Welcome, folks, and congratulations (or condolences) on making the team!
I am GM Minotaur, your host, and welcome to the Dragon's Demand!
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First things first, here's a couple important rules all my tabletop players know about my GM'ing style:
1. If YOU can do it, the NPCs and Baddies can do it.
Basically, if you start asking for items/feats/skills/etc that are out of the norm, or worse, twist the rules in ways they really weren't intended...keep in mind that if it's approved by me, then whatever it is you're doing could be fair game for the bad guys you encounter. Fair?
2. If I ever say in an OOC comment (or send you a message) that reads:
"Do you do this of your own free will?"
...that should mean you should immediately pause and make sure you are positive that the course of action you're currently choosing is what you REALLY want to do. It's intended as a fair warning from the GM that what you are doing just might be really foolish and have disastrous results.
I won't stop you if you really want to do something horribly dumb, but what comes next is on your head. I am far from a killer-GM, but sometimes characters and players get caught up in the moment and choose...poorly.Fair?
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So, all that possible unpleasantness aside, please sign in, say Hi, and give a brief description of your character and what would be obvious to anyone who indirectly spent more than a day around them. (i.e. as a coworker you haven't really been introduced to yet).
Hello! Thank you for the selection, GM Minotaur. I'm excited to play alongside you all. :) (GM Minotaur, before you closed recruitment I swapped out a weapon - one common dagger for a cold iron one. I hope you don't mind. I had meant to do it earlier, but it slipped my mind until last night when I made the change.)
For anyone spending the day with Cordia, they will see she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty. She's a survivour and has a certain emotion behind her grey eyes (speaking to known loss and desperate measures). She doesn't prattle on, but she isn't the silent-brooding type. Can laugh at herself and a situation if there is tension to break. She enjoys her drink. She doesn't make excuses for her choices/way of life. Has a quick, dry wit suggesting a certain level of troublemaking. If you've offended (or more so betrayed her), you'll quickly see her prickly side, otherwise she accepts people for who they are and not for their race or social class. She's not a user, however she'll make use of a situation, if needs be. Happy to steal to survive/thrive, not happy to kill innocents for coin/profit (she has a soft spot for poor or orphaned children on the streets and can't abide them being harmed). (The rest you will find on her character and backstory spoilers on her alias profile, or, discover in RP.)
1. If YOU can do it, the NPCs and Baddies can do it.
Basically, if you start asking for items/feats/skills/etc that are out of the norm, or worse, twist the rules in ways they really weren't intended...keep in mind that if it's approved by me, then whatever it is you're doing could be fair game for the bad guys you encounter. Fair?
Certainly fair.
I won't stop you if you really want to do something horribly dumb, but what comes next is on your head. I am far from a killer-GM, but sometimes characters and players get caught up in the moment and choose...poorly. Fair?
Again, fair.
Thorfinn checking in! Your rules sound eminently reasonable to me.
He is a tall, muscular human man in hide armor, with a greatsword slung over one shoulder. His relative youth is evinced by the shortness of his beard, but his blond hair is long and worn in braids under a leather cap. The only jewelry he wears are a few beads on leather cords braided into his hair.
One of the most obvious things about Thorfinn (well, except for his looming height and magnificent set of braids) is that although he's wearing typical Taldan lower-class laborer clothing under his armor, it doesn't look quite right...as though it's not what he's used to. That adds to the general impression he gives of being somehow out of place, and he's obviously a little bit self-conscious about it. He doesn't really initiate conversations, trying (it seems) to take up less space than his size.
Heya! It's me, Imoen Kuvan!
Kuvan doesn't look like the usual half-orc: he is slim, rather wimpy, short, and looks like his clothes are a bit too large for him. What he lacks in physique he makes up in personality though, he is a good companion to have around, always with a toothy smile on his face, ready to lend a hand however he can. He has a curious and inquisitive spirit, but is not very useful when it comes to manual labour given his quite slender body (he is not really used to it too).
Aside from being physically quite different from half orcs in general Kuvan also sports some peculiar details: his skin is quite dark, more black-ish than green, and scales grow on some part of his body, like on the brows, on the elbows, and on the knees. His eyes are weird too, they look like those of a lizard. Personality-wise he likes to talk a lot, and usually he is prone to long digressions that usually take the the talk far away from the original topic. He likes to have a good laugh and is very friendly with almost anyone he mets.
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Hi, Thorfinn. :) How old is your guy? I couldn't see his age on the profile. Cordia's 19.
