Examining the mine, what can be seen beneath the wreckage of the bucket and pulley system that was crashed into the lower area, paints a clear picture. The corpses of all remaining stone ghosts, greed grubs and greater greed grubs lie dead, their unnatural lives no longer maintained by The Glittergloom. There is some sign that the massive serpentine creature, the Great Wyrm Of Greed, evidently survived, and seems to have burrowed its own side tunnel away from the mine and deeper into the earth. Elsewhere in the upper level of the mine there are also no living horrors. The curse died with Greedyguts, and the only Glittergloom creature to survive the curse’s end seems to have fled.
Within the chest in the foreman’s room, which Okkar heads to open next, he located several mining documents, including pledges to deliver the standard portion of the profits to Clan Droranoth. A tear comes to Okkar’s eye as he says, “Right here. Proof. Proof my people were not traitors. They had regular shipments set up both to Steelhand Hall, as well as to the seat of Clan Droronath. The priest betrayed his clan and his gods, but the bulk of the Steelhand family did not.”
Examining the documents further, his countenance brightens. “And these shipping routes - I can trace these to find the missing Steelhand Hall as well! A lost mine and a lost family fortress! Oh, I can’t thank you all enough. You’ve certainly earned the spoils found here.”
Gesturing towards the room with the two difficult arcane locks, Okkar adds, “That room was sealed damn tight, my guess is these gold eating freaks could smell it, but none of them had the skills to operate a lock pick. Who knows how many of them fried themselves to death on the electricity trap over the years trying to get in there? But that’s all yours, the remaining gold they had gathered, as well as any taken from the bodies of these twisted miners, and Greedyguts. There’s plenty left in the earth down below, and now that the curse has been lifted, we can get this place fixed up and out back into production.”
Galtheon looks back down the corridor, "When you are up and running...or before if you know another way...could you smelt the ore?"
(( ooc: It may be worth offering to 'sell back' the contents of the mine that we were promised (lamterns, armour, etc etc) at a favourable price to our good friend Okkar; beats carrying it! ))
Galtheon looks back down the corridor, "When you are up and running...or before if you know another way...could you smelt the ore?"
(( ooc: It may be worth offering to 'sell back' the contents of the mine that we were promised (lamterns, armour, etc etc) at a favourable price to our good friend Okkar; beats carrying it! ))
"In the interim I'll consult with the boys from one of the other operational mines. Most of them have working furnaces and men ready to work, just that the earth is empty and barren. Should be a quick matter to get 'em over here, and get that ore worked into something more like real trade gold," Okkar answers. "And we'd happily 'buy back' most of the supplies, arms and armor that aren't too damaged to be of use. They're getting an unexpected mine still rich with gold, I don't expect they'll haggle over the small details like that."
Based on the time table, Okkar indicates within a week the party should have their split, upards of 2,000 HP each for the large ore deposits alone, in addition to the value of the other loot, treasure, and claimed magic items. "You're all going to be very wealthy, by most people's standards. By your adventurer standards, maybe you'll just buy a shiny amulet that makes no sense the common person, but if you're getting tired of this game, you could live quite comfortably for quite some time, or invest in a business."
Okkar looks to the young adventurers, by his standards, the Tiefling, the Humans, the Half Elf, and then to the older elf, who might be close to the Dwarf's age. "Not my business to tell you what to do with it all, in the end. I'm just glad you all lived through it, and that this came out right. People thought I was crazy to keep chasing this dream. I couldn't have done it without each and every one of ye."
OOC: We can still go some wrap up on this game, but the module is complete now. It took us about 2 weeks to get through a supposedly "one session" module, but I think it went at a good clip. As I said, I did greatly enjoy running for everyone, as this was a good group, but it's also a good deal of exhaustion running PBP given some of the limitations of the format. I had given thought to running a more ambitious campaign, either in a home brew setting, or one of my old favorites like Ghostwalk, Iron Kingdoms, Midnight, or Eberron, or trying out a new setting. Now, I think that would be too much of a challenge to jump into, at least immediately.
