Out Of Character

[Merctime]

Hey folks,

I have arrived basically at the near-end of a whole bunch of adventuring here. It's a bit tough to be involved with decision-making in terms of playing my character... The best I can think of when I post is to have Dhren say/do things like "Whatever you guys think is best" which I think can be maddening; Shouldn't have to play someone's character for them! I'm just in a spot where there has been so much go down here that Dhren and myself aren't yet aware of or clear on that I don't know what sort of things to have him do without profuse advice or all-out orders from you all. I do hope that isn't as maddening as I assume it to be

I'm all about lending as much of a hand as I can. It seems to me that the primary goal here is to establish, and maintain, an impromptu 'safe haven' at the abbey from which the party may level at and store loot when needed. I'm curious on this, and perhaps thinking to afar off... Is this objective only for a temporary storage/place to level, and then off to Ket to attempt to wrest it from the hands of the villains, or is the objective to begin an entirely new outpost of law at the abbey? What I mean by that is, do you all seek to establish the abbey as the new 'town' area by bringing the pilgrims and eventually more people here, to produce another 'Ket' as it were in the face of the loss of the other?

I am prepared, and wanting, to be very active here. I can post daily, but sometimes do not partially because of work (which I can post then, at night instead) and partially because I simply can't think of something to offer that isn't full of fluff. I just want everyone to know that I am here daily checking up on things, and trying to keep up with the amount of stuff going on, and making some reasonable attempts to offer something of value to the game and it's players/DM. But sometimes I can only post fluff. It isn't on purpose... I am just at a loss of how I can add to the game itself sometimes due to the very specific things that are happening/have happened. Please bare with me!

[ehiker133]

I guess my posting advice would be to not try and force it. Just post what feels natural, when it feels natural. If you haven't already thought it out, try and come up with a few simple character concepts - youthful, energetic, slothful, proud, clever, witty, verbose, quiet, etc. - and make note of them. Then just keep them in mind whenever you post; eventually you'll fall into a character mindset that will make portraying your character easier. One of the biggest challenges with having characters in multiple games on different forums is in developing them such that they don't all sound like the same exact person!

Don't worry about the character not knowing about anything that previously happened. Nobody expects him to.

Re: the Abbey...

I don't think the intention is to build a new community, though that might be the end result, given several years of game time. The real goal was to figure out a way for people to level and we were short on options - restore Ket back to human control, travel back to the elven village (many days by foot), find a large farm or currently unknown settlement secure enough to allow a restful night's sleep, or... re-establish control of the Abbey. The abbey seemed easiest, comparatively.

The original goal was to go to the abbey and retrieve some items (not ever described except to say we'd probably know them when we found them) for the sisters who were transposed from the Abbey to Ket, presumably because of the infestation of werewolves (that the party was also not told about) in order to pay off the debt of getting Olaf's health restored after he was zapped by a level-draining undead a few times. He was partially restored and we were told he would be fully restored after we retrieved the items.

Now who knows what will happen with that - do the sisters still live? have they been infiltrated at the highest levels (as it appears the wolf priests have known about the abbey for a long time now)?

The way I see it, we're kind of in a transitional place at the moment, with only a few set short-term goals. We are working on controlling the abbey and we need to find The Gustave. Once these two are completed, I suspect any characters-turned-NPC (that haven't met their demise searching out the ogre lair - a convenient way of disposing of NPCs) might viably stay on at the abbey and help run it or remain permanent residents (obviously I'd rather have them all as active players, but... nothing to be done about that) while the active party does something else - sets about finding a food/water supply for the abbey, establishes long-term repair plans to the outer walls and damaged inner structures of the abbey, attempts to locate The Boar and his fighting crew to see if we can regain control of Ket. And, if they have some free time, to crush our enemies, see them driven before us, and hear the lamentations of their women, yadda yadda yadda...

A wise man once said, "There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a father's love for his child."

Well... that time has not come for Desmond (or Mondes). Jewels still sparkle. Gold still has luster. And lots of it remains to be found... Oh, and he wants a magic weapon. Badly.

[Merctime]

Ehiker, thank you for your very in-depth and thoughtful post. Really helps me key into what is immediately necessary/desirable. I appreciate it!

[doctorx]

I am prepared, and wanting, to be very active here. I can post daily, but sometimes do not partially because of work (which I can post then, at night instead) and partially because I simply can't think of something to offer that isn't full of fluff. I just want everyone to know that I am here daily checking up on things, and trying to keep up with the amount of stuff going on, and making some reasonable attempts to offer something of value to the game and it's players/DM. But sometimes I can only post fluff. It isn't on purpose... I am just at a loss of how I can add to the game itself sometimes due to the very specific things that are happening/have happened. Please bare with me!

You are adding to the game by the very real quality of your in-character posts, Merctime. I'm really enjoying reading about Dhren and how he's trying to fit into our motley crew. Just keep doing what you're doing - it's great!

[Merctime]

Thank you Sir!

[mushgnome]

Dhren's immediate top priority (in Highbough's opinion) should be to represent the interests of Team Elf!

[waysoftheearth]

Torben? I'll let Ways decide if he counts as active or not.

Let's call it 11 active PCs for now. 13,100 XP divided by 11 is 1,191 each (rounding up).

EDIT: Forgot the loot that Des found. Another 1,047 XP divided by 11 is 95 each (rounding down this time).

The treasure division is entirely up to the players. The lawful types will doubtless want to divide things "evenly" or according to who can "benefit" the party the most. The neutral types will be more interested in ensuring their personal stakes are fit enough.

You need to allocate specific physical items, not logical XP. E.g., something like: Dorgan gets the bejewelled necklace worth 7,000 sp, Josiane gets the black book, and Helmut get a sack of 23 copper coins.

The amazingly gorgeous bejeweled necklace is a thing of staggering beauty fit to grace the neck of a duchess or princess and is clearly the main prize. Your problem is "dividing it". Yes, you could break it down into smaller components for "distribution" but the sum of the parts are worth significantly less than the whole; let us say you could break it item four pieces worth 1200 sp each (sum 4,800 XP as opposed to 7,000 XP).

You may choose to allocate nothing to player types who are absent; I will NPC them appropriately.

Excluding treasure, my calculations have your new XP totals as follows:

Dorgan: 12,833 (needs 16k for level 5)

Ways, does this include XP bonuses for attributes?

I will calculate your formal XP award, including bonuses, once the loot has been divided.

[ehiker133]

But what you're saying is that whoever gets the necklace gets 7k xp?

Possibly shouldn't go to Dorgan at this point.

[sully]

But what you're saying is that whoever gets the necklace gets 7k xp?

Possibly shouldn't go to Dorgan at this point.

This is why they never let Black Dougal carry any loot.

[ehiker133]

Dorgan didn't even get a chance to gasp, "Poison!"

What's more, he doesn't even have a pack Desmond can dump the contents out of and fill with silver coins!