Chat for sharing your character, asking questions to the posse, me, announcing you are unavailable, pretty much all the usual OOC things.

Welcome all, to the game!

Commences fan fare

Please share what would be known about your character, so what performances/skills they offer, any stage name or nickname that they have, and how long you have been here.
Some of you may work closely together, others you may know who they are but never worked with them.

If they are things you want kept secret from the other players, that is completely allowed, as no-one will always know everything about a person.

Also, whilst you have individually told me in your RTJ what direction you would like to go with the game, please also discuss that here, as I want you all to be an understanding and cohesive group.

Finally, would you all like to start with some gentle roleplaying around the circus, or get stuck into some action?

EDIT: Extra thought - If you want any help with character creation, or ever a need to nudge me if I go silent for any reason (hopefully not), you can get me on Discord on NuFenix#6922.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:34, Mon 29 Mar 2021.

Hello, resident animal trainer here. If any of the trick riders made it in the show, we might have some commonality.

Hello Hello, I will be your resident trick shot artist. Other than that, Larissa, Rissa to her friends and family, has poor social skills and a melancholy outlook on life. Like I suspect a few of us, she ran away from her home situation and joined the circus and now the circus has become her family.

Hi all.

Let's see:

Jade has no special nickname save for she might get referred to as "Blondie" sometimes.  I know the portrait doesn't have the bright platinum hair I imagine the character having, but the facial features were just so dead on to what I imagine the character looks like I had to use it.

Jade is an acrobat hired from the recently defunct De Vries Brothers Circus, which recently went bankrupt after Claus, the elder of the three De Vries brothers, had to be hospitalized for an extended period of time and his two younger siblings ran the business into the ground.  It's obvious to anyone who knows what to look for she grew up in the circus, just not this circus.

Jade's performances are primarily on the rings and trapeze, and though she's competent she'll admit she's not the very best (yet).  She aspires to be the first woman to do a triple flip mid-air transition off of a front release (the double is hard enough!).

However Jade's real niche in the circus is due to her experience and comfort doing weird and dangerous things and being a statuesque blonde who looks good in a tight leotard, she makes a good generic assistant.  They tend to put her anywhere a pretty girl makes the act more visually appealing.

Now they don't want Jade to show up the talent, they just want her to stand there and smile, maybe wave to the crowd, so Jade might be the girl that Aria makes lions jump over or the girl that balances a bottle on her head for Larissa to shoot, etc.  They also cart her out when they go hawk the act in town to get attention.

Jade is intended to be a warm, friendly character with a sweet disposition who tries to be nice to everyone in the circus even if they are a little sour or a little strange (or very strange), but she has a few odd little quirks herself.  She often changes into normal clothes and runs off into town and vanishes for a little while, but she claims it's because she doesn't sleep well, which is true, Jade often wakes up others in the middle of the night with a yell or a scream.  Jade's long experience with the circus gives her a kind of pack mentality.  If anyone gets into trouble in town, Jade seems to one of the first to show up.  She's also been known to aggressively confront people who sneak into the circus after hours, but that may have to do with the fact she can't always sleep well.

I'm imagining a lot of strange, supernatural shenanigans and mundane threats following the circus and making a hard life even more challenging for its performers and staff.  I said in the RTJ it's a common trope that circuses are used as something creepy, but I kind of want to see it the other way, the circus people are just trying to survive and everyone else is creepy!

I would think a little unstructured "day in the life" would be useful, a rehearsal/practice/big top setup before a show or something like that.

Question: What skill best represents dealing with animals? Would it just be Persuasion? Or is there a skill in the Deadlands book that addresses this?

It's the Marshal's call, but Riding is often used.  It's also possible it could be a Knowledge Skill like Knowledge (Animal Trainer).

Performance is a possibility too, though that's usually more something the character does directly, like I hope to give Jade some Performance skill, she "performs" as an assistant (knows how to pose, walk, wave step, smile, make the star look good, etc.).

