How To…

[OGRE MAGE]

This will be the thread I use to post the do’s and dont’s of the game.

Just a friendly reminder that the effort you put into this game will determine what you get out of it. If you are a reliable, thoughtful player, who tries to keep the action moving in the right direction, who makes easy to follow posts, you will get the same attention in return. However, if you don’t have time to think about your action and just follow along without contributing, or if you type out a jumbled block of words with no structure or punctuation, causing the rest of us to struggle to understand your meaning, I probably wont put much extra effort into your portion of the updates.

I want everyone to enjoy this game equally, but with this many players involved, we need to keep some semblance of continuity.

[OGRE MAGE]

Posting:

Lets start with posting. I like when things are uniform, so I will ask everyone to post actions the same general way, or at least close to it.

Please start out the game by posting your characters name in bold at the top of each post, so everyone gets used to who each other is.

Spoken dialogue (role playing) should either be in quotation marks, or in blue (dialog button) text. Preferably both.

Out Of Character comments and information should either be in italics or in red (ooc button) text. Again, preferably both.

(I started using both red text and italics when I learned that around 8% of adult males were colorblind. I had no idea it was that common, so I’ve been trying to keep things like that in mind while we play these games.)

An example would look like this:

Abner the Weary

The cautious cleric will look past the doorway before entering the room.

“Is there anyone inside?”

He casts a quick prayer over the others before the entire group enters.

Casting: Bless

This way, people who can’t see the different colors, can still tell what we are trying to do. I hope that makes sense.

Extra Incentive: Everyone who consistently posts close to this template in-game will be rewarded with extra XP at the end of each adventure.

[OGRE MAGE]

Where You Post Matters:

I like to keep the game threads easy to read and clear of clutter so past information is easier to access when necessary.

I strongly discourage all players from posting non-game related information in the game threads. Anything non-related belongs in the OOC thread.

I don’t mind if you ask a question or whatever ooc, but I would actually prefer it if you tried instead to integrate things like that into your post organically. As an example, instead of asking Is the door made of wood or metal?, you might post IC:

Hrothgar takes a closer look at the door as he passes, trying to determine what type of material it’s made of.

Short OOC discussions about strategy or planning are fine in the game threads, but any long term conversations should happen in the OOC thread. Please keep any unnecessary comments (memes, movie comparisons, joking around, etc.) outside of the main threads.

Players who can keep the game threads clean will earn extra XP at rewards time.

[OGRE MAGE]

Rolls:

As most of you already know, I don’t spend a lot of time posting DM rolls. I play from a device most of the time, making that an arduous endeavor. In fact, I actually prefer to roll real dice whenever I have them nearby.

You should post any applicable rolls along with your characters actions. I will make any rolls you wouldn’t know the outcome of in private. If you aren’t sure if you should add a role, just do so. You can’t bank unused rolls, but it speeds up gameplay if I don’t need to continuously ask for rolls.

Natural 1’s will always miss, and might incur a bit of bad luck, depending on the situation. (firing into combat etc.)

Natural 20’s will automatically hit, and rolled damage will be doubled. Situationally, a simple boon may occur as well.

[OGRE MAGE]

FYI:

After all the recent mention of TPK’s in my games, I’m not sure I need to say this, but here goes.

Even though this game might start out a little on the lighter side, I normally try to keep a steady element of danger in my games, just like the old days of 3d6 x 6 in order. I feel the threat of something horrible happening at any moment is a potent equalizer against reckless characters, and encourages players to think carefully about the consequences of hasty or questionable actions.

Since we already have several characters with double digit hit points, you can expect encounters will be far more challenging than the normal first level adventure you might be used to. Good luck!

[OGRE MAGE]

A good general rule of thumb I like to follow in games with multiple new posts is to read the game thread first before checking any ooc or private threads. This tends to reduce the spoiler factor and cuts down on possible confusion.

I encourage players to read all the threads, not just the ones they are involved in. I consider anything that happens in the public threads to be common knowledge to everyone in the game. Things you don’t want others to know about can happen in your private thread, where only you and I will see them.

This only applies to knowledge that would be readily available on the grapevine. If something happens in a different group, and they haven’t returned to talk about it yet, other groups wouldn’t know about it, obviously.

[OGRE MAGE]

......a poor attempt at disguising some spell.

I hope everyone understands that there is no such thing as covert, disguised, or secret casting of spells.

With very few exceptions, magic needs to be performed out loud, with obvious and purposeful gesticulations.

People will know when you are casting, just as you will know if someone else casts a spell towards you.

[OGRE MAGE]

Spell sharing can be done at your leisure with a cost of 100gp per level for materials and one full days time per level to record them into another book.