OOC Discussion (Session 1 & 2)

[Ludanto]

Everybody chime in with the rewards they've earned and how.

Also, who gets MVP and Teamworker?

Finally, change your Beliefs, Instincts and Goals if you want.

(Yes, Allric can claim the mushrooms, assuming that he's committed to grabbing them (test free).)

[Marullus]

Allric

FATE:
BELIEF: - The appearance of power is power itself.
Acting on Belief - Acting as Scout to enhance image, reveals spider; Wins battle of Wills with Spider; Demands the Werewolf recognize his power and wins

GOAL: - I will acquire the magical antecedents I require from this dwarven ruin.
Working towards Goal - Found mushrooms and dominated werewolf guardian

INSTINCT: - Concoct elixirs whenever we camp.
Benefiting from Instinct - Elixir made for Group - used to aid Thag;

PERSONA:
Playing against a belief - n/a

GOAL: - I will acquire the magical antecedents I require from this dwarven ruin.
Accomplishing a Goal - I got the mushrooms!

I will need a new goal... I don't know anything realistic to hope for in continuing yet, so I'll need to think on this.

Group Awards

MVP stands for “most valuable player.” The MVP award
goes to the player who made the crucial roll so the party
could face down the big problem besetting it in the session.
The group as a whole decides who gets the persona point for
being the MVP. Only one player can be the MVP.

MVP - I'll nominate Aiofe. I think either Aiofe (for the Spider) or Allric (for the wolf) is appropriate.

The player who worked the hardest to keep the group
together and in good shape earns a persona point for the
effort. This award goes to the ones who help despite the
risks, who spend all of their gear for their mates and sacrifice
their goals for their companions.
The group decides who gets this reward and only one
player per session can receive it. You cannot earn MVP and
Teamworker.

Teamworker - I'll nominate Thag.

If you roleplay in a believable and entertaining manner
throughout the entire session—if you use an accent, describe
all your actions in vivid detail or bring your Belief, Goal,
Instinct and alignment into play in a new and entertaining
way—you earn a persona point.
The group decides who’s worthy of this reward. It can be
awarded to more than one player, but it cannot be awarded
to everyone. If no one really captured their character during
this session, don’t give out this award for this session.

Embodiment - I vote for Allric, Aiofe, and Berry

[Ludanto]

Of note: Allric gets the Persona for accomplishing his Goal, but not the Fate for pursuing it as well.

[Marullus]

Of note: Allric gets the Persona for accomplishing his Goal, but not the Fate for pursuing it as well.

True. It was just how it was tracked on Rusty's handy template in the character sheet.

[ffilz]

Hmm, one Fate point for working towards my goal of mapping the ruin...

That's pretty reflective of my engagement.

Honestly I'm just not feeling it, this feels like a signal to drop out. I keep feeling like a lot of posting happens over the weekend when I can't participate, and I really just don't see why Galen is really interested in this ruin. It feels like he's the guy who came along because his buddies were doing something and he had nothing better to do. I picked the mapping goal because it was the only thing that made any sense why Galen was interested in the ruin.

I tend to be a more quiet player, and that doesn't work well in BWHQ games, and in play by post, it seems easy to get lost in the noise.

Frank

[Ludanto]

Dang, Frank. I'm sorry. I'm not sure if there's a fix for it. I mean, you can change the character's motivation, but the posting frequency seems to be a different problem. I'd say that a quiet player can still take part (I'm a pretty quiet player as well), but if you're not enjoying it, then there's no point, I suppose.

We'll certainly be sorry to see you go.

[ffilz]

Dang, Frank. I'm sorry. I'm not sure if there's a fix for it. I mean, you can change the character's motivation, but the posting frequency seems to be a different problem. I'd say that a quiet player can still take part (I'm a pretty quiet player as well), but if you're not enjoying it, then there's no point, I suppose.

We'll certainly be sorry to see you go.

I'm not quite ready to give up, but I definitely need to find a way to be more engaged to continue. But if folks really like the weekend activity, it may be best for me to drop out, weekends for me are family time. Often, I do get some time Sunday evening, but otherwise Friday evening through Sunday are family time for me.

I'd like some thoughts on how to pick a more engaging belief and goal. I know beliefs are the hardest part of BWHQ games.

