[OOC] Out Of Character--TECHNICAL-- discussions

[DavidWL]

Originally Posted by Surreal

Not sure if some of you guys got a pm I sent, but there's a loose end in one of my posts that would allow us to already have one.

Ah, just got the PM. (Note: I didn't know until reading your post here).

However, there would need to be a reason to try to read your thoughts, cast detect magic and bother to examine you, etc.

David

[Surreal]

That's why I sent the same pm to ZarZak as well. Since he's a warlock, he's able to detect magic at will and I figure he'll probably notice sooner or later.

[Surreal]

Hey Fil, anything in particular about that "blue lit room" in your last post, or is it just a room?

[zarzak]

Blue lit rooms are the bathrooms.

Is it the bathroom in the dining room or in the big social room we were in before?

[Fil kearney]

Both blue lit doors lead down to the same washrooms. The hallway from the foyer connects to the dining room as well. there is also acces to the kitchen past the washrooms down the same hall... but no other access. to other rooms or areas of the keep. This is the same path the dining staff would use to remove finished courses on the way to the kitchen. The other door in the dining room is where food has been coming from. Very fung shui.

MAP IS UP

If you guys want to continue bantering during the meal, I figure we're going to go through one course of meal per daily post.... we're on course two. so we have til cofee to RP and bs each other until we get down to the nitty gritty of the Project itself. I suspect Sul is going to take some interest in what is going on outside of the dining room, but this is all up to you guys.
1. everyone in that room is there for a specific reason.
2. those reasons may not have a damn thing to do with you.
3. you guys may not enjoy small talk and character interaction like this.
4. the pace may be too slow.
5. yer havin a lot of fun with what we're doing
6. slow down! you want more time to develop characters-- and would love to continue with the cocktail party afterwards if possible !
7. get the briefing over with and skip the cocktails afterwards.


these are all viable. I want you guys to feel you have a say in the pacing and style of the game as well-- although we all know not everyone may be 100% happy with the majority rule, or my own caveats. I want an open discussion where everyone feels important.

I can either throw out little snippets here and there over the next few posts to play with, or I can just fast forward. Let me know, ask a question, whatever feels right. I specifically didn't throw any hooks in the dining room this last post in case you were feeling railroaded into social blah blah blah. my lack of prompting dialogue is a wonderful "uncomfortable silence" that could very well continue through the rest of the meal.... way to go, Celestine!

If you are all enjoying it, though, then I encourage you all to begin pacing your posts so you are opening up options at the end of your threads by forcing the mic to be passed to someone else...
If you look back through the thread, the majority of my posts are compelling someone to respond or take action in some manner or another. I've seen over time in PbP games that this is a really critical skill that is kinda subtle, but keeps the momentum rolling. See how this last post-- the dining room kinda fell flat?
As the narrator, I didn't do a thing to push momentum, and there weren't any other threads left open by the party to pull us through celestine's remarks. If the game were going poorly at this stage, or getting tired, it could fall apart right now.

I know some of you are brand new to PbP... but the more you are able to make assertive little comments, guide conversations, being just a bit assumptive (which you guys are doing great with), and being curious about the world presented-- this can last a long time, and more of it will be your creation too.

PbP is the BEST method to have this style of play. I am a strong advocate of PbP for the ability to pour on details, tangents, mood, and a bunch of little things that are just difficult at the table top.

Give me some feedback.

[Surreal]

Well, I did say I was going to explore the keep a bit (and thus all the rolls). I was going to wait for a hook of some sort, maybe do a flashback sequence, hrmm..., maybe I'll just write myself into something and see what happens. At the very least I assume Katchalia is preoccupied with dinner and isn't around to terrorize me at the moment.

[Surreal]

Hmm, how is it that someone always manages to ninja in a post while I'm writing. Heh, I must be taking way too long to write (or in the case of my last one, over an hour... though that's counting distractions by food and tv).

edit: hmm okay, taking some liberties with writing now and just running with it.

[DavidWL]

1. everyone in that room is there for a specific reason.
2. those reasons may not have a damn thing to do with you.

I like both of these. In general I like it when things make "sense".

3. you guys may not enjoy small talk and character interaction like this.
4. the pace may be too slow.

The pace is a little slow for my taste, but I'm ok with it. Certainly the reverse is also bad (where there is no light random interaction).