I'd say Persuasion, though you may want to look at Beast Bond and Beast Master, on p51 of the SWADE rulebook, as to me, they fit what you are going for very well.

Naomi's the tattooed lady. She's a little older than most of the circus, and takes things slowly. She's also quite smart and always has a story that often ends up 'illustrated' by one of her tattoos.

Jade, could you tell me more about the De Vries Brothers Circus? I'd planned on being from another 'defunct' circus myself, and it sounds like we might have been connected there.

Question, what's the sleaze level of our circus? Is it mostly on the up and up or are we the only decent people in it?

That's a good question. I'd hope it was on the up and up, as I don't see Rissa staying long with a corrupt circus.

Happy to go with the direction you all want - Want it to be reputable, and a good home for those who are unique, rather than a collection of lies and snakeoil salesmen, then that is how I'll build it.

I want the game, the setting, the circus, to be something you want to be involved with. Without all of you, there is no game.

Can you open our character sheets please? With word wrap on? Thanks.

I like the idea it's like society in general:  most of the circus people are legitimate, but a few aren't, and it's not that most of them are outright evil they're just questionable.

Here is Renko. I am Cossack from Siberia. Ride horse before I can walk. Fight before I can run. Women... well, you know. Been now in America for some time. Speak English pretty good, yah?

In circus I do many thing. I ride. I shoot rifle. I shoot bow. I throw knife and axe. I do sabre dance. Sometime I do two, three, four at once. The poster calls me Renko The Mad Russian. Pah! I am not mad, just Cossack!

I help Rissa with animals. Maybe Jade be my assist again now that little cut is healed, yah? Wait, I sing you Russian song, song of love, very sad.


There, that's Renko. This is me.

I think a small show, as honest as it can be and stay in business would be my preference. Maybe it's on its way up, starting to play bigger towns, adding acts, getting ready for the Big Time. Maybe it's on its way down, losing acts, couldn't compete with bigger shows back East, reduced to tramping around the West.

Off now to buy pdfs so I can make my character.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:54, Tue 30 Mar 2021.

I don't think my character would be part of a circus that abused its animals (though my character is a bit on the dim side).

Question: if I took the Tongue-Tied flaw, but only have it applied to people, does it still count as a major flaw?

Howdy folks, I'm joining in as Orlan Haig, a knife thrower. Aside from throwing knives, he drives a good stagecoach when it's needed. He's much more committed to making money throwing knives than he is to throwing knives for the sake of it, but he does take pride in the art, having been trained in that art by his (adoptive) father, Cillian Haig, another longstanding member of the circus.

I also tossed out the idea of mock competitions between this knife-thrower and our trick shot artist, with several variations on this theme (one winning cleanly, one winning by obviously cheating, draw leading to an archery competition at which one or both could be laughably bad, etc.)

I'll be grabbing a profile image and trying to make up a character tomorrow. I'm glad to be gaming with you all. :)

I definitely like the idea of our circus being mostly composed of good people, but I do think there should be some dark secrets hidden under the surface...

(@Aria: I'd guess that depends on the severity of the flaw when speaking to people.)

So you wouldn't get a penalty with animals?
I'd be fine with it as minor, but make sure to stick a note on you sheet somewhere to remind me.
After all, it just means even more hindrances to come up to influence the story, and potentially give out more bennies too.

Which books should we have if we're willing to pay for them? I have SWAdE, but these are several Deadlands books.

I'm asking because I want to know what animal(s) should be my companion.

I own SWADE and Deadlands the Weird West.

I don't own the Companion, as the archetypes inside didn't interest me, and most the book is designed for a Marshal (and I didn't plan to Marshal any time soon - woops!).

Most the varmints in the Deadland's book wouldn't work due to size, though a Mountain Lion (p153-4) may work for you?

SWADE probably has animals in the back somewhere, or Deluxe did, or I or someone else might have a stat block buried in a book somewhere.  I certainly do not have every Savage Worlds game, not even close, but I do have an embarrassing number of them.

