OOC - Out Of Character

I appear to have miscommunicated (perhaps in my enthusiasm - and I'm not sure why the spell checker is giving me a hard time with "miscommunicated") my request earlier, so please allow me to clarify.

Yeah, a part of me is very excited to be going again, perhaps so much so that I have forgotten the fact that we've spent so long away from the game. Truth is, I've been thinking about it on and off throughout, so to me the ideas are fresher in my mind (plus that just comes from being the DM and producing a "brain child" as it were, in terms of storyline). So I did neglect to remember that there is a lot to go over, and even though I hoped that winter break would provide us an opportunity to review (I remember posting a 1- to 2-week notice before starting back up), I also just realize that break is break, and we are people with lives. I'm not being sarcastic, just saying that my negligence is just due to my enthusiasm. :)

My request for "Passive Posting Required" is just a strong encouragement for players to make their intentions known. There are definitely legitimate reasons for not being able to post in a timely manner - we've all had our cases - but for an online posting game, there's no way for me as DM to be able to tell if someone is either away on a trip, still catching up with posts, or just being negligent, unless that player communicates what they're doing. This becomes important especially because I'd like to set a goal for steady posting (every 2-3 days) that will keep the game from dragging on.

I'd be happy to wait for players as they request more time before posting, but the fact of the matter remains that if a post of intent isn't made, I can't differentiate between the different types of cases you guys as characters (and people!) are encountering, and thus I won't have any idea how to accommodate you. My "job" as DM is just for us to have fun, but that in itself entails some details that are in fact "necessary evils." At least, in my view. :p

So let's say someone is having trouble posting at this moment. They've been on the forums and reading stuff, and 3 days go by. They should provide a post explaining that they are still catching up, so that I know they aren't being negligent. The problem with the latter is that it conflicts with my goal of "posting per 2-3 days" which again exists to keep the game moving. I think I've been clear with my desire for this consistent, steady posting to happen, hence my initial request that players who don't think they can meet the 2-3 days per post outline reconsider their situation. Obviously, things such as trips (the 2-3 week kind that we've all been on) are an exception to this guideline.

Since we're all friends, I'm definitely loathe to just boot people for neglecting to post, so really, I'm in a jam here, folks. As you guys know well, a DM only has as much "power" as the players will allow him to have - it's a beautiful system, really. So I just ask that you guys try to keep the 2-3 days per post guideline as best you can. I guess I'm just a little nervous that this slow startup will come to characterize the pace of the game, which is something I'd like to avoid if possible. I guess that's why I've shown so much concern for an issue that shouldn't be an issue.

If anything, I just want quicker progression so I don't lose track of all of my fantastic ideas to present you guys! There's only so much I can record on paper/type. =D


Don't hesitate to ask questions! I know I bite sometimes, but as a friend and DM I promise to give you a patient ear to hear out any concerns you may have. If you feel like you're ever treated unfairly or you have any gripes, don't leave it out! Help me and help the group by bringing it up. As before, I won't promise that the resolution will turn out the way you'd like, but I can promise a peaceful resolution, if not a compromise. =)

Sounds good! I got my initial post in, and I'll definitely try to keep up with a post (at least) every 2-3 days. I would love for that to be the case for everyone as well, because it does get frustrating when the game slows to a crawl. That seems to be an easy happening in an online iteration of role playing. Obviously a few people were updating characters for one reason or another (lost char sheet, didn't know they were playing), but hopefully that is behind us. I also am a little worried that the slow start will become the overall flow... which would be unfortunate. Hopefully everyone who has not yet posted will do so soon so we can get the ball rolling again! I know I don't want to miss out on these 'fantastic ideas'!... well, unless they include carnivorous plants... I don't think I'll ever get excited for that again... hahaha!

Ok, fair enough. I know I've been guilty of delaying the game. I'm sorry and I'll try to maintain a reasonable pace. I agree ... I don't want to miss out on those fantastic ideas ... unless of course, they're carniverous plants or whatever else the other guys in the past rather not face.

FYI all, I'm going to post tomorrow (Sunday). It's already been way past 2-3 days, so those of you who haven't posted, consider this a friendly reminder!

hey, i just posted, sorry for the delay =\ just getting settled in at school and stuff, but it should be good now =]

oh, and i tried to use the dice roller, not quite sure how it works but it definitely didn't, so there may be a few strange posts... i ended up just "rolling" the old-fashioned way.

Yeah, dice rolling hasn't worked right for quite awhile...even when it did work it was annoying because it generated a separte post to report the numbers. In my rifts game I've just been using the rand and /rand commands so it'd be {rand}20{/rand} except with brackets. That will generate the value right in the post. Or, if your post depends on the results you can utilize the dice rolling thread under my rifts forum to generate values then transfer them here...or just roll dice the old fashioned way :D

Hey guys, not sure why the dice rolling isn't working well - I'm sure it's a problem rooted at the source with the webmasters, and not directly related with our forums in any way. But yeah, I share in the irritation that it generates a separate post, it is very inconvenient and I feel a poor way to enforce honesty with rolls (alternative coding could have been done, I think).

