New thread...

Cool!

How's the internet scenario looking?

I have a few irons in the fire...nothing too hopeful yet though but I still have a little time.

FWIW: on a side note, when I created A'kos as a character, I added some touches that I thought might play more in the game.  After 3+ years, I finally got to drop in a touch of his 'painting' NWP skill...which was kind of fun.

These characters have evolved quite a bit over the past few years.  It's interesting watching y'all play your characters, and, frankly, a lot more fun than it was playing with the likes of the original Sir Jean, Piotr and I can't remember the other character's name, but I didn't enjoy his character either (although it was fun taking Jean's gambeson from him in the axe throwing contest).

Anyway, hopefully the internet situation gets straightened out.  Looking forward to the next stage of the adventure.  One great thing about RPol is delays can be temporary and we can always come back to where we left off.

If someone had the time, this would make for a great retro/alternate history novel...

Cheers.

Nicely said, A'kos!

Internet back up and running ant non-amazing speed but at least it is stable and working.

Hey, great!  Welcome back to the land of technological marvels that works wonders, most, er, some of the time...for a fee.

Hi all,

Glad the game is up and running again.  I hadn't checked it in a long time, and I see the party is headed through the Mirror now.  Gotta get Balthazar's spell list just right, then decide what spells to cast ahead of time.  Leaving for work now, but I'll get this done either on a break or tonight.  But one thing is for sure, and I'll post that.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:05, Wed 07 May 2014.

Cool!  Glad to see you're present and accounted for...

afk - wed-sun.  sun and surf - down time much needed.  I-net will be limited.  Will post today/tomorrow.  cheers.

Everyone...sorry to have been scarce lately but had some big distractions that will most likely continue for the next two weeks at least (if they end earlier, it's probably a bad thing). I will post when I can, but if I am slowing things down hopefully the GM will fill in for me for as needed. Sorry.

Well no worries doesn't look like anything's happening right now anyway.

Draco Ptolemy - that was the mage's name who captured Jaleh's soul - in our battle following, Leo was killed and the figuring shattered by a spell the mage cast.  I've kept the pieces, though I'm not sure if Balthazar, or even Pelles can assist in reconstructing it.

Heh, mending is a first level spell :)

Even so, mending doesn't return the magic to the item - I'll leave that for Nestor to decide, but he was pretty clear that Leo went 'poof' at the hands of Draco.

Sorry, been waylaid by lightning damage here. Pole got hit and fried my modem and once I go t that replaced I found that it cooked my ethernet card as well. But of course now that I am back up I am just a day away from going to teach outside at Combat con in Vegas: www.combatcon.com

Will try to get a post or two off before I leave though.

I'm going on holiday to Canada tomorrow, so I'll be gone from the 2-23 July.
Have fun!

Bon voyage, Thorn!

Two frost swords? That's fortunate. :)

Just out of curiosity, has anyone checked out 5e yet? Thoughts?

I kinda like it, retains some of the good things from later editions but has a very stripped down 1e feel to me.

In reply to Nestor (msg # 20):

I haven't checked out 2e yet!

I'd kind of wandered away from D&D as soon as I'd really started trying other games, and the only time I'd play was when someone else was running a game of it.  I'm definitely dating myself here, but when 2e came out, and a friend asked me if I'd seen it and was interested, I'd responded at the time that my limited RPG $ pool would go to other games rather than a 2nd ed. of AD&D.

Every once in a while, I get nostalgic about old AD&D, and still have my books stashed away in a box.  I guess lots of people still love it, and it's still about the most popular RPG out there.  I've just found so many other games that I like more.

I'm really only in this game because dear old Nestor is a great GM and the semi historical backdrop is fascinating.  That, and he's gracious enough to nudge me in the right direction mechanics wise that all I really have to focus on is the motivations of my simple viking warrior.

Wow, that was long winded!

Er, no, I haven't seen 5e.  :)

I can't tell you, Ulfr, how much I appreciate your response!

I too have not yet seen 5E and have spent too long attempting to avoid D&D to know for certain if I'll ever actually look at 5E. Of course, having said this most of my RPOL games are D&D & a few years ago I had to play a 4E table top, because that's what I could find...

Desperate times, desperate measures...

