(ooc) Hi everyone, I am really excited to join in this adventure. It particularly resonates since, given the age of my kids, I've been reading a lot of YA novels and tween graphics that feature bullying and how anyone can be a hero. I played a lot of AD&D back in the 80s, but I am new to the modern rules and PbP. But I have been reading and thinking obsessively and I am modeling this post on stuff I have seen on the forums.
Redemption walks towards the others, he checks to see if they are hostile, mistrusting, friendly or what after all these years
Put your spoiler here.
Insight check: 10
You see a tiefling approach. Obviously a tiefling, red skin and curled horns and tail twitching, you recognize Ragg Malxis from years ago. But his features have smoothed, he's dressed pretty fancy and carrying a flute - not the thug you remember as a child nor the nerdy kid who quit being a thug that fateful day.
I am happy to see you all. I assume we all got the same message from Elha? I am going by "Redemption" now - my people often choose a virtue we hope to embody. You all of anyone ought to understand why. I know I have already apologized but now I am finally in a position to genuinely make it up.
<Do they believe me? Can we trust each other? What can I do>
(ooc) (DM) where are we meeting? Do we have any other information before we show up?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Galanodel Deacon Tosh - Less-than-Half-Elf Bard - & -Flitterbug - Pixie Sorceress : Meanwhile in the Westwoods Amadow 'Tug' Rioux - Human Psionic Palooka : Revenge Heist - - - Gofer Bayut - Bugbear Paladin Messenger : Shrouded Sky
(ooc) I think the DM was going to make an opening post setting the stage for introductions and character descriptions I think first. I could be wrong and if I am I will post my intro as well
I’ll hold my introduction until the DM prompts, but I’ll give you all a description that you can engrave in your brain.
Lancel is a hill dwarf, with a shaved bald head, blue eyes, and a carefully maintained brown beard adorns his face. The beard is intertwined with red string, creating small braids. He is of muscular build, wearing a chain mail shirt, cloth breeches, and sturdy leather boots. Red string is wound around his wrists and intertwined through his fingers. Over his shirt he wears a tunic depicting hands bound with red thread. The shield across his back bears a similar design, but with much less detail (as if painted himself, which it was). He has a war hammer slung over his back under the shield and is using a spear as a walking staff. He carries a satchel across his chest hanging on his left side.
It was just yesterday that all of you met Ehla Eramith, the proprietor of the newly formed adventurer's guild, "Eidolons of Eramyth". It was long ago that your childhood mentor, Arkalis Anzulore, had dubbed your group as, "Eidolons".
Nyaris Elenlith knowledge (no roll required)
Eidolons - Ancient order of wards and spies who served under a circle of Druids. Whispered among the Elves that the Druids disbanded after losing territory or dangerous relics they were once tasked to protect. While the knowledge of the origins of Eidolon are common among your kind, you know very little about the old ways.
"It's just a name" Ehla says as if reading the wood-elf's mind, she always seemed to have this sisterly connection with Nyaris, a relationship connected by the heart not by blood. Reaching across the table, Ehla placed her hand on top of Nyaris's. "Arkalis talked of your father as he would mine, adventurers who had hero hearts." Ehla leaned back and spread her arms apart addressing the table but locking eyes with Mixum, the small gnome standing on the chair across from her. "Heroes with hearts like us are drawn to glory as much as we are to a good adventure. To be part of something, bearing a respected name such as the Eidolons..." Ehla looks down at the table as if losing her words but quickly flickering her gaze back to Mixum, "To be part of something larger than what our families crafted for us." Ehla's description of her new guild seemed to drone on in the abstract way she always described things, as if unsure of her own words and desperately attempting to connect the severed tendrils of thought which always seemed to weave intricate descriptions. It was during these times that Slate found it almost hypnotic like Arkalis talking about far away lands...
