There was a bunch of other stuff in there I voiced concern about, but no need for me to go into pros and cons - it's just not a game for me, for whatever reasons, but I'm sure the other players will have a great time. Enjoy all.
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My thought was 'a week without a DM response to my blather', but it amounts to the same thing: I'll officially drop this one. The rest of you have fun though, I think it'll be a good one, just not for me.
Blather to DM:
Not at all, but with no reaction posted - either positive or negative - all I can assume is that you've either by mistake or design ignored everything I've posted. After all, the DM is the players' eyes and ears in the game world, and it doesn't take long to type in 'people aren't interested in your song' or whatever... but nothing at all seems to imply that you, as a DM, don't want me to be posting this stuff... which is a little tough when the character is designed around performance and getting reactions from NPCs. As for steering him darker, yeah you can do that if you like... Actually it's the last thing I want to do with the character, but the lack of response to his 'fun' persona seemed to imply that it was more the sort of thing you were after - sort of a 'just shut up and follow the damn plot' response from the DM... again, as far as I could tell (without being face to face I have no way of telling if my portrayal of Darcy is amusing people or just pissing them off... unless people actually post responses). Of course, the 'well-dressed dwarf' also ignored Darcy's direct question as well, but without some DM response it looks like it's the DM, rather than the NPC, doing the ignoring. Again, it doesn't take long to type in 'the dwarf ignores you'. With the whole Eros thing, I was trying to go the route taken by artistes and performers throughout history, from Aristophanes to modern saterists, and respond to his crude assaults by using word and wit and performance - to take it to Darcy's arena (social interaction), rather than resort to pulling a sword and swinging at the guy. But when Eros' crude actions get the same amount of response (or, in fact, more - on two seperate occassions now) from the NPCs than Darcy's attempts at response which I've made the effort to back-up with actual game mechanics then, once more, it strongly implies that you (as the DM controlling the NPCs) would rather I just had Darcy go for the sword (or maybe, I guess, just bend over for Eros). Since the 'social arena' is where the character's abilities lie, that's much akin to telling a Fighter that he automatically misses every time he tries to hit an enemy, or telling a Wizard that all enemies are immune to his spells... It doesn't help, of course, that Eros' player tend to post actions which are obviously going to be opposed as if they automatically succeeded: spilling beer on Darcy, pissing on Darcy, slapping Darcy on the back. When he does that I'm forced to either respond, or to roll over and let that action occur. That sort of post - that is to say, assuming results which aren't automatic, or assigning actions to another player's character - breaks the basic ettiquette of PbPs in my book: it's something that couldn't occur in a tabletop game, where the other player is right there to say 'no... I don't think so', but in a PbP where people are stuck in different time zones with different posting times it can be easily abused to force one guy's view of what's happening onto everyone - all it takes is for a few other players to read it and post as if it were written in stone, and suddenly the victim of the action become 'a whinger who's slowing the game down' when he finally gets on-line, sees the abuse, and tries to say 'no... I don't think so' and everyone has to go back and revise a day's worth of posts. I've seen it happen in many a PbP game, and it's best to stamp it out from the start. I've tried to subtly ween the guy off such posts by Darcy's responses, but to be fair, it's not my game to police and I'm wary of ending up the guy who's always stepping on the DM's toes (which I think I've been skirting close to here by doing the whole 'rules lawyer' bit a couple of times too). Agh! I hate posting stuff like this, it's all serious and huge downer when all I want is to have the freedom to have fun with the game, and for everyone else to have fun too. So sorry, and like I mentioned previously, if you feel I'm disrupting the game with this stuff, I'd rather bow out than spoil anyone's fun... I don't know about you or the rest of the players, but RL has enough stress for me, I don't need to go searching for more on-line! ;)
Not wanting to clutter the game thread any more with such a ridonkulous conversation... ;) Eros - I'm kinda' confused as to what you're going for here. I suggested the bullying thing because you've taken the 'Bully' trait and if they knew each other as kids it made sense (either that, or Darcy would have been supporting the bullying as kids, and I picture Darcy as a nice guy). I didn't expect Eros to still be trying to bully Darcy when they're both in their thirties... but hey, it was your call, so I rolled with it. Now you're suggesting that I'm somehow forcing some 'feud' to continue, when so far Darcy's been treating the whole thing in a pretty lighthearted fashion. The last 'darker' post was a reaction to your presumption that Darcy should somehow accept Eros slaping him on the back and still insulting him every time he speaks by, I don't know, maybe rolling over or something? Like I said, I'm confused. If by 'ending the feud' you mean 'letting Eros win', then that's really not the sort of guy I pictured Darcy to be. To be honest, I thought it was all just a bit of fun, but I've been known to be wrong about these things, especially on these interweb games when it's hard to judge how other people are actually taking stuff. If this is threatening to be an issue, I'll happily volunteer to drop out of the game - it's a good one, but I'm here to have fun, not spoil anyone elses. Cheers.
