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Please don’t post in here if you’re not part of my DnD group or don’t have something constructive to add to the ongoing conversations. However, people who are knowledgeable in DnD matters can post here as long as they are helpful. Thank you!

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Some of us have expressed an interest to play another DnD game for some time now and we have slowly organized things so that it went from a distant possibility to an actual reality. Obviously, I’ll be taking the part of the DM… what can I say… Shawnacy’s work has inspired me during the long weeks waiting for the next game to do this! I’ll be striving to get rid of the decade old rust to catch up to speed with the new rules… but I promise to be a quick learner!

As our discussions went on we have agreed that the ideal time where we were all available would be on Tuesday nights with the start time being at 6:30 PM Eastern Time and most sessions wrapping up around 10:30-11 PM. This will be an ongoing campaign with regular games planned every week. I don’t plan to have any downtime or any breaks other than my 2 week vacation with my fiancée late in September. The official start date will be July 15th (I’d do it on the 8th but I have scheduled a dentist appointment that day to remove 2 wisdom teeth, so yeah, not going be fit to talk for 4 hours that same night) and it will give people ample time to create their characters and their backstories. Thus allowing me the time to create the campaign I want that will fully interact with my players and their characters.

Please note that this is a 5 player DnD group that will be far more oriented towards role playing and have more role playing options available to them. For example, I’ve already come up with a few ideas to stimulate this and I’m going to continually find more ways to give the players the freedom of choice on how things may or may not be handled by their very own decisions. This will be a constant factor during the campaign. There will be the hard way and there will be easy way and players will be deciding that…. or your companions will! *shifty eyes*

I intend to portray a cinematic view on how things are being played out with you guys playing the role of the actors. So, expect some tasty drama and story swerves! Expect me to also tend to get a bit carried away portraying monsters and npcs, all for the sake of getting people really into the game atmosphere. The final campaign setting is going to be within the old Forgotten Realms in the “The North” (starter location being in Icewind Dale) and the game will run a bit differently from a standard game.

For example, there will be no assisting. I dislike that rule where players can “assist” other players in skill checks. How exactly can someone role play an assist to say, an arcane check when they know jack squat about arcane? “X squints his eyes and is relatively useless; Y appreciated the gesture nonetheless and is now better at checking the magical item”…. What the hell? That ruins DC checks for a bunch of things. I’ll have to raise DC checks on things and that’s unfair to players who have average bonuses to things and won’t necessarily get help. It’s a huge headache for nothing. I’ll allow multiple people to roll, depending on their relative location and use in the matter at hand and I promise you to be fair as the game progresses…. But no assisting rule will apply most of the time.

I feel that rituals are extremely expensive for their intended use, so I plan to make them ½ their original cost. So, if a ritual is 100 gold on DDI, it’ll be available for 50 gold and play a larger role in the game. Oh and for the record, for the sake of simplicity… I’ll be keeping tracks on people’s gold and experience.

Certain races and even classes will be restricted. There’s no definite list as of yet but I’d like classes to be restricted to those not in monster manuals. Dwarves, Elves, Humans, Gnomes, Halflings…etc are perfectly fine. I’m not going to allow certain “races” such as revenants, drows, constructs…and so forth. Do take in note of the game setting in the far north so some races will be considered extremely rare to see and exceedingly mistrusted such as shape shifters and tieflings. So, expect the game to consistently take this into consideration and considerably affect the party, which I don’t suggest. So when you’ll pick your race and class, kindly clear that up with me before you fully create your character.


To play with us, as I’m already sure you already most of these tools… and there following rules are mandatory:

Gametable – http://sourceforge.net/projects/gametable
Ventrilo – http://www.ventrilo.com/
DDI Character Builder
A working microphone…

- I’ll be providing my IP on Vent before our gaming sessions to connect to GameTable. It may change every week as I have ADSL.

- You need to be on Ventrilo for every game session and have a functional microphone to be able to interact. I don’t think it’ll be fair for everyone to wait for people to type things out.

- A fully functional DDI Character Builder would be cool beans; if you don’t have it, PM me. I have… options.

- You’ll need to have your macros ready, the first day. No exceptions. There will also be a special guideline for you to create your macros.

- Be there on time, in fact, be available 15-20 minutes ahead of time so you can review your character sheet and catch up on your abilities as well as chit chat briefly with your buddies and your DM without taking away from the gaming goodness.

- Let other players play their turn, its fine to help them out and point something out occasionally but allow them to play out their turn. Sometimes people will learn from their mistakes. People who constantly interrupt others will suffer.

- This also means players should be planning what to do their next turn so that they are more often than not, up to speed to what to do and not bog down combat.

- Players cannot provide other players advice if they aren’t present or unable to talk (aka unconscious, petrified). This is a solid hint on things planned. *shifty eyes*

- Monster HP will only be shown after they are bloodied.





In regards to macros, they make sessions play more efficiently and run more quickly. You should setup every one of your “skill checks” (yes, you may be asked to perform checks you’re incompetent in, mostly because fail results can be very entertaining), your init check, save rolls, race feats, attack rolls AND damage rolls… etc… So take the 15-20 minutes to check your character sheet and create your macros… and remember to save them regularly!!! Also, every time you level, you may have to update them but this should take even less time.

Attacks rolls need to have the following guideline in their descriptive texts:
NAME - (ATTACK vs. DEFENCE) (TYPE) (Range)

Example:

Lance of Faith - (Wisdom vs Will) (Radiant) (5)
Turn Undead - (Wisdom vs Will) (Radiant) (Close Burst 2)

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This will help me out enormously!!!!

Damage should follow a similar guideline
NAME – (extra Bonuses)

Example:

Lance of Faith – (2 attack power to Ally of choice)

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All of this work will allow people to better understand their companions’ abilities a bit better, allow people to be more efficient during their turns and most importantly allow me to process character turns faster. All of this, honestly, simplifies battles.


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At this point, the players can go right ahead and start their character creation. So, take some time to choose what sort of character you want and reply here your main choice along with a backup choice. With 5 players, I’ll be looking for a balanced party but I’ll let you guys settle this amongst yourselves. However, I’d really like to see at least one leader, one guardian, one striker and one controller. Remember, there will be traps, locked doors and may be an issue if you have no one available to take care of them. I know Julie already wants to roll a warlock and …shit, what’s his face… Heath? Wait… Darrell…. Is open to whatever is needed. Once people have a general idea what race/class/dispo they’ll be creating, they can start working on their backgrounds at the same time finish drafts of their characters and share with others. It would be also a good idea to maybe create relations between characters; they may be childhood friends, family, etc… for the sake of the story.

Finally, I do want to mention that while I do have some possible leads on our 5th player, it’s still pretty uncertain at this point and time. So, if you read this and feel you can be a candidate after reading this wall of text, PM me.

Players :

Edrondol
Shawnacy
falineoflight
escushion
???

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Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

Looking at playing a Gnome Artificer (Leader/Controller) pending DM approval. It's not a very FR friendly class. And I honestly wouldn't blame Jay for saying no the more I think about it.
If not, I'll probably try out a Swordmage (Defender), Invoker (Controller), or Avenger (Striker)

EDIT: I believe I've decided I would like to try a Human Swordmage. I'm going to go the Shieldinng Swordmage route and focus on party defense.
I've been playing Leader Roles since the game came out. I think it's time for a change.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

i guess everyone kind of migrated from gruebeard's game to this one huh? without dave or shawn the other game will only have 3 people, not enough to really do a game. if you guys will take me i would be happy to be in this game too.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

I believe I've decided I would like to try a Human Swordmage. I'm going to go the Shieldinng Swordmage route and focus on party defense.
I've been playing Leader Roles since the game came out. I think it's time for a change.

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This looks like win. Swordmages are cool.

Gurpel said:

i guess everyone kind of migrated from gruebeard's game to this one huh? without dave or shawn the other game will only have 3 people, not enough to really do a game. if you guys will take me i would be happy to be in this game too.

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Yes, I believe that’s true. I guess it was a question of a lack of consistent game sessions and that is somewhat important to some. I’m sure he’ll find suitable replacements! However, I’d rather not dwell on that in this thread. Thanks.

In regards to you playing in this DnD game, with all due respect, I feel that you’re simply not going to enjoy it a whole lot. You tend to be impulsive and want a lot of action and I won’t be providing that a whole lot. Sessions are going to run somewhat slower than Shawnacy’s (without being boring I promise people!) and will cater to role-playing and role players. Combat will definitely feel more epic. I just don’t feel you’ll make a decent addition to this group. Sorry mate but I’ll still look forward playing with you on Thursdays.

If you have any issues with this PM me, I’d rather not continue this discussion in this thread and derail it from the player's character discussions. Thanks!

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

Is there any way we can do this earlier, like 6 EST to 10-10:30 EST? Reason is that Julie has to get up at 5:30 AM for work and she can do the late thing one night a week, but two nights a week is too much for her. And so if it has to be 11-11:30, she can't play, and if she can't play, I can't really be loud with you guys while she's sleeping (or it's the L4D thing again, take your pick).

In any case, I know Jay is getting blasted right now and will probably be so until Friday, so we'll see.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

Hello.
I'm on my Crackberry.
The best I personally can do is start the game half an hour earlier.
Don't know about the others.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

I'll see what she says in the morning.