Slate Ironhand's memory
Arkalis finished the etchings in the dirt with the walking end of his staff. Slate stared at the maze of lines that seemed to intersect within a large triangle. Mystic emblems were then drawn in the air as Arkalis has done many times before the young dwarf, and imbued with arcane words by the mage giving life to the drawing in the dirt. Soon the image manifested into a miniature representation of the mountain Arkalis had just drawn. Taking slate by the shoulder, Arkalis walked him around to the other side of the thigh high dirt diorama to show that the other side was cut away to view the inside. Slate marveled as actual miniature representations of his ancestors worked and toiled about their lives within the miniature mountain of Hammerfell. The realization this was all just an illusion did not take away the awe of the level of detail causing Slate to reach out and grab at the tiny version of his family crest which seemed to adorn the peak of a large archway within the magic map. "The Ironhand", once an honorable symbol within the great halls of Hammerfell." Slate looked up from the illusion as it flickered slightly at his attempt to grab at the air. The mage's hand still rested on Slate's shoulder anticipating the young dwarve's question, "What happene-" the question stopped as the dwarf barely dodged from what looked like a burning arrow whistle past his head followed by a fiery thunder. Looking back at the illusion of the mountain, Slate realized it was all still part of Arkalis's re-imagining of Ironhand's tale of becoming surface dwelling Dwarves. Arkalis whispered the story behind the young child of stone, knowing he wouldn't hear all of the words as his heart was pounding in rhythm to the drums that he heard from the armies of dwarves that poured into the great hall, two large waves of dwarven militia colliding violently into each other. The vivid memory of what Arkalis called the fall of Hammerfell Mountain brought Slate back to the moment realizing Ehla was still speaking.
Ehla went on to explain that through this adventurer's guild, your group would receive the higher paying contracts, but you quickly realize you are probably the young guild's only current members. Itching for the chance to put your training and newfound skills knowing somehow this was all part of Arkalis's plan, as it seemed everything leading up to this moment has always connected you to the mage and his wild predictions of you all one day becoming great heroes.
The contracts have been coming in steadily, backed by the support of Canheim's Council to connect adventurer's to those in need. Ehla describes that due to opposing belief that before more of the cities' resources open up to the young guild, the Eidolons of Eramyth must see to reports of vanishing guild mages. Penelope Fizzlefing, a Gnome Evoker who dealt with the Mite threat and remained stationed in a small lodging outside of the village of Werflowe had stopped sending her weekly reports. This lack of communication concerns the Canheim Council as it matches similar reports of other guild mages simply vanishing from their post. The only factor that seems to be different in this case is that trouble quickly followed the mage's vanishing as travelers report of Werflowe being robbed nightly of its sheep.
It’s been along time since the people of Werflowe have worried about anything more frightening than sheep ticks or a late frost, but a now a pack of strangely determined wolves is driving farmers from their fields and spiriting away entire flocks in the middle of the night. With food supplies running low and their mage-in-residence nowhere to be found, the village council sent out a desperate plea for brave adventurers to destroy the beasts for good. 280 gold coins seems to be the payment, which is less than 50 gold coins for each member of your party, but a chance for you to prove your new guild establishing Ehla with license to send more contracts your way. Besides, Arkalis was friends with Penelope, if you could find her even just to bend the ear of another mage who knew Arkalis, that would be reward enough.
Wolves acting strangely... Mixum Upgood thought to himself
Rumors that the human wizard had kidnapped a gnome spread around the town quickly which led the captain of the guard to the Anzulore study lodge where the young gnome was sitting at the Wizard's feet surrounded by candles. Knowing it was story time and not some dark ritual, Darwin, "Darksong" the fellow guardsman called him, was familiar with the tales that his old friend was capable of telling - it was best not to interrupt. "Much like the arcane recipe for a spell, the chosen among the ancient druid order of Eidolons had components to their divine magic." The mage looked up briefly to acknowledge the presence of the large red haired guard leaning in his doorway. Looking back to the attentive eyes of Mixum, Arkalis continued. "Perhaps lost to those that still practice the ancient magic of the forest, the original incantation of the powerful spell, Reincarnate was capable of bringing the dead back in the form of an animal."