I don't want to learn another edition of D&D at this point.  Call it edition fatigue.  It set in back when 4E came out, and at the same time I was contemplating Hackmaster and Castles & Crusades.  Then came Pathfinder, and Lamentations of the Flaming Princess, and Adventurer Conqueror King, and you know all the others and each has someone saying how cool it is, but I'm just done.  I'll take my AD&D, 3E/3.5E, or Classic D&D and call it a day.

Well... I sort of hate them all, but I know exactly what you mean, Balthazar.

I bought the 4E PHB just to see what it was like, but I had no interest in actually playing it. Seeing character races like Tieflings and Dragonborn - I mean, WTF?? I'll pass. Haven't seen 5E and won't try it anyway - I think Joe Bloch's Adventures Dark and Deep will appeal far more.

I'm a 1E guy, and I'll gladly play OD&D, BECMI and 2E (and LL and BFRP), but other editions aren't for me. There are some very nice materials for other editions and genres, though.

I'm a fan of AD&D, but play 3.0/3.5 in my face to face group.  I like the d20 system because its easier to use in a lot of ways and has more clarity overall than 1st edition.

1st edition plays to my nostalgic side...its what I grew up with, and every new module and every new book that came out was a repository of new ideas because nothing like it had ever come before.

I've seen the 5th edition boxed set - character sheets have a certain, simple old school flair.  Given the cost of gaming material, however, I'm pretty sure I won't be delving into the new edition anytime soon, especially since most of the old materials are still readily available.

I do like pathfinders adventure modules, which I think are constructed to build a story arc that progresses w/ character levels.  Seems very in line with the Gygaxian model of building modules.

In reply to Loukas Ouranus (msg # 22):

Well, thanks, Loukas.  Here I thought I was coming off with a crotchety old-timer post!  :)

I used to love D&D, and would play nothing else.  Once I started playing other games, they appealed to me more.  I went through my little "D&D is for hosers" phase, which I'm not proud of.  It's not that I dislike it at all anymore, just that whatever kind of game I'm playing, I've been exposed to a system I like more at some point now.  I'm totally okay if some people love it in all its incarnations, and I don't feel that preference makes me a 'better' roleplayer, or anything like that.   And to be fair, I don't know how I'd feel about it nowadays, I haven't looked closely at any D&D material in decades.

Loukas, if you want to play in other, non-D&D games, there's lots of them here on rpol.  I run two (though I've let one run kind of stagnant over the summer, and I need to get it rolling again).  I find non-D&D games here on rpol all the time, though it's pretty hit or miss finding games that actually survive long enough to make them interesting (in my mind... I tend to like long running games).

For me it has always been the game itself rather than the system but there are systems that I just don't enjoy. Basically the ones I have enjoyed are AD&D 1,2 and now 5th ed. Talislanta and the Atlantis systems. I even play in an Ars Magica game but truly do not like the system but enjoy the game.

As a fellow crotchety old-timer, I'm here for ya, Ulfr!

When it comes down to it while I dislike all versions of D&D (too many damned rules for everything in every damned version), I play these for the stories and the r-o-l-e playing. My problem with D&D is directly related to this: it tends to promote r-o-l-l playing rather what I want.

What this means is that the game and the story comes down to the GM and the players. I'm in about six games on RPOL and two of them are D&D like this one, one is Pathfinder, and the other three are other systems. The three D&Desque games I'm in are fantastic. Indeed, I've played in another four or five table top campaigns that had good GMs that were more interested in the story than the rules, so as much as I didn't much like the systems the games were great while they lasted.

I actually like the luck component associated with the dice, so that never bothered me much.  A good DM drives the game, whether they be rules light or heavy, and even in the most BTB games, there has to be a story arc that drives play.  I'm not big on sandbox games that consist of one dungeon delve after another.  I do like expanding upon my character back stories, and appreciate DM's who take the time to work my efforts into their adventures.

That's actually what drives my face 2 face game.  The DM was part of my character creation process, and outlined potential geographic areas my characters came from, what type of family - from there I ran with it.  During the past five years, that knowledge has come in handy with NPC's in various territories...as well in training.

Frankly, I don't really care which system it is (I've also dabbled in Labyrinth Lord, OD&D, OSRIC and such) as long as the game is worth playing.  There were a couple of good 3.5 games I was in for a brief time - unfortunately neither lasted beyond about a year, but there's a really good cross-reference of games active for those who are willing to look around.

