Game of Thrones: Against the Band of Nine OOC

[max_vale]

Okay, I'll give synthalus tonight/tomorrow morning to make a post…..if he hasn't posted by the time I start my response I'll just have Gannis BRAVELY charge the enemy spearmen.

Next post coming tomorrow….along with Voqarro's stats. Everybody still doing good?

-Max

[Enoch]

I'm doing better than my poor Cowardly acolyte-cum-poisoner!

[smoke warrior]

I'm doing great, ready to show these foul men the legendary skill of Asher Valmont well at least that's what he thinks lol

[Rusty Tincanne]

...Cowardly acolyte-cum-poisoner!

Enoch!

Typo, I assume. (And a rather naughty one at that!)

I am great. I have been trying to find time to make a second post, launching an arrow at the archers, but haven't had the time yet. If you want to assume it is there, I will post it up while at work today.

And for the record, the Warfare 1, not-martially-trained hunter thinks it would have been better to charge through the knights and get away from those archers.

[Enoch]

Don't worry, it's not sexual. It's a Latin preposition meaning "also" or "along with":

http://grammarist.com/usage/cum/

That said, my Latin's a little rusty and I misused it. I thought it indicated that the latter replaced the former, rather than supplementing it; what I was trying to say was that he was on his way to becoming a maester, but that was replaced by his trade as a poisoner. It would have been more accurate to describe him as a "wannabe-maester-cum-poisoner".

[Marullus]

Lol

Don't worry, we can all have Language 4 by the time we are done.

[Enoch]

I'm not actually going to make Attack actions against guys in hard leather. Assuming they have a Combat Defense above 7, I can't get a second degree of success against them even with a perfect roll, and a single degree will only generate 3 damage, which will be completely absorbed by hard leathers (Armor Rating 3). I am quite literally incapable of damaging them. In the future I'd like to use Distract or Assist.

[max_vale]

Hey Enoch; you can certainly choose to just use Distract or Assist; but keep in mind two things: your Medium Crossbow has Piercing 1 (which means the Hard Leather is only AR 2 vs. your bolts) and you can choose to Aim as a lesser action; which gives you a bonus die to your Marksmanship rolls. Just thought I'd throw that out there!


Edit: Oh, and their Combat Defense is less than 7. You guys are fighting raggedy types.....the others are fighting more organized, skilled types. Hope that helps!

[Enoch]

OK. A bonus die will help me get a high roll, but it won't get me over 12 (which I need to get a 2nd degree with CD 7, necessary to do any damage). Sounds like I'll do one damage anyway even with a single success.

[max_vale]

Their Combat Defense is 6.....so if I'm understanding the rules correctly; an 11 or 12 would be two degrees of success...if that helps!

[Enoch]

Yep, that's how I read it.

[max_vale]

Okily-dokily; glad to hear I'm seeing it the same as other people! Keep in mind you can also do things like Pass (give up a turn to gain +2B on the NEXT action you take.....say, having 5 dice to roll and keeping the best 2 on a crossbow shot for example.... ); etc., etc.

For everyone: I'm still getting the hang of the rules; so if you see something really off by anything I post, please let me know. Keep in mind that in a typical combat round/turn; you can take 2 Lesser Actions or 1 Greater Action

Lesser Actions include: a Standard Attack, a Standard Move, an Assist; Standing Up/Falling Prone; Aiming; a Cautious Attack; Distract; a Lesser Reload action; attempted Knockdown/Knockout and attempting to Maneuver your opponent

Greater Actions include: a Divided Attack against 2 opponents; Two-Weapon Attacks (dual wielding weapons); Mounted Attacks; attempting to Pin an opponent; attempting to Pull an Opponent off of a mount; Catching your breath; Dodging; Sprinting; Charging; Passing (giving up an action to gain +2B on the next Test made); Disarming attempts; Trampling attempt (if mounted) and Reckless Attacks.

If anyone has questions on what any of these mean; please let me know!

[Marullus]

Initial response: I am not a fan of the GM rolling. It isn't just the loss of the interaction (I like the suspense) but also the narrative control for the results. I am watching a story unfold about my character instead of participating in it.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Initial response: I am not a fan of the GM rolling. It isn't just the loss of the interaction (I like the suspense) but also the narrative control for the results. I am watching a story unfold about my character instead of participating in it.

While I don't mind participating in games without rolling - I feel I can get enough narrative in there to suit my needs - I agree with Marullus's sentiment of wanting to roll my own dice. I cannot learn the mechanics of a game unless I am an active participant. And I want to learn this game! Also, if I am rolling my own dice, I can better decide when to spend Destiny points, use my Blood of the Andals trait, etc.