Young Mixum thought about this for a moment imagining the first animal that ever brought him fear. Before the Gnome could choke out the feared animal, Darwin startled him with his deep voice bellowing out his feared beast from behind, "Like a wolf?" This caused Arkalis to snort, but the question dwelled in the mage's mind causing his face to take on a more serious expression as he leaned forward in his chair almost hovering over the boy now as he almost whispered in a hoarse voice, "Even a wolf." The Gnome looked between the Captain of the guard and the Mage suddenly aware of the tension but unsure why.
Darwin broke the silence, "Young Upgood, I've promised your parents to keep you safe, but if you insist on traveling out to Master Anzulore's study, you should consider how tasty wolves think Gnomes are, now imagine them to be as cunning as a man." Darwin stepped into the mage's study and squatted down to ease the gnome's neck.
Arkalis leaned back almost thinking it best not to meddle but as if a thought sparked in his head, he leaned back towards Mixum while addressing Darwin directly, "The ones to fear young lord Upgood, is the wolves in sheep's clothing, such as the beast within some men. A wolf near these woods, is but a wolf." Reaching down to envelope the small hand of the gnome, the wizard stood with the young boy and pulled him to the Captain. "Captain Darksong is right though, hungry wolves do frequent these woods, it is best we meet near the tree, the one where the children play nearby." Exchanging smiles between the two men, Darwin led the Gnome towards the doorway but stopped once again when Arkalis spoke. "Maybe one day, I will tell you the tale of an entire forest filled with animals who carry the souls of those like you and me." Darwin bit his lip, refusing to turn around but realizing the young Gnome had saw his expression. Arkalis continued while smiling at the young Gnome. "Better yet, have the brave Captain tell you, he has been there, in the Forest of Forever."
OOC
I will get to the 3 others in the group, this will wrap up in another post to where I will let the reigns go on you all but wanted to give this to you to spur along the setting of the campaign - hope you enjoy. Edit: Here is a link for a quick campaign creation using D&D Beyond, is this where you can load characters?
(( If you need to make some changes to Delilah's backstory to make it fit better with your planned material, feel free. I mostly want to keep the spirit of who Delilah herself is and what she has done, but I'm a bit more loose about the details of her family and their exact connection with the town. I'm willing to flex on those details quite a bit. ))
I will get to the 3 others in the group, this will wrap up in another post to where I will let the reigns go on you all but wanted to give this to you to spur along the setting of the campaign - hope you enjoy. Edit: Here is a link for a quick campaign creation using D&D Beyond, is this where you can load characters?
It is, and after I joined I could see more options, so content sharing is working too. Thank you!
it may be that everyone knows this stuff already but I found it helpful. Other tags work the same way in square brackets. If you copy posted examples, remove the spaces inside the brackets.
OOC: I will be available to post and such more during the day, I'm EST, but with kids and such, I might be sporadic in posting in the evenings and weekends. Just want to make sure to let you all know that, in case I have a span of time that I'm not responding. But I'm excited and like where this is going so far. Especially that we are all old friends and close in age.
OOC: I am EST also and post most often from 7-4 est. I try to keep up on things on weekends and evenings but at home I have kiddos and stuff as well :D
I look up from my contemplation of the carpet in her office with a troubled frown on my face. Yet I find a gentle smile overtaking the frown when our eyes meet. That name, given to us by Arkalis, has always generated mixed feelings in me. On one hand is the shame of my family's sordid history with that ancient order. The other is my (mostly) positive experiences with our "Eidolons".
Softly, I reply "Aye, tis a name, but one f--fr-fraught with ill-omens". Then I lower my eyes back to the floor in my more comfortable listening pose.
[OOC] Mechanic's and expository
1. Nyaris has probably spent the past year away from this group training to be a 1st level PC. She has recently returned to answer Ehla's request to be part of her new venture.
2. When Ehla speaks of the wolf problem, Nyaris would search her recent memory for anything she might have experienced in the past year of training with her mentor relating to wolf attacks in the area, or wolf habits/activity in general - anything that might be relevant knowledge for the situation. Is there anything in nature that might explain what's happening - drought, extremely harsh winter conditions, a deep disturbance that seems to be strangely effecting animals, or whatever.
