Phillip remains to be seen.
I'm sure we'll have an interesting relationship. I see Phillip as the one who obeys the word of orders... though not necessarily the intent... though we'll bumble through that in character no doubt ;)
Personally, I think Heward's promotion has gotten in the way of his having an unruffled relationship with Awgin too, because Awgin is jealous of Heward's relationship with Captain Percival. Awgin's always trying to impress the captain, but the way things are now, if he does something good, Heward's going to get the praise from above for "leading his team" and Awgin will have to settle for praise from Heward, which doesn't mean as much to him. Heward as Sergeant rather than Inspector is another step between him and the hero he wants to make an impression on that wasn't there when he signed up for the team and it was every man for himself under Percival's supervision.
On the subject of RP realtionship building. In stories or TV, the stakeout is the prominent place where personal information gets shared. Travel is another place. And the Cenotaph Arms for us. I'd like to do more in those areas, but everyone would have to accept a slower pace to the story arc.
Agreed, but a lot of times those times get skimmed over in one cut-scene in favor of getting to the next event. Witness Khismia's twenty-minute carriage ride that should have been the first time she ever met the team: She got in the carriage, rode the entire trip, sat at MSI waiting for Heward to arrive, and was inserted into a meeting all in one summary post, leaving no chance for introductions. Granted, that was special circumstances: Nazard was still GMPCing Garidan, and it was in the middle of Navior's no-posting window so there wasn't anyone much to chat if we'd had the opportunity. But it felt ... jarring, which is why I made the snarky remark about sitting with complete strangers for twenty minutes in utter silence.
I get that Nazard wants our PCs to feel that everything is happening very quickly, that we're racing against the clock to prevent another crime, that we don't have the luxury of downtime. But that makes the unavoidable downtime we do get -- traveling, or on a stakeout, or a break between cases, or whatever -- more valuable, and I think we should pause when we get to a juncture like that and encourage the team to take advantage of it, if only for small talk. After all, part of the draw of the TV procedural isn't just the crimes (which, let's face it, start to get repetitive after five or six seasons) but the personal lives of the cops. Will Castle and Beckett ever stop denying their feelings for one another? Will Lanie and Esposito get back together? Will Ryan and Jenny's young marriage survive him losing his wedding band when he took it off to go to a strip club? Does the b*&**y new captain have a terrible secret in her past like the affable old captain did? How far will they go to avoid writing Alexis off the show when she should really be living in a dorm or getting her own apartment somewhere? It's as much soap opera as procedural, really, once you get past Dragnet.
Hey everyone,
Nazard e-mailed me to let me know he's one of the people affected by the strange problem that makes some people unable to post on the boards. He can read the boards, but not post. He'll be back as soon as the problem is cleared up.
Finally! I'm in.
I have no problems with stretching out times like you mention, none at all, if that's what the group wants to do by all means. It means I can stretch my existing material for longer.
Ah, there's the Heward charm working its old magic. At least he didn't ask if you were a prostitute, Phillip! :D
Heh - I'm just following orders ;)
To be fair, we are kind of in the middle of a crisis at the moment. If it makes you feel better, I only rolled an accumulated 8 to shoot you; she would totally have missed. :)
I've no issues with the reaction as it makes perfect IC sense - sides, Phil was trying to entice Mrs Brigglespan into a card game so he'll get back to that :)
Personally, I think Heward's promotion has gotten in the way of his having an unruffled relationship with Awgin too, because Awgin is jealous of Heward's relationship with Captain Percival. Awgin's always trying to impress the captain, but the way things are now, if he does something good, Heward's going to get the praise from above for "leading his team" and Awgin will have to settle for praise from Heward, which doesn't mean as much to him. Heward as Sergeant rather than Inspector is another step between him and the hero he wants to make an impression on that wasn't there when he signed up for the team and it was every man for himself under Percival's supervision.
She gets me. Don't make the mistake of thinking Awgin wants to lead the team. He absolutley doesn't. He just wants Captain Percival's approval.
She gets me.
Hey, you spend a drunken night with a half-orc, you pick up on a few things. ;)
So, yeah, no one's bonding with The Boss. Especially since his promotion wasn't a reward for him doing something great that we could all agree demonstrates he should be in charge. It wasn't, "Good job, Heward, you deserve this"; it was done in anger and obviously a demotion for the rest of us more than a promotion for Heward: "You people are all so incompetent, I'm going pick the least incompetent and make you answer to him!"
Except he isn't "well-educated" in the Planes because he doesn't have a rank in it. Without it being trained, an 18-Int wizard can't know anything more about a subject than a 10-Int commoner. Doesn't make a lot of sense from a simulationist point of view, but that's the way the skill system works. If you want to make Knowledge checks untrained, you have to take a level of bard. Of course, Auriel traded that ability away for her archetype, as did Phillip, if I'm not mistaken. So next level, Calatin might consider broadening rather than deepening his knowledge. :)
Since folks have decided for the moment at least, that the vargouilles are unrelated to the mage attacks, I have created a separate casefile on the website for entering in clues and discussion for both.
Updated the calendar on the website. Color-coded events by case, so far: blue for 001, orange for 002 ("Murder-by-Mage") & purple for 003 ("The Vexing Vargouilles"). (Ignore the half-orc graffito.) Heward, Laya, Calatin and Awgin should have collected the princely sum of 5 gp for their first week of work, so add that to your hoards.
Thank you, Joana. I was getting around to updating the calendar when my free time today ran out.
Supporting Cast page is updated, as well.
Advance notice: I'm going to be traveling for a week, starting on Wednesday. Should still be able to check in from the road most days, but next Sunday I'll be at the Grand Canyon, and my understanding is that there's no internet access there at all. Will be back to normal the following Wednesday.