As a DM I've tried to build the milieu into something bigger than, "There's a dragon.  It has a horde.  Go find it and kill it."  Sometimes I was better at this than others...but being a DM is time consuming, even on RPol and takes a lot of energy and initiative.

That's why I appreciate the longevity and creativity in this game.

Good conversation.  Cheers!

Computer issues will be awol for a few days.

I'm going to stop checking if the game is progressing anymore.  If and when the game continues, please someone PM me on dragonsfoot (ken-do-nim).
This message was last edited by the player at 16:11, Tue 07 Oct 2014.

A few days turned into a few weeks. Limited connection here at home. I may be able to get enough to get the ball rolling again.

I'll PM Balthazar on DF. His game is starting up again on there and I'm a player, and need to reply to a PM of his anyway!

Awesome!  Game on!!!

I am off to India for all of next week, coming back late on Sunday the 23rd.  I don't see why I can't continue the game from my hotel room, however.

Interesting - have a safe trip and enjoy yourself.

Been a long time since I've traveled overseas, but always an adventure.  Hope you have some time to do some exploring.

India! Sounds like an adventure, have a good time!

Bon voyage!

Alrighty, going back to the States now, so the next time I'll get to post will probably be Tue-Wed.

Welcome home when you're back!

5000xp bonus points for all who can PM me and tell me you got the Monty Python reference in the Mad Arab's speech. Yes 5000! BTW folks, this bastard is going to be your toughest challenge by far.

PM

I didn't get it, but I read through it fairly quickly.

And to be honest, I've gone through this entire quest with the words, "I told him we already got one!" in my head. :D

Yeah, I read it through quickly and then went through and re-read it.... Still don't got it, though.

Looking forward to the reveal!

So far everyone who has tried has got it except for Loukas. We'll wait for Balthazar for the public reveal.

No bonus xp for me.  I don't see a Monty Python reference in there.

Toughest challenge, here we come!  If it's tough enough, Balthazar will have to open the Iron Flask.  Hope it doesn't come to that.  We can also escape using the Cubic Gate.  In other words, we've got options.

Grail shaped beacon over the Castle Anthrax in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Please add the 5000xp to your character sheet and thanks for playing! Now onto that tough bastard and his tough bastard followers.

Merry Xmas all! I will be doing my best to kill all of your characters over this holiday season!

Don't make me open that iron flask!

LOL You guys always manage to throw a wrench in my horrible plans!

Ho, etc!

Merry and Happy, y'all!

Sorry guys I suck...no excuses.

Will get a post up soon and we will go from there. Horribly uninspired I am afraid.

If I were DMing this, I would be enjoying myself immensely.

Yurp!;)

And as much as I dislike the situation I like it much better than having to make the decision to jump through and help our friends!

I am not a sadist in the least bit:) This is fun though.

It'll be fun when Balthazar and I divvy the loot up between us and tell Loukas and A'kos that the chamber was empty! ;)

I knew that one was coming.  LOL.  Two things: if A'kos distrusted magic before, he'll really dislike it now.  And: he won't be in such a rush to look through mystical portals.


You know, I was thinking about it: can't recall ever facing this particular beastie before.  Interesting choice.

Interesting indeed!

For one, I'm not a big fan of 'interesting'... Mundane, now that's something I can really get into!

That said, yeah, I must say I wasn't expecting to see this and purposefully didn't ask if anyone knew that The Mad Arab was also known as an author, albeit not until the 20th century...

I've heard of him, for certain, so this wasn't entirely unexpected.

Fun, though!

I haven't faced an opponent like this before, or at least not since my teenage/munchkin years (no, I was not a teenage munchkin, hence the 'slash'!). It was very interesting, and very well done I might add.

We're really an amazingly powerful party, even if we don't have a full-time cleric anymore.

Recommendation: if the Grail does restore Jaleh, let's recruit a new player for her.  Having an assassin in the party is fun, and if we do go after the Emperor, indispensable.

I was toying with the idea of shutting the game down once we finished this arc but the last bit got the juices flowing again.

Glad to hear this, Nestor! I can't say that I've felt uninspired at any point (it's easier to be a player), but I've really loved what's gone on in the last week or so. Nicely done, Mr. GM!

That's understandable.  Probably overthrowing the Emperor would make a great ending, so start prepping ;)

I can prep all I want, you guys will throw a wrench in my plans;)

Ha!  Ain't that the truth!!!