That said, I'm planning on posting tomorrow. This isn't a "hurry up" to those of you who haven't (I know as of this post only Ben has responded), but I'm just giving you a heads up in case any of you were on the verge of doing so, so you can plan accordingly. Simply put, I've gotten enough rolls from you guys that I can determine the next step, so no worries if you don't make a post before my next one. Thanks!

Hey guys, glad to have you back, hope you're enjoying getting back into the "swing" of things!

Just a note - one new thing I'm trying is keeping the numbers on the DL. As you can see, I kept the damage values in Private, to encourage and enhance the roleplaying. In the future, if you guys want to share HP info out of character for healing purposes, that'd be fine with me. But if you want to withhold that information and just roleplay it out (for enrichment's sake), that'd be even better. :)

Uh .. if you wanna keep the hp values private, then I guess I won't be updating my character profile's hp bar.

Snaphin wrote:

Uh .. if you wanna keep the hp values private, then I guess I won't be updating my character profile's hp bar.

No, you should still continue doing that. I didn't mean to imply that I wanted absolute privacy - what I was going for was a "story thrill factor" by not reporting the numbers directly in-game. This "thrill factor" will hopefully be experienced by other members, so when, say, someone eles gets hurt, you aren't exactly sure by how much, and that produces a tension that enhances the fun. Or something.

But it's fine if you continue reporting your numbers - I didn't want to "force a lockdown" by any means.

silverdrak wrote:

ooc: hey, do i get to attack if i'm struggling to get out of its grasp?

Hmmm, checking in the PH, pg. 156, the options available to Skythar at the moment would be:

• Attack Your Opponent (unarmed strike, natural weapon, or light weapon)
  
• Draw a Light Weapon (move action; requires successful grapple check)
  
• Escape from Grapple (must win an opposed grapple check; if you win, you can move one space away from your opponent)
  
• Alternative to Escape from Grapple: Use Escape Artist check (requires standard action)
  
• Pin Your Opponent (win opposed grapple check to hold opponent immobile)
  
• Move/Drag Your Opponent (win an opposed grapple check to move at half speed; if your opponent is pinned, you get +4 bonus)
  

i should be posting tomorrow. i was in New Orleans since Friday morning, but i'm back now!

Welcome back...wondered where you had disappeared to.

Cool! Thanks for the heads up.

Well uh .. my hit points are somewhere south of 9. Anyways, I'd go update my character sheet. I may not post in the story right now seeing as how Squin is unconscious at the moment ... okay, I may not post much since there is not much Squin can do at the moment.

question: if i drew my longbow, how's my shot looking? is there anybody in the way? just wondering, because i figure if skythar can't get a good shot, he won't draw his bow.

re: Andrew's absence - he has been in the Chicago area undergoing training for his new job. I think he should be back in Ann Arbor today? I just saw him on Tuesday night and I harassed him about getting back to posting. Hopefully he will do so, but I think it may take more than just my efforts.

ps. - OUCH! stupid crocodilians...

[quote="Boomerwang"]ooc: Zadok, I still need an Initiative roll from you. Don't be tryin ta dodge outta takin 1 hp reductions, y'hear!!!

Haha .. oops. I forgot.

Random number (1,20) :

4

+4 for init.

For whatever reason I keep forgetting the command lines in this forum. Let me try this again and see what happens.

Ok... reply bullet-format!

• Jack, the first crocodilian that attacked Skythar was killed by Krytox. The second one has attacked Krytox, but Skythar still has a clear shot (no intervening cover).
  
  
• Thanks for the info, Alex, much appreciated. It's cool you got to meet up with Andrew, glad to know he is well.
  
  
• Thanks Zadok.
  

Hey guys, I was thinking that in the interest of efficiency, I could go ahead and modify your HP values for you (in your character sheet). I've already done so for Krytox .

For those of you whom I told that I would PM you character damage to aid the in-game storytelling, I'm thinking that in the interest of efficiency, I can go ahead and modify your character sheet HP values directly. I've already done so for Krytox (he sustained 15 damage, and an attack at 0 puts him at -1). My point was not really to "keep it a secret," but simply keep it out of the way from the main text to see if this would enhance our enjoyment by allowing those of us who wanted to "play blind" (as it would be in real life) to just rely on the flavor text. At the same time, I like using the character sheet HP bar because it rewards you guys for keeping your character sheets up to date, as well as saving you guys from having to ask each other whenever you want to know HP amounts.

I dunno, figured this was the best of both worlds. What do you all think?

jebus... where is Mystia!!!

also - Happy Birthday Jerry!

MeNotHolgar wrote:

jebus... where is Mystia!!!

also - Happy Birthday Jerry!

Really?

Then uh ... happy birthday Jerry!

Yeah Jerry...where was my invite to the party? Happy B-day

I'm waiting to hear info on how much hp I gain before posting in game. FYI.

MeNotHolgar wrote:

I'm waiting to hear info on how much hp I gain before posting in game. FYI.

Same here. Especially since I have a chance of still being unconscious even after the healing potion.