Out Of Character

Mushgnome's Hobbet-centric PBP

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Post by kipper » Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:01 pm

Re: Out Of Character

mushgnome wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:30 am
As we fall down the cozy rabbit hole of Hornpipe 2.0 your friendly neighborhood DM has three questions for the players.

1: The surface world is getting a make-over. How about your own little hobbet make-over? Is there any detail you would change about your own character, that's holding you back from role-playing your PC like you want to?

2: What's the one thing that's been missing from the game until now (i.e, Dwarves for example) that you hope becomes a part of the new Hornpipe? I will strongly consider the player suggestion that gets the most votes!

3: This is a multiple choice question. You can choose more than once and rank your choices. These major continuity changes to Hornpipe 2.0 (for example the buildings being totally moved around, or a bunch of new NPCs) how do you think the characters in the world should react? (Think both from the perspective of the player characters and the NPCs.)

>.a Everybody in the world is caught off guard by this instantaneous, reality-shifting event (like The Snap). PCs and NPCs alike are wandering around town, saying, "This is not my beautiful house! This is not my beautiful wife!"
>.b The party enters a portal into a parallel universe. The PCs will be 'fish out of water' in a world where everything is 'normal' for the NPCs. It's Frederick, and he's happy to see you, but he's not exactly your Frederick, as you remember him.
>.c Everything is business as usual for all PCs and NPCs. The retconned changes in continuity are never mentioned, and the show goes on.
>.d all/none of the above (other)

I value your opinions so let me 'play with my cards on the table' and tell you my own answers: 1. My NPC, Frederick, has had a change of heart about his precious Rules. He has therefore called an Adventure Club Quorum to open the floor to Rules of the Club motions. 2. Missing from the campaign has been a detailed map of the town, and I hope I will deliver on that to your player satisfaction in the Adventures to come! 3. I like 3b because it's fun and whimsical. It reminds me of 80s movies like 'Time Bandits.' But in the end, it's up to how you play it. It's a role-playing decision. I will set up the pins and let you knock them down.

Don't worry just yet about the coins and treasure (and therefore the resulting xp distribution). What was once the background process of exchanging coins and gems now has a name and a face to it. We will role-play out the banking experience.

New Adventure is incoming...
Sorry, I somehow totally missed this post!

1) No.
2) I can't think of anything.
3) It really depends on where you want to go with this change. I'd be perfectly happy with (c), just wave your DM's hand and continue on with the game. However, if you want to make an adventure out of the rules changes, then (a) or (b) would be much more appropriate and I don't have a preference between them, and since you expressed a preference for (b) that would be my choice in that circumstance. Choice (b) would be much easier to justify Frederick's change of heart on the Rules, I can imagine someone mentions the Rules of Adventure Club and he's thinking "How do they know about that? It was just an idle thought I had years ago but nothing ever came of it!". I can live with any of them, so I won't be disappointed no matter the decision.

We have a hobbet-centric focus at the moment with all others being 'Outsiders' to be avoided whenever possible. It has an almost faerie-type feeling to it, like the hobbets are living their own secretive lives under the noses of the big people, who barely even realise they are there. I'm not sure what exactly you have in mind for the new town, but under the hobbet-centric system I'd think even with the expanded town the hobbets would mostly go out around dawn or dusk, keeping to the shadows and do their business with the humans quickly, rather than whistling jauntily as they stroll down the street at noon and tipping their hats to their human neighbours as they pass. However, if the latter is part of what you have imagined for the new town, then I'd be fine with that too. Depending on how the shift is dealt with, our existing hobbets may or may not already be known and have acqaintances around town.

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Post by ehiker133 » Tue Apr 12, 2022 2:39 pm

Re: Out Of Character

I'm perfectly fine with "this is how it's always been".

