Still working out encumberances and links, but should now be good to go. Encumberance is going to depend on how much she's physically carrying anyway.
@Dvallar: Aella is indeed a local and also a shield maiden so we have a lot in common. Here is what I thought:
First, since you was with Olaf Henrikson when he attacked Halfstad, Dvallar probably fought against Aella's father, Thollvar the Unslain, the only remaining huscarl of the former jarl. Since he was granted life for the way he fought, you two could have been friends ever since.
Second, Dvallar could also be one of Aella's former 'teachers' when she was training to become a Shield Maiden, even if kind of disappointed for Aella to have chosen Freyja as her patron (specially for the fertility aspect). What are your thoughts?
I like these :)
Yes, friends with Thollvar could well work, though if he is actually an undead maybe not... Happy to be a teacher. Dvallar is pretty cautious, and Shield Maiden is something she's very interested in. She's picked up the whole shield maiden = no kids thing pretty strongly. I think she'd be more worried you've thrown your chance away by having a kid, and are just living in the last but before it goes bad.
@Helle: If we don't talk much because of the godi/Cunning Woman thing, we may have met in your sea voyage to from home. At the time, I would have been sailing aboard ships as part of my job. Although, your opinion of me as a godi would not have been great at the time since I was often drunk.
I can work with that. We can always glare daggers at each other until one of us saves the other's bacon during an adventure.
All good with me - if there's something questionable in any backgrounds I'll address it, otherwise tweak to your heart's content.
Great meet the apprentice of Brida, "sister" to Aella, and aunt of Yullia.
I don't think Aðalbjörn will have formed many close personal relationships, you would all know and recognise him from "around" but his unease with his own skill in peace and his abandon when fighting would mean he stays clear of anything beyond raucous drinking companion/customer at this stage.
That being said:
@Dvallar Aðalbjörn is fascinated by and somewhat in awe of you, specifically your ability to master both battle and peace time skills. In "off-time" I can see him strolling past your forge often, watching you work.
@Haldor You are probably the closest thing to a friend to Aðalbjörn in the group. He has a lot of respect for you as a huscarl and for your skill at arms. He has no problem with your past, people should be judged on their actions now, not their history. Particularly childhood history.
@Helle Compared to Aðalbjörn Helle is a child and he feels a great sense of duty to protect you in particular. I imagine a man of combat like Aðalbjörn would often have had need of the services of Brida so we would know each other that way at least.
@Aella Aðalbjörn and Aella have very different points of view, but definitely not opposed. He very much respects your battle skill and your values. But not having children, or any great desire for them, he finds it difficult to talk to someone so dedicated to fertility and family. Family ties are something he gave up long ago. Aðalbjörn's protectiveness towards Helle could either be a bond between the two or quite the opposite.
@O∂ørn Aðalbjörn gets seasick (not to say he doesn't travel by boat, obviously! he just is not a big fan.) So I don't think the two of them would have had a lot of interaction. That being said, if we do travel by sea, Aðalbjörn will be very pleased to have some divine assistance/luck on board.
Now, for what Haldorr thinks of all of you:
@Aðalbjörn Although they're driven by different things, Haldorr and Aðalbjörn have similar personality traits - they are do-gooders, they are generous, and they've got similar duties as huscarls. Haldorr recognizes this and considers you a friend, even in awe of your somewhat unorthodox way of fighting that he thinks is both glorious and barbaric.
@Helle Haldorr met you briefly when you traveled to Silvermeade Hall on the same longship he was sailing on. After hearing about your childhood and adolescence, Haldorr feels sympathetic. He, too, was shunned when he was younger, although he caused this himself, and it was objectively deserved. Either way, this commonality allows Haldorr to form a positive opinion about you, although he has no idea how magic works and is frightened by it.
@Aella You and Haldorr only know each other from seeing each other in Halfstead. It's hard to pinpoint what age each of them were at the time they were in Halfstead, but Haldorr realizes Aella knows about his past and looks down on him for it. He doesn't care. He will treat her with respect just as he does with everyone else, although he hides his trues emotions and guilt - something he has done for years.
@Dvallar: Haldorr's sister Erika would have purchased metals from you as you worked in Halfstead. She would return to the farm with these metals and tell Haldorr about the dwarven woman who had been granted what amounted to a mine. Haldorr mentioned to her that he thought you were a little crazy for choosing such barren, undesirable land. Other than that, the relationship between you two was never firmly established.
@O∂ørn Haldorr met you aboard a longship and quickly realized all you like to do is drink. Unfortunately, this does not do well for his opinion of you, as he is sworn to serve the Jarl and to sit idly and drink is to waste away needlessly.
