On asking for a defense roll in each post, that's because it's certain you'll need one.  Unless you can kill or incapacitate your enemy in one round, you will get attacked.  And since most enemies have a combat score of 9 or higher, not defending means an auto hit for them.

Even when it appears you won't get attacked, they may not be the case.   Say only one Turok-Han is present and I indicate he moves towards Frey.  The other three attack him as well and don't defend, thinking they won't get hit.  Surprise!  This is a superior Turok-Han with enough dexterity for four attacks he attacks all four of you in one round.  If you've already posted your defense, I can resolve the round and move to the next one.  If not I have to stop and wait for all three of you to roll your defense, thus taking twice as long to get through that round.  Not much of a problem when playing in person.  That can slow a play by post game considerably.  Rolling for both and posting them at once saves a lot of time.  And what if you roll a defense you end up not needing? No problem.  You get one anyway, there's no penalties for doing it.

Need to call it a night, will get this combat round resovled tomorrow.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:25, Sat 02 Mar 2013.

Yeah, the ol' Sith Lord in the Stormtrooper armor routine.

Thanks for the suggestion.  Wanted to set up her next scene showing that she apparently doesn't have super strength.  What's with that? Weird.

We just need Nathaniel's combat move to wrap the next round. Looks like the dice roller doesn't like anybody this round.

*shrugs* I'm pretty pleased with Merry's defense!

Also, Micheal, either your second attack or your second defense is -4, not -2. The penalties are actually cumulative regardless of how you allocate the actions. Using one extra action for attack and the other for defense still leaves one of them at a -4.

Can we institute a 24-hr post rule, at least for combat? Waiting for days for folks to post is tedious. Out of combat, its less an issue because you can just talk around the absent person, but in combat eh... its a drag. And its not like its that hard to fairly accurately guess what actions a missing PC will most commonly take in combat anyway.

Folks can correct me if I'm wrong here, but at this point, I would hazard to guess that their defaults are:
Frey - 2 attacks (sword), 1 defense (dodge)
Michael - 2 attacks (unarmed), 2 defenses (dodge)
Nathaniel - 1 attack (spell) and defense (dodge)
Merry - full defense (dodge)

This way combat rounds never last more than a day and folks don't have to worry about RL stuff hampering thing too bad.

I took care of Nathaniel's move and resolved the round.  Meredith's awesome dodge turned out not to be needed.  If the spell failed and the vamp kept coming, she probably would have rolled a 1.

Usually I give about 1-2 days for everyone to post their combat moves before I'll post on their behalf, depending on circumstances.

Also if the situation doesn't necessarily require a combat post from everyone, I'm not going to wait for everyone.  For example; say one vampire is left after a few rounds in a fight scene.    Frey posts first and does a decapitation move that is enough to finish the vamp and the fight. If I see it before anyone else posts their move, I'm just going to post his move to resolve the round.

Micheal's had a stake in hand this whole time?

Nope. He just drew a stake. I guess I'd lose a defense if that takes an action. But any sane hunter is gonna have stakes around somewhere. :)

I covered Nathaniel's action again. I gave Mike the benefit of the doubt that he had the stake in his hand when the fight started, he's been holding it in one hand while punching with the other.

I'm going to bow out.

Please remember to remove me from the Cast list so I cease receiving game updates.

Sorry to hear that.  Good luck with your future games. You've been removed.

Okay troops, I've just found my original ad and bumped it up asking for a replacement.

I've moved the Frey character over to me for the time being until I decide how to exit him from the story.

You've beaten all four ubervamps and are free to explore the school.

And that's a wrap for Frey.  Decided to quietly write him out with the "main character just disappears and nobody notices" device.

He'll be guarding the front entrance a long time.

And that's it for episode 1.

Huh?!  That was quick.  Wasn't it?  I'm trying something a little experimental with this game, shorter episodes. The notion being it's maybe 15 minutes per ep or a web series if it were really on the air.  Episode may often end abruptly and on a cliffhanger.

And now the good part:  I'll be handing out some Exp and Drama points soon.

Can we just assume Merry gave an off-camera eye roll to Michael and started backing away slowly? ;)

Sure, we can do that!

Say hi to your new buddy, Daniel Whitlock.



Now the part you've been waiting for.  Michael, Merry, and Nathaniel add 2 experience points.  And each of you get 1 drama point for your heroic uber-vamp slaying actions.

Since we'll be doing shorter episodes, 1 to 2 xp points awarded per ep will be normal. Drama points will vary depending on what happens.  If you spend a whole episode just sitting around and talking, no DPs there unless someone says something worth a QQ DP.

Happy to be aboard.

...Brave Sir Michael ran away, bravely ran away away!

When 50 Turok hans reared their ugly heads he bravely turned his tail and fled...
Yes Brave Sir Michael turned about and gallantly he chickened out...
Bravely taking to his feet he beat a very brave retreat...
Bravest of the Brave, Sir Michael!

Ep 2 is started.  Mike and Merry pick up where you left off.  Fifty plus ubervamps in the auditorium.  Do as you wish, but I would advise running.

Nathaniel hasn't logged on in over a week, I'll handle him for now and hope he'll be back soon.

Heh.

Director: Do as you wish, but I would ad*WOOOOOSH*vise running?

One step ahead you, buddy.

"Awkward-looking"?  You'll be treading on thin ice with Merry for that one! ;)

Mind you its the running for dear life whilst carrying someone into a quiet and empty room that's awkward looking.  Less so the actual participants.  Though is there really a non awkward way to carry someone?

Well, princess carry is the only one that looks somewhat decent (for the guy. For the lady, not so much.)

Say hello to our newest member Graham Miller.