I don't know how we want to handle this kind of request for the DM. I know as a DM I hate it when players assume they need to make a roll and do it. Players like to roll dice and it isn't always necessary from a narrative point of view.
3. What knowledge or experience, if any, does Nyaris have related to Penelope?
4. How much omniscience and inner thoughts do we want to include in a post? Are we narrating for just what the rest of the party could observe or are we including inner thoughts and feelings? In this post, my inclination was to share and hint about the internal but not be overly specific. The rest of the party may or may not know very generally that my family has some connection with the Order of Eidolons but it isn't something that Nyaris would be comfortable sharing, except with Ehla.
OOC: To your point number 4, in your spoiler, I'm personally not looking at spoilers directed to individual players. As this is my first PBP, I'm realizing that the "spoiler" directed at a particular player can really help avoid metagaming, which is sometimes very hard in F2F, and I'm seeing that as a HUGE advantage in this setting. So that's what my plan is, but let me know if I should dive more.
Example: in the DMs opening post for our group, they have three spoilers directed to to PCs and one OOC, and I have only read the OOC spoiler, as I don't want to even have the hint of knowing what others know.
OOC: I might be wrong but I got the feeling that the DM said he was going to post again so that everyone is listed and then we should start posting. I could be wrong though :P
jasmol81: I'm new to PBP as well. I assumed that direct messages would be used for things to keep totally private between a PC and the DM or between PCs. I assumed spoilers in the main posts were where we put the non-narrative stuff - mechanics, questions, etc. That way, the stuff that is important to the game is there in the appropriate place, but it can be kept out of the way for a more "pure" narrative. I hadn't even considered not reading stuff in main thread.
I'm very accustomed to separating player vs character (as much as is humanly possible) and meta gaming is not something that I typically worry too much about at my tables as a DM. An AngryGM article and his concept of the "murky mirror" really codified & crystallized my long-held attitude towards meta gaming.
I guess it really comes down to how Face_the_Wraith wants to handle things.
Wreckzors: I assumed that was the" post again" because it was made after Wraith edited the post to list all 6 party members and said there would be the next post for us to react to.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth." A Camus
OOC: I believe that is correct Wreck, I simply wanted to throw in my thoughts about the thoughts Sdclaybrook had about how much info to reveal/ keep hidden.
OOC: Awesome, I am excited to get started and play with you all, you all seem awesome. As far as how much to say or not say, I try not to post any internal thoughts at all. I just describe my characters actions and will obviously describe anything that they are saying aloud but otherwise I don't post any kind of internal dialog. You could have your character mutter to himself or stare off into the distance and zone out that might prompt someone to ask if something is wrong and then you can tell them about what you are thinking but otherwise I feel like you are giving away too much of your character without actually interacting with the other characters... if that makes sense. That is my opinion though :P
Jasmol81: Thanks for the reply. Looks like we just need a DM ruling on how this group is going to operate.
To everyone else - I intended for everyone to read the spoiler in my post #34. I used the spoiler tag to separate out the less-narrative bits, but keep them actually directly linked to the post to which they belonged.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth." A Camus
I am also US east coast time, I will check in the morning, a few times throughout the day, and try and check at least once before nighttime. I have been holding back posting, since I kinda jumped the gun before, but I am really happy about our group. Thanks to all of you. I expect I'll learn what our agreed way to communicate will be.
I'm going to post an image of Redemption in the character art thread if y'all are interested
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Galanodel Deacon Tosh - Less-than-Half-Elf Bard - & -Flitterbug - Pixie Sorceress : Meanwhile in the Westwoods Amadow 'Tug' Rioux - Human Psionic Palooka : Revenge Heist - - - Gofer Bayut - Bugbear Paladin Messenger : Shrouded Sky
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Thanks for the opportunity. Please keep me in mind if someone drops out.
(ooc) Hi everyone, I am really excited to join in this adventure. It particularly resonates since, given the age of my kids, I've been reading a lot of YA novels and tween graphics that feature bullying and how anyone can be a hero. I played a lot of AD&D back in the 80s, but I am new to the modern rules and PbP. But I have been reading and thinking obsessively and I am modeling this post on stuff I have seen on the forums.
