For all your out of character discussions

I'll get a post up tomorrow. It's been a busy week house hunting among other things.

Do we want to approach this as a group?

Is there anyone still working out their characters?

I am still out of town until Wednesday when I will make my character, but do not worry about waiting to start on me I am fairly sure I can manage intro posts without much in the way of system mechanics.

As for approaching a problem as a group my understanding is that we default to a crew, so we should at least be moderately familiar with each others style.

No worries. The query was out of curiosity. Unfortunately, a few things happened with work that took up almost all of my day yesterday so RPoL time had to be sacrificed.

I am spending today recovering and waiting to see if coffee wakes up my brain before trying to do any IC RP.

It may be tomorrow before I look to post now.

I'm just going to go with Addy as written in the Quickstart and not change anything. I figure they gave him those talents and focuses for a reason. :)

It's all good.  Lost Boy thread is there whenever folks are ready to start.

I am as busy as everyone else, but I hope to have the character sheet filled out by tomorrow.

I'll get a post out tomorrow. It's been a really long day. My best friend ended up in the hospital with some heart issues. He's going to be okay thankfully but after it is all said and done, I have no ability to be creative right now. I was hoping otherwise but ...

It's time to fall over.

Hope he recovers soon

Thanks. He's on rest for a few days but should be fine if he sticks to his meds.

A quick post is up. It's turning into a really busy weekend. I hope to be able to spend more time on Sunday to provide an in depth post.

Can everyone please post avatar pics, and descriptions of your characters? It is nearly impossible for people to remember what a character looks like when you only post it once or twice in an entire campaign.

So now that everyone is starting to come up with ideas how to begin tracking down the mark when you decide you want to give one a go just:

- describe the general approach
- roll a simple test (3d6 + ability score + 2 if you can justify one of your focuses for that ability applies)
- I'll determine the TN for your approach and describe the result

I've configured the dice roller to default to the AGE system.  It will note any stunt points generated from doubles and will display the Drama Die value in {} in the result displayed at the top of the screen.

Example: 21:44, Today: GM rolled 13 using 3d6 with the AGE System (({6}, 2, 5)).

And as always feel free to ask questions anytime.

By the way, great writing so far from everyone!
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:54, Thu 13 Sept 2018.

Seriously people, I would appreciate this.

This is my first time with the AGE system so I expect I will have plenty of questions. LOL!

But I am quite excited for this and will be starting "Babylon's Ashes" shortly!

You're much further than I am, just finished Levithan Wakes and honestly the 1st season on SciFi followed it so closely I knew everything happening.  Though I do find that I did miss the extra characters the show added, missed seeing some of insights into the politics.

Do they show up in later books?  I'm thinking of Chrisjen and Sadavir.

Added Record Each Die to default roller, should get all necessary information now.  Looks like you will need to document the characteristic and focus in comments in roll as I can't see that can add a modifier.

Chrisjen does. I think Sadavir does too but at the moment, I don't recall with certainty. The books do branch out though with several of the secondary characters bringing them into a spotlight.

I liked all the seasons and how the basically stay true to the main points.

I'm a huge fan of the show and a bigger fan of the books. I am so glad Amazon picked it up to continue the series.

Indeed, amazon and green ronin both getting the setting and story some extra visibility is good.  But we do want to be mindful of spoiler problems as some of the folks here have probably not read all the books, perhaps not even seen every season of the show.

Or any of either. (Well I watched the first episode of the first season. then stopped.)

Quick Reference thread updated with Exploration and Social stunts

I'm just waiting on confirmation on something from the GM then I will post.

Though I may be away here shortly for a few days and possibly without internet access. If I do go dark I will be back on at the end of the week.

Apologies for missing that; believe I've answered your question now

No worries. It happens. I've been there as a GM here too.

Thanks for the answer.

I'm presuming Chao shares that with us given the response. So who all among us are heading for the bar besides Tane and I?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:49, Tue 18 Sept 2018.

I assume he will.  He also had some selections to make for his Explorations Stunt Points.

Sorry about the delay, real life got busy for a few days.

How's everyone else doing?

Hello?

Just waiting on the hacking to progress, unless someone needs Doris for something else she is mostly not paying attention to the real world while 'working'.

Doris, what was your choice of approach on facial recognition?  Stick with the basic or try to access the resources of Pinkwater Security?

My understanding is that some of the data is free, so start with that.  If we need to use the high risk stuff we can do that then.

I'll post a little later today, I want to think about Casey's approach to the next step.

I'm not sure where to go with the info provided. I see two obvious security types, and nothing else that sticks out.

Go looking for something that doesn't stick out then.

Time to shake the tree at this Road House.

Subtle Casey is not. LOL!

Did we lose Ade?

Still don't know where to go with this...

It looks like you have 3 basic categories of options.

Keep a low profile.

Kick over the anthill.  or

Try to find someone who knows something useful.

Depending on your skills and preferences you could probably pick something from one of those that makes sense.

