HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME

OGRE MAGE
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OGRE MAGE
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HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME

#1 Post by OGRE MAGE »

This applies to all players involved!


Hardcore AD&D Players Wanted:


I am looking for players that want to be involved in a long term "open world" sandbox that I am running on here. I think that the Unseen Servant has some really fantastic players that really know how to creatively feed off of the DM and their fellow players to coordinate wonderfully magical scenes and scenarios. This game will be for those players.


The prerequisites of this game will be as follows:

You must be a consistent and timely player that can keep up with your groups posting rate. If you're the type of player who thinks it's ok to post a couple of times and then disappear for a week or two in between your next post, please stop reading this.

You must be willing to read large, descriptive posts detailing your surroundings (picking up on the occasional hidden hint or clue) and respond accordingly. This game will require all players to discover things and retain knowledge, applying it to future plot hook discoveries. If you only enjoy the combat portions of a game, this one probably isn't for you.

You must be able to post complete sentences, using punctuation and spelling to make your posts legible for everyone reading them.

Finally and most importantly, you MUST be able to keep track of and regularly update your sheet. It will be imperative to keep close track of your own items and wealth, making timely and accurate updates as you level up.

I realize that all of these things should seem pretty obvious to most of us, but I feel like it still requires mentioning. (I've seen lots of players who don't do these simple things during games)

If you are sure that you can follow these simple guidelines and want to learn more....

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Re: HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME

#2 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Here are some general rules and guidelines to follow:

If you post an action that requires a roll, please make the roll and post the results with it...especially combat rolls. Having to prompt for die rolls slows the game. I will make a delinquent roll for a PC if necessary.

If you are attempting to parley, I will generally roll a reaction roll using the best Cha modifier of all PC's who engage in the talk.

I will roll all the following rolls: Surprise rolls, Unknown Thieves Ability rolls, Reaction rolls, (others as appropriate)

If you disagree with a ruling, please address it with me in your private thread and explain why; I can and do change my mind when presented with polite, reasonable arguments! Don't be rude, don't make a ruckus on the public forums, and don't continue to question my decision when I've been clear that it's final.

If you're posting dialogue, put it in blue. If you're posting OOC notes, put it in red.

I realize that not everyone can post on here daily. If you fall behind or ask me to NPC your character while you are AFK, this will be my general 'CPU' rules for how I will make PCs act when in NPC status:
1. If they were in melee and at 25% HP or more, they'll continue to melee, or move to engage if current foes are down.
2. If they were in melee and at less than 25% HP, they will attempt to withdraw from melee if feasible, and will not engage further foes in melee, but may use ranged weapons as appropriate.
3. If they were not in melee, they will use ranged weapons if appropriate, hold action otherwise.
4. Because spells and magic items are a limited resource, I will not cause PCs to cast or use limited-use items unless the situation clearly demands on it.

Cardinal Rule: if you don't say you did it, you didn't do it. I will assume some actions...for instance, if you say "I'm going to stab the orc with my sword", I'll assume you drew your sword first. But if you state, "I pick up the dead goblin's crossbow", but you don't mention that you are grabbing his bolt case as well, you will not have any bolts! If you state "Jak picks the lock on the chest", it is too late to mention that you are going to check for traps!

I will let you know if areas are dark; light sources are up to you to determine, and you should state what (if any) you are using/carrying.


Metagaming: I am not a huge stickler on this; I don't mind 'table talk' and so forth between players, sharing of information, so long as it is reasonable. Likewise, I have no problem with your characters being assumed to know many things that you (the player) know...stuff like that ghouls can paralyze you, or that trolls regenerate unless burned, that werewolves are vulnerable to silver, etc. The one area of metagaming I don't like is when you have a character act on knowledge there is no reasonable way he/she could possibly know. Please don't do this.

I will add to these as necessary.
If they sound familiar, that's because I blatantly stole most of them from another game. :?

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Re: HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME

#3 Post by OGRE MAGE »

As badly as I would like to group players together by their posting rates, due to the classes that you have each picked, I am not sure if that will actually work or not. I will ask each of you to think about what you want to do once you reach the island. Are there any characters that you think would be great together? Are there any that you would rather not have in your group? Now is the time to start thinking about things like that.

Again, this game will be heavy on character building, with an emphasis on obtaining items and knowledge. If you think that your character would work well with another character, then by all means, start making those connections sooner rather than later. Once the ship gets to the island, every one of you will be on your own to choose your fate as you will. There is no tour guide to show you around and as already mentioned elsewhere, it will be up to each individual player to determine what kind of things their character wants to do once they arrive.

Now, that is not to say that once you are in a group you will have to stay with those players for years and years. This game is designed and set up so that there should be plenty of opportunity for your character to “bounce around” a lot. If you have any desire to jump ship after a certain section of the game, feel free. There will be no limitations on things like that and I will likely encourage the movement of specific characters when it is necessary to complete certain missions. Of course, that will all be up to the individual in the long run.

This game is set up to be totally flexible and even completely random at certain points. (wandering monsters, random encounters, stumbling into different plot points, etc.) So, please don’t ever feel like you are stuck with certain aspects. Whatever happens once you land will be totally up to how much effort you put into your character and into the game in general. The island is your oyster!!!

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Re: HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME

#4 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Again, this game will favor the type of player who wants to take the initiative to set up party's that will go out and complete "missions". However, that is not to say that there won't still be plenty of room for those who would rather just travel around and explore the huge expanses of the island. Both of those styles will be necessary to complete the overall final concept of the game.

Everyone will receive the same information and a equal opportunity at attempting some simple tasks that can be completed in and around the settlement, but it will be ultimately up to each player as to what direction they want to take and also who they want to take along with them.

Getting accurate and up to date information will be a critical part of this game. It will be imperative for each player to pay attention to details that might pave the way to their next opportunity to advance. Please make sure that you are getting ALL of the updates in these threads or you will only be hurting your own chances of improving your characters status. I don't like to hear things like: I wasn't getting the notifications because I wasn't "subscribed" to your new thread. Or, I don't "log on" all the time so I wasn't seeing the posts in my private threads. These are unacceptable excuses. Please don't do things like that.

I strongly encourage each player to use their private threads and use them often. They can be a very useful tool for both the player and DM when used properly.

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Re: HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME

#5 Post by OGRE MAGE »

I dislike the overuse of memes. (unless they make me laugh)

In fact, I will likely delete any meme posted in the main game thread.

This will be the only one I ever post, and only because it fits so well.
IMG_1105.JPG
IMG_1105.JPG (96.89 KiB) Viewed 4434 times
Please remember this as you explore the island. :mrgreen:

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Re: HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME

#6 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Group Size:

There is no longer a limit to how many members you can have in your party.

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Re: HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME

#7 Post by OGRE MAGE »

Random Encounters:

Anytime you move around somewhere on the island it will result in several possible outcomes.

I have created lists of random wandering monsters. Every time you move from one hex to another, there will be a certain percentage chance of bumping into something undesirable. I have built in modifiers that will be used based off of your current situation and exact location at the time of the encounter.

I have also made up lists of possible random plot hook encounters that you might find as you explore as well. These wont necessarily always be monsters or combat related. Each map hex will have a possibility (rolled randomly) for you to encounter an unusual situation that may or may not be relevant to your current mission.

There is also one long list of topographical encounters for characters to find out in the jungle. These will be permanent fixtures of the map and will only be encountered when someone actually travels into that particular hex. These will remain on the map to be used as landmarks or even possible bases of operation as you continue to scour the island for new discoveries.

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