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Am I understanding correctly that the HP I rolled to start is my Max? If so, Berserker may not be a very helpful ability when I rolled only 9hp...
Bonjour!
Am I understanding correctly that the HP I rolled to start is my Max? If so, Berserker may not be a very helpful ability when I rolled only 9hp...
I mean, for players HP ranges from 6-16. You all got 9-11, which I'm considering pretty "average". It's intentional that combat should be a bit brutal, but it also isn't like you'll be killed in one hit. But it'll still be often important to have cover, and don't forget that you can also use Grit, too.
So say you're running and someone is going to shoot at you. You get a 6- on the Clovers roll, which means you're probably going to get hit. But you can use a couple points of Grit, and "oh, they actually see how hard my eyes are and their nervous hands drop the bullet as they're reloading".
But yes, combat is intended to be quick and brutal.
Thinking about the Beserker ability, losing 1d6 HP afterwards does feel pretty excessive, though. Let's change that to 1d3 instead and see how it plays. I suspect that there will be a few things that we'll want to change as we go.
Gunfights shouldn't be 20 round affairs but rather quick and deadly.
My friends an I played a version of Boot Hill which was cool where you would roll the % dice to see where you hit the enemy.
But it'll still be often important to have cover, and don't forget that you can also use Grit, too...Let's change that to 1d3 instead and see how it plays. I suspect that there will be a few things that we'll want to change as we go.
Thanks for the explanation, I hadn't given much thought to grit yet. Let's see how it shakes out. I think the ability fits the character I am envisioning, which is the important part.
D3 sounds about right, enough that it's not used too often, not so much that I am afraid to use it at all, but I will stick with whatever you say. I was mostly wondering whether I misunderstood the HP. Each one is oh so very valuable!
As an aside, my work computer doesn't seem to like the security on this site, so I guess I'll be wearing my thumbs out during the day.
Hopefully with 2 "charisma"-y characters we can avoid straight up getting shot in the face and can use some good ole cover when it comes down to it.
Paizo's numerous hits from the humble bundle is severely limiting my ability to interact with the forums, which I assume is the same for many of you. I'll do what i can to post over the next few days, but it took hours to access anything today, so let's anticipate some slowdowns a bit.
Gunfights shouldn't be 20 round affairs but rather quick and deadly.
Precisely.
D3 sounds about right, enough that it's not used too often, not so much that I am afraid to use it at all, but I will stick with whatever you say. I was mostly wondering whether I misunderstood the HP. Each one is oh so very valuable!
Yeah, that's the line that I'm hoping to hit with it. It should be risky, but not suicidal. And yes, taking cover and being cautious will be important. I don't want Combat to get like, tactical and bogged down, though, so that'll be a fun balance to try and strike.
As an aside, my work computer doesn't seem to like the security on this site, so I guess I'll be wearing my thumbs out during the day.
It may be easier to load up posts on the phone and type up replies on the computer in google docs and do a copy/paste thing on the phone? Sadly, the site is lacking any kind of decent mobile app.
So how bastardized is the west going to be?
So how bastardized is the west going to be?
Oh, incredibly. I don't know enough of the history to be historically accurate in the first place, and I certainly care more about us crafting a good story than how well it "slots into" reality. Maybe we'll have an Earthquake / Tsunami wipe out part of California. Maybe the Civil War will go on for much longer, or be resolved differently. Etc. I don't want us to feel limited by historical accuracy. At the same time, obviously, it'll still fit the themes and setting. We won't have Superheroes or Aliens show up.
Hooray the game is going live. As an FYI, I'm new to this style as I've never played Dungeon World.
Hopefully I don't get shot when I steal something or play dice.
So how bastardized is the west going to be?Oh, incredibly. I don't know enough of the history to be historically accurate in the first place, and I certainly care more about us crafting a good story than how well it "slots into" reality.
My assumption is that we will follow the DW model of "draw maps, leave blanks" and sort of unveil the details as we go. Which certainly doesn't lend itself to historical accuracy or adherence to a particular fictional canon.
I figure we borrow heavily from what we know about history, while creating a vibrant world that feels like the Wild West you see in film and literature, and also feels like our own.
Hooray the game is going live. As an FYI, I'm new to this style as I've never played Dungeon World.