Ade and Cho have not logged in in over a week; which is a shame as this was Cho's contact but I'm not going to penalize the group if a player has dropped.

Truthfully Doris summed it up pretty well.

I'll add, you don't have to get too detailed in your approach.  You can summarize how you try to get info from the bar's occupants; if you have a witty or really great speech throw it in, might lower the target number.  In the end, do add the Communications roll so we can determine how responsive your listeners were.

Finally, you don't really HAVE to interact with anyone in the bar at all.  Could lead to an advantage later on, might not.  Eventually Doris' search will produce results...
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 00:46, Tue 09 Oct 2018.

I'm used to RP. I'm just trying to find Casey's feet so to speak.

I got wrapped up with Thanksgiving and visiting various family over the weekend. Never quite made it back to post.

I'll get one up this afternoon after my appointment.

I'll get a post out tomorrow. It's been a long day and I realized I'm not up to figuring out Casey's angle of approach here tonight.

No worries, I'm working a lot of late hours lately.  Time consuming and mentally draining.

Say I didn't add the TNs for the checks I'd listed for the Late Cage post.  They're all around 11 except I think the bribery was 14 or something.  Ill try to add those tonight for anyone who is concerned

Post updated with TNs.  Most were 12, not 11.  Memory, first thing to go after....hmmm, I forget.

Do note: if you have any suggestions for the NPC crew members please speak up.

Looks like we can start expecting the kickstarter to spit out at least the PDF version of the full book some time in November or at most December, best get this story moving so we can progress into the larger one on time.

It's going to be at least one more day. It's been a really draining day which had a few unexpected twists.

GM. By any chance does Casey see anyone participating in arm wrestling competitions?

As that may well be a good way to get people to talk after a few rounds of contests.

Not yet.  But your approach might be to start one with one or more tough looking patrons.

Then what would you recommend for one of the following, Fighting, Accuracy, Dexterity, or Perception. Maybe shooting some pool to get to know some of the locals?The last three would make sense for that skill. Dexterity and accuracy for the shooting portion, and Perception for the bet shots.

Sure, pool or darts with Accuracy works.

Really any of those skills could be used to play a particular kind of pool game.  Fighting you goad your opponent into attacking you and best them completely outside the pool table.

Accuracy lets you pull off difficult and visually interesting shots.

Dexterity could let you take fairly normal shots in unusual poses that draw attention.

Perception would make you take the harder to notice but easier to perform shots more often.

In any case it would describe a style preference but you should use the one with the largest bonus for the highest chance of success, unless you want to be known for one style for some social or personality based reason.

Then If allowed I'd like to begin shooting pool in a very visible display of dexterity. I'll go for shots that show my flexibility, over normal shots.

Cool make your post describing what Tane does and make the roll.

I like everyone's post, great job

Casey, just need you to add your roll to yours and I'll resolve everyone's attempts.

I didn't add it figuring you might want to describe who it was Casey approached and have a little interplay to set it up but I will go add it now.

Sorry for the delay, pet-related emergency has taken up 2 days now.  Hope to have response up tomorrow.

No worries. Came down with a bug that I am still recovering from and a pet related emergency of my own.

I hope yours is doing okay now.

<Edit>

I just read the IG post. I am going to think on it and return later for a post. Hopefully I'll have a clearer head by then.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:25, Sat 27 Oct 2018.

If I were to use "And Another Thing" to attempt to defuse the situation I presume it would need to be some communications roll as I try to talk the crowd down while saving the man's ego?

Sorry for taking so long. It hasn't been a good week.

Sure, Communication is a solid choice.  Seems like the system allows a lot of flexibility; if you can come up with a reasonable idea how to apply a different approach go for it.

Very sorry times are tough right now.  Thankfully that doesn't last; just usually lasts longer than we want it to.  Hang in there.

I'm sorry  for not posting recently. I'm busy with several projects at the moment, and haven't had much time. Mostly though what I haven't had time for is to find out what stunt points are for, and what they can do.

I would like to do something, but I'm not sure what.

I listed the various stunts for Combat, Exploration and Social encounters in the Quick References thread here: link to a message in this game

Ok, I get how to use stunt points, but how do you get them? And how do you know when you do get them?

If you have the free download of the Quick Start Rules, it is covered at the bottom of Page 7.

In short, you need to have a successful test result, roll doubles on at least two of the dice, then you get Stunt Points equal to your drama die.

The dice roller, also denotes it when the potential comes up as can be seen with a couple of Casey's rolls.

Yep, here's an example:

16:37, Today: Casey Khatri rolled 11 using 3d6 (4 stunt points) with the AGE System with rolls of {4}, 4, 3.  Communications.

Hmmm. Ok then I don't have any to spend. Unless they carry over from other scenes...
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Sat 10 Nov 2018.

FYI: I recently had a bad experience with a GM in a game I was in. There are messages from me that he may get offended to, Nothing vulgar or abusive (IMO) but since I was calling him on certain behaviors, and our culture has become so weak that criticism is now easily able to get you banned I may disappear from my games. If this happens do not think it is personal.

