Starting this thing up!

Hey all! Glad to be in the game! This game seems very interesting to me!

I do have a question, though. What's the story of the game going to be about? Like the setting and what's happening of interest in it.

The setting is nominally the Land of a Thousand Towers* (from Anomalous Subsurface Environment) with a bit of changes.

A land where evil sorcerers rule city-states with iron fists long after climate change, super-science, and 'magic' warped and ruined the world.  Your home base is Denethix* a mecca for civilization and technology, or one of the surrounding villages ruled by a benevolent Arch-Wizard of such immense power that none of the other evil wizards dare attack them.

You can read (far too much) more information in the Gods & Setting document:
https://docs.google.com/docume...Xu2C6daR0vDRdwo8Cioc

I'm still working on fleshing that out, but it gives a lot of info on the gods and races right by which other parts of the setting can be inferred.

As to what you're doing, for a bit longer explanation see the game info.  The short of it:  you're seasoned Real Estate Recovery Technicians sub-contracted by Vault Ventures to locate if necessary (maps aren't great) and evict any unlawful tenants from their properties   Which translates to you're given the general location and identifying description or number of a building or dungeon to go clear out, and paid for it on top of anything you recover.

As it's a 'sandbox' you can certainly go off on your own endeavors if you prefer.

*I may change names to make it a bit more my own, but haven't come up with anything I like better yet.

Nice! I've never played or read ASE but have heard nothing but good things about it! The setting sounds cool as heck!

Veryn, love your additions (paintings, fish tank!)  I ran a live game of the new Star Wars rpg a couple years ago, it strongly encouraged players to just call out scenery like that often something the player could use - but could be turned against them too.  That part of it worked pretty well (rest of the game was a bit too complex for my tastes though.)

We have 5 players so far, 5 should be plenty to start once everyone's got their characters finished.  I tend to like to start with 7 due to turnover, but I've got a good feeling. :)

When I’ve tried to DM, I’ve realized it’s just way too much to add in every little detail like that, so I encourage players to populate the scene as they see fit(within reason, ya know?). I’ve found it makes sessions much more entertaining!

Had a 6th join.

Hey all, I'm slow on character creation since I'm on vacation now. I'll get him ready soon.

No problem, we're still waiting you and two others.

I'll probably move it along a little in the next few days, and just have characters be there in the background so they can listen.

I seem to have forgotten alignment on the character sheet, so added the spot to everyone's.

Please note Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic (not that I think it will have much if any effect on anyone's characters, it's more important for spellcasters)

Still in character creation, too! I'll be joining shortly.

Some more brief focused background:

Vault Ventures LLC is owned and operated by Victor Livingstien a Dwarf dirt farmer who got into real-estate and made a name for himself.  He's done well as "You can always trust a dwarf."  He specializes in vaults (underground domiciles) but also deals in some above ground real-estate especially in the demi-human quarter of Denethix proper, and is active in anti-slavery politics (and possibly the underground railroad, if such a thing exists.)  He owns, Itap, which is a brewing robot semi-re-purposed to handle greetings and the day-to-day drudgery of paperwork.  All other employees are handled as contractors as needed, though they're typically treated and paid well.  It's unclear how many people he has working for him in some capacity.

Your character may have had as little contact as a single contract for the removal of some unwanted house guests like some mutated rats in between other adventuring, or had an extended contract as private security and/or maintenance for the domiciles in the demi-human community, the underground railroad, political functions, or even as an appraiser or real-estate agent as suits your character's interest and abilities.  Your official title is or was "Valuation Technician." which as likely as not had little to do with what your character actually did. While you've done well enough for yourself and you think you've performed above expectations, you've got some ambition, greed, wanderlust or whatever it is that makes adventurers adventurers, that makes you want more or at least a change of pace.

I'm looking for feedback, Is the pacing & posting alright?  Too fast, too slow?  Move it along to combat? More RP? More exploration?

I'm planning on taking the Jim Ward school of "Moving it Along" if no one posts for a day I'll just assume what I think you'd do (except maybe combat, I'll prompt if you haven't stated what you do during the round after a day) I'd prefer if you post every day though, weekends & holidays excepted as I have less time then, but will still try to update.  Even just posting a simple "I go with the flow" would be great.

For instance right here we could RP getting into the tavern, the show, local color, or I could just ask for how much you spend where and move along to the rest of the travel/next event, either going straight to the cones or giving some landmarks and spots of interest along the way.

Thanks.

That sounds about right, that's what I expect for my game.

I check my games daily and can post that often, if updates are made by the GM.

It's easy for laggers to catch up by reading a few posts, so unless there is combat I like moving the game along.

I'm sporadic, I can usually post in the evenings, but wednesdays are busy.  I can check in during the day, but only from my phone.

as for pacing, I'm still trying to work out Bob's place.  I'm still feeling out the world.  But moving through that is OK as well.

I don't want to appear like a dunce if it's already been stated. But $1=1gp, right?

Yes.  I noted it in the OOC at the end of that post.

Man, I knew I was a dunce! Dunno how I missed that, mate. lol

We didn't get a saving throw or anything to avoid be caught up in the carousing?

