I think that I have messaged every OOC section of the board to explain what I'm trying to do, but in case I have missed anyone I'm creating this OOC section and posting it to group 0 for everyone to see.

For those that may have missed my post:



I know that some of the players on this game, me included, have more than one character. What I am trying to do with this chat is to see which players are still here and playing and which characters those players want to continue playing with.

So far I have the following characters that have responded:

Group 2: New Journey

• Sangnir Ohir (active, human fighter)
• Krass (active, half-orc ranger)
• Elixir Jones (inactive, human ranger / cleric)
• Aethas (NPC, elf monk)
• Didier Montagu (NPC, gnome wizard / master specialist - conjurer)
• Sister Aliana (NPC, elf cloistered cleric)
• Angus (NPC, dwarf rogue)
• Felix (NPC, human beguiler)

Group 4: The Forest Adventure Continues

• Nurya (active, human barbarian / cleric)
• Jenanda (active, human cleric / monk)
• Tindomerel (active, elf wizard / cleric)
• Freyja Raven (inactive, human barbarian / rogue)
• Daphne Firetongue (NPC, half-elf fighter)

Group 5: The Desert Adventure

• Neratha Xeroscient (active, elf fighter / warlock)
• Ingold (active, human sorcerer)
• Cynthella of Cyr (active, elf cleric)
• Katarynia (inactive, elf rogue)

Group 8: The Battle of Gurdikar

• Ael Windstorm (active, grey elf wizard / duskblade)
• Aeryn Mwrrywick (active, human battle sorcerer)
• Selraniel (inactive, half-elf rogue, winged)
• Sister Aliana (NPC, elf cloistered cleric)
• Sir Jovius (NPC, halfling Paladin)

Group A: Adventure in the Mountains

• Gamliel Milnerson (active, gnome bard)
• Koryn Surestride (inactive, human bard / barbarian)
• Fillomater (NPC, elven wizard - diviner specialist)
• Cassandra (NPC, human battle sorcerer)
• Drummick Vlox (NPC, dwarf cleric)

So far, from what I can see, we have a healthy character base. I'm currently going through the list to see how many different players we have, and whether it is needed to move characters together and remove old characters that are no longer active.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:38, Sun 24 Mar.

Gurdikar.

Interested yes

As am I.

In answer to the PM, if you have more than one character then I will consider allowing them, provided they're in different groups for ease.

I do not want to over-extend myself too early as I'm having to catch up on where each of the groups are and what they're doing at the moment and what their goals are. And.this is taking some time.

Plus in order to accommodate every character I may have to switch them around. There looks to be multiple inactive characters and long-standing NPC roles that could easily become characters if people want them or don't want to continue.playinh their current a character.

So TL;DR - it will all depend on the.mumber of active characters.im.the group as to whether a group will continue or not. If it doesn't I'll do my best to re-home active and wanted characters, or see which characters are available in other groups.
This message was last updated by the GM at 22:03, Fri 22 Mar.

Interested on continuing with this character [Gurdikar]. I'm also playing Tindomerel, though would prioritize Aeryn if asked to choose.

Thank you for offering to keep this game alive! :)

This character has had limited play, so I'd be absolutely fine with taking over an NPC or other PC already in play.

In reply to Gamliel Milnerson (msg # 6):

I only have the one character and I am very interested in continuing to play them.

I'll have a better look at class distribution tonight once I'm home. My first thought was to place at least 3 to 4 characters per thread, but that all depends on classes.

I'm going to try to make any change organic too rather than wave a GM wand and say "this is how it is now" - so it may be that we continue as is for now provided I can get my head around the different plots each of you are involved with and see if I can tweak things to pull groups together.

Of course, if you have more than one character and have a preference for any you definitely want to play, and which you'd definitely want to drop (or if you have one character and might want to adopt an NPC or orphaned character) don't be shy.
This message was last updated by the GM at 22:03, Fri 22 Mar.

Potentially interested in continuing... But I'm recovering from surgery, so will be spotty for the next month or so. So I'm also fine if I don't continue with this game given what's going on.