You should understand that deep-seeded quarrels only have so much entertainment value. They are probably more entertaining if they are occasional rather than constant.
Darcy ignores Eros' hand, and has a look about him which suggests he's more than willing to defend himself if Eros tries to actually strike him... be that a slap on the back or not... Quietly to Eros:
'I shouldn't have to warn you not to touch me, Eros,' he hisses quietly to his fellow half-elf, 'we're not children any more, and even my patience wears thin...'
It's a wonder Eros hasn't taken his flail out and gone hard core by now lol. That's okay - Darcy resisted popping the boot blades when Eros dangled his tackle at exactly kicking height... ;)
Stepping out of the (admittedly well-aimed) pool of urine, Darcy cleans the mess with a quick cantrip, then indicates Eros as he addresses the crowd with a sympathetic shake of his head and a slight smile, 'Eros Tristil, ladies and gentlemen - you'll have to forgive him... been living in the wilds for too long, one imagines...' "Gentlemen, what could I offer to have you put your feud aside for...say...24 hours? ...without discussion of who started what when..." Hopping off the stage Darcy bows to Maelorn, 'Forgive our childish antics,' he says, as way of apology, 'Eros and I go back a long way... and it seems one of us hasn't matured one whit in the last twenty years...' he pauses, then with a rather cheeky grin adds, '... well, maybe neither of us have matured that much...'
Political Correctness disclaimer: despite the song, Darcy has nothing against the queer folk... he just thinks that it's the sort of thing that'll annoy Eros... ;)
"By the way cream puff....how do you normally remove all of that brown stuff from you tongue?" 'I suppose,' Darcy replies with a rather disappointed sigh, 'that it'd be too much to expect you to comprehend manners, considering your lack of understanding of even basic hygiene...' he makes a casual gesture to Ero's urine-drenched groin.
To the well-dressed dwarf who appraoches the group Darcy frowns and asks, 'Why on Golarion is Saul cancelling the event? The winnings are returned, the villains vanquished. This was a mere distraction - half the patrons in here are pirates, and the other half tougher than that... It seems a little nonsensical to me.' Still, he hangs around, and even leaps back on the stage for another song... Song:
'You've seen that he's ugly,
You've heard that he's crude, (Some even suspect that he's queer), But worse than his hygiene or his attitude, Eros Tristil drinks light beer! He's frightened of ale,
So lightweight we call him,
Hearing Maelorn's words to Bor, Darcy comments... In Dwarven: 'Ah yes, a good robust language - excellent for really serious swearing!'
'You call that a "real fight"?' Darcy grins at Alexandru, his elven ears picking up the comment, 'My, my - someone has a lot to learn...'
Darcy casts a couple of prestidigitation cantrips... DM eyes only!:
First will be the 'soil' version on Eros' clothes - before he's fully recovered from the colour spray, of course. Depending on how directed that use can be, if possible he'll make it look like Eros had a little 'accident' in his britches whilst KOd... Up to you how much of this casting is obvious to others, natch! :) ... the second of which cleans and tidy's Darcy's fancy clothes - including removing any lingering stains from oaf-spilled beer! Seeing Maelorn return with the mini-chest Darcy laughs out loud, 'Well done that man!' he declares, 'What fun!' "I'd appreciate it if you would all help me disarm the injured and gather them to a central location along with the bouncers so that I can heal them. I'd just as soon keep the fatalities to a minimum. If any of them are still alive, I can heal them, but I want to make sure they are no threat." Darcy nods, 'I like the cut of your jib, sir,' he replies, with a slight bow. In contrast he simply rolls his eyes at Alexandru's words, as if he'd heard such nonsense before, and doesn't consider it worthy of retort. "Well fought friends... Me friends call me Bor" Taking Bor's hand and giving it a hearty shake Darcy nods, 'An unfortunate sobriquet,' he notes with a smile, 'and hopefully one you'll prove in contrast to your character! I'm Darcy DeWinter... in case you didn't catch that earlier... and I'm pleased to call you friend, Bor.' Darcy proceeds to help Maelorn move those in need of healing, making sure fair Thuvalia is made comfortable and well looked after.