In the meantime, and with hopes that I get to play, here's my intended character. I'd like to be a Halfling Cleric. My character would be a town doctor, whose reasons for traveling and whatnot could be figured out (finding medicines and such, visiting patients). He's rude, but finds the art of healing to be important, worships the Raven Queen in hopes he can keep his patients alive by accepting the deaths of others, and is truly the finest physician under four feet.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

I'd be glad to join you guys if you'll have me. I just need to check with my Kamicon Club Prez about when our meetings will be this year. If it's Tuesday like last year I can't play, but otherwise it should be good.

And I'll have a faster connection come the 18th of July, so that won't be an issue except for maybe the first game if it's the 15th.

If you want me I'll go ahead and throw my hat in for a wizard.

I love them bastards.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

Julie said 6:30 EST is fine, so hopefully it's okay with Shawn and Dave too.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

I've already checked with Shawnacy and he's got no problems with it. And Dave has no life, so he'll always be available.

Ok, so far we got:

Shawnacy : (Guardian) Human Swordsmage
Escushion : (Leader) Halfling Cleric
faline : (Striker) ???? Warlock
Ed : ??? ????

I got 2 people who have expressed interest to join but have "maybes" going around their ability to be consistently available. I'd like to have things generally written on paper by next Tuesday so that I have some time to work on the storyline, character backgrounds and interesting sub-quests. So, I might go with 4 players unless something comes up.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

She's an Elf Warlock. She's got a thing for elves.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

escushion said:

She's an Elf Warlock. She's got a thing for elves.

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Who doesn't?

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

Okay, got my sheet and macros all set. Unfortunately, there seems to be only one good build if you want a nice healing cleric; powers are eerily similar to Saryon as a devoted... in any case, he's done. Main skill strengths are heal (+9), insight (+9) and nature (+11). Dr. Brix is prepared.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

escushion said:

Okay, got my sheet and macros all set. Unfortunately, there seems to be only one good build if you want a nice healing cleric; powers are eerily similar to Saryon as a devoted... in any case, he's done. Main skill strengths are heal (+9), insight (+9) and nature (+11). Dr. Brix is prepared.

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He best be. I'm sure I'm going to need a lot of healing. I'm going to be throwing marks around like they were candy. Enemies are going to have little choice but to attack me.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

escushion said:

Okay, got my sheet and macros all set. Unfortunately, there seems to be only one good build if you want a nice healing cleric; powers are eerily similar to Saryon as a devoted... in any case, he's done. Main skill strengths are heal (+9), insight (+9) and nature (+11). Dr. Brix is prepared.

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Clerics at lvl 1 have not much to work with unless they plan to go PEW PEW.

WTB moar posts.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

MOAR?

*jumps up and down* Cantwaitcantwaitcantwaitcantwait

So here is a question regarding a power of the Swordmage.
[hr:1gdxe57n][/hr:1gdxe57n]
Swordmage Attack 1Sword of Sigils
As you sweep your blade in a wide arc, it glows red and leaves arcane runes burning in the air above your foes.
Encounter Arcane, Force, Weapon
Standard Action Close burst 1
Target: Each enemy in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Intelligence modifier damage, and the target is marked until the end of your next turn. Until the mark ends, if the target makes an attack that does not include you as a target, it takes force damage equal to your Intelligence modifier after the attack is resolved.
Aegis of Shielding: If a target marked by this power hits a creature within 10 squares of you with an attack that does not include you as a target, you can use an immediate interrupt to reduce the damage dealt by that attack to any single creature by an amount equal to your Constitution modifier.
[hr:1gdxe57n][/hr:1gdxe57n]
It says it marks the target. Now does the mark from this power ALSO count as a "mark" in the rules sense where it makes the target suffer a -2 to it's attack rolls against any other target other than the one that marked it?

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

I don't see why they wouldn't unless it's specifically mentioned in their power details.

I have updated my first post to use the new start time of 6:30 PM Eastern on Tuesday nights.... which means most nights it'll end at 10:30PM, sometimes later depending on player availability.

I have come to the conclusion that the start of the campaign will located in a relatively small town called "Dougan's Hole".

Dougan's Hole, one of the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale mostly inhabited by humans with a small number of elves, half-elves and halfings was named so because the town is simply... a mud-hole in the ground. In it situated between a sloping hill and the Redwater lake and was probably first colonised by a man called Dougan, surely! When the snow melts in the summer, it reveals a knee-high layer of mud which every resident have to wade through. Therefore most people living in this town hate the summer-months. Luckily for them... or perhaps not, winter has arrived and it may be the harshest winter season in over 100 years. The city has been having some problems as of late with murders happening in the night and with stolen supplies. The local militia has been actively patrolling and reinforced but the events keep happening. The townsfolk are scared and mostly stay at home at night and have sent out pleas of help far and wide for other towns to help them and adventurers to play the part of heroes.



You can build you character story around this, if you'd like.

If the mud is that high, my halfling will need a rowboat to get to his clinic.

Someone should have their character be an investigator or detective or something (not class, obviously, but just like their town position, or something). Or a deputy to such. I don't know.

This is gonna be interesting.

The Chronicles of the Cleric Half-Detective.

Not me, I'm the town doctor! But I could do coroner work.

Well, if you read the synopsis you'll know that the town's been plagued with murders.

dum dum dummmmm

PS : We got a 5th player now.

Make sure to keep moving along the creation process of your characters people. Initial backgrounds, relations with eachother..etc.

escushion said:

Not me, I'm the town doctor! But I could do coroner work.

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Does the town need a coroner? I figured they just let the bodies sink into the mud.

"Guess what kids, Grandpa just resurfaced to spend summer solstice with us!"

SeriousJay said:

Well, if you read the synopsis you'll know that the town's been plagued with murders.

dum dum dummmmm

PS : We got a 5th player now.

Make sure to keep moving along the creation process of your characters people. Initial backgrounds, relations with eachother..etc.

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Right, that's why I said. Unless someone else wants to be a coroner .

My character could also use an assistant, to help him get around town apparently, to dig graves, to steal bodies from graves, and to help set bones of larger patients--if anyone wants to start establishing backstories together.

Curious what Julie's planning to be.

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

Shawnacy said:

It says it marks the target. Now does the mark from this power ALSO count as a "mark" in the rules sense where it makes the target suffer a -2 to it's attack rolls against any other target other than the one that marked it?

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All marks make the target suffer -2 to hit, but do not count as a class specific mark unless specifically stated in the power itself. So this power would not count as an Aegis of Assaut or Ensnarement mark.

This is my basic backstory to help link him with other folks in the party.

My character is a protector. He was born a rancher's son but was taken away to train at an early age when it was discovered he had arcane gifts. His weapon of choice is the longsword, but all weapons he wields can be used to channel magical energy much like a wizard uses a wand. He has a strong desire to go where he is needed and that fate brings him there. His training is mostly defensive however, and he knows he is no match against the evils of the world on his own. He will seek out a group, or perhaps a person, in need of a meat shield. But he will prefer to side with like minded individuals who share his interest in protecting the innocent.


Jay: Are there any academies nearby that would train swordmages?

Seeing as this is the far north with only 10 towns on the smallish side and a collective of about 10000 residents, a small enclave could be entirely possible. Not an academy.

SeriousJay said:

Seeing as this is the far north with only 10 towns on the smallish side and a collective of about 10000 residents, a small enclave could be entirely possible. Not an academy.

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Hmm. Alright, what would you recommend? Would there be anyone within the ten towns capable of teaching someone the skills of a swordmage?

Shawnacy said:

Hmm. Alright, what would you recommend? Would there be anyone within the ten towns capable of teaching someone the skills of a swordmage?

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Their "capital" Bryn Shander is a possible choice or perhaps even the beautiful northern town of Termalaine.

SeriousJay said:

Shawnacy said:

Hmm. Alright, what would you recommend? Would there be anyone within the ten towns capable of teaching someone the skills of a swordmage?

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Their "capital" Bryn Shander is a possible choice or perhaps even the beautiful northern town of Termalaine.

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Alright. Would you be okay if i said that my character was taken at an early age to apprentice for a local swordmage in the town of Termalaine?

That make senses. Termalaine is the area's most northern city and it has been regularly attacked by the barbarians of the north and the town has been captured by them a handful of times in the last century then taken back. It could be possible they are trying to implement more defenses for the town by creating a small enclave of swordmages.

I would assume your character would be at the Hole due to the problems as of late they are having?

I'm postin' in yer thread.

Edrondol said:

I'm postin' in yer thread.

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SeriousJay said:

Edrondol said:

I'm postin' in yer thread.

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Hey! You TOLD me to! I can't help it if I don't have anything to say right now! I haven't made a character yet.

SeriousJay said:

That make senses. Termalaine is the area's most northern city and it has been regularly attacked by the barbarians of the north and the town has been captured by them a handful of times in the last century then taken back. It could be possible they are trying to implement more defenses for the town by creating a small enclave of swordmages.

I would assume your character would be at the Hole due to the problems as of late they are having?

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Indeed.

And I vote that Dave plays the Gnomish Bard named Gimble Twinkletoes.

Shawnacy said:

SeriousJay said:

That make senses. Termalaine is the area's most northern city and it has been regularly attacked by the barbarians of the north and the town has been captured by them a handful of times in the last century then taken back. It could be possible they are trying to implement more defenses for the town by creating a small enclave of swordmages.

