Scales of War #1 Rescue at Rivenroar (Full)

[Goonalan]

NOTICES.

1) I'm going to be away at a film festival 21-23 (that should be Thursday to Saturday), I may attempt to log in and reply to stuff at some point but I doubt it. I will more than likely check back in on Saturday night- because I'll be missing you all by then, if not it'll be Sunday 24th before I'm back to it.

2) I'm moving office, and doing lots of other stuff at work (in my own time) between Monday 25th and Friday 29th, I think I'll actually be 'in work and busy' for three days. Don't slow down your posting during this period, its just that you wont get your fairly instant replies, I'll be home for 4 PM or thereabouts even if I am in work- I'm going to be continuing to take it easy.

3) Your PCs are fast approaching Level 2, this is generally the point where people declare themselves un/happy with their PCs. When you reach Level 2 I will allow you to rebuild your character- as much or as little as you like, anything goes- as long as it stays the same name and the same function ie Defender, Striker etc.

I allow this because in almost all of the games I have DM'ed in RL, and via Maptools- people are keen to try something new but by the time they've been in x encounters they're hankering for... whatever it was they were going to build before the latest shiny character class came out and grabbed there attentions.

I'll say it again- you can rebuild your PC at Level 2 if you are unhappy with it, as long as you retain the name and the function then ANYTHING goes.

This includes adding in THEMES.

After level 2 then the rules apply, you stick with what you've got, I may be persuaded to allow you to change two powers/feats/skills at a later level but there better be a good reason. We go by the book from then on...

Questions?

Cheers Goonalan

 

[larryfinnjr]

Gents,

Apologies for my absence. I've been on duty since 5am yesterday morning and we had a horrible accident that resulted in one of my Soldiers being killed last night. This is the first free moment I've really had and I plan to be in bed in about 15 minutes.

I've got duty again tomorrow, and I'm hoping to be in enough of a state of mind to properly post. I did quickly glance over the IC chat... I'm not sure Velani would be keen on the skill challenge and would more likely be ready to rush in and grab the proverbial bull by the horns. If combat seems the way, if someone (or DM) would kindly blaze the path with her, I'd appreciate it.

 

[tiornys]

Oooh, themes! Dragon themes only, or (reflavored) Dark Sun also?

For the record, I'm happy with Ah-shahran as he is, unless everyone in the party decides to become something that lacks a decent basic attack (at which point I'd likely go straight Shaman).

[MENTION=99210]larryfinnjr[/MENTION], sorry to hear about your soldier!

t~

 

[Goonalan]

Oooh, themes! Dragon themes only, or (reflavored) Dark Sun also?

For the record, I'm happy with Ah-shahran as he is, unless everyone in the party decides to become something that lacks a decent basic attack (at which point I'd likely go straight Shaman).

[MENTION=99210]larryfinnjr[/MENTION], sorry to hear about your soldier!

t~

If you can build it in the CB legit then anything goes- although I'd like to see it first so I can get my head around it.

Cheers Goonalan

 

[Goken100]

If you can build it in the CB legit then anything goes- although I'd like to see it first so I can get my head around it.

Cheers Goonalan

Unfortunately the only themes in the CB right now are Darksun themes (which you can only access by marking your character as a Darksun character). Not sure if more are scheduled to be added this month or not... I'm thinking not. That's why I tend to not want to mess with themes yet unless everyone in the game has one (gotta keep up with the power creep).

 

[Goonalan]

Unfortunately the only themes in the CB right now are Darksun themes (which you can only access by marking your character as a Darksun character). Not sure if more are scheduled to be added this month or not... I'm thinking not. That's why I tend to not want to mess with themes yet unless everyone in the game has one (gotta keep up with the power creep).

Errr... I'm in the CB right now and looking at my Guttersnipe themed Rogue, which isn't Darksun, it's from Dragon Magazine, as are many of the other Themes- on page 3 Details-

There are 26 Themes there, 10 from Dark Sun and 16 from Dragon magazine.

My previous statement stands- if you want one, grab it- I can beef up Encounters easy enough and besides a few more powers may even make the combat swing by a little faster.

Once more- Level 2, anything goes- grab a theme if you want one, after Level 2... we stick to the rules, one opportunity to retrain at every new level.

Cheers Goonalan

 

[Thanee]

I do not know anything about themes.

Got no DDI.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Goken100]

Errr... I'm in the CB right now and looking at my Guttersnipe themed Rogue, which isn't Darksun, it's from Dragon Magazine, as are many of the other Themes- on page 3 Details-

There are 26 Themes there, 10 from Dark Sun and 16 from Dragon magazine.

My previous statement stands- if you want one, grab it- I can beef up Encounters easy enough and besides a few more powers may even make the combat swing by a little faster.