Players play while DM's plan.  Its unfair, really - 90% of adventure work is wasted time...

Long running games are great, even if they go through slow downs or even the occasional hiatus.  And yes, GM plans rarely survive contact with players.  :)   One reason I find prepackaged scenarios bothersome -- they usually assume certain actions on part of the PCs, which can often end up like herding cats.

One of the reasons I always keep and NPC along for the ride is to hopefully be able to subtly guide the group where I need them to be but even then unless I get outright obvious, I get thwarted all the time.

Holy Sh!t!  So we not only come across the Grail, but the Golden Fleece?!!!!

LOL! He was a collector:)

I like to have at least one NPC along in my games. In fact, my current group would have died at least twice if not for their NPC saving the day - and these are veteran gamers! In truth they've gone a little hack-n-slashy, and if they don't figure things out third time around then they're likely going down (in a burning ring of fire). I know it's undue influence from the DM, but I don't want to nuke my own campaign when it's only been going a relatively short time!

Say, do any of you live in the New England area?  If so, we should definitely meet up in August at the NecronomiCon in Providence:

http://necronomicon-providence.com/enter/

It's going to be an awesome convention, celebrating Lovecraft's 125th birthday, and the way this game has shaped up, I think you all need to come :)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:16, Wed 18 Mar 2015.

I live in New England, though not too near Providence.  I did live in Dunwich for a while, though.  :)

I'm a lot closer to Old England than New England!

You mean Dunwich England?

No, Dunwich, Massachusetts!

While a town of that name doesn't exist any more than Innsmouth does, I did live in the general area that was Lovecraft's inspiration for the fictional town.

Is there really no Search functionality on rpol.net?  I wanted to find some prior game information and it will be incredibly hard without that.

Going to have my tonsils out Friday (hee hee I guess I'm a big boy now)...so maybe a little scarce....Please excuse any incoherence and chalk it up to pain meds..

Will be afk for the next week or so...maybe not but most likely. Will try to get a post out today though.

I'm in the middle of BookExpo America and will be until Friday. Hopefully I'll be able to reengage with the rest of my life by Saturday.

Just checking in to see if there's any pulse left in this game.

Cheers.

I'm here!  I've been terribly unresponsive on rpol of late, in one of those phases where posting feels more like a chore than fun.  Probably partly the summer.  Everyone here tends to disappear from the online world during our summers.

Well I'm on holiday for nearly 3 weeks now, so don't expect much from me!

I too am here!

I'm assuming the game has come to an end.  It was really nice gaming with everybody!  My 1E pbp over on Dragonsfoot could use a new player for Myrkast the paladin.  He's a pretty important character, so I'd rather not drop him.  The party has just gotten a boatload of treasure, and I expect the party will be reaching mid-levels soon.  PM me as kenmeister on Dragonsfoot if you are interested.

Nestor's still about.  He's playing in a game I play in.

I don't want to put words in his mouth - he hasn't really indicated whether he's moving forward with this game, but he's taken extended breaks before and come back.  I think it makes sense to stick around a bit until we get confirmation either way.

A'Kos speaks the truth! I am still here as well and while i like the idea of just closing this game down and not worrying about it any longer...the party has at least once last dance to go with the Byzantine emperor as long as we are all up for it.

This arc of the game shall be dubbed "Unfinished Business, This Time It's Personal."

I figured I'd post just to keep things alive for the time being.  Hope everyone's enjoying their summer.

Yes, let's get summer outta the way before restarting. I will likely get rolling around the start of September.

Awesome!

Fantastic news! Until soon!!!!

If any are looking for another game to join in, I've got a long-running Talislanta game that's coming out of a hiatus.  Nestor plays in the game as well, after we'd met in another Talislanta game.

The tone is somewhat similar to this game, similar kinds of players, who are around for the long term, even though real life may cause us to drop away or not be able to post for a time.  Anyway, if anyone's interested, the game can be found here:

link to another game

Any many thanks to Nestor for permission to advertise in his marketplace!  :)

I'm barely hanging on right now, and the games I'm in are in similar stasis as this one.  Thanks anyway.

Afraid I'm in a few too many at this moment. Thanks, though!

As was said, I play int he Talislanta game...fun game and great system to play in Really like how simple it is and the best part...free!

We will be getting underway here shortly. just have a few things to clear off my plate before starting.

