I am fine with any choice so if someone wants to do something else, I am fine with that. 

Feel free to RP that in the thread, unless you’re ok with DM just pushing things along.

Quote from Weathervision >>

I am fine with any choice so if someone wants to do something else, I am fine with that. 

 

Just because Sera is getting stern with Arvos doesn't mean that Larskolstad has any issues with Weathervision.

From a meta-knowledge point of view, we all know there will be adventure anywhere you find it. So one choice is not inherently better or worse than the other.

Arvos wants to honor the dead, and that makes sense. Arvos has been there, seeing the refugees struggle and die out here in the desert. You've brought them food, water, and compassion during your downtime. Those who were lost fending off the Dragon Army, or restoring unstable structures, or just eschewing their daily rations so others could get enough to eat or drink  mean something to Arvos. And a holy ground provides a way to honor them (along with no small amount of magical blessings to boot).

And Sera is more concerned with the lives that still remain. Ending the blight and hauling back a literal dragons-horde of wealth could be just the thing that saves Santekh from an imminent slow death. Currently, Santekh only continues to exist because of a tenuous truce with kobolds and an unreliable supply chain. Santekh will be back to where it was the instant supplies run out, because they still can't grow any crops or raise livestock. Sera knows what it's like to not be food secure. She's struggled with poverty and starvation before, and that's created a strong bond of empathy with those who survived the last wave.

Both of you have strong points, and the drama is very exciting to read. Weathervision with Arvos as the senior member, everyone is looking to you. If Arvos wants the cemetery/shrines built first, you're gonna have to make it make sense to Sera and Hastos in content.

Now... Transparent__ I think you should weigh in as well. It's not actually clear that you even joined The Golden Company, tbh. From what I can tell, you just sort of became a guard in Santekh. Which is fine... you can play as a juiced-up NPC if you prefer. But if you want to go on quests with The Golden Company, you'll need to find a reason to travel with them, either by joining the company or becoming a hireling. Otherwise, I can just post for you separately as a split-quest while you handle normal guard duty tasks around town? I can make that work... there are more than enough plots spinning in Santekh for a player who likes political intrigue, religious horror, social commentary, and domestic heroism. But you're gonna level up a lot slower that way. NPC life doesn't really allow for a lot of high-risk/high-reward scenarios.

As for what happens next, I can't really move the game forward until a group leader makes a decision that the group is willing to follow. I'm not sure who that group leader is going to be. Arvos with his seniority and rapport with the council seems like an obvious choice. But Sera is strong-willed, assertive, and decisive... all great traits for bold leadership. I suppose we'll play this new power-struggle out in-content so that a natural chain of command can form. A good mercenary troupe is organized and works well as a team, after all.

Yes a very good analysis. I totaly separate role from person. 

If someine write me here ooc like : I love us to have a good argument and win in the end.

I love play out that or other stories that brings entusiasm. If the " argument" in character make other players have no fun and reply whatever in ooc I see little point have that scene. 

We can also just agree here to make contested cha+persuasion rolls to see what character presents the argument best. Then we adjust the story based on the result. 

Agreed!

Honestly, if Avros says what DM said in his summary analysis, Hastos would probably change his mind!

I’m not entirely sure Hastos has committed to the Golden Army either. He has a history that didn’t turn out well. But he’s interested in seeing what this group is up to. And the idea of belonging to a community is pretty foreign to him. He likes it, but everything in his life has been temporary, so he’s just not very familiar wit’s the concept of consistency.

LOL on the movie popcorn gag, DM!

…the waiting is soooo hard.

But I’m strong, I’m strong. 🤪

I could write a post but I feel the others shoukd get a chance to participate to :/

Same, I wanted to also,  it I told myself that it wasn’t my turn. 😄

I'm ok with games taking a while in PbP, but regrettably, I have to draw the line somewhere.

According to the house rules I established before even session zero was born, going 7 days without posting anything IC gets you kicked from the game. For Transparent__, it's been 11. For Weathervision it's been 4.

I'm going to go ahead and remove Transparent from the game, which is a real bummer. I'm beginning to think that scythe really is cursed. 😅 I'm thinking about taking that weapon out of the game entirely and just renaming the quest.