Hopefully I don't get shot when I steal something or play dice.
It should be easy to catch on. Not sure what iur GM style is, but generally you should have an idea of the risks. For example, if you're playing dice with the village idiot, or a naive settler that just got into town, you probably take them as less of a serious threat. If you're playing dice with a couple of tough looking gangsters, you probably know the chances of getting shot in the face are higher. In other words, the consequences of your actions will generally follow the fiction that it comes from.
Ideas for our characters meeting up... Could be at the end or beginning of when the cowboys finish their cattle drives up to Dodge City; a thief, two entertaining ladies and a hunter meet by incident at a saloon.
Of course there many ways to do it. so...
If Connell has just arrived in white civilization, he is suffering from culture shock. He's probably not carousing the town trying to meet friends. But we could say he's been hanging around town for a whike.
More likely, he met one or more of the party through happenstance. Perhaps he saw someone becoming a victim, and stepped in. Perhaps he made a major social error, and one of you debonair types swept in for the rescue. Perhaps he worked up the nerve to hang out at the bar, trying to pick up a lead on the murderer he followed into town. I think this type of interaction would build a better long-term foundation for someone with tribal inclinations.
You'll find Adrian carousing around The Lockwood Stop and gambling the best he can with his remaining $1 left in his pocket. You might also find him checking out wanted posters by the sheriff's office or finding the latest news from the grizzled reporter on someone's new found success or money carriage coming through town.
Edit: Which part of your profile do you post to have the character details under your alias?
My assumption is that we will follow the DW model of "draw maps, leave blanks" and sort of unveil the details as we go. Which certainly doesn't lend itself to historical accuracy or adherence to a particular fictional canon.
I figure we borrow heavily from what we know about history, while creating a vibrant world that feels like the Wild West you see in film and literature, and also feels like our own.
Exactly. You said that way better than I did, haha.
Edit: Which part of your profile do you post to have the character details under your alias?
It's the Class/Levels section.
And don't worry too much about having to force everyone meeting just yet - I'm still getting some questions together so we can do some world building, which has been extra difficult with the site not working well the last couple days, but may provide some useful options.
Looks like the site is finally doing better. Humble Bundle sure did a number.
@Yoricks, Will you be posting the questions here in the discussion thread or through PM?
Would it be prudent to send us the questions and then open up the RP in the gamethread(plus it is easier to track a game you are in) :)
I'll be posting them here for sure, since the answers affect everyone.
Sorry for the delay, the weekend got away from me more than a little bit with a party, going to see Star Wars again, and getting a personal project on Steam Greenlight.
Cool
Monique
- With your mother being from Nawlins and your father being en route to Mexico, what happened there? Did she follow him? Or did she raise you herself?
- You also picked up skills from your mother: Dancing, singing, and the like. You don't mention anything from your father - was he not around? Did he even survive the war to come back?
- What happened to your mother? At what age did you come to Hobbs?
Adrian
- What are Adrian's feelings on the war, especially with brothers on both sides?
- How did Adrian's father feel about him abandoning the path laid out to be petty thief?
- Does Adrian have any kind of code that he lives by, or is he more of a heat of the moment kind of person?
Connell
Love the lengthy backstory.
- Was there a single event that drove Connell to leave at such a young age, or was it more something he'd wanted to do for as long as he could remember?
- Was it common for the Mohtautau to take prisoners as they took Connell? Along similar lines, is it at all common for them to take in a white man as one of their own?
- Does Connell know why the Osage tribe attacked his own? Were the two often at war? If so, over what?
- What is Connell hoping to find in Hobbs?
Monique was raised to believe her father perished due to actions during the Mexico City campaign but really she was a byproduct of a tryst between her mother and said soldier. Monique's mother may have believed the soldier would have returned or maybe not. Her father did indeed survive the war but was severely wounded at that battle and his identification had been swapped inadvertently in the hospital.
Monique's grandmother living in New Haven, Connecticut (mother of her father) sent a letter to Monique's mother stating the news that her son was dead. Then six months later when the Connecticut Infantry returned back to New Haven by US Navy Frigate her son was there, with a tinge of amnesia and to the grandma's credit she never knew there was a baby.