As a last bit of information, I am leaving town (and won't have access to the internet) from July 11-July 23. So as a bit of contradiction to the above, I would be happy to have max_vale roll the dice for me during that time if needed.

[max_vale]

My apologies if this isn't to everyone's liking; but I'm not sure how anyone would not be participating in it when they make all the decisions for what their character does; but I'm fine with players rolling….though I think we would need a different dice roller than the one here; unless everyone wants to roll every dice as [1d6] each time…..for example; if you have a skill of 3D + 2 Bonus dice….you can't put in [5d6]; because it will only roll all the dice at once, add the results and give the total.

The Brock Jones web roller site would work: http://www.brockjones.com/dieroller/dice.htm
as it lists each dice in the space on the upper right.

Personally, as a GM; I find it frustrating when let's say you have 5 people in combat; and each person makes a post….complete with dice rolls; sometimes without a good understanding of initiative order….or they post something that becomes moot due to another player/NPCs actions; and then are upset that their character's action (or inaction) was invalidated or did nothing while the action moved on; or a player is absent for several days and the action becomes slowed down/disjointed, etc. It makes it difficult for me as the GM to sort it all out and put in a smooth flowing form that makes sense for everyone….but granted, this is just my personal taste.

I much prefer to just post: "Okay; here's what's happening…..what's everyone doing?"; have everyone respond….make the rolls all at once and then post the results. I can have a 'mechanics' thread if people want; to list out all the dice rolls. I've done this in other games; and so far….every time I have the players quickly stop reading it….but I'm cool with doing that again if people want it.

Mainly, I want happy players and as smooth a game flow as possible. Thoughts?

Edit: Also….while I will do my best to be as accommodating as possible, I really don't want to have constant rules arguments/interpretations as I find them to really take away from the game for both myself and the other players….so if people are having serious issues, please let me know quickly. Thanks.

[smoke warrior]

I think things flow smoother when the GM does the roles

[Rusty Tincanne]

I can see both sides of this. And I can see me losing interest in a mechanics thread.

Why don't we finish out this (set of) combats the way it is going, which will give us a bit of time to mull the matter over.

Like I said, there are times I don't mind the GM rolling (such as the D&D-based games I am in), because I know the rules well enough or because i just don't care about the rules and want to play a game. I am interested to see the mechanics of this game though, so it would be great to find a middle ground that would allow both fluidity and learning.


Out of curiosity, was your initial narrative (focusing on my character noticing the archers, how many, how equipped, etc) based on my passive awareness/keen senses skill? It certainly read that way.

[max_vale]

Rusty: Yes; Darryn's Keen Senses DEFINITELY came into play; one of the reason's why your character was missed (the ambushing archers did NOT get a bonus dice to hit Drinkwater due to surprise) and it's the reason he was the first to be able to get a good handle on what exactly was happening in terms of the particulars of the ambush (i.e. archers on one side; spear men down the road; etc.)

I will go ahead and create a Mechanics thread.....for at least this first battle; I'll list all the rolls there and see if that helps people get a handle of the rule-set.....it'll probably serve me well too as I'm new to this rule-set as well and you guys will be able to see what I miss/get wrong.


Everyone (besides Marullus who already has it marked and Keyth; who wouldn't have had reason to have such a weapon after leaving home at 10/11)): Please pick a weapon (or a dozen arrows) that they would like Castle-forged.....Eduard has both a Greatsword and a Boar-spear that are castle-forged....but given that his character has got some years on everyone else; that's cool.

The obvious choices (to me anyway); would be the Bastard Sword that Asher wields; the Longsword that Gannis wields and a dozen arrows for Darryn; but you guys let me know your choice. In game terms; castle-forged weapons give a +1 bonus to all rolls made with that weapon. I.e. if you have Fighting 3, longblades 1B and are wielding a Castle-forged Longsword....let's say you make an attack and roll a 2, 4, 5, 6....You keep the 4, 5, 6 for a total of 15 and then add +1 for a total of 16 due to the castle-forged weapon. At least; that's how I'm reading it.

[smoke warrior]

Ashers bastard sword for me

[Rusty Tincanne]

The ruggedly handsome hunter turns to respond. While a set of castle-forged arrows would, indeed, help me in battle and combat, no lass would know the difference between them and a normal arrow. Nothing to win a heart for a night, if you catch my meaning. He winked, knowingly. And from his belt he drew forth his prized possession. An object that is both practical for a hunter, and something to say, This hunting knife - given to me by his Lordship hisself - will be passed along to the children I will one day have with a lass such as yerself.

So either a dagger or dirk or stiletto - whatever might be the most like a hunting knife - is the right choice for Darryn.