OOC Thread

[max_vale]

I don't know about hierlings; I'll let DH answer that; but I know that Diamond Spear expressed an interest in playing in this game; and to my knowledge he hasn't created a character yet.

[Delazar]

I vote for Skorvuld Ernhinsait.

+1

I'd rather see all different classes.

[JobaTett]

I'm Husker Wilkenburg, the Male Human Thief

[max_vale]

I don't see a whole lot of difference in game-terms between a Halfling with 18 strength and a Fighter at low to mid levels in BECMI; with the exception of the Fighter having slightly more hit points and the ability to use the biggest weapons....which is more than offset (in my opinion) by the Halfling's numerous advantages...

Mostly though; I was thinking of thier personalities....basically the same; fierce barbarian-esque; Conan-like....etc. I like the idea of having all different kinds of personalities...but again; that's just me. Obviously; go with what you want to play the most!

[Jester]

As I'm sure most of you have experienced, I play what has been inspiring me recently and Skyrim is the game I've playing for the next few weeks. So sue me, I'm playing a Viking raider with a distain for civilized rules and customs.

However I've been playing in groups for years and I know how to get along with other people pretty well. I'll try not to cause too much trouble. So, having said that I'm interested in playing the fighter because even though we have the bad ass Halfling Barbarian we still need front line tanks more than another mage. Not that I have anything against mages mind you. But I've played a ton of Basic Expert Dungeons and Dragons along with Adventure Conqueror King System recently and my experience has been that Fighters and Clerics are crucial to keep people alive long enough to do their thing.

While the Halfling's personality and mine are close to being the same I'm sure we can find our own niches to fill in the group. It will take some time but I'm sure we can both play in the same game without too much of a problem and if it does I'll just make another character. We should determine how things work out pretty quick once actual play begins.

After saying all of that though, If there is an issue with characters' personalities conflicting too much please let me know, I'm not an unreasonable person and I can take constructive criticism.

Hope that allays any fears of potential problems starting out. If not let me know your concerns.

Peace
Jester

[Vargr1105]

max_vale is just being paranoid. That or he has an anti-barbarian bias.

How will a small, ax-tossing little dude end up having the same personality has a tall sea-raider Viking?

Should we worry about possible personality similarities between a firemage and a dagger-throwing black sorceress too?

[max_vale]

To each thier own....personally; I find the typical "me bad-ass who kills all wuzzy civilized things and hates everybody" portrayal of barbarians incredibly juvenile...I have never and will never understand the appeal of Conan to anybody out of thier adolescence....(I mean the guy doesn't care about anything...so why the hell should I care about him as a reader? ); but on the other hand...I think it can be really cool to watch people play characters from different cultures who actually change thier world-view thru role-playing.....and of course; a well done 'played for humor' barbarian is almost as much fun as the poor snobby mage or elf stuck in a rough-and-tumble enviroment.

When it comes to which classes are needed more from a game-persepective...I find it's really the style of play agreeded upon by the DM and the players that dictates what's needed. In a more-or-less "by the book" game; I agree that Clerics and Fighters are the most usefull at low-levels....though I feel sorry for players who have to play a Cleric as nothing more than a walking "Cure Light Wounds" dispenser who occasionally is called upon to Turn Undead.

However; in games with a more creative DM; I think all classes are equally usefull...or not. I have played in a great campaign where everybody was a Thief; and in several with no Clerics at all. In the latter...there's usually either a Temple that gets a lot of our buisness (and cash...which leads to the ever-fun...."Dude...you can make it another night with 1 Hp right? We NEED this last 500 gp!" discussions... ); and/or the DM has a player or NPC who has learned how to heal wounds a different way....though this usally is much longer and or time-intensive than a Cleric casting a spell....

Anyway; hopefully you see what I'm getting at.....play what you like and what the game style dictates....as long as everybody is having fun; it's all good!

[max_vale]

(Oh yeah....I should have said...it's just Max!....the Vale is on there so I can actually have a logon name!)

No offense intended...and I probably should have chosen a better word than "personality".... maybe; "background?"


I just tend to like parties composed of various types like: "the crude but kindly Ranger" and the "world-travelled but hopelessly tongue-tied Mage"; and the "Scary looking Half Orc Cleric of a God of Humor"; etc., etc.

That's all I meant.....I have nothing against Barbarians per se....just in how they are too often portrayed. Much like teenagers/young 20 somethings who think they are somehow expressing thier individuality with facial hair; piercings; tattooes, etc. when in fact they are doing what the vast bulk of thier peers are doing....I don't care that they're doing these things; it just annoys me that they somehow think they're being "original".

Anyway...no offense meant and looking forward to the game!