Redemption walks towards the others, he checks to see if they are hostile, mistrusting, friendly or what after all these years
Put your spoiler here.
Insight check: 10
You see a tiefling approach. Obviously a tiefling, red skin and curled horns and tail twitching, you recognize Ragg Malxis from years ago. But his features have smoothed, he's dressed pretty fancy and carrying a flute - not the thug you remember as a child nor the nerdy kid who quit being a thug that fateful day.
I am happy to see you all. I assume we all got the same message from Elha? I am going by "Redemption" now - my people often choose a virtue we hope to embody. You all of anyone ought to understand why. I know I have already apologized but now I am finally in a position to genuinely make it up.
<Do they believe me? Can we trust each other? What can I do>
(ooc) (DM) where are we meeting? Do we have any other information before we show up?
Galanodel Deacon Tosh - Less-than-Half-Elf Bard - & - Flitterbug - Pixie Sorceress : Meanwhile in the Westwoods
Amadow 'Tug' Rioux - Human Psionic Palooka : Revenge Heist - - - Gofer Bayut - Bugbear Paladin Messenger : Shrouded Sky
(ooc) I think the DM was going to make an opening post setting the stage for introductions and character descriptions I think first. I could be wrong and if I am I will post my intro as well
I’ll hold my introduction until the DM prompts, but I’ll give you all a description that you can engrave in your brain.
Lancel is a hill dwarf, with a shaved bald head, blue eyes, and a carefully maintained brown beard adorns his face. The beard is intertwined with red string, creating small braids. He is of muscular build, wearing a chain mail shirt, cloth breeches, and sturdy leather boots. Red string is wound around his wrists and intertwined through his fingers. Over his shirt he wears a tunic depicting hands bound with red thread. The shield across his back bears a similar design, but with much less detail (as if painted himself, which it was). He has a war hammer slung over his back under the shield and is using a spear as a walking staff. He carries a satchel across his chest hanging on his left side.
1
sorry just making sure the roll feature works from my iPhone
OOC: Do you have a campaign like forums to add our characters to your game. I can enable content sharing.
It was just yesterday that all of you met Ehla Eramith, the proprietor of the newly formed adventurer's guild, "Eidolons of Eramyth". It was long ago that your childhood mentor, Arkalis Anzulore, had dubbed your group as, "Eidolons".
Nyaris Elenlith knowledge (no roll required)
Eidolons - Ancient order of wards and spies who served under a circle of Druids. Whispered among the Elves that the Druids disbanded after losing territory or dangerous relics they were once tasked to protect. While the knowledge of the origins of Eidolon are common among your kind, you know very little about the old ways.
"It's just a name" Ehla says as if reading the wood-elf's mind, she always seemed to have this sisterly connection with Nyaris, a relationship connected by the heart not by blood. Reaching across the table, Ehla placed her hand on top of Nyaris's. "Arkalis talked of your father as he would mine, adventurers who had hero hearts." Ehla leaned back and spread her arms apart addressing the table but locking eyes with Mixum, the small gnome standing on the chair across from her. "Heroes with hearts like us are drawn to glory as much as we are to a good adventure. To be part of something, bearing a respected name such as the Eidolons..." Ehla looks down at the table as if losing her words but quickly flickering her gaze back to Mixum, "To be part of something larger than what our families crafted for us." Ehla's description of her new guild seemed to drone on in the abstract way she always described things, as if unsure of her own words and desperately attempting to connect the severed tendrils of thought which always seemed to weave intricate descriptions. It was during these times that Slate found it almost hypnotic like Arkalis talking about far away lands...