In short I will need a break from PBP DMing. That said, we do have a good group here. If anyone wants to run something with this group of players, or even continue on with the same characters in a new story, even transitioning them to a different setting and filing the serial numbers off of some background elements, I would be game to participate and switch to a player hat. Otherwise, for if and when I do have the inclination to run another PBP game, I can simply contact all of you and we can pick up from there. Either way, I'll need a bit of a break, at least for now.
This has been a good experience, and any issues are solely due to the limitations and challenges of the format. The player group has been great.
Thanks for the DM-ing, Izraal1. This has gone lightning fast for a PBP, and we spanned some pretty disparate time zones, so kudos to you. I have really enjoyed it, and Evan turned out to be much more fun to play than I anticipated...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Yeah, for PBP, getting through a module intended for a 4 hour session in two weeks is actually pretty decent, no sarcasm there. A group I've been in doing a Waterdeep Module has been going for upwards of a year now and we've just scratched the surface of the module, although that one may end in TPK soon (Phil knows what I'm talking about). I like to keep the pacing and momentum of games going. I guess I was spoiled - when I switched from weekly to bi-weekly IRL sessions that felt like too much damage to pacing and investment in the game, and since doing more PBP as of late, it's an entirely different pacing structure, a very "slow drip."
Unless there is another prospective DM among us, we will wrap this here, and I will try to keep each of you in PM for when the PBP DMing itch strikes again, finding a good group is hard. The rogue player didn't quite gel with the tone of the rest of the players, but self-removed, and from then on it was quite smooth.
I enjoyed all the characters, and thanks again, Scott R, for being flexible and turning the Evan concept into a cleric, that did end up being very helpful for a lot of encounter balance issues. It ended up mechanically very sound, and still had a great characterization where I didn't feel anything was lost from not being a fighter, it probably gained if anything, from my perspective.
Epilogue: The group is forced to extend their stay in the Mror holds about another week, but not much longer. At that time Okkar Steelhand - as he has reclaimed his father's name - announces his family has been welcomed back into Droranath. The ore is refined, and after clearing out the remaining useful supplies in the mine, he splits the shares between you, rounding it off to an even 1,500 GP each, above and beyond the prior loot and magic items. Droranath remains the poorest of the Mror Holds clans, but The Knuckle will allow them to improve that, and the living members of the Steelhand family, no longer outcasts, all show their gratitude to the foreign adventurers who made it possible, and to Okkar for following his Quixotic dream. The characters would have allies within the Mror Holds now, in anyone of Steelhand or Droranath blood, and a friend as well, in Okkar.
This adventure concludes, the group may go there separate ways, a little richer and more experienced, or they may decide to continue to work alongside one another. That will be a story for another day (and possibly another DM). The curse of Glittergloom is forever ended. The Great Wyrm of Greed remains an urban legend among the miners of the Mror Holds, and Okkar promises someday to gather you all again for another expedition to reclaim Steelhand Hall, but for now, getting The Knuckle in working order and acting as new mine foreman occupies his time.
"I promise, we'll vet our chaplain better than the last group did," he promises over a final farewell drink, the bottle of top shelf dwarven whisky.
Of note, this was the Goodman Games first 5e Module, one I had sitting around from a prior Drive Thru RPG purchase. It's pretty typical module quality, I would say. Its original monsters had interesting abilities and reasonable balance. The module just starts at the mine, I actually stretched things out with the context setting, to put it in Eberron and have the meeting at the saloon and the overland travel encounters with the harpies and owlbears. Just starting in front of a dungeon always feels weird to me. The module didn't include much in the way of dialogue or RP potential, or any characterization to speak of for the antagonist or Okkar, which also feels empty to me, so I gave Greedyguts the weird "the gods are capitalists" angle and tried to make Okkar super focused on honor and redemption.