I only have the one character and would like to continue to play him.

In reply to Ingold (msg # 10):

I think I will stick with Neratha as my pc. And I can adopt an NPC if you like.

I have Krass and Ael. If I had to choose only one I'd need to think about it.

Having multiple characters should not be a problem provided we at least try to get them into different groups. Having two characters in the same group is not an issue though - I've had two in the same group for quite some time now, and all was well.

One of the positives about this game was it's longevity created by its depth and committed players. Which is a disadvantage now because it means that I have so much to read through just to work out where everyone is at, and why they were adventuring.

One group that it looks like I can drop is the Adventure in the Mountains (group A). The group were new, and with my character and Gamliel being the only two active at the moment it looks like that can be discretely brushed under the carpet without any difficulties. Of course, Gamliel has the choice of characters and NPCs now for the other groups, or if they wish to continue to play Gamliel it is easy enough to move them to a different group.


One thing I would like players to do is to write a summary of what their group has done since starting the game. There are a number of reasons for this:
>> It might save me a lot of time reading through the numerous threads, especially for information that might easily be missed.
>> It puts an emphasis on in-game events that are important or memorable for the characters and players.
>> It will be written from a character's point of view, giving me a better idea of each character.
>> I'm lazy and overworked in my day to day life, so anything that makes my RPOL life easier is good!!

Can this be written in the OOC associated with the group, please. And characters are welcome to improve on, disagree with or otherwise add to this summary, especially if a character doesn't know the full details of why something happened or the consequences of this. An yes, you are welcome to include Private Messages in the post as well if something happened that the other don't know about (or you are reluctant to remind them about). This last is especially true for older characters that may have experienced more than newer characters.


And a warning for all - I am going to tidy the game threads up a little, making old and retired / inactive characters into NPCs and rearranging some of the threads so it is easier for me to read through the different groups and threads. I might merge a few of the notices together, but I will not be deleting any of the information contained there - so if, like me, you rely on the History of the World thread that isn't going to vanish anytime soon (and if it does, then it's a genuine mistake on my behalf).


Thank you so much in advance. Any summaries would be useful, but I wills till be reading through the various threads anyway, it will only help me to get things set up quicker and start the process of gaming again so much sooner.

Also, have a look at the character list in the first post above and see if there are any NPCs I have missed, or characters that are part of the current action but are currently inactive.

I have updated my primary group to give you an example of what I mean.

This will help me to decide if I can run all groups as they currently stand, or if I need to change what changes would make sense. At the moment, if I drop the Mountain Adventure it will leave me with 3 active groups and only 1 player to move which I can easily do.

In group 8, Sir Jovius (halfling paladin) has been accompanying the group. Also, in the latest battle Sister Aliana and other priests supported the PCs in the epic battle against a were-tiger/vampire and a bunch of other undead and were-rats. Mostly because the remaining three PCs were running on fumes (spell-wise).

Not entirely fumes. Still had some 1st and 2nd level spells unspent. And lots of holy water and scrolls. I came PREPARED.

It would appear that Sister Aliana is making an appearance in multiple groups. Interesting...

In reply to Aeryn Merrywick (msg # 15):

Why were you questing and how have you stumbled across these vampires??
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 22:06, Sun 24 Mar.

Updated list of characters and NPCs.



I'll be closing down group A (Adventure in the Mountains), and will allow Gamliel to change characters or will move that character to another group.

The following are a list of characters that I will be changing to NPCs (as they don't appear to be a part of any active group, and haven't posted in quite some time), so if anyone wants me to keep them then fire me a PM to give me the heads up. Alternatively, if they are a vital part of a group that is currently active then again give me the heads up.

• Arquin Thalastrix
• Cassandra
• Felix West
• Gortharn
• Ileora Ghostwriter
• Jan Scarheart
• Koram The Northlander
• Marda Soundstone
• Nexus Spirit
• Paulo Michelangelo
• Tharrim Faruck
• Tramoryn
• Vandance Carnen.
• Will Anders

This is of course just to trim down the number of characters in play, so I can start to rearrange the groupings and threads a little to make my life easier. I will always reserve the right to keep any and all of these characters to be used as allies and/or enemies (depending on how cruel I feel), or move them into a different thread as needs must.

