Sorry, my IRL DM called a surprise game, so I wasn't here most of yesterday. I wasn't able to post, as my twin has a near monopoly on our computer.
Is something happening in the world that I'm unaware of? Yesterday only Viktor posted, and it's a little frustrating when I asked for 1/day posts.
I don't mean to reprimand you or anything, but this seems to be universal for all my APs and I haven't a clue what's going on.
@Aerys: The professor took six vials. The darkwood case is not related to the vials - it's a separate item.
Sorry i didn't post sunday - i was waiting to see how everyone wanted to approach the sarcophagas. For some reason i didn't think to check ooc thread.
The combat system sounds fine by me. The serpents skull pbp i was in fell apart twice at the very beginning - I was only in a couple of light combats, but the initiative method you posted sounds far more workable.
I have a favour to ask of you.
In circumstances such as Aerys mentioned, I ask that you act regardless - while I understand the character is likely to wait for somebody else, I do feel as though it keeps the momentum going if this is made clear in-character instead.
If you truly believe you don't have anything to contribute, then alert me in the OOC thread so I can push the plot forward. If you feel as though you're "in the way", tell me. You're my players. I want to make you all feel like you're contributing, and I want to see you all active and posting as oft as possible.
No problem. I'm online & checking all day on weekdays while at work and again late at night. On weekends, i check in the morning and after I get my little girl to bed - she claims complete ownership of the day :). I've actually been concerned about posting too much & taking the chance to do things away from others.
I would honestly prefer you post too much rather than too little. If it should become a problem, then posting less wouldn't be a problem either.
Hey Patcher, do you mind if I post multiple rounds in combat? I mean, I can post "I'll do X in this round and Y on next round".
Also, about general posting, any tips? This is my first pbp, and I'm still getting the hang of it. Should I use italics for actions, like Torsten? How about descriptions? Are they too dry, too long? I always fear the "giant wall of text" phenomenon, and wouldn't want my posts to be a drag on the group.
If you feel comfortable with it, by all means - but keep in mind that your action may be invalidated by the actions of others - say, you attack X and then specify to attack X again, but everybody else kills X before the next round begins, you still have to return to post.
I personally don't use italics for actions - I use them for thoughts (which you won't see while I'm a DM, since I don't play a character) - but I also like the 'feel' of italics for actions. I won't advocate either as wrong, it boils down to preference. I do prefer bolding your dialogue so it's easy to separate.
You shouldn't be afraid of the "giant-wall-of-text-" phenomenon. I personally prefer more details over less, but you're right in that it may seem superfluous. It depends on the character you wish to convey as well - your writing style adds to the personality. If you use big words, you're likely to convey a character who is frequently eloquent - if you're short of description and dialogue, your character comes off as blunt, ect.
Having given that ... lesson, apparently, don't be afraid. If you do something horribly wrong (or something I personally dislike so much it grates on my brain), I will call you out on it. The only thing I ask is that you post once per day, and that it is relevant to some degree. As long as you enjoy the PbP experience, then that's what matters. Worry about my ridiculous standards* once you're comfortable.
*I am thoroughly pleased with the campaign thus far and have no critique to give to any of you yet, so please don't worry. I am enjoying all of your characters.
Aerys would aim at the one on torsten first, but if he's killed it could it be shifted to the one on valerya?
Yes, it can. Feel free to post alternate actions in case your action is invalidated - it saves time.
It's very rare that I post thoughts - because honestly, neither the other players nor the DM should really know what the character is thinking, in my own humble opinion, other than being able to infer it from his words and actions. But, if I do post thoughts, I use Bold+Italic.
But Patcher's spot on, to each his own style, as long as it's not too irritating or jarring. You can't really make to serious of a mistake, anyway.
Posting character thoughts is called "meta-posing". It's a serious breach of the "show, don't tell" rule. As soon as I see italics from other players I tend to skip over, as I don't want to know what other characters are thinking unless they're wearing a helm of thought broadcasting. It makes it too hard to separate player and character knowledge.
Posting character thoughts is called "meta-posing". It's a serious breach of the "show, don't tell" rule. As soon as I see italics from other players I tend to skip over, as I don't want to know what other characters are thinking unless they're wearing a helm of thought broadcasting. It makes it too hard to separate player and character knowledge.
