OOC Discussion & Chat

[Deleted]

As of tomorrow (06 SEP) morning I will assign pre-gens to anyone that has not posted a character yet and begin the adventure.

I won't do anything that can't be "undone" so don't panic if I do something that will interfere with the fun factor you (and your PC).

My main goal is give everyone a fun adventure so I will try to keep things relaxed and informal.

[Deleted]

@chgowiz: here is a pre-gen for you. You may use this one or generate your own if you so desire.

Mickeck (green man) S13 I12 W10 C8 D6 Ch8

for equipment, see "characters" thread.

[Deleted]

Each of you have a standard backpack, detailed below. Please add "backpack,standard" to your inventory in the character thread, along with your individual choices from "any 2" list.

Standard Backpack:
Mess Kit & Knife
Change of Clothes, standard
1 Week Iron Rations
Waterskin
Chalk
Soap, Bar
Large sack
Small sack, 2
Tinderbox and Flint
MedGel, 1 dose

Choose any 2:
Torches, 6
Lantern with 3 Flasks of Oil
Rope, 50’
Pole, 10’
Iron spikes (12) with hammer
Change of Clothes, high quality and suitable for a rich merchant
Prybar (+1 to open door rolls)
Vial of Acid, 3 (1 die damage to 1 opponent, “to hit” roll required and no save allowed)

[Deleted]

I will post armor and special equipment later today. The first turn has been posted in a new thread.

Enjoy!

[Deleted]

Roll call:

Gozer (jale)
E'ssej Iu (ulfire)
Gimyip (brown)
Yashub-Yahad (brown)
Mickeck (green)
Berist (green NPC)

[Deleted]

The first post is up and the world is yours: go play in it. I've provided an NPC (Berist) who has some limited knowledge of the village/town of Jaftgong to provide information, should you need it.

My philosophy on game-play is this: you can attempt anything you wish. If your chances of success are dismal, I will probably warn you of that fact but you are not required to heed that warning

Your characters are dead at 0 HP, Carcosa is a harsh land.

I don't "fudge" die rolls. If you make the impossible shot, then you made it. If you take a death-blow in combat, then you're dead.

By the same token, I'm not a fan of "zap, you're dead" types of traps, curses, and encounters. While there may be situations best avoided by the PCs, I'll (usually) give you a chance to avoid it (though if you choose to throw yourself onto the grenade you may do that, too).

You will make all your die rolls yourself and report them to me. We're all adults here, you are on the honor system. I reserve the right, of course, to resort to Invisible Castle or other secure die rolling service should the need arise.

I track consumables: charges, rations, water.

Disputes: please state any difficulties you have with my rulings in a specific and courteous manner. I generally decide in favor of PCs in a questionable situation.

XP Awards: 100 xp per HD monsters, 1 for 1 in monetary treasure recovered.

Alignment: I don't normally run evil campaigns but Carcosa is a different type of setting. If you want to be a low-down, conniving back-stabber then go for it. I would appreciate it, however, if you would not steal or otherwise harm your fellow party members. Even the most evil of persons should realize the trust of one's party members is a valuable commodity. Again, however, this is a "do as you please" kind of setting.

If you have any specific questions, please post them here.

[waysoftheearth]

Holy Cheese! That is some serious kit you have handed out Dubeers!

Looking forward to finding out "what this button does".

[waysoftheearth]

How (and when) are you handling hit-dice/hit-points?

Are we using Carcosa variable dice for hit points?

Should we roll some up right away, or wait for the appropriate moment?

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2009 21:43:40 GMT -6 waysoftheearth said:

Holy Cheese! That is some serious kit you have handed out Dubeers!

Looking forward to finding out "what this button does".

You're going to need it! ;D

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2009 21:45:18 GMT -6 waysoftheearth said:

How (and when) are you handling hit-dice/hit-points?

Are we using Carcosa variable dice for hit points?

Should we roll some up right away, or wait for the appropriate moment?

We're using Geoffrey's scheme for HD, they will be rolled at the beginning of each combat. I thought we'd give it a try for flavor. If the group decides to go to standard HD, we'll handle it at that time.

The play-test group for Obregon liked the supplemental HD system, btw.