5. yer havin a lot of fun with what we're doing
6. slow down! you want more time to develop characters-- and would love to continue with the cocktail party afterwards if possible !

Hmm. I wouldn't say slow down - rather, speed up a tiny bit. That said, I like an extended interaction as the beginning of charcter developement. However, I think dialog is one of the better ways to do that.

7. get the briefing over with and skip the cocktails afterwards.

Anytime I want something in game to go a certain way, I'll try to steer it that way. (Example: asking what the party's organizers have intended).

If you look back through the thread, the majority of my posts are compelling someone to respond or take action in some manner or another. I've seen over time in PbP games that this is a really critical skill that is kinda subtle, but keeps the momentum rolling. See how this last post-- the dining room kinda fell flat?
As the narrator, I didn't do a thing to push momentum, and there weren't any other threads left open by the party to pull us through celestine's remarks. If the game were going poorly at this stage, or getting tired, it could fall apart right now.

Hmm. That's really interesting.

I know some of you are brand new to PbP... but the more you are able to make assertive little comments, guide conversations, being just a bit assumptive (which you guys are doing great with), and being curious about the world presented-- this can last a long time, and more of it will be your creation too.

Hmm. I tend to think of all of the NPCs as "yours". For example, if I want to use sense motive or diplomacy, if I want to talk about someones psychology, or even if I want to talk with an NPC, I always feel like I have to direct a question towards the NPC (or a diplomacy roll or what not) and wait for you to respond.

Similarly with others - if Celestine asks a question or directs conversation towards an NPC, my instinct is to let you answer (rather than inventing a story myself).

I'd like to be really clear on what liberties you'd like us to take with the world.

PbP is the BEST method to have this style of play. I am a strong advocate of PbP for the ability to pour on details, tangents, mood, and a bunch of little things that are just difficult at the table top.

Give me some feedback.

Thoughts/questions above - thank you for bringing this up. I didn't think about it, but they're important questions.

Best,
David

[Fil kearney]

It's unfortunately difficutlt to be really lcear as to what liberties are okay. My method of Dm'ing is so by the seat of the pants, I can take and do practically anything.

Here is a great example... Surreal made up an ominous figure out of nowhere to stir the pot.
You think, "warlock-- potential spy or villain takig advantage of all the nobles in one place, one time. "
He left the nature of the character open enough with a bit of subtlety that action can begin here.
.
I think, "I gotta pick up the pace a bit, get sul into the room, and spring the Jaeltih twist without looking like I'm railroading the team."

and voila. This guy is just using pass without trace, a 1st level druid spell to not leave mud on the floor and not have a scent. any 4th level ranger can afford a warding gem. grab the cat, piss off the cook, get in the room.

so, if sul had been MORE assertive, and hd Kreggan kill the guard, it would have been fighting time, and the entourage probably would have gotten involved, or whatever.

If surreal had decided to have NPc's start that conflict on his own, that would have been a bit more assumptive than I would like. but he certainly set the stage to make it happen if I as the narrator decided one was in the works.

good work, surreal. you've got a natural knack for my style of DMing.

If you guys do pick a fight, don't assume you just kill someone or something.
"Seething with hatred, I slash my ex-wife's throat, killing her immediately." is not okay.
"Seeting with hatred, I slash AT my ex-wife's throat, HOPING to kill her immediately" is fantastic.
IF she truly is the queen of the damned, she can't be killed, and the first quote is inappropriate.

Now I took a very bold assumption regarding how Sul would respond to a ranger compelling a cat. I weighed the past few posts, and the general attitude of the character, deciding he wouldn't want ot blow his cover. I didn't screw him-- it was simply to get his character into a place where he can directly interact with the team. when needed., That is powergaming by definition, and DM railroading. Sul will have plenty of opportunity to pick guest's brains as he pleases later, but since "pick up the pace" is the current request, there ya go.

I believe I am okay so far, but is everyone cool with what I have been assuming? If eeryone waits to get permission from everyone to do every little thing, this game will never get anywhere and will have cribdeath.

---

Now, I have presented the party it's first clear choice... and boy, was I blatant about it.

1. Go into the mournlands without Jaelith and get to the point of the game... out door adventure in bizzarro world
2. Go to Sharn for a city investigation and posible resuce mision.
3. Unpedictable gamers-- ditch the pot, kill everyone, whatever you want to do, do it.

