[OOC] Underdogs [a core dnd game][4/4]

[Autumn]

Thanks for the well-wishes.

Sorry I didn't poke my head in here earlier, but I wanted to make sure I was feeling relaxed and happy about it before I re-committed myself to my games. I figure that coming back out of duty and then shirking my posting would have been the worst I could have done.

In any case I'm back, and eager to get playing again. I'll go catch up on the IC thread now.

 

[doghead]

ooc - Underdogs

Welcome back Autumn.

doghead
aka thotd

 

[doghead]

ooc - Underdogs

Apologies for the lack of posts. Its been a bit mental here for the last few days. It will be for the rest of the week. So I'm pretty much going to have to write myself off until then.

doghead
aka thotd

 

[doghead]

Voda, your character sheet is in the OOC thread here.

(I have a bow right?)

Actually no. He doesn't have a short bow as written. Take one, update the character sheet and post it in the [RG] thread here.

DEFCON, Mogro is obviously ticked off (which I have no problem with). I was wondering if you were also (which would worry me). I know that I have sometimes spoken through my character at times. I realised after I posted the Round 1 summary that I probably caught you on the hop over weekend. If you are, let me know.

doghead
aka thotd

 

[Autumn]

I wondered the same. My IC instinct is to have Ershe chase after Mogro and try to reason with him, but if there is an OOC problem I don't want to make it worse.

 

[DEFCON 1]

No, I'm not ticked off (it is just a PbP game after all )... but I do kind of feel sort of up in the air right now. The fact that we've spent all this time roleplaying to this place in the story about setting up relations with the gnolls to find out why they are here and how we can help... only to have it all disappear in a *poof* by extraneous NPC's does make me go "well, what's been the point of all this to this point?" If our efforts were successful or destroyed by our own efforts... then cool... that makes for a fun and egnaging story. But to know that it didn't matter what we did this entire time because we were going to be outplotted by the NPCs just leaves a sour taste in my mouth is all.

And like I wrote for Mogro... there is nothing he can really do anymore. He's not going to turn around and attack the gnolls just because the other grell showed up... but he's also not going to attack his own townfolk only because they are more skittish about the gnolls than he is. So he's basically out of the fight. I had him "ride off" only to just get him out of the the way once the gnolls and the interloper half-orcs came to blows.

I'd certainly be happy to change it so he remains "on the fringe" if it turns out these new gnolls arriving are actually a fourth group altogether (and thus it becomes our party, the other grell, and the gnolls we've been speaking to all against this rival gnoll gang), but if it's grell versus gnoll, then Mogro won't be choosing sides.

 

[Autumn]

Well as far as I can work out, there is no reason why this has to mean that our efforts have come to nothing, at least unless we let it. We've been trying to make peace with the gnolls - a war-mongering part of grell have shown up to undermine that. By fending them off, we display our goodwill to the gnolls and display that even though there is disagreement among our kin, our faction has a genuine desire to make peace.

That, at least, is how Ershe sees it.

And as I see it... we haven't been 'outplotted by NPCs', we've just been given a challenge. After all, Urthe is clearly a happy friendly loveable sort of gnoll, and without complications our job would be all too easy. This makes it a little tougher. All to the good.

 

[Voda Vosa]

And to bust some bad grell asses =)

 

[doghead]

ooc - Underdogs

I was shooting for 'complex and interconnected' :\

With the benefit of hindsight, I should have laid down some heavier hints about Urshak's intentions, or at least his likely actions. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. So is feedback. It helps me know what works, and what doesn't. That was a hint.

As for Mogro, do what you think is right for the character. I have had characters walk away from their companions because it was the right thing for the character to do. The gnolls are not from a rival clan. But exactly how things are going to unfold, I don't know. So staying close would have some advantages. But its your call. There is still room for Mogro to make his way off without being engaged. I can sort an NPC or two for you to run if Mogro's decision results in some downtime. If you want.

Voda Waiting to see if Adokul decides to shoot Washi or not.

doghead
aka thotd.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I certainly understand what you were trying to do with Urshak, doghead... and I knew that something was going to come out of it at some point. I had no problem with that whatsoever, and fully expected to deal with that problem when it came up. So that plotline is all good. I just thought we'd get to at least start our plotline before it got destroyed.

I guess my real frustration was/is with the fact that the opposing grell showed up exactly when we made first contact with the gnolls, thereby making any/all of our intentions suspect or moot. That's what I meant by being "outplotted" by the NPCs. We show up with friendly intentions, have barely a chance to begin talking, then all of a sudden opposing grell show up and attack, thereby making our group look like liars. I know if I was the gnolls, I wouldn't ever believe that our small party of grell ever had honest intentions and would instead think this was one giant set-up. And now that things are devolving into one giant grell vs gnoll fight, it seems that it is backing those thoughts up. Mogro now has to choose between defending a group of gnolls he's barely spoken to (and who, quite honestly, still might be the vicious killers everyone else believes gnolls to be, but he's not had a chance to discover for himself)... or joining his townsfolk brethren in attacking these gnolls and going against every reason he came out here in the first place.

Had we had a couple hours of dealing with the gnolls, establishing a rapport, coming to some understandings about each other (especially about how many of our townsfolk are not as willing to talk as we were)... and then the other grell showed up to attack, then that would've been cool. The gnolls would know we weren't in on it, and thus Mogro would have been able to make a knowledgeable decision on who to defend/attack. But right now as I said... it's all up in the air. I'm not willing to have Mogro attack the gnolls because it goes against everything he came out here for... but I'm also not willing to attack the other grell because for all we know they are in the right, plus the fact it would basically ostracize us all from the krel when the other townsfolk found out we killed our own people to defend a bunch of gnolls we barely spoke to. It's a no-win situation... which is why Mogro's staying out of it.

Right now... the only thing Mogro wants to do is to go back to town and tell everyone there "hey, just thought you might want to know... those of us you sent out to speak with the gnolls did in fact meet them and spoke to them for about five minutes... they seemed okay for the moment and said they wanted to trade... but then a bunch of other townsfolk showed up and attacked and pretty much destroyed any chance of negotiation from happening, so it seems we're now at war with a gnoll band for no good reason. We'll see how many our our brethren come back, and you town elders can decide what to do next."