If it's okay, I might take a Dire Wolf or two and reskin it/them as particularly large dog breeds.

As for Aria, she someone who ran off from an abusive home life to be in a circus and surrounded by animals. She has a nervous disposition when directly interacting with people but her act in the circus mainly involves the animals doing tricks so she doesn't have to interact with people that much. She's also decent at riding animals so she'll do the occasional trick ride.

She's a smallish young woman but is decently fit for someone her size. In a fight, she'll either sic her animals on someone or smack them with a club.



This is the flaw I was talking about.

Tongue-Tied (Major)
Your adventurer flubs cool lines (or thinks of them afterwards!), goes off on tangents when
he’s trying to talk someone into something, and generally miscommunicates most
everything he says. He suffers a −1 penalty to Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion, and Taunt rolls that involve speech.

In reply to Aria Fox (msg # 23):

You could also have a yappy pack of several smaller dogs, which are cuter for circus acts. You could put little ruffed collars and wear a similar outfit yourself, maybe with clown makeup.

https://imgc.allpostersimages....00&h=900&p=0

Renko would pretend to hate them but actually find them adorable.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:03, Wed 31 Mar 2021.

In reply to Renko Tenmo (msg # 24):

Who says we don't have a pack of smaller yappy dogs? The ones I'm talking about are the ones I bring into battle.

In case this helps. Dog/Wolf could be Irish or Russian wolfhound.

Dog/Wolf
The stats below are for large attack dogs, such as Rottweilers and Doberman Pinschers, as well as wolves, hyenas, and the like.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d6, Notice d10, Stealth d8
Pace: 8; Parry: 5; Toughness: 4
Edges: Alertness
Special Abilities:
„ Bite: Str+d4.
„ Size −1: The heads of these canines come to an average human’s waist, and they weigh about 60 pounds.
„ Speed: d10 running die.

Dire Wolf
Dire wolves are very large and feral canines often used by orcs as attack dogs. They may also be found roaming in packs in the deepest, darkest woods.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (A), Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d8
Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d8, Notice d6, Stealth d8
Pace: 10; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6
Edges: Alertness
Special Abilities:
„ Bite: Str+d6.
„ Speed: d10 running die.

Or you could herd cats! :D

Naomi knows the dogs names, and will, when food isn't tight, leave them some scraps outside the freakshow tent. She also sometimes talks to Renko in Russian (if that's the language he speaks).

Naomi is physically s.l.o.w.... and may be the least combat-capable in the party. S'the way it is.

That's fine by me :)

@Everyone
How are you all doing with character creation? I haven't had much in terms of PM's, so I'm hoping that means you are all happy with character creation, but I thought I would check.

With Easter rolling around, I understand people may be busy, so I wouldn't be wanting to start anything before Tuesday 6th April.

I need to do equipment and character desc/bio lines but I think I have the guts of it

When taking the Beast Master Edge, would the boss prefer it if I only keep one animal and I concentrate on making a single, bigger, more powerful pet?

Edit:
As to not double post, according to the SWADE, starting funds are 500$, so being seasoned we should have 1000$. Unless being Carnies means we've got to take the Poor Hindrance.

Edit2: Having newly bought the Deadlands book, I now know that they're using 1800's currency, so 250 goes a lot further.

Edit3: My character sheet is ready for a review
This message was last edited by the player at 02:02, Thu 01 Apr 2021.

I've bought SWADE and The Weird West. Been a while since I made a Deadlands character, but it's coming along.

This week is honestly dragging on pretty hard right now, so I'll be happy to take a bit more time on prepping my sheet.

Taking the day to put things together. Hopefully have something for y'all by this afternoon.

Whichever you prefer - Multiple pets, or larger. I'm flexible to it :)

As for funds, SWADE is only used when there isn't a setting. You would get $250 normally in a Deadlands game (as per p14), which is then doubled for being Seasoned.

You don't have to be poor. Maybe you save money so you can retire?


