OOC

[jemmus]

I was kind of surprised by that outcome too. Taavi didn't really want to be the senior marshal, but because he represents the state he had to put it out there. Always trying to increase the state's influence as a civilizing, rule of law force.

Working on reverse-engineering Taavi and posting his leveling-up changes. We need that pretty soon now that we're in dangerous action again.

[redwarrior]

I just want to take a moment to say that diversion was fantastic, and one of my favorite scenes. None of you have Lead, you all played it well, and with three action heroes (two with Diplomat feat) put the fumbling lawyer in charge.

...Now go fix Taavi's sheet.

Well, "in charge" might be a little strong. I like to think of it as "pinning the rose" (the guy to blame)

[Marullus]

As you face a zombie horde situation, I am leaning towards an aggregate scene-level approach rather than a tactical individual unit approach. Rolling dozens of to-hit rolls is a lot of work and gives less fidelity anyway.

What that would mean is rolling 2d6 skill rolls instead of d20 attack rolls. For each front/position, you will decide who is there and they will act against the threat they face (using the advantages you set up before hand). For each action, it will be a 2d6 (like Dex+Shoot, but could be otherwise depending on the scene). A 1-6 will be a miss and your situation gets significantly worse or more complicated, a 7-9 is a partial success, a 10-11 is a major success, a 12+ is a total win. Rather than helpers giving a +1, I will use the best roll. It will be several actions per front before a front resolves.

I think this will give me more to work with narratively. Would anyone feel jilted losing your d20 attack rolls against the horde?

Thoughts?

[jemmus]

Sounds good to me.

[Enoch]

Honestly, I like that. Individual combat rolls in a mass battle is a slog, and I have to assume that PbP will only exacerbate it.

[greyarea]

I'm fine with that as well.

[redwarrior]

I like it, a mass combat could easily take months to resolve!

[Marullus]

Sorry all, back to work in person and got my daughter back to school... things have been hectic! I will try to wrap up these scenes and queue up the next tomorrow. If you'd like to add more roleplay or actions before then, go ahead and post them. (I should be able to post Wednesday, if not, well, you get a little more time. )

[Marullus]

Post is up! Sorry for the delay!

We got my daughter back with in-person school and by the end of the week she was sent home with cold/flu, wiping my wife and I out last weekend and most of this past week. It was only yesterday that I got through the brainfog and able to really start performing cognitive tasks again. These updates take me 2-3 hours each to process and write, so I just lost the whole week until my brain worked enough to do that.

Being back full-time in-person at work also effects things... I'm only likely to get those 2-3hour blocks on Wednesdays and weekends, so if things are lagging, that's when I'll likely catch up. Short posts are possible any day, but if I hit a big one, it might wait for the opportunity to focus. Just setting expectations and giving you ideas of timing on my end.

I appreciate your patience and hope you're enjoying this story.

[jemmus]

Hang in there and take your time, Paladin. My posting is suffering a little now too, because I used to do a lot of it during lunch and breaks at work. But now they put keyloggers on us.

[Marullus]

New post is up! Thanks again for your patience. I do like how this story is unfolding with the scene-based actions. What do you guys think?

[jemmus]

I think the scene based action is going great. Nice quick pace and a lot of drama.

[redwarrior]

I think the scene based action idea is working really well. Roll playing individual actions of the mass battle would take months in a PbP. We're getting through pretty fast, having some good cross-talk, role playing, AND getting through the battle!

I'm hopeful that after this engagement, the paddocks will be clear enough that at least a few of us can reposition to deal with Petr and the shadow creatures.

[Marullus]

I'm hopeful that after this engagement, the paddocks will be clear enough that at least a few of us can reposition to deal with Petr and the shadow creatures.

I consider it a decision-point. How many of you stay there versus how many run to the rear? There's still risk on the front of the house but I pointed out it is thinned with 2/3 of them now eliminated. This round you overcame it without any getting to the house (leaving Emile unoccupied).

Emile and Taavi were at the house so could abandon post and move to the rear in the same action.

Shadrach and Hansel are forward from the house, so need to spend an action fallign back/getting to the house if the zombies are not yet fully eliminated.

[jemmus]

Sorry, I should have clarified. I wanted Taavi to do what he tried to do last round: move to the back edge of the roof and shoot black monstrosities. He abandoned watching the front of the house when there was the sudden charge from the back.

(And sorry, I still need to fix Taavi's sheet. It's kind of a complicated job because it requires reverse engineering).

[Marullus]

Hey all, sorry I've been lagging here. If I can't get one posted tomorrow, I'll get an update this weekend. Live's been busy and I've been too exhausted.

...how are you guys doing?

[jemmus]

Doing good, ready to try to keep lawyer/amateur lawman Taavi from getting killed.

[redwarrior]

Good! I've been on a treadmill of posting/interviewing/trying to hire people for the last few months. It's never been this difficult. One req got posted three times, drawing only 8 total applicants (1:3, 2:2, 3:3), but I finally found someone way under qualified that I think will be a good fit.

Hiring is one of the most important things I do - and I think I'm pretty good at it. But, it has been a total B over the last year.

[cybersavant]

here and waiting for the basement fight when you have time

[greyarea]

Work is finally calming down, which is helpful. So good. Enjoying autumn.