[chgowiz]

It seems that things have already gotten started, so I will bow out.

[Deleted]

Sept 8, 2009 8:36:19 GMT -6 @chgowiz said:

It seems that things have already gotten started, so I will bow out.

The party came into town and went to a tavern. Nothing much has happened yet, so you can still participate if you wish.

I'm sorry if I gave any offense.

[chgowiz]

No, it's totally not you. I'm just realizing that things are going to progress far quicker than my brain and time are going to give me. I have far too much on my plate with the onset of my wife's illness and I'm going to have to just bow out of a lot of things now.

[abecross]

How many players do we actually have? Crussdaddy, Waysoftheearth, and I seem to be the only participants. Not complaining, just curious.

[Deleted]

... and Apeloverage. Chgowiz had to drop out. Thus, we have 4 PCs and one NPC.

I'm a bit disappointed, considering James Maliszewski is turning folks away from his PbP game, but he is a "name" and I'm a nobody so it is understandable.

I'm recruiting, not just here but elsewhere on the 'web as well, but no nibbles so far.

[tavis]

I'm glad to have made that 5 PCs and no NPCs!

Despite dissing our purple friend, I'm definitely interested in going where the adventure is. If everyone is glad to sign up, I will happily go with that; or it might be consonant with my character's history to wait and see if she manages to find another group of hirelings, then follow them to see where they go and what happens next...

[Deleted]

Nobody has indicated otherwise, but just to be clear ...

.... the group is under no onus whatsoever to take Bothess' job offer. The world of Carcosa is yours. If you want to follow a different path simply start walking!

[abecross]

Tavis, welcome aboard.
E'ssej hates staying stuck in one place for too long, he's itching to go with Bothess.

[tavis]

Here's Berist's plan; he'll neither hide nor discuss what he's doing with the rest of the party, since time is of the essence (and it's a complicated plan that I don't want to distract from getting rolling). Let's choose some moments to roleplay interactions with other PCs during this time, as well as deal with the inevitable complications

He will claim all of his money, giving him 600 gold to spend (100 from the caravan, 500 from Bothesss). He intends to allocate this roughly as follows (using contacts he made last time he was left cooling his heels in Jaftgong):

100: Hiring a local gadfly and giving them money to buy drinks and bribes to learn as much as possible about Bothess (specifically what she's been doing since she returned to town, who she's talked to, where she slept) and her lackeys (specifically their local reputation, and gently sounding out their loyalty to her).

300: Hiring men-at-arms, especially those with experience as mine guards; will start by approaching mid-ranked sargeant types & offering each at least a 20 gp "consultation fee" to keep the offer under wraps from their higher-ups and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of potential recruits, who might be persuaded to join such an expedition, and the best way to appeal to them.

200: Greasing a local merchant to offer a selection of their arms-and-equipment type wares at dawn; will promise new recruits that, if they show up for duty, they can go on a shopping spree to kit themselves out

[Deleted]

Another meta-gaming note about this PbP game: it based upon the published adventure "Obregon's Dishonor." Even though I wrote that module, assuming this game will play exactly like the published adventure will probably get your PCs slaughtered. As above, I'm not saying anyone is indicating they think that way, I just wanted to make sure it was understood.

Just sayin'

[tavis]

Thanks for the meta-notes! I don't have a lot of PbP experience, so I find it useful to read & post about stuff that might go unsaid with all the extra bandwidth of face-to-face play (esp. if the group knows one another beforehand). Berist's plan is based on figuring that NPC hirelings will be useful in whichever direction we go, and that watching them get slaughtered may delay our own demise by a precious round or two

[abecross]

Sept 12, 2009 13:37:54 GMT -6 tavis said:

Thanks for the meta-notes! I don't have a lot of PbP experience, so I find it useful to read & post about stuff that might go unsaid with all the extra bandwidth of face-to-face play (esp. if the group knows one another beforehand).

I've never done a PbP either, and I'm finding it a bit hard to convey how I want E'ssej to present himself, so please bare with my short-one liners

[Deleted]

Well, I've participated in several on-line games (around 8 or so) but this is my first time running one. So ... we can all learn together! I'm interested in any feedback y'all have on the adventure, by the way, so feel free to speak if you like or don't like something. I will be writing two sequels to Obregon's Dishonor sometime within the next 12 months, so I'm very interested in what worked for you.