Slate Ironhand's memory
Arkalis finished the etchings in the dirt with the walking end of his staff. Slate stared at the maze of lines that seemed to intersect within a large triangle. Mystic emblems were then drawn in the air as Arkalis has done many times before the young dwarf, and imbued with arcane words by the mage giving life to the drawing in the dirt. Soon the image manifested into a miniature representation of the mountain Arkalis had just drawn. Taking slate by the shoulder, Arkalis walked him around to the other side of the thigh high dirt diorama to show that the other side was cut away to view the inside. Slate marveled as actual miniature representations of his ancestors worked and toiled about their lives within the miniature mountain of Hammerfell. The realization this was all just an illusion did not take away the awe of the level of detail causing Slate to reach out and grab at the tiny version of his family crest which seemed to adorn the peak of a large archway within the magic map. "The Ironhand", once an honorable symbol within the great halls of Hammerfell." Slate looked up from the illusion as it flickered slightly at his attempt to grab at the air. The mage's hand still rested on Slate's shoulder anticipating the young dwarve's question, "What happene-" the question stopped as the dwarf barely dodged from what looked like a burning arrow whistle past his head followed by a fiery thunder. Looking back at the illusion of the mountain, Slate realized it was all still part of Arkalis's re-imagining of Ironhand's tale of becoming surface dwelling Dwarves. Arkalis whispered the story behind the young child of stone, knowing he wouldn't hear all of the words as his heart was pounding in rhythm to the drums that he heard from the armies of dwarves that poured into the great hall, two large waves of dwarven militia colliding violently into each other. The vivid memory of what Arkalis called the fall of Hammerfell Mountain brought Slate back to the moment realizing Ehla was still speaking.
Ehla went on to explain that through this adventurer's guild, your group would receive the higher paying contracts, but you quickly realize you are probably the young guild's only current members. Itching for the chance to put your training and newfound skills knowing somehow this was all part of Arkalis's plan, as it seemed everything leading up to this moment has always connected you to the mage and his wild predictions of you all one day becoming great heroes.
The contracts have been coming in steadily, backed by the support of Canheim's Council to connect adventurer's to those in need. Ehla describes that due to opposing belief that before more of the cities' resources open up to the young guild, the Eidolons of Eramyth must see to reports of vanishing guild mages. Penelope Fizzlefing, a Gnome Evoker who dealt with the Mite threat and remained stationed in a small lodging outside of the village of Werflowe had stopped sending her weekly reports. This lack of communication concerns the Canheim Council as it matches similar reports of other guild mages simply vanishing from their post. The only factor that seems to be different in this case is that trouble quickly followed the mage's vanishing as travelers report of Werflowe being robbed nightly of its sheep.
It’s been along time since the people of Werflowe have worried about anything more frightening than sheep ticks or a late frost, but a now a pack of strangely determined wolves is driving farmers from their fields and spiriting away entire flocks in the middle of the night. With food supplies running low and their mage-in-residence nowhere to be found, the village council sent out a desperate plea for brave adventurers to destroy the beasts for good. 280 gold coins seems to be the payment, which is less than 50 gold coins for each member of your party, but a chance for you to prove your new guild establishing Ehla with license to send more contracts your way. Besides, Arkalis was friends with Penelope, if you could find her even just to bend the ear of another mage who knew Arkalis, that would be reward enough.
Wolves acting strangely... Mixum Upgood thought to himself
Rumors that the human wizard had kidnapped a gnome spread around the town quickly which led the captain of the guard to the Anzulore study lodge where the young gnome was sitting at the Wizard's feet surrounded by candles. Knowing it was story time and not some dark ritual, Darwin, "Darksong" the fellow guardsman called him, was familiar with the tales that his old friend was capable of telling - it was best not to interrupt. "Much like the arcane recipe for a spell, the chosen among the ancient druid order of Eidolons had components to their divine magic." The mage looked up briefly to acknowledge the presence of the large red haired guard leaning in his doorway. Looking back to the attentive eyes of Mixum, Arkalis continued. "Perhaps lost to those that still practice the ancient magic of the forest, the original incantation of the powerful spell, Reincarnate was capable of bringing the dead back in the form of an animal."
Young Mixum thought about this for a moment imagining the first animal that ever brought him fear. Before the Gnome could choke out the feared animal, Darwin startled him with his deep voice bellowing out his feared beast from behind, "Like a wolf?" This caused Arkalis to snort, but the question dwelled in the mage's mind causing his face to take on a more serious expression as he leaned forward in his chair almost hovering over the boy now as he almost whispered in a hoarse voice, "Even a wolf." The Gnome looked between the Captain of the guard and the Mage suddenly aware of the tension but unsure why.
