GM Giuseppe's Serpent's Skull (Inactive)

Game Master Giuseppe Capriati

Huh? Strange let me try again.

Sizara

Hopefully it works this time.

OK, now I can see it. Very nice Sizara! It's a great aid to my imagination :)

Thank you and you're welcome!

Official apology for falling out of my posting cycle here, I've been swamped the last couple days with work and baby checkups, exc.

I'll get caught up and try to get a post up while I'm at work in the next 6 hours or so.

If work is busy, It'll be a little after that, sorry for the inconvenience folks

Building a raft is something that kinda goes outside the normal rules, especially when I must take into account that none of you have the proper Craft skill to build it. I would rule that in that case one of you could use Survival to build the raft, and the others could try to help him using the aid another action. However, I think that building a raft is not an easy nor a quick task: it would require at least 8 hours, as any Craft check would. The DC would be around 12-13, and the raft value in terms of silver coins would be around 50 sp. Supposing you get a total result of 20 on your Survival check, that would mean that you finish the job 4 times earlier than normal (a week). You would need at least one day and a half to complete the raft. Of course, you can always try to higher the DC by +5 to try to get the job done in a single day of work, accepting the risk that you may fail your check. Keep in mind that you would suffer a -2 penalty on your Survival checks (both to the main check and to the checks to help another) to build the raft due to the fact that you're lacking the proper tools.

It's your choice, my job was to help clarify the rules.

One request only: please do not get yourselves stuck on this matter for too long. I wouldn't like to lose a few days of progress just to know if bulding a raft is the right choice. The show must go on. So please try to reach a decision quickly, maybe with those characters who have taken on leadership roles into the party suggesting what's the better option.

I wasn't thinking of a raft. I was just thinking of throwing some logs (palm tree wood is pretty light) on the water and have the people grab on to them to aid their swimming (hopefully get a + on their swim checks). Similar to people on a shipwreck that just hang on to anything that floats.

The better swimmers could potentially drag the 'logs' around.

But I agree that if this is something that will take more than two hours of game time then it's not worth it but I like the idea of all or none.

Please let us know if that's possible.

I can concede you to create that improvised "raft" with 4 hours of work: after all, you still need to find some good logs, or to cut them, then find something to keep the logs tight. Obviously, this will need a DC 15 Survival check. The "raft" would avoid the others to make their Swim checks at all, provided that at least two characters can drag the "logs" around: this would imply a slight raise in the Swim DC for the PCs dragging the logs. The consequence of the hours spent working on building the raft would be the fatigued status when the full day of exploration comes to an end, since the characters didn't had the time to rest properly during the day, busy as they were in the building attempt.

I can concede you to create that improvised "raft" with 4 hours of work: after all, you still need to find some good logs, or to cut them, then find something to keep the logs tight. Obviously, this will need a DC 15 Survival check. The "raft" would avoid the others to make their Swim checks at all, provided that at least two characters can drag the "logs" around: this would imply a slight raise in the Swim DC for the PCs dragging the logs. The consequence of the hours spent working on building the raft would be the fatigued status when the full day of exploration comes to an end, since the characters didn't had the time to rest properly during the day, busy as they were in the building attempt.

I'm even thinking something less that the improvised raft.

I'm literally thinking of taking a log (5-6 feet) and plopping it on the water right next to the person with the 'low swim check'. When that person gets tired or whatever, they could hang on the log to catch their breath.

Maybe that will take 1 hour to find a couple of logs or cut one down...

Oh, didn't understand you was thinking to that. In this case, I would rule that the PC with the low Swim modifier still needs to do his check, with a +2 circumstantial bonus maybe, but that's all.

I'm fine with that so let's take a 'quick' vote:

a) Alexite and Sizara only swim out;
b) make a raft (see penalties and time above) and we all go; or
c) plop some logs, we all go and some people get +2 on their swim checks.

I vote for c).

Hm...I guess all that makes sense. I'm going with what Alexite suggested.

But yeah I'm going with option C.

C for me.

That's our answer GM. There's no time for everyone to respond so simple majority rules.

The option is c): plop some logs, we all go and some people get +2 on their swim checks.

It's probably best if you roll the swim checks for us and tell us what happened...

That's our answer GM. There's no time for everyone to respond so simple majority rules.

The option is c): plop some logs, we all go and some people get +2 on their swim checks.

It's probably best if you roll the swim checks for us and tell us what happened...