As for the Mages....nah; Beya is a naive; "I want to see the world" school-girl who happens to be good at throwing knives....nothing particularly 'pragmatic' about her.....and no getting a strange gleam in her eye at the idea of Burning things either! (At least...not yet!.... )

[Jester]

Hey Max, good to meet ya buddy.

As for the Conan thing we're gonna have to agree to disagree on that buddy, I'm not really all that interested in starting a debate about it. I find opinion debates only succeed in engendering hurt feelings and bruised egos and mine is sort of delicate. So, I'll say no more about that.

Since people are good with me playing what I want I'm going to play the Fighter and we can take it from there. Thanks to everyone for the feedback and looking forward to seeing everyone once play starts.

Peace
Jester

[max_vale]

Hey there Jester; nice to meetcha too!

As for different opinions; no worries....I think it's pretty safe to say that you're with the vast bulk of gamers I know in your likining of a certain Cimmerian Barbarian and I'm out on an island...

It's cool....I'm used to being on an island in MANY of the things I like....I like 2nd Edition the best of the Editions of AD&D (almost nobody I know feels this way); I love natural brown hair on women (it seems like it's practically become against the law for women to have natural brown hair anymore); I like Deep Space Nine better than any other version of Star Trek...ESPEICALLY in its later seasons (I'm just about the only one on THIS island); I like it better when Han shot first.....(Okay....so I'm on the mainland on THIS one! )

No worries; I do my best to be respectful and as long as others do the same; it's all good with me!

[Vargr1105]

Max...

I find the typical "me bad-ass who kills all wuzzy civilized things and hates everybody" portrayal of barbarians incredibly juvenile...

I have never seen a pre-FRPG literature barbarian represented that way, and I can assure you Coenbeorht Kneecapper will not be played that way.

I have never and will never understand the appeal of Conan to anybody out of thier adolescence....

Most people don't understand the appeal of D&D in general to anybody out of, or in, their adolescence.

(I mean the guy doesn't care about anything...so why the hell should I care about him as a reader? )

Actually he cares about a lot: his honor, his word, protecting women, his kingdom, his culture and the corruption found in the old civilized world. If you mean to say he is self-centered and concerned mostly about his own hide I would fully agree. But then again, name me one character in Hyboria who is a Lawful Good philanthropist.

Note: when I talk about Conan I am referring solely to the one found in the original, unedited stories written by Howard, not the Conan of comics, pastiches and movies which often looks like a caricature or an anti-version of himself. Even the visual portrayal of the character is wrong in 90% of media: he doesn't look like a steroid-gulping body-builder and he wears clothes and armor most of the time. When he becomes King of Aquilonia he rides war horses wearing plate mail...imagine that!

but on the other hand...I think it can be really cool to watch people play characters from different cultures who actually change thier world-view thru role-playing

I guess so, but what is good for the goose is good for the gander. How many Paladins or Wizards have you seen embrace the purer, simpler life of barbarians in a game after being exposed to it?

.....and of course; a well done 'played for humor' barbarian is almost as much fun as the poor snobby mage or elf stuck in a rough-and-tumble enviroment.

Humor is large part of why I made Coenbeorht. I find the idea of a pint-sized, ax-tossing barbarian hilarious.

I agree that Clerics and Fighters are the most usefull at low-levels....though I feel sorry for players who have to play a Cleric as nothing more than a walking "Cure Light Wounds" dispenser who occasionally is called upon to Turn Undead.

I abhor the Cleric class as it has been designed and think the game would be better without them and with faster natural healing rules and mundane options. It is also the core class, IMHO, for which it is harder to find a good in-game reason to join a party. And don't get me started on artificial blunt weapon limitations.

Have you seen my Ley-Priest and Templar alternatives?:

Templar

Priest


Edit:

As I'm sure most of you have experienced, I play what has been inspiring me recently and Skyrim is the game I've playing for the next few weeks. So sue me, I'm playing a Viking raider with a distain for civilized rules and customs.

By Vash! I have just read Sjorvuld Ernhinsait's background and found the guy is an elf-slayer.

I'm beginning to like him already.

While the Halfling's personality and mine are close to being the same...

Not exactly, Sjorvuld is a "survive-at-any-cost" land-pirate on a quest for revenge. Coenbeorht is a tribal warrior with a short fuse for impolite persons, who never did any raiding in his life and wants to see the wider world. At least that's how I perceive them.

[max_vale]

Vargr: I had suspected the humor angle of the Halfling; but wasn't sure.....I too think it's a fantastic (and funny!) one to play; but with some gamers I've played with....I wasn't sure that if I mentioned this; they wouldn't be terribly offended!

