Do you think he will return?

No idea. You have probably had more communication from him as a player in your game than we have heard about.

His last visit was at the end of October last year - and no comms since.  Four month without a visit is a long time ...

Ah, well, it was good while it lasted. I couldn't believe how much work he was putting into that game with several groups running simultaneously.

A bit like you, actually.  ;o)

Mine is easier because I have written modules to run from.

I also have a very understanding employer, even if they don't know quite how understanding they are :P

And apologies ... life has been a little hectic lately and popping in here always lost out to trying to squeeze an in-game post in elsewhere ... but I think I've finally caught up !  Ah, that'll be the cue for further chaos !  I shouldnae said that ...

I've not given up on Valerez yet ... I've had GM's go missing for longer and then return ... though to be honest and looking at my sticky list, I don't think any of those games are still running, which some would deem ominous.  I think absolutely his will to run the game is there ... but RL can play havoc with that, so it's probably more a case of I think he'll return if he can.  :>

Kinda reluctant to keep the song and music going at the White Dragon ... not because I'm not getting a kick out of trading verse with Poppy, cos I am, but more cos I think it's getting people's hopes up that there's a GM post suddenly appeared, and we're not getting the to and fro with the PC crowd because they're reluctant to just lift their characters out of whatever situation the GM had them in elsewhere in the city or beyond.

Perhaps it's our three PCs !  We're the kiss of death for a campaign !  Though we probably shouldn't tell any potential GMs that ... <grins>

I think the only active games I am playing in now belong to you two guys. At least we are not the kiss of death for each others' games.  ;o)

Unless we want to hijack one of the existing threads in Valarez and run our own adventure there, we really don't have much choice but to wait and hope for the best, do we?

In reply to RRRR (msg # 7):

I think you are right about sitting it out for the time being.  I also agree that keeping the songs going just keeps other people's hopes up.

However I think that we should be aware that the game might go, and prepare for that if we want to take the Rotherham else where later.   I really enjoyed the IC banter that we created.

I recall that he said 5 young kids at home and then family problems.   He was also new to rpol and online gaming.

We could keep chatting away in our IC thread - we're the only PCs in Group 2 so we won't be tripping any of the other players' new message indicators.

Though might be just as easy to create our own thread in here if we want to banter on ?  :>

I think (for me) this is more about 'Do we want to take the Roths elsewhere' if Valerez falls over, and should we prepare for that?

Good IC banter needs a DM -  almost all of our banter is generated / sparked by the situation the GM puts us in.  All three of us try to make posts that directly address other players, or  'open' posts that someone can respond to easily.  All three of us take the opportunity to do so.  Banter is born ...

Well that thought was a good prompt for me to make sure I have an up-to-date copy of Gedd's character sheet from Valarez.  :o)

Other than that I don't think we need to do anything else just yet.

Yes, I would be interested in taking the Roth family into another game if Valarez does die, if you two are still keen.

Oh yes !  To all of that.  I've got a current copy of the character sheet, thankfully - even though we'd probably end up reworking for another game (higher/lower level, different edition, different setting), that's definitely the direction I'll want to go in anyway, come what may.  :>

Excellent.  I would be a shame to lose a set of such nicely playable characters  :)

The DM has been away for more than six months now.  I was thinking of putting a post in Valerez offering any of the players a place in Stolen Land.

Character levels are generally too high in Valerez for them to transfer in as PCs, but I am thinking of offering them NPC type roles for their characters.  I need to  bring some new influential NPC blood into the game - rather than just grunt workers to be exploited.

Which led me to a couple of thoughts ....  One of the things I have been considering is having Oleg sell up (and run set up a proper merchant business).  That seems like an ideal purchase for the Roth's and their entourage (Winnie, Folfast, Wilric and the Potential Pete the Poacher :P  ) - I hate losing a good character, even in the short term.  And it gives Kevin somewhere to write another 300 verses of Bishop Brugar ....

Thoughts?

I think you are a glutton for punishment! You were recently telling us how busy your workload is at present - perhaps you ought to wait until July when you expected things to ease off a bit?

But if you do eventually want to extend that invitation I wouldn't mind transplanting Gedd (or a Gedd-like clone?) and creating Pete the Poacher here. I regretted missing out on the opportunity to create Pete the Poacher over there before we lost the DM.

Of course I am a glutton for punishment :)  I always have been :)

However, there is not a lot of effort involved bringing the Roths over - that is just a cut and paste job, then give us a 'fuzzy time' thread to banter in and tease the other players up.  And it lets us 'keep in contact' with the characters while we find a new game for them.