I'd also like to figure out how to be better engaged through my tendency to be quiet.

Frank

[jhrrsn]

Aoife

FATE: 2
BELIEF: - Everything I do must bring me closer to avenging my family.
Acting on Belief - Okay, so I think Aoife's actions this session were consistent with this belief. She's exploring these ruins to test her mettle and hopefully find some worthwhile treasure.

INSTINCT: - Always fix up gear when we camp.
Benefiting from Instinct - She used it to repair her helmet, damaged while driving off the spider.


PERSONA: 1
Playing against a belief - n/a
GOAL: - I will test my strength against a worthy foe.
Accomplishing a Goal - Big show of force against the spider, driving it off.

Group Awards
MVP - Thag (number one wolf fiend)

Teamworker - Rabon (all-around good dude)

Embodiment - Allric (really great character work, willing to play against his best interests!), Berry (great interaction with Aoife, and it's fun watching his naïveté get him into trouble!)

[Ludanto]

I don't know that the wording of Aoife's belief is a problem in itself. If you find or work toward a lead on vengeance, you're good. However, that's pretty specific. I'll try to work this in, but you could conceivably go sessions without pinging it. And that's fine if that's fine. That might even be normal. But you might want to think of a way to broaden it to cover "vengeance" or "duty to family" or something in general.

And I think, as a rule, anything that benefits you, and doesn't actively screw over your party, benefits the party (because you're a party member).

[Rusty Tincanne]

Part 1: rewards
FATE: 1-3, depending...
Acting on Belief - searching the spider tower for treasure and focusing on treasure when questioning the wolf.
Working towards Goal - probably this.
Benefiting from Instinct - I am torn. I attempted to search for traps multiple times, but wasn't given an Ob, just a response there were no traps to be found. I would argue that it counts, but i leave the final decision to the group and Ludanto.

PERSONA: probably 0
Playing against a belief - no
Accomplishing a Goal - not sure...

MVP - Allric for use of motes in conflicts and single handedly handling that wolf. Also, because Marullus kept us straight on rules and kept the game rudder steady.
Teamworker - Thag, Aoife or Berry
Embodiment - Aoife, Berry or Allric


Part 2: Galen
I don't post as much on weekends, either and found myself increasing my US activity, much to my family's collective irritation. For me it was worth it. I don't know what to suggest for this.

As to involving your character, maybe Galen isn't right for this adventure. Perhaps a new character better suited to this?

Marullus suggested a more proactive instinct, which is key, I think. In the past, my instincts were camp oriented, so I waited to use them. This session, though, has had a wealth of opportunities and made me feel Fine about taking tests because I am not advancing the grind.

As a group, I think we did a fair job of opening the stage up for others, especially considering our group size. Initially Thag and Aoife were eager to get in some action, the Berry and Aoife had some exchanges, then Berry and Allric, then Rabon and Aoife, etc. We could be better about making openings for Galen (or a new character, if you prefer), but in the end, it boils down to you stepping forward. But how can we foster that? Would engaging Galen IC help?

Thoughts?

Part 3: next session
Allric is exhausted and needs to test health to clear it. Wont be easy. And we need his elixers. As much as i hate being angry (see what i did there? ), i think it is worth having Marullus give the recap next time.

I'll likely change my instinct to Always search for treasure before leaving a room. That leaves Thag on his own for scouting, unless Galen wants to use a similar goal so they can continue to test in pairs.

[ffilz]

If we can find a happy balance on posting, that would help a lot, but if weekend posting really is important to some, it might be best for me to bow out rather than slow the game down.

I'm not much for a lot of dialog in my role play, but more engagement of Galen could help.

I don't think the character itself is a problem, the issue is the belief, goal, and instinct. The mapping instinct had been suggested, but yea, maybe a scouting instinct would be better. He can use a check to update the map in camp...

The belief is probably fine, and maybe it just needs some rounding out.

The goal was a result of this thought treain: "crap, the adventure is already started, I really don't know what it's about, I was recruited to be the cartographer, so let's go with a mapping goal..."

[Ludanto]

Throwing Rabon a bone here, since it would be a shame to not have this make the cut from one session to the next.

