OOC Chatter I

[Alethan]

My dwarf would wear a pink bikini for those benefits, no doubt.

[Marullus]

Yeah... this is why it's so difficult for me to envision one of my PCs wearing it!!!

Wait... The problem is that you can't envision a dwarf warrior in a feather headdress?

It is times like this that make me wish I could Photoshop...

[Alethan]

The real problem is the practicality of walking around in a feathered headdress all the time if you have retainers. Fighters couldn't wear proper head protection and, I think, would draw extra attention to them in a battle if they were wearing it. Honestly, wouldn't it draw attention to anyone wearing it? A group of archers are standing 60ft away from the party. They see a guy in the back wearing robes and a huge feathered headdress. Must be the chief! Let's take him out.

There's no sneaking about in a feathered headdress, either.

It's just a practicality thing is all.

[Rusty Tincanne]

You guys make me laugh so much!

Now my wife wants to know what is going on...

[Marullus]

Is anyone else as stupidly excited about this preview as I am?

https://youtu.be/G1olU1hx1do

Will Smith is the guy to pull this off.

[Zhym]

Y'know, this game may be too sandboxy. Thre are so many things to go do, almost all of them promising to be deadly, that no more than a couple of people seem to want to go to any particular destination.

I think this is the current list of declared preferences:
Pendleton, Captain Bremen (if he makes it back): Barrow
Ableforth, Idriss: Demons beneath the old goblin hold
Earc, Grimble: Guhra's Tower
Rhybek: Something of a dwarvish nature?
Fingers: Preferably not fighting demons, though he's considering it.

Is that about it so far?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Clay is headed north looking for the source of the Morlock's power, The Well of the Worlds. He needs to uncork it. It is a continuation of the last trek he led inthat direction when the party was distracted by the ghouls. He will go alone (with Morr, Maurice, Asala and one of the 'Belle's from the Farrow farmstead) if needed. He would prefer company though.

[Zhym]

That doesn't help us construct a group of size N > 2.

[Rusty Tincanne]

You're right about that. But there are several PCs that haven't declared their intentions yet: Halfpint, Foxy, Baxtaw, Blackjack, Markd and bandy, to name a few. Though the mission from Baudh seems to be neverending, so they might not matter as much.

[sirravd]

Y'know, this game may be too sandboxy. Thre are so many things to go do, almost all of them promising to be deadly, that no more than a couple of people seem to want to go to any particular destination.

I think this is the current list of declared preferences:
Pendleton, Captain Bremen (if he makes it back): Barrow
Ableforth, Idriss: Demons beneath the old goblin hold
Earc, Grimble: Guhra's Tower
Rhybek: Something of a dwarvish nature?
Fingers: Preferably not fighting demons, though he's considering it.

Is that about it so far?

That's what henchmen are for! :p

[Spearmint]

I think one issue is that you possibly have too many threads, ...

sage wants info on the Pinnacle Mountain, at least three dragons encounters have happened if not more, you have the ghost hall and old place of Baudhs symbol, the demons of the goblin hole, the goblin tower, the kobold tower, the goblin halls and a link to some mage cult further along, maps of old Zavarra and Zhint, the Morlock's tunnels, Cyclops ogres and orcs on the loose in the north forest, role playing in Gaul and dwarf town Idmi, town festivals and some of us are contributing 'world building' scenarios' which take time as well. (and I have probably missed some stuff too)...


As for my character Amistad, I feel he likes to 'get the job' done and so would try to build on his fledgling Logging empire and also return to the Morlock Tunnels but with a much greater force of folk and supplies. He would be open to offers to join other adventures but you would have to find him in his office at the Frogmorton Ford.

[Alethan]

These are all just opportunities.

It's a Sandbox. Do what you want! These are all just things you can do. It's sort of like RL.

Personally, I love not being railroaded into a straight-line path of "adventure".

Don't worry. If you do all the things, he'll make more.

[Zhym]

I think that's actually the problem: I can't do all the things because there are so many things to do that we're split on what to do to the point that we almost don't have viable party sizes. Will two people be able to close a hell mouth? Survive Guhra's tower? Survive the undead of the barrow long enough to puzzle out the tableau playing itself out there? Maybe, but it doesn't seem likely.