I disagree with it being an automatic breach of "show, don't tell." It depends on how the player in question handles it, and how he plays. Personally, I don't truly play my character as much as "I write about him" in PbPs. So I post the way I would write a story. That's what I consider these: a continuous story with multiple writers. Of course opinions will not match, but that's what we get for being individuals.
To me, it's got nothing to do with "should players know this?", it's to do with narrative. I only express thoughts for my characters, though - not NPCs.
Actually, the last pbp i was in the DM wanted all non-dialogue in italics - i've been doing that way thinking it was some sort of pbp standard. It never occured to me to have a seperate means for expressing thought - i'll start reserving italics for that.
The nice thing about pbp's is that everybody can play as they wish in many ways. For the vast majority of players, posting thoughts doesn't bother me at all. I did play briefly with one person who made six paragraph posts of only thoughts, nothing else, and still expect us to react to what he posted! He argued that we should know what his character was thinking about because he'd be making facial expressions, body language, etc, at which point we responded with, how about posting the facial expressions and body language, and letting us make conclusions about what he was thinking! Show, not tell.
However, nobody's posting of thoughts in this game is even a blip on the irritation radar, so no worries. I think we have some interesting folks in this game, and it is kind of fun to go back after the fact to read the inner dialogue.
Am glad to hear it wouldn't irritate you. I can agree with the notion that a character's thoughts shouldn't be "anybody else's business" as it were, but at the same time I do consider them part of the post, rather than a 'wrong' (as mentioned), if done correctly.
I have no idea how I'd react to the player you mentioned, though. I would be irritated, likely.
I'll be more absent than not today and tomorrow. Struggling with sleeplessness and grief. One of my rats died last night. Will try to get a post in, but no promises.
I apologise.
After a day of mourning, and a good night's sleep, I'm back. Let us return to the madness that is Ravengro and Ustalav.
Valerya, it is vital that you post soon - the last post particularly involves you.
Hopefully things start looking up today. I'll post as we set off - guess my "uneventfull return trip" post was being overly optimistic :)
I just found out that I'm going to be leaving for a seven day cruise starting sunday. Don't you love it when you are warned about things that could screw up prior engagements? -_- I don't know if you want to NPC me, or just drop me, but I suppose I'm fine with whatever comes of it.
We can NPC you if necessary.
Sorry for my absence folks, a busy day at work yesterday and a wedding today have had me at odds. I have 2 seconds before I hit the bed, so just popping in to apologize. I'm posting first thing tomorrow. Sorry, Patcher.
I'll probably display a bit of thoughts here and there. Valerya is a really practical person (with little people skills), not one prone to speeches and flowery words, so her words are almost always direct and to the point. That may sometimes make my posts a little dry, and I'll try to compensate with off-character descriptions. If anyone has a problem with that, lemme know ;)
I'm sure all of you have heard of the bombing and shooting that happened in Norway - what you might not know is that I'm from Norway too. Because of the scale of this tragedy, I won't consider this weekend in regards of the 1/day minimum requirement. I hope, come tomorrow, that we'll up the pace of this campaign, though.
Meta-knowledge wise, Kendra is a 2nd-level Wizard.
Posting just to let everyone know I got my cable and internet back, and will be able to post more ;)
Admittedly I never considered spirits to be the same as undeads.
And no, all arrows in the batch.
Also, please no ooc-only posts in the IC thread...
Slight nit-picking, Valerya - I don't think Germany is a country in Golarion, so a "German" shepard most likely doesn't exist. I would also suggest Alsatian, but since its etymology is related to Alsace, which is a French region, it also wouldn't make sense.
Dog breeds in Golarion in general is an untouched subject - and this is just me having compulsory desires to be as "correct" to the setting as possible. I don't reckon there is a German shepard equivalent either.
You didn't do anything wrong, though these kind of happenings tend to irk me. Maybe call it a Shepard dog? (for... 'correctness'. Because I'm a twat.)
No problem Patcher; I don't understand the first thing about dogs, so I searched a bit to find out what a "Guard dog, 25 gp" looked like and found that a suitable match. If you have any suggestions on breed/etc, lemme know.