Sure, I second this

So guys, is it too much if I ask a general feedback on how this campaign's is going in your opinion, at least until now? The reason for it is that I'm having a lot of difficulties to get into games as a player, even though I spend a lot of time working on my characters. Even if I consider my character well written and conceived, for some reason, they don't get chosen. So my confidence proves to be an illusion. I consider that a feedback to improve myself. But as a GM, you don't have any feedback at all to know how you're doing, so I'm asking your opinion. Are you satisfied with how this campaign is going? If not, what would you suggest me to improve in my PbP GMing?

Thank you all.

Hey GM,

OTHER GAMES
Getting into games is NOT easy. Although your character may be very well written, there are lots of other people in your situation. You yourself had a hard time in selecting PCs for this game and it's like that for every 'decent' game. I know my advice will sound cliche but it is to keep trying. Find out what that particular GM likes and give it to him. Be persistent but polite in offering help or things above and beyond what the 'requirements' are. And most of all, enjoy the part about character creation so you won't feel this is a waste of time.

YOUR GAME
I think you're doing fine and the fact that you're asking for feedback is a good thing. It shows you're willing to listen and adapt as necessary.

There are a couple of things I would modify. Take charge more often like you did in this last swim post. Try to get input from players but in the end it's the GM that drives the game. You asked for one post per day and you should remind us like, "I plan to move this game forward in about 6 hours so please post your actions. If not, I'll assume..."

Another thing is that you should be more flexible with rules. The intent of the game is to tell an entertaining story and sometimes the rules get in the way. I can't think of anything specific right now (I have to run but I'll check later) but there have been times when I thought that you were just 'too obsessive' with rules.

Now you need to tell us what you want more often. For example, "Give me actions for the morning preparations if any. My next post will pick once you are doing your morning explorations." This gives us a definite time frame of when we are playing.

Like I said above, I've got to run right now but I would be more than happy to continue this 'feedback' later.

You're doing good though. :)

I've been enjoying the game so far. The rules about which materials and books were available were clear, though having to check sources probably tripled the amount of time I spent building the character. But, I can totally see why you'd do something like that. The AP was balanced around what existed prior to its release.

Other than that, you seem quite prepared which is something I envy. I'm not nearly that organized in my DMing. I kind of fly by the seat of my pants >.<

I think it's great that you are making some of these checks for us and narrating the results (such as the swimming or our exploration actions).

Is there a specific character (or characters) of yours that didn't get accepted that I could look at? I might be able to give some feedback on the characters or how you present them a little better that way.

I think you're doing a good job so far. I don't feel like it's really fair to yourself to try equating player success to DM success, especially when you have to fight like twenty other people for five slots sometimes.

The only thing I can think of to bring up is the random encounters. Personally, I don't think they fit too well in pbp games just because they slow things down a lot. We've been pretty lucky with them so far though since they've all lasted like one round. Maybe just pick out a few of the more interesting ones and toss them in when it seems appropriate instead of throwing a whole jungle's worth of snakes at us? =P

Thank you for your feedbacks, I'll try to use them and improve myself accordingly.

@Kali'da: I thought that both these characters (Varian and Vasilyan) were good enough to be selected. Varian participated to two Hell's Rebels recruitment, but wasn't selected. Vasilyan is my submission for an opened Kingmaker recruitment, and I still don't know if he'll be selected or not.

Hey GM,

I know you didn't ask me for feedback on your PCs but I peeked. :)

Those PCs are very well thought out and developed, congrats!

However, the typical GM would be daunted by the sheer amount of writing. When people ask for a 'well developed' PC (and not all GM want this type of submittal), they expect a paragraph on appearance, two to four paragraphs on background, and a paragraph on personality. They may ask for a couple of NPCs and/or a brief roleplaying scene to showcase the PC but that is about all I have seen.

If I was you, I would shorten the PC submission (as above) and offer up other writing if the DM is interested. Otherwise, I think you just overwhelm your typical GM.

Good luck!

I don't suppose there's still a lifeboat tied to the ship? Too much to ask for? =P

How far from the shore is the boat? Would we be able to tie some rope together and make something like a zip line so only one person has to swim?

Thank you for the advice Fabian, I'll try to shorten my PCs in the future!

@Jesari - There's not a lifeboat, sorry. And no, unfortunately you're far more than 150 feets from the shore.

Okay folks, I think the time is right for us to start to implement some more "complex" aspects to this game.

• First of all, I created a "Smuggler's Shiv Weather Table" for me to use, so from now on weather will play a much more influent role in our game.

• Second, I think we should keep track of rations, as Kali'da pointed out some time ago. Let's suppose you left 20 out of your 50 rations at the base camp for NPCs to use them. This means that you have taken 30 rations with you when leaving the base camp. You have already used 10 rations during the two days you spent exploring the jungle, so you're currently carrying 20 rations with you. Please split them among yourself or tell me who's carrying them, and add them to your equipment. I will constantly update the remaining rations.

