(Almost) Anything Goes

[saalaria]

I was thinking Human cleric as the game I was playing one in else where has ground to a halt.

[Alethan]

As an aside, I would love to figure out what exactly "it" is that causes games to grind to a halt.

Maybe if I knew what "it" was, then I'd be better able to help games avoid "it".

[saalaria]

Me too - so frustrating...I suspect real life gets in the way most often

[onlyme]

As an aside, I would love to figure out what exactly "it" is that causes games to grind to a halt.

Maybe if I knew what "it" was, then I'd be better able to help games avoid "it".

Besides attacking a family of dragons with only a group of level one thieves?


I think in pbp games, it is the push/pull inconsistent flow. One day it is 4-5 posts an hour, and the next day no posts at all. That is why I hope that having a "fast paced" consistent, posting schedule will keep this one on track.

[dmw71]

That is why I hope that having a "fast paced" consistent, posting schedule will keep this one on track.

That is my goal as well. I am really looking forward to getting this game off the ground, and suspect there will be some speed bumps along the way, but I believe it will eventually settle into a nice routine.

I'm working on probably the most heavily modified class now (Thief), and rounding up the Acrobat and Assassin should be relatively easy. Hopefully all the class rules will be posted by tonight! There has already been one glitch in the rules caught regarding the Cavalier class (which has been clarified), and there may be others discovered along the way, but I expect the character creation process to go pretty smoothly.

I still have to formally work on detailing any rule tweaks I have in mind for actual game play, which may take some time, but hopefully not too long.

In the meantime, I appreciate the patience of everyone and hope it will all be worth it in the end.

[Alethan]

In the meantime, I appreciate the patience of everyone and hope it will all be worth it in the end.

Better be.

( I keed, I keed...)

[dmw71]

In the meantime, I appreciate the patience of everyone and hope it will all be worth it in the end.

Better be.

( I keed, I keed...)

It is unwise to issue threats to the DM.


Seriously, though, I hope it is enjoyable to all. I'm looking forward to running it. A really big part of me is wishing I could play in this game which has to be a good sign, right?

[Nuke66]

Seriously, though, I hope it is enjoyable to all. I'm looking forward to running it. A really big part of me is wishing I could play in this game which has to be a good sign, right?

Well Dave, you have all those NPCs to play....

and no rush on my end.

I think the 'It' is a large number of newer players with limited posting history. I am phasing out RPoL simple because it is too easy to join games that start out with a bang, but then just as quickly die. I have tried 8-10 games over there, but only one is still going, oddly enough a Traveller game.

[Computer +1]

I have joined a few games here but have only stuck with one.

In some cases I stopped playing since other people dropped out, in others because I just didnt feel the flavor of the group and or story. I would rather bow out early with minimal disruption.

For me its all about the interaction between the PCs. If it isn't believeable I can't enjoy it and I dont want to stick around.

[Stonjuz]

I wanted to post some skills worksheet. edit/delete
posted what i have under special abilities on the dice roller character sheet. whenever u are freed up, take a look and .....ya know.

[onlyme]

I think the 'It' is a large number of newer players with limited posting history. I am phasing out RPoL simple because it is too easy to join games that start out with a bang, but then just as quickly die. I have tried 8-10 games over there, but only one is still going, oddly enough a Traveller game.

I think this has a large part of it. With newer players, you dont know their posting habits. Therefore, you are always "waiting" without knowing for how long. At least with veterans, you can see that they post every two days, or never on Tuesday, or they have frequent business trips that keep them a way for a couple days.

To me, that is the most frustrating part. When everyone is frustrated, then it is easy to lose interest, and not stick through the inevitible "boring" parts.

[Alethan]

I think the 'It' is a large number of newer players with limited posting history. I am phasing out RPoL simple because it is too easy to join games that start out with a bang, but then just as quickly die. I have tried 8-10 games over there, but only one is still going, oddly enough a Traveller game.

I think this has a large part of it. With newer players, you dont know their posting habits. Therefore, you are always "waiting" without knowing for how long. At least with veterans, you can see that they post every two days, or never on Tuesday, or they have frequent business trips that keep them a way for a couple days.

To me, that is the most frustrating part. When everyone is frustrated, then it is easy to lose interest, and not stick through the inevitible "boring" parts.

I think that's the part where the DM needs to step in and say, "We're moving on now. Anyone who missed their turn can still interject without much penalty, but if you don't chime in during this fight sequence (or whatever), and I have to NPC your character for you the entire time, then you will only receive 1/2 of the XP." or some such thing. I believe Raven Crowking does something like that in all of his games.