Darwin broke the silence, "Young Upgood, I've promised your parents to keep you safe, but if you insist on traveling out to Master Anzulore's study, you should consider how tasty wolves think Gnomes are, now imagine them to be as cunning as a man." Darwin stepped into the mage's study and squatted down to ease the gnome's neck.
Arkalis leaned back almost thinking it best not to meddle but as if a thought sparked in his head, he leaned back towards Mixum while addressing Darwin directly, "The ones to fear young lord Upgood, is the wolves in sheep's clothing, such as the beast within some men. A wolf near these woods, is but a wolf." Reaching down to envelope the small hand of the gnome, the wizard stood with the young boy and pulled him to the Captain. "Captain Darksong is right though, hungry wolves do frequent these woods, it is best we meet near the tree, the one where the children play nearby." Exchanging smiles between the two men, Darwin led the Gnome towards the doorway but stopped once again when Arkalis spoke. "Maybe one day, I will tell you the tale of an entire forest filled with animals who carry the souls of those like you and me." Darwin bit his lip, refusing to turn around but realizing the young Gnome had saw his expression. Arkalis continued while smiling at the young Gnome. "Better yet, have the brave Captain tell you, he has been there, in the Forest of Forever."
OOC
I will get to the 3 others in the group, this will wrap up in another post to where I will let the reigns go on you all but wanted to give this to you to spur along the setting of the campaign - hope you enjoy. Edit: Here is a link for a quick campaign creation using D&D Beyond, is this where you can load characters?
Where there is mystery, it is generally suspected there must also be evil.
(( If you need to make some changes to Delilah's backstory to make it fit better with your planned material, feel free. I mostly want to keep the spirit of who Delilah herself is and what she has done, but I'm a bit more loose about the details of her family and their exact connection with the town. I'm willing to flex on those details quite a bit. ))
PbP characters:
Allison Adrova - Reign of the Dragon King
Delilah Thorne - Eidolons of Eramyth
Melody Velias (Spy) - Power Trip
It is, and after I joined I could see more options, so content sharing is working too. Thank you!
I said I would find this link:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/9811-how-to-add-tooltips
it may be that everyone knows this stuff already but I found it helpful. Other tags work the same way in square brackets. If you copy posted examples, remove the spaces inside the brackets.
Galanodel Deacon Tosh - Less-than-Half-Elf Bard - & - Flitterbug - Pixie Sorceress : Meanwhile in the Westwoods
Amadow 'Tug' Rioux - Human Psionic Palooka : Revenge Heist - - - Gofer Bayut - Bugbear Paladin Messenger : Shrouded Sky
(Amazing so far! Thank you for all the effort you put into your game already DM)
OOC: I will be available to post and such more during the day, I'm EST, but with kids and such, I might be sporadic in posting in the evenings and weekends. Just want to make sure to let you all know that, in case I have a span of time that I'm not responding. But I'm excited and like where this is going so far. Especially that we are all old friends and close in age.
OOC: I am EST also and post most often from 7-4 est. I try to keep up on things on weekends and evenings but at home I have kiddos and stuff as well :D
"It's just a name" Ehla says.
I look up from my contemplation of the carpet in her office with a troubled frown on my face. Yet I find a gentle smile overtaking the frown when our eyes meet. That name, given to us by Arkalis, has always generated mixed feelings in me. On one hand is the shame of my family's sordid history with that ancient order. The other is my (mostly) positive experiences with our "Eidolons".
Softly, I reply "Aye, tis a name, but one f--fr-fraught with ill-omens". Then I lower my eyes back to the floor in my more comfortable listening pose.
[OOC] Mechanic's and expository
1. Nyaris has probably spent the past year away from this group training to be a 1st level PC. She has recently returned to answer Ehla's request to be part of her new venture.