It's been a rough week and I won't be around much for the next day or so but I will try to get on at least once to respond. It's a short post but it should get the social RP moving forward.

Just a heads up for you all, I got hit by the flu bug this week and I am either on the cusp of getting better or it turning into something nastier.

My plan is to enlist the waitress' help and through her the rest of the staff if need be. I figured on RPing that out, hence the original quick post.

I am hoping that I am on my way to a full recovery but ...

Anyway, for those that do celebrate have a Happy Belated Thanksgiving and weekend.

Heading home from Europe.  Hope to have a post up later today or tomorrow.

I'll get a post out later tonight after my meeting.

Sorry, my meeting ran long last night. I am caught up now.

Could I get a brief physical description for Stanis please.

She'll definitely get a feel for what type of work he offers and try to gauge what he is like as a person.

Stanis now listed as an NPC, just in case he comes back into the story

Thanks. Sorry for my absence. Had a small emergency over the weekend.

How are we all doing? Any plans for the holidays?

Dinner with friends on Christmas eve, and a movie on Christmas day if all goes according to plan.

Post up.

Currently don't think we're doing much during the break; need to recover from the Europe trip.  That said, wife may get a wild hair and decide to travel.  You just never know.

I'm off starting Friday until the 3rd but project is behind at work.  I'm fighting the urge to work during my vacation.

Unless the project is in super time crunch, don't. Your body will need the time to recharge. Take the vacation.

Overworked people, are actually less productive, so take the time to decompress.

Listen to Tane. :)

Take the time to relax and leave work behind for awhile. You will thank yourself later for it. As you will be more productive upon your return to it.

Just finished a seven hour game night. It was a pretty intense session so pending the post I may hold off on responding until tomorrow as I am pretty wiped.

I will post tomorrow. Grin. Though I am curious if Stanis indicates the type of work before we are interrupted?

The last few updates to the kickstarter project put a significant emphasis on being close to the full game being done, when that happens do we expect to see a rebuild here, or finish out the intro module completely and decide where to go from there?

In either case we should probably get things moving if we want to keep pace.

Does Stanis indicate what kind of work he has in mind?

I think I'd rather finish off the quick start instead of switching mid-stride.

The rules do look interesting though.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Belated Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year upcoming!

New post coming tonight.

GM, does Elyse have anything to give us about Orn given my query?

Ack, my bad.  Previous post updated

No worries. Been there myself. It's all good.

Just to be clear, Doris was able to retrieve multiple addresses for Orn.

Thanks.

Picked up a bug last week. First day, I've felt close to human again.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:25, Mon 14 Jan 2019.

If there's anything I can answer for anyone please let me know.

Seems like the group is just deciding next moves with the info they gathered from La Cage.

I made my suggestion to investigate further. If someone else has another idea, please.

Doris/Tane speak up if you're still here please.  Just trying to gauge if we've lost folks or if life getting in the way.

I'm good with the game continuing with slow posting.  I certainly had some challenges getting to post previously.

I must apologize. My intention was not to abandon the game, just that RL has gotten in the way. I will need to bow out and apologize again for not telling you sooner.

Just waiting for something that needs doing to happen, or a decision on how to use what we have found.

No problem Tane, thanks for letting us know.

Casey/Doris - with only 2 players out of the 6 I think I'm gonna call this.  The original goal was to run through the rules and try them out before the game released.  We've done that at least for the social challenges.  Right now I'm concerned the TNs are too low; folks hardly failed a test.  Or maybe the starting adventure is intended to be easier; I'm unsure at this point.  (or, you know, GM needs to read the rules more)

Supposedly the official PDF may release soon; possible update this week.  After I've had a chance to digest the final rules may try another game; see if I can get a full crew to stick around longer next time.

Thanks to all 3 of you for hanging in there to this point.  I don't GM very often so was a fun challenge for me.

I'll probably delete the game later this week.

I would suggest converting this game into the post full version game rather than deleting one to make another.

As for players assume that 30-50% of all players on RPOL will leave within the first 2 months, plan to either replace them mid stream or start with 150+% of the number you want to end up with.

I get the impression that, much like the books and show, the game is more about thinking up fun ways to succeed and occasionally messing up rather than some kind of brutal survival fest where every choice results in casualties and failure along with the possibility of survival.

As long as you can find ways to use your character's strengths to fit with the goal success should be fairly easy but not quite assured, only when the player fails to address the objective in a way that their character is good at is there a strong chance of failure.

I think it is a combination of QSR's tend to be easier as they want players to succeed and get hooked on the game. The last thing you want to do is frustrate the players and sour them on the RPG that is coming out.

Combine that with the fact that the dice roller was really nice to us. In my experience that usually isn't the case, it made it seem far easier than it should have appeared.

Thank you all. I really enjoyed this and please consider me if you do pick it up again. I would love to continue as Casey.

Rather than delete it, why not put it on the shelf and recycle it for another game. It prevents the game as being logged as deleted thereby impacting your stats.