Have a good trip.
Grand Canyon. Nice. Bon voyage!
I was wondering, too. Is that the cemetery where Markiv was buried? Not there, so can't roll a Knowledge (local), but Heward was at the funeral so he ought to recognize the name, if so.
While the richest of the rich are buried in the storied Catacombs of Magnimar, there are a few cemeteries within the city walls for those rich enough to afford it, and who don't want their loved ones to have to travel twenty minutes outside of two to visit them. They are mostly stone tombs rather than plots of graves, owned by minor noble families. Navior and I have figured that it was one of these cemeteries that first intrigued Laya so, though whether the one she liked was Magnimar Memorial Gardens is up to him.
Heward and Laya: 10h30 as Laya arrives back at MSI from the cathedral
Khismia: 12h15 when she arrives at MSI to report Calatin's findings
Calatin and Awgin: 14h30 when Calatin finishes researching the intoxicant
Phillip: 13h00 when he finishes canvassing the area in Rag's End
Should be interesting if Khismia arrives back at HQ to find Wizzo there instead of Heward....
I'm back in town and, other than needing a good night's sleep and to do a lot of laundry, running at full capacity.
Heward and Laya: 10h30 as Laya arrives back at MSI from the cathedral
Khismia: 12h15 when she arrives at MSI to report Calatin's findings
Calatin and Awgin: 14h30 when Calatin finishes researching the intoxicant
Phillip: 13h00 when he finishes canvassing the area in Rag's End
Should be interesting if Khismia arrives back at HQ to find Wizzo there instead of Heward....
I'm back in town and, other than needing a good night's sleep and to do a lot of laundry, running at full capacity.
Ha! I hadn't even thought of that wrinkle. Great fun!
Welcome back! Hope you had a good trip.
Probably an appropriate juncture to do a cross-post to all my more active PbPs about an interruption to my posting schedule that is imminent.
My wife is about 37 weeks pregnant, which basically means that the bun is fully cooked and ready to pop at any time. This means that at some point in the next 1 day to 4 weeks I will suddenly and without notice disappear completely from the interwebs. I can't say when or for how long, but it will probably knock me out for up to a week or so before my wife and I get back on our feet and I'm of somewhat sound and untired enough mind to jump back online.
So if I do vanish, please don't fret as I shall return :) I would just ask for some leeway on posting frequency for a while as we adjust to the new baby floating around.
Good luck with the delivery. I hope all goes well.
No! We demand that you ignore this new mewling nuisance and maintain your posting commitments!
Or not! Congrats when the arrival comes, and if this is your first, enjoy the last of the sleep you'll ever have.
Good advice. We did the same and had only two or three months of midnight feedings.
My oldest just turned five today. I've discovered the trick with night time feedings for my two little ones was to pretend to be asleep and let my wife do all that stuff.
Didn't always work though. She's a crafty one.
It'll be our second trip onto the parenting rodeo, so we've a few tricks up our sleeves... but every little bit helps. Fingers crossed, stock up on coffee and get ready for the tsunami :)
Our first didn't sleep through the night reliably until he was about two ish, though now (at three and a bit) we get an easy bedtime (no tears and no hassle) and 12 hours of sleep out of him.
Hello? Laya?
I don't like botting reactions to role-playing scenarios, and I know Navior's been posting to Jase Regent, at least.
Something's happened I'm supposed to respond to? Weird, I don't have any "x new" notifications. I thought it had just been an empty weekend. I'll head over and respond right away.
Just popping in to confirm to those that aren't aware that our new baby son arrived yesterday and we're getting to know him and get used to the newborn sleep, feed, poop, feed, sleep cycle again.
All things considered should hopefully be back in our own home as of tomorrow. Will see how the home-life settles out before committing to a specific time for wading back online.
Congratulations to you and your wife.
Congratulations! Best of luck to the whole family.
Don't worry, Mark: I'm sure we'll be caught up to Phillip in the timeline by the time the baby's eating solid foods. ;)
LOL. Evil, evil , woman!
But maybe not. I'm going to see if I can get Nazard to RP Heward dreaming! ;-p
Sure thing, but that dream is going to involve Awgin, Mrs. Brigglespan, and a thong, and I give no clues as to who will be wearing the thong.
I said dream not nightmare!
Hey now, it's not polite to judge the preferences of other PCs.
Your bountiful buccaneer is now back on deck! Wife and baby boy are safely ensconced back at home and we are getting on top of it all. So I'm comfortable in getting stuckback in to it.
From last conversation with Heward:
"If I ferret out the hidey-hole I'll set the local flatfeet to watching while I come fetch you; if I don't I'll rendezvous with you at the tomb?"
So Phil will be headed tomb-ward, not back to MSI when done with the canvass.
The Cryptmistress chuckles. "Actually, I believe that's how you presented yourself, my dear, not the other way around."
"Heward, the so-called Captain excels at instilling paranoia in his inferiors. It's how he keeps control over you, though I know you would be unable to see it, as you no doubt legitimately believe that serving him is the only way you can keep Magnimar safe from whatever you imagine is out to get it. At least, that was the way of it with the other Watchmen I've been able to help escape over the years. If you ever come to the revelation that you're being used for someone else's gain, come and see me."
How is that not insulting?
Khismia seems startled by the interjection from the stranger in the room. She stares at her coldly, then turns to Heward with a smirk. "I have always heard that the Watch is full of old women; I did not realize the saying was to be taken literally. It is little wonder you are unable to keep order in the City, unlike the Princess who employs the young and the strong."
How is that not?
No, it was totally meant to be insulting. But she was only returning the barb thrown at her. :)
I'm so glad Laya was around to provide muffin diplomacy.
Calatin would equally approve of muffin warfare, so long as there were pastries involved.