For a brief moment Darcy stares at Zane with an aghast expression on his face... which is quickly replaced by a broad grin as he shrugs and replies, 'Fair point.' (the observant may notice Darcy's 'posh' accent slip a little into 'Riddleport commoner' as he replies to that one, genuinely amused by Zane's witty retort). "Darcy, is it? With the woman down, can you rouse the patrons to stop that man?"
'All hail Darcy: slayer of devils!' announces Darcy with a rather devilish grin of his own . With that he pushes through the (I presume) still milling crowd to get to Thuvalia's side.
Frowning at the devilish imp where his true love (of the hour) should be, Darcy mutters, 'Let me introduce myself: I'm a man of wealth and taste...' Then, with a bit more effort maintains the ongoing oration , 'Any thieves who want to volunteer for lying in a pool of their own blood please keep fighting us... Seriously, do you have to fail some sort of intelligence test to get into the thuggery business? Eros, you'd have first hand experience of that, perhaps... Oh... he's out again... never could handle his grog that one... probably had a half - way over his usual limit...' Takes a swipe at the imp:
p. 194 to 195 in the core rule book says Tiny & smaller creatures entering your square for melee do provoke, yes (but as the DM mentioned, only if you could attack them normally - i.e. not if they surprise attack you, etc.). As for not having books to hand - I find the PRD link (three links down, under the logo and search, top left of the page) is a lifesaver... as long as the boss isn't looking over your shoulder whilst you browse... ;)
Glancing down at the thug he's just skewered, Darcy sighs, 'Why do they never listen to the whole "wrath" bit?' he mutters, then shakes his head and runs to vault up on the stage once more, trying to flank Thuvalia (and gain a high ground advantage), orating as he goes, 'The day is won, the thugs are doomed! What say you that fair Thuvalia comes with me for... questioning... while the rest of you try to... um... "resize" the loot?'
Eros wonders why Cream Puff hasn't written a song about him yet. Surely such a piece would be a source of inspiration for both young and old. Oh, Darcy has a song about Eros ready to go... just waiting for the right time to sing it... :)
Sorry about that, your equipment list only says "Darkwood Shield"; I assumed it was a light shield. Yeah, I took it from page 467 where they list 'Darkwood Buckler' (a buckler) and 'Darkwood Shield' (a heavy shield), but you're right, I should have stated outright, especially considering there's that whole seperate section on darkwood stuff on page 154. Great game - Darcy's even finally hit a bad guy! :)
[I assume steps back, holds sword with shield hand]
Round 4: Feeling a little healthier, Darcy's torn between his logical brain thanking the gods that some of the heat is off him, and his romantic brain being sad that the pretty lady ran away... 'That's right, you grog-blossoms!' Dacy continues to orate, 'Run! Lest you face the wrath of... Darcy DeWinter!.. and some other heroes... (and Eros...).'
... though I reserve the right to bend descriptive text for dramatic purposes. Gods yes, please do! :) As for the critical hits and fumbles, well I have these Critical Hit and Critical Fumble decks that I like to use. Okay - now I'm really scared! ;)
so I lost my round 2 action..ok
Round 3: Rather amazed that he's actually still standing, Darcy backs to the card table while keeping up his oration , 'While I'd never harm a lady,' Darcy grins (quite possibly like the proverbial idiot, considering his beaten state - but at least he's still cute...) to Thuvalia, 'it seems that others aren't quite as blinded by your beauty...' he nods to the wound caused by Zane's magical assault, '... I strongly suggest you all surrender before my companions of the moment get fed up and start to take this whole thing seriously.' Darcy sheaths his longsword to free up a hand... ... and casts Cure Light Wounds on his own battered form...
I kinda' hate to mention this, because Darcy came out of this little exchange well, and when I talk crunch in an on-line game it always seems to come across as criticism, which it's not meant to be. But... The Special Initiative Actions rules (p.202 to 203 in the core book) for both Delay and Ready specifically prevent this sort of 'double dipping' of actions. When you Delay or Ready your Initiative count changes to when you actually act - you never get two actions in one round just for taking a Delay or Ready action. If you wait a whole round without acting, you lose your chance to act - basically you've just been hanging on, and hanging on... and simply waited out your chance to go. So, if Thuvalia waited until the very end of a round to fire at Darcy her new Initiative count would be at the very end of the next round. If she waited until just before her previous Initiative count, then the same thing happens - she's wasted a whole round waiting, and merely notched her Initiative count up by one. If you think about in-game logic this makes sense - you can't act any faster by waiting, although you can be ready to react faster. Think about a character getting ready to run a sprint race: he can wait and be ready to start running as soon as the gun goes off, but he can't boost himself to twice his normal speed for six seconds just by waiting. Of course, this could be a DM house rule (if so, it'd be nice to know - 'cos the ability to double dip actions is pretty easy for PCs to exploit), or something weird happening behind the scenes (although I'd have expected some sort of description to support anything that weird - like 'she's moving so fast she blurs' or something - but even Haste doesn't let you do what she did, so it'd have to be weird indeed). If so, sorry for bringing it up! On the subject of house rules - I see you're using the 'fumble' option. Any other options or house rules beyond the norm we should know about? But, most importantly, I'm really enjoying this game: excellent DMing, thanks!
