Although it is sometimes considered "bad form" to quote yourself, I'm go to break with that convention now to help boil down what amounts to the information the players will need that has so far been disseminated in this thread. In fact, I'm going to quote myself so extensively and patch it together without concern for the order in which I originally posted that I think all question of "form" will be driven completely out of the window!
Mark said:
...3E Core Rules only (PH, MM, DMG) game with no ups or extras...
I'm not using any of the classs books. Wouldn't seem right to use the class books without using all of them, IMO. Anyhoo, turtle wanted a "normal" game, so that's more or less what we're going to strive for...
I'm not a house rule guy, in that I might have some retrictions... ...but I don't change the rules that exist. So, Dodge works "by the book" as do other things.
Starting at first level...
Starting wealth will be max at first level per your class...
...home(-)brewed world that's been around since the seventies...
...veering away from the MM when it comes to adding some interesting monsters...
...I've added a few restrictions though...
No Evil or Chaotic characters.
28 point buy creation process.
You'd be starting in a smallish town in a Primarily human-centric kingdom with some Gnomes, Dwarves, Half-Elves as possible alternate character races, so no full Elves, Halflings or Half-Orcs...
..."human-centric kingdom" ...so playing a non-human might have it's racial modifier advantages but socially you'd be in a minority group. Up to you, though...
...posting roughly once every day or two...
Once...the four players... (have) ...chosen their characters, I'll take a little time to put together some background of what they know of the world. I wouldn't call it "low-magic" because I'd like to stay within the D&D3E norms of progression so let's call it "magic-rare". You won't find piles of things lying around but things exist and are available.
I do have my own pantheon of Deities but choosing one from the PH, and then me giving the closest approximation from my own setting, will be the best way to go, I think. Same thing for background... ...we'll work out the stats, then based on those I'll put together a cursory background for each (family, place of birth, general knowledge of that area, etc.). Once the players have seen those, they can then develop the initial personalities. When I've seen those, we'll tweak the background a bit more to give more detail and depth of initial knowlegde of the setting based on those characters and their personalities. We'll hash those out a little more based on the player input and then we'll get it started.
Regarding the setting, I'm a big believer in runing a campaign as player driven. I'll lay out as many possibilities as I can when we get started, allow you all to "snoop" around and feret out your own adventures based on your characters' and players' interests, and there'll be plenty of choices. I won't be running it as a modular campaign, though once you've gotten into situation they may appear that way. Often, I've found, that looking back on a game in retrospect it seems like the players were running through modules but that is due to their choices, not because they had limited choices. There are a multitude of over-arcing stories that might become the major focus but that will always depend on what the characters do in the continuing circumstances.
...if you end up missing something in a post during the game it is my perogative whether to repeat the info, point it up again as important, or simply let you miss it all together.
Of course, players can always read old posts and "suddenly remember" something or "put two and two together" but the clock keeps ticking within the game so you may no longer be in a position to act on, or do something about, that retroactively-realized knowledge...
Please, call me "Mark".
...I'll likely be oscillating between calling you fellows by either your screenname or character name depending upon the context. In story, by the character name, and OOC comments by your screenname.
In message board games you have more than enough time (usually a day or two) to remember things about your character that you'd like to bring to bear. As with all things, if you forget it is considered that so has your character. It might happen with NPCs that you are fighting, as well, so there's the upside (if there is one).
B.A.D.D. won't be a factor for quite some time, I'm guessing. That is unless you decide to seek out Dragons at low levels and enjoy creating new characters!
I've no problem with Master work items...
...masterwork items are likely out of reach for... (most) ...characters (except, perhaps, for various tools including Holy Symbols) but feel free to pool wealth as you see fit and we'll work out the relationships that are apparent from that in the character background segment of the character creation process (when we reach that point).
Hope that helps everyone out a bit (because I know it helped me!)
So, the immediate questions on the table are...
turtle- Human? Wizard or Sorcerer?
Lichtenhart- Human? (Cleric)
GWolf- Human? Fighter or Ranger?
Ash- Human? (Rogue)
As you answer these, feel free to follow the above guidelines to create the stats, skills, feats and equipment for your characters. Feel free to ask one another for a "loan", if you like. As stated, that sort of thing can be part of the background of your two (or more) characters.
Once we've gone this far, I'll work up the preliminary background and we'll move along further.
Post them here in this thread. I'm not a big fan of Email for message board games, since if we're messing around with Email, we're not playing a message board game, really, are we?
We'll edit and update them as need be and as we move through the creation process. We can then use this thread for reference.
Once we start to play...
Although the alignment restrictions preclude much in the way of "character secrets" it is a good time for me to note that there won't be any of those anyway. Everything will be available for other players (or whoever) to read but I do expect people to limit their actions to actual character knowledge. If your character has no real knowledge of something, please don't take actions or make plans based on anything of that nature. Please, also, don't Meta-game in such a way as to give your character an advantage with player knowledge, I.E. don't just happen to be where the next best place is for your character based on player knowledge. It would kinda spoil the fun to be omniscient when you're not.
Try to post in character with only a brief OOC (Out of Character) addendum to your post that should come toward the end of the post. Try to not use anachronistic language in the IC (In Character) portion of your post, though, of course, feel free to do so in the OOC portion if that's just the easiest way to get your point across or describe what it is you are trying to accomplish.
We'll figure the norm is to be posting without too much recognition of time constraints. To this end feel free to post as much in the way of action or narative about your character as you like. If posts by your co-players contradict anything you have planned, I'll make mention of it and allow you to cease your current intentions...but only if your character would have that sort of knowledge.
For instance, if a player states his character is going to start drinking three potions, but another character says they are going to try and warn them that the three potions are poison, I'll determine the time progression and post the outcome, I.E. player one drinks one potion and is stopped before getting to the others because player two is able to get there and physically stop player one before continuing. Remember, sharing knowledge with your fellow players, or expressing your action as a verbal utterance can mean the difference between stopping another from detrimental action. Shouting "Don't drink those potions!", in this case, would allow player two from stopping player one prior to drinking the first potion while posting, "I stop (player one) from drinking the potions" would mean you are physically going to them and grabbing their arm and possibly not stopping them until it is too late. Be wary of how you phrase your posts.
When we wind up in a combat situation (and if it isn't obvious I'll mention that we have changed posting-time-consideration-modes, I.E. "Now in combat..."
), feel free to elaborate on your intentions as much as you like. If circumstances change, and thus your actions might need changing, I'll post that I require further intentions or that I require a confirmation that your intentions haven't changed. I.E. player one decides to wade into combat against a host of thousands. He keeps on fighting as long as he does not post otherwise. Even if his comrades have decided to run away, and if they haven't mentioned this strategy to him, and if he misses any spot checks I roll "behind the scenes", then he's simply on his own. Again, the communication between the players and posting in such a way that it is clear what you are doing, is vital to your potential survival.
Be sure to only post intentions and not outcomes from those intentions. You're welcome to post that if action "A" is successful, you'll continue on with action "B", but please don't be surprised if a missed DC check lands you "in the soup." Feel free to express any skills or feats you bring to a post in the OOC section, lest I miss the chance to add a modifier to a DC roll. That'll help me run things a lot more smoothly.
Well! That was certainly long-winded but I hope that helps everyone to acclimate to message board games, or at least how I run one. I'm trying not to leave too much to chance so as not to have something bite us in the arse later, so please forgive my verbosity. Believe me, I've been in games where something wasn't said in advance and it can only be problematic and disappointing.
BTW, Jack- Can I still consider you as
in reserve?