I am glad everyone role played, despite the module's content not being innately beneficial to RP. Dungeon crawls and modules tend to focus on combat, exploration and resource management, more than social scenarios, but every game feels richer when people interact and bring thought out characters to the "table," virtual or otherwise. I'd like to thank everyone for making this first PBP Dming experience a good one, and I hope we all play again in together in the future!
Thanks Izraal1! It was super fun and this group was fun. I would be up for another PbP if to comes around. Thanks again everyone!
Thanks, Taraven! I enjoyed it as well. Most of these games don't seem to come to an end, they just sort of lose momentum at some point, so now we can all say we've seen one through to completion, albeit a short one!
Hi all. As one last example of the time zone difference problem, I've only just woken up to read all this... It's all over too soon—Wah!.
But it has been fun, if a little disjointed, and thanks again for running Izraal1.
I loved the ironic twist of Nanoc spending all his time protecting Okkar, and it being Okkar who gave Nanoc the healing potion, after he was struck down by the Big Boss.
To that end, Nanoc will probably settle down with the Steelhand dwarves of the Mror Holds of Eberron, if they will have him—he is a little tall to be a dwarf.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Hi all. As one last example of the time zone difference problem, I've only just woken up to read all this... It's all over too soon—Wah!.
But it has been fun, if a little disjointed, and thanks again for running Izraal1.
I loved the ironic twist of Nanoc spending all his time protecting Okkar, and it being Okkar who gave Nanoc the healing potion, after he was struck down by the Big Boss.
To that end, Nanoc will probably settle down with the Steelhand dwarves of the Mror Holds of Eberron, if they will have him—he is a little tall to be a dwarf.
Yeah, in the end, the surprise crit on the inflict wounds that made a 3d10 attack a much nastier 6d10 took Nanoc briefly out.
A barbarian would fit it well in clan a Droronath as they have the most barbarian classed dwarves of any clan in the Mror Holds.
[OOC: Just out of interest, did anyone check the items the Big Bad had on him? They might be part of the spoils. Also, DM, are you going to hand out experience... I'm thinking Nanoc being a second level rogue to give him Cunning Action would be a good thing.]
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[OOC: Just out of interest, did anyone check the items the Big Bad had on him? They might be part of the spoils. Also, DM, are you going to hand out experience... I'm thinking Nanoc being a second level rogue to give him Cunning Action would be a good thing.]
The boss monster had a chain shirt bearing the sigil of the Dark Six, non magical, a mundane Shield, the key to the foreman’s chest, and a +1 Pick, functionally the module has it identical to a +1 Longsword that does piercing rather than slashing damage. Also, I would level all of these characters up to 4, yes, prior to the next game if/when I run that.
[OOC: I'm happy with that. Nanoc will now go into semi-retirement to come back when/if/wherever as a 2nd level Rogue / 2nd level Barbarian keeping the Goggles of Night as part of his takings.]
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
(( Sounds good, and thanks for asking the awkward question @phill! I have levelled Galtheon already (using a feat from Xanathars), and assume he took the ring...(he previously rolled with Ilecerys for it). That said, I don't think Taraven got much at all, so maybe extras share of cash...for first choice next time!
In any case, I'd like to make some observations:
1. The "scenario based" character blurb was genius. Sooo much better than the shoe-horned backstory model. It also got me into a sense of my character from the start.
2. You (the @DM) were *very* responsive across multiple timezones. This was great as a player (and it certainly contributed to us completing), but no wonder you are exhausted. Maybe next time: set two times of the day you will check messages, let people know when they are, and stick to it. (Edit:or even 2 30 minute time periods? -- would that help? )
3. PBP has some real advantages for RP: I can think about what myy character would say and do, and build on their existing story. In a 4 hour session that would not happen. It's a great strength for PBP.
4. I'll shelve Galtheon in the hopes he may one day ride again! In my mind he is now part of this world, and this group...and I will miss playing him.
