GM Harrow’s Curse of the Crimson Throne - AE

Game Master GM Harrow

No worries, GM. I hope the change goes as well as it can for you.

If we're still waiting on an action from Nicolai by tomorrow morning, perhaps it's time to bot him and move on. Please feel free to bot Shrike if it's ever been 24 hours since I could/should have posted in combat and I haven't yet. I'll add a section of botting tactics to her profile, since I'm thinking about it.

No worries, GM! Work has been insane for me lately so I understand.

I'll probably bot this evening, to be honest. I'm going to try to get to a 24 hour wait before I bot. I've been a bit slow on it in this and my Kingmaker games.

Just slow your roll. Unlike others I do not live on these boards. I'm a divorced Father who only gets to see his daughter every other weekend and when I'm with her that's my entire weekend. If I post on those days it's usually early in the morning when she's still asleep. I work Monday through Friday and Monday night is my IRL game night, so I post when I can.

Right now Nicolai is not too impressed with some of the members of this party who put the word murder in murderhobo. To him Abella is a psychopathic murderess and Shrike is borderline schizophrenic.

Speaking of which you seem quiet keen on telling others how to run their characters and how the should move and act which makes it decidedly less fun for those of us who just want to play.

Speaking of which you seem quiet keen on telling others how to run their characters and how the should move and act which makes it decidedly less fun for those of us who just want to play.

I could not agree with this more.

How about a lot less table talk and some more role playing.

Here is what I have to say in the interest of keeping this a friendly dialogue. At least from my end, I don’t think there are any problems that cannot be worked out with a good talk and cool heads!

I totally understand where you are coming from. My own parents are divorced and I went to my dad’s place on alternating weekends with my sister in high school. We did not know that was the case and it is customary to bot people after 24 hours on the boards during the week or after a weekend of silence. I’m in several games with people who have finished multiple APs on the boards, and communication and momentum are important to keeping a game going long enough to finish. It was certainly not meant as anything personal!

As for the character conflict you mention, I apologize for any bad blood. Abella is an odd duck amongst my characters as I rarely play non-good. She is meant to be in a bit of a rough place right now, and my thinking was she would be calmed down once this episode is resolved. The one person she cared about is dead and she is lashing out. I always write characters with an arc in-mind, and hers is meant to be her becoming a better less selfish person as time goes on. If that means Nicolai dislikes her for a while, I am totally okay with that. If something I am doing is making the game less fun for you, please feel free to DM me.

Regarding being told what to do, I feel you and also dislike having other people direct my character, which is why I was trying to lay down a boundary there in the gameplay thread. I’m a woman who has been playing in this hobby for over 2/3s of my life so I’ve had more than my share of people telling me how to play. I’m happy to trust y’all to do your things and for y’all to trust me doing mine! I’m a perpetual support character, so I’m used to just buffing other people so they can do their thing.

Anyways, I’m sorry that people are having a rough time and I hope to do whatever I can to help resolve it!

Righto. Good talk. Will keep posts material to Shrike's actions alone and in the gameplay thread from now on.

Some of them might still be alive. Garret got in a strangely lucky shot and tried to save who he shot. Others can do that as well, even if they are not the one who landed the blow.

The first couple of pages can be rough, but hopefully we find our groove together.

Yeah, hopefully. I feel like expressing frustrations is a good idea, as long as it doesn't get people too angry. I'm sorry, Nicolai. Didn't realize there was that much going on there. My bad.

Looking over the loot it looks like Audria's the only one that can use the bow and the chainmail. Somehow, the five foot nothin' waif is the strongest member of the party.

So, anyone mind if I claim those? I have a way around Audria's squeamishness.

No arguments here! Abella could use the armor but she’s also much less of a frontliner, so better you have it

Oh, I was mainly looking at STR. I forgot that Shamans got medium armor.

Go for it. If we ever find high dex shadowed armor I call dibs. :P

Alrighty. Post incoming. First I got to get some food in me.

I'm sorry I haven't posted on schedule. My life's been pretty crazy, and will continue to be so until Saturday. I'm not bailing, I've just got a lot going on with my job ending and stuff.

It's alright. Life comes first. We'll be here when you get back.

I’m having the work week from hell right now myself, so no worries! Just keep us updated

I'm back. It's been crazy, getting out of my classroom and everything. I'm going to get a post up in all my games, just to get things going and let them know I'm back. More/better posts tomorrow.

Audria's current line of thought:
"I just said that there's more of those things! Why did they go in there?!"

:P

Hey. I know I said I was back, but I'm dealing with some weird mental health stuff. Lots of anxiety and depression issues. I'm hoping after Christmas, it'll be better, if you're willing to wait for me.