I would assume your character would be at the Hole due to the problems as of late they are having?

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Indeed.

And I vote that Dave plays the Gnomish Bard named Gimble Twinkletoes.

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Then that's what I'll do. I'll make him up when I get home today.

Edrondol said:

Shawnacy said:

SeriousJay said:

That make senses. Termalaine is the area's most northern city and it has been regularly attacked by the barbarians of the north and the town has been captured by them a handful of times in the last century then taken back. It could be possible they are trying to implement more defenses for the town by creating a small enclave of swordmages.

I would assume your character would be at the Hole due to the problems as of late they are having?

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Indeed.

And I vote that Dave plays the Gnomish Bard named Gimble Twinkletoes.

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Then that's what I'll do. I'll make him up when I get home today.

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And here he is....Gimble Twinkletoes!

Edrondol said:

And here he is....Gimble Twinkletoes!

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Looks fine. That your final character? Gnome Bard? Any ideas on background?

Still waiting on:

- Julie
- James

Interesting, Dave. This is gonna be an oddball game. I'm hoping we can tie our characters' backgrounds together a bit. So far I'm the only townie.

I've attached my character sheet, in case anyone's interesting.

Looks good, sent you a PM for some personal feedback, opinions.

Edrondol said:

And here he is....Gimble Twinkletoes!

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If you're just playing it as part of a joke at my expense, I'll ask politely that you reconsider.

Here is Denan Silverwood
I'm working on something more detailed as a background, but this far...
He was born in the town of Termalaine to an animal rancher (whatever livestock animal is common in the north) and was to be raised as such until it was discovered that he had talent in the arcane arts. A local swordmage was looking for children with the talent to train as the town's defense against attacks. There were only two students found. Denan and another child named Stephan. As they grew up they often were made to spar against each other, and to Stephan that meant they were rivals. When their master was killed, and therefore leaving no buffer between the boys, Stephan made it clear he did not need Denan there to protect the town. Denan decided to leave instead of pursue a violent "counter-argument."

Hey, having a bard could be interesting.

Plus, he has ghost sound. What more do we need?

escushion said:

Hey, having a bard could be interesting.

Plus, he has ghost sound. What more do we need?

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Oh I've got nothing against bards. I think they updated them enough in 4th edition that they are just as useful as any other Leader class. But that also poses a big question as we already have a Cleric in party.

I actually hesitated when writing the joke about Dave playing Gimble Twinkletoes. I thought that he might carry the joke further by actually threatening to play it. But then I just decided he'd laugh at the joke and make a more serious decision when he got around to it.

I don't knows him vewy well do I?

Well, what do we need that we're in deficit of? We need... a defender?

escushion said:

Well, what do we need that we're in deficit of? We need... a defender?

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Oh I don't have any preference to what he plays. Just that he's not doing something at my expense. :tongue:

My sheet has changed so I have 1 less speed and 2 more AC, but otherwise unchanged, so I won't upload the new one.

If he's serious about the character and will role play him accordingly, then there's no problem. He'll have to accept that this character will be creation week after week and month after month. So people should be selecting their characters carefully. I still require a character background.


Still waiting on Julie and James.

She says tonight or tomorrow.

Is James called Deadpool on Steam or is this a different friend of Shawnacy's?

Serious Jay’s 4E DnD Game!

escushion said:

She's an Elf Warlock. She's got a thing for elves.

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I'm an eladrin, dammit! Get it right!

She might not have it done tomorrow since I was egging her on to do it thinking the game was this Tuesday, not next Tuesday.

Woooops... Glad I discovered that before going into vent on Tuesday.

Would you guys mind terribly if I sat in and watched/listened every now and then? I'm curious to see how the game goes. I won't talk or touch anything.

Do not talk ever. Not even in our Thursday game.

Do not listen ever. Not even in our Thursday game.

Won't be much of a change, amiright?

Shouldn't be an issue.

Currently we have :

- Cleric (Leader)
- Bard (Leader)
- Swordmage (Defender)
- Warlock (Striker)

We're still waiting on our 5th who hasn't responded to any attempts of contact since last week so we'll probably have to make a decision on that soon. The party currently is in dire need of a controller. I'll keep looking for a 5th player. I've gotten a few people who were interesting but there are "ifs" involved to their consistent ability to be there every week. If not, we can play with 4 but I'd like to avoid that.

We could always run into someone new.

BTW, I noticed that the dates you mention are each Wednesdays even though the post says Tuesdays. I was under the impression we were playing on Tuesdays (thus Tuesday the 14th would be the start), but I wanted to make sure.

Ya, I sucked. It's definitely Tuesday.

This is James (Shawn's friend), I'm definitely wanting in on the game. I was thinking Human Warlord, which I'll be making later today.

Sorry for the long wait, but I am here, and definitely interested

Haha, three leader classes. This will be interesting.

Jackabite said:

This is James (Shawn's friend), I'm definitely wanting in on the game. I was thinking Human Warlord, which I'll be making later today.

Sorry for the long wait, but I am here, and definitely interested

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Finally! Welcome aboard.

-------------------

- Cleric (Leader)
- Bard (Leader)
- Warlord (Leader)
- Swordmage (Defender)
- Warlock (Striker)


Everyone, in regards to your player choices on classes... 3 leaders is somewhat of an overkill...I'd really like to see 1 controller. Would anyone reconsider who isn't a cleric? (sorry, I have already worked on your storyline darryl ) If not, we'll make due but enjoy minion HELL.

On a last note, if I do not have your character details as well as their backgrounds by Weds morning, unfortunately, your character may not be interactive in the story at first as I need some time to come up with storylines that will gel with... your EPIC adventure. Thus with this, I need your backgrounds and send me your character sheets by PM, ASAP.

-- Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:53 pm --



A little map of your starting point I came up with.

Dougan's Hole


Dougan's Hole, one of the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale mostly inhabited by humans with a small number of elves, half-elves and halfings was named so because the town is simply... a mud-hole in the ground. Situated between a sloping hill and the Redwater lake and first colonized by a man called Dougan, the site was a place where a great bloody battle took place many generations ago, thus why the lake has been graced with that name. When the snow melts in the summer, it reveals a knee-high layer of mud which every resident have to wade through, therefore most people living in this town hate the summer-months. Luckily for them... or perhaps not, winter has arrived and it is the harshest winter season in over two generations. On top of this the town has been having dangerous problems as of late with murders happening in the night and stolen supplies disappearing from the docks. The local militia has been actively patrolling but haven't been able to keep these events from happening. The townsfolk are scared and are mostly forced to stay home to due martial law from the town militia captain. Dougan's hole has sent out pleas of help far and wide for other towns to help them and adventurers to play the part of heroes.

Woot! Can't wait.

Julie had an accident at work, so she'll be laid up for the week. Whether the free time will bring her to getting you any character background, we'll see .

Hopefully she'll be better soon.

<-- still waiting on people

*frowns*

Too many leaders, huh? I guess my Gnome Bard will be going away. Time to tank it up.

Or.... a controller. Dum Dum Dum......

You don't want a tank? Fine. I'll make a controller. Not sure what race/class but I'll make one.

The party already has a Swordmage but play whatever you want.

I just think 3 leaders is overkill! Moar variety plz.

Oh you'll get variety. Oh yes you will. MWAHAHAHAHA!!

Laser goblin berserker! GAAAAAAH!

You want a controller? Here's your damned controller!

Meet Chakla, the Tiefling Psion!

Suck it, mindless fools!

Oh boy... I hope you have a good backstory prepared, since Jay said Tieflings are hated and need a good excuse to be present.

escushion said:

Oh boy... I hope you have a good backstory prepared, since Jay said Tieflings are hated and need a good excuse to be present.

Click to expand...

I missed that. Damn! I may have to pull in another race of Psion.

-- Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:56 pm --

Fine. Chakla is now a Gnome Psion. FOR GNOMREGON!!

Ah, the Psion, the July release of DDI! I don't have the update though, so I can't see a whole lot about the class other than what I read online. Any chance for a more traditional class for the sake of organizing my things and simplifying my life? Gonna be awkward not being able to jack squat about a class for a few weeks. I really am not looking forward to that.

Mutters about Wizards raping his childhood with unnecessary classes and complicating his life.

SeriousJay said:

Ah, the Psion, the July release of DDI! I don't have the update though, so I can't see a whole lot about the class other than what I read online. Any chance for a more traditional class for the sake of organizing my things and simplifying my life? Gonna be awkward not being able to jack squat about a class for a few weeks. I really am not looking forward to that.

Mutters about Wizards raping his childhood with unnecessary classes and complicating his life.

Click to expand...

Damn GMs.

Sorry mate!

See, I woulda made this easy if I coulda played. =P Straight-up wizard, nothin' fancy.

Chakla the Elven Invoker!

Accepted.

At of this moment, I'll be focusing on the game's storyline as well as character storylines. They will unravel slowly over the game sessions and will play out from those who provided their backgrounds first to those who submitted theirs later. I still require background stories and even their character sheets, preferably within the next day or two. I'd rather not go with a bullshit story where everyone walks into the same tavern and go, "YO, let's be best friends and travel the world together" so start creating relations with eachother. I feel that I provided all the materials you need to know the initial game situation. So, chop chop, storylines, backgrounds. Stop sucking.

And James, I need your character sheet and background.