Guess it's time to iron out how Oðørn feels about you lovely folks! Here we go!
@Aðalbjørn: Oðørn knows you as a southern-born warrior who came to Halfstead and quickly became a Huscarl. He doesn't know you well, but knows of your reputation and respects you for it. He doesn't know enough about your attitude toward the gods to trust you deeply, however.
@Aella: Oðørn knows you as a spear-maiden, but that you go against tradition by venerating Freyja rather than the more traditional deities chosen by spear-maidens. He is somewhat wary of you for this break from tradition, but cannot help but respect you for your lineage and your occupation.
@Dvallar: As a fellow servant of the gods, Oðørn respects you deeply. He also recognizes and appreciates your skill as a craftswoman, particularly when you lend your skills to the construction of ships. When you have taken on such projects in the past, Oðørn regularly shows up to check your progress and encourage you to continue to honor the gods with your labors. You are probably the one whom Oðørn would consider closest to be a friend.
@Haldorr: Oðørn remembers you from your shared experiences aboard the Jarl's longships, though, as you noted, Oðørn would have been drunk on many of these voyages, so his memories are a bit...lacking. From what he does remember, he knows you have a somewhat troubled past and that you are a former thrall, but has heard of your heroism in saving the lives of your former master's family, and respects you for it. One quick note for you--please don't forget that Oðørn the Drunk is long gone. Since Oðørn had his...experience...he has abandoned his drunken ways. He still visits mead halls on occasion, but usually only to share a polite drink or two with a few shipmates. He has become much more severe in his devotion to the gods, and will readily object to accusations of being a drunk now. I know you're probably just thinking of how Haldorr would remember Oðørn from their voyages. Just wanted to make sure the current situation was clear.
@Helle: As we talked about, Helle and Oðørn don't talk much, since she is Cunning Woman while he is a godi. Like the others, he has seen you around, gathering herbs and such for Brida, but would not have gone out of his way to interact with you. He may have been aboard the ship that brought you to Halfstead, but neither of you would probably remember each other from that experience.
That's about it. Let me know if you have any objections/questions for me.
I had never intended Aðalbjörn to be southern born, he is a northlander like the jarl. He was a mercenary in the south. Looking at my background it doesn't actually say that, does it, I'll get right on that...
No I think I must have just read your background wrong. My bad! My mistakes aside, the rest of how I described our relationship is still accurate. Thanks for clearing that up for me though!
Looks like we're about ready to start, I'll kick off gameplay within the hour but feel free to keep hashing out whatever needs be here.
Also, Dvallar, you need a stats line and it'd be great if Aðalbjörn can unspoiled his.
Got a bit sidetracked, but gameplay is now live!
You'll have to pardon me, I'm having some minor health issues nothing serious, I will be back posting tomorrow hopefully.
Hope everything sorts itself out soon for you!
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Feel better soon.
Got knocked out way longer than I intended, but such is life. Fear not though, I don't intend to doom you to talking about flowers forever - I'll be going out to lunch with some friends right now but the moment I get back it's time to finally meet the Jarl's daughters and off to the meadows!
So that we can help pick the flowers. Lol
I'm going to have to punch some mean looking butterflies!
I thought you might have needed a Constitution check there for a second!
Everybody make a DC 15 Fort save against allergens!
Will the hills be alive with the sound of Music?
We can put flower crowns on the grizzled old warriors. That will certainly make you want to punch something.
Oh, GM, GM, where can ye be,
Six Nord warriors are waiting to see
I'm getting more and more keen to roleplay the picking of flowers... I never thought I'd say that...
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Haha. We could start throwing ale around the hall to see who has the best aim if we get bored enough.
Which reminds me...
It's been my experience PbP players are a patient lot. Everyone understands stuff comes up and real life comes first. It hit me once, and I couldn't find the time (and headspace) to update a game for months. Said game is now ticking along merrily.
Games can survive extended GM absence.
The key seems to be threefold
(A) check in about once a week, even if only to go "still alive, can't post".
(B) don't let guilt overwhelm you: I know every time I saw the thread and knew the players were waiting for me I felt bad - I very nearly stopped coming to Paizo at all.
(C) come back post doesn't have to be some work of epic fiction. I kept worrying I didn't have a good enough post to justify the time I'd been away, so I kept trying to come up with something and failing. One day I just wrote something. It wasn't great, but people bounced off it and the rhythm started up again.
On the other hand, sometimes GMs know a game is untenable. If that happens, be up front about it.
Not suggesting you're in either of these groups, Nilihist - but the best time to talk about this stuff is at the start.
