So far it all makes sense, I'm just not sure where my npc is gonna live since Marceline doesn't have a house/residence or anything like that. But that might also be getting sorted by when we get back to town, so I'm not too worried.

Don't worry about accommodation for the entourage. There are plenty of rooms available in Tusk or Ringbridge (with the cost taken care of as part of the Kingdom Rules).

You will get 1 BP to build with  (as will everyone else who hasn't yet received 2bp from Henry)  You just need to decide how to invest it.

I am so sorry but work was exhausting. I'm going to try and post tomorrow

So time for some Input from you guys.

I am NPCing  … Silvius, Fiddler, Rose & Zirul -  while poor old Gehon died when his player left.    If you join a game and subsequently find that it isn’t for you, then it is proper to move on.  And my games are a bit of an acquired taste – as I am sure you have all realized by now.  For others, RL crops up and they need to take a break – perhaps just from the game – perhaps even from RPol as a whole. That is fine -  that is how it should be.  Those of you who have been around for a while, know that I like five or six PCs in a group – because it means the group doesn’t stagnate when a  couple of guys are having a tough time posting.

So the question for you guys -  do you want me to recruit for players that come straight into your groups -  Or would you prefer that I sent you guys out as two groups and  recruited new players into a  third group?

Is there any way for me to make any gold on either alternative?

If I am seeing correctly, it looks like all 3 groups are currently running at 5 members. You could recruit 3 new characters and place 1 in each group.

Or recruit 5 or 6 new characters and create a Group 4. (Would this be too much to DM?)

Merging the 2 current groups would put 7 characters in 1 group and 8 characters in another. Would this sort of slow the groups down?

Are there any current players who are thinking of taking a break from the game?

Is there any truth to the rumors that Cass wants to form a sub-group of half elves with dueling swords? *wink*

Yep - there are currently fifteen player-run PCs - so three groups of 5 :)  However - Groups will change about before you set off again :)  Some characters have new classes they need to make use of and there is a whole haunted house, that the Clerics of Pharasma are missing out on.

TBH, I think four groups is beyond me at the moment.  Work was supposed to get quiet after last year's IT Migration.  Instead, my managers decided to completely reorganise the site - and forgot to tell me any of the details until quite late in the day -  so now we are panicking (quite rightly) about getting IT gear moved to the right place at the right time.  I have become a Very Important Asset (according to my new line manager).  Just to cap it, one of my colleagues has got a new job, so I am liable to be double hatting for a few months, and then training up the new guy ....

Typical work: More. Faster. Change. Cut Costs. Ramp Up. Repeat.

In that case, I suggest recruiting only 3 new players and shaping the groups however works best.

And maybe mule races.

This sounds good

I would suggest just recruit another 3 players, maybe 4 as most likely one will drop out based on previous rpol experience.
Did you want some of us to npc the others for a while?

I have just tidied up NPC names and labels to match the conventions described in this thread.

For simplicity’s sake - NPCs voiced by the DM have names that start with an underscore ie  '_Yolen'.  NPCs voiced by Players have names starting with a tilde ie '~ Robert'.

Recruiting 3 or 4 new players to fill out the three groups makes sense.

My personal preference would be groups of characters of similar levels as I think that works better in terms of the game mechanics. Lower level characters mixed in with higher level characters are either extremely vulnerable or frustrated because they can't be as effective as the higher level characters. If that just doesn't work out in terms of a good mix of characters and classes in each group then fair enough, compromises are a necessary fact of life.

I have been working to over come that issue which is why the L2s and L3s are both going up but the 4s and 5s aren't - I have also advertised at L3.  So we will have L3-5 going forwards.

I will look at how to balance that a bit better with different level parties, when I reorganize.  However, I am not sure that we have a good balance of classes across the levels - but I'll check that before I do anything :)

Maybe this would work :-

Cass, El, Quinn, Andalon, Ethankos & Pipre

Adoven, Mariam, Marik, Domitius, Kendrick & Marceline

Safiya, Zelona, Quentin & 3-4 newbies


-:   But that depends on how Safiya, Zelona and Quentin feel about having a whole bunch of unknown characters with them.

In reply to Andalon de Lebeda (msg # 85):

Don't know if I agree with that. I had a 1st level fighter in a 3.5 game coming in as a hiring to a 9th level party. Even with minimal buffs, I was holding my own through clever role play and strategic thinking. Didn't take me more than a few sessions to start catching up, either.

Hello everyone, how are things going?

Welcome aboard!

Thanks, looking forward to playing. Its been a while for me.

In reply to Adoven (msg # 88):

I agree with Adoven's sentiments.
As one of the lower level characters, I have been enjoying myself. I don't look at the characters that I interact with as he's a L3 or L4? I don't see levels while roleplaying. Combat is very much the same thing. I don't say... where's the L4? That L4 better get up in front and soak up the damage :)

I think that this game works with having different level PCs in the game. As each specific group ventures out, I tend to look at classes and see if we have a good mixture instead of specific levels.

The GM has done a good job of having new characters start out higher than L1. So whether it is L2 or L3 to start out, I think it has gone well.

Agreed, it really does depend upon the group that one is traveling with. The holidays made things a bit iffy for everyone and that can always leave players feeling out of balance. Generally speaking, if your higher levels are well-managed, then the lower levels shouldn't necessarily feel the brunt, but that is a personal feeling. It's good to be back in the fold myself and I do enjoy a good mix.

Welcome Stanislov!

Welcome, Stan!

If needed to be "downplayed," maybe some of the less needed DM NPCs from abandoned players can be moved to Ringbridge to help in its growth.

Everyone here is an exceptional character both IC and OOC*, and I am happy to role play with each and all. So I don't mind a party change up every now and then. Especially since the parties always have a strong IC story purpose.

Varying levels can be a hard juggle, but usually as long as they are in a close enough range, they can be smoothed out. John/Henry has a good head on his shoulders. I trust him to arrange things nicely.

Now. Who wants to invest all their BPs with Cass? He's an ambitious S.O.B. :)

---

* Online at least. Offline, you may all be a bunch of scoundrels.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:30, Sun 13 Jan 2019.

Thank you, Cass.

(But no extra BPs  :P )

In reply to Cass Mordane (msg # 94):

Thank you and its Stas.

Pretty much done except for equipment. :)

Thus far, Adoven has been a solid investment for all his investors, paying back 1.5 bp for a 1.0 bp investment. Just saying.......

Hi Stas, I hope you have as much fun here as I have. :)

Adoven, if my concern (that the players of lower level characters in a higher level party might not enjoy the experience as much) is misplaced then I am certainly not going to grumble about it. As long as everyone is enjoying the game I don't mind who is in each group.