That's fine. I wouldn't want anyone to feel rushed and not make a character they would enjoy playing.

Tossed my character at the Marshal today. For transparency:

Naomi is old. She's not much physically. She knows how to use a gun, but she's not great with it.
What she -is- good at, however, is noticing things. Like, even stuff that normal eyes can't see. She's always got her finger on the pulse of what's going on around her. She also knows a lot about the occult. Like, a -lot-. And she speaks and reads a truckload of languages.
(Also she's a 'tale teller', but that's neither here nor there!)

Okay, where is the skills list?

In the SWADE book, Deadlands only lists new skills, I think.

In reply to Larissa Clements (msg # 37):

Thanks.

In reply to Naomi (msg # 35):

I take it Naomi knows Russian, but she is not of Russian origin/descent?

Both are correct.

I'm about to be done for the night, but I though I'd check how folks are doing after the Easter weekend?

Anything you need to run past me? Or the other players?

Bracing for the rest of the week which is going to be intense!

Well, I think I've mostly got the character finished, and I've picked out a picture representative of Orlan at work, I suppose. :)

I think other than getting you the info you wanted, I'm good..?

Regretfully, been sick and out of commission for a couple of days but hope to finish things up today.

Whilst characters are getting finalised, I have made a thread for you to jump into.

It will be a way to begin expressing yourselves, see what feels right for your characters, interact with one another, with NPCs, and not risk you losing interest in them as things get ready.

Depending how it goes, we may stay here and use it as a springboard for your first adventure, or depart elsewhere.

@Renko - Don't push yourself if you don't feel well enough to sort things we'll still be here.

What season does the game start?

As in what time of year?

Let's say spring, and it can even be April for the game too.

How is everyone?

I wanted to give everyone a chance to post, but at the same time I didn't want to risk having those of you who have left alone and that I'm not wanting to be engaged with it all.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with all of this, how your characters and the NPCs grow, what hijinks occur, and how weird I want the west to be...

Hey, I'm here to inform you guys my Internet is a bit spotty and will likely be so for the next few days.

Does Orlan or Claire/Larissa do their own reloads for ammunition. Or does the circus have someone who serves as armorer? Old Haig, maybe? Renko has limited cartridges for his Berdanka and, being a foreign weapon, they are not readily available.

In reply to Renko Tenmo (msg # 51):

Orlan owns a firearm, but he doesn't usually use it--I imagine that he purchases new cartridges on his own, but probably very infrequently.

Depending on what is being done, there may be someone in the circus who can help make ammo, but it is available from towns.

Blank ammunition is more likely to get made, for any acts that don't want to risk folks getting hurt.

In reply to Marshal (msg # 53):

He'll just buy what he needs then.

Ammo is cheap enough it should never be a concern.

How are folks doing otherwise?

Aria, how is your internet doing?

Naomi hasn't logged in since 8th April, so I think they may be gone.

My internet is now working

In reply to Marshal (msg # 55):

RPOL attrition strikes again!

I rather feel like I'm in an anime scene.

If that's the case, I'm not sure if I'm the only one appropriately dressed for it or not.

In reply to Jade Archer (msg # 57):

Yeah, attrition is a killer...

Sorry for the delay folks, I've been feeling a bit low and unfocused. But I don't want to abandon you all, nor have it die before anything has really happened.

I want to give you the chance to try out some mechanics, since this isn't a free form game, and the system is why we are here.

I don't believe that rolls stop a story, or that you need to roll until you succeed, as why bother rolling?
It goes well, you get what you want. You raise, it goes even better!
But you fail, and you don't get what you want, but something else may happen.
Critically fail, and who knows...

I should probably let someone else make this roll, since Aria has the Tongue-Tied hindrance.

If someone else takes the lead, Renko will follow in support. If Renko steps up... Well, when your only tool is a hammer...

Jade is willing to try sweet talking her way in with her 1d6+1 Persuasion

I think 1d6+1 sounds like a great roll, so I say go right ahead.

