Are we having fun yet? :)

I am, except it's too hot in the forest. I think we should move underground.

And yes, kudos to skipping the introductions at the tavern. Sure, it gives us all a chance to post a few colorful posts, and no doubt one and all would've been enamored with Valthur's irresistible wit, but why not just save that material for the adventure itself?


P.S. "irresistible wit" was sarcasm. Valthur in reality is about as witty as he is good looking, which he isn't.

Sarah: Go ahead and roll your own Hear Noise check (d6).

For this game you will roll all your own checks. We're all mature adults here and can separate player knowledge from character knowledge :)

Besides, rolling your own dice is fun. Even virtual dice.

Thanks, and I agree. I would rather see character personality and relationships develop through action rather than spend several weeks with back and forth small talk while tossing back virtual mugs of ale.

:)

I disagree.  There is something about the tactile sensation of the dice in your hand.  Plus, the RPoL dice roller hates me. :)

Use one hand to hold the corresponding die and the other to click the "Roll the Dice" button.

You can even roll both at the same time and see which does better.

:)

 I know,I know, I can get a bit windy in my posts at times.

Perhaps a "Spoiler" text section could be used when not everyone is aware of something.

Folks can still read and enjoy it but it would remind everyone when only someone with dwarven sight can see something.

1. If there is a way to do it, I'd support it... or I'm fine by playing by the honor system too, where characters play based on what they know IC even if their player knows something more OC.

2. "ancient sarcophagi"? Eoni, that's literary gold there! The best I could come up with was "rotten tree trunk"!

3. Do you think we should light a torch?

Someone could suggest a torch in character but I don't think the dwarf would even think of it.  He can see just fine.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Stupid humans...

---

 My mistake, I thought we could see in the interior. I misunderstood. :/

I wanna say to use the Private/Secret tags.
Say Eoni is aware of something that pertains to the Avandrite faith, that somebody's slipped into a sentence.  Click the menu, then "Private To... Eoni Daflin", and call it a day!  Like, "Hey, this person made a reference to something that a Matriarch of Avandra said two undred years ago, that you read about.  This could be relevant to your quest!".
OR, say everybody is aware of something (probably some poor people thing), and Aldara isn't - "Secret To... Aldara".

This is especially useful when handling other languages.  I think you can make a language group tag, too, if I'm not mistaken.  So people that speak, say, Neutral, can all be grouped together.  And, in Aldara's case, people that speak Halfling.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:09, Sun 18 Sept 2016.

I'll probably end up using the Private function for these sorts of situations. I normally don't like using it and prefer to keep everything out in the open with the assumption players will only act on information their character is privvy to, but I am open to using this feature if it makes it easier for you and enhances your playing experience.

I haven't set up language groups yet, but will do so shortly.

In reply to DM Pawn (msg # 64):

I hear ya, language groups are your call, I just saw another GM do it, and thought "Hmm, this one might like it!".  For my part, and so it's out in the open, Aldara speaks Common, Halfling, and Neutral.
As for why somebody who's seen better days speaks Halfling and not, something higher-and-mightier like, say, Elven?  Your guesses are as good as mine!

In reply to Aldara (msg # 65):

I've used language groups in other games, I just forgot to set them up for this one. I normally have a process to set up games, and this is one of the items I accomplish, but failed to do so this time.

I blame it on throwing the game together on a whim and in a relatively short period of time.

:)

Kudos to you for "throwing the game together" so quickly so we can already be playing!!!

Now that we're being attacked, I'm much more interested in my movement rate:
Going straight by the Labyrinth Lord rules, it looks to me that I have a combat rate of 40' (no penalty for being a dwarf in the basic rules?) per round. Is that correct?

If we are using the optional encumbrance rules (page 44 of Labyrinth Lord), then my rate is significantly lower (because I'm carrying 83lbs of stuff). Also, I thought there was a rule for being able to carry more based on strength, but I couldn't find it. Perhaps that was in something other than the basic rules.

So long story short, my combat movement is somewhere between 40' and 10'. If it really is 10' and I survive this first encounter, you can bet I'm emptying the backpack to make myself a little speedier!

Since we're in combat and the players are up, we're looking for each player to state their actions.

Do we have a cut off for response time?  24 hours?

Sometimes folks get sidetracked in real life and I'd hate to hold up the game if someone won't be able to post for a week.

The rule for being able to carry extra weight due to high Strength is from AD&D. This rule does not exist in Basic D&D.

We'll be using the optional rule as found in Labyrinth Lord p. 44, Moldvay p. B20 or Mentzer p.30. They are basically the same.

The expected posting rate is 1 post every 1 to 2 days, with the realization real life sometimes gets in the way. Communication is key here. If you know you're going to be out-of-pocket, please let me know so we can ensure the game continues without wondering what's going on.

In combat situations I will generally give a player about 24-36 hours before I post on that character's behalf to keep the game moving. If this becomes a trend (i.e., having to post on non-communicative player's behalf), I start looking at whether this game is a good fit for a player's posting availability and act accordingly.

I usually have a pretty good sense of when it's time to NPC someone's character, but try to give player's the benefit of the doubt they will log in and post.

I do start to get a little bit miffed though when I see players logging in several times without posting, either OOC or IC, and this can accelerate a possible decision for looking to phase out a particular character.

I believed myself to be at the entrance and not in, because I never entered or went past the entrance.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:42, Mon 19 Sept 2016.

 Sigh, disregard. My mistake

No biggie.  There's always a 50/50 chance I'm wrong.

It's a common problem of figuring out where everyone is.  The diagram does show her inside the trunk and I don't remember seeing any posts saying where else Sarah wanted to be.

Is Sarah where she wants to be based on the diagram?

Close enough.

I tried to place your characters where I thought they would be based on your stated actions. Sara, Yhus and Aldara never posted any actions indicating they went inside the tree, so I put them at the entrance and called it good.

The map is not absolute. It's main purpose is not to determine exact location. It's there to provide relative location and to give players an idea what the area looks like.