I am also considering playinng with the groups as well, so if when you log on over the next few days and you notice that you can't see any of your historic threads it probably means that I'm playing around with stuff in the GM menu and am re-assigning groups. I will try to ensure that all threads are visible to people that need to see them, but naturally might miss a few here and there. This is partially for my own sanity, my OCD - but also because I make use of threads dedicated purely to notes for each group and I want to try to pull groupings together (so group 0 is the public channel, group 1 will have group A as it's hidden notes channel, group 2 will have group B, and so on).

In reply to The Unseen One (msg # 18):

I believe the original group set out to take care of a rat plague but ran into a number of undead (sewer workers, killed then reanimated), that was the time my first character (Nerissa, a beguiler) joined the team. They investigated and eventually encountered a couple of vampires and a were-rat. After defeating them, the group found a device of unknown origin and purpose, which Nerissa disassembled so the bad guys would never be able to make it work again. That took too long and the remaining vampire returned and killed Nerissa before the others could fight him off. Instead of having Nerissa revived I choose to play a battle sorceress (a cousin of the deceased) instead, which proved more effective against undead and vermin. The group alerted the town's priesthood of the existing undead threat (several others of the townsfolk had been turned into vampires already) and was given a number of scrolls and potions to battle the creatures. After some run ins with hired muscle and more undead, the group happened upon a gathering of half-a-dozen ghouls, a similar number of were-rats, several vampire spawns and a cloaked figure (vampire-were-tiger hybrid). That was when several of the clergy joined the group. It took a while, and a lot of spells (after Aeryn _loaned_ her magical flaming sword to Ael), to defeat all of them. The were-tiger-vampire exploded and a few remaining (gaseous) vampires escaped the scene. Ael, Thapsi and Aeryn were following through sort of an illusionary wall but Ael and Thapsi fell into a pit trap while Aeryn (whithout knowledge of what happened) tried to press on and remove the threat the vampires posed. That's where the group is at this point, and what I can remember.

Missed the part about the undead treant and a group of unconscious adventurers found in a treehouse outside the city but essentially correct. There is also a disappeared Bard who knows more about this whole thing but has proven elusive and unwilling to help.

You seem to have missed me in the Battle of Gurdikar

You were hidden behind your riding dog. Should've gone with a Brixashulty.

Just an update for you....I've given up reading all the back threads and am focusing just on the current threads. It's taking too long to read, make notes, etc.

So I'll just be going with the most recent threads so we can start posting, and I'd I make any mistakes I'll flange it and pretend it was my intention all along and it was all part of the plot.

Will try and get something up for every thread tomorrow.

I've updated the request for the orange coloured status monitor at the bottom.of.each post.

Only post it when it's required (combat, for example) to save on time. Id you do cast a spell that has a duration of hours or days then summarise it when you describe your actions. For example;

Looks like what I've been doing already, no sweat for me :)

It seems to be a standard RPOL thing - most games I'm in use it in one way or another. It makes life so much simpler.

All the groups are updated, and I've also updated character lists. I've moved all inactive characters to NPC status and removed them from the group threads to tidy them up. There are still a few characters I need to move but I don't have ownership of some so can't do that (such as Koram), and there were a couple that late at night I wasn't sure about.

I have not deleted any character.

By updating current threads it will give me time to read the backstory to each group in much greater detail, so I can identify major events, minor events that others will remember but the PCs might forget about, and NPC names and motivations in case I decide to reintroduce characters you may have already met.

I'm going to use the next few weeks/ months to see who is active and decide which if any threads need to be pruned and groups merged together.

Thank you all so much for your patience, and thanks again to Nuric whose frequent PMs to himself are both detailed and helpful... And when I say frequent I mean to say here's a load of them to get through.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:24, Fri 05 Apr.

