[OOC] Getting There Is Half the Fun OOC

[secretID]

DM Requests 1) Please use at least minimal formatting in your posts for legibility. During combat, that includes a separate section (under a button or in a fieldset) stating movement, action, etc. Let me know if you need a template to copy - I knew nothing about formatting when I came to RPGX. 2) Please include a link to your character sheet somewhere in your post template. 3) Please keep OOC-only posts in this thread. An OOC comment within a regular game (IC) post is fine.

General Tips 1) Mapping probably won't be necessary. 2) Expect to have two short rests and no long rests, regardless of whether, e.g., the PCs get a full night of rest. 3) Remember that this isn't a combat-only game; look for opportunities to use skills and non-combat abilities.

Combat Tips and Notes 1) Visibility/darkness may matter, so keep light sources in mind. 2) Cover bonuses (+2/+5) will be applied. Firing “through” creatures counts as +2 cover. 3) When I provide a combat map, flanking is available. 4) The bad guys will act on one initiative, so combat will alternate between their turn and yours. When it's the players’ turn, I won't pay attention to initiative; I'll process moves in the order in which they're posted.

Rolling for skills checks and some saves In person and PBP, I do some checks for the players for more realism. (Consider Perception: when you roll a 20 and the DM tells you there’s nothing there, you know there really isn’t, but if you don’t know what was rolled…) With some skills - knowledge skills, Insight - if your (secret) roll is very bad, I might give you misinformation. In PBP there's an additional issue of lag - I tell you I need a roll, you roll, I tell you the results... So unless there's a big objection, I'll either roll openly for you when a check is needed (like Athletics) or tell you in words what your PC's understanding is ("She is sure the goblin is lying"). I'll also roll saves for you from an enemy attack when that's more efficient. On your side, you get to roll the enemies' saves to your attacks if you like to move things along. I can just roll when it's obvious (you just told me that you were trying to lie someone, so Deception) or you can specifically request to use a skill ("Does Jane know anything about this creature - Arcana +2?").

Roleplay and interaction skills It's very important to me that no one think, "I shouldn't participate here because my character has bad interaction skills," especially not in this game, in which attributes were rolled. (Of course, if you've chosen that your character is socially awkward or something, that's different.) Please interact as fits your PC (without trampling all over the game), and I'll let you know if/when it's roll time.

48-hour rule Out of combat, I'll wait for some undefined reasonable time to post. In combat, I won't update until all players have posted. Unless the players agree to some other system, after 48 hours after an in-combat DM post, any player can post for a PC who hasn't been posted for yet.

I’m more agreeable than this seems Welcome! Please feel free to ask any questions.

[BlackDragon0]

hello everyone.

[Mindsiege]

Hi everybody, happy to join the adventure and looking forward to play Morgan together with this cast of characters.
I'm generally a fan of the 48-rule, but personally I'd hope that we'd agree on the 72-rule instead, just to buy me some usually I don't need it, I thinktime.

@secretID:
Since it's the first time I'm rolling under you I wanted to make sure about your preference from your list above. Should I never include rolls for things that Morgan tries to do?

On the note of Umberlee, as much as the god is hated, I'm sure a ship with an Umberlee cleric on it is a little less likely to sink. Which sounded to me like a good thing. But if that doesn't track, then I'll defer any kind of misunderstandings to my messenger boy for being uneducated about religion.

Just one more thing I'd like to confirm mechanically. Morgan is a Life Cleric and with her last level up she learned the spell Goodberry. By my own understanding and research, I gathered this means that a single cast of Goodberry can restore up to a total of 40 HP spread across the actions it takes to eat the berries. Also, I'd like to know if you'll allow Morgan to bring a batch of goodberries that she'd have created on her last long rest before this adventure starts. Which would come up to 30 berries for a duration of 24 hours or however long you deem appropriate inside the WM context.

[Corwin]

Hi all, glad to be aboard the Journey!

[Cheshire]

hello hello

[secretID]

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

I'm generally a fan of the 48-rule, but personally I'd hope that we'd agree on the 72-rule instead, just to buy me some usually I don't need it, I thinktime.

Highlighting this so people chime in. That may make a significant difference, though it's worth saying that people seem to rarely employ the rule. Except me, when I'm a player - I like to keep things moving.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

@secretID:
Since it's the first time I'm rolling under you I wanted to make sure about your preference from your list above. Should I never include rolls for things that Morgan tries to do?

Correct, or at least err strongly on that side. There are exceptions, e.g., you're trying to grapple so you include your Athletics roll. And no big deal if you mess up; it's hard to remember.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

On the note of Umberlee, as much as the god is hated, I'm sure a ship with an Umberlee cleric on it is a little less likely to sink. Which sounded to me like a good thing. But if that doesn't track, then I'll defer any kind of misunderstandings to my messenger boy for being uneducated about religion.