I like the idea of being able to go explore, above ground. Hobbets prefer the woods over the confined spaces of the underworld...
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

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Post by mushgnome » Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:29 pm

Re: Out Of Character

Cool, so the best way to hand-wave everything is to make Frederick a land-owner. He worked out a rent-to-own deal with the landlord, the Miller. Now the business is fully and openly in his name. There are new opportunities for Hobbets in Hornpipe, doors that are open.
[f=59]Stern (Strong Hero, MV 9′′, AC 3, HD 4, hp 20, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L)[/f]

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Post by acodispo » Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:37 pm

Re: Out Of Character

Sorry folks, I forget if I mentioned here but I'm working an intense gig! It looks like I've missed quite a few pages, and I may or may not have time to catch this week. I'll try, but if necessary please assume Willie is taking a brief vacation from the travails of Adventure Club life?
[f=47]Wilibald "Willie" Whitfoot, F1/T1 (M 12", AC 6, HD 1+2, hp 9/9, L) gambeson+helm, shield+warhammer[/f]
[f=59]Witherun [Agile Hero, MV 12′′, AC 6, HD 4, hp 16, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L] hide+helm, shield+dagger or bow[/f]

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Post by Scottenkainen » Wed Apr 20, 2022 5:16 am

Re: Out Of Character

I'm good with C. I'd also like to see dwarves be an optional race to play (in case Beppo is killed in the Inn).

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Post by mushgnome » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:11 pm

Re: Out Of Character

acodispo wrote:
Tue Apr 19, 2022 8:37 pm
Sorry folks, I forget if I mentioned here but I'm working an intense gig! It looks like I've missed quite a few pages, and I may or may not have time to catch this week. I'll try, but if necessary please assume Willie is taking a brief vacation from the travails of Adventure Club life?
No worries! You didn't miss anything important. The party is split up, exploring the town and interacting with new NPCs. One of the NPCs I made special just for Willie, but it's not time sensitive, we can run that encounter any time, when you are done with your gig. Break a leg!
[f=59]Stern (Strong Hero, MV 9′′, AC 3, HD 4, hp 20, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L)[/f]

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Post by mushgnome » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:19 pm

Re: Out Of Character

Scottenkainen wrote:
Wed Apr 20, 2022 5:16 am
I'd also like to see dwarves be an optional race to play (in case Beppo is killed in the Inn).
You're preaching to the choir! It's pretty much a given that, if we add more PC races, dwarves will be the first. :)

But that's a pretty big 'if.' There are strong arguments for keeping Hobbet Heroes as an all-halfling game.

Huge *spoiler* warning: The special new potion that Ursa is going off to research, will be a potion of reincarnation. I'm thinking the random reincarnation tables might be a fun way to gradually introduce new PC races into the game.

@kipper, you recently had your PC reincarnated in a different campaign; how was that experience for you? Was it fun to come back as a gnome?
[f=59]Stern (Strong Hero, MV 9′′, AC 3, HD 4, hp 20, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L)[/f]

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Post by kipper » Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:42 pm

Re: Out Of Character

mushgnome wrote:
Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:19 pm
@kipper, you recently had your PC reincarnated in a different campaign; how was that experience for you? Was it fun to come back as a gnome?

Of course it's fun! Actually the whole random nature of the roll, being unsure what race you'll get and then being forced to play whatever was rolled... I liked it. It felt very different from the normal method used nowadays of choosing your character from scratch, or almost so (such as being able to choose from a selection of pre-rolled character stats), much closer to the original "roll 3d6 in order" method of character creation where you'd be forced to play whatever you rolled. Hmmm, now that I'm thinking about this I wonder how that would work in a normal game, not only randomly-rolled stats but randomly-rolled race as well...

But back on topic, all that being said it's an entirely separate question whether other races would be appropriate for this particular campaign.

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Post by mushgnome » Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:33 pm

Re: Out Of Character

The other piece of the puzzle is this: I'm starting up a new campaign soon, with the full selection of races and classes. So if you're itching to play a non-hobbet character, I would say, just join the second campaign, make a new PC, play in two of my games at once. You can be a hobbet AND a dwarf!