That's interesting. In your opinion whats the best thing for the players to do in those circumstances, both for the good of the game and the GM?
Should one try to keep posting to keep everything 'live' but risk seeming impatient, or just sit quiet and be patient but risk everyone loosing interest?
Again, I'm not asking about this game, we're all good here.
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IMO there is also another factor that is how much the players already invested in the game and how attached they feel to their PCs. Let's say I start an AP and when we are going to start the third book I'm told the DM will have to be absent for a couple months... I see no problem with this since I've spent probably a year playing this game and a couple months will not be the issue.
Now if I'm just starting a campaign and after a week I'm told the same thing, I think I'll probably just move on and seek another game.
Continuing what Dvallar was saying I'd add a (D) to his list: when you restart, please make sure you'll be able to keep the player's rhythm, if not they will be even more frustrated.
It's a little upsetting to have spent a good few days on creating a backstory that fits the AP and the other characters perfectly, and then spending another few days hammering out relationships with the rest of the characters, only to have the GM disappear after the introductory post. There is always a risk that this will happen, but it's especially bad when it involves a non-generic character made specifically for the AP. I mean, how often do you see people running the Northlands Saga on Paizo?
On the other hand, life gets busy, and I don't have the expectation that people can post as frequently as I do. I do, however, have the expectation that a GM will at least concede if he's unable to keep the game going. For now, I'll assume the best and I do plan on continuing to post once the GM returns.
I'll keep checking the board for posts to show up. I understand life happens. He mentioned not feeling well, and I know that some of the sicknesses going around will knock you back for a while. I hope everything in life with GM is ok, and look forward to moving forward if possible.
I'd say definitely keep posting. 1 post every couple of days is enough.
Remember that a GM generally signs up for a game because they have a vision of something they think is fascinating. What is needed is for them to remember that vision.
I think I'd rather have a game fold than have a GM run it out of guilt.
Yeah, I'm on board with continuing to post in the interim. We're basically getting some free time to shore up our characters' relationships, leaving some of the vague "I've-seen-you-around-but-don't-really-know-anything-about-you" stuff behind so we can get to being a better unit when combat eventually comes around.
Has anybody heard anything from our esteemed GM? I don't want to face the fact that this isn't happening...
No such luck I'm afraid.
Yeah... two weeks since the last post in the Gameplay...
Guys, sorry but I think this is not going to happen and even if it does, I think it will last no more than a month... so I'm bowing out, good luck to all of you!
I'm new to PbP. Does this happen often? I've gotten into 3 games one is ticking along fine and the other two have fizzled after about two weeks.
@Helle I'm also rather new, and I've completed one game with 3 in progress and running smoothly. I think something like this happening is more the exception than the rule.
I don't suppose anyone wants to pick up the Northlands PDF and take over GM? ;)
Bummer. I was really enjoying the rapport we were all building in the party. :/
Yeah - sad if this has failed.
I've had three games fall over in a row now.
According to a friend of mine, the big thing to watch out for is first time GMs.
That's understandable, but everyone is first time some time! I just hope if this has flopped I/we can find new uses for our characters, preferably together.
Yeah that would be awesome! I feel like if we can't get someone to run our group for Northlands, maybe it would be a good crew for something like Reign of Winter. Would you all be into that?
My knowledge of modules etc is severely lacking (I'm an eberron man at heart) but I'm up for whatever we can get ourselves involved in. How long do we give this? Or are we past that already? A
I'm doubtful that we'll see another gameplay post from our GM. I looked over a few pages of the Northlands Saga, and it's very wordy and lore heavy. I can imagine it's quite the daily undertaking to GM this AP...perhaps he just doesn't have the time.
I would definitely be up for Reign of Winter.
Reign of Winter sounds good. How would we go about that?
I've seen some posts in recruitment about "Looking for replacement GM". That might be a good place to start.
Before we do that though, just wanted to confirm that someone has pm'ed Nilihist to confirm that he's not able to keep up the game. Has anyone done so already?
I haven't.
If nobody else has (sorry for the tardy reply) I'll send a pm off tomorrow morning, then we can at least try and get something going. A
Sounds good. Thanks for volunteering.
I haven't messaged him either.
PM sent, I don't imagine I'll get a reply, at least not anytime soon. So shall we make a post in the recruitment forum? Who is interested? Aella, you said you were out, does that include any further arrangements?
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Aella's out. What about everyone else? If we're going to try and conscript another GM I'd like to be straight up about how many we now are. We could always try and call up people who made characters who were not selected if we want a full team as it were. What do people think?
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