to something someone said, assume I'm good with it. I'll make sure to note if I have some problem with something.
Just wanted to make sure people didn't think I disappeared! I'm following along intently!
Rakarech came outfitted for tromping around the woods so he's ready. :D
Vaashti is officially ready
Posted one last thing Sutandir wants to do before moving on.
Kervos is ready.
14 messages since I checked before going to work this morning! Sorry to be holding things up.
Let's see what I read . . ..
EDIT:
And replied. Really, I'm ready. We seemed to be missing a "normal" reaction the tiefling though, so I figured now was a pretty good time to present one.
As we move forward, here's a map of the Darkmoon Wood with information that you'd know. It's also linked in the Campaign Info tab.
I appreciate it, Shartol. Vaaszhti has been kind of careful around town, but someone was going to notice dusky purple skin sooner or later. In the quiet confines of an almost empty inn, Vaashti has a little more room for reaction.
Since you now have a map, please let me know where you'd like to head first (or what exactly your plan is moving forward), and we'll do so.
Do we have the new locations on the map?
I'm thinking he may have forgotten to click "save" before closing the window. ;-)
Map has been updated. Sorry for the delay—busy day at work+lack of skill with this type of thing. Should make sense now though!
I'm currently traveling for work, so probably won't be able to post significantly until this evening. Nothing will happen until you camp for the night, however, so feel free to roleplay to that point!
Nothing will happen until you camp for the night, however
Well...that's not ominous at all. I have no idea why a strange sense of foreboding has suddenly overtaken me. :P
And once again life sneaks up on me just as stuff starts to happen! Sorry about the bad timing on being away from the computer ...
Heading out to a game day, won't be able to post again until very late or tomorrow morning.
Sorry for the delay everybody. Crazy time at work and getting sick don't go well together. I still won't be able to post something substantial until tonight, but I hope that you guys could carry on the story a bit without me.
Yeah, it's that time of year. My daughter was sick last week, my wife felt awful Saturday night and Sunday, and yesterday I started getting what appears to be a sinus infection. What a great way to start the school year!
So...
Hey everybody. Sooooo sorry that I went MIA. I'm on a work trip, and didn't have any idea I'd be so busy, but this is literally the first time I've been at a computer since Monday. Again, I'm incredibly sorry about this, and I'll be posting to start up again later tonight.
Please forgive me!
What do you say gang? Alternative A is forgiveness and alternative B is stringing him up by his thumbs and beating him with cricket bats.
I'd prefer to gut him. Merciful healer is one thing. Unprovoked attacks on people who are rapidly becoming my friends are quite another.