A'kos continues weaponsplay - he spends a great deal of time with Jaleh, working hard at making a baby.

And the penguin said, "Dooby, dooby doo."

I'm afraid I've some sad news to relay: Our fearless storyteller, Nestor, the fellow has died. His wife posted on his Facebook page that it was sudden they are still awaiting results, but the doctors think it was maybe an aneurysm or heart attack.

That's terrible, sad news.  I am so sorry to hear that.  If you have a chance to reach out to the family, please tell them that he had a host of 'friends' online who he gamed with, who considered him a creative, energetic force behind the games he participated in.

I'm really bummed...this game was a staple for me on Rpol for many years.

RIP Nestor.

In reply to A'kos, the Falcon (msg # 101):

I agree with your sentiments, A'kos, and added a note in my post on FB reflecting them.

I really appreciated how flexible and, dare I say it, ingenious Nestor was with the rules here. Loukas is one of my favorite characters in a long gaming career and I really loved what Nestor did with the story here in addition to inspiration and creativity he engendered in my playing.

RIP Nestor.

These games are tough to run, especially in a historical setting, but this one was handled beautifully. Sad news.

I think I'm going to read the game threads in effort to recapture the flavor of this game, and as a token of thanks for the effort he put into it.

I wonder if there's a way for one of us to carry the game forward, if it is something the mods would let us do.  I've DM'd on Rpol, so would willingly NPC A'kos (make him and Jaleh very much supporting actors) if any of you are willing to continue playing?

Or if anyone wants to DM, I'm happy to continue playing.

I've already gone through and copied stuff in case things disappear, because I don't want to lose this character, etc.

I'd love to continue playing. I'm afraid I'm a lousy GM, but if you'd be willing in carrying it on I think that would be great not only because of your appreciation and respect for what Nestor did, but what I've seen of your playing.

I will spend some thought on it this weekend.  I'd like to read through the game threads so that I have a complete grasp of the direction he was going.  This will be a tall task - despite Nestor's flexibility with game rules, his development of the campaign was reasonably thorough and full of rich detail.

I'll have a better idea of things when I have time to give it my full attention.

I'd also like to get feedback from other players to see if we need to recruit new players.

As long as we post periodically, the game will stay active.  Until I've finished reading, I'm going to wait to reach out to the mods.

FYI.

Loukas - I'm reading the first part of the adventure, c. 2009 - great stuff.  You play your character with flair and a droll wit.

Ha! Thanks.

I'm just going back and re-reading stuff as well.

I always appreciated A'kos's not-willing-to-give-a-damn style as well. Particularly when dealing with the various Jean's!

The 'Jeans'

ugh.

And then there was Pyotr - I've gotten just to his introduction.  LOL!

Oooh! I'd forgotten about Pyotr. And Conn of Skye and Gultanga... I'm enjoying going back and reminding me of the beginning of the story.

The thing that's really appalling in all of this re-reading is seeing how often misspellings and bad grammar appear in my posts. Even those that were edited by myself at some point and still failed to catch the "is" for "if" and whatnot.

This is why we need editors! ;)

I wish I'd been around for the early days of this game.  I joined up after Nestor invited me when we'd been playing in other games together.

I've encountered a range of people I've met only online, and only a few that I'd consider friends, and he was one of those few.  He had the rare quality of being a man very skilled and capable in many ways, yet humble and decent as well.

The brief times I got to tag along and play in this game, it was very fun.  I haven't played D&D in years, so it definitely wasn't the system that kept me interested (truth be told, I never finished up all of Ulfr's game stats and such), but rather the fun and thought provoking parts in a well done semi-historical setting.


Beyond that, if you were interested in continuing the game, A'kos, I'd be interested.  I don't know if it would be possible since Nestor had it marked as personal intellectual property.

Early today I was reading your introduction to the game, Ulfr!

I was wondering about whether or not the mods would be willing/able to transfer things over to A'kos as well.

If several of us made the request it might have some influence, but they may not be able to do so legally... This said, I don't really know what I'm talking about.

It seems to me that, if nothing else, as long as these pages aren't taken down a new game with a similar name might be launched and we could use these as references for the new game.

I should have time to get through the entirety of the adventure by the end of this weekend.  Until that's done, I'm not going to commit, though I'm with you guys - it is a good game and would be a shame to not play it anymore...particularly since it is a good way to pay homage to Nestor.