So...thanks for the mammoth effort, and good luck in your own games!
Thanks for the feedback! I think the scenario based RP example as an application is far and away my preference, and if I should ever do new recruitment in the future, that is the way I would go, most certainly. I may have noted before, there's a big difference between people crafting a backstory and playing a character. A bit of my personal theorizing on D&D, and it applies to many other tabletop RPGs, but there are really "4 games" to tabletop RPGs. Two take place before and in between sessions - the story writer, as you craft a backstory and concept, and the number cruncher, as you create a build, and 2 take place in game, the improv, as you play the character interacting with the world and responding to scenarios, and the tactician, as you make moment to moment/round to round decisions based on resources available to you. I think really well rounded players can excel at all of these, but with PBP, I see a lot who do the "backstory" bit, and not much on the "improv" bit, which is the actual meat of the Role Play experience.
If I run again, it would be a tough call. Limited my involvement to two blocks of time a day would certainly make it a bit less overwhelming, but it might also make me feel less involved in the game, and could cause it to lose momentum, which is a big issue for many PBP games it seems. Life does happen, but momentum does seem to be a part of it. A Ravinica game I was doing PBP had one of the stronger starts I've encountered to a PBP game, but as soon as it hit a lull, it almost immediately died off. It could have been a coincidence of some "life happens" with the GM and others, but it does seem to be a consistent pattern for such games.
I do agree that the additional time - and the freedom to freely RP among the party, with no time constraints to "move on the scene," can be a strength. The actual plot and progress still moves forward, but it is much easier to 'side bar' conversations that take place during travel and rests. The only issue there is where the interactions would normally require DM adjudication, not the norm for interactions between PCs, but I have had occasion where a ruling on issues like whether one PC is sneaking past another, robbing another or tricking another, really does require some DM "final call." Most seasoned players don't mess with this sort of thing often, we did have the rogue who played briefly dabble in it, and I have seen some players do it in PBP, but putting those examples side, it is nice that it allows players to freely explore character relationships without taking away "table time" from the progress of the story.
Hang on to Galtheon, certainly, as there is a good chance that I might get that DMing itch and find PBP the most convenient outlet for it again, and thanks for keeping a loot shoot for the group! Someone doing that is always a huge help, and I am glad you volunteered.
Examining the mine, what can be seen beneath the wreckage of the bucket and pulley system that was crashed into the lower area, paints a clear picture. The corpses of all remaining stone ghosts, greed grubs and greater greed grubs lie dead, their unnatural lives no longer maintained by The Glittergloom. There is some sign that the massive serpentine creature, the Great Wyrm Of Greed, evidently survived, and seems to have burrowed its own side tunnel away from the mine and deeper into the earth. Elsewhere in the upper level of the mine there are also no living horrors. The curse died with Greedyguts, and the only Glittergloom creature to survive the curse’s end seems to have fled.
Within the chest in the foreman’s room, which Okkar heads to open next, he located several mining documents, including pledges to deliver the standard portion of the profits to Clan Droranoth. A tear comes to Okkar’s eye as he says, “Right here. Proof. Proof my people were not traitors. They had regular shipments set up both to Steelhand Hall, as well as to the seat of Clan Droronath. The priest betrayed his clan and his gods, but the bulk of the Steelhand family did not.”
Examining the documents further, his countenance brightens. “And these shipping routes - I can trace these to find the missing Steelhand Hall as well! A lost mine and a lost family fortress! Oh, I can’t thank you all enough. You’ve certainly earned the spoils found here.”
Gesturing towards the room with the two difficult arcane locks, Okkar adds, “That room was sealed damn tight, my guess is these gold eating freaks could smell it, but none of them had the skills to operate a lock pick. Who knows how many of them fried themselves to death on the electricity trap over the years trying to get in there? But that’s all yours, the remaining gold they had gathered, as well as any taken from the bodies of these twisted miners, and Greedyguts. There’s plenty left in the earth down below, and now that the curse has been lifted, we can get this place fixed up and out back into production.”