The same is true for any other characters that 'port across as NPCs -  BUT none of that happens until the parties are back at home and we are in the 'down time' phase  :)  I have to  plan for that stage of the game -  and I will be bringing in NPCs anyway.  It might even make it a bit easier  if I don't have to write personalities and backgrounds.

I think a large chunk of  the players in that game have applied to Stolen lands (at some point) anyway, some are still with us, others have moved on.  so I am not expecting a great influx, if any at all.  However, they won't be incorporated into the game until until I have some time and space.  That said, I think we have lost two of the new recruits and I think Valoria/Zauria has gone AWOL again - so there might be places earlier.  A a six player party is easier to keep alive than a four player party  ....  and if I do kill one, the rest of you miss them less ....

Love the idea ... but you do realise that the Roths would be grabbing blades and bows and be out there in the wilds on the hunt at the first hint of danger or mystery ... can't see any of them wanting to sit still or wait around for the slower, more prudent people you call PCs ! <grins>

Aha ...

NOW I'm thinking older versions of them - the old retired ex-adventurers with tales to tell, advice to give, but willing to leave the hard work and discomforts to the younger crowd.  I might give Berta an eye patch ! :P  And Gedd might walk with a stick, but he can still beat any of 'em at darts.  Wyn's the only problem.  Doesn't look like he's aged a day !

Yes, I'm busy at the moment too.  Yes I'll admit that does seem to be more business as usual for me than anything out of the ordinary.  And yes, I'll obviously be there posting the second Berta hits the roster !  <ROFL>

Not sure I've got another 300 verses of Bishop Brugar in Folfast, though ... ;P

Excellent  :)

When the time comes, I will have Oleg sell  his trading post to the Roths - bring Winnie, Wilric and Folfast over as well, and we can set up Pete the Poacher at the same time.

What sort of age range do you want them to be?

Retired and finished adventuring, or just moving on from Valerez looking for a place they can call their own?

I have been planning on the Roth's converting Oleg's to a proper inn, and gradually building up a town around it, along with the Roth Brewery, making Poacher's Pale.    Hmm,  will Pete the Poacher have brewing as skill?  That could be amusing :)

talking of ages ..  I thought we had given some thought to starting ages, so looked back over the threads, and found ...

Nathaniel - 50
Marayne - 43
Wyn - 23  (miniumum age half-elf cleric)
Berhta - 21 (maximum age human fighter)
Gedd - 16 (15 is minimum age half-orc ranger)

So if we had started at those ages, what age are we now (as we leave Valerez)? Perhaps a year per level?  So something like .....

Wyn - 30
Berhta - 28
Gedd - 23

Or do you think we should be older?  Younger


And when we settle  in The Stolen lands?  Do we go straight there?  So perhaps a year older for travelling time?  Or do we assume they have adventured somewhere else or spent time somewhere else (living quietly in Valerez?) before they got here?

How old do you want to be?  How old will Folfast be?

Folfast is ... 35 - oh good, if we do go older, he won't be dead ... though the way he eats and drinks it'll be a miracle if he does make it to old age !! ;>

I like the idea of them growing old ... but then again, we may need to hold our own against belligerent PCs, so younger works better - nice to have the skill to back up the swagger ... so I'm easy - the ages suggested below or older both work for me.

I'm happy with those ages, too. Where would 'Valarez' (or wherever we came from in this world) be in relation to the Stolen Lands? How long would it have taken us to travel to the Stolen Lands? Why have we left at all? Is there some dark secret that drove us out but we don't have any intention of ever telling anyone else about? Like having made an enemy so high up in the Valarez hierarchy that if we stayed we would bring down their vengeance on everyone else we cared about there? Maybe that's why we have wound up in the Stolen Lands, where all sorts of folk can look for a new life without too many awkward questions being asked.

Jeez!  Have we pissed off Mud again ?

It was inevitable, really. Just a matter of time. But he really shouldn't have treated Winnie that way.

Winnie and Dru were about to go out adventuring (to round out numbers for a short handed group) when everything came to a halt.  I commented, in a PM,  that Dru was a L4 mage built for research and was asking whether I should re-configure her.  I got the following  reply ...