Gritting his teeth as the point of a thug's rapier slices him from behind, Darcy inwardly sighs at the lack-luster response to his rousing speach: that he thinks to himself, is why the world needs heroes... Managing to still smile through the pain of his wound, Darcy keeps up the verbal tirade, 'Keep it up lads!' he shouts encouragingly, 'We've got 'em on the ropes!'... honestly he silently adds to himself...
Edit: okay, so Darcy obviously forgot which end of a sword goes in the other guy... but on the plus side, he has a beautiful singing voice! ;)
Darcy laughs out loud, a grin spliting his handsome face: silken banners, chandeliers, and him on the stage at the most accustically viable spot in the hall? Perfection! He mutters a pray of thanks that of all the gods, at least Cayden Cailean knows how to offer his followers a good time... he calls out, addressing the female bard who seems to be leading the criminals, but making sure all can hear him, he calls to the crowd, in an attempt to rally them,
But we haven't seen the chest opened yet, right? But hey, I'm just (what is it the Americans call it..?) 'spitballing' here, just taking stabs in the dark as it were... :)
Anyone else notice we haven't seen the alledged 'prize money' yet? I smell a con here...
Resisting the blinding light, Darcy frowns as he mutters, 'Really! Interupting my performance like that... some people don't appreciate good music I guess...' "This is unwise. You are outnumbered here. Stand down and we can avoid bloodshed."
No probs - but please note that interactive skills, like Intimidate, only work on NPCs. As a PC I get to chose Darcy's actions. This is a very good thing (otherwise Darcy could effectively 'mind-control' a group of 2nd level PCs as he has +12 to both Bluff and Intimidate). Besides - I'm pretty sure Darcy didn't just stand there and give Eros the 1 minute of conversation he'd need to use Intimidate to change someone's attitude.
'Sorry, Eros,' quips Darcy, backing away from his childhood tormentor, 'but I have no time to fight a battle of wits with an unarmed man.' Scowling at Eros he then announces in a loud voice,
Scooting away from Eros while he can, Darcy then looks for Aliandra and casts a quick cantrip: a Ghost Sound of a good, long (12 seconds) fart (as loud as eight humans shouting) coming from the rival bard's location. Finally, once the host has finished his talk, Darcy will vault to the stage and start to sing, song:
'There's a Riddleport lass with a devilish twist,
Who can kiss with remarkable skill. From pauper to noble we all want a tryst, With the girl named Lavender Lil. Our Lil has those eyes of a lavender hue,
Now Lil has two horns of the devilish kind,
The women all back off Darcy suddenly except for Lady Tabithi, who doesn't believe it, and Lady Sidara, who doesn't care. Sennetta, shocked, is dragged off by her mother. Lord Afflon mutters "I knew it!" This particular party is over and the nobles wander off.
Totally confused by the bizzare reactions of his noble friends to Eros' obvious nonsense, Darcy scans the surrounding crowd for any sign of someone using magic... the only explaination he can think of...
Darcy's reaction to Eros' unprovoked assault is a simple sad shaking of his head as he calls for a cloth to wipe himself down with, 'Yes Eros,' he says with a sympathetic tone, 'you beat me fair and square and married that horse... well done, old chap, well done...' He rolls his eyes at his noble friends as if to reinforce the 'just humour him' explaination he'd given moments before.
Laughing and jesting with his noble 'friends', Darcy pushes the urges stimulated by the lovely Lil to the back of his mind for the moment, instead chanelling those feelings into the smiles he offers the ladies present. "Hey, over here master Dwarf! You look like a sturdy sort! What say you accompany me and my friend here on a little investigation?" The familiar sounding voice - not to mention the familiar crude manner in which it is being used - causes Darcy to glance over and see Eros. Swearing under his breath he turns his face away, addressing the nobles, 'Oh gods,' he begins, 'don't look now, but I think I know that savage-looking brute. One of my countrymen,' he explains, 'devoted to me in his way, I suppose, but his is a tragic tale... he was kicked in the head by a unicorn as a small child, never fully recovered... gets so confused sometimes - it's usually best to just humour him if he starts spouting nonsense...'
