Griping and Carousing: OOC Chatter

[Enoch]

This thread is for our OOC chatter, including questions about Torchbearer in general, the CM supplement, or this game in particular.

[Antman9]

Hey all,

I'm headed out for a weekend backpacking trip. I'll be back on Monday. Have a good weekend.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Hey all,

I'm headed out for a weekend backpacking trip. I'll be back on Monday. Have a good weekend.

Either you are hardy and have some great gear, or you do not live in the northeastern US!

Have a blast!

[Marullus]

I know, right? I'm looking forward to being hunkered down against the snow all day. (Mostly involuntarily, with a head cold, but staying on the bright side. )

[Enoch]

Yeah, I live near DC, and we're bracing for yet another snowstorm. Because they tend to be relatively small in our area, and the temperatures warm enough to melt them quickly, we don't have that much infrastructure to deal with them. So when it's cold and lots of snow and ice fall, we're ill-prepared to deal with it.

[Antman9]

Sorry for the delay in getting back.

Yep I'm all geared up. Firday night it got down to 12 degrees but I was snug inside my hammock and sleeping bag. Had to call the trip early though. Hiked back out saturday evening. I was sick with soar throat, achy joints, and a slight fever on Sun, Mon, and Tues.

And no it wasn't from being out in the cold. I've been out in 4 degree weather before. I've been around sick people for two weeks at both school and work. Damn sick people never stay home.

I had a good time though. Saw a deer and plenty of turkey, squirrell, rabbit, deer, and other tracks. Heard a turkey, several owls, and a pack of coyoties. There were several inches of snow on the ground when we hiked out on Friday night (several miles in the dark), then it began snowing mid-day Saturday. There was an additional 4-5 inches when we got back to the trailhead on Sat evening (in the dark again).

It was nice until I started feeling crappy Sat afternoon. Oh well, there will be other times.

[Enoch]

That actually sounds like a pretty cool trip, minus being sick.

[Antman9]

Yep it was pretty awesome. Went with two other guys and they thought it was cool too.

I am almost caught up on reading, but it's getting late and I have an hour drive at 7 am so I'm gonna make my catch up posts sometime in the morning...Thanks for the patience.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Sounds like a great trip. Now i want to go, but I've shed all my winter gear over the past decade or so - too many moves.

There was an additional 4-5 inches when we got back to the trailhead on Sat evening (in the dark again).

It's always dark when winter camping! Days are so short... Great time to catch up on sleep, for sure.

[MonkeyWrench]

You can't blame your sickness on me!

[Stirling]

my weekend woes continue with going sea fishing off the Mull of Kintyre and a spot of coastal rock climbing in un-seasonal good weather, followed by a few real ales and a preview of Cheltenham (best festival of British jumps horse racing).....

[Antman9]

Okydoky,

I've got my initial Personnel Profile up. I'm a bit fuzzy on the whole Abilities and Skills point allocation though. I've read through the TB basic rules book and the USCMC guide. They don't exactly clarify what most of this stuff means, or rather how to go about filling it all out. Or maybe I'm just missing something/not reading between the lines correctly. I'm going to read through them again and see if I missed anything.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Abilities are Health and Will. You get 8 points to divvy up between them, keeping in mind you cannot have below a certain number in one or above in the other. (I cannot remember what they are right now). Occasionally you will be told to take a Health or Will test against a certain Ob, and when that time comes, it isn't so great to have a low number in that Ability. In No Country for Deadbeats, my cleric lost fresh to a snowstorm because his health was 3. An extra die would have been nice.

Skills are in their own section and there are a lot of them. You don't get much choice because you get the basic marine package, plus your MOS specialization (starts you at a skill level of 2 or bumps an existing skill up to 3), and then you get to choose one other skill to either open at level 2, or to bump an existing skill up by 1. Oh, You also get to choose opening Orator, Manipulator or Persuader at level 2 as well.

For my character, I opted to split my 8 Ability points in half, giving him Health 4 and Will 4. In the Skills section, I took the basic marine package, picked Manipulator 2, added my MOS skill of Medic 2, and then bumped that to Medic 3 with my second skill choice. If you look at my character sheet, I highlighted my existing skills in red so it is easier to read. Take a look if you want - your character sheet should look the same other than Manipulator and Medic.

EDIT: At a quick glance, your skills look good, but your abilities only add up to 5. You get three more points to divvy up there.
Alos, I didn't read the answers to your Nature questions, but you add 3 to whatever your answers generated.

[Enoch]

Guys, I have not seen Stirling on this board since 2/23, so I'm going to send him a PM letting him know I'm dropping him. I'll also contact StephenTarheel and see if he's interested in continuing.

Four is plenty--that's a standard fireteam. In fact, given the fact that each action eats up resources, the game actually tends to play better with fewer players.

[Enoch]

You also get to choose opening Orator, Manipulator or Persuader at level 2 as well.

Actually, that's only in base Torchbearer. In USCMC, you get a choice between Manipulator 2 or Persuader 2--Orator is not a skill in this game.

Character creation has been a bit confusing, I know, in part because half the rules come from the USCMC book and the other half from Torchbearer; and partly because the USCMC book isn't clear. I'm going over character sheets now.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Well I didn't do too badly then,, considering I was drawing from Mouse Guard rules in the other game.

[Enoch]

Torchbearer can be confusing, and the supplement really muddies the waters. I'm muddling through myself, and I'm pleasantly surprised that we all seem to be coming out the other side with relatively consistent characters.

[MonkeyWrench]

Sorry about the absence over the past couple days, life and all that.

I will get my character sheet filled out with what I can later today.

[Antman9]

Torchbearer can be confusing, and the supplement really muddies the waters. I'm muddling through myself, and I'm pleasantly surprised that we all seem to be coming out the other side with relatively consistent characters.

Well that's good...

[MonkeyWrench]

Glad I'm not the only one kind of wading through the murky depths

Character sheet should be up to date now, besides the beliefs portion. Can't really decide what his should be...