We also know that she was 'checking us out' for the family before the deal to buy into The White Dragon.  So I was planning to build her as a Rogue 3 / Bard 1.  I got a few more things, from Private Lines and trawling the threads, that give an outline of some of her skills.  I settled on L4 as that is Dru's level (although she will be L5 when she gets here, because I want her able to make magic items (probably wands) when she comes across)

So how about Winnie upset Mud, perhaps something that happened in that minor adventure beneath the street of Valerez,  and she was advised (By Kezra and Flessel) to get out of town?  Wyn obviously needed to go, and everyone else tagged along as well.  That also gives me a good excuse to bring Dru over later, when Mud realises that she was involved too.

That way we can afford to be a bit mysterious about where they have come from, and just drop hints of upsetting someone important.  I was thinking of a long and boring journey, so that we leave the Roths exactly as they are - and not re-write them until we find a new game to take them into.  Lets face it, the Roth's as they are, aren't going to be particularly stretched if they travel along fairly major routes that are commonly used by everyday folks.  Especially if they are trying to remain inconspicuous.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:51, Wed 30 May 2018.

However, How about an Inn/music venue in Tusk Town (instead of taking over Oleg's)

Perhaps with the same purpose as the White Dragon's secret agenda of helping the poor and oppressed (on a smaller scale)   WE might even finish up as agents / sponsors for lower level parties (in a couple of years time)

Sounds good to me. I think I would prefer Tusk Town rather than Oleg's trading post too.

Oleg's has its own history with a lot of our Stolen Lands players and it'd be a shame to upset that - yup, I'm game for a new start in Tusk Town.

Inn name ... something like the Red Dragon (how's that for subtlety ?!!  Mud will never suspect !!  <grins> )

Ah ... you may have to create a Fuzzy or Location (or both) thread for Tusk Town: The Red Dragon, just so we don't take over the entirety of what is supposed to be city planning and administration with our banter and more tales of Bishop Brugar !!!  ;>

Called The Red Dragon -  with a sign that shows intertwined Green and White Dragons?

Although that is sure to generate questions.

maybe just 'The Dragons' -  with a sign that shows  intertwined red, green and white dragons?  The picture of the Red Dragon will surely throw Mud off of the scent  :P

The Three Dragons ?!!  ;>

Valerez and Stolen Lands gods don't equate too well - though Pharasma could be said to be an amalgam of The Mother and Takri, so we could work with that.

I think Wyn is the only one who really needs a god, and I can see Takri as an aspect of Pharasma.

Personally, I would rather leave rewrites until we find a new game to take them into as PCs (rather than NPCs).  I am in a lull between storms ATM, so I am fiddling with small and concept stuff - I don't think I  am going to have a lot of energy to throw at serious rewrites until the end of July.

Nah, not suggesting rewrite at all -> leave 'em exactly as they are.  We come from a foreign land with foreign gods ... just wondering how to equate them to what the local populace believe.  And Pharasma -> Takri connection is all we really need.

Berta's faith leans towards the Mother, but she doesn't have the true belief of a cleric, so she's not affected (can't see her worrying over dogmatic subtleties).  Complaining about the local ale, however and looking forwards to Pete's first batch, now that IS important.  ;>

One of the things I always liked about Thieves World was that they'd introduce characters with entirely different backgrounds, cultures and deities.

Don't think I have ever read it (In fact I had to google it :P )

However, one of my bugbears with both D&D and pathfinder is that they pour so many different cultural concepts into the melting pot, that they all get mixed up into one big grey background and no-one pays any attention :(

One of my possible 'Future Projects'  (A la Classless) is to draw together a simplified set of the D20 rules, create an SRD website for it and use it to run a Traditional Style game in a setting of my own design!  But even now, I KNOW that I have too many deities ....  (Whoops, that is a giveaway, isn't it?)

... you want us to kill a few of them off for you ?  ;>

So nearly time to arrive in Tusk Town. A version of Marceline from Valerez is joining the game at the same time -  but re written as a L2 character so that she can play.

As part of her background I was going to give her the following as a bare bones story.  Thoughts?


------------

The Roths decided to leave town, and she came along as a travelling companion for Winnie.
Winnie had done something to upset councillor Mud  (who was a really nasty man)
Her cousin (Kezra, another councillor advised her to stay away)
And her husband to be and his family took care of the movement.
There was a long sea journey on a large ship
a short stop at a big city in the inner sea where Wyn and Winnie got married.
Then a long journey up the Sellen River
a quick stop at Mivon to change to smaller vessel
and then upsteam to this new place.

Apparently a friend of theirs called Claire had seen Tusk in a dream .....