Galtheon looks back down the corridor, "When you are up and running...or before if you know another way...could you smelt the ore?"
(( ooc: It may be worth offering to 'sell back' the contents of the mine that we were promised (lamterns, armour, etc etc) at a favourable price to our good friend Okkar; beats carrying it! ))
"In the interim I'll consult with the boys from one of the other operational mines. Most of them have working furnaces and men ready to work, just that the earth is empty and barren. Should be a quick matter to get 'em over here, and get that ore worked into something more like real trade gold," Okkar answers. "And we'd happily 'buy back' most of the supplies, arms and armor that aren't too damaged to be of use. They're getting an unexpected mine still rich with gold, I don't expect they'll haggle over the small details like that."
Based on the time table, Okkar indicates within a week the party should have their split, upards of 2,000 HP each for the large ore deposits alone, in addition to the value of the other loot, treasure, and claimed magic items. "You're all going to be very wealthy, by most people's standards. By your adventurer standards, maybe you'll just buy a shiny amulet that makes no sense the common person, but if you're getting tired of this game, you could live quite comfortably for quite some time, or invest in a business."
Okkar looks to the young adventurers, by his standards, the Tiefling, the Humans, the Half Elf, and then to the older elf, who might be close to the Dwarf's age. "Not my business to tell you what to do with it all, in the end. I'm just glad you all lived through it, and that this came out right. People thought I was crazy to keep chasing this dream. I couldn't have done it without each and every one of ye."
OOC: We can still go some wrap up on this game, but the module is complete now. It took us about 2 weeks to get through a supposedly "one session" module, but I think it went at a good clip. As I said, I did greatly enjoy running for everyone, as this was a good group, but it's also a good deal of exhaustion running PBP given some of the limitations of the format. I had given thought to running a more ambitious campaign, either in a home brew setting, or one of my old favorites like Ghostwalk, Iron Kingdoms, Midnight, or Eberron, or trying out a new setting. Now, I think that would be too much of a challenge to jump into, at least immediately.
In short I will need a break from PBP DMing. That said, we do have a good group here. If anyone wants to run something with this group of players, or even continue on with the same characters in a new story, even transitioning them to a different setting and filing the serial numbers off of some background elements, I would be game to participate and switch to a player hat. Otherwise, for if and when I do have the inclination to run another PBP game, I can simply contact all of you and we can pick up from there. Either way, I'll need a bit of a break, at least for now.
This has been a good experience, and any issues are solely due to the limitations and challenges of the format. The player group has been great.
Thanks for the DM-ing, Izraal1. This has gone lightning fast for a PBP, and we spanned some pretty disparate time zones, so kudos to you. I have really enjoyed it, and Evan turned out to be much more fun to play than I anticipated...
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
"Good work, friends. Perhaps we can work together again someday."
I'm not up to running a PBP game just yet, but I'm glad to join in. It would be nice to bust out the monk again. Thanks for running this!
Yeah, for PBP, getting through a module intended for a 4 hour session in two weeks is actually pretty decent, no sarcasm there. A group I've been in doing a Waterdeep Module has been going for upwards of a year now and we've just scratched the surface of the module, although that one may end in TPK soon (Phil knows what I'm talking about). I like to keep the pacing and momentum of games going. I guess I was spoiled - when I switched from weekly to bi-weekly IRL sessions that felt like too much damage to pacing and investment in the game, and since doing more PBP as of late, it's an entirely different pacing structure, a very "slow drip."
Unless there is another prospective DM among us, we will wrap this here, and I will try to keep each of you in PM for when the PBP DMing itch strikes again, finding a good group is hard. The rogue player didn't quite gel with the tone of the rest of the players, but self-removed, and from then on it was quite smooth.
