GM-fatigue and GM-pretentious-auteur are both wearing me down on the core Effigy story line. I'm going to give it a month or two, and we'll pick back up en route to someplace new with whomever is interested in picking it back up.

In the meantime, let's have another game under the same heading. Because we can do that here. The current cast wasn't all in Masadum, but the PCs and the Big Bad made rather a mess of it before things were settled. It will be up to the Originals (and their new allies) to settle the big existential threat, but as I've tried to make clear at various points, the conflict with the Abyssal Flames is spreading quickly across the world. Masadum seems like a fun spot to explore that.

If you've got further comments on Effigy "proper," feel free to keep up the discussion in this thread. If you're interested in playing a new character in an older bit of the setting, chime in in the new thread.

Oh, darn.  :(  So sorry to hear about the issues with the GM-Fatigue.

I'm really big on keeping going with my current character, because...I've barely gotten to play her.  There's plenty more I'd like to explore.

As for character for use in the new storyline, I'll have to consider that.  As long as it doesn't mean we lose the old characters (whomever wishes to keep playing!), given how slowly these games are moving I'd consider making up a new character for this new one.  Not sure what, and what's allowed.  I'll have to poke around and think hard.

The plan is that I'll pick the main plot back up in 6-8 weeks. Nobody has to abandon any characters.

Depending on how many of our existing players want to make new characters for the new group, I may bring in a few selected players from my other games. The main idea is to give people the opportunity to keep playing with people they like, even if they might have lost touch with their original characters...and also the opportunity to move at a somewhat faster pace. As for what's allowed...feel free to make pitches over in the other thread. We've already got precedent for nontraditional races, including a variety of hobgoblins, half giants, and the like.

More games = Better.

Especially when they are run by competent, realistic GM's. Which we have.
And staffed by people I like. Which we have.

Let's keep this train going, and get a second one on a different rail moving. I'm game for both!

I'd come in for a new one. Maybe by then I can get a handle on Sari again as well. Even if I have no idea about a sheet for her any longer.

So if we're interested, where do we start discussing possible characters? Also, I officially suck at Pathfinder. So if there's someone here who rocks the Pathfinder rules I would love to work with them to create something really fun.

I wanna be a Goblin. Because I love them.

Spinning character ideas for the new story should happen in the "Ashes of Masadum" thread.

It always amazes me how this group manifests when critical junctions come.  We've been together for many years and I love this kobold.  In some ways, I feel personally at fault for the loss of the original elements of the story about Suku's hat.  I came into a character that I've tried to make my own over the years, but Effigy has consistently felt episodic for me.  Without being a part from the very beginning, I sometimes feel like I'm merely acting on Suku's behalf as opposed to living these relationships.  Hope that makes sense.

As for posting, my biggest problem is that most of my computer time is at work.  When I get home, I've got a new kiddo and a wonderful wife to join.  I find myself usually able to sneak a few minutes on a Saturday or Sunday morning, but even those times are becoming slightly less available.  Despite all of that, I do try my best to keep this truly epic story alive because I believe in the group and the writers.

I'd be willing to try to pull together a new character, but I am likely only going to be able to maintain a once/week post.  Summers are always busy and I won't promise more than that.

I feel as though we've come through some very difficult times together as characters and people.  That gives strength to this story in ways that others don't have.  If a reinvention/twist on the tale lights a fire in our bellies, I'm in.  Might even play a slightly taller character next time...

Certainly I'm pretty limited to once a week.  I don't have much time on weekends, and I have other games to which I have responsibilities, including a couple of GM'ed ones on SC.

I will consider a character for the other game...not sure if I can manage it, but will consider.

Big discussions/many posts always seem to happen when I go away for a few days.  Not much more I can add that hasn't been said already. As far as Bron-Bron goes, I'd love to continue playing her, and will continue to do so until this story comes to it's final chapter.  Long hiatus's don't really bother me, nor does slow posting rates (of which I am totally guilty of).

Like some of the others, these days I get my posting in during the work week (M-F, 9-5). It's a rare weekend when I get to post, much less simply check in to see what's going on.  That being said, I do check in daily here on rpol, as well as on SC (often several times during the day).

So in short, yes, I would love to continue with the current characters no matter when.  As far as a 2nd character, focusing on a different part of the story?  That's cool too, and I suppose I'll post those comments over in the other thread...

Also, 1500 posts.  :)

Holy Jesus, let me just tell you that being forced to read this and not be able to respond (mostly due to network restrictions at work/working 19 hours a day) really, really, -really- sucks.

Whew...that's done with, now my 2 cents.

I'm going to take a heap of the blame on this one. My disappearances over the years has really put a halt on progression of this story of ours. I made Elec vice-president in charge of keeping crap going because I knew that there would be times that things would get muddy for me, and I needed someone who was able to keep with the feel and keep things moving. For falling from my position of control and leaving it all on you, Hawk, all this time, I am infinitely sorry.

Folks, maybe we have hit a wall with this story. From responses, it certainly seems as much. I for one would like to point out that I'm just as happy with how far we have come from the day we started. And I still see our little rag-tag party. Granted, our newer members might feel about shouldered, but you're all a part of this great big mess of a world.

I still see that pair of rogues; one who ran from his past only to smack face-first right back into it. And did he hide from it? No. He realized he needed to step into those shoes, to be the leader more so than the guide, and he didn't flinch as he did. He faced the changes of life as one would; he found new love and came upon a lost one. He was faced with the decisions a man makes in that position, and he still wrestles with it all.