Good points.  Starting with more players was problematic here but with full rules on character creation may not be an issue going forward.

Definitely agreed about inventivness of approaches for success.

I can leave the game hanging in case I reuse.  Hadn't considered stats in the past; I setup a game for Hero System but never opened it and it was finally deleted.  /Shrug

My backer's copy of the pdf dropped today. It looks really great on first skim!

Nice.  Got the email but haven't downloaded yet.  Hopefully can start reading it this weekend

It has me already considering the stories I would like to shape when I finally GM it and it also has me considering what paths Casey might grow toward.

I have one in my weekend reading queue as well, do we think we can roll this story over to the full set of rules, or do we need something new?

I don't think I'll be in a position to GM for a while. Trying to get a Hero System game off the ground and work eating up all my free time.

Also, son and I finally catching up on 3rd season of The Expanse.  Anyone know if it stayed close to the book or not?  Seemed like 2nd half of that season took an odd turn with the ring and weird space and all.

In reply to GM (msg # 100):

Hiya everybody,

GM has been so kind to get me into the loop so I don't miss when someone will set up a game.
Did not take part in the kickstart, so I guess I'll have to wait some more before I can get my hands on the rules.

3rd Season actually ends with 3rd book.
As most of the time when they make TV series from books a couple of characters are missing, but essentially it is indeed close to the book. IMHO

I think Expanse is closer to the books than Game of thrones, any closer and it would be less interesting.

In reply to Doris Rosenberg (msg # 102):

I agree totally.
I was, however, very surprised that 1st Season did not end with 1st book. It was - as I recall - actually quite annoying ^^
I think they made a super job with the TV series and I am indeed very glad, that Amazon have decided to continue.

It's a close enough that the changes I noticed didn't bother me. Often times, changes are made either due to the budget, or the flow and pacing of television being different, as well as in some ways novels can get more in depth in its presentation and exploration in ways that cannot truly be expressed via televised media.

Nonetheless, I am happy with what I have seen and I am quite pleased Amazon picked it up. As the actors also appear to be.

So, how are the rules ?
Still not available for the non-Kickstarters :(

The rules are a bit wordy, and littered with optional features that really should be the default in most games but are designed to tier up in versatility or complexity rather than be changes to the core rules.

Abilities in particular have two optional rules that I would set to 'always on' in the way most games describe multiple methods of rolling or buying core stats.  And probably use them all simultaneously.

I like some things but there are a few things I am not a fan of but as I am new to the AGE system so I am looking into a few things to determine if I am understanding it correctly.

The character creation system is a bit more roll dependent than I like.  The categories are good but it could be more clear that at any stage you can just pick results instead of rolling for random ones.

I am not keep on the advancement system as it appears to be cut and pasted directly from the base AGE system without consideration for the actual Expanse Verse. At a high enough "level" you could surpass one of the major things that defines the universe.

I am looking into a few things and hoping to get a far more official answer than one of the mods that insists that there is no error because that's how other AGE games works.

In reply to Casey Khatri (msg # 109):

Am intrigued.
Not familiar with the AGE System, though, so I cannot even rate the above comments. As is, I do hope it is released soon for the general, i.e. non-Kickstarter, community.

What major component of the setting do you risk losing at higher level?

Where are you asking your questions, Casey?

Nevermind, I found the Ronin Army Forum (forgot I had that bookmarked).  Yeah you're looking at attribute advancement, right?  I'd say as a GM feel free to restrict that even beyond what the rules describe.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:02, Tue 12 Mar 2019.

I definitely would. I dropped a line with one of the developers directly to see if the intent was to cap at 4 which makes sense to me.

Even with the distribution it doesn't make sense to be able to be have higher stats than the Thing.

I don't think limiting advancement is the kind of thing The Expanse really needs.  The main characters in the novels are clearly massively superior to even the NPCs who function like they do in all but the most specialized cases.  And some of those cases have the look of late addition or temporary PCs more than NPC supporting cast.

By the later novels the threats are almost all from being massively out numbered, or some kind of ship scale weapon pointed at their head, and even those they tend to talk their way out of fairly quickly once the decision of how to do so is made.

I'm being vague due to not everyone is up to the current releases.

It has nothing to do with regular human NPCs.

I don't think anyone is worried about spoilers of game mechanics.

Yeah no worries

I just got an update from Green Ronin, the full print version of the PDF is now available (and has been for a few days) with the last round of editing done.

Hate to say it but I still haven't sat down and read the pdf yet.

Not enough hours in the day.

And I don't even have access to it :(
Still not released except for supporters, right?

I believe you're correct.   Green Ronin's page still shows the books as Coming Soon

https://greenroninstore.com/co...ions/the-expanse-rpg

Oups, missed that it is finally available.

My FLGS got it in last week. They are holding a copy for me.

Too bad only one game has been set up so far.
Anyone of you guys got a place in praguepride's Aries Ascendant ? Just curious :)

I was looking it over but haven't applied yet.  Not sure I have the bandwidth and I'm already in 2 of praugepride's games.  Was joking he's going to think I'm stalking him. :-)

It did get me to sit down and run through the rules though.  Character generation makes sense now and I liked the social class and background rolls to help build relevant talents and focuses.