2. When Ehla speaks of the wolf problem, Nyaris would search her recent memory for anything she might have experienced in the past year of training with her mentor relating to wolf attacks in the area, or wolf habits/activity in general - anything that might be relevant knowledge for the situation. Is there anything in nature that might explain what's happening - drought, extremely harsh winter conditions, a deep disturbance that seems to be strangely effecting animals, or whatever.
I don't know how we want to handle this kind of request for the DM. I know as a DM I hate it when players assume they need to make a roll and do it. Players like to roll dice and it isn't always necessary from a narrative point of view.
3. What knowledge or experience, if any, does Nyaris have related to Penelope?
4. How much omniscience and inner thoughts do we want to include in a post? Are we narrating for just what the rest of the party could observe or are we including inner thoughts and feelings? In this post, my inclination was to share and hint about the internal but not be overly specific. The rest of the party may or may not know very generally that my family has some connection with the Order of Eidolons but it isn't something that Nyaris would be comfortable sharing, except with Ehla.
5. How far of a journey is it to Werflowe?
"Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth." A Camus
OOC: To your point number 4, in your spoiler, I'm personally not looking at spoilers directed to individual players. As this is my first PBP, I'm realizing that the "spoiler" directed at a particular player can really help avoid metagaming, which is sometimes very hard in F2F, and I'm seeing that as a HUGE advantage in this setting. So that's what my plan is, but let me know if I should dive more.
Example: in the DMs opening post for our group, they have three spoilers directed to to PCs and one OOC, and I have only read the OOC spoiler, as I don't want to even have the hint of knowing what others know.
OOC: I might be wrong but I got the feeling that the DM said he was going to post again so that everyone is listed and then we should start posting. I could be wrong though :P
[OOC]
jasmol81: I'm new to PBP as well. I assumed that direct messages would be used for things to keep totally private between a PC and the DM or between PCs. I assumed spoilers in the main posts were where we put the non-narrative stuff - mechanics, questions, etc. That way, the stuff that is important to the game is there in the appropriate place, but it can be kept out of the way for a more "pure" narrative. I hadn't even considered not reading stuff in main thread.
I'm very accustomed to separating player vs character (as much as is humanly possible) and meta gaming is not something that I typically worry too much about at my tables as a DM. An AngryGM article and his concept of the "murky mirror" really codified & crystallized my long-held attitude towards meta gaming.
I guess it really comes down to how Face_the_Wraith wants to handle things.
Wreckzors: I assumed that was the" post again" because it was made after Wraith edited the post to list all 6 party members and said there would be the next post for us to react to.
"Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth." A Camus
OOC: I believe that is correct Wreck, I simply wanted to throw in my thoughts about the thoughts Sdclaybrook had about how much info to reveal/ keep hidden.
OOC: Awesome, I am excited to get started and play with you all, you all seem awesome. As far as how much to say or not say, I try not to post any internal thoughts at all. I just describe my characters actions and will obviously describe anything that they are saying aloud but otherwise I don't post any kind of internal dialog. You could have your character mutter to himself or stare off into the distance and zone out that might prompt someone to ask if something is wrong and then you can tell them about what you are thinking but otherwise I feel like you are giving away too much of your character without actually interacting with the other characters... if that makes sense. That is my opinion though :P
Jasmol81: Thanks for the reply. Looks like we just need a DM ruling on how this group is going to operate.
To everyone else - I intended for everyone to read the spoiler in my post #34. I used the spoiler tag to separate out the less-narrative bits, but keep them actually directly linked to the post to which they belonged.
"Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth." A Camus
ooc:
I am also US east coast time, I will check in the morning, a few times throughout the day, and try and check at least once before nighttime. I have been holding back posting, since I kinda jumped the gun before, but I am really happy about our group. Thanks to all of you. I expect I'll learn what our agreed way to communicate will be.
I'm going to post an image of Redemption in the character art thread if y'all are interested
Galanodel Deacon Tosh - Less-than-Half-Elf Bard - & - Flitterbug - Pixie Sorceress : Meanwhile in the Westwoods
Amadow 'Tug' Rioux - Human Psionic Palooka : Revenge Heist - - - Gofer Bayut - Bugbear Paladin Messenger : Shrouded Sky