Current status of things :

escushion - halfling cleric - character sheet - background
Shawnacy - human swordmage - character sheet - background
Edrondol - elven invoker - character sheet - NO
falineoflight - eladrin warlock - NO - NO
Jackabite - human warlord - NO - NO

I really would like character sheets, backgrounds and character relations to be solved asap, I do have more questions for the players later on this week including preference of loot.... unless you guys like getting crappy loot?

As my character is more concerned about the safety of others and the protection of the innocent, is there anyone in the party with a similar view point (or even pretends to have a similar view point).
Denan is from one of the other ten towns in Icewind Dale and was forced from there by a rival. Perhaps someone in the party decided to leave the town with him, or he met up with someone recently in his travels. If he felt someone in the party was in need of protection he may offer to accompany him/her.

I know I'm one of the last ones to post, but keep your pants on. I have a busy, painful life, dammit. :waah:

Anywho, here she is in all her glory, Lady Aurora of the Northern Winds:



====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======
Aurora of the Northern Winds, level 1
Eladrin, Warlock
Eldritch Blast: Eldritch Blast Charisma
Eldritch Pact: Fey Pact

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 14, Dex 12, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 17.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 17.


AC: 15 Fort: 12 Reflex: 14 Will: 15
HP: 26 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 6

TRAINED SKILLS
Diplomacy +8, Intimidate +10, Arcana +10, Bluff +8, Insight +5

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +1, Dungeoneering, Endurance +2, Heal, History +5, Nature, Perception, Religion +3, Stealth +1, Streetwise +3, Thievery +1, Athletics -1

FEATS
Level 1: Improved Misty Step

POWERS
Warlock daily 1: Decree of Khirad
Warlock encounter 1: Witchfire

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Leather Armor, Fine Clothing, Tent, Everburning Torch, Crossbow
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======

Background:

Aurora was born in the Feywild and lived all of her life there surrounded by the comforts and luxuries of her family's position as bringers of Winter. Her eladrin mother and father are two of the rarest form of eladrin, Noble Eladrin, who have presided over the Northern Winds and Winter for generations on end. Aurora is their only child. Just recently there have been signs of trouble brewing in Aurora's feywild home deep in the snow capped mountains of Sha'lenia. Troubling visions and nightmares of the Eladrin race's worst enemy, the Drow, have been haunting the great scions of the Northern Winds this past month. Visions of the Drow entering into the Inbetween World and finding a way to invade the Feywild have forced Aurora's family to take action in order to investigate and prevent such an event from happening. Arming their beloved only daughter with spells, rituals, and all the powers of the Northern Winds, the Winter Nobles charged her with the task of hunting down and destroying this threat to the world below and the Feywild. Manifesting herself in the Northern area of Icewind Dale, Aurora found herself in the worst possible place she could have imagined coming to: Dougan's Hole. Disgusted by the lowly town covered in filth, Aurora immediately prepared herself to set forth out into the rest of the world. However, due to her arrival in a place already predisposed to cold weather, a premature winter came rushing in causing all kinds of minor troubles for the mud infested town. Feeling that it was her "Nobless Oblige" (her noble duty) to assist these lower creatures, she began to work to try to make amends with the local peoples through little hedge magicks (ex: pulling carts out of the frozen ground, retrieving lost animals, etc.). Once she feels that she has made amends in this town, she will leave and begin her search in earnest for clues to the Drow uprising her dreams had foretold.

Mannerisms and Appearance:

Just as her name would suggest, Aurora can seem as cold and distant as a winter's gale. Aurora has pale gold hair, lavender eyes, and pale skin. She wears only the finest clothes made by her kinsmen and they are always white or silver. When addressing anyone of the lower planes (the world she is now travelling in) she has a tendency to speak in the stiffest of formalities. Her movements are always liquid and graceful and no matter the situation she seems to never lose her cool.

Shawnacy did post his background on other pages.

I don't recall actually giving much background--I really just gave a personality. It's hard to make character ties when everyone's traveling in. I went with a townie who, while originating elsewhere, has made a comfortable life for himself in this mudhole--no one else has though. So it's hard to establish long-term relations.

I imagine James's character could be the leader/mayor/warlord of the town, even if he's not actually making war. But that'd be up to him.

My character cares about the well-being of others and their health. He does not care about their feelings and it's difficult to earn his respect. He's often insulting. I was hoping someone would be willing to be his assistant, which would basically be the only character he'd respect from the get-go, but no one went for that.

I have my completed character ready, I just need to work on my character history now. Just so you know, I wound up changing my character to a Human Paladin instead, I hope that doesn't cause problems, if it does, I'll swap back to the Human Warlord. As a general idea I've got going for my character is a Paladin who grew up in Thay who's family was slaughtered by the undead that seem to almost run freely, and so I grew to dispise the undead for what they had done to me and continue to do unchecked to living people. I found my calling as a paladin who now follows Bahamut, focusing more in the art of undead slaying. I'll be coming up with a more thorough character history today, but that is a general idea of what I'm going for.

There's no problem with the change. All I'll need to know is the reason why he'll be in Dougan's Hole and if there are any established relations with the other adventurers.

While I'm still waiting on people to work on their characters and their backgrounds, here some more information :

- All players start with standard winter clothes for traveling; it provides mediocre protection for the cold.
- All players will start with the same amount of money regardless on how much they spent in the beginning: 25gp
- This means your character should stock on what they need beforehand.
- Make sure to buy your rituals, regents, ammo (for projectiles!!!) and so forth.
- Resubmit your character sheet when you’re done.

Things I noticed from the character sheets and some free advice:

Aurora: 1lb overweight. Yes, 8 STR sucks that way. No melee weapon! No ammo. Let a STR based character have the tent instead.

Brix: Unless you plan to take rogue feats (doubtful with your dex, there's no reason for 2 daggers other for show). You still need to get a Holy Symbol and equip it. Save and restart the application and the changes will appear in the character sheet.

Chakla: Seems fine except for some minor things like regents.

Denan: Seems fine.

Dreklan: You may want to recheck your stats. More STR, less INT... something like 16-13-10-8-14-16 would fit a Paladin better. Is there a reason why you chose 14 INT? *confused*


Oh... and no one with higher than 10 bonus perception? *rubs hands together and smiles*

I've redone my stats for the most part, and took mostly from dex, since he's a heavy plate wearer, it doesn't effect him too much, combat wise at least lol, however, he is pretty damn clumsy now lol.
Character history:
I was born on a moonless night to my parents, Ryan and Chelsie Colgar, in the back of a barely held together shack. My parents and I were labourers working for one of the local upper class of Eltabbar, tending to what crops would grow in this devestated land. barely able to feed ourselves, except for the food we managed to smuggle to our shack, we continued our meagre existence, until one day when I was ten years old. On this day, the night was particularly cold, and you could feel that something was just not right. We were tending to our small fire as we usually do, just trying to keep warm with the wind blowing through the shack's holes, almost chilling to the bone. I went outside to check on a noise when suddenly I was hit over the head with a heavy club and fell to the ground. In my daze I could make out a group of undead, weapons in hand knocking aside the thin woven sheet we used as a door, this was closely followed by my mother's scream, which just and quickly faded. My father was carried off with what looked to be a gash on his forehead, his hands and legs bound to a pole. Last thing I remember of him was how he looked at me with such sadness in his eyes. the other undead there carried off the small sacks of grain we had, and finally, that's when it hit me as to why they had come.
Finally, as if to add insult to injury, the last one there had set a burning torch to the shack, and that's about when I blacked out.
the next day I awoke to the smell of burnt flesh, which to my dismay, turned out to be that of my mother's. I gathered up what I could and headed out in any direction; I didn't quite know where I was going, I just wanted to get away.
After what seemed like days without food or water, I finally collapsed by a river, too weak to drink, and my vision faded to black.
It was then that a travelling priest had found me; he called himself Thyanis Gosford, a travelling Cleric who sought to spread the word of Bahamut. It was he who rescued me and brought me back from near death with food and water, tending to my now festering wound on the back of my head that was left when the club had struck me, and it was he who caused my rebirth as a devotee of Bahamut. I told him of my plight, and the last moments I had seen of my parents, and he comforted my thoughts, telling me that one day I will strike back, and bring peace to myself, and those around me. I had stayed with him for two years, learning of Bahamut and his teachings, until one day he brought me to a temple dedicated to Bahamut that lies within the gleaming bukwark of Elturgard, within the Western Heartlands. It was here that I was first exposed to the paladins who answered the various calls of Bahamut, and it was here that I first began my training as a paladin.
Almost not accepted by the paladins od the temple, stating that at the age of twelve I was too old to begin training, I proved my worth by my seathing hatred from the undead, devotion to Bahamut, and my drive to take up arms in his name to drive back the hordes of undeath, and those who would support them. though this is not the main focus of the church of Bahamut, they eventually accepted my conviction and allowed me entry into their ranks.
Over the next few years they trained me in the art of war, protection, channelling my devotion, and upholding the rights of the good, and destroying those that are evil.
I am now twenty years old, and a full paladin of Bahamut, I still focus on the destruction of the undead, though through my training have been tought to focus my hate on other evils as well. I love a good drink and spend many nights at the tavern listening to the various stories told by one of the many bards that tend to frequent these places, though I also listen in on conversations that could be about certain evils happening within the land.
Finally, in my travels I had come to Dougan's Hole, not so much in search of adventure, but rather in search of information regarding a certain undead lord I had been tracking, which I had heard came to this area.
I try to be a friendly person, though I find it hard to trust people, and still have nightmares of the night my parents were killed, sometimes waking to the scent of my mother's burnt flesh, which haunts me to this day.