[Deleted]

Sept 12, 2009 6:10:08 GMT -6 tavis said:

Here's Berist's plan ... (snippage)

This is in the OOC (out of character) thread, so I am not acting upon this, is that your intention? I figured you were just discussing your plans with your fellow adventurers.

Generally, I won't consider you committed to a course of action until you post it in the move thread which, in this particular instance, would be Pt. I: Arrival in Jaftgong.

I'm just making sure we're all on the same page. (err ... no pun intended)

[tavis]

Berist is committed to that plan - I reckon I shoulda posted it in that thread (with an OOC tag to show it wasn't something he wasn't saying out loud) and posted here to say 'even though I'm zooming out from that action, there are ways the other PCs could learn about / interact with that plan'. I'll copy and paste it over there soon.

[Deleted]

Sept 13, 2009 5:30:40 GMT -6 tavis said:

Berist is committed to that plan - I reckon I shoulda posted it in that thread (with an OOC tag to show it wasn't something he wasn't saying out loud) and posted here to say 'even though I'm zooming out from that action, there are ways the other PCs could learn about / interact with that plan'. I'll copy and paste it over there soon.

You don't have to repost, I just didn't want to have this "happen" in the game world if you were still planning out what to do.

You may post OOC comments in the Turn thread. All I ask is that it pertain to some to degree to the actions your posting.

[tavis]

Berist is committed to that plan - I reckon I shoulda posted it in that thread (with an OOC tag to show it wasn't something he wasn't saying out loud) and posted here to say 'even though I'm zooming out from that action, there are ways the other PCs could learn about / interact with that plan'. I'll copy and paste it over there soon.

[tavis]

Feedback: I like the backstory to the adventure, the Western feel of the town with the rough miners etc., and the quick & efficient sketches of the assorted NPCs. I think having this chance to pursue individual plans & interact with a normalish setting helps me establish the ground from which the rest of the adventure will blast off!

I'm also finding that PbP is good for dialogue. My last face-to-face session had eleven players in a public space with the radio on, so it was rarely feasible to get in any long speeches, much less to go back and re-read what was said to be sure I picked up all the subtleties or edit what I want to say to get in just the right amount of hammy dialect. (The right amount, of course, being ~20% too much).

[Deleted]

Okay, everyone. I'll need the following:

• a default marching order
  
• schedule of watches
  
• any "last minute" activities or purchases in Jaftgong
  
• default combat actions
  
• any special precautions you'll be taking

Tomorrow (Thursday) I'll be starting a new thread dealing with the first part of the quest; recovering Harbinger's Lotus. You will be traveling north from Jaftgong, up into the mountains. The journey should only take a few days, but (Bothess says) the area is wild and uncivilized.

[tavis]

Berist will stand in the first rank of melee fighters, although in the wilderness he'll send Gace ahead to reconnoiter (in partnership with any other scouts). The rest of his hirelings will be arrayed behind him, with Sgt. Kelz taking the rear guard & issuing most of the day-to-day orders.

As he suffers from insomnia, Berist will take the middle watch. His hirelings will not stand watch, but will be responsible for setting up and breaking camp.

He'll buy three kannemeria (priced as a mule, 20 gp; with saddlebags, 90 gp in all) and load them up with 200' of rope (4 gp), 2 mallets, 6 stakes, and 48 iron spikes (10 gp), 80 arrows (20 gp), 30 torches (5 gp), six full wineskins (12), two lanterns (20), six flasks of oil (12), six bedrolls and three waterproof tents (22 gp?) and a pick, a shovel, two hammers, and two chisels (25 gp?). Berist will carry the 130 gold coins has left over (if my math is correct) in a sack on his belt.

In the wilderness, Berist's default combat action will be to fire a shot with his pistol at the apparent leader of the enemy group while Sgt. Kelz pulls his hirelings back into cover. If the foe does not close immediately, Berist will then seek to get into cover while his followers provide covering fire with their shortbows. When enemies approach, Berist will engage them with his sword while Sgt. Kelz draws the hirelings away to a position where they can fire at foes that are holding back or fleeing from the melee.