One of the things about Keehnelf's game (which I only bring up because this was started as an homage) was that the number of "big" encounter locations was actually pretty limited. There were a lot of smaller things: the tree nymph, the other tree that had a dead elf at its foot, the weird signing dude. Even the tomb of the horse king was pretty small. So a lot of things we ran into weren't something a whole expedition would be built around. But in Marullus's game, we've run into a lot of things that need big groups to tackle, or at least appear that way. Thus my comment that there may be too much to do.

How about letting PCs from the same player go on expeditions together? I know that brings up other issues, like the possibility that the game would devolve into a bunch of effectively solo adventures, but it would solve the "no one wants to go do X with me" problem.

[Alethan]

Valid point, Zhym.

The way I see it, the person leading the expedition should be the defacto party leader. So far, that is how it is handled in-game. The only real added responsibility of the party leader is that someone else rolls Init and if the party leader thinks they can beat it, they try to roll it as well.

Personally, I have other ideas as to what being the party leader should mean.

Party Leader Responsibilities:
- make sure the party is supplied properly for the venture (This doesn't mean buying all of the supplies; but it does mean figuring out about how long the party will be gone, making sure they have torches/lanterns if the venture goes underground, making sure there is a way of hauling expected treasure back home, making sure they have a map and/or good directions to the intended destination, make sure they have a supply of healing potions if they don't have a healer in the group (again, not solely out of their pocket, but make sure they have some)
- ensure the party is diverse (caster? fighter-types? healers? sneaky person?) and of appropriate experience for the venture
- keep track of treasure recovered (not carry it all; just keep track of it)
- find a party member to take care of mapping (when necessary)
- do not allow the adventure thread to go stagnant. This is a player-focused responsibility. The player needs to make sure they are constantly moving the activity along more so than the GM. Make sure all characters get their rolls posted in a timely manner or, if they don't/wont, telling the GM to continue on without that roll or interaction. This means giving directions to the lead PC (if they aren't the lead PC) when there are multiple choices.

In return for these responsibilities, the Party Leader:
- gets to make primary decisions and break ties on party decisions
- receives a bonus of party treasure (an extra half share or first choice on all magic items found or some such thing)
- can lead the party to his/her choice of destination.
- gets town rep for leading a successful expedition (or negative rep for leading a failed expedition... there is a price to being a leader of men, Tam)

Party Members get the luxury of:
- Not having to make decisions if that's not what they want to do
- passing off most of the blame on a failed venture
- do adventuring work without doing any of the "paperwork" normally involved.

The above could probably use a bit more thought and input to hash it out and make it more usable, but I think you get the idea. Leading a party is more work. But there are benefits, to the party (better equipped, better for players who don't like to lead but just like to fight in battles), the leader (more treasure, more decisions), and the GM (less work). And hopefully the end result is a better adventure that all enjoy.

[Marullus]

There is always too much to do. Gotta pick and make choices.

I like the one PC per expedition and think it is mitigated by the fact that you can have multiple PCs... You can have all players on every expedition, if you wanted. It is a choice.

I also do think that henchmen were a key part of Moldvay basic that is often overlooked. If you want the joy of animating multiple characters on a trip, just hire some.

Large groups aren't a requirement, they're also a choice. Risk and reward go together - the fastest advancement in the game has been by the small groups that took big risks and lived, not the large groups who played it safe.

[Alethan]

viewtopic.php?p=318771#p318771

And I thought Bandy was bold! You lot are just...

well... something worse than Bandy.

[Marullus]

Yes, how brave is your party on a scale of, "that goose has moose antlers. Let's get outta here," to "that's an ancient red dragon; let's say hi!"

...I am really dreading that I have to to roll that dragon's reaction roll.

[Alethan]

Yes, how brave is your party on a scale of, "that goose has moose antlers. Let's get outta here," to "that's an ancient red dragon; let's say hi!"

...I am really dreading that I have to to roll that dragon's reaction roll.

Starting off OK so far!

Good luck, gentlemen!

er... and badger.

[Rusty Tincanne]

It helps to know the proper customs. When confronting an ancient, red dragon, you really need to have a large pile of dwarfs already toasting when it arrives.

Still, I'm going to dwell on this for a day or so before responding. We wouldn't want to waste a friendly result!

[Marullus]

Friendly and Hostile are equally terrifying results where dragons are concerned....