After seeing how out of place Aurora seemed within the town Denan would have obligingly found her a comfortable inn (which Dougan's hole probably has only one of) and a warm drink. Listening to her talk of the Drow threat below may have been more than enough to make the decision to join her on her journey. So long, of course, that she was willing to stay long enough to aid these villagers with their current woes.

What reagents?

- Usually in DDI, you can buy components for rituals. I could either go two ways to do this, people can buy the components ahead of time or we can simply pay for when we use rituals. I'd pick the latter honestly, to simplify things.

- I can't use DDI at work James but I'll do it when I get home tonight as see how it looks. Yeah, Dex isn't a very important stat for Paladins since with your Plate armor, that's where your AC will be coming from anyways. I'll provide feedback when I'll see it.

What would you guys see as a timeline on how the adventurers got to Dougan's Hole? Can someone provide me a tasty summary on how the adventurers meet, know each other?

I'd rather focus on my questing/storyline theorycrafting instead of this, I also will ask some key questions after the summary is settled.

I pretty much have the first session layed out and I gotta say, it's pretty interesting. I hope you guys will like it. I'll keep working on it and adding content with random variables that will be sweet to see to say the least. Our first game session will cover the ruleset, the background story of Icewind Dale to allow everyone to get up to speed and the start of the campaign.

While someone will SURELY pickup on the task of creating a summary for me (for a neat reward, I assure you), I'm going to ask my players to provide their TOP 5 list of types of items of interest they'd like to have so that I can work on a loot table. Thanks.

Shawnacy said:

After seeing how out of place Aurora seemed within the town Denan would have obligingly found her a comfortable inn (which Dougan's hole probably has only one of) and a warm drink. Listening to her talk of the Drow threat below may have been more than enough to make the decision to join her on her journey. So long, of course, that she was willing to stay long enough to aid these villagers with their current woes.

Click to expand...

Sounds great to me. Aurora would stay and assist simply out of her feeling of obligation to these people for the accidental mess she caused. Jay: I've added a longsword, ammo for the crossbow, and deleted the tent. And now for my updated sheet. Enjoy.

Looks good.

I'm an Elf. I'm pretty old. I've wandered the world and found myself here with only 25g left to my name (I must have been pickpocketed because I had more but it's gone). So now I have to find a job or hook up with some people for adventure. I'm a pretty lazy Elf, though. I'd rather be at an inn drinking and socializing than I would doing anything else. One thing I'm *not* lazy about is my devotion to a higher power. In fact, there have been times when I have driven those away from me who could not comprehend the light. In the end, though, it's all about me. I want to earn enough money to retire comfortably and never have to lift a finger again. I figure a couple hundred thousand gold ought to do it.

Items I want:

Astral Fire Armor
Defensive Staff

I'll pick 3 more when I can look through my books.

Mind you, I'm not looking for items in particular, more items in general. To establish the needs of players.

aka :

- longsword
- hide armor
- magical orb

etc

Chainmail, staff, stuff to stop me from being hit and something magical to carry all the money I'm going to have to make to retire.

Aaaand, my obligatory Second Life version of my character!



I photoshopped her to hell to make her eyes and everything look just right. What do you think? :uhhuh:

I think there should more Eladrin's with Jessica Alba lips.

It's nice.

Hmm.
Heavy, one-handed, blades.
Leather armor.
Anything that adds to defense or hit points.
Anything that can help defend teammates from damage.
Fun and quirky stuff that makes me have to be creative in how to use it.

...And any kind of item that will bond Aurora to my will.

Shawnacy said:

...And any kind of item that will bond Aurora to my will.

Click to expand...

I love it.

I think I'm adaquately prepared for our first game session which will probably run short with people establishing their characters, catching up to speed with their skill sets and with me letting them know how things will run differently in my game (compared for those who play in Shawnacy's) and standard DnD... and listening to my lore intro (like a quality Bioware video, for those game fanatics like meeees). I got my encounters ready along with quite a few.... tasty random encounters. I think I may be set for the next month but... I will strengthen it a bit more... just in case.

A few things still remain for players to do :

- If you haven't submitted a character background, please do.

- Establish character relations, honestly, it can be as simple as "he's my cuz". I don't care, the first hour will be about the players getting to know eachother. No one will be jumping around and go, we're adventurererers, RAWRS.

- Item type choices, let me know what interests you.

- If you do refine your character sheet, submit it here, I want your "final" version of your character sheet by Monday at noon. Ask me for advice if you need any.

- Setup your macros and USE the format I asked you (which should be in my first post), I'll be annoying to you if you don't.

- Be there before gametime, the game starts at 6:30 PM, be in vent at 6:15 PM Eastern. There's a lot of setup to do.

As far as connections. Here are some ideas I had.

Denan + Aurora: Denan noticed how out of place she looked and helped her get settled at a local inn. Hearing her tale he decided to assist her so long as they deal with the troubles of Dougan's Hole and of any they may come across in their travels.

Dreklan + Brix: As Brix is the town cleric it would make sense that Dreklan seek him out as a traveling Paladin. While Dougan's Hole doesn't have undead issues (that anyone knows about) the town is certainly in need of help.

Once there are other backgrounds I can start suggesting ways to fill the gaps.

SeriousJay said:

- Be there before gametime, the game starts at 6:30 PM, be in vent at 6:15 PM Eastern. There's a lot of setup to do.

Click to expand...

I don't get off of work until 6 PM EST and have at least a 15 minute/half hour drive home. And if my son works I'll have to take him. I'll be there, but I may be a few minutes late.

Edrondol said:

SeriousJay said:

- Be there before gametime, the game starts at 6:30 PM, be in vent at 6:15 PM Eastern. There's a lot of setup to do.

Click to expand...

I don't get off of work until 6 PM EST and have at least a 15 minute/half hour drive home. And if my son works I'll have to take him. I'll be there, but I may be a few minutes late.

Click to expand...

That's fine. Just make sure your macros done (according to my first post) as well as your character pog and to connect ASAP. I'll have my Gametable IP in Ventrilo in my comment.

-- Fri Jul 10, 2009 9:19 am --

Shawnacy said:

As far as connections. Here are some ideas I had.

Denan + Aurora: Denan noticed how out of place she looked and helped her get settled at a local inn. Hearing her tale he decided to assist her so long as they deal with the troubles of Dougan's Hole and of any they may come across in their travels.

Dreklan + Brix: As Brix is the town cleric it would make sense that Dreklan seek him out as a traveling Paladin. While Dougan's Hole doesn't have undead issues (that anyone knows about) the town is certainly in need of help.

Once there are other backgrounds I can start suggesting ways to fill the gaps.

Click to expand...

This is a strong start, need MOAR.

cool, so 6:15pm EST, I think that's around 7:15am for me, so you might get a barely awake me, but I'll be there, physically at least

A large cup of coffee and a bag of Tim Tams is all you need James. Go to bed early.

Jackabite said:

cool, so 6:15pm EST, I think that's around 7:15am for me, so you might get a barely awake me, but I'll be there, physically at least

Click to expand...

You live in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?

(Or parts of Canada, Brazil, Chile or Bolivia...)

Australia.

Need moar backgrounds and relations, yo.

Holy crap! I missed the AM/PM thing! He's going to be joining us from the future!!

Brix is now the town midwife (husband?), physician, cleric, surgeon, and mortician. His clinic sign says: "Whether you're coming into this world, leaving it, or hanging around it, there's probably something wrong with you that Dr. Brix can fix!"

Brix has taken an interest in the murders and checking out the bodies. I'm sure this will cause him to run with authority (Pally) and someone who's come to town with interest in the murder.

Unless someone else is from this town or has lived here before, there's not much I can do for background relation. Mostly just immediate relation. Getting to know each other stuff happening? Then it's a good time to be the stranger, I guess.

Further background: I had arrived in town a month ago, and since have been frequenting the town's tavern while also doing my daily praises to Bahamut. The cold only mildly agitates me as I've been cold before, though this is the first time I've seen snow. I went to Brix's clinic a few times to seek his council on the happenings of this town, though I have no further leads as to the undead I was tracking, I have heard of the town's plight and seek to assist them. These murders must stop for it is an afront to Bahamut and all that is good, so I will take up arms to relinquish the offender of their tainted being. As for the others, I've probably stumbled into them in the tavern once or twice, and struck up conversation with them a few times.

Make sure to have your Pogs ready as well.

I'll be setting up my macros today. I'll have to find a suitable pog.

My good friend Jay.
Just checking to make sure the game is tonight (Tuesday the 14th).
I have to admit that you mentioning the 15th in your earlier posts has me a bit confused. I think Dave may have already addressed that issue but damn I'm lazy and don't want to go through the short 4 pages to find confirmation.
Just say "Game on" if I'm right and it's tonight.
And Huzzah from me. I need a break and being able to game is just what the doctor ordered.

Game on, indeed, although I found out this morning before I left that the pog I made didn't save. My macros did, though.

Edrondol said:

Game on, indeed, although I found out this morning before I left that the pog I made didn't save. My macros did, though.

Click to expand...