I still see the paladin; knightly and just, pure in purpose and true in course, making her personal sacrifice to see the world saved. She was faced with some of the hardest choices of her life, and she saw that some of her hard-girded laws wear down. She found love in the strangest of places, she embraced that love and even when she lost it; even when it pushed her to her breaking point, she embraced it once again. She became herself more so than her position, she wasn't just there but was there for everyone, herself most of all.

I still see that outcast who broke the social barriers, became a great warrior and even still, becomes greater as time passes. He too put his beliefs, his strict moral codes to the test and saw that maybe they shouldn't cloud his judgement, but guide it. He took to the unsavory types he was forced to travel with and found in them great companions that he would gladly lay down his life for.

I still see the quiet, oft troubled priestess, so much more than just a stranger in a land full of old hatreds. She was a light that would shine, maybe not to lead, but most definitely to shine. But she had to find that light, and she was looking for it. She was changing to find it, getting beyond the grip of her old life and walking into the arms of her new one.

I still see that brash kid; the one who made bad decisions more often than good ones. He burned as brightly as a bonfire, and it was infectious to those around him. He escaped a life of slavery and torture, died at the hands of his slavers, returned as a doppelganger to one of the greatest heroes alive, was forced into a life he never wanted and never deigned to have; but he did it, for the better of those around him and for his family. He fell in love, something he swore never to do, and found that it completed him.

And, I see that bard, smiling brightly; her mind a cloud of possibility and ambition, imagination entwined around possibility. Her words, her songs, her happy way of thinking, her carefree persona was able to clear the clouds from the sky. She wanted nothing more than that one great story; the one that would set all the other tales on their heels. She happily dove into the darkness with her friends, her family, and did it without the slightest complaint -- because, hell; who knows what's down there!

Yeah, things have changed, but things are still the same. Almost 9 years and our band of players has changed, grown, and evolved. If we were to end it now...well, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be sad at the notion. As you might recall, I started this story -- shooting from the hip -- because my last game left me with a profound sense of loss. I very much enjoy writing with and for you all. You've been a great joy, a wonderful privilege to create with over these years. I would gladly continue playing out Eladrin until it's conclusion. I would also be happy creating new ones, working within our world and creating a new tale.

But, as always before, I leave it to you. You're the reason I never let go, and I still say that God, Allah, whomever...truly blessed me with you all; my band of brothers and sisters. I'd heard so many horror stories of online tabletop gaming and some of it's less than savory players...and you all proved those stories wrong. Intelligent, inventive, able to weave a tale not just play a sheet of paper and dice. So, whatever decision is made, I stand behind it one-hundred fold.

Cheers.

Oh, and before I forget...

Hi, my name is Brian. It's lovely to meet you all.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:58, Wed 08 May 2013.

Also jancus, I rock at pathfinder. It's very much 3.5 but with better rules.

www.pfsrd.org has everything you could ever want regarding Pathfinder.

I'll happily answer any questions.

I do plan on picking things back up in the original plot. Or at least writing up a few pages of how I imagine it all playing out. I just need a break from thinking about it for a while. I also want to make sure that I can lay out a path to a conclusion that's less vulnerable to getting tripped up (without pushing the game to the point that you lose your options).

We'll likely pick things up en route to Besh in 6-8 weeks. Honestly, these fiendlings in the snow are not major threats to the party. Not with the heat its packing. But I have a feeling it would take us 6-8 weeks to get through the rest of the combat, even two rounds at a time, and I'd rather spend that time doing something that's more interesting for everybody.

Okay, sounds good.  I'm obviously a little saddened that the story is going to end, as Taija's story has just begun.  I've barely had a chance to RP with everyone, to get to know their characters, to get through conflicts and discover friendships, etc, etc.  Plus, there's all kinds of things I had planned to do with her - the dark-kin business of the Life-Quest of the Redeemed and so forth, which could certainly have continued without interfering with the plot.

BUT...that's the penalty for coming in late.  :(  Sad, but what can one do?

*hugs Brian*  Don't take the blame.  There's no 'blame' to be had, here.  :)

I'm sensing a group hug coming on *sniff*

Very well said, Brian.  There is certainly a lot of story left to tell in these old characters of ours, and by golly, I'm sure as willing to see them through to their end.  And who knows, Taija, there may yet still be an adventure or two after this epic plot is concluded. ^_^  I mean, come on, just think....a paladin and a demonkin walk into a bar...
This message was last edited by the player at 13:04, Wed 08 May 2013.

I'm still interested in how the two of us get through the first 'serious' sit down and talk without Brownwyn deciding to kill the demon...  ^_^

She didn't kill the Drow.

And it's probably in your best interests to use her name. It's Bronwyn, not Brownwyn. Surface elves get uppity like that.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 15:05, Wed 08 May 2013.

Brownwyn...hee hee.  I'll stick with Bron-Bron.

...the Drow didn't 'detect evil', you know.  ^_^

Hmm, I do seem to recall using detect evil on Sari too.  Well, Bron-Bron has changed a lot since those early days in Helmgold.  Ah, things were so much simply then.  All she wanted to do was to keep the streets of the city safe from riffraff like Eladrin. ;)

Erm, then I don't think you've tried Detecting Evil on Taija yet.  There's a reason she has problems with Paladins, even if she keeps her horns hidden.

She detects, I'm sorry to say.  Side effect of one of her feats, and causes her no end of problems.

I think Bronwyn took it on faith that you were one of the good guys, considering you wee in a company of dwarven paladins, and already accepted by them.  I mean, come on, it's not like you're a vampire that walks around in the daylight. ;)

That would make logical sense (though Taija could be an evil demon fooling them!).  Pity we're going to miss that little bit of RP, though.

Mission accomplished, I feel.