• Third, I'm currently working on a XP tracking sheet so you can see how far your characters are from gaining new levels.

That's all for now! Happy gaming everyone :)

Cool. Just hopefully we don't have floods like we did here in South Carolina.

What's the weather like where everyone is?

I live in South Italy, and here the weather is almost always shiny ^^

Boo! It's cold and raining here in Barnwell, SC!

Okay folks, I think the time is right for us to start to implement some more "complex" aspects to this game.

• First of all, I created a "Smuggler's Shiv Weather Table" for me to use, so from now on weather will play a much more influent role in our game.

• Second, I think we should keep track of rations, as Kali'da pointed out some time ago. Let's suppose you left 20 out of your 50 rations at the base camp for NPCs to use them. This means that you have taken 30 rations with you when leaving the base camp. You have already used 10 rations during the two days you spent exploring the jungle, so you're currently carrying 20 rations with you. Please split them among yourself or tell me who's carrying them, and add them to your equipment. I will constantly update the remaining rations.

• Third, I'm currently working on a XP tracking sheet so you can see how far your characters are from gaining new levels.

That's all for now! Happy gaming everyone :)

Regarding the rations, on the first day, Hakeem hunted and foraged for enough to feed himself and 5 others, so wouldn't we have only used 5 rations in two days, not 10?

however many we have left, Hakeem should be able to carry a few of them for the group, as he's still 10 pounds or so within his light load.

Pretty rainy and cold in southeast Kentucky too.

I'm Canadian. It's snowed here a few times already for this winter season.

Anyways, we left ten rations with the monkeys so they left us alone. That's what happens when you offer one bit of food to an animal, you have to offer a bunch more to the others. I had thought of doing that with my post before Sizara had (which is why I asked after the rations thing again), but rethought it for that reason. C'est la vie.

Basically we have enough for four rations per person left. It's a clean split.

After doing the math, Kali'da is correct. Ad well lesson learned I suppose! Also that logic works in real life too.

And please keep your snow! We had a freak snowstorm last year, followed by a 4.4 earthquake, and this year we had heavy rains and flooding. If you have sunshine please send that!

I'll have the rest of my post up a little later tonight. Just wanted to get that heal out there before any potions went to waste. I'll get to the bits you requested for the posts as soon as I have a moment for a more in-depth post.

@GM It's cool. Adding diseases and weather conditions makes the adventure more interesting and realistic .

Also what does everyone feel about romances with the npcs? I feel that it gives depth to the characters. Btw what does everyone think about rpg romances in general? And gm how will you handle romances with npcs?

Just to let everyone know if you're not comfortable with romances then we won't have them.

And heading to work now but I'll have a post up later today.

@Sizara: I know how to handle both diseases and weather conditions. I've run Serpent's Skull two times in person, so I'm not worried about it ;)

Regarding romances, I have no problems at all with them. I think that if they come naturally without anyone forcing a romance, well, they add some depth to the roleplay. I even wrote a rule system about romances some time ago, but traslating it into English would be too much work (considering that I spend my days translating English into Italian for work already). It worked very good with my home game, but it was conceived for face to face gaming. I think PbP is far more easy to handle romances and alike. So my answer is: if you think your character would fall in love with someone, just try, we'll see the results. As an abstraction I would use a Charisma check to determine physical attraction, but even if a NPC likes your character's appearance that doesn't automatically translates into a romance. To have a romance some deep roleplay is involved. But always remember that in the case a romance is born, I wouldn't go into any detail about a couple's effusions. This is RPG after all, and some scene should necessarly be "obscurated".

I personally prefer campaigns that don't involve romantic relationships. I begrudgingly tolerate it in my own game because one of the characters knows exactly how I feel about kissy face in my campaign so I know she'll keep the lid on tight and respect my limits on public displays of affection.

In my experience, they tend to be forced and distract from the main plot lines and often the people and players involved in the relationship end up ignoring others in the group. Plus, I still cringe when I have to watch make out scenes at the end of romantic comedies.

TL;DR
Relationships that reflect a solid camaraderie seasoned with an arm around the shoulder and a weekly slap on the rear? Decent. Kissing, constant word vomit about the excellent qualities in the other, general groping and over done tender moments? Creep me out.

I feel like it might be best to just camp where we are for the day. Exhausted is apparently a -6 to Strength and Dexterity which puts me at like 2 Strength so I can't move with my stuff anyways. Also think we should probably swing by the camp before going down the coast. We can't really ignore Sizara's disease and hopefully someone in the camp can cure it.