My pog is kinda lame. I couldn't clip the edges off around the circle, so I'm stuck with a square.

The game is definitely tonight and yes, keep working on your pogs, even if they aren't perfectly ready tonight. We can always use the newer ones when you'll perfect them.

If anyone updated their character sheet since they last submitted them to me, they need to let me know. I already updated my character sheets, so any changes are going to be important to me.

Me from another thread:

Edrondol said:

I'm debating about whether or not to take a nap and miss the D&D game or to tough it out.

I'm leaning towards the nap because I'm going to get off of work, get my paycheck, cash said check, take my son to work, take money to my wife so she can get gas and make it home and then go buy tickets...all starting at 5 pm. And the game starts at...5.

Yeah, as much as I hate to do it I think I'll have to bail on the game tonight. Potter calls. I've taken my daughter to see each of the movies on opening day so I kinda have to.

Click to expand...

Because of extra stuff I have to do tonight even without napping to see Harry Potter I'd be very, very late to the game. I hate to do this last minute, but I think I may be a no show. I promise unless I am dying or lose a testicle I will be there next week.

Bah, fuck Harry Potter.

The game will still go on and in fact, if Doomdragon reads this he can play as Ed's character if he'd like, if not, make his own Wizard. If all else fails, we'll play with 4.

I hate to do this too...
Hehehe. No no. I kid. I kid.
Of course I'm going to be there tonight.
It's an hour from the game now... so I'm going to go grab lunch.
See you guys there.

I would, but I don't have access to no-lag internet today, don't have a character ready, don't have any macros set up, or anything like that. Plus, if you let me play I'm just going to get addicted and want in even though my schedule won't permit. =P

I may still be able to listen in, however, and if you truly, desperately need a 5th, I can have a level 1 Serin make an appearance (not as a Doppelganger, of course) and pretend it was one of her adventures before she met the group in the other game. But I'd have to type, and macros are still off, so all it would do is slow you people down. I might be there to listen in, might not-- depending on if I decide to go do errands or not. Sorry Jay.

Yeah, I was hoping you would have gotten the message sooner and maybe get to a lagless location and join us and play.... oh well, you can come and listen in. I'd very much rather not have you unable to talk during the evening. It's a big part of the experience in my game.

Good game guys. See you next week.

A very awesome game. Looking forward to next week. I like my character's calm and socially accepting personality.

Just thought you guys might be want this.

I recorded the session for future listening. I didn't start it until halfway through the bat battle, though, so I missed all the important stuff beforehand.

Can download it here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JRFBY15H

I think it's pretty clear Denan and Dreskal are going to be good friends and partners.
Aurora has quite the mouth but her heart is in the right place... though she physically is not. Her view of what is right and wrong in a world of winter tends to be a little out of place. Denan will do his best to keep her out of trouble but he's beginning to get that inclination that such an act will be the end of him one day.
Dr. Brix's attitude is pretty usual for this area in Denan's opinion so he can't really fault him for that. But the whole "cure by fire" method wasn't exactly any local remedy that Denan was ever aware of.

It occurs to Denan that he and Dreskal are probably going to have to get very used to defusing any conflicts that Brix and Aurora start.

I thought the game session went pretty well considering that we needed to deal with with the long winded (but very much needed) initial description of the campaign, players learning their character's abilities along with their fellow party member's abilities as well as the last minute encounter tweaking for the party. It should be much more fluid next week, I got more familiar with my tools as well so it should allow me to be a bit more efficient next week... and I got tweaks planned in my for my battle sheet to help things further. Barring any last minute issues, we should be fine and 4 players is very manageable.

Oh, this is a fairly accurate picture of Bubbles, the half-ogre. Except for the extra armor as he'll be in hide armor and cannot afford such armor.




Well, with the first game out of the way, I'm going to allow players to "tweak" their characters if needed. If they initially felt some abilities to be underwhelming or feel that too many people have similar abilities, they can make changes and send their new DDI character sheet my way. With this in mind, I'd like every player to PM me the following before the next game session.

- Your latest character sheet. (please describe what changes you did, if any)
- Your latest character background (we'll have a summary thread and your background will be added to it)

What would be also cool is if players will create "diary posts" in that future thread that will "describe" their game experiences in character. One would like to see how one may feel after being drenched in wine and put on a fire to kill off a giant mosquito.

Day 1
"I hate halfings"

Last call for people to submit character sheets. I'd like them by tonight.

See y'all next game!

I'm going to back out, friends. It isn't fair to you all to string you along. Last week was Harry Potter and today I get a phone call that my son works and then my wife wants to go to the store to grocery shop. Someone out there can take my spot I'm sure.

Fricking families.

Jay set me up to be stand-in, so I guess I'm the temp until you get someone to play full time.

I didn't make much of a backstory, so you guys are basically going to be playing with a broken wheel that comes in and then leaves whenever it's necessary.

Name: Falagar
Class: Wizard
Race: Human

Falagar is a monster hunter by trade and takes special interest in jobs that require the extermination of monsters. He loves tracking and finding rare and elusive monsters and will often go into harm's way to catch a glimpse of one.

Looks: 5'11". Has long sideburns that go down to his jawline, along with a short, well-maintained tuft of beard on his chin. He has short black hair that is a bit unruly at times. Most of the time he can be seen in purple wizard's robes that are custom-made to allow the mobility a monster hunter needs.

I also have plans tonight, so I'll have to bow out around 6:30 or 7:00ish.

Extra note: Jay, his second Tome of Readiness spell is Chill Strike.
Also, he is very cocky and gung-ho, and a bit brazen and arrogant. I'll try to play this up as much as I can to make up for the lack of backstory.

Oh! And he has Bruce Campbell's voice.

Should also probably go ahead and send out a call for another player. Next Tuesday I'm getting my wisdom teeth out and there's no way in hell I'll be playing that day.

And then after that, only 2 weeks until school starts and I lose availability on Tuesday.

From Denan's Journal.
I had only been in Dougan's Hole for a day when rumors of the town's woes had made their way to me via a loud drunk at the local inn. It was an exceptionally cold evening as a strong blizzard had blown in from what seemed like nowhere. The next day I caught sight of a very fragile looking, yet quite beautiful, Elven maiden. She seemed under dressed for this type of climate but even still didn't seem to mind the bitter cold. I have always worried over newcomers to our lands as they tend to stick out like sore thumbs in a bush of barbed wire. This lass wasn't helping matters by using words like "prithee" and "forsooth".
I bought her an ale and we started to talk. Aurora, as she introduced herself, claimed to be an Eladrin sent from the fey world on a mission to investigate a dark omen, possibly from the Drow below. I can't say I know what a Drow would want with a place like Dougan's Hole, but if the Drow want it their reasons can only be dark and twisted. Perhaps it's my insane inability to say no to a beautiful woman in distress, but I offered my help to her cause... providing she assist Dougan's Hole with it's recent troubles.
As we asked about for more information regarding the town's situation, word got around quickly and we were asked to meet with a man called Hamos at the tavern. As we sat at the table we were joined by Hamos and two others; a halfling by the name of Brix who turns out is the town "doctor" and resident cleric, and a human by the name of Dreklan who claims to be a warrior for the glory of Bahamut (we do get all the odd ones here don't we?).
Hamos expressed that if we wanted to help out the town we should check with the town speaker and gave us fairly simple directions. Now, far be it for me to assume I know more about a town than one of it's actual residents, but as we followed Dr Brix to the speaker's home we somehow ended up at a barn along the way. Perhaps Brix was jesting with us, but we nearly found ourselves in a fist fight with a rather large and grumpy half ogre by the name of Bubbles. Though admittedly Brix was responsible for us being there, it was Aurora who nearly forced me to put myself between her and Bubbles.
I think she is a very stunning woman but I believe that one day she's going to get me horribly killed.
After the nearly disastrous detour we made it to the Speaker's home. Speaking to him we discovered that Dougan's hole has more problems than first assumed. Not only was a murderer running about in the streets stabbing folks, but the local mountain excavation was losing miners to mysterious forces. I admit I had originally assumed the deaths in the street and the mine may have been connected. I reasoned that since more people were missing from the mines, than dead in the streets, it was the place to start. We were lead there by the less than thrilled captain of the guards, Theldara, who herself seems too beautiful for a place like Dougan's Hole (Though I can guarantee her mannerisms and attitude prove she's been here quite some time).
The excavation into the mountain is apparently an attempt to expand the town someplace untouchable by the weather. While their intentions may be good I feel that if we were meant to build inside mountains we would have been born shorter, have beards to our feet, and love ale just a wee bit more than good for us. The discovery of a corpse soon after entering didn't deter us from our mission. Our first foes came in the form of malicious, bloodsucking birds that the Dr. identified for us as sturges. We managed to fight them off but they proved difficult to remove once they had latched onto a person. Dreklan attempted to crush one beneath his weight by falling on top of it, but when that failed to work the good doctor began pouring wine over him and told us to light him aflame. Just as I was about to say "Why would we do something so insane?" , Aurora obliged and brought our torch to Dreklan's back.
After the sturges were dead, and our Paladin quenched, we continued. Later a trio of carrion crawlers attempted to ambush us as we entered their lair and discovered what was left of the missing miners. We managed to put an end to them, but many of us were barely standing. Dreklan had pretty much exhausted everything he could muster keeping himself alive, and Dr. Brix had blessed us with the Raven Queen's uncaring will more times than I care to remember. As nothing we had encountered used daggers as a weapon, we knew we had not been on the right trail for the murderer of Dougan's Hole. And as we exited the cavern and saw the morning light I knew we had also failed to stop him from killing again.
Sure enough a wealthy couple had been killed that night, and their 12 year old son missing. As my companions rested I examined the bodies and came to the following conclusions; The man was killed first as the stabs in his back suggest a surprise wound. The woman's death was long and torturous, having been stabbed several dozen times in the chest. There must be at least two murderers as the woman's arms were restrained by the wrist. And given that not a single soul, not even the militia on patrol, heard this woman's shrills of terror, there must have been some kind of magical force silencing her. I had considered a non magical force such as a gag, but then you'd have to wonder how could this woman watch her husband die, then be captured and restrained, and not be able to utter a single cry for help before a gag was forced around her mouth?
Speaking with Theldara I promised her we would focus more on finding the killer than assisting the town Speaker with his own personal agendas.
I rested myself and then went to Aurora's room to wake her. She "insisted" I give her more time so I found my way to Dr. Brix's clinic where he and Dreklan were waiting. As I filled them in on the state of the murder victims a frantic miner came to the door and asked for our help to find his brother who apparently went into the excavation earlier that day and hadn't returned. I felt somewhat responsible for this, as we may have inadvertently given the residents the impression that we had cleared all threats from the site. Brix, Dreklan and myself returned to the excavation and explored deeper. Finding some evidence that the missing miner was nearby we entered a large cavern with a watery pit in the center. What we first mistook as mud turned out to be a massive blob of living acid that used the piping left by the construction crews to surprise us and attack. Not only did there turn out to be two of these creatures but they also tended to split into additional creatures as we attacked it. Eventually we managed to kill them... I think. It's hard to tell when your foe is a blob of acid. It stopped moving. That's the best we could hope for I suppose.