I have complete adventure paths for all three options.... the third being my least favorite.

--If you guys want to play up the risk of the daelkyr invasion, then skip Jaelith. That will resolve itself.
--If you guys want to play up the value of Jaelith as a guide for the team, then put the MEP on hold until you resolve the tangent... the Daelkyr ain't showing up until you are at least strong enough to handle dozens of CR 30 enemies.

Celeestine has obvious ties to Jaelith through his own faction, and his cohort.... but no one else does. If you want to skip this, I'd recommend sending bark after his celebrity hero.

If the party runs acros the Free League, Jaelith will obviously grease those wheels, making progress easier-- hard to say what they have control of.
If the party runs across the Free League without Jaelith, you earn more xp by dealing with the challege yorself.
without jaelith, you aren't babysitting an npc.
without npc's, PbP relies on each other for dialogue a lot more.

Sharn is a guaranteed city adventure. a powerful cult capable of creatin earthquakes is a good EL for you guys... which is obviously why you are bein asked to help. you are free resources that stand to benefit from resolving the conflict. Natural pick.
City adventures have the typical format... searching for clues, infiltrating the bad guys, and the satisfying bloodsoaked victory while attempting to avoid the pitfalls of political andsocial machinations.... there are a lot of rich nobles from sharn through the double doors that could help for a price....

I"m really trying to point out a lot of the variables and differences between either choice witout steering the party in either direction.

truth is, I have tons of cool stuff I want to do to you guys in both paths. I keep flip flopping between which one I hope you choose.

[zarzak]

Hey all,

Just a heads up that I am going to be out of town this weekend (Friday night - Sunday afternoon). I may or may not have internet access, depends on the hotel.

That said, I am up for whichever path the party decides. If necessary, someone can RP Celestine as either saying Bark can handle the new incident, or he thinks that the group should. I will post again tonight if it turns out that I have internet access.

Have fun. :biggrin:

[Fil kearney]

Yeah. Nice Zarzak. The only character who actually has significant in-game weight in the issue is taking a vacation.
Don't be surprised if you come back to find yer character strapped to a bondage harness, licking Lady A's boot.
In all seriousness, thanks for the heads up. We'll keep you alive, and I'll ad lib with respect.




Okay.
since we're at our first official fateful "decision time" for the game... I thought I'd post some quick statistics here.

I may be off by one or two, so just look at these as guesstimations.
Total In Game Posts
DM PACE: 9
surreal 10
zarzak 9
davidw 8
noldor 4
lonew 5
Total Out Of Character Thread posts
DM PACE: 32
zarzak 15
surreal 12
davidw 10
noldor 8
lonew 1
TOTAL POSTS
DM PACE: 41
zarzak 24
surreal 22
davidw 18
noldor 12
lonew 6

(edit: looks like Lonewolf ninja'd one in on me: good work!)

why do this fil? because I'm the DM.

1. OOC DISCUSSION THREAD
Right off the bat-- I will automatically outpace virtually everyone on OOC thread discussion. It's where folks ask me questions.

The OOC thread is also a good indicator of "team building" effort. If yer posting in ooc, yer generally involved and having fun. When I see virtually no participation here, it means yer not showing up. If You outpace the DM, then you are a social butterfly. If the whole thing falls apart, you would solo until a new group came together.

2. IN GAME THREAD
Everyone should be keeping pace with the DM.
We haven't gotten into anything "important" yet, like combat or exploring areas requiring dice rolls, so maybe it isn't on the top of everyone's priority list, but I have a general idea of who I can count on for a prompt initiative roll or to fulfill a request for a skillcheck, save etc.

Again, anyone outpacing the DM is a social butterfly. and would probably not even notice if the game fell apart around them.


3. TOTAL POSTS
this just makes it obvious where people stand.


--------

so, what does this mean?

--Generally speaking, Once a player is at 33% of the In Game Posts compared to the DM, that player has checked out.
--OOC is voluntary, and not truly indicative of a person's enjoyment of the game, but it does show what kind of time and commitment to the game there is.

someone with low ooc post but is keeping up with the Game thread has little time, but is committed to the fun.
Low on both is a sure sign of trouble.