Sad news...it was a pleasure to play in this game and in the few others I was in with Nestor.

Yeah, I wasn't too sure what I was doing when I joined up, so I asked to play a current crewman who had been hanging in the background.  The whole game was so massive, with so much history.

The mods are certainly able to transfer a game.  The private property tag is really more administrative than legal, or so they've said.  Given the circumstances, I could possibly imagine them allowing for it.  And, as you say, a new game could always be started, and this game wouldn't go away as long as it gets some tiny modicum of posting going on -- I think even a post a month would keep it "active".

Odd thing is, for a long time I'd considered starting a historical fantasy game, but then I think I'd like to mix it up a lot -- like Robin Hood, Mongols, Vikings, all mixed together (well, depending upon where you go).  Taking some of my favorite time periods for each location.  So you'd end up with 9th century Iceland, 12th century England, the Mongols of the following century.  Heck, maybe even throw in the Serpent Men of Valusia in the mix.

Anyway... rambled on more than intended there.  But let us know your thoughts, A'kos.

I've been way too busy recently to play any games, but maybe in the future.

I was Conn of Skye those years back but basically dropped out of sight for six months on here during another hectic work time, and then didn't come back to the game properly until a few years later, as Thorn. I was sad to note that Conn died of poison during an attack on a city! I based him on my own possible ancestry, and wished I'd taken time (somewhere) to RP him a bit more.

Hey all - I just got back last night from vacation - spent a good deal of time reading the threads.  At some point by the end of this week, I will fire off an email to the mods to get their take on things.

Just fyi.

Welcome home, A'kos! Great to know that you're interested in picking things up!!!

Very nice, A'kos!  If it helps, you can let the mods know we all support you.

I've never read through this entire game, but I have read bits and pieces here and there.  It's quite a history, to say the least!

Yes, let us know if you need any support with the Mods.

I too went back and read the game in its entirety. Wow. It took me several days to do so and I read many of the OOCs as well, as they added interesting insights not only to particular players, but how they and/or whom they were or were not playing. (I never guessed at the time who was who in the cases, like A'kos's where they were playing more than once PC.)

LOL!  Yeah, tough to juggle because my writing tends to be similar for each character - made tougher by the fact that the original Jaleh was played by a female player.  In this game, she was the only other character I picked up - which was more than enough.

I can appreciate the challenge of taking on somebody else's character let alone one of a different sex, etc. I thought you managed that quite adroitly. I've always avoid playing female characters, because I just find it to be too much of a challenge. They always wind up sounding like male characters. Go figure!

FYI -

I've sent jase (one of the site admins) an rMail to see about taking over as GM of the game.

Once I get word, I'll have a bit of admin work to do, including figuring out who's going to continue to play, how to seamlessly move the storyline forward, etc.

I'll keep y'all in the loop as I hear more.  Cheers.

Great news! Let us know if you think it'll be helpful to add our 'voices' to your request.

Otherwise, keep us posted!

So a week has passed, and no word.  Instead of rMail, I've just sent him an email directly.  Will see if this works???

I'll let y'all know.

Okay. Let us know if you think our pitching in might help.

Yup, definitely let us know if you hear anything, or if there's any way we can help out.

Was on FB the other day, and looked at Nestor's page.  Reminded me once again of what a remarkable and decent human being he was.

Well - Jase has yet to respond.  Can't think it would hurt if everyone reaches out.

I've sent an rMail to "Administrators", which I'm guessing is correct.

yes - I tried that first, then an email directly to Jase, who is one of the admins.

thanks!

Anyone heard anything - think I've about given up after multiple tries.

Zip. It seems a bit odd to me that they're not responding at all. Is it possible that there's somebody to whom we should be sending these requests?

Jase is the mod I sent it to.  I just tried again and will give it a few days.  If I hear anything I'll let you know & will take it from there.

And here's our answer, unfortunately:

Hi alchemy,

 Sorry you had to wait on this, but I'm not sure that we ever saw your first rMail.  The only other "moderator" rMail we have on record for you dates back to 2010, and concerns portraits.  It's possible that if you sent it to just one of us (or to jase), then they haven't logged in and seen it.

 Looking at the game, I'm afraid there is nothing we can do to help.  cinaet was the only person who was a GM, and we do not, under any circumstances, promote players to GM status, so there is nobody to take over the game.