Don't know if he's taking more but might request to join; was thinking about the pilot slot and doesn't look like anyone's claimed it yet.

Which character are you playing?
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:01, Sat 10 Aug 2019.

I like that there are rolling options for things like background and social class, but I don't tend to favor characters quite that randomly built myself.  I do like the setup that puts a different rarity on the social classes for the different backgrounds even if I don't roll for it I like to know just how uncommon any particular combination is when I pick it.

Ah, no, I did RTJ, but he is yet undecided. And the game filled up real fast.
That's why I guess he was actually one from here and you guys just filled up the game :)
I myself do also prefer to play with folks I know from other games. Of course, since User names are normally not seen it can be hard to guess. In one game it took me half a year to fingerpoint a fellow player, lol.
Praguepride has quite a few games running.
Earth Naval Officer was my notion, you know some social clout but also of some use in a space fight. Guess the pregen Akintola would also be nice.

He wasn't a player here (unless he has 2 accounts and hasn't been caught yet) but from what I've seen of his other games he's a strong writer.  Posting can be slow but frankly that works fine for me.  I'm going to try to lurk and watch how it goes; assuming the standard player attrition a spot may open up eventually.

I applied with an original, but he didn't think she'd work with the premise so I went with Casey instead. I might tweak some of her skills, though.

I believe Ade and Nico are still open, though he mentioned having some more RTJs in discussion right now. But the Players Wanted flag is still up, so there's no reason you couldn't submit an RTJ anyway. :)

Nice glad you got in

Enjoy Casey! She's fun! :)

Sniff, too bad, just got a "No" from Puckohue :/

Fairly sure the GM is trying to limit that game to one character per role.  Oddly enough the only empty role is Captain, usually that goes quickly.

Out of curiosity, who is still hanging out here?

I keep this in my list as I keep hoping that someone might set up an Expanse game.
Especially now as the next season has been released I become aware that I really would like to play in this setting. As the seasons Progress the deviations from the books become bigger, of course, but still: it's nice to watch, I like how they converted the books to TV

With season 4 unlocked I imagine that a game focused on exploring new worlds, or interacting with those who do is an option too.

I'll be picking Season 4 up on DVD as I don't plan to get Amazon Prime for one show and as far as I know they don't plan to renew with Canadian channels here.

I am considering asking the GM to turn this over to me though and some time in the new year starting a game.

Right now Real Life is throwing hard curve balls and it being Christmas and all I want to see things settle out before I move forward on it.

But the first step was to see who was still around here.

Am here. Love to see things pick up with custom characters. But love to just try the AGE system for an extended game :)

Yeah I can transfer ownership if you decide you'd like to go that route.

I haven't started watching the new season yet but definitely looking forward to it.  No commercial breaks and longer episode times will be nice.

In reply to Casey Khatri (msg # 137):

In my desperate search for SciFi games I recently joined a Rogue Trader game... and it just does not catch, know what I mean? The WH40K setting is just not my thing. It is too weird. All Traveller games end pretty fast in RPoL so I don't even bother anymore to take a look. W.O.I.N. looks interesting. Naturally Star Wars is huge, but imo difficult to play in. Again, few games run long. And I never looked into Star Trek.
The Expanse is truly a good setting.
When I read the first book I was not hooked. It read too... don't know... limited in scope I guess. I'm more into Peter F. Hamilton or Alastair Reynolds. But the second book did it for me. 3rd was good, too. I was uncertain about the 4th but found I liked it, too.
Not sure where they are heading as the Ring Gates appeared (I am currently reading Nemesis Games, taking an incredibly long time, though, RL is not kind these days) and obviously 4th Season has themes in it which seem to come from later books.
Anyway, like I already said: I would love to play in the setting. I considered GMing in it several times but I don't find the time.

As I often do with series of books I come to late I read books 1-4 back to back, and in a short enough time period that I don't really know where one ends and the next begins, but as far as I can recall the overall story matches up fairly well with seasons 1-4.  Books 5 and 6 I read as they came out so I have a bit more discrete memory of each one.

I don't think season 4 is blurring the line into later books so much as it is building out the world a little bit in a visual way that books simply can't do, and is thus a little bit different.

Finished 4th season... I hate cliff hangers.
Once again, well done indeed

I know we are still all hanging and such so it isn't really a big issue for now.

The earliest I'd be able to get things starting to roll would be the end of February. Would that work for those of you still here?

Also, GM, if you'd like to play instead you are welcome to.

End of Feb works fine for me. It's not like I play in many games anyway... or GM for that matter. Limit of 5 is what works for me for quite a few years now ^^.

The one multi-year game I was in just ended.  I'm just running my Hero System game.

Not in a hurry to add any more; I've been trying to code more at home and enjoying that time.

Will see what my schedule allows come February

I should be good come February.  I have a festival to prep for, but it's not until March.