Once more- Level 2, anything goes- grab a theme if you want one, after Level 2... we stick to the rules, one opportunity to retrain at every new level.

Cheers Goonalan

Woah... awesome! Totally missed a timely update! Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[Goonalan]

What's the PBP etiquette for this?

Perhaps its me but sometimes between encounters the decision making process grinds to a halt, or at least slows considerably- as I stated with my opening question I'm trying to get my head around the PBP process here.

You arrived back in the entrance chamber approx 72 hours ago real time, made some excellent checks- two doors, a decision to be made, adding it all up and in the end a door got opened- the Drakes got spotted...

The last day or so has been lots of Q&A, or suggestions, and even a plan recently- which is all good.

But to me it's a little slow, compared to the combat- now I'm a noob at this PBP so I don't know if this is normal. On my side of the screen I am often sitting here reading every one of your posts looking for someone to say... I take the lead- I do this.

In combat players obviously put there own characters at risk, and so are more than willing to dive in- do whatever it is their character does in combat.

That said the bit between combat, or anyway this stage that we're at, it seems that you need a consensus to act- particularly if the answer is not combat, no one just does things, which is fair enough...

But you don't seem to move towards a consensus without prodding, and if this is coming over as insulting then it's not meant to be- I'm genuinely intrigued as to how I fix this.

I don't want to decide things for you, obviously, but I kinda have been doing a little in the past- taking what one of you has written and then catapulting you in to a situation (at least it feels like that to me at times). Does it to you? Am I bad for doing this?

The problem you have at the moment is fight or go with Kali's plan- some people have offered suggestions, but no-one has said we should do this, or I'll do this...

Sorry if I'm not making sense but I don't understand how we move through these moments with a greater degree of alacrity, or is this how it works...

Is there a way of getting people motivated and moving towards objective A with plan A quicker than this. Should I take charge and present the solutions as a question- do you attack, or plan B- and then get the consensus for you?

I appreciate we're all at different times of the day it's just I don't want to come across as if I'm railroading but at times it seems to lack direction- not all of you all of the time, you take it in turns to go with your ideas (like Kali here) but how do we get to doing things... quicker. Or decisions getting made, discussed... quicker. And the discussions focussing on the subject rather than... not.

My point would be this in my RL or even Maptools game some bright spark would come up with the plan there'd be x minutes bickering (chat specifically about how to do the plan) and then everyone would take ownership of a part of it and start rolling and explaining what they are doing.

And Kali's plan is just an example (it's not the best thing to do, or the thing you should do), it's just doing something...

Help me please, I'm genuinely puzzled- do I direct more?

Learn to relax? (lol).

Do you just want things explained to you- what happens next, an interactive story in which I present pathways?



Oh, and this is a joyous game, that I am loving by the way, I've already been through and started populating the next scenario- Scales of War Part 2, I'm looking for maps and components, rejigging monsters and... generally hoping that we're going to keep this up for some considerable time.

Help me to understand?

 

[Goken100]

Building consensus in PBP

Goonalan, I think you're doing a spectacular job so far, on par or better than other PBP DMs I've seen in my (admittedly limited) PBP experience. To sum things up and point to the decisions we need to make is exactly what we want.

The trouble is that these are complicated, and very interesting, situations. I want to take it all in and make a meaningful contribution, but it takes a while to read every post and keep track of all of the loose ends to be addressed.

Again, you're doing a great job. In fact, it reminds me of what one does as a facilitator in the business world, a role I take sometimes in my line of work. A facilitator doesn't participate as a member of the team, but keeps things organized and moves things along. So to tackle the formidable challenge of building consensus in open-ended situations like this, applying even more facilitator tricks might be helpful.

A facilitator must not allow the conversation to meander completely unchecked, or important issues will be forgotten. So a running tally of open issues is definitely helpful. In our example a tally might include:
1. Allocation of treasure from Spizz
2. Unlooted bodies in entrance room
3. Unexplored remainder of crypt
4. Unexplored other closed door
5. Sewer Rats waiting for prisoner exchange
6. New crypt - drakes and glowing floor
6a. Who's good with rope?
6b. Will someone help with the ritual?
etc

Another tool that might help is a summary of proposals and opinions (votes). This way we could specifically see who has weighed in on each issue and who has not. It might even help to specifically tell players its their turn to weigh in on an issue, so that it mimics the specificity of a battle. And as with the battle, after a certain amount of time, the show must go on.

I also want to add that pushing in a seemingly likely direction is an important part of facilitating. Yes, they're supposed to be neutral, but there's a fine line and nobody really pays it any mind. If the facilitator is really off base you'll probably get push back, but usually folks are glad of the help getting things rolling.

Hope that helps!