I enjoyed all the characters, and thanks again, Scott R, for being flexible and turning the Evan concept into a cleric, that did end up being very helpful for a lot of encounter balance issues. It ended up mechanically very sound, and still had a great characterization where I didn't feel anything was lost from not being a fighter, it probably gained if anything, from my perspective.
Epilogue: The group is forced to extend their stay in the Mror holds about another week, but not much longer. At that time Okkar Steelhand - as he has reclaimed his father's name - announces his family has been welcomed back into Droranath. The ore is refined, and after clearing out the remaining useful supplies in the mine, he splits the shares between you, rounding it off to an even 1,500 GP each, above and beyond the prior loot and magic items. Droranath remains the poorest of the Mror Holds clans, but The Knuckle will allow them to improve that, and the living members of the Steelhand family, no longer outcasts, all show their gratitude to the foreign adventurers who made it possible, and to Okkar for following his Quixotic dream. The characters would have allies within the Mror Holds now, in anyone of Steelhand or Droranath blood, and a friend as well, in Okkar.
This adventure concludes, the group may go there separate ways, a little richer and more experienced, or they may decide to continue to work alongside one another. That will be a story for another day (and possibly another DM). The curse of Glittergloom is forever ended. The Great Wyrm of Greed remains an urban legend among the miners of the Mror Holds, and Okkar promises someday to gather you all again for another expedition to reclaim Steelhand Hall, but for now, getting The Knuckle in working order and acting as new mine foreman occupies his time.
"I promise, we'll vet our chaplain better than the last group did," he promises over a final farewell drink, the bottle of top shelf dwarven whisky.
Of note, this was the Goodman Games first 5e Module, one I had sitting around from a prior Drive Thru RPG purchase. It's pretty typical module quality, I would say. Its original monsters had interesting abilities and reasonable balance. The module just starts at the mine, I actually stretched things out with the context setting, to put it in Eberron and have the meeting at the saloon and the overland travel encounters with the harpies and owlbears. Just starting in front of a dungeon always feels weird to me. The module didn't include much in the way of dialogue or RP potential, or any characterization to speak of for the antagonist or Okkar, which also feels empty to me, so I gave Greedyguts the weird "the gods are capitalists" angle and tried to make Okkar super focused on honor and redemption.
I am glad everyone role played, despite the module's content not being innately beneficial to RP. Dungeon crawls and modules tend to focus on combat, exploration and resource management, more than social scenarios, but every game feels richer when people interact and bring thought out characters to the "table," virtual or otherwise. I'd like to thank everyone for making this first PBP Dming experience a good one, and I hope we all play again in together in the future!
So we can all know we genuinely finished a PBP game, here comes the all caps:
-THE END-
Thanks Izraal1! It was super fun and this group was fun. I would be up for another PbP if to comes around. Thanks again everyone!
Thanks, Taraven! I enjoyed it as well. Most of these games don't seem to come to an end, they just sort of lose momentum at some point, so now we can all say we've seen one through to completion, albeit a short one!
Hi all. As one last example of the time zone difference problem, I've only just woken up to read all this... It's all over too soon—Wah!.
But it has been fun, if a little disjointed, and thanks again for running Izraal1.
I loved the ironic twist of Nanoc spending all his time protecting Okkar, and it being Okkar who gave Nanoc the healing potion, after he was struck down by the Big Boss.
To that end, Nanoc will probably settle down with the Steelhand dwarves of the Mror Holds of Eberron, if they will have him—he is a little tall to be a dwarf.
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Yeah, in the end, the surprise crit on the inflict wounds that made a 3d10 attack a much nastier 6d10 took Nanoc briefly out.
A barbarian would fit it well in clan a Droronath as they have the most barbarian classed dwarves of any clan in the Mror Holds.
[OOC: Just out of interest, did anyone check the items the Big Bad had on him? They might be part of the spoils. Also, DM, are you going to hand out experience... I'm thinking Nanoc being a second level rogue to give him Cunning Action would be a good thing.]