After that, I'll wait three more days. If Weathervision doesn't post something by then, we need to make a decision, because I really don't want to run this game with a small group. The idea was to open up recruitment periodically as The Golden Company gained renown. And part of the original game plot works better with a large party. I'm generally ok with opening up recruitment to fill holes in party dynamics, but I was expecting that to happen maybe once every 6 months or so. I've had to open recruitment twice since January, and it's already putting a tax on party cohesion as well as plot integrity.

So, for the game to continue if Weathervision goes MIA, I'd prefer to recruit at least two more players. But I'm no longer willing to stall the game out to wait for new recruits. I'm also no interested in letting a character naturally integrate into the story this time around, because (even though that does make for better character development) it really stalls a story out and causes chaos in party dynamics (as seen with Ebrius and Theron). 

Cheez Weezle originally wanted the scythe, and built a kick-in-the-door style adventurer to play into that. But then he decided he was overbooked, and wanted a glorious death. Transparent wanted to inherit the scythe and was willing to run a cinematic to make it work, but wanted to RP her introduction into the group. But I needed the party to deal with Dana in order to make other aspects of the game make sense, so I sorta stuck Hastos in a cage and wedged a weird battle scene into it. 😅

TBH, the chaos was fun, but too much story had to be shoe-horned into it, and I think context was lost. Dana being a cult-member was supposed to be a real pearl-clutching moment for the party, and I fully expected it to be devastating to some of the players (who are no longer in the party, so that drama was already unattainable by then). So, if we do recruit new players, they are just going to blink into existence with a tasteful cinematic (paired with backstory narration explaining how you've always known them) and already be on the same page with the current cast of party members.

Another option is to reboot the campaign. At this point, it's entirely unclear if The Golden Company even exists. Arvos is the only truly canonized remaining member. If Sera and Hastos don't wish to carry on the brand, then you're really just a loose gang of traumatized adventurers... hardly a mercenary party at all. And that's fair. You were thrust into a tumultuous time for The Golden Company, which was an idea developed by the original party members. If we do that, I can introduce your characters (and the campaign's titular weapon) in a way that actually makes sense. You can build your narrative (and rapport) naturally as the game progresses.

Another option is to shrug off the campaign's original story, and let a new story form around Sera and Hastos. There's plenty of backstory to work with there, and no shortage of plot hooks that I could help you rediscover. Since Ibahalii Vriwhulth, the Cult of Sargonnas, and Letni Inhelk aren't really major hooks in your storyline, I just need to present new subplots until you find something you want to sink your teeth into. Without Ibahalii Vriwhulth, the party can be any size. That weapon, and the cult associated with it, is the main reason the game needs a large party. Without it, I could literally run the game with just one player and some DMPCs if I needed to.

But I'm just thinking out loud here. Let's wait three days and see what happens. 

Any of those directions works for me. I kinda feel like you’ve been through the wringer. I understand the work that goes in to DMing a game that runs smoothly. This could not have been a picnic. Either way we get an adventure, so for me at least, it’s a win-win. 

I’d miss the dynamics that Sera and Hastos have if the direction was a total reboot. However, the direction would also need to be something that energizes things on your side as well.

I aporeciate the work you do as DM. I see the plots connected to spesifik players kinda implode and drift off.

I am sorry for that and hope we get a steady group going. 

I think we should shrug off the old story and start a new. We need maybe new players and lets start over. 

I reached out to see if anyone I used to play PbP with is available/ interested. We played together for over a year and they were great.  I just angled it as “maybe something might be coming up” and ask if anyone was interested and available.

I'm getting the vibe that a reboot is the option you are least interested in.

So, if we don't do a reboot, but we scrap the three main plotlines, then we don't actually need a larger party, unless you want more players. I'd just have to throw in a few extra DMPCs from time to time to aid in combat, create rivals, etc. The larger party is only necessary if we continue the main plotline, the Letni Inhelk plotline, the Cult of Sargonnas plotline, or want to utilize the guild-building mechanic. But a lot of the other sub-plots that have been lost to player drop-off can be re-introduced somehow. You've lost all your patrons, like Buckeran, Duncan, Verhanna, Rhyanna, Sagun, and Princess Harkail (because they were patrons for The Golden Company), but many of those can be re-introduced later.

And instead of a rival guild, Tekel can become a new quest-giver (if you're ok with his more brutal approach to conflict resolution). 