Take your time. I'm sure we're all a little busy with the holidays.

Take care of yourself first, GM. We'll be here.

Allow me to third that. We'll still be here.

Hello, I will be on vacation from now through Jan 8th. I will have access to the internet, but I am not sure how much I will be able to post. Bot me as needed. Happy New Years!

I think Shrike is starting to see Audria as a troublesome little sister that needs constant watching. This should be a fun dynamic.

I’m sick at the moment so will be slow to post. Sorry for the delay :(

I’m sick at the moment so will be slow to post. Sorry for the delay :(

Oh noes! Get well soon. :(

Has anyone heard from out GM lately?

I'm here. I'm struggling with some anxiety and depression. I'm debating what to do with my games, and I'll let you know soon.

Okay. I know that dealing with those is rough. If you need to take some time for yourself, don't worry about us. Mental health is more important than games.

Alright my cold is now abated, but I’m still dealing with my long covid from before and a big work deadline on the 20th, but I’m here!

Eesh, sounds like you've got a lot going on. I wish you luck and good health.

Good luck, Abella. Deadlines are no fun even when you're not sick.

It looks like we've found the final combat of the gang hideout. Anyone heard from Garrett, Lina or Nicolai?

Garrett is GMing another game I'm in, so I know he's around. He was on vacation for a bit, though, and he may not have realized I'm back and moving this forward.

May be worth poking everyone via PM's just in case. I was looking forward to seeing Lina and Audria get closer, especially after this fight.

By the way, I did move my token up, but I figured that's where Audria would be when the door opened. I haven't posted yet because I'm aware that I can be a very overbearing player, and I try to be conscientious about that.

That and I'm not sure how Audria's going to respond after the double whammy of her first kill and falling into the river and looking like a drowned cat to her bravado. Maybe I'll think of it by the time someone else posts.

I said this in the gameplay, but I was the victim of an eaten post. I am still in and ready to go!

Paizo had a big announcement yesterday. You probably had the bad luck to try posting just as the site started getting hammered.

Oh, that's good. Audria would hate to make an assumption and wind up assaulting a random old man.

I'll wait for my initiative to roll around to post how she reacts.

I will be traveling from 1/26 through 1/29. I should have good access to the internet and be ble to post in the evenings. But feel free to bot as needed.

Working on a post this evening, but dinner is soon so it may not be up right away.

In the meantime, Nikolai won't be rejoining us. I'm fine with continuing on with the 5 of us, if that works for you guys. If we drop below 5, I'll try to find a 5th and 6th to refill.

Works for me.

Five is honestly ideal for me, so I’m good.

I wish him the best, even if we did not mesh well in-game!

Sounds good.

I'm still around. I'm waiting on Lina to post since that is probably going to have some impact on how Audria is going to react to Zellara being not-a-ghost.

Working on a post. Sorry, busier weekend than expected!

Hi guys.

I tend to get hyperfocused on one or two things in my life to the detriment of everything else. It's an issue that I'm aware of, but there's not much I've been able to do to break that pattern.

I'm starting up a new career path after leaving teaching in December, and also working through some mental health stuff. I've also been fortunate enough to reconnect with a few friends from years ago. Finally, I'm starting to write a novel, which is something I've always wanted to do but never tried before.

In short, PbP isn't something I'm focused on. Running a game or playing in one just isn't something I'm committed to, and it's showing in the quality and quantity of my posts, and on how well I'm following what's even going on in my games. I really hope you guys can find a new GM if you want to keep going, but right now, I just can't do it. I've really enjoyed running the game and playing with you all. Sorry.

Thank you for running.

Thank you for letting us know, Elfriede, and for running the game. I enjoyed your posts and writing. Good luck with the novel and career change.

Although I would be happy to continue as a player if we can find another GM, I know that's often a hard sell. I would offer to GM, but between running my voice/VTT game and being a player in one other PbP, I don't think I can realistically commit the amount of time it would take to do a good job.

Thanks for playing, everyone, and perhaps we'll see each other around on the forums.

Thanks for giving us a chance at least. I wish you success in your new career and with your novel. Having made the attempt a few times myself, the hardest part seems to be just finishing the first draft.

As for a new GM, I have The AP, but I'm not sure I have the time nor the will to run it. It's a huge undertaking and like Lania said, it can be a hard sell and finding a new GM can be hard, though not unheard of. I'll leave it up to the rest to what we do, however, and I'll help anyway I can.

I’m sorry to hear it, but I’m glad you are getting things together in your life! I really like the group and think there’s some great potential, but I can’t offer to GM myself. I was taking some time to think it over, but I really cannot play and GM at the same time.

I’m up for finding someone if y’all are!