Was just trying to move it along, sounded like most were getting involved (except Bob.)

Atak retired to the room for the evening. No carousing.

Atak - the scotch alone is $20, the separate suite another $15 and another $8 for the food, so your portion was a good chunk at $43 (though I'm assuming Bob went with you unless he says otherwise, so effectively $21.5 ea)

We are all set now, with the 100 gp sack and the 49 gold overage being handled by the good Doctor, right?

Yes, all covered.

wow, I missed a lot.

Bob would have spent the evening with Atak in the room.  I expect his presence would have given the common room fits, and he would not be interested in 'companionship' and carousing.

PM

I would think Bob's javelin was a hit. Can't imagine goblins with greater than AC 5.

I figured with cover it was likely still a miss.

I totally get it.

Whoops, thought I was waiting on someone, but everyone's posted by Thursday.   Weekend and Today's been pretty busy so far, I'll try to get an update later today.

Oh no, I was waiting on Black Angus.  I'll give him until tomorrow since I haven't said anything until now.

Whoops, thought I'd posted.

Since this would be table talk in a face to face game, I'll post it here.

I've got 13 of 22 hit points left. I should be able to survive another hit or two, unless I get hit with a molecular transmogrifier or blaster cannon or something like that. Spears and arrows? I'm probably OK.

I have 12 hpts and took two wounds of unknown damage.

I might be a bit slow for the indefinite future, very busy and tired at the moment.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:41, Thu 19 Mar 2020.

Things have finally slowed down a bit today, hopefully they stay that way for a bit.

I'll give Veryn another day to update before I post though.

Probably shouldn't wait on him before making any other moves. Just my two cents.

Back to being busy this last weekend & Monday, looking forward I might be a bit patchy on ability to post.

Waiting for actions from Black Angus & Bob before I update.

I look to have a very busy Friday & weekend so might not be able to post until Monday if we don't get it in before that.

Bob is still playing dead.

Crush 'em, Angus!

Sorry for the delay. Crazy work week!

15xp each from the last set of goblins.

Assuming we all get a decent night's sleep, how much do we heal?

You only get hp back if you take a full day of rest, no travelling and no combat.

But Pat the Elf has healed us until we are almost up to full, right?

Bob is still recovering.

I closed the intro thread and created a new one "The Grapple Forest."

Added a new notice with the stuff from the info thread regarding the vaults so it's easier to find.

Waiting on Angus' action

I'm going to be out m-w next week.

So... what're you all doing?

Today? Recording a 1-hour weekly local English radio show I host this morning. This afternoon, my older son is going to meet with the tennis coach of one of the potential middle schools he might go to next year (Korean middle schools have open enrollment).

I podcast three different shows each week and another every other week from Michigan. Today was a mental health day- I bought a tent. Tubing trip coming up.

I took my daughter for a drive and visited two colleges she might apply to.

I've been working my side hustle, and my son is walking across the stage for his highschool graduation this weekend.

We took our mandatory vacation, went to the coast, not much to do, but the kids played tag with the ocean, and it was a nice quiet getaway from the day to day.

And now that I'm back,  What are your characters doing? :)

We can't track the chicken-wolves to a den and there is nothing let of interest here, so... onward toward our objective. Looking for the special landmarks to help guide us to the crazy place we're supposed to be going. Unless anyone else has more to do here or there is anything of interest where we currently are.

DM, mind if I plug the gonzo DCC funnel I just started?

Bob is down to 5/14 HP, so rest and recover are top of his list, but as there is nothing here, I suppose we keep plugging along.

Darien, sure go ahead.

Thanks DM!

The Hounds of Halthrag Keep is a solo gamebook written by a good friend of mine and compatible with DCC. Guaranteed to grind your zero level characters to a pulp in the most gory and hilarious ways possible!

I’m running it as multiplayer and adjusting difficulty accordingly.

Sorry I've been a bit slow, daughter has a fever, and whatever it is the rest of the family seems to have some symptoms we're fighting off.  Doc says it's mostly likely not Covid-19 due to the symptoms but some other virus.

The whole work from home thing has me a bit discombobulated as well.

There's your $2 word for the day. :)

In reply to DM.Justisaur (msg # 63):

I hope everyone recovers soon!

Daughter's better, I'm lingering a bit, but mostly better.

On with the game!

Best wishes!

Sorry for the long absence, things have been crazy here since virtual school started back up I can barely remember who I am let alone to come here.  I'm closing down at least until things get back to normal, if they ever do.

Nearly two years passed, and here I am again.  I felt like I got bogged down in system rules with the healing and people weren't giving me enough direction as to what they were doing when I left it.  I'm not sure how to get over that even if anyone is still around.  I was having fun up until we got into the forest which was intended to be a bit like a hex crawl/treasure hunt, maybe that needed to get changed to something with more clear direction.  I'm not sure I can salvage it, but if people are even still here and still interested I'll give it a go, any ideas on what to do with the long recovery of hp or general direction welcome.

If not I'll close it down in a couple weeks.