-Analysis: (and don't you just love that we're a team of COptimizers?)
We're gonna have probably 5 - 8 more in game posts before the prologue ends and the begining of the first chapter, whichever direction the party goes.
If anyone in the party hits that 33% threshhold (I predict in the next 2 - 5 posts) without letting us know what's going on, those players won't participate in the next chapter.
Now, if yer in a coma, and wake up later on, realizing you haven't been posting, well, that's fine. get in here and dance. Maybe yer on vacation and I missed the post somehow. Exceptions are allowed. (edit: good timing, zarzak, you ninja'd that one in on me.
But honestly, if yer not sure yer gonna stick around, the TEAM deserves to know before they get scewed by a bunch of glabrezu.

If someone misses a chapter, they can always come in the next if their priorities are in alignment with the game. If not, No hard feelings. Life happens. We can then decide as a TEAM if we want to add a different player. If so, then I'll open up the invitation again, and add the player at the next chapter start.

I don't know how folks feel about this. Micromanagement and questions like this are VITAL to keep the game moving. I had 12 folks on my list who were interested in this game, and you all are mostly first draft picks. It is not likely that this team stays as is through to the end: two-- ten-- years from now, but by being up front and callenging each other's commitment for a daily post, then the odds increase.

I will do this analysis each chapter. The ooc thread will obviously be ongoing, but I will announce where each chapter begins and ends so we can keep the timelines straight.


So, how is everyone doing?

[Surreal]

I'm doing fine so far. The pace seems to be ok, maybe could be a little faster like others have said. Then again, I've been sort of on my own for most of prologue, so haven't had much in terms of real interaction yet (Katchalia notwithstanding).

I sort of started a ball rolling with that whole mysterious stranger thing; wasn't too sure how far I could take that as I was effectively creating an NPC with potential in-game consequences. I definitely would not have started combat of any sort, unless it was something I could start and finish within the post purely for flavour reasons.

I have to reign myself in sometimes, because I do tend to ramble and start making up storylines as I go. I will probably start making slightly broader assumptions from here on though.

Originally Posted by Fil kearney

Now I took a very bold assumption regarding how Sul would respond to a ranger compelling a cat.

I'm ok with that. Given the nature of how this thing works, I'm willing to roll with the whatever comes my way. Oh I'm sure I'll disagree at some point or other, but meh, as long as the game keeps going and doesn't upset my character concept too badly.

[Surreal]

In terms of where to go from here, I'm open to either quest (Mournlands or Sharn). In terms of Sul's progression (and acquisition of the leadership feat at level 12), I was hoping for some sort of "trigger" to result in the "evolution" of his shadow cohort. The Mournlands would have been perfect for this, as it was the place of Sul's death to begin with, and already has all sorts of twisted magic pervading it. But I'm sure anything weird could do it too... hmm... *pondering*

edit: hmm, I just thought of something...

edit 2: what level are we at right now anyways? I think it was initially 10, but then didn't lonewolf use LA buyback and that bumped us up to 11 or something?

[Valeas]

Im generally doing fine.

There are a number of reasons why Im not that active in the game thread at the moment, but that should get better as soon as we are in an enviroment better suited to Valeas. In this social enviroment, I had him only respond to others, but in other situations, you can expect him to be more proactive.

As a non-native english speaker, I will most likely not be able to produce as well written posts as you guys are, but I will do my best.

I also know that with my late entry into this team, Im still behind on the Teambuilding process, but I hope that will solve itself on its own once the game is rolling.

While I do have some experience with PbP games, I must say that this one is by far the most organized and demanding game I ever played in. This is a good thing, but I am gonna need some time to adapt to that.

[Fil kearney]

Originally Posted by Surreal

edit: hmm, I just thought of something...

edit 2: what level are we at right now anyways? I think it was initially 10, but then didn't lonewolf use LA buyback and that bumped us up to 11 or something?

Yep. We are using LA buyoff, but instead of lowering the byer's xp total, I am upig everyone else. so you start at 10th level minimum xp and have 20k to toss on before chapter 1 starts. Folks can use this to uy any xp stuff they want, or bank it for later. As I believe zarzak said, the mournlands are a great place to grab a template,and I agree completely. With LA enabled, you guys have up to 2 LA available to be bought off immediately, and still get the originally promised 5k xp to boot.
NOthing stoppig you from banking the xp until you can have the big 3LA buy off at.. hat? 18th?

and if yer looking for a reason to evolve your companion, I got that covered in both story options-- so truly take wichever one you think will be more fun right now. Neither will truly be what you expect...