Seems to be the consensus by time so there we are!  Also, might want to configure the die roller so it's set for each roll.

Done - It wasn't something I had even considered, as I have GM'd so little on here.

Hey, I made a change to my character sheet. She now has the Ugly flaw, which takes the form of a horrid animal stench.

In reply to Aria Fox (msg # 68):

Pah! Cossacks live in close proximity to their horses and dogs.

In reply to Renko Tenmo (msg # 69):

Maybe that's why Renko is so protective of her, she reminds him of home.

I never got round to posting last night, but if I had, as it would be before Jade eased the situation, I was going to get Renko to give an Intimidate check, and see what happened!

Now you have your permit, what would you like to do next?

Do you want more exploration of El Paso?
Get a chance to do some crunch and show off your circus skills, skipping ahead to a show?
Moving on to another adventure?

It also seems we're down to four of you now, as Larissa hasn't logged in for a couple of weeks now.
Would you like me to look for any replacements, or are you happy at 4?

I wouldn't mind a replacement and I vote skip to show.

I like the show, and yeah, if you're up to it go ahead and try to grab 1 or 2, RPoL takes no prisoners.

In reply to Jade Archer (msg # 74):

It really does take no prisoners. :^)

I would love to engage with the city more, but exploration can get dicey in PbP, so maybe skipping to the performance would be best.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:53, Tue 18 May 2021.

Show is good.

Always happy to get additional cast.

I'll have a look and getting some more people onboard, and a performance post, later today then :)

I'd like it where you can make appropriate rolls, so riding if doing anything on horses, shooting/athletics, for those doing weapon spectacles, performance for generally entertaining the audience, and so on.

It would be nice to know what other acts we have so that we avoid duplication. As they say in the show business: "Never follow a banjo act with another banjo act."

Are we still in the Prelude?

I missed this, this is a good question.

Jade is of course with the acrobats, and if it's like other circuses I've seen, they tend to do with the acrobats what they do with the clowns, use them to entertain while somebody else is getting ready, except at the end when they do something dangerous that takes more actual equipment.  This is the Old West so I imagine they probably do a trapeze act near the end with some gymnastic exhibitions as a sort of "filler".

Jade is also mechanically built to be "the lovely assistant" who smiles at the crowd (she's the girl the knife thrower throws at, the girl the magician saws in half, that kind of thing) so feel free to use her like a prop.

Yes, I see us being out the prelude when we leave El Paso, or have some form of "mission".

Hello?

Yeah I thought Orlan had a good question.

Sorry, been a difficult few days and not been able to focus. I'll be getting back on top of things now.

Hi, new player here. I'll be reading up the OOC and IC logs, and building my character over the next day or two.

He is going to be a man who grew up in a circus touring central and eastern Europe. He knows all the backstage jobs, and can turn himself into several acts as needed. He is using the circus as a paying gig to further his personal goal of tracking down his two identical brothers, who both disappeared into the Deadlands.

Character is probably going to focus on social skills with some combat to keep himself alive. I've always been intrigued by the Improvisational Fighting Edge, so I think I'm going to develop that. I would appreciate some help from the people who know the system to look over my build.

I'm inspired by the science fiction circus stories of Barry Longyear, but I'm also the type of person who is going to be reading about life in a 19th century circus now that I've joined this game.

I'm a bit familiar with Savage Worlds, but I need a lot more experience with it before I'll be really comfortable with the system.

In real life I live in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, UTC -7 time zone. I try to check RPOL several times per day, but I often get a bit of analysis paralysis in trying to react to a really good post.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:16, Wed 26 May 2021.

Welcome aboard

In reply to Aria Fox (msg # 86):

And I'd be Harold Autrey Lewis, spiritualist, seer, seer of the unknown, scion of an old New England family, and outcast.  Not much more to go on than that, other than I'm at the other end of the continent from Karl, but I imagine we can make it work ;)

Nice to meet y'all, hope we get on well! :)

Welcome, new guys.

