Have a good one, Spark

have fun!

Sorry for the double post; but i just realized we've all posted our perception checks, so I think we are waiting on narrator :)

Oh my god Santio's interpretation of Tidelan's actions has me in tears HAHAHAH

"Irrational hatred of deer" IM WEAK
This message was last edited by the player at 23:35, Wed 05 May 2021.

       ;-P


Nothing better than a little inter-party conflict due to misinterpretation.

Santio you should probably take the part about attacking Tidelan out of your earlier post, since he never charged the elks, anymore.

done

THEY ARE HERE FOR THEIR REVENGE ! ! !

w a t c h   o u t !

Lol you might never know >:D

This place is heaven for a hunter, it seems

Oh deer*, Lukas is striking out with doe’s tonight.  Not quite the stag he thought he was, eh!

            * pun intended, obviously

Sorry for my absence.

Graduated from my Master's Program this week!  I'll have a big post tomorrow as an apology.

Congratzzz! Hope you didn't work too hard, ha ha :)

What is your degree in? Actually, IIRC in uni courses it means you get a major and a minor, right?

I bet it must have been weird for everyone when an 8 foot tall bugbear accepted his degree!



Don't worry about the absence! You didn't really miss much (besides a lot of my OOC shitposting) anyway, since both GMs have been fairly occupied as well :)

If you were taking your exams that seriously it's probably a good thing, though I'm sure it was a pain in the neck, eh?



Again not a problem, though I must confess excite :)

[hmm using excite as a noun; it really is time to sleep... just two more seasons of anime before bed fufufu]

Not a problem and congrats! Awesome job for making it through all that hard work!



lol yep been there, done that, still there. What anime?

It's a Masters in Social Work.

Next two years are working on the 3000 odd hours I need to get licensed. Then I can be a private therapist, or run a nonprofit program, or write grants, or really do whatever I want.

Not such a big post, but I will be much more present in the days to come.

Yikes, reminds me of my mum when she was getting a teaching degree. Frankly, I think the absurd hours to get a license is just an excuse for the government and big corporations to get free (or discounted) labor out of you. even if they pay you, they're still benefitting by ensuring a fairly-constant stream of fresh workers.

Since you have a lot of options; I'll risk being rude and give some (probably unhelpful advice). I'm a few years younger than you, but I I've definitely interacted with a lot of social workers my whole life, and actually gotten to know a little about how they live.

Unless you're a major altruist (totally possible), and maybe a bit of a masochist (less likely but hey i dont judge), I don't recommend supplying most social services, especially ones that don't pay well.

I don't know where you live (you might've said, but I've definitely forgotten ha ha), but I know for sure that in the US and Canada, like teachers (a major controversy right now), all sorts of social service providers (from most types of counsellors to educational assistants and so on) don't only get paid less than many think they should, they also have terrible benefits, job security and often have to pay out of pocket for a lot of stupid things.

It's totally possible to make do like that, but I've heard those fields are in a rough state right now for the workers as a whole. You probably know this though, and maybe are even involved in it.

Being a private therapist sounds awesome to me, and I don't know much about the other ones so I won't say anything potentially ignorant. A great bonus to a therapist is the salary, but it's also worth considering if you think the work is fulfilling.

Technically speaking, you don't have to be sympathetic to be a therapist (in fact, I've heard that a lot of them aren't), but you do need empathy (the ability to understand emotions, and relate to them, I suppose).

Anyway sorry for the wall of text ha ha, just putting it out there in case (by some chance) you haven't heard any of it before. Again, none of this is absolute, just my (fairly uneducated TBH) take on social workers (whom I definitely appreciate, but wouldn't want to be one).



I ended up crashing instead, but I was planning on watching season 2 and 3 of SAO, which I've heard was really really bad but I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt anyway. I actually quite liked the first part of the first season, but the second half was kind of a let down IMO... we'll see where it goes from here, long-running anime/manga often tend to falter in writing quality, though. I definitely didn't get most of the complaints about it, since I've seen those bad qualities displayed way worse in a lot of other shows. Probably has to do with the overall popularity though, which makes sense.