So

Wyn
Berta
Gedd
Winnie
Folfast
Wilric

------------

First -  either of you want to stat up Wilric?  Which one of you ants him assigned to you?  I have so many characters to choose from ....

What about Pete the Poacher.  Now?  later?  Give Wilric some appropriate skills?

Do either of you want a title?  Sir Gedd?  Dame Berta?  I am sure we could buy some papers on the way.  Perhaps 'signed' by Kezra of Valarez?  Wyn could so sell that .....

I am going to offer Tusk council a special Lyre of building as a bribe  :)  It can halve the development cost of one building per build phase.  It will make their life a lot easier - especially when the decide they need city walls, in a few levels  :P

Sir Geddoudanstayoud? No, I don't think so.  ;o)

I would be happy to have Pete the Poacher straight away. Might take me a little while to get around to do his character sheet though.

<grins> I've got four as well !

Percy becoming a secondary character in whatever role Henry assigns to him, Berta and Folfast of course, plus Ethankos, Priest of Pharasma (you haven't met him yet Sir Ged, coming soon to a thread near you).

Wilric might have stayed behind to look after our interests in Valarez ?  Might even have got married if we got out of the Old Market in the West Third without alienating the entire Halfling population.

Perhaps we brought some Shadowrock with us ?  Or Darker/Shadow Ale ?!!

You could make Berta a Dame as a standing joke - something she wouldn't care for, use or admit to, of course.  <grins>

And perhaps we should bring our dragon friends with us.  Henry would be pleased ... ;>

Ah, that explains the mysterious appearance of Ethankos and omission of Percy from the list of "Characters adventuring after levelling up". I did wonder about that.

And I think you have just given me Pete the Poacher's reason for being here, too. He heard a rumour from the Stolen Lands of ingredients for a beverage equivalent to darker ale or shadow ale, but not under the control of the dwarves. Black rattlecap mushrooms, perhaps?

so ...

Wyn
Dame Berta
Gedd
Winnie
Folfast
Pete the Poacher

Wilric stayed behind in the Dragon's Den.

---

Are you happy with this as  Marceline's Knowledge - it gives her something to RP against :)

• The Roths decided to leave town, and  Marceline came along as a travelling companion for Winnie.
• Marceline  knew Wyn from a shared religious interest in Takri (who is an aspect of Pharasma)
• Winnie had done something to upset councillor Mud  (who was a really nasty man)
• Marceline thinks it had something to do with the Valerez Sewers, but she isn’t sure
• Winnie’s cousin, Kezra, another councillor advised her to stay away)
• The Roth’s were somehow associated with Councillor Kezra’s family before all of this happened.
• Winnie and her husband to be, Wyn,  and his family (the Roths)  took care of the travel arrangements.
• There was a long sea journey on a large ship (The Sea Spirit)
• Then a short stop at a big city (absolom) in the inner sea to change to a smaller vessel (The River Queen)
• Wyn and Winnie got married in Absolom
• Then a long journey up the Sellen River
• a quick stop at Mivon to change to smaller vessel  (details in the arrival post)
• and then upstream to this new place.
• Apparently a friend of theirs called Claire had seen Tusk in a dream .....

Percy - Ethankos: wanted a character who could be a bit more forceful and step up into the leadership role - whether as a matter of course, or if we lost other characters who had been taking the lead - our Narlmarch thread suffered a bit from loss of players and our leader's absence (though it was still fun to play out, we definitely didn't do what we went there for).  Percy will probably turn up again one day, though.  :>

---

The Roth Invasion of The Stolen Lands: more than happy with that synopsis - I can well imagine all that unfolding exactly as written !  Oh, and congratulations to Wyn and Winnie - hope we got you something nice as a wedding present ! <grins>

I shall have to make a note of it all as I'm sure there will be questions later.

Just make sure to add Berta as "Berta Roth" - we'll let the Dame thing unfold in game.  ;>

Of course  :)  However, Wyn will probably introduce Berta as Dame Berta at every possible opportunity.  I know these things as I have RL experience of being the older brother ....

The Roth's have arrived in the stolen lands  -  well at least their character sheets have  :)  Arrival post over the weekend  :)

Ta !  Just transferred Berta and Folfast's details over.  :>

Lovely. I have done the same for Gedd. I suppose I should reformat his character sheet using your standard sheet for The Stolen Land. Might get around to that one day. ;o)

I'll write up Pete the Poacher sometime as well.