OK, here is my character. I used savaged.us to check the build, and it seems OK.

Karl Muller
Seasoned Male Human, Circus Performer and MC, blacksmith

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d8, Vigor d6
Skills: Athletics d6, Common Knowledge d4, Fighting d6, Healing d4, Language (English) d6, Language (French) d6, Language (German) d8, Language (Spanish) d6, Notice d6, Performance d8, Persuasion d8, Repair d6, Stealth d4
Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5
Hindrances: Code of Honor, Heroic
Edges: Ambidextrous, Improvisational Fighter, Linguist, Two-Fisted
Weapons: Unarmed (Range Melee, Damage Str)
Languages: German (native, d8), English (d6), French (d6), Spanish (d6)
Current Wealth: $500
Advances
Novice Advances
Raise Attribute: Agility
Edge: Two-Fisted
Edge: Ambidextrous
Seasoned Advances
Edge: Improvisational Fighter
Current Load: 0 (61)
Books In Use: Savage Worlds: Adventure Edition
Validity: Character appears valid and optimal

Sorry for being silent and absent folks - I've been going through some interviews for a new job. But the good news is that I was successful, and now going through all the background checks before I hand my notice in.

@Karl
That all seems fine - Have you considered what gear you want? Would you have any "proper" weapons, or always make use of what is on hand?

Good luck with the job

Congrats Marshal!

In reply to Marshal (msg # 91):


Well done on the job!

Best wishes for your new position.

In reply to Marshal (msg # 91):

Congratulations on your new job!

To answer the question, I think Karl will always use improvised weapons.

Catching up on the IC threads, and hope to contribute soon.

The show has been had, you're relaxing in the baths afterwards.

Do you want to be doing something weird here in El Paso?
Or maybe when travelling between places?
Sent off on an errand for Cornelius?
How much combat v non-combat would folks like? I don't want those who can fight to feel their characters are missing out, but I wouldn't want to throw you into a gunfight when you aren't interested either.

I'm completely making this up as I go, so I have no singular story to follow. What it does mean is that as there isn't a plan, it can't go wrong, or have you all go in the opposite direction.

I want you all to be engaged, enjoy things, and make sure I don't go quiet or abandon you all.

Surely there's both tomfoolery and shenanigans at play in El Paso.

I would like something weird to occur. Something exciting, and I wouldn't mind having at least some combat (though I get PBP can be very frustrating for combat).

My story ideas:

Something weird/strange/uncanny starts happening in El Paso. Not necessarily violent. Not a serial killer.

The circus folk (or a circus folk, maybe someone new to the show) attracts suspicion or gets blamed.

We need to sort it out so the show doesn't suffer.

As far as combat foes, it sort of ends up as the default when so many people are carrying guns and other weapons, but combat isn't always necessary for action. Renko is better equipped for melee, even non-lethal fighting. I deliberately chose not to give him a six-shooter. It looks to me like the rest of our PCs are also in that category.

Of course, that means any adversaries need to be on the same page. Maybe El Paso is a generally tamed town where fisticuffs are more common than shootouts.

In reply to Renko Tenmo (msg # 100):

I guess we need to decide if the spooky is stuff we find in different places, or if the spooky is something we bring with us to different places?

Why not both? :)

Well, the Marshall hasn't looked in for about three weeks now. That worries me.

Well, I've had a few cases where someone got sick and came back, or one terrible case where there was a death in the family, but I think RPoL attrition has claimed all but those two.

I appreciate the game either way it's a fun premise.

I've been away as my mental health hasn't been great, and the longer I was away, the guiltier I got about not logging in, and it kept spiralling.

As such, I've decided that I'm going to step away from all my games and RPOL, which includes running this game.

Take this as notice for me closing the game down.

I hope you all understand, and wish you all the best of luck in your games.

Best wishes. Hope to see you back before long.

Sad to see you go but better to look after your health.