Monique's mother died of small pox when she was 15 years old. Monique made her way to Hobbs figuring that there would probably be a siege of Nawlins and she didn't want to starve to death, so I would say maybe a week but she left Nawlins at the start of the war.
Time wise, are we at the start of the war, middle or late ending of the war? Cause it might make a slight difference on how my character feels. Late 1861 would be an interesting time as the war's still under a year old. If it's later, Adrian may have some ties to blockade runners/smugglers.
As Adrian was still a child when he left Philadelphia, he had not seen much of his brother for most of his life. His other brother, however, taught him trading and about the slave trade. Personally Adrian had little interest in the slave trade but with the outbreak of war, he was more sympathetic to his Missouri brother than the one in Philadelphia. As they were both traders, he did not worry much about their safety.
About the war itself, Adrian supported the Confederacy's call for Independence but did not care enough to join the military. Instead he used the time of war to see how he could ply his trade and make some easy money. Growing up for most of his life in the South, Adrian pitied the slaves, but did not see any benefit in helping them unless it helped him. He did not partake in the slave trade nor try to abolish it. Adrian does not talk much about his views, in case he needs to change them at an advantageous time.
As for his father, Adam was a stern man, used to military discipline, which was something Adrian did not enjoy. Adrian never dissed the military which is one reason why his father gave him several chances to come back, which Adrian never did. Disease took his parents before his father could disown him, meaning he still had claim to a small inheritance if he ever gets a pardon from his home town.
Adrian is the type to seize an advantage if it presents itself and to take easy money over working hard for it. He does not have much of a code but is not a bloodthirsty savage. If there is a way to avoid fighting and killing, he'll take it. Killing is not his first choice, as it's bad for business. He also won't steal from little kids and the truly destitute. Due to a trading background, Adrian knows how to steal from merchants and resell the stolen goods to another merchant for profit. Theft, burglary, cheating, swindling, armed robbery and laundering goods are his prime areas of crime though he did always want to rob a heavily loaded money carriage. He spends a good chunk of his money on women. Preferring single women to married so as avoid the angry husband out for revenge, Adrian will flirt with a married lady long enough to learn where they keep their money and jewels.
I hope it is late Civil War so my character would be at least an adult. In 1861 she would be 14.
Was there a single event that drove Connell to leave at such a young age, or was it more something he'd wanted to do for as long as he could remember?
Connell always wanted to leave. He was born with a heart for adventure, and a love for the wild lands outside the cities and towns. His spirit detested the congestion and disease of cities, preferring the free open air.
His mother’s thick Irish accent seemed to float in the midsummer air, slicing through the mugginess as Connell played outside. “Connell, won’t you be a good lad and fetch your mum a pail of water from the river?” Scooping up the oversized bucket, he ambled down the road, day-dreaming about running away. He thought of the small store of goods he had tucked away under the bed he shared with his brother, about enough food to last him a week, he figured. Absentmindedly, his fingers ran atop the reeds down the path to the riverbank, feeling what little nature was left in Chicago, enjoying the late afternoon sun on his face.
“Oh, hello Connell,” a weary looking Mrs. Wortham drew his attention back to reality. “Hello, Mrs. Wortham. Is James about?” Mrs. Wortham’s frown drew further, and her eyes grew dimmer and fell to the ground. “‘Fraid not, lad. James is very ill, he’s got dysentery.” Shaking her head, she hefted her pails and headed back to the small Irish neighborhood.
This is no way to live, cooped up in tiny houses, spreading illness between our poor homes. His thoughts shifted to tales of Ireland and the beautiful countryside his parents had shared. He could never understand why they had left, it seemed such a happy place, but then again parents were complicated. That’s the way to live. I want to be free, with soil underfoot and stars overhead. In America, that’s the life of the adventurer, the hunter and trapper. I have been thinking about this for a long time, and tonight, I’m really doing it. I’m leaving.
That night, he slid out of bed, quiet as a mouse. The floorboards creaked as he made his way to the front door, but his father would be too weary from a long day’s labor to wake from his deep slumber. Out on the road, the air smelled fresher than he ever remembered, and the ground felt like his own under his springing step. He was free from life in the city, and now he was a real adventurer.