The embroidered pouch is full of sparkling gems! Yay! Pack 1, 3D.

On the other hand, for the Instinct. No test, no Fate. Sorry.

If you're not expecting traps, you might want to change to a different Instinct.

[BillTheGalacticHero]

Thag

BELIEF: - I am the last defense of mankind against the minions of Darkness.
GOAL: - I will destroy the evil tainting this place.
INSTINCT: - Always scout ahead

================================

FATE:
Acting on your belief - I don't think so, I think this would be holding the door against some slobbering horror until everyone was through.

Working towards a Goal - Possibly, we injured and drove off the spider, but did not destroy it; possibly +1 Fate

Used Instinct to benefit party - attempted twice, succeeded once, so +1 Fate


PERSONA:
Playing against a belief - I don't think so

Accomplishing a Goal - I don't think so

I think I will keep this Belief, Goal, and Instinct.

Group Awards
MVP - Aoife - came up with the "Good Idea" to get to the upper level of the tower, and did massive damage to the spider

Teamworker - Rabon or Thag - a jack-of-all-trades, did scouting and combat

Embodiment - Allric - I agree with Aoife one this one, although Berry and Aoife's in-character banter is worth merit

[BillTheGalacticHero]

As for the "speed" and "timing" of posts. I guess I'm just excited about this, I've never played in a PbF game before, although I did try running one a couple years, a Legend of Drizzt boardgame session with several guys from my wargame club, on a blogspot site. But it got to be too much work for me and it went away.

My weekends are usually free, as are most evenings, so I posted frequently; so I should probably should slow down the pace.

[Marullus]

More than one character can be awarded Embodiment, just not all characters. I think the interplay between Aiofe and Berry should also be rewarded.

Weekends: like Rusty, my family would appreciate less weekend activity. I can agree to that.

Galen: the character can be proactive - facing all evil certainly is a Belief to do that. But you gotta feel it. If the character isn't jivng for you then switch it out and be inspired.

Aiofe: I think it is a good belief - it is something she can struggle with. Fulfilling your belief is worth a Fate but struggling and acting against it is a Persona. When times come up where you should do something that doesn't support vengance, show her turmoil and reap the rewards.

Recap: I am fine giving it; I appreciate the offer.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Results with Ludanto's input:
FATE: 1
Acting on Belief - searching the spider tower for treasure and focusing on treasure when questioning the wolf.
Working towards Goal - no
Benefiting from Instinct - no

PERSONA: 1
Playing against a belief - no
Accomplishing a Goal - d3 gems, mushrooms and loot from tower


I had intended to find traps! But after thinking on it, I want his instinct and belief more closely related, so I will switch it to searching for treasure, as stated above. That will save us another incident like we just had, at least.

[shroomofinsanity]

As others are saying, the frequency of posting is something we should talk about. I obviously can't always be here throughout the day. I work a second shift job and work alternate weekends.

================
So as for rewards:

BELIEF: - (The disciples of the Lords can help all people): i think I played this belief, I attempted to do something for the kobold, and worked to not fight the wolf and strike a deal, though my lack of posting near the end could counter that. I will leave it to our GM.

GOAL: - (I will discover unknown facts about the dwarven religion): I did try to ask our dwarf about the faith, much to annoyance of said dwarf XD. So I feel this should get me a fate.

INSTINCT: - (Always help the suffering): unfortunately nothing here *shrug*

Group awards:
MVP: I will agree with either Aiofe or Allric as they drove large chunks of the session.

Teamwork:Thag seems like a good choice for this as does Aoife.
Embodiment: Allric and Aoife really seemed alive, all the little emotional points and interactions, so my vote goes to them handily.

[Ludanto]

Here's the count:

THAG: F1, P1 (TW)
ALLRIC: F2, P2 (EMB)
BERRY: F2, P1 (EMB)
GALEN: F1
AOIFE: F2, P3 (MVP, EMB)
RABON: F1, P1

And Allric gets the recap, right?

[Marullus]

ALLRIC: F2, P2 (EMB)

Recorded!

And Allric gets the recap, right?

I'll hopefully get to it tonight, if not, tomorrow night. Can we get a Session 2 thread?

[ffilz]

So any more thoughts on how I should change Galen's goal and instinct?