Also, did you choose a campaign trait? I had a look at your profile page and couldn't see it, unless you just posted it on the recruitment thread and I missed it. :)
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*Waves* at Kuvan. Can't wait to see your guy in game. :)
The lanky man with a bit of a point to his ears and almond-shaped gray eyes gives a broad grin, "Well, alright! I am happy to be of service. I'm a straight-shooter and know which way to face in the saddle. If ya aren't too sure which end of the horse is best to approach, I can give ya some advise about that. And if you're a slow learner, I can probably patch ya up as well."
He's dressed in well worn and frequently-mended tan trousers, calf-high boots, His tunic is plain and a darker shade of brown capped by a green hooded cloak. He keeps a longbow decorated with a small cross-section of wood and a large feather close at hand and his thick leather belt has a number of pouches and large hunting knife.
He peers closely at his orc-blooded companion. 'No I ain't ever seen that skin condition before. Don't know I have anything for it. Back home, the herbalist, Granny Watta, woulda probably had something to fix you up. Is it contagious?"
Hello everyone, I'm so happy to be part of this.
But I just realized that I will probably always be a bit behind the action because of different timezones: when the selection was posted and everyone started to post it was the middle of the night here. I posted a quick reply when I had to get up to look after my son but postponed the rest to this morning. I hope waiting for me will not become too annoying.
The GM-rules sound fair to me. But I have another PBP-Newbie question: how can you edit the "headline" of your posts, so it doesn't only show race, class and lvl?
But now to Bumolin Bitterkelch:
His size (between 4 and 5 feet) and burly stature are typical for a adult but still rather young (59years) dwarf. He has grey eyes and a rather sun-tanned shade of skin, where it is not covered by clothing. His long bushy black hair and beard obviously lack the care and adornment seen on most dwarves and are left to themselves apart from a quick washing in some natural body of water every now and then. This fact and his attire will probably mark him as a „peasant“ in most societies: he is wearing undyed woolen tunik and pants over simple linnen shirt and breeches and simple laced leatherboots. To protect him from rougher weather and other dangers he is also wearing a kind of half-sleeved surcoat made from the thick hide of woolly pigs most of the time. Also rather untypical for a dwarf: his equipment, while being well made in practical terms, lacks any kind of ornament. His long knife, which he uses to cut herbs, eat and for anything else a blade is needed for has a blank hilt made from bone and the blade is kept very sharp, but apart from the sharpened edge still has the dark color of unpolished steel. His main weapon of defense is a thick gnarly stick from an oaktree, which approximately reaches up to his waist and mostly serves as kind of a walking cane. The only thing on his person that bears any kind of ornament is a small round earthenware bowl which is decorated with a runic inscription all around the brim. Like anything else on his person it serves multiple purposes: he eats and drinks almost exclusively out of this bowl, but it also takes part in small rituals he performs from time to time to honor the spirits of nature.
If you got close enough to Bumolin to see all this you are probably already too close to escape his rather distinguished fragrance of someone who is „out there“ a lot mixed with a discernable note of wild boar. If you didn’t before you will notice at this point a small woolly pig with long crooked tusks, not fully grown out of its stripes yet, that never goes far from his side and at the same time almost never really stands still as if it was always on the search for something.
When you spend some time with Bumolin, you will get to know him as a open minded, careful person who is rather stoic and forgiving about the fact that he is often despised for his appearances. He often seems unsure and rather slow when making decisions as someone who is still in the process of working out or rearranging his morals and not yet sure how to position himself. It is usually very hard to make him angry, but witnessing unnecessary cruelty, especially if the person comitting this cruelty seems to get enjoyment out of it, does it rather quickly.
Hi, Xylas. I think you'll be bringing some laughs to the game. ;)
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Hi, Bumolin. Good to see you, here. :) I'm in the southern hemisphere myself (GMT+10), so I do feel your pain regarding time zone differences. I think we'll all be okay once we get into the swing of things.
As to the alias line/headline, perhaps copy one of our headlines to make the formatting easier for you and then go to your character profile page click 'Edit My Profile'. Go to the section titled 'Classes/Levels' and then paste. You can then go through the information and add your character's pertinent stats/info and then hit 'Save Changes'.
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Thank you again, Cordia. Worked like a breeze. I have to say: trying out a new format of gaming it is so great to have someone as helpful as you on board.
You're very kind, Bumolin, and you're welcome to any help I can give. :) I'm sure any one of us would gladly help you out on this forum.