Wonderfully written, Shawn! I think next time Aurora is going to be a little more reserved, but probably more clingy. In the feywild she never experienced such horrible sights (and smells ) and is starting to be affected by the harshness of this world. That's my explanation for her extended rest as well, because until Aurora's adrenaline levels came down after leaving the cave, she had no idea how much those jarring encounters had drained her. Expect weepiness and confusion. She's still gonna help, it's just that she'll be helping while hiding in Denan's shadow. XD

Must game!

I assume everyone shall be here tonight?

Oh yes I shall be there. Good times. Many murders to solve. Aurora to bed... I mean er save.

I did ask this before in the past, I'll ask it again so that I can update my campaign files... kindly give me your characters top 3 desirable objects (aka type of armor, weapons, etc..)

SeriousJay said:

I did ask this before in the past, I'll ask it again so that I can update my campaign files... kindly give me your characters top 3 desirable objects (aka type of armor, weapons, etc..)

Click to expand...

1) One handed sword. Long swords are great.

2) Any item to increase defense, saves or hit points.

3) Fun stuff. Surprise me. I like being creative with things that may not seem useful at first.

Is there no game tonight? I went in to listen in and there was no one there.

Julie has bowed out of the Tuesday session, and Jay needs more than 3 people, so tonight was canceled.

Gotcha. I would've played, but I was out due to mah wisdom teeth thing, and I wouldn't have been able to talk anyway. My face looks like I'm smuggling jawbreakers from Ed Edd and Eddy

I think we have replacements planned though.

Goodz. If you need me, Jay, I can temp for 2-3 more weeks.

Thanks Doom but I'm really looking for permanents. I already got 1 replacement player by the name of Rosie and she's creating her character (which I'll need to find out sooner rather than later) and a 5th player planned. Things should hopefully progress quickly in the next few days and moar posting be done in this thread! :clap:

The game will continue next week, with our new players at a new timeslot as the player we were catering to is no longer available to play. Thus, the next game will be Tuesday, August 4th at 7PM Eastern (basically 30 minutes later) and will normally end no later than 11 PM Eastern. Let me know if you have any issues with this. I even found a neat way to... deal with this sudden change of players, I'm sure the players will find it.... entertaining.



James, let me know what class Rosie will choose, ASAP plz. Oh and get her on here. Hopefully she'll be like... more chattier than you!

:moon:

a challenger appears!

I rolled 2 classes for this character, a rogue and a druid. I can use either one as needs be.

here's the bare-bones of his background:

Deshi is a Bedine tribesman hailing from the desert of Anauroch. His sheikh was made a deal by the shadovar empire - should he provide the magocracy with a relic from the old Netheresse empire within one year, he would be allowed to keep his lands. Grudgingly, the sheikh sent out all of his able men in hopes of saving his holdings. Deshi travelled for a fortnight, making slow progress as he searched the desert carefully for anything that might help. One night, under a full moon, while exploring a crumbled fragment of Netheresse architecture, he was told by a faceless black wolf "what you seek lies to the north, towards icewind dale".

When he tried to question the being further, it melted into an oily puddle and dissapeared in a flash of purple light. Deshi had no idea what had happened, but felt sure that it had been a powerful portent. When he returned to the sheikh, the man agreed, and set him on a fast camel towards Icewind Dale. The tribesman travelled for many weeks, until finally the camel died - thankfully, only a few days from a nearby settlement....

Dougan's Hole

I like this backstory - it gives my character a strong, if broad, purpose and also has a couple loose ends that could be tied up either as part of the main story or as part of a side story, or, hell, not at all. That said, I will change it if there are any problems - for one, all my knowledge of Icewind Dale lore and, really, all faerunian lore, comes from a couple hours i just spent on The forgotten realms Wiki.

Anyway, Jay said he has a way of working us new people in, so he can decide if Deshi actually made it to dougans hole or not =P

EDIT2:creating an updated rogue sheet..

James/Shawn can you verify with Rosie which character she rolls so we can get the ball on the road? Thanks.

Edit: nevermind, i'm going with the rogue.

SeriousJay said:

James/Shawn can you verify with Rosie which character she rolls so we can get the ball on the road? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Sent email asking Rosie's status yesterday. Haven't receieved reply yet.

She's gone with a Deva Invoker. Character history still being created

Gurpel said:

hm. I have the new Character Builder now, and it opens up the possibility of hybrid classes. Jay, would i be allowed to use a hybrid in this game? if so, I think I might try a hybrid fighter/ranger.

Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with hybrid classes at all. What is different about them? Will you be happy long term with this character? Looks like she chose an Invoker. Let me know when you choose your character.

I'll need an "initial" background from both new players so that I can incorporate them into the storyline.

SeriousJay said:

I'm not familiar with hybrid classes at all. What is different about them? Will you be happy long term with this character? Looks like she chose an Invoker. Let me know when you choose your character.

I'll need an "initial" background from both new players so that I can incorporate them into the storyline.

Click to expand...

Hm. Basically, you can have 2 hybrid classes which sacrifice some class features.

that said, I think I'm just going to go with the rogue.

Excellent choice! Provide me your new character sheet and "starter background" and we'll take it from there.

I still need Gurpel's character sheet (and MOAR background plz)
I also need Rosie's background.

I require them by tomorrow morning or else I'll incorporate you in my storyline in a shameful way. Here's a clue :

- Bubble's Bitch

i'm on a diff computer again, but i can remake the sheet.

also, how do you mean more background? as in, elaborate, or incorporate my character into the story myself?

Yes please.

YOU AREN'T HELPING, JAY

lol

- Your characters background.
- Why is he in Icewind Dale?
- Why is he in Dougan's Hole?
- Why does he want to help? Or what does he want to gain from this?

SeriousJay said:

lol

- Your characters background.
- Why is he in Icewind Dale?
- Why is he in Dougan's Hole?
- Why does he want to help? Or what does he want to gain from this?

Click to expand...

alright, did you read what i wrote?

Deshi is a Bedine tribesman hailing from the desert of Anauroch. His sheikh was made a deal by the shadovar empire - should he provide the magocracy with a relic from the old Netheresse empire within one year, he would be allowed to keep his lands. Grudgingly, the sheikh sent out all of his able men in hopes of saving his holdings. Deshi travelled for a fortnight, making slow progress as he searched the desert carefully for anything that might help. One night, under a full moon, while exploring a crumbled fragment of Netheresse architecture, he was told by a faceless black wolf "what you seek lies to the north, towards icewind dale".

When he tried to question the being further, it melted into an oily puddle and dissapeared in a flash of purple light. Deshi had no idea what had happened, but felt sure that it had been a powerful portent. When he returned to the sheikh, the man agreed, and set him on a fast camel towards Icewind Dale. The tribesman travelled for many weeks, until finally the camel died - thankfully, only a few days from a nearby settlement....

Click to expand...

to summarise (points are in response to your questions)

-my character is a warrior of a tribal sheik in the anauroch desert.
-his sheik was given a mandate by the Shadovar empire, and soon after, deshi was told by a sharn that "what [he] [sought] [laid] to the north, towards icewind dale"
-his [strike:61j38g2p]car broke do[/strike:61j38g2p] camel died near dougan's hole.
-he is trying to save his village. all he has to go in is a cryptic prophecy.

is my writing really that bad? maybe i should just rework it....

Makes sense.

Character sheet?

Here's my char. sheet.

Thank you.

Now's where's MA ROSIE.