 Even if there was a suitable co-GM, cinaet had flagged the game as "sole ownership", which means that we can not transfer the game to anybody else.

 Your only option at this point is to set up another game, with a new GM, and transfer as much information as you can to that.  Then continue playing there.

 Sorry I couldn't give you better news.

Balancing the pros and cons of starting a new game and trying to transfer a bunch of the info over.  I think what I need to do is summarize each game thread, and use that as the back drop of a new game.  That's a LOT of work, btw.

If any of you have suggestions, that would be cool - I'll give it a week for answers, then kind of take it from there.  Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Mike
This message was last edited by the player at 17:49, Thu 28 July 2016.

Well, as long as they are not going to remove the game entirely I think the most important things are the Characters and whatever background info he made available here.

The actual threads would still be here for reference, no? In my experience the only time I've gone back to older threads in any game (and I'm in one particular game that I've been in for more than 7 years) is when I need to reference something that's been done or said in game and I want to be certain I'm not misrepresenting things. And even then because these things aren't searchable sometimes it's really not very useful if you don't have time to read through a great quantity of posts.

Given that there really only seems to be two or three of us from the original game interested in this you have a good deal of flexibility with stuff. Seems to me that you could restart the game a few years in the future making everything that has gone on 'history'. Or, we start and self-consciously say that the characters and story are based upon the original and move on from there. New players won't really need to have anything, because they're new to the game. Also, my assumption is that there are going to be rules related stuff that you're going to want to handle differently even if you keep the sort of free form rules set that he was using.

Even if you had access to the original game and access to Nestor's Private Messages with everyone in the game, but you wouldn't have much else, would you?

All of this said, this is your decision, because you'll be doing the hard work, and I really appreciate the efforts you've made here.

Seems to me that you could restart the game a few years in the future making everything that has gone on 'history'.

This is kind of what I was thinking.  It would be tough to pick up where we left off.

The trouble I'm having, tbh, is the amount of research and planning that will go into this, even given the vast material we already have.  I'm going to have to research a great deal of history to keep the game true to its roots.  While I enjoy history from a layman's point of view, I'm hardly a scholar...

That said, this has been a great game, and I think there's more to their tales.

Sigh - hate that Ken died.  Sad.  I'm going to have to think on this, but will let y'all know soon.

Mike

In reply to A'kos, the Falcon (msg # 138):

I understand your point about the history. While I'm no longer the scholar I once was, I do have an armchair interest and fairly solid background in medieval history. Unfortunately, my focus was more on Western Europe than Eastern/Russia, so through this game I've done lots of research to better understand things in this world. I admire what Ken did here not only as a storyteller, but the historical knowledge he had of Russia. I'm happy to advise on stuff or help do research if you decide you want to move forward.

-Paul

Hi guys.

After a great deal of thought and a realistic look at my schedule and my motivation, I'm going to have to decline moving forward as DM of this game.  I factored in the recent cancellation of a game I'd run for nearly 7 years as part of the decision - if I couldn't stay fresh and motivated for that game, what use would I be in this one.  That's just my most honest assessment of where I'm at right now personally & professionally.

Add to that the amount of work to make a fair stab at doing Ken's work justice, and I just don't have the energy to make a go of it.

I apologize for putting the thought out there.  It was well meant, but I probably should've looked before I leapt.  I wish all of you much success, and hope to run across you in future games.

Best Wishes,

Mike

I understand and appreciate your thinking here, Mike. It's not easy to take on somebody else's game even if you're utterly comfortable with the system and setting.

It's better that you make this determination now than after undertaking all of the hassle of relaunching things! -Paul

I understand it too. I've let my game on here die a death just because they take so much time and effort. I run a shoutbox game on Dragonsfoot now instead, and somehow it seems easier to run a 'live' game one night a week there rather than spend several different periods over a week on a game here. Actually think I'm going through one of my 'dead' RPol phases, where the commitment to regular posting just seems like a drag. Sad, but that's the way it is (/I am) sometimes, been here seven years.

Anyway, good luck guys, perhaps I'll see you around here when my interest rekindles!
~Graham

I haven't logged on this site in probably a year, so I'm just reading this now.  Oh this is horrible news!  So sad!

I've been off rpol for quite a while, but logging back in, it was a great bit of nostalgia to see this game still on my board, and remember Nestor.  He was one of the best.

Well, said!

Agreed! Nice to see this again.