Hello! I'm Roxy, a CG halfling bard with a hatred of giants and the ability to burp the common alphabet. I'm on the run from the law for attacking a LG giant just cause he was a giant. I'm short, even by halfling standards, and unshoed.
In combat, I do typical bard stuff and stab things with my small rapier. Outside of combat, I'm a master of social and knowledge skills. I got cure light and grease for my spells. Oh, and I can cook!
Here's my stats
Init 6; Senses Perception: +5
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 16
hp 11
Fort 4, Ref 7, Will 2
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Rapier +5 (1d4-1 18-20),
Ranged Sling +5 (1d3-1 ),
Bard spells known (CL 1; concentration +6)
1st (2/day)- Cure Light Wounds (DC 14); Grease (DC 14);
0th (at will)- Detect Magic (DC 13); Light (DC 13); Prestidigitation (DC 13); Read Magic (DC 13);
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 16
Base Atk +0; CMB -2; CMD 12
Feats Arcane Strike; Cunning;
SQ ; Arcane Strike; Distraction; Fascinate; Inspire Courage +1; Rallying Cry;
Traits: Focused mind, Resilient, You're Fleeing the Law.
Skills: Bluff(1) +7; Diplomacy(1) +7; Escape Artist(1) +8; Knowledge (arcana) (1) +5; Knowledge (dungeoneering)(1) +5; Knowledge (engineering)(1) +5; Knowledge (nature)(1) +5; Perception +5; Perform (Sing)(1) +7; Profession (cook) (1) +3;
Equipment: Rapier, Sling, Shield, 20 sling bullets, a backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, a common musical instrument, a flint and steel, ink, an inkpen, an iron pot, a journal, a mess kit, a mirror, rope, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin.
GP: 11.8
Hi, Roxy. The full team’s signed in. :) BTW, We’re playing in two games together now - (I’m Izabelia in DM Dickie’s SS). Cordia’s on the run from the law, as well. Maybe the two can connect over it?
For reference, when/where is everyone? I'm in California at GMT -8.
Also, when does this get added to our Current Campaigns? When the Gameplay thread goes active? I'm still having to track this campaign down.
For reference, when/where is everyone? I'm in California at GMT -8.
Sydney (AEST) GMT+10
GMT -6 here.
Cordia, Thorfinn is 17. I had to think a bit about a campaign trait, and eventually settled on him also fleeing the law--doubtless something having to do with being in Cassomir wearing clothing and gear from the Eagle Knights after being rescued from the slaver, and what he had to do to get some more appropriate clothing.
I'm in Germany, near Stuttgart. I think it is GMT+2.
"Outlaws and misfits" seems to be the general theme of our group. Could become interesting.
Italy here, GMT+0200.
Kuvan is not fleeing the law, he's just trying to get to a town on the road of the carriage to visit a family friend. I think he's the "clean one" of the group at this point.
So, going by the chosen campaign traits:
Fleeing the Law: Cordia, Thorfinn, Roxy
Guide: Bumolin, Xylas
Local Connections: Kuvan
Wow. Quite an international game. Cool.
EST, Michigan, GMT -5
No worries about posting rate just yet, as I am planning on handling this in a mostly relaxed manner. Sure I'd like to see a post a day, pretty much like most games here, but if everyone can work in at least 4 appearances a week, I'm good with that. (Especially until we see how this all balances out, with all the different time zones.)
My intent is to post a prologue of sorts later today/tomorrow, and get the game fully moving by Monday. To answer your question, Xylas, when I start posting for Gameplay, that's when you'll see it in your campaigns.
No worries, GM Minotaur. I can certainly make a posting (and maybe more) daily during the week days. Weekends can get busier with family and carer duties (which I have to travel out of town for), so if I can't post for any reason, I'll let the group know on discussion. :)
I'm in Indiana, GMT -5, I think? Same as New York (for this part of the state). I can be quiet sometimes, but I'm checking for new posts three or more times during the week, and about the same on weekends. I'm trying a more outspoken character for Roxy. Hopefully, she'll have lots to say!
As for being on the run, Roxy is open about the fact that she stabbed a good giant. She hates giants, even through she knows that some are good. She's a little shocked at people robbing or committing serious crimes. In the Hamhill community, there wasn't much crime.
Sry. Didn't want to cause offense with the "outlaws and misfits"-comment. Was just a spontanous impression.
Posting once/day should work on most days.
Sry. Didn't want to cause offense with the "outlaws and misfits"-comment. Was just a spontanous impression.
No offense! Roxy is certainly a misfit.