End of Feb. would work for me as well

We have four active players not including myself or the GM, five with the GM. I've decided I am good to run a game so GM, if you would please.

It will still be closer to the end of February but I'll be working on it in the mean time.

I do have two questions for those who are already here. What size crew of PCs are you comfortable with?

Should we open this up to more players?

Cool, I think I have the availability for this.

Now....let's see if I can figure out how to transfer ownership.

Think I got it.  Updated you to a GM and then set you as owner.  Make sure it all looks good, then you can drop me back to a player.

Looks good. Moved a few things around.

I have the Conn.

Queries above stand so please let me know.

Thanks again DBCowboy aka GM!

I think 4-5 players/characters is well suited for an Expanse game and should suffice.
Not opposed to more, though.

Are we thinking new characters, new story?  Or more of a rebuild with the full rules for the existing characters?

I'm game for either.

I have not fully decided yet though I am willing to let people keep their original characters if they so desire.

I can go either way, but I would like to test the character advancement system a bit too, so if we could start with something other than the lowest level characters that would probably be better.

As long as players are active, they will get the chance even at starting levels.

I am in the process of finishing a SR game on here that has been running over eight years. Though we are still a few months out from the actual ending.

So, since I believe I am the only one who did not actually take part in this game I am obviously also the one without a PreGen (or any character really)

Not quite sure which PreGens have been picked already with intention to keep playing them.
These indicate future active players. Plus previous GM


Plus Doris Rosenberg who is not a PreGen

We also have two people who have never posted or not posted in over a year that we can probably either drop entirely, or just ignore.

In any case we need a character creation paradigm, and probably some recruiting of new players, I tend to think games that start at least a step or two up from the minimum level offer a better opportunity to play characters as interesting heroes without seeming like the silly vigilante in a home made costume.

5 players not enough for starters?
I have no issues with starting chars.
This is the first AGE game I will play, so...
If I were to gerate a char I need more info about building, e.g. point-buy, rolls or choice.

The default in the book is to roll everything, but that also assumes you are playing a game in person and can keep rerolling until you find a fun combination.  For forum games point buy and choice are almost always better because we just don't want to add to the complexity of the already significant setup time.

I find 5 players is enough to play, but 8 is better and when 2 disappear 3 isn't enough to keep going.

Well, I just rolled Abilities for fun... point-buy would be a lot better for those rotten rolls... but all PreGens are even better than point-buy.
I have never (no joke) rolled well in any CharGen ^^ which is why I typically do prefer buying ;)

Would be ideal to drop those players if only so that they don't continue to receive notices for a game they abandoned.

I agree, point buy would work best if only to ensure folks can actually have a character that works for their chosen profession.  Fortunately the book offers that option for abilities:



For everything else, a lot can probably be safely picked to make sure you're filling the niche in the group you'd like.   Background is kind of tricky, it kind of leads into making sure you can get the profession you want but also has a big impact on income at the end.  Pretty sure we all shouldn't be Affluent (or higher depending on background choices)

I only saw yesterday that you can choose any profession of a lower Social Class, so that should do the trick of at least covering that.
Origin can be chosen anyway, so we ought to be good ?

Humble Suggestion:
One can roll for abilities but then choose to point-buy instead if it's too bad (like in my case - I think... no negatives after all, it could be even worse)...

Either way, I think we ought to discuss game concept... or rather GM tell us, lol... before we can really decide on character concepts?
What kind of game do you have in mind?

I think  I am going to stick with the basic style of Doris as a Belter tech focused character, mechanical and hacker.

That lends itself to a good income score, so if others want to not worry about that we can just use the group income function and have plenty of stuff fairly easily.

So Doris basically replaces Izzy Moon, right?

I'm good taking on any of the roles.

Also, if anyone wants to speak like a Belter, I saw these posted on praugpride's game:

https://www.memrise.com/course...r-creole-phrasebook/

https://lingojam.com/BelterTranslator

https://lingojam.com/EnglishtoBelter

I didn't bother much with the pregenerated characters, so I don't know how close they are to real ones.

I think GM just refers to Izzy being a Belter tech-savvy hacker.
The only difference between Doris and Izzy seems to be that Doris is a lot wealthier.

Right.

Now, what I would like to know is whether you intend to have us as a ship crew. Or whether Politics will play any major role.

Addison Grant as a tech is a versatile char that can find a niche in every type of game. Maybe some overlap with Doris, though?
Casey Khatri as a melee combattant with engineering skills is also versatile. Her engineering is obviously only supportive though, definitely takes a dedicated tech-savvy in addition to her for the group.
Chao Sokolov definitely is unique and as an academic/medic plus security may have a bit of overlap with Doris/Izzy but still perfect niche.
Nico Velez as a pilot takes a ship to be of much use. Then again she is an awesome shot so fills a role I guess.
Ade Akintola in contrast is a nice character but only really interesting to play if politics becomes a role. Otherwise a classic 'face'.
I rolled politician, if politics will not come into play I might drop to a lower class profession

First off, how many of you want to stick with the characters you have either generated personally or the pregens and do you want to tweak them based on the full rules being out now or are you good as they are.