Actually, I'm pretty new to anime in general... I've watched a few before, but always thought it was one of those 'cringe cultures' (though, as I get older I think that's just an excuse for teenagers or immature adults to crap on each other) so I avoided it. Even though I'm a total weeb now, I gotta admit most those stigmas were spot on yikes.

Only started watching the medium in earnest 2-3 months ago. I've definitely binged way too much, as I have a really addictive personality that's kind of expected at this point! I estimate that I've watched 360 hours (or 15 days) of it in this timespan. That's way too much, especially since it only accounts for like 70% of the time I spend on the screen.

Funnily enough, I'm a real-life NEET right now, so if it weren't coronavirus, it would probably be worth going out to get milk so that I can keep an eye out for kids in need of rescue truck-kun

I actually have an ongoing document with all the anime I've watched, ranked by order of personal enjoyment. I'm happy I decided to do it on a whim, 'cause I'm sure it's the only thing stopping me from mindlessly consuming everything I can find, which would be a huge waste of potential enjoyment.

Even ended up reading some light novels (when available) for some of my favorites.

Obligatory halfhearted apology for two walls of text in one post, I swear I'm not trying to show off or waste people's time, I just have a lot to say and I like to write.

It's fine. I'm happy to see so much thought put into the responses (not that short post can't or aren't thoughtful). I used to love writing to, but now most days I find it hard to do except for when it comes to writing for you guys on here. Unfortunately I find it hard even on here sometimes. Writer's block sucks big time and I've got it pretty bad. I know one of my biggest problems for my books is that I've found too many holes in my stories that I can't seem to figure out how to fill. As far as on here I wish I could be more descriptive for you guys and really fill out the posts I make so you guys have more than just the bare bones of what's happening. I'll continue working to get better and hopefully I'll get back to where I was someday, but for now bare with me. I'm happy to see such passion put into writing that came so easily, I'm sure. It's good and I hope that it continues to flourish and get only better for you. ^_^

I've been there! I know it's not really applicable to DND campaigns (since there is a pressure to keep them going whenever you can), but I try never to force myself through Writer's Block. I find that only ends up with me making content I'm dissatisfied with.

I was actually running a game some time ago (coronavirus ruined my sense of time, but I think it was before that, when I was in grade 10 or 11, maybe?) and had an incredible cast of devoted players... I tried really hard, but always felt like I fell short. They seemed fairly satisfied though. While the game wasn't DND, I think it showcases a big part about most forms of roleplay as a whole is that it's a group effort. Meaning, even if one player or even a GM needs to be cut a bit of slack and put in what isn't their best work, that's okay, because a good story can still be constructed because of everyone else.

For example, looking back, I really hate the juxtaposition with how Tidelan spoke before I realized he should have a foreign accent and a lowered vocabulary (TBH a big reason for this decision was that I realized I had him knowing more languages than he should be allowed, even though it was a necessity for the backstory to work. I compromised internally and decided to make him nigh illiterate for common, and also struggle to speak in that language) because it's frankly a bit of a plot hole.

I've considered going back and editing every post I made before this change, but not only would that kill my motivation with the amount of effort and time it would take, it would also be unfair to the players if I couldn't come up with a perfect translation that made their responses clunky or even nonsensical.

So, I just take it for what it is and look back at it with pride as one of the best developments I've ever made to a character's personality. Frankly, i've not done a lot of roleplay in the grand scheme of things, even though I don't consider myself as a 'newbie'... so having this breakthrough and getting a sense for such a well-developed character is really exciting for me. that's probably the reason I sometimes end up putting a little too much flare onto even simple posts.



I'm not exactly sure, but I might have ahd that problem before. If by 'holes' you mean huge empty space in the world or characters or story that leave an impression that isn't immersive, there's two things I do to deal with that (neither are perfect, even when I use them):

 - the simpler and more reliable idea is to just close that distance. Have a huge timeline for an ancient world, but nothing to fill it? Make the world younger. Have a major character with a lot of screen time but a barebones backstory and/or weak personality? Reduce his role in the story or just his screentime. Is the story dragging on with no events happening? Reduce the amount of downtime.