-Not sure what FRPG stands for..."Forgotten Realms" RPG? Mainly; I was thinking of the only Conan portrayals I know of; i.e. the Marvel Comics and Arnold movie versions....now; I like any number of cheesy Arnold movies ('Predator' is one of my all time guilty-pleasures)...but I found the two Conan movies to be simply dreadful to me....just my opinion....if anybody liked them; more power to you; I've liked any number of movies that a lot of people I know didn't...."The Losers" comes to mind; I thought it was great summer fun....apparently I'm about the only one!

-Moving right into another point...the only Conan I really know is the Marvel Comics/Graphic Novels version...which a buddy of mine owned when we were 13 or so (my mother wouldn't let me buy them! ).....I mostly read them to see the nearly-naked chicks in them (this was in the dark ages when I was in puberty before the Internet....teens today have it SO EASY! )

I've never read the actual books; but that same friend of mine had the books (though whether they were original, uneditied versions or not...I have no idea); and he said the Comics were pretty accurate to the books. As a fan of the X-men; Batman; etc. comics; it just seemed like Conan went thru life slashing people in half, scoring with chicks and onto the next adventure...he didn't seem to have any kind of 'code' like the Heroes I liked. Now maybe I'm an old-school, wuzzy do-gooder type; but I like my heroes to be GOOD guys....though they certainly don't have to be Goody two-shoes types...I like my Year One Batman!

It sounds like the Conan of the original books fits closer to this idea than I ever knew...I'll have to check out these books.

"Most people don't understand the appeal of D&D in general to anybody out of, or in, their adolescence."

-Touche....and this will make me smile for a long while today...you're absolutely right about that!


As for Paladins and Wizards embracing the "simpler" life....that accurately sums up most of the Spell Casters I've ever played; they start adventuring (and assuming they survive)....they realize; "Hey...going into monster-infested ruins might be dangerous...but it sure pays a helluva lot better than sitting in a boring attic in a tower!"

I actually like Clerics...even with Blunt Weapon restrictions....but I'm one of the wierd ones with any number of lost causes I'm devoted too!

Those are some cool ideas though....I've long wanted to play a 'historical fantasy' game set in the Crusades....someday...

[Jester]

Hey Distorted Humor,

Since we have a good collection of characters already should we go ahead and try to create collections between us or is that going to be part of the prologue?

[Jester]

Edit:

As I'm sure most of you have experienced, I play what has been inspiring me recently and Skyrim is the game I've playing for the next few weeks. So sue me, I'm playing a Viking raider with a distain for civilized rules and customs.

By Vash! I have just read Sjorvuld Ernhinsait's background and found the guy is an elf-slayer.

I'm beginning to like him already.

Rumors and lies spread by the Imperial Legion. . . but . . .

Yeah, there are a ton of them pointy ear things up around the Tal Amar area and they've got lots of gold, and stuff you can sell for gold too.

While the Halfling's personality and mine are close to being the same...

Not exactly, Sjorvuld is a "survive-at-any-cost" land-pirate on a quest for revenge. Coenbeorht is a tribal warrior with a short fuse for impolite persons, who never did any raiding in his life and wants to see the wider world. At least that's how I perceive them.

That's about the size of it starting out so we should get along pretty well. And we're not as alike as had been feared either, that makes me happy. Sjorvuld's people respect strength and since you're going to be clearly the strongest person in the group he will deffer to you. Once we get things started that is.

[Delazar]

Ok, as the resident elf here around, I'm starting to get worried...

[max_vale]

Don't worry Delazar; Beya has no interest in Magic Missileing pointy ears........yet, anyway......(cue dramatic music; DUN, DUN, DAH!)......

[Jester]

Ok, as the resident elf here around, I'm starting to get worried...

Not to worry buddy Sjorvuld doesn't have a particular grudge against Elves they just happened to be the people he was fighting. If you're loyal to him he'll be loyal to you. He has a sense of honor, in that he doesn't attack or betray people just for the fun of it. You have to do something to earn it. You'll be fine, I think. . .

[Distorted Humor]

I go out of town for fathers day and I see a ton of conversation.

The prologue will...introduce your characters together. I do not want to spill the beans.

As for humor, If anyone been reading the posts in the "Shroom" game, they can tell that the player playing the halfling can do humor with the best of us.

We will be starting as soon as Spear posts his character.

as for Star Trek, I am also a "Niner" who thinks that Star Trek, DS9 was the best trek made.

Edit: I seemed to have missed a question - Yes, Hirelings are a option.

[Distorted Humor]

I started the campaign, just remember, this is totally sandbox, so while I gave you a lead, you can go to the inn to find other work, figure out something else you want to do, or even head to the massive imperial city or the coast to get a boat.

[Delazar]

Skyriiiim! :p

I noticed you're writing in present tense, I'm supposing we should do the same?