You've been very busy, thank you for taking this up! :)

Quite welcome. And if I can half as well as Nuric did I'll call my time at the helm a success. I have massive shoes to fill, so if all could continue to have patience that is all I can ask.

Also, if people have ideas of where they want their character arcs to go, be they from backgrounds or historical threads I am yet to read, or ideas of where they want to go class wise over the next few levels.

For example, I must have driven Nuric mad with my updates about prestige classes and how they linked in to what my characters were doing and thoughts for the future. But I'm sure it would have led to ideas for plot hooks that he knew I would follow and push others to follow as it made sense for my character.

Anything like that I am happy to receive by Private Message, and I reserve the right to listen, use parts or all of it, how it was suggested or pulled apart and modified to suit my own warped mind...

I've returned from my stay in my caravan. Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight, and having walls around me while this storm rages on outside.

Which means I'll be back on my laptop and not just using my phone for updates.

Hopefully I can figure out why my maps aren't visible (think it's the location on Google Drive that's the problem - may need to share the entire folder rather than "visible to anyone with the link")

Think I have it sorted. I've used imgbb.to host them and it's given me the option of a URL instead I'd just a link.

Need to find a way to get URLs from.google drive now...

I've been using imgbb to host my images, too. There is a selection between 'watcher' link and 'direct link'. Only direct link works for embedding pictures on rpol, as far as I can tell. However, I cannot see the pictures from my work laptop as our company server blocks those, for whatever reasons. It just means I need to check my phone or private laptop in order to react to them. - That's just me, if it works for everyone else that's great :)

What I may do the is upload to imgbb but add a direct link in for people to access in case things don't automatically appear.

Can't help with work blocks however, but will ensure that images are available one way or another.

Well, I'm not healing as well or quickly as I should, so I'm going to bow out of the game.

Have fun, everyone.

Just an update for people and characters. It's been confirmed that we're losing Thapsi (group 1, The Battle for Gurdikar) and Jenenda (group 4, The Forest Adventure).

So our most recent update on characters:

Group 1 - The Battle of Gurdikar

• Ael Windstrom
• Aeryn Merrywick
       No contact with player as of yet
• (NPC) Thapsi
• (NPC) Selraniel
• (NPC) Sir Jovius
• (NPC) Sister Aliana

Group 2 - The New Journey

• Sangnir Ohir
• Krass
• Elixir Jones
       No contact with player as of yet
• Felix West
• (NPC) Aethas
• (NPC) Didier Janisson
• (NPC) Sister Aliana

Group 3 - The Desert Adventure

• Cynthella of Cyr
• Ingold
• Neratha Xeroscient
• (NPC) Belmar
• (NPC) Katarynia

Group 4 - The Forest Adventure

• Freyja Raven
• Nurya
• Tindomerel
       No contact with player as of yet
• (NPC) Daphne Firetongue
• (NPC) Jenanda

Since I really want at least 3 players per group, what I'm looking at doing at present will be to merge groups together. I'm thinking groups 1 and 4, so that would be (active players only):

New Group

• Freyja Raven
• Nurya
• Ael Windstrom
• (NPC) Daphne Firetongue
• (NPC) Sir Jovius

Looking good

Sorry, been a bit busy as of late. Will get in touch asap. Same for Tindomerel.

That's fine - it's been the holidays, and I know that things slow down on RPOL during times of school or religious holidays. That means that I am OK with continuing group 4 as there are 3 players in that group, but I may have to move the members of group 1 into another group.

I have time as I want to end the current scenarios rather than waving a GM wand and creating an unsatisfactory resolution.

Work has been hectic now we're back in the new term, and the maps I've promised to build for different threads are taking their time... The issue is that all the tokens and object images I used to have are on my old HDD that was damaged and all the data was lost, and I'm struggling to find (free) replacements.

Does anyone know of an online repository of fantasy images I could look into??

I have basic models and can create tokens using the images off RPOL for PCs and NPCs. I make use of MapTools and Dungeon draft (just downloaded - trying to find a way to link the two). But nothing compared to the thousands of images I had on my damaged HDD...

Grr....

Have you tried checking out roll20 and their forums, people share a lot of free assets. The Reddit too I think.