Was it common for the Mohtautau to take prisoners as they took Connell? Along similar lines, is it at all common for them to take in a white man as one of their own?
Prisoners were common in tribal warfare, and for many purposes. Sometimes used for leverage in ransom, sometimes brought back as a symbol of strength and executed publicly, sometimes for labor or information. There was no precedent for taking in a white man, but there was a special connection between the elders and Connell, as he was a young, strong, and wild. The young braves at first viewed Connell as a trophy, but the elders saw his strength, wisdom, and his distance from white society. They were so impressed that they allowed him to join the tribe, and part of their reasoning was to soften the tempers of the younger tribesmen and show that wisdom and mercy are important leadership qualities.
Does Connell know why the Osage tribe attacked his own? Were the two often at war? If so, over what?
The two tribes were often in competition for the area’s resources, but rarely met in battle.. In times of plenty, they were tenuous allies, but in times of scarcity their friendship quickly faded with the larger Osage tribe applying pressure on the Mohtautau to find new territories. The Elders of the Osage were known to be wise and patient men, but after several of the council passed on, the younger chiefs were excited to make a name for themselves. The Mohtautau were an easy, smaller target, and in the minds of the younger tribe, a constant thorn that should be removed. Their bloodthirst boiled over into total violence, rather than the typical, patient tactics to strong-arm smaller tribes into more distant territories through smaller battles or raids.
What is Connell hoping to find in Hobbs?
Connell is on the Road. His life has been shattered, and his hopes are defaulting to those of his childhood, if tempered slightly by reality. He is looking for a life of American adventure: hunting, trapping, and fighting when necessary. He knows he is strong, and he knows he can find work using that strength. He has no society, no friends, and no knowledge of the current territory, but he also has no home to turn back to.
More immediately, Connell is projecting his frustration at his inability to fight back against his own enemies on his discovery of murdered victims outside of town. If he can find the murderer, he will not find it easy to hold himself back. He found a few clues at the scene; .38 caliber casings, large bootprints in the sand, and the dead man was clutching an Ace of Spades, perhaps some sort of killing mark. An empty leather wallet was tossed on the ground nearby, so Connell guesses that simple robbery was the motive. He is hoping he can find the murderer and bring vengeance, but of course he has no experience investigating these sorts of mysteries, and is overwhelmed by the number and variety of the people in Hobbs.
I hope it is late Civil War so my character would be at least an adult. In 1861 she would be 14.
I mean, the war technically ended in 1865, so even at the tail end of the war, you'd only be maybe 18, certainly not 23. But, again, we can take some liberties with these things. Maybe the Mexican-American War happened a couple years earlier, and the Civil War is very likely to be going for more than 4 years.
Time wise, are we at the start of the war, middle or late ending of the war?
I definitely want it to be ongoing, and not terribly early - it should be at a place where a lot of people have already enlisted, and the war itself is kind of dragging on, and not really going super well for either side. It's definitely reasonable that you'd have connections with some blockade runners/smugglers.
I'd say around 1863 then since Gettysburg occurred in June-July of that year. No one knows who's going to win the Civil War. It's a time of chaos, yada yada. Maybe before the Emancipation Proclamation cause if we live long enough, this announcement could come through shaking everything up story wise. How is this game actually going to begin?
Assuming this turns into a long campaign with a somewhat coherent story, may I turn it into a published book?
I picked 23 before I refreshed myself on the years of the Mexican American War but 18 would be fine.
Let's get this started... I really am excited.
Assuming this turns into a long campaign with a somewhat coherent story, may I turn it into a published book?
I believe that the Paizo messageboards prohibit that sort of thing, though admittedly my grasp of legality is limited at best. I also am not intending to be cautious about things like plagiarism, since this is purely for entertainment purposes.
Let's get this started... I really am excited.
I think Gameplay will be up tonight!
I think Gameplay will be up tonight!
I'll be out at a bday party tonight, so if gameplay goes up I won't be responding until tomorrow. So don't take my delayed response as disinterest :)
I look forward to this beginning.
Is this still on?
Yes! My weekend availability is pretty rubbish, which is why I had been hoping to get it kicked off on Friday.
Gameplay is up!
I'll have a post up later tonight.