Speaking of the Duvessa thread, it's currently locked.  Is that intentional until the Dannika conversation is done, or was there just an overlooked toggle to click on when making the thread?

No, that's a mistake on my end. I must've misclicked. It's open now.

Sorry, I'm a bit under the weather right now. Having trouble with thinking coherently.

Hope it's not covid.  Get well.

I was gonna say, the Northlook probably calls for a Persuasion check, depending on where Tympani wishes to take it. Or not. I'll leave that up to you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:11, Fri 19 Apr.

Does it help that Tym cannot roll lower than a 20?  She currently has Persuasion 10.  And, with the Silver Tongue ability from the bardic College of Eloquence, any roll less than 9 becomes a 10.  But, just for the heck of it ...

Tympani Major rolled 21 using 1d20+10.  Persuasion.

Gotcha. At last, someone who's taking care of the Charisma checks! Not that Mallory hasn't been a fine temp :)

Do you want to post? If not, I think I'll edit my last one.

I like to fill in where I perceive a need.

I'll post.  We'll see how the unsubtle approach comes across.

Bards™.

Mallory's presence as The Face for the Party has been driven less by her +1 CHA modifier and more by her being the only one present who has, like, a genuinely structured social life and ability to run a business.  ^^;

Uhhh....Okay. That's a lot of posts from 2 characters and the DM only in like 3 threads.

If it helps, a lot of Mallory's part in the avalanche of words is mostly just summarizing prior events of the game.

I considered not opening a new thread and instead only continuing the main thread, but there was interest in continuing the scene in the Northlook.

Stormheart is free to choose if he wants to join the meeting with Duvessa. Otherwise, the main thread, which is presently in the Northlook, remains open.

I apologize.  Consider this preliminary.  I'm trying to find the character voice, and it helps to post a lot.  I'll adapt to the normal routine as I get my feet on the ground.

What is an acceptable posting rate here, BTW?  I didn't see anything in the General Rules thread.

Also, BTW, I appreciate the recap of recent history.  I think it's helping shape Tym's character as well.  She's turning out grittier than I'd first imagined her.  And, I'm taking notes.

No, look, I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad about posting, it's just 3 PCs haven't posted in a few days (...okay, it's been longer than that for 2 of them) and it just feels like...Honestly, the game's posting rate is higher than what I can post at usually, and the only reason I've been able to hang in is because Khulekani rarely posts and Rhydd posts in spurts but then gives me a bit of time to be able to hang in there. Mallory's always been a frequent poster but she's been off on her own so it hasn't affected me. But...shrug...now with 2 frequent posts and a DM that can keep up, I gotta face the facts.

If it helps, it's not like this all the time.  The clustered posting is kind of a side-effect of both having two new players rolling into the roster, and the story being in a sort of crossroads point where we're getting everything ready to set up for the next big direction of the adventure.  Things should even out in terms of posting rate and tempo once we get back out onto the road/a clear course of events to follow.

Quite frankly, I was beginning to be concerned about the rest of you.  I'm glad you said something Stormheart.

How do you suggest we proceed, Stormheart?

I've no qualms, though I was unsure of how much Mallory might actually recall of the map since - at the time it was shown - there was specific narrative mention that the Bugbears snatched it away to prevent too good a look from being had.  Mallory doesn't have the "Keen Mind" Feat, so I could always roll an INT-based skill check for recollection's sake, unless you'd rather just hand wave it instead.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:26, Mon 22 Apr.

No problem.  Just a bit of roleplay.  Nothing practical need come of it.

I guess you should look at recruiting people who like a faster posting rate, since you have one player that rarely posts, and two that don't post often enough to stay relevant to conversations and plots.

In reply to Mallory Bonheur (msg # 221):

Tympani raised the exact same issue, and I recalled a previous discussions Mallory and I had on the topic. In this case, I do imagine an approximation would suffice since it's not serving a functional use anyway.

Edit: In other words; no roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:42, Tue 23 Apr.

I also have a suggestion in a similar vein.  I would put a posting requirement / suggestion / expectation in the RtJ and/or the General Rules.  One of the things that I look at when deciding whether a game will be compatible with my style of play is the rules.  Call it Front Loading expectations.  I think it will help you get a group of people who's styles of play are more compatible.

One of the things that drew me to this game was your mention of the use of Past and Present tense in rule number 2.  It showed that writing style was, at the very least, something important to you.

Back when I started the game, the omission of a posting rate was intentional on my end. Mostly, I wasn't comfortable specifying anything before the game had started rolling, and trying to predict it would likely have done more harm than good. In essence, my thinking at the time was that we would go as fast as we go, with me adapting as needed. Now, however, as we've had plenty of time to settle into a comfortable rhythm, a posting rate can absolutely be specified. I'd set it to 2-3 posts per week, which I feel reflects our average output. This is pretty damn fast compared to most other games. The rate been slower or faster at times, of course, and some posts are more substantial than others.

I'll update the RTJ thread with the posting rate, so long as we hammer something down.

I'm comfortable with two / three times a week.  I can go up to once a day for and indefinite period of time.  Sometimes I can sustain multiple posts per day, but can't keep that up for long.  Once a week or less, and I start losing focus.  I begin forgetting the details and goals of the story between posts.

I tend to be more available and of the habit to post frequently than not, as my post count surely tells.  This is, admittedly, in part because I tend to stretch conversations across multiple posts even when I could potentially get it done in one, simply because I enjoy writing long-form story telling.  Under normal circumstances I can certainly post once a day without issue and multiple times a day depending on the timing - my work schedule is changing currently and will continue to shift over the next few months, which will limit my posting rate since I can't really post during working hours.

In any case, I personally don't want to be the cause of any strife and if my habit of frequent posting causes any sort of issues, I'll most certainly dial it back as necessary.  I don't want anyone to feel like they're stuck playing catch-up after being away for a day or two, after all.

On a semi-related note, I'm rather miffed that the RPOL site update has made it so that we can no longer see each others' last-online timestamps in the Cast List anymore.  That was very handy for being able to figure out when folk were keeping an eye on the game but simply not posting, or if they'd gone AWOL for a while because of life, versus how it currently is with being unable to tell.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Thu 25 Apr.