The new campaign is tentatively called "Mushgnome's Treasure Hunt." It was inspired by the 1979 classic "The Book of Treasure Maps" by Jennelle Jaquays. I put on my thinking cap and asked the questions: How is play-by-post different from tabletop gaming? If I were to design a campaign from the ground up, specifically for play-by-post, what would that look like?

I think treasure maps are the perfect solution. Instead of one big multi-level dungeon, there are a bunch of little one-shot adventures. Every combat will be a memorable 'boss' fight and every treasure will be a sizeable hoard. I want the players to really think expedition-style, big party with henchmen, mules, etc. There will be no plot or 'campaign arc,' just a series of episodic Indiana Jones style heists and capers. I will run this 'open table' format, and players are welcome to join for a single treasure map, without making a commitment to a long-running campaign.

So that's why I want to preserve Hobbet Heroes 'niche' and keep it sort of the opposite of that. My intention always for this campaign, is that it would focus on the 8-level megadungeon under the house of pancakes. (And then there are adventure hooks to deeper 'underdark' levels.) Some of you are maybe a little miffed at Frederick for leasing back the windmill to the miller. But I assure you: Frederick is playing 4-dimensional chess while the miller is playing checkers. Frederick sees the big picture, that the most important thing was to get the land rights to the dungeon. The vast potential treasure from the megadungeon will pay for many towers, castles, and strongholds.

'Name level' play kicks in sooner for hobbets than for other races. I have always had in mind that domain level play (with strongholds and followers) would start happening around 6th level for our Heroes. The big question for each of you (which we will get to when the time comes) is whether you will choose to build your strongholds above or below ground?
[f=59]Stern (Strong Hero, MV 9′′, AC 3, HD 4, hp 20, FC 4 men/hero, SV F4, L)[/f]

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Post by ehiker133 » Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:44 pm

Re: Out Of Character

mushgnome wrote:
Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:33 pm
The other piece of the puzzle is this: I'm starting up a new campaign soon, with the full selection of races and classes. So if you're itching to play a non-hobbet character, I would say, just join the second campaign, make a new PC, play in two of my games at once. You can be a hobbet AND a dwarf!

The new campaign is tentatively called "Mushgnome's Treasure Hunt." It was inspired by the 1979 classic "The Book of Treasure Maps" by Jennelle Jaquays. I put on my thinking cap and asked the questions: How is play-by-post different from tabletop gaming? If I were to design a campaign from the ground up, specifically for play-by-post, what would that look like?

I think treasure maps are the perfect solution. Instead of one big multi-level dungeon, there are a bunch of little one-shot adventures. Every combat will be a memorable 'boss' fight and every treasure will be a sizeable hoard. I want the players to really think expedition-style, big party with henchmen, mules, etc. There will be no plot or 'campaign arc,' just a series of episodic Indiana Jones style heists and capers. I will run this 'open table' format, and players are welcome to join for a single treasure map, without making a commitment to a long-running campaign.

So that's why I want to preserve Hobbet Heroes 'niche' and keep it sort of the opposite of that. My intention always for this campaign, is that it would focus on the 8-level megadungeon under the house of pancakes. (And then there are adventure hooks to deeper 'underdark' levels.) Some of you are maybe a little miffed at Frederick for leasing back the windmill to the miller. But I assure you: Frederick is playing 4-dimensional chess while the miller is playing checkers. Frederick sees the big picture, that the most important thing was to get the land rights to the dungeon. The vast potential treasure from the megadungeon will pay for many towers, castles, and strongholds.

'Name level' play kicks in sooner for hobbets than for other races. I have always had in mind that domain level play (with strongholds and followers) would start happening around 6th level for our Heroes. The big question for each of you (which we will get to when the time comes) is whether you will choose to build your strongholds above or below ground?
On Immersive Ink?

I'm in. And I love random rolls. A random reincarnation potion sounds awesome.
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

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