I've been looking through the archives of forums I used to frequent and some images are there.

Will have a look, thanks.

I will include a full GM post in the OOC section at the bottom of my post for the first round (or possibly two) of combat for each of the groups. This is just for transparency and to show the curious minds what is going on behind the scenes. Also included in this section (but not visible) will be a current status of all the NPCs and enemies that the characters are facing (and any other notes I need) - mostly for convenience for me.

So I appreciate that for the very first round (or two) the OOC section will seem really long. I will change it to small text to limit space taken up, and if you choose to read it great but I will not ask you to, nor will I be testing you on the content at a later date.

It is also to show you why I am asking that during combat (or any situation that you feel I need to know) you include a short summary of your character's condition. Please include the essential information in the form:

Current Hit Points: xx / MAX HP
AC: (can include Flat Footed and Touch if you're feeling nice)
Any spells or effects that are currently in effect, and their duration.

Any rolls that you have made (you can either copy/paste or just summarise, or do both if you feel the need)

You can of course add as much or as little detail as needed - I can always reference what you are doing online or ask you to clarify as needed... And of course it does not need to be in this exact format - so long as the necessary information is presented. For example you could write "Resistance: 1 of 6rounds, +1 to saves" or just "Resistance: 1/6 rounds"

This is just to ensure that we all know where each of our characters stand each round. I know it's a little bit of work, but in other games I've seen it used it works great and once you get used to copy/pasting the text it begins to take no time at all.


An example would be:

To make sure I'm reading this correctly:

OOC:
Ingold
Hit Points 15/27
AC 15
No active spells

Note, I'm not sure the Hit Points is actually accurate, but it doesn't matter at the moment as this is just for clarification.

I think Nearatha, Elixir and Freyja will bow out. I am finding life very difficult.

I am sorry to hear that. I know that you've been dipping in and out the game as you've needed, but I do understand the need to take a break if life is getting too much.

I have no intention of killing off or removing any of the characters, so if and when things pick up I'm hoping to still be here. Get back in touch when life is easier for you and we'll see what we can do. I'll leave you as a player for a little bit so you have a chance to read this and say your goodbyes as needed.

The group won't be the same without Elixir in it. Take care of yourself.

This is the updated list with recent drop outs - looks like I'll be needing to pull together the following groups:

Group 2 and Group 4 to merge together
Group 1 and Group 3 to merge together

That would give us:

New Group 1

• Ael Windstrom
• Aeryn Merrywick
• Cynthella of Cyr
• Ingold
• (NPC) Thapsi
• (NPC) Selraniel
• (NPC) Sir Jovius
• (NPC) Sister Aliana
• (NPC) Neratha Xeroscient
• (NPC) Belmar
• (NPC) Katarynia

New Group 2

• Sangnir Ohir
• Krass
• Felix West
• Nurya
• Tindomerel
• (NPC) Aethas
• (NPC) Didier Janisson
• (NPC) Sister Aliana
• (NPC) Elixir Jones
• (NPC) Daphne Firetongue
• (NPC) Jenanda
• (NPC) Freyja Raven

This way each player should have only the one character in each of the threads.

I'll also need to cut down the number of NPCs for each group as the number is currently too unwieldy. I've been building a number of large maps, but I think what I'll also do is shorten each of the threads so we can start to move on. I still do not want to just jump from where we are and not end the current threads unsatisfactorily. In other words, I'll not make the threads any longer than they need to be but won't make them any longer than they have to be.

I also don't want to kill off any NPCs, as I would like to continue to use them as contacts and for storytelling purposes later. Have them pop in and out of the different threads as and when needed - when characters request their support, or seek them out for help.

Well done

That works for me.

Works for me too. :)

Works for me too.

I'm easy, like Sunday morning.

Excellent, I'm working on speeding things up. Let's do this.

The out of combat group is still paused, until the battle finishes, correct?

Yes they'll reach the group shortly after the battle concludes - which shouldn't be long now.

I'm at a hotel preparing for a family wedding. Apologies for delay in updates.