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
The boss monster had a chain shirt bearing the sigil of the Dark Six, non magical, a mundane Shield, the key to the foreman’s chest, and a +1 Pick, functionally the module has it identical to a +1 Longsword that does piercing rather than slashing damage. Also, I would level all of these characters up to 4, yes, prior to the next game if/when I run that.
[OOC: I'm happy with that. Nanoc will now go into semi-retirement to come back when/if/wherever as a 2nd level Rogue / 2nd level Barbarian keeping the Goggles of Night as part of his takings.]
---
Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
(( Sounds good, and thanks for asking the awkward question @phill! I have levelled Galtheon already (using a feat from Xanathars), and assume he took the ring...(he previously rolled with Ilecerys for it). That said, I don't think Taraven got much at all, so maybe extras share of cash...for first choice next time!
In any case, I'd like to make some observations:
1. The "scenario based" character blurb was genius. Sooo much better than the shoe-horned backstory model. It also got me into a sense of my character from the start.
2. You (the @DM) were *very* responsive across multiple timezones. This was great as a player (and it certainly contributed to us completing), but no wonder you are exhausted. Maybe next time: set two times of the day you will check messages, let people know when they are, and stick to it. (Edit:or even 2 30 minute time periods? -- would that help? )
3. PBP has some real advantages for RP: I can think about what myy character would say and do, and build on their existing story. In a 4 hour session that would not happen. It's a great strength for PBP.
4. I'll shelve Galtheon in the hopes he may one day ride again! In my mind he is now part of this world, and this group...and I will miss playing him.
So...thanks for the mammoth effort, and good luck in your own games!
(( Loot updated ))
Thanks for the feedback! I think the scenario based RP example as an application is far and away my preference, and if I should ever do new recruitment in the future, that is the way I would go, most certainly. I may have noted before, there's a big difference between people crafting a backstory and playing a character. A bit of my personal theorizing on D&D, and it applies to many other tabletop RPGs, but there are really "4 games" to tabletop RPGs. Two take place before and in between sessions - the story writer, as you craft a backstory and concept, and the number cruncher, as you create a build, and 2 take place in game, the improv, as you play the character interacting with the world and responding to scenarios, and the tactician, as you make moment to moment/round to round decisions based on resources available to you. I think really well rounded players can excel at all of these, but with PBP, I see a lot who do the "backstory" bit, and not much on the "improv" bit, which is the actual meat of the Role Play experience.
If I run again, it would be a tough call. Limited my involvement to two blocks of time a day would certainly make it a bit less overwhelming, but it might also make me feel less involved in the game, and could cause it to lose momentum, which is a big issue for many PBP games it seems. Life does happen, but momentum does seem to be a part of it. A Ravinica game I was doing PBP had one of the stronger starts I've encountered to a PBP game, but as soon as it hit a lull, it almost immediately died off. It could have been a coincidence of some "life happens" with the GM and others, but it does seem to be a consistent pattern for such games.
I do agree that the additional time - and the freedom to freely RP among the party, with no time constraints to "move on the scene," can be a strength. The actual plot and progress still moves forward, but it is much easier to 'side bar' conversations that take place during travel and rests. The only issue there is where the interactions would normally require DM adjudication, not the norm for interactions between PCs, but I have had occasion where a ruling on issues like whether one PC is sneaking past another, robbing another or tricking another, really does require some DM "final call." Most seasoned players don't mess with this sort of thing often, we did have the rogue who played briefly dabble in it, and I have seen some players do it in PBP, but putting those examples side, it is nice that it allows players to freely explore character relationships without taking away "table time" from the progress of the story.
Hang on to Galtheon, certainly, as there is a good chance that I might get that DMing itch and find PBP the most convenient outlet for it again, and thanks for keeping a loot shoot for the group! Someone doing that is always a huge help, and I am glad you volunteered.