GM Omelas's Destiny of the Sands (Inactive)

Game Master panegyric

Happy to hear that. I will adapt the encounters to reflect the reduced group now and will send Rawiya away to check on Badhru once this red mantis thing is over.

Also, forgot to mention: I don't have internet home until the 19th, which is why my posting has been very limited since I got back.

Cheers for the heads up.

I'm uncertain if I should post with Theshen. He is very far down the initiative table.

I'd say it's better, yes. In case you post before Sorkesh or Shu-kri, I will just treat it as if everyone had delayed their actions, with seconds of tense silence and all.

Are we departed from the thugs yet?

Yes. I sped that bit up by having Theshen carrying the halfling outside, apologies for the lack of clarity.

Fine now. :)

A question. Are we far from level 2? More skills would be extremely useful!

A question. Are we far from level 2? More skills would be extremely useful!

My idea was to level once you're done with the 4 tasks, as that would make a bit of sense story-wise and be more or less aligned with the fast character progression XP requirements (as we agreed, I'm not tallying XP, but I still try to base the progression on number of encounters and such).

Regarding securing the rope: as far as I understand the rules regarding climbing, it wouldn't lower the DC, but I would say that it at least prevents you from taking damage in case the roll fails by 5 or more. And, yes, there is a rock big and safe to tie a rope around.

Understood! And good stuff.

Ah, one more thing I forgot to mention: depending on how things go, I might bump your levels before we finish the tasks, considering we only have two PCs posting regularly.

Duly noted. Hopefully that will rise.

Yes. I am here! I wasn't for a bit, caught something nasty and checked out of rational thinking for a couple days there.

Ouch! I hope that you feel better.

Apologies for my own absence, everyone. Got totally wrapped up in my studies (including three midterm tests), and a couple of fiddly computer problems.

I should be good to go now...

That's understandable. Welcome back.

I echo Theshen's words

Thanks...

Did we exit the city via that gate? Or by tunnel?

I assumed gate, as you saw a relatively small part of the tunnels.

Cheers!

Apologies, due to a deadline at work this week my posting might be a bit erratic.

Thanks for the warning.

Didn't Shu-kri somehow find her way out through one of the tunnels earlier?

Yes, but the exit she found was on the other side of the city and within the walls.

Trifling details! :D

Long, terrible story short, after over a year of limbo my work related hearing started today. So for the next month there will be days where I can't post and some days where I just don't have it in me. The good news is the end is finally in sight. Will get a post up tonight or tomorrow.

Hope that goes well for you!

All the best Shu-kri.

I don't fully understand the situation, Shu-kri, but all the best to you. Stay strong =)

Meanwhile, I'll just assume your PC silently agrees with whatever her companions decide, and bot her accordingly if we enter combat.

@Sorkesh: is everything alright? I was hoping to post something yesterday, but wanted to give you a chance to act before moving things forward.

Sorry! Just been flat out tired studying and stuff...

Trying to get caught up with all my on line business now...

Hey guys, I will be travelling this weekend so my posting is likely to be short and irregular.

I will move the action forward once Sorkesh posts again ;)

Safe travels.

@ GM Omelas: What were the two tasks left?

My brain is mush after a day reviewing ancient Greek grammar... :P

Get information from the Dancing Dunes owner and ensure a caravan departs with a certain artefact in their cargo. You can get the full texts on that Torch's task list link just below map and loot links.

I have a bad cold so I may be slow to post for a while.

Thanks for letting me know, Theshen. I'll give Sorkesh a few more days before moving the action forward.

Hope you feel better soon!

Might be the same cold I've got that's been lingering for a good long time! :P

Welcome back, Shu-kri =)

Likewise!

Folks, it's been almost a week since the last post. Given interruptions in posting have become the norm, should I take it as a definite demonstration that interest in the campaign has irreversibly waned/been overtaken by other matters? If that is the case, I completely understand it and harbour no hard feelings.

I set out with the goal of finishing at least one scenario and I would very much like to accomplish that, but it is of course a bit pointless if the interest is simply not there.

I apologise for delay on my part. It's been a busy week.

I would like to continue but I would understand if that is not tenable. My own availability is not what it was with my new job.

I would also like to continue, but I do believe that we'd have to go back to the agreed upon 1 post/day per PC. Or at least something like it -- that is, a reliable and constant rhythm.

If the dwindling post rate is due to changes in RL circumstances, I don't think we can do much: things change and there are more important matters than keeping up with some game -- I completely get it, it has happened to me before.

If it's due to something I've been doing wrong as a GM, then I am very open to changing things as much as needed to suit your needs as players. Of course, in that case I need to know what are the needs you have that I have failed to meet.

Otherwise, if we continue as we are, I'm afraid the game will just fizzle out from 1 post/day to 1 post/week to "is anyone even reading this?" to "why bother?" In which case, I'd rather end it now so we all have one less thing to keep track of.

I'll usually be able to post daily.

Sorry for my absence; been busy wrapped up in all manner of real life stuff lately

I'm Normally able to post once a day. These last few days have had a lot of real life distractions for me of one sort or another.

Nothing worse than a lingering cold, but haven't been able to focus very well for all the distractions. I should be okay, now.

Oh, and welcome back Shu-kri!

Ok, that's good to know. I will work under the assumption that you will be posting once a day most of the times.

I also understand the next days can be a bit hectic, given the holidays and all the social engagements that come with them, so don't worry too much about what this for the coming week.

And happy to hear you're feeling better, Sorkesh!

And the massive overeating that comes with Christmas too, of course!

Euphemisms, Sorkesh, euphemisms! ;)

Anyhow, I am not sure whether this is adequate territory for a GM as it's totally within player decision territory, but I'll leave my humble opinion on something: I personally believe that it's always better to make posts that give either the GM or other players something to build up on; a hook of sorts.

So, using the last couple of posts as an example: Theshen left a clear hook for Sorkesh (and Shu-kri, who still seems inactive). Sorkesh, instead of taking that hook, used his post to mainly cancel out Theshen's question. While that is a perfectly valid post and very much in line with Sorkesh's personality, it doesn't really move anything forward: we still have no idea of what the group will do next. I can keep sending pastries and servants and whatnot your way, but, you know, it's not exactly exciting. I can also force things to happen, but it's not as fun as when you do things to which I can respond.

For the sake of completion, an illustrative example: a different way of handling this post in a character-adequate way could be, for instance, to have Sorkesh obliviously asking the servants where the owner of the establishment is. Or, even worse, strike up conversation with people in the other rooms. Either way, the action moves forward; perhaps Theshen would have jumped on Sorkesh to prevent a gaffe, or perhaps the GM would say the Madame herself would come downstairs horrified someone was disturbing her patrons.

I am using Sorkesh as an example here because it was the most recent occurence, but I think we all miss out on opportunities that were given to us and would have made the game more fun. (Myself very much inclusive, if that wasn't clear, btw.)

It's sensible for a GM to look for posts that move the story on. I'll try to keep it in mind more regularly.

That's fair enough...

Appended my action with another post. I used the random element to determine how blunt and tactless he could be.

Of course, I rolled low. But that should be in keeping with his character: since tact, guile, and subtlety are definitely not his strengths...

I've been the worst poster. Just when my work ordeal started to calm down, I started holiday traveling.

It's life. I hope that you're still interested!

You're still with us, that's the main thing...