A quick bump for the Master Point rules:
Special House Rule - Master Points:

Master Points are points awarded to the character for great role-playing, bold accomplishment, feats of daring-do, knotty problems solved (and in my case an occasional apology if/when I've overlooked or forgotten something).

A single MP can be used to:

*Re-roll a die (save, hit points, ability checks) but the verdict (new roll) is FINAL.

*Gain a second save vs. poison (treated as if Slow Poison had been used)

*Improve an ability score under 9 one (1) point.

*Re-roll a single, non-fumble attack.

*Re-roll a blown spell learning roll (Magic User)

*Re-roll a "failed" spell (Cleric)

*Re-roll a blown turning (Cleric)

Other Master Point costs:

*Re-roll fumble attack: 3

*Increase an ability score 9 - 12: 3

*Increase an ability score 13 - 15: 5 (up to racial Max which costs 5 if in this range.

*Increase an ability score 16 - 17: 8 (racial max costs 10 if in this range)

*Increase an ability score: 18 or racial max: 12

Unusual uses of MP:

*Gain a minor thief's skill (non-thief): 10

(Gain a major thief's skill (non-thief): 15

*Increased skill in thief's skill (thief): 5*
Vastly increased skill in thief's skill (as above): 10

Combat stances...I am going to add an optional rule for combat. Since we are fairly mechanics lite I would like to see some more variation on how we do battle so I am throwing in this little concept I stole from someone else...combat stances.

Combat Stances:Stance Attack Defense
          Full Offense +2 -2
          Offensive +1 -1
          Neutral       +0 +0
          Defensive -1 +1
          Full Defense -2 +2

I think this will allow us to have greater variation in how each of the characters do battle. Obviously it is only for melee combat, both mounted and on foot. It is completely optional. If you do not state you stance at the beginning of combat it will be assumed neutral. If you do not change your combat stance during combat it will be assumed to stay whatever way you first posted.

I think this will be a nice addition to how we roleplay combat...perhaps your character is fierce on the attack with little regard for personal safety? Maybe overly cautious or somewhere in between? We can now factor this in.

We will be able to fight with more reckless abandon against lesser foes and more caution against mighty foes if we so choose.

I will also now start using the weapon against armor class table from the players handbook. I think this will also provide more realism to the combat...just more depth if nothing else really.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:22, Thu 11 Feb 2010.

This message was deleted by the player at 14:32, Thu 11 Feb 2010.

This message was deleted by the player at 01:08, Fri 12 Feb 2010.

Oooh, Combat Stances.  I like that.

I like stances too.

Working on a city map today...should help visualize everything somewhat.

As for Pyotr...if you are playing in a troupe environment but go solo then what becomes of you becomes of you. His player fully knew the risk he was taking. It is just all part of good roleplaying. Remember we are not using alignments in this game. Play accordingly. Not a problem with your character holding themselves to a strict set of morals just make sure you are not tied down tot he D&D mode of thinking when it comes to good and evil.

Why am I being discussed in the third person. Did I miss the post where they kill me? I think I made it very clear in our PM's that I was willing to live the outcome of my actions, and actually expected to leave the game. If they find a way to keep me around, I'm good with it, but if not, hey, that is the nature of the game. It's been a blast, and as much as the characters might dislike me, I think the adventure with the Efreet was something some of the players will be telling their friends about. I can understand the anger, but Pyotr thought things were looking pretty dire and about to turn deadly, and if it wasn't for the deus ex machina, it would have. The odds that I would get something Efreet sized was pretty slim (darn near 1 in a thousand, I imagine), but a risk I felt worth taking to try and save you all from a small army.  It's not like I 'summoned an Efreet', I opened a door to another dimension, and he fell thru. I know what three of the buttons do though, one is someplace just outside of Asgard on our side of the Rainbow Bridge, one is Tarterus, and one is the Elemental Plane of Fire. (I guess in the grand scheme of things, this is damn neadr the kind of these cubes. Not one plane seems to involve bunny rabbits, or oceans of ale. Sigh...)

Well, you've got one ally amidst all this testosterone.  I thought it was a pretty cool addendum to the game.  It was non linear thinking which takes a deft roleplayer to handle, so kudos to you.

Thank you... we are just very lucky the Knight was quick on his feet, with the wishes there, though I guess I am more lucky then most.

3rd Person because I was talking about Pyotr to the other players.

Any knowledge of the cube may be a good bargaining tool.

Had me feeling a bit cooked there Nestor! Good point though.

Bumpity

So what year is it now in game terms? We started out in 970 as the name of the game more than suggests...but clearly a whole lot of time has passed. 2 years, 3? Or more? What do you folks think?

I am going with the year now bing 973 but am really flexible with this idea.

Real time has been over 3 years...hard to believe but we started in July of 09!

link to a message in this game

Well - according to this thread we made it to Apr 24, 970AD - that was in Dec '09.

It doesn't seem like we've made three years in game, however.  I think having some idea of our initial introduction to Khorsun, the first battle w/ the Pechanegs, Pyotr's silliness (as well as, frankly, the first Sir Jean's), the trip to the lich in the library, the crazy djin lord, Baba Yaga and her hut...

Maybe two years in real time - I don't recall a particular episode where we settled in for more than a month or so.  Even factoring in travel time, which would've been substantial, we've covered a lot of distance in this game.

I think I agree with the three year -- not only have we had a six month pause after we helped conquer, but we've traveled extensively throughout.It makes sense that in addition to the various side story things there would've been time off between travel to and from adventures.

Refresh my memory - 6 months after we conquered what?  Khorsun?

Yes. I believe there was an extended break after we conquered Khorsun and before we went in search of the Prince. That was when Loukas and Zmija established the Temple/Monastery of Veles.

Yes we did have a settling in period after the 1st Battle of Khorsun.

Dec 09...even better. I was lazy and just looked at an early thread, must not have been the first post of the thread though.

I went back and doublechecked: July 28, 2010 is the date of the first post of Chapter 2 A Summoning and the first sentence of Nestor's initiating post is, "Six lazy months in Khorsun finds the noble conquerors feeling lazy and bored."

That puts us at least 8-9 months into the first year at that point (depending on how long Chapter 1 took)...
This message was last edited by the player at 17:01, Sun 19 Aug 2012.

According to the thread I linked the first in game date was around the beginning of April, 970AD.

I remember my whole point of the lazy six months was to make the next leg a year after the start of the game. So for sure we have a year in the bag there. Now the search from Vladimir...considering the illness of Sviatoslav, the whole thing should not have last more than a month iirc. Upon a a quick search, I see it was just about a month since the party left the stronghold of Sviatoslav with "provisions for 30 days. Our best healers feel that after that time the Knyaz will have gone on...so time is of the essence."

So we are safe to say 1 year and 1 month so far.

Looking, I see another month passes before the group is gathered by Miroslav. So 1 year 2 months. The trip across the Euxine sea, dealing with Phasis and rescuing Sir Jean from the Elemental plane of fire followed by the time spent at the library and the travel back to Khorsun...2 years is probably a more accurate amount of time to have passed if even that.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:41, Sun 19 Aug 2012.

fwiw: enjoying reading the past threads.  player development interesting - really good interactions b/n Balthazar and Loukas, Armin the Scribe, A'kos and Jaleh and others.  Really good writing as well.

Definitely! I am going through old posts as well. Really well written and compelling. Makes me want to read more.

Damn. I just got goosebumps. Thought I saw a proverbial ghost. Howdy, Loukas. Sorry for the flame out. There's a lot of personal backstory that caused my meltdown in land of song.

FWIW.

Thanks for sharing Nestor with us one more time. Miss him a lot.