Griping and Carousing: OOC Chatter

[Antman9]

Ok, I made my first post in the Chapter 0 thread. Wasn't real sure where to start so I just role-played my character according to his personality.

[Enoch]

No problem. The purpose of this chapter is two-fold:

1. To allow you to RP a little, get a feel for what is going on, etc., rather than just starting in media res.
2. To allow you all to interact with the mechanics a bit before it really counts--when you all get overrun and have your faces torn off, I don't want anyone whining that they didn't know how the dice work!

Think of this like the tutorial level of a video game--it's very difficult to die here, and there will be frequent pop-ups explaining how to use new mechanics.

Once it seems like everyone has more-or-less done all the RP they want to and everyone who's interested has tried out the various Torchbearer mechanics, we'll move on--so this can be as long or as short as the team as a whole wants it to be.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Marullus, I totally wanted you to just brush the paperwork aside. Just make him squirm a bit just because he rankled you. That said, as Rosen is my CO, it's nice to know she is more respectful.

[Marullus]

LOL, that would have been good. She doesn't have the gumption to do something like that just for spite yet, but she is close. I am enjoying having her work through some of this personality/roleplay so far... she got pushed to tears by her superior, then laid the smackdown on the uppity, attitudinal supply private.

I'm basing her somewhat on firey, 5'2" military officer from my office. A junior enlisted (in uniform) got attitudinal with her (she was in civilian clothes) in a parking lot on base over a parking spot. She pulled rank, called their CO on the phone, had the CO come out and meet them in the parking lot to address the poor attitude of his soldier, then marched them BOTH to the base commander to have the CO dressed down for not maintaining professionalism in his troops. The reaction I had for Resen was actually pretty light, from some of what I have seen... My RL friend has a reputation as a b****, but nobody in uniform says she is wrong. If she found a soldier reading porn on duty (especially someone with responsibility over live-fire rounds), he'd be scrubbing toilets for a long time instead and never get near the armory again.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Wow. You are in the military? That is going to make me pretty self conscious with my posts now! I am 100% civilian. My only experience with military life is watching movies. But I have known a few "questionable" people in my time, which where Dale is coming from.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Enoch, are we keeping track of passed and failed tests right now?

[Marullus]

Wow. You are in the military?

No worries, don't be self-conscious. I imagine this game is running more on movie-tropes than Mil experiences. I am rewatching all the Alien movies and Starship Troopers movies since this game was announced... That is what I am hoping for in this game.

I am not military; I am a civilian employee navigating the military world. I'm also the son of a Master Sergeant, so the idea of having Elizabeth growing up under a military mindset and trying to find her own way is easy. (Most military gamers I know tend to avoid military RPGs... where's the catharsis in playing your day job? )

[Rusty Tincanne]

... where's the catharsis in playing your day job? )

Too true. That is why the Monopoly game sits unused on the shelf here. My wife and I played once. We both lost (seriously!) and it merely reminded us that our bills needed to go out in the mail in a few days. Wicked depressing, that game!

I've got to go and watch the Starship Troopers movies some time. I've only ever seen the first and that was years ago.

[Marullus]

Lol! At least you stumbled upon Monopoly's true purpose. Did you ever read the history of it? Made by a late 19th century economics professor as an object lesson for the down sides of capitalism. Or something like that. He didn't intend it to be fun.

[Enoch]

Not only that, you'd probably rankle as military personnel reading my description of military life--since I know very little of it. As Marullus suggested, this is based on movie tropes, not real life. I try to be accurate where I can, but I just don't have the depth of knowledge.

We are not currently tracking tests--we'll go into Chapter 1 completely fresh (no tests, conditions, new equipment, etc.).

Sorry for the delay--I've been traveling and was down yesterday with a nasty stomach bug.

[MonkeyWrench]

He didn't intend it to be fun.

... I like Monopoly...

[Antman9]

no you don't!

[Enoch]

MonkeyWrench, we'll have to introduce you to real boardgames at some point.

[MonkeyWrench]

Such hate!!

[Antman9]

Only the tenderest of love for you MW. Only Love

[MonkeyWrench]

You say that now, Antman.... But will you accept my monopoly board!? Will you!??

[Marullus]

Hey Enoch - should we all create stub characters with the campaign ID so we can track our rolls to the campaign?

[Enoch]

You can if you like. I'll be honest, I'm trusting everyone to be honest with their rolls. I was not going to request stub characters unless I strongly suspected someone of cheating, as it's a PITA to go and verify every roll.

[Marullus]

Ahhh. Okay. Just wanted to an before we started rolls. When I roll like a God, I just want it above reproach.

[Enoch]

I appreciate that. I tend to have a guilty conscience, and when I roll well my first thought is "everyone's going to think I'm cheating". Luckily, you need failed rolls as well as successes to advance, and the consequences for a failed roll are not in any way proportional to the importance of the test (had Resen failed that Admin check I could have granted Angry as easily there as I could have in a failed attempt to scout the enemy).