Sounds like a plan! We‘ll see how Sera feels about it!

Sounds good to me. Let it be a dynamic world. Some plots fade off...the villains do not give away clues. Some withdraw and regroup or make new plans. The case gets cold...loose ends or failures happens. I like that.  All the story and npc up to now helps flesh out a nice setting and can create many new stories. 

When one conflict goes away another untill now supressrd conflict rise up. 

Tekel can be a new quest giver and the Golden Company becomes a tale bards can sing about.  

I am fine either way. 

As for combat having less players we better start get smarter. Solve conflicts non lethal and get hirelings to fill up the ranks. 

Ok, my unasked for two cents. This isn’t a criticism, just an evaluation. Lord knows I have times when I just don’t have time to post , and some people are just in for a different experience from the game. That’s totally understandable.

More disclaimers: Not trying to step in to any roles outside of a players role, and really this is just feedback from one player to another, it’s just my opinion, so take it or feel free to ignore it. Seriously. 

But interactions that are just a sentence blast followed by “I go off to do my own thing” doesn't give us anything to build from, and certainly doesn’t give us a chance to build team cohesion. In one turn you’ve removed yourself from the scene, there’s no way to have a discussion. It’s also weird when you say in OOC that you don’t really care what we do, but you have your character double down on your first stance then bugger off. You could have had your character say “All I want to do is help the people, if that means finding a dragon, then that’s our path.” Or something like that. But at least we could move the story forward together. Now we’re fractured again. And Sera took off as well, so Hastos is now standing on his own in the tavern. I’m not sure what the hell I’m supposed to do! lol. We’re split in three directions and we’re putting the DM in the position of having to figure out how to get us back together again. I don’t think this is fair.

PbP are difficult to pace, but to be transparent, waiting over a week for someone to post “I walk off” doesn’t feel good.  Sera posts thoughtful updates regularly, and I try to meet that level of investment with varying levels of success. 

Im not trying to be rude, or judgmental. I’m just saying that if we want to build cohesion, we have to work at it. I really want to get to know everyone’s character, but I don’t know how that’s going to happen when I get so little time with them (Sera excluded)

Anyway. Sorry for the rant, I’m genuinely excited to be a part of this campaign and just trying to get us aligned if at all possible. Thanks for the ear.

I apologize for the slow post and then walking off. I am rather busy these days and caring for an ill family member. I have already spoken to the DM about my slow posting, and they were fine with it.  I felt a disconnect with the new party members. I was sure of my bonds with the old party members, but the new party members felt more like strangers if that makes sense. Man, I miss Albert. 

For my intent I am more action oriented and less in lengthy talking. We can hammer a direction here in this OOC chat. 

I remembered you were busy, but I'm my own chaos, I'll admit I forgot why. 

I think it's better, for now, to reduce the role for Arvos to one of a glorified NPC.

Following the loss of all his friends in the Golden Company due to war, murder, famine, and desertion, Arvos could just be too bereaved to continue running the guild. 

Arvos disbands the Golden Company and takes on an agriculture role in Santekh. 

That way, while your busy, your absence won't freeze up the entire game for a week. But when you are ready, you can post in as a quest-giver, an advisor, or an old friend. 

And if you're schedule frees up and you want to return to pay, a elder celebrity coming out of retirement to show the young bucks how it's done is a perfectly acceptable comeback story. Hell, I imagine that's what is going to happen with Albert.

That’s also an option.

Im sorry your family member is going through an illness, I hope they have a speedy recovery. Do what you can to are care of yourself, too.

The bare bones of what I was proposing is that knowing you have limited opportunity to post,  if you could choose an action that enables the narrative to move forward? Maybe that was what you were getting at? Avros just wants to community build while Hastos and Sera do the other thing. But it didn’t come across that way. 

If you’re into action, why does your character want to bury bodies? 

As for turnover, man do I feel that. I played a PbP game for nearly 2 years, and people having to drop off hurts hard. I even lost my character towards the end of the campaign to a new person who was a total Leroy Jenkins. The other players buried him alive, lol, so that eased things a bit. Lol. 

Anyway, I’m pretty ok at RPing. When you get the time, have a seat with Sera and Hastos. He’s an ok guy. 😄