I think a promoter of the de facto goddess of shipwrecking may have some friction with sailors. If you're going to make that change, please do so ASAP, as it may be a plot point otherwise.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

Morgan is a Life Cleric and with her last level up she learned the spell Goodberry. By my own understanding and research, I gathered this means that a single cast of Goodberry can restore up to a total of 40 HP spread across the actions it takes to eat the berries.

Yes. I wouldn't have ruled that way, but it's a fairly famous Crawford interpretation, and as you know I like to defer to him for simplicity and consistency.

Originally Posted by Mindsiege

Also, I'd like to know if you'll allow Morgan to bring a batch of goodberries that she'd have created on her last long rest before this adventure starts. Which would come up to 30 berries for a duration of 24 hours or however long you deem appropriate inside the WM context.

Yes, but 16 hours, actually - 24 minus the 8-hour LR afterwards (unless Morgan is an elf or something). You do have a significant sea voyage ahead, though, so pray for an early bloody fight.

[BlackDragon0]

I'm playing Storm a Tempest cleric of Zeus. He loves lightening and thunder so be prepared for the storm!

oh and for those who haven't guessed one of his flaws is a haterd/ fear of water, boats, and travel on them....

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by secretID

I think a promoter of the de facto goddess of shipwrecking may have some friction with sailors. If you're going to make that change, please do so ASAP, as it may be a plot point otherwise.

You've seen Morgan before, she would absolutely not withhold her reverence of the Bitch Queen, though she would never call her that. When reading up on it again, I figured taking on a worshiper of Umberlee would put you on the side of not shipwrecking, but I don't mind either way how the crew of The Journey feels about this.

Also, something that Morgan isn't particularly aware of yet is that her own faith and what the church of Umberlee propagate come from vastly different perspectives. As a natural-born sea-creature and her tribe having stayed remote from human civilization, Morgan has never developed any particular relationship with ships except that they belong to Umberlee to do with as she sees fit. The fear of getting shipwrecked is something she's never put her mind around. I'm looking forward to her getting confronted with her faith being at odds with that of others, I can already imagine what it will look like.

So ipso facto, I don't want to change any plot points. The messenger boy probably didn't need to be uncomfortable, just because he's not a ship rat and the voyage is not his problem. I'll let every other sailor decide what they feel about how their worship of Umberlee or lack thereof would affect their waters.

@edit:
It's actually Morgan's fault for being uneducated that she SHOULD have demanded alms that she didn't. I knew that already, which is why I put it in with the boy's message.

[secretID]

I think it can be cool to hash out the different ways of following Umberlee IC.

Also, re how long Goodberries last in WM, it occurred to me after I responded that this WM rules arguably cripple the spell. I guess Mage Armor is similar, and I vaguely remember a DM discussion (and maybe a decision?) about this. PM me if you want to make a case for giving them a different duration in WM.

[BlackDragon0]

I'm my last quest we were given 10 they lasted till eaten or the end of game. as travel was days it could have just been that dms thing.
that being said I believe if that's how you feel on the subject the old berries would be rotted and only new ones would count. just my only exp with them.( fyi we used them all)

[Corwin]

Is that Goodberry + Disciple of Life for 40 HP? Nice combo!

[Cheshire]

How many are we waiting on to start?

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by Corwin

Is that Goodberry + Disciple of Life for 40 HP? Nice combo!

I wasn't even interested in that when I came up with the character. I genuinely thought that I would simply bring her up as a life cleric, but when I got to level two I figured Ranger would make a lot of sense in rounding out the flavour which I had introduced with her concept on accident. Goodberry then easily popped up when I looked at ways to keep the healing feature useful. I still want Morgan to absolutely focus on tanking and healing, but I've realized that with how her character operates it's a lot more appropriate to keep leveling her as a Ranger. I've created Morgan before I even really looked at multiclassing, but surprisingly she just worked out like that.

I had to sideline her for a bit because she's a bit complicated and requires me to write a lot of words to tell her story (also because I love making new characters), but since you've met Belladonna you'll find that Morgan's a whole lot easier to wrap your head around and not that much more excessive on the word count.
She's also nicer, most of the time.

[Corwin]

Characters never work out as imagined

Gil will likely comprehend nothing at all about Morgan even if she uses a lot of words, but he'll be a big fan of her being armored because he likes to stand behind armored people and cuss at attackers until they catch on fire. Gil isn't nearly as complicated as Ulth or Oguun He might MC into warlock sometime if something awakens a vague sense of morality in him, but he's not there yet by a long shot.

[Mindsiege]

@Corwin:
Sounds like it will be an interesting mesh of characters then. I'll try to stop preempting the narrative, but Morgan is not really a talker. I meant more that I need to type a lot to explain why she's keeping quiet when she does.