Smiling at everyone, Darcy makes towards his 'fellow' effete nobles, by way of Lavender Lil - whom he'll grab and spin into a few quick dance steps (whilst giving her a nod and a wink to let her know he recognises her, but isn't about to blow her cover). Reaching his 'peers' he laughs out loud as he observes, 'I don't know if it's the promise of gold or the promise of devils to liven up this town, but it looks like we've all sorts here! Well, there's nothing wrong with slumming it every now and then, right chaps?'
You sing very well. Its too bad I have to play the bully, or else I would be your biggest fan! Cheers! I'm looking forward to the Eros / Darcy interaction... I can picture a guy like Darcy quickly getting insufferable if there was no-one in the group to puncture his false exterior once in a while. Sorry man. Brutal heat stopped me cold last night; plus I just got the APG. I should manage something after work today though. No probs - was just wandering at the plan was all. :)
So... are we waiting for Zane to finish moving and post, or did my singing scare everyone off already? ;)
He tries to blend in, though, knowing the adage of the fool's money.
Darcy strides into the gambling den full of cheer (and possibly a little grog too...), resplendent in his finely tailored forest-green with silver trim jacket doublet, britches, matching cloak, and silver jewellery declaring his noble elven heritage for any with the sophistication and wit to recognise good breeding when they see it! The tree emblem on his clothes matches that on his signet ring, the crosspiece of his expertly forged longsword, and the coat-of-arms on the darkwood shield slung over his shoulder (and under the cloak, but still visible peeking out). His long raven-dark hair is expertly styled, as is his neatly trimmed moustache and goatee beard. Altogether a finer figure of a half-elf you never did see! As he enters he's singing a rather bawdy local song... Song:
'Three abbesses in Riddleport
Were drinking a sherry wine, Says one of them to the other two, "Yours is smaller than mine." "You're a liar," says the second abbess
"You're a liar," says the third abbess,
"You're a liar," says the second abbess,
"You're a liar," says the first again,
Tossing the gold piece entrance fee to the appropriate individual (as if such coins were as nothing to one with so much wealth as he obviously has) Darcy declares, 'Cards, drink, and wenches! Not necessarily, you understand, in that strict order...'
Darcy will be, if possible, ingratiating himself with whatever 'fellow' nobles or other persons of high status (and wealth!) may be attending, telling entertaining anecdotes and the like and generally worming his way into their good graces. His preference is (naturally) pretty young noblewomen, but this is his 'job' so he's not fussy (and probably quite good when targeting the wealthy widow types!). If this is too low-class for any of wealth or breeding to attend, he'll simply be doing his best to charm whatever pretty girls are present, and generally be the life of the party. If Eros agrees that the characters know each other from their youth, then Darcy will in all likelyhood be trying to avoid the guy... or at least not volunteering the fact they're aquainted.
Oh yes, Darcy remembers that dreadful cad Eros quiet well - having been bullied by him when they were both children! Then there was that incident when they both tried to woo the same daughter of a local baker... Yes - one had hoped that such a ruffian was lost to the wilds forever, but ho-hum... ;)
Made a small change to Darcy's second favoured class (from Fighter to Rogue - dipping in for some Sneak Attack and Evasion at some point could match how I picture his swashbuckling style). With the professions of Maelorn and Darcy's respective mothers the two could know each other - although Darcy's 14 years older than Maelorn, so he could treat him as a 'kid brother'... as long as the kid keeps his mouth shut about the whole 'real background' bit... ;)
Cool, thanks. Hit points now updated. His 'parade armour' by the way, is for the imaginary 'elven forest kingdom' he is 'heir to, if not for the prejudice of his grandfather, the king, against his half-human nature' - the trappings match his signet ring too. I.e. he's full of it (but the ladies of the court love such romantic tales, don'tcha' know...)! So, I doubt he'll ever get the +2 Diplomacy and Intimidate bonus against people from that country for wearing it ('cos he made the country up) but it just seemed more in keeping for Darcy than simple studded leather. ;)
Right-o, copied in the background fluff and brought some fancy gear. Quite a bit of stuff's from the Adventurer's Armoury - hope that's okay?
How hard is it to find an avatar image of a pointy-eared man who's actually smiling? I never noticed it before, but elves in the published artwork seem to be a dark and brooding (or maybe just angry) lot! EDIT: Character mostly done, fluff and equipment to follow. Level 2 Hit Points: So... 'average +1' is 5.5, so is that a 5 or a 6?
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