When the DM starts up a game, he indicates posting frequency requirements. It is up to the players to follow these requirements. (If they have trouble meeting them, then they should consider a different game.) It is up to the DM to enforce his established posting frequency requirement. It shouldn't be done out of spite, but a) to make sure everyone follows the posted rules (equal playing grounds for all) and b) keep the game moving/ensure the survival of the game.

One DM technique I've seen for notifying players they need to take action or make a decision is to post a note indicating that an hour's worth of indecision has passed and the wandering monster dice are rattling...

It's also important, as C+1 indicated, for the players to be interested in and involved in the game. That's where I think a smaller party of 4-5 people works better than 8-10 people. With 10 people in a group, it's easy to get lost in the crowd. Combat aside, there are only so many actions that can be taken in a round or turn of action. If 4 or 5 people cover those actions, then the rest end up standing there. If that happens too many times, complacency can easily become habit.

In my experience, PbP games have more focus on the non-combat time (well... most of them) than on combat time, so if half of your party is inactive during that time, that's when you start losing players.

[Alethan]

so, summary
pp 35
open 35
find 40
remove 35
move 30
hide 35
hear 25
climb 70
backstab ***
appraise 5 household 10
haggle 10 vs halflings 15
well rounded level 1 thief i think, any obvious flaws?
if reducing climb walls (secondary skill) for hear (primary skill) is allowed
climb 60 hear 30 (if not, then I think Im going with the above)

Well-rounded, yes.

But remember... Jack of all Trades, Master of None.

The way you currently have it, most of the stats are somewhat on the low end. Might be better to pick a "concept" for your character and build your thief skills (and your MU spells) around that. Why is your character a MU/Thief? What are his goals?

Does he pick MU spells to complement his thieving abilities (i.e. Spiderclimb, Jump, Knock, and Invisibility to use for breaking and entering, Levitate or Unseen Servant to use for procuring objects without even entering a room, Identify for figuring out what you've stolen, etc.)? This might affect what thieving abilities he focuses on, as well. If you can cast Spiderclimb, then there isn't much need for the Climb skill. If you can cast Knock, then don't put much into picking locks. Invisibility? No need for Hide in Shadows.

The MU/Thief combination has a few drawbacks, like low HPs and no armour, but the two classes can also be blended together to form a very powerful member of a party, if he's built and used properly. This is especially true with DMW71's modifications, where you can select just a few of the thief skills to focus on, instead of having all of them and not being terribly good at anything for a while.

[Stonjuz]

Granted this is only my 2nd pbp game, but ...wow...dmw , you have posted enough rules to create your own book. We should call it the "dmwdmg". Im not complaining, just amazed.

[onlyme]

Granted this is only my 2nd pbp game, but ...wow...dmw , you have posted enough rules to create your own book. We should call it the "dmwdmg". Im not complaining, just amazed.

I was thinking 71e myself... I still think the more it is written now, the faster and smoother it will be played out. Well done so far...

[dmw71]

Granted this is only my 2nd pbp game, but ...wow...dmw , you have posted enough rules to create your own book. We should call it the "dmwdmg". Im not complaining, just amazed.

I was thinking 71e myself... I still think the more it is written now, the faster and smoother it will be played out. Well done so far...

I appreciate the kind words. Really, I feel like all I've been doing is consolidating existing rules and presenting my own interpretation or clarification on certain things. There is still a wide range of actual game play subjects I want to cover (next on that list: spells) but hopefully, now that the rules for the classes are established, the party can begin to formally discuss the directions they're looking to take their characters. I will be using that time to work on the remaining subjects and hopefully we can get this game started in the not too distant future.

[saalaria]

Granted this is only my 2nd pbp game, but ...wow...dmw , you have posted enough rules to create your own book. We should call it the "dmwdmg". Im not complaining, just amazed.

I was thinking 71e myself... I still think the more it is written now, the faster and smoother it will be played out. Well done so far...

"71e" seconded! You've got to applaud the attention to detail

[Nuke66]

so, we have a Cavalier and T/MU for sure, anyone thinking cleric? or MU?

[Computer +1]

I am going with a Paladin.

[Alethan]

so, we have a Cavalier and T/MU for sure, anyone thinking cleric? or MU?

I believe Sal mentioned playing a human cleric...

So we have:
Cavalier
Thief/Magic-User
Paladin
Cleric

And...

Hmmm. I'm still not fully decided. It will probably be a single class, whatever I go with.

With the lax requirements for humans, I think I can work my numbers into a nice ranger. Well... He might not be nice. He won't be Francisco chipper, anyway. I might just pull up some random personality tables and makes few rolls and see what happens.

Or... Well, there might be another option or two I'm chewing on. I'll make a decision by tomorrow, though.