So, who's looking forward to the game tomorrow night? I promise you, murder... blood.... intrigue... as the adventure group's saga in Icewind Dale progresses!

I'm looking forward to listening, at least.

Oh, Jay, I know you probably don't need the help or anything, but since I'm interested in your game but can't actually play, if you're interested in any kind of teamwork DMing, I'd be willing to help with that. Like, if you felt like you wanted help with stories, plot twists, encounter ideas, etc, I'd be interested in working with you. If nothing else, I've been thinking about DMing for some people here on campus, but I've never DMed before, so if nothing else it'd help me get started a bit.

I mean, obviously no biggie if you have no real interest in it-- just throwing it out there.

What'd be cool is if Doom could play some occasional helper character that's not an NPC, one we meet now and then, maybe a fellow townie, just for some RP here, a battle there. Maybe different rolled characters; you two can discuss it. I think it'd be interesting.

Helper character? That's quite possible as I already had something down in the books... albeit with hooks and no long term plans for them. Can't explain too much without spoiling things for the players though.

In regards to DMing it's unlikely but if you wanted to throw anything my way in regards to a specific and special encounter you can contact me privately. Just remember I have 79 pages prepared for the players... and quite frankly, we didn't even truly started getting to the meat of what is happening in Dougan's Hole.

Alright, an update on the game for tomorrow night.

- I checked both new characters in DDI and they look fine build wise, however, Hana can make do without the tent, you're currently over you load limit and will be considered slowed for all intent and purposes. I also require a character background, especially since you chose to play a DEVA!!!! Lastly, set your gold totals to 25 gold regardless of what you bought, this goes for you too Gurpel. (GET THE WOMAN ON THE FORUMS! )

- The game's start time has been pushed back as mentioned previously to 7PM Eastern. HOWEVER, FOR THIS WEEK BE THERE BY 6:45 PM. I need to get everyone back to speed and don't want to cut into the game session too much.

- I need an update on who got what in regards to loot thus far. There was a Amulet of Protection, Canith Goggles and a thief kit found last session.

- You have not earned a piece of gold thus far, Brix/Dreklan are at 25G and Denan at 24G.

- Everyone, including the new characters will have earned 406 experience thus far.

- If you haven't posted your top 3 "loot wants", I will assume you will leave it to my judgement to what goodies I allow to drop.

- I need Brix/Denan/Dreklan to check their updated character sheet and send it to me by PM ASAP. I want to double check what I got.

- The game will continue as you leave the mine, it is mid to late afternoon.

- Bubbles presently has a serious case of mudbutt.

I've not updated anything aside from experience gains. I have taken no items and spent no money, and the only difference from when I first sent my sheet is that I now lack a bottle of wine.

My updated sheet.

welp, jay must be stuck in traffic or something. darn.

EDIT: not to mention a couple of our players

Indeed. A game without the DM doesn't have much play potential.
Hope everything is alright, Jay. It's not like you to be late.

We can DM ourselves. REVOLUTION!

Jay just logged on. Power issues.

Came home, did random shit, sat down at my computer at 6:30 and suddenly I can't google... it felt cold and lonely. I realized my internet was down. I power cycled my router and my DSL modem without success, DSL is dead. I call their service and they tell me, they have "scheduled maintenance". Which species of simian had the good judgement to schedule a maintenance during prime time? It just came back up.

Fuck, I'm so sorry. Was everyone there? SHIT.

-- Tue Aug 04, 2009 7:51 pm --

This is me right now


<-----

Me, Gurpel, and Shawn were in. Not sure what happened to James and Rosie.

Don't know why I said "see ya guys in a week" when we're playing Thursday. :eyeroll:

Lotta no-shows. X3 Lack of communication looks like it might be an issue here, so I think a good idea would be for you all to exchange phone numbers. That way you could've found out where Jay was, postponed the game an hour or so, and possibly called to see where the other two were.

The other two are in Australia.

That's a hell of a long-distance call.

Good..... Erm... Good point. :bush:

You guys actually playing tomorrow or are two people going to randomly not show up again?

I'm going to be super sleep deprived but I will be there. Call and wake my ass up if i'm not.

doomdragon6 said:

You guys actually playing tomorrow or are two people going to randomly not show up again?

Click to expand...

Will we have a DM? Will we have all players? Will we ever discover the secret mysteries of Dougan's Hole?

I'll be there if no scheduled maintenance happens.

escushion said:

doomdragon6 said:

You guys actually playing tomorrow or are two people going to randomly not show up again?

Click to expand...

Will we have a DM? Will we have all players? Will we ever discover the secret mysteries of Dougan's Hole?

Click to expand...

The secret of Dougan's Hole: It isn't a hole at all. It's a pit.

Shawnacy said:

escushion said:

doomdragon6 said:

You guys actually playing tomorrow or are two people going to randomly not show up again?

Click to expand...

Will we have a DM? Will we have all players? Will we ever discover the secret mysteries of Dougan's Hole?

Click to expand...

The secret of Dougan's Hole: It isn't a hole at all. It's a pit.

Click to expand...

It's only a model.

Also, I might not be there to spectate tonight, so if someone wouldn't mind recording it, it'd be appreciated.

(I can stop posting in here if you want, Jay. I know you asked for players only.)

It's fine Doom.

Gurpel will likely be text only tonight, he's been obliged to visit family this week. Ah, I don't miss the days where my parents crushed my balls and freedom of choice.

:tongue:

hey guys my ****ing laptop broke (screen is all shattered, last time i fly air canada), i am posting from my mom's. no gurpel tonight

And Daryl/Julie are having issues so they're out too.

3 weeks in a row. Damn.

What sucks is that this probably cancels Shawn's game too.

Shit
I feel like I'm kind of shafting jay... I guess the laptop is still usable, but the screen is cracked to shit and only about 1/4th of it is usable. I will see what I can do about nextt weeks game; I cant promise anything for sure but I feel optimistic, LOL.

(message posted from iPod, it autocapitalises things so don't worry pod-people haven't eaten my brain.)

Update on the game: Be there next week, or else.

Hahahahahaha.. (It's funny 'cause it's true! )

I will need to post a warning about this now, but I may not be able to make the game next Tuesday.
I only have two good excuses for missing a game. Being horribly sick, and because of a woman.
I actually may have a date on Tuesday. I was in discussions with her on better days to do it, but we kept looking at Tuesday as the best day for us this week. I'll keep you posted if something changes. I hope you guys continue the game though.

Edit: On second thought this does seem a bit unfair to others. I'll chat with her about this. Plus I've been wanting to game to and we've lost out on 3 games so far. If my abscence causes another game to get cancelled I'll never forgive myself.

Shawnacy said:

I will need to post a warning about this now, but I may not be able to make the game next Tuesday.
I only have two good excuses for missing a game. Being horribly sick, and because of a woman.
I actually may have a date on Tuesday. I was in discussions with her on better days to do it, but we kept looking at Tuesday as the best day for us this week. I'll keep you posted if something changes. I hope you guys continue the game though.

Click to expand...

Wow, that actually looks like my piece of shit... I mean, Dell laptop.

Attendance check!

Here. But I may need to leave after 3 hours.

That's fine. Your character should be dead by then.

I think my character is dead now. I'm sorry; I'm just not feeling it and I'm backing out.

I'd like a real reason as I'm not feeling it doesn't cut it for me at all.

With this latest drop out I'm going to stop the game. I simply can't take this constant fickleness as it ruins everything that I have prepared for. The latest drop out actually ruined a strong story arc that I had in the works and would have already been ongoing if the last few weeks if games weren't canceled with things that were happening that were out of my control. I care not to restart this and have someone else drop out for whatever reason they can conjure up.

I truly wish people would have have 1/10th of the commitment that it takes to DM these things. As a players, things cannot be easy. Just show up on time and play. All of this *points to the last few pages of people dropping the ball* ... is very undeserved.

Bah. There goes another game.
They aren't easy to run, I can totally vouch for that. As for Jay dropping it I totally understand based on how difficult it has been to get enough people to stick around for it.
It was fun while it lasted. Maybe some day we can get another game started.

I totally would've joined and been your loyal follower if my Tuesdays weren't taken, man.

If enough of you guys are willing to schedule another day, feel free to arrange it between yourselves. I'll see if I can oblige. Just remember for me, Fridays to Sundays are off-limits. Thanks

SeriousJay said:

I'd like a real reason as I'm not feeling it doesn't cut it for me at all.

Click to expand...

Jay, don't take it so personally. If Darryl isn't "feeling it," and tells you so, that's all the explanation he need give. If you get nasty about it, he might just oblige and pull a Julie spewing mean comments. Probably not, because he's way more sensible than me.

Bottom line is, he doesn't care to continue. Just take it at face value and drop it.

What your post revealed to me is:

1) There's a clear reason why he dropped out of the game and put the nail in the coffin of the game.
2) His public excuse stinks even more when his GF has to post for him.
3) I'm coming out nasty, which is for the record is very genuine and will continue to be as I have every right to be and this will affect my general opinion on certain people.

The right course would have to have privately messaged me his concerns whether they are valid or not, not to throw away the game with a vague "not feeling it" on the forums. Words cannot describe the venom that I wanted to spew. The fact that his GF has to defend him when he is being called out.... fuck it.

You can't get really angry at him. He's put a good deal of work into developing a campaign based on the characters and when characters keep disappearing as they have been, it all falls apart.