Ach - don't worry about formats (I haven't) I trust you guys enough that I don't feel the need to check up on you (very often).

We will have to rewrite them soon anyway -  when we have time to find another game for them :)

Let's see, based on your npc classes rules, as a retired poacher Pete the Poacher would probably be Commoner level 3 with the new commoner Poacher trait?

http://rp.baileymail.net/doku....pc_classes:commoners
http://rp.baileymail.net/doku....:fst:commoner_traits

5 point build. i.e. all abilities are 11, or were before adding age effects, as I will make him 'old' at 58 years of age. That gives –2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

I think he has developed a keen interest in brewing in the last few years since retiring - specialising in Poacher's Pale Ale, of course, but now keen to explore something darker.  :o)

You can use your 5 point build as you think appropriate  :)  I only use all 11s because it is easy :)

Also, you don't have to use commoner as a class -  Expert or Warrior would work quite nicely.

When we were playing in Valerez, I never realized quite how good a GM he was.

BTW -  feel free to edit any additions into the Family . History threads.  When we are all happy, I'll download them and put them on a website,

OK,  I have the History as complete as I need it  :)   As I said, feel free to edit things into the posts, if I have missed something that you want remembered.

I am going to add a post to the family thread -  with a few notes about Wilric, Flessel, Fless, Elsin and Kezra -  ie the adopted / married-in-to family in Valewrez.

Then a quick note for the current 'family' and retainers.  Us, Winnie, Maryane, Pete and Folfast.

That will finish it for the time being -  although we really ought to add a post for The Northern Journey so far -  again characters come and go around us as we get thrown into situations that are beyond us ....

Ok.  I think that is it for me  :) I intend to keep the Family (with modifications) and History notices.

Unless you tell me differently -  I will delete the detail of the Grandparents / cousins and just keep the short synopsis at the top of The Du Feu family post.  I don't think we need all the detail anymore.

You did a marvellous job !  I remember about half of what we got up to !

I'd keep the extended family tree - it was a lot of effort (on your part, for all it comes easily to you) and I like that level of detail - since we've got it, seems a shame to lose it.  :>

OK.  I'll keep the extended family detail.

TBH, I didn't even remember half of it -  until I read through all those threads again.  I had completely forgotten about Maeve and the Mocking Fey, and really had to concentrate to work out who Gri was ....

Ta !

I remember the stuff as I read it, but otherwise I'd be hard pressed to recall much detail outside of Kezra, Claire, the strong Dwarf drinks at the mine, the Dragon 'hunt', tattoos and Mudd.  But reading back, it looks like we certainly had a good time !  :>

On the other hand, I remembered what we were looking for Gri (to get info, I think, but no idea what info) a halfling (??) in the less savoury part of the City where he'd been seen but eventually decided he wasn't going to show so went back to the Inn (basically an OOC decision around the fact that the GM had vanished).

Ta !

I remember the stuff as I read it, but otherwise I'd be hard pressed to recall much detail outside of Kezra, Claire, the strong Dwarf drinks at the mine, the Dragon 'hunt', tattoos and Mudd.  But reading back, it looks like we certainly had a good time !  :>

Yep, he really was a very good GM - his main NPCs had a lot of personality and were the key to the game.    It was after those threads that he mentioned that he wasn't running the game to his own standards, and was expecting to cut down to three parties, so that he could manage the game better -  but then he ran out of time for other things.   Reminds me a bit of the way I got with Stolen Lands.

On the other hand, I remembered what we were looking for Gri (to get info, I think, but no idea what info) a halfling (??) in the less savoury part of the City where he'd been seen but eventually decided he wasn't going to show so went back to the Inn (basically an OOC decision around the fact that the GM had vanished).

Yep -  we were looking for Gri to get information on Balen - the halfling rogue, who was a member of the original adventuring party.  He was reputed to be running a small thieves' guild in Valerez.  As you say, that adventure never really got off of the ground.

After that, we ran some entertainment at the Inn, just in case he was able to come back to RPoL.  Then we cobbled together a reason to move on, based around Mud looking for us - and pretty much selected Mud as our family nemesis.

Well done John, very well done indeed.

Thank you very much for piecing that all together and sharing it with us. :o)

No problem.   :)

I can still edit bits into those threads, if either of you come across other things you think we should 'remember'  :)

And just finished, so I'll second that !

Nice synopsis of our adventures, but very impressed by the family timeline/history ! :>

I'll actually have to read the Valarez threads instead of just downloading them in order to find anything to add.  <grins>