Sadly I can't edit the post anymore; will correct in the future. I don't expect to take the dog everywhere, but I do intend to make it my animal companion once I reach appropriate level.
Is everything ok out there? The game seems to have got really slow, but maybe it's only an optic trick (I got my broadband back and am staying on the PC almost all day).
My apologies. I keep waiting for somebody else to post - I just now remembered that Viktor was off on a cruise until Sunday.
Aside from Viktor, however, I am noticing that the pace has slowed considerably down. Is this part just not motivating you? Am I doing something wrong?
I'm curious, how many of you are attending Gen Con this year?
In most of my groups, I'd be the guy to keep trying to move us forward. In this group, at this point - that's hard to do.
EPIC BARBARIAN RESEARCH!
Not so much.
My advice from playing in a fair amount of these games is that one of you caster-y types needs to take a bit of control right now. "We go here, we do this" - type posts.
Trust me, once we get in a fight, I'll be right in the front, pushing the pace. It's just tough for me right now.
I second that. I failed miserably on the one research method I could envision (the gather information check earlier on). Valerya's just hoping someone else will hit the books and deliver juicy information, but she'll take a more direct approach for this.
Patcher, I'm assuming that I'm scrubbing with all my might until you tell me I'm done.
Patcher, I'm assuming that I'm scrubbing with all my might until you tell me I'm done.
Ah, yeah, I should start putting up a "Time of Day" indicator, so you all know how much time you spend on your actions.
I'm finally back. The cruise was pretty good, but it was rainy on most of the islands. :/
In any case, I'll be posting soon, but I'm going through all of my PBPs, trying to find out what's going on and everything, so it may be an hour or two before I actually get to post on the IC thread.
Kendra was suggesting that you take the full 4 hours for a bigger bonus to your knowledge roll, Aerys - I'll likely count it as 4 hours.
I have a houserule suggestion I wish for you to comment upon.
ALTERNATIVE LEVEL ADVANCEMENT: THE STEP SYSTEM
The reason I suggest this is: instead of one big and drastic advancement every level, you gradually level up - so instead of two months (or what have you) between each visible character power increase, you get more visible results more often.
What do you think? Yes? No? If we do try it out, and end up hating it, we can abolish it.
I'm willing to give it a try. Definitely wouldn't mind the occasional small boost.
Sounds good in a play-by-post...it can be a forever between leveling.
Yeah, that sounds good to me as well.
I'm in favor of giving it a shot, at least.
Looks like Kendra has those two nicely wrapped around her little finger!!
Yes, Apparently. :P
Then we shall officially adopt the Steps Progression levelling system for this Carrion Crown Campaign.
And I will happily inform you that you have, in fact, gained 2 steps already.
Please post your advancement here for review; I recommend a format similar to this - but feel free to do it how you want, so long as it is orderly and easy to read.
Step selection: (A/B/C/D)
(IF A)
HD increase: (insert value)
HP increase: (dX + Con - if value lower than average + 1, choose average + 1)
BAB increase: +X
(IF B)
Fort: +X (from +X)
Ref: +X (from +X)
Will: +X (from +X)
(IF C)
+X skill ranks;
+1 rank to <insert Skill here> (from <old value> to <new value>
(IF D)
<insert new class skills in an orderly fashion>.
Re Campaign: Aerys and Viktor will be occupied for 4 hours. If Valerya, Torsten or Venedictos wish to let the 4 hours pass without doing anything, tell me here in the OOC thread.
I'm planning to try breaking in the town hall by night to have a look at those forbidden archives (although I'll probably have to wait for nighttime).
OK here goes mine:
Class Selection: Ranger
Step Selection: C (Skills)
+8 skill ranks;
+1 rank to Climb (from 0 to 1)
+1 rank to Disable Device (from 1 to 2)
+1 rank to Handle Animal (from 0 to 1)
+1 rank to Intimidate (from 0 to 1)
+1 rank to Perception (from 1 to 2)
+1 rank to Ride (from 0 to 1)
+1 rank to Stealth (from 1 to 2)
+1 rank to Knowledge (religion) (from 0 to 1)
edit: Seeing we had 2 steps of advancement, the second one will be:
Step Selection: D (Class Ability)
Combat Style Feat (Rapid Shot)