Sry. Didn't want to cause offense with the "outlaws and misfits"-comment. Was just a spontanous impression.
I thought it was a cool impression and wasn't at all offended. (Cordia is an Outlaw!) Even Kuvan who isn't an outlaw could fit under 'Misfit' with his unusual appearance. ;)
She's a little shocked at people robbing or committing serious crimes. In the Hamhill community, there wasn't much crime.
Hopefully, she won't find Cordia too shocking. ;)
But I'm normal! Actually, Xylas grew up as a bit of an outsider in his small town. Wait. There are 'good' giants? Xylas might be dubious about that. : )
I have a looooong running campaign (11 yrs) on the boards here so I'm def in the habit of checking and typically posting daily. That said, I will be on vacation next week and off-the-grid so likely incommunicado Mon-Thurs. Unfortunately, that's typically the initial flurry of new game posting. :(
Glad to hear that. Bumolin would probably also qualify for the second category. So if they ever form a rockband, we already know what to put on the cover.
I have a looooong running campaign (11 yrs) on the boards here so I'm def in the habit of checking and typically posting daily. That said, I will be on vacation next week and off-the-grid so likely incommunicado Mon-Thurs. Unfortunately, that's typically the initial flurry of new game posting. :(
Aye, Cap'n!
;-)
Aye, Cap'n!
;-)
Hey there, Jimmy John! Totally missed that it was you under that Ulfish exterior.
The opening post for the game is up, folks, so allow me to welcome you officially to the Dragon's Demand.
Feel free to start posting.
Note: The setup situation is intended to be an opening scene, and not a TPK moment. If any of the characters decides to battle it out, so be it, but it should feel rather overwhelming...and besides, they are asking for Silas, not any of you, right? :)
@Bumolin: To make your dialogue stand out from the rest of the narrative, you can do so by using the following html coding:
At the start of the dialogue, type the square brackets [ ] and inside them type b for 'bold'. At the end of the dialogue, type the square brackets [ ] and insert /b to end the bold.
There are other html coding you can use as well. Under the posting box, there's a section/link on "How to format your text' with a tiny 'show' button you can click. It can help you out with bold, italics etc..
:)
The convention in the PbP games I've been in is to bold speech, italicize thoughts, and use the smaller and larger tags to denote whispering and shouting, respectively.
Yes, same here, Thornfinn. That’s a great rundown/summary for new players to PbP. :)
Thank you very much. I'll keep that in mind. When I use the format for dicerolls, does it "roll" automatically or do I have to do that separately and type in the result?
It rolls automatically, like this:
You can see the tag format under the "How to format your text" button below.
1. Was headed here to answer questions and SHAZAM! I've already got folks answering them for me. * grin * Thanks, guys.
2. Just waiting on Xylas to post before I get moving. (That and an absolutely chaotic night at home with the kids) Will post tomorrow regardless.
Xylas said he was going to be on vacation this week, and out of touch until Thursday or Friday.
I also sent Xylas a PM last night, so when he gets back from vacay, he can read the message and know we've officially started. Good luck with wrangling the kiddos, GM Minotaur!
I had a break long enough to run to the nearest town to check my calls, but yeah, otherwise no signal until Fri .
Apologies. My wife's uncle passed away suddenly yesterday, and things quickly got hectic over here. We're helping out, and so I might need a day or two more for things to settle down. Sorry, can't be helped.
My condolences, and don't worry about the game...RL has to come first.
My condolences. May he Rest In Peace. Take the time you need, GM.
My condolences. As already said: something like that comes always first. We can wait.
My condolences, hope your family will recover from the loss.
My condolences. Take all the time you need.
Sorry for your loss. I'll be around when you are ready.
Ok, our family is back in town, a day later than we planned, but with the holiday smacking up against losing my wife's uncle, it was harder to say good-bye to everyone, and easier to get convinced to wait to come back until today.
Will post SOMETHING and be hopefully back on track tomorrow. (Monday)
Thanks for understanding, guys.
Seriously appreciated.
How are you doing, GM Minotaur?
Crappy, tbh. Sadly, lots of family drama.
HOWEVER. The soft relaunch will be tomorrow.
Seriously folks, I appreciate the patience you've shown, and will endeavor to make your wait worthwhile.
This game is going to happen.
Crappy, tbh. Sadly, lots of family drama.
HOWEVER. The soft relaunch will be tomorrow.
Seriously folks, I appreciate the patience you've shown, and will endeavor to make your wait worthwhile.This game is going to happen.
Don't rush it, be sure to take care of yourself and your family first.