If some of you want to start fresh that will change some of my initial approach.

Since I don't have one I'll take Nico Velez

Had no PreGen either.
I would be interested in playing Ade Akintola or Casey Khatri, both tweaked, though.
The former depends on whether politics will come into play sometimes. As already elaborated, I cannot really see a 'niche' for this character if not.

Did we lose the player base ?

It would seem so. I'm a bit further behind than I was hoping to be but I did say end of February at the earliest. Nonetheless, I should have specifics up late next week as I want to finish reading Abzu's Bounty before making a final decision.

If that doesn't bring them out when I post I will look at recruiting.

Also, I will help anyone wanting to create a character rather than use a pregen whether they have the book or not.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:55, Sat 29 Feb 2020.

Sorry for the delay, March went sideways on me and not just due to the shutdowns and social distancing requirements from COVID. Two of my best friends ended up in the hospital for non-pandemic but still life-threatening reasons right before life went into lock down for the virus.

I am going to use the rest of the month to get things settled out and finish the material for this game and get that info out to you all.

Hopefully your friends can recover before the plague houses, er hospitals, become a real problem.

It's all good.  Take your time

Well, the COVID-19 situation sure has the world in a strangle-hold.
Now that it has spread over to the US I expect infection - and yes, deaths, too - will increase a lot. Well, it already does, but you get the idea.
Italy, Spain are truly in trouble and it is interesting to see that China steps in and provides support with doctors. That's the kind of thing I suppose most in the Western World expected the US to do.
Anyway, I hope you are okay.
Keep healthy !

The US is in a bit of an isolationist phase at the moment, try again later for useful world interaction.

We're still healthy here at least regarding COVID. Other aspects of life are remaining chaotic. I plan to get stuff out here tomorrow.

One thing I have decided on is that characters will start at 2nd level. I am likely going to start things with Abzu's Bounty so please if you have it don't read it or at least read it again.

Once we are done that if there is still interest in continuing I have an outline of where to go though I will ask feedback from the current group at that time. However, I am leaning toward taking it into the realm of political intrigue pending feedback.

Stay safe all. Stay healthy.

I am not going to get the material out tonight. I had a brush fire to put out that took most of last night and today. I also pending a doctor's assessment may be out/offline for the next few days as I may require hospitalization for a bit. Non-Covid related.

That said, for the three you active I've kind of laid out my thoughts on some basics. I like a fair amount of RP but beyond that would you prefer to stay more independent and focus on action or are you interested in getting more into politics at the stellar level and playing among the power players?

Variety is the spice of life.  Both sound good to me

I suppose that with only three players delving into deeper politics might be a bit more problematic, so maybe going for Action is indeed a good idea, at least for now.
That being said, I'm fine either way.

Admittedly I did not finish the character yet.
We have Doris, Nico and myself, yes ?

Yes, all good here.  I pushed the character a bit more Hacker than Ship combat build based on how it played in the prototype but if someone else is dead set on being the hacker I can probably either go back or find another role.

I would simply pick up Casey Khatri instead, maybe check a bit to modify to ranged combat instead

Hmm, actually all good.

Say, what good is Accuracy (Gunnery) ? I don't see any effect during Space Combat as there are actually no attack rolls... ?
This message was last edited by the player at 08:10, Tue 07 Apr 2020.

There's a post in the Wanted - GM thread looking for an Expanse game.

Might be able to get a few more players

link to a message in another game

I have Nico updated to level 2 on my character sheet and Cast - Description

Hi all,

I managed to pinch both sciatic nerves in a fall I had last weekend so at the moment I have one functional arm and am on a fairly heavy drug regiment so typing is interesting.

I am resting a fair amount mostly due to the drugs knocking me out but since I am kind of functional at the moment I wanted to provide an update.

Other than rest and recovery time it doesn't appear that anything beyond the pinched nerves and blowing out my rotator cuff was seriously injured.

For the moment though the game launch is on hold. Once things have improved though we'll get this going.

Until then take care, stay safe, and healthy.

Turns out I was wrong and it was far more serious. I ended up in the hospital the Tuesday after I posted the last message and just got home today.

I am recovering and will actually be better and healthier than before the incident that caused the fall.

It'll be yet while I get my bearings and get life moving and sorted again after that time with it all on hold.

Not quite sure when RPoL will resume on a regular basis for me but it is the first priority after life and rehab get fully back into a routine.

Thank you all for your patience.

This is a period of patience, and life sorting for many games on RPOL, I suspect everyone has at least one other game with some kind of post rate complication going on right now.

Glad you're on the mend.  You're health comes first.

Waiting is no issue at all.
You getting back to health is top priority.
Health is a thing we always somehow take for granted... until it fails.

I am still alive and breathing. My physical rehab is both going faster than expected and slower than I want but I was informed this could take upwards of two years for a full recovery however that translates out to.