Well jade regent did have a romance system set up. Although you didn't have to start a romance with the npcs although the childhood crush campaign trait kind of implied that you were planning on romancing the npc.

I'm okau with romances but it depends. I usually try to romance npcs although if I do romance another person's character I always ask permission. Just pursuing a romance without permission is extremely rude in my opinion. If the person says no not the end of the world. You can form friendships with the other characters, and besides we have a lot of npcs to chose from.

I usually don't include romances in my games, definitely not between PCs and even PC/NPC romances are usually downplayed.

But I'll go along with whatever people decide.

Terribly sorry for falling behind here guys, life just got busy on me but no real excuses. I'm catching up in thread and working on a post now.

Regarding romances: I'm with the GM, when it isn't forced it can add to the narrative, but even then I think it's best to keep it subtle.

I had a character that I played to about 15th level that married our party's npc noble lady benefactor. We kept details "behind closed doors" but it added a lot to the story, it was a jungle-island going game similar to serpents skull and the character and npc eventually had a hand in establishing a colony, defeated pirates, took their ships and my character became an admiral of his own fleet. All helped along with the "romance" for the narrative, but no make-out scenes lol.

Now that you're back at the camp, I would appreciate if you could post a little more frequently to keep things moving. You don't need to make long posts, but the more frequently you post, the best. If you manage to post before 5 p.m. (my midnight), I could have the chance to answer you before going off to bed.

Added a spreadsheet to keep track of your characters' relationships with NPCs.

lol...This is amazing. I think I've gotten a 20 on every single diplomacy roll so far. The dice really want Jesari and Aerys to be friends.

lol...This is amazing. I think I've gotten a 20 on every single diplomacy roll so far. The dice really want Jesari and Aerys to be friends.

Yes it is!

Added a spreadsheet to keep track of your characters' relationships with NPCs.

This is helpful, thanks!

Can I suggest that we do one day at a time? I think two day's worth of actions may be confusing, especially if we start roleplaying off of each other's post.

Alexite wants to befriend Sasha so please bring her back to camp. :)

I like the way you're taking control and telling us what you are expecting. I think it helped the game quite a bit.

Game on!

Thanks Fabian, your feedbacks helped me a lot. I'm ok with daily progression.
Also remember you don't need actual RP in game in order to befriend a NPC. You can also tell me: in the next day, Alexite will go hunting with Sasha, trying to befriend her. I will then roll the proper checks for you. This is an alternative method in which you can use your spare time at the camp without waiting for an actual RP opportunity to come. I would like to describe everything happens during the days you spend at the camp, but that would take away a lot of time and slow our game down, so a little bit of abstraction is needed.

Thanks Fabian, your feedbacks helped me a lot. I'm ok with daily progression.

Also remember you don't need actual RP in game in order to befriend a NPC. You can also tell me: in the next day, Alexite will go hunting with Sasha, trying to befriend her. I will then roll the proper checks for you. This is an alternative method in which you can use your spare time at the camp without waiting for an actual RP opportunity to come. I would like to describe everything happens during the days you spend at the camp, but that would take away a lot of time and slow our game down, so a little bit of abstraction is needed.

Yeah, we all learn from everyone; that's the best way.

With regards to Sasha (and others), would you entertain the idea of us writing a little scene to give us a 'entertainment' bonus on our rolls or should we just tell you what we want to do?

I agree with you in that I don't think that we need to detail 'everything' that goes on with the NPCs but some initial contact may be entertaining for others to read.

Just let me know either way.

Since it looks like Alexite is a 'mean guy' and I didn't get any traction with Ishirou, I was hoping that sharing some common ground with Sasha (hunting) may help 'break the ice'. :)

Since it's the very first interaction between Alexite and Sasha, I would allow you to post a brief RP scene during the hunt. If I think your interaction has been particularly good (by which I mean an efficient one in order to get Sasha's approval) I would give you a circumstantial bonus on your check. I will answer to you on Sasha's behalf.

This of course would be the same for the other PCs.

Happy Halloween everyone!

In terms of romances I might have Sizara flirt a bit with Sasha if that's okay with everyone. Don't want to cause any sort of discomfort or anything so that's why I ask.

Also Sizara is still having feverish dreams but I might wake her up for a while although I'm hoping that her sickness doesn't get worse. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed. ;)

I'm sorry if the quality of my last post was low, but the website has been down during my most active hours, and now I'm too tired to post in a better way. Going off to bed now ZzZ :)

Out of curiosity, what is Aerys' book about?