 - this solution can actually go wrong on you (you'll see why), but if it goes right it solves the underlying problem of lack of immersion in a way the option above cannot: Fill the spaces in with stuff. This sounds a lot like 'You're homeless? Just buy a house' so let me explain what I mean. If you have holes that you don't know how to appropriately fill (happens to me often when I run out of themed content for a location that I thought I would have more inspiration for when I designed it), you can add unrelated things instead of racking your mind on this topic forever. This is unclear still, so examples are in order: Have a huge timeline for an ancient world, but nothing to fill it? Use inspiration from elsewhere to add some events that don't have anything to do with your world in the first place. Then, try to meld the seams together. Have a major character with a lot of screen time but a barebones backstory and/or weak personality? Give them a major secret, or a bunch of small ones. This is even harder to do than above, since if what you come up with collides with your story, you will have a harder time justifying their role. For example, a supporting grandfather character that is secretly an evil wizard. Why is he doing all this nice stuff? You can't just think of something that would read as 'conflated' to the viewer, so you gotta be careful with your twists here. Is the story dragging on with no events happening? Add a beach episode. I'm just kidding, lol. Though, if you need to add filler because you're on a time crunch, know that literally every mangaka has probably done the same thing before, so you have thousands of kindred spirits LMAO.



I've definitely noticed this, but I can't say it bothers me too much, especially since I recognize that you and Conspirator have a huge cast of characters to adjudicate for.

I think, when and where it matters, you both write very good prompts (with these many talented players carrying their own weight, that's more than enough for a good story).  Even besides that, there's nothing wrong with keeping things simple, especially during long travel scenes or random encounters ha ha.



That's very kind, thank you! And yes, that's an accurate assumption :P

Oooh, this might end up being the first time our party has ended up being split over a course of action :)

Interesting!

Truth.

I gotta say, I don't know what alignment Tidelan is, but I am guessing from what I've seen so far: Lawful Neutral.
He seems (certainly not evil) but less interested in 'doing good for the sake of good' (Neutral) ... but also very focused on keeping his word and promises when he makes them (Lawful).

I am guessing that, to his credit, he will do as Galenna chooses here, because he is sworn to her duty?
And then, if Galenna says she wants to simply bypass the pack, Santio will work with that also ... so I don't actually think those two will 'split'.

Spark, Boneclaw and Verbannt, however ... it will be interesting to see.

Correct! Tidelan is indeed Lawful Neutral :)

He actually started the game as true neutral, but exactly as you've noticed, he puts heavy emphasis on his sylvan concept of 'Honor', which I believe is probably not the same as Verbannt's usage of the word.

I actually have a lot of information on the concept, and on this whole 'sylvan' thing I never shut up about in general, but I mostly withhold all that unless it comes up in game.



That's almost correct. Tidelan will definitely listen to what she says in this case, but IIRC correctly his exact oath was "to protect her" not "to obey her". That's a major difference, especially because he doesn't actually respect her opinion as a warrior, so if this were something more dangerous than a pack of wolves, he would not have made the same compromise to follow her lead.



I'm gonna take some shots in the dark to guess what their opinions on the matter could be:

Spark: We've already seen his stance, so I'm skipping this entry

Boneclaw: Of all the characters in our party, I actually think I understand Boneclaw the least. That's probably because he's a kenku with which communication is hard, but also because there are so so many ways to take the lore for a Grave cleric. I'm not familiar with (what i assume is) FR lore, so I dunno much of anything about Kelemvor as a deity, not even his alignment(s?) which means I dunno how his followers behave.

Verbannt: I predict that Lukas' response would be similar to Tidelan in this case... though I could also see him wanting to tame one or more of the wolves, which would most likely involve a combat encounter.

Boop?

Just waiting on to see what Spark does before I make my move to help Santio (and protect the closest danger to Galenna, for that matter).

Santio, what's your maximum HP? Were you at full when the fight started?

You took two instances of damage, 24 and then 11.

So unless you suffered instant death on that first attack (because your total hp was <12), you've only lost two death saves (from the second attack).

If your hp going in was >25, you would have lost no death saves at all.