To say that this really turned my world on its head would be an understatement and I have had a lot to process and unpack. But I suppose being effectively paralyzed for a month will do that.

For quite some time after I got home I had no interest in RPGs even on a theoretical level though I knew eventually interest at some level would return. It has begun to but even there it will be a slow process as my energy is still in short supply and easily used up be it physical (priority), mental, or emotional.

Getting me sorted out and recovered will remain the priority. However, I've started quite literally as of yesterday afternoon considering my PbPs. I am a far ways from wanting to GM anything remotely live (online) in person but I am looking to resume on Rpol as my energy continues to return and build. It will likely be a slow start up as I get my head back in the game and based on available energy after my daily therapy routines.

The medical event also impacted my long and short term memory so I do need to go back over the rules and my notes to get that in order. Presuming there are no set backs though my aim is to hopefully be back up and running for this game around the end of the month give or take.

That's my update as to my status. Thank you all for your patience and sticking with me.

Stay safe and healthy all.

Health is what counts. We always forget when it is in good order. We obly get reminded when it fails.
Cannot even truly understand what you must be going through. And I had my share of health failure. Just received two stents in February. I was lucky, a heart attack was waiting on the door step. One toemplaced inside, kind of.
So, well, concentrate on your recovery and if it is not a chore but somehow helps then sure, I'll be there to enjoy this, too.

Indeed.  While the RPOL community is generally fairly inclined to favoring Real Life situations at any time it is far more so now.  Do what makes your world works first, then share with us what you want into this other world.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.  It will definitely be a process, take whatever time you need.

I think I am finally back to where I can look at RPOL again. I'm going to refresh myself on the rules and my notes as unfortunately the event messed with my memory some.

I know at least one of you has declined to go on and I will get you removed from the game shortly but who all do we have still with us and ready to get going with my absence?

Still here, currently on vacation with hardly i-net, ready to roll as of 25th Aug.

Glad you're doing better!

Still interested

I should be ready to go, I think I even updated the sheet to the full rules, although I would have to check in some detail to be sure.

Like I mentioned before I'd like to take Casey. However, I'd like to be male, so it would be Warden Khatri instead, please.
Did not upgrade the char to 2nd Level so far though
Updated
This message was last edited by the player at 13:32, Mon 31 Aug 2020.

Sure Denalor. I'll post an idea in a bit to you in a PM but I need to look up a few things first.

Did some CharSheet stuff with hyperlinks to the Dice Roller.
Maybe you want to take these as your charsheets.
I post mostly from my mobile phone, so those hyperlinks are an awesome help

That is awesome.  I've never played with adding links to the die roller in a character sheet.

Only suggestion I'd make is to not have the 2nd row for each stat span both columns since you already have the bonus for that stats set to span 2 rows.


This message was last edited by the player at 12:57, Thu 03 Sept 2020.

I have it as an Excel Sheet with drop downs for picking focues and talents.

I just checked, yup, there's the tell-tale |2 in it which is indeed not required.

I suppose there's been a set-back and just hope it's not health issues

I'm kind of still here. There has been set backs. Initially and still there is my recovery it took several steps backward. Last week though two family members died in a tragic incident and two others I know both passed away after a long fight with brain cancer. The latter were expected, the former not so much. Together in a span of days...

This is still on the go but likely not until after this weekend will I be able to get serious about and focus on it.

Sorry all.

So very sorry for your loss, absolutely tragic
This message was last edited by the player at 13:36, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

Sorry for those tragic moments and best wishes for continued recovery

Merry X-mas

Merry Christmas all.

I am still plugging away at this recovery thing. Some days are better than others but I am seeing progress. Slow but progress nonetheless.

I hope you all safe, healthy, and can find happiness and joy in these times with family, friends, and loved ones.

Merry Christmas everyone and hope for a little peace on Earth and goodwill to all after a crazy, crazy year

I've struggled with this decision for some time now. My recovery is going far slower than anyone expected due to some complications.

I'm looking toward at least another year before I remotely see a return to what I once had including energy.

I have about two to three hours of energy a day if I am lucky and when it is gone I am done for the day. It has made it really difficult to be creative or desire to be for anything new that I am not already deeply familiar with.

Even there I pulled out of several games I was in or wrapped up and gave an ending to the one big one I was GMing last year.

I've felt bad about leaving this game in limbo as long as I have hoping I'd get my energy back and be able to run The Expanse but as much as I love the game and the setting I finally admitted to myself that I cannot give it or you all the effort and justice it deserves.

For that I apologize, not so much for the medical issues, as that wasn't under my control but for taking so long to make this decision.

I am going to step away as Narrator as I just don't have it right now. If there is someone who would like to step up and take this over I will turn it over to them as it was turned over to me.

I'll give it three weeks then if no one steps up at that time I will delete the game so save your characters details as well.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding.

Wish you a continued recovery, sorry it hasn't gone any faster.  No worries about the game.  Just take care of yourself

Nico has it 100% right.
Don't think about it, games die due to lot less grave matters.
Take care of yourself and all the best