09:00 Sunday, July 9, 2017

It is a rainy day in Chicago. The festivities from the previous week have largely subsided, however excitement is stirring up again for a new convention starting today. People from all over are coming to McCormick Place near the coast of Lake Michigan.

 This is thread 1 for the Advent of Shadows campaign. The campaign will borrow heavily from the Lovecraft mythos, although it is not set in it. Expect lots of urban exploration, investigation, and the like. Combats will likely be few and far between; it is often better to run from an enemy than to risk facing it head-on. The gameplay will begin on July 10, in the meantime please make use of the thread to roleplay meeting each other IC and to discuss the following OOC:

• What sort of convention is taking place? I am assuming the party members have all signed up to the same event taking place at 09:00. It is up to you to determine what you want that event to be.
• What are the usual times you'll be posting?
• Anything else you'd like the other players to know?

I aim to make this campaign a friendly, inclusive environment where everyone can have fun. To that end, I have established the following pledge which I expect you to abide by:

As a player, I will endeavor to:

• Check this thread at least once per day for updates, and post whenever it makes sense to in order to keep things moving.
• Be friendly towards and respect the other players and the DM. If I have issues with something, I will discuss them in a responsible and level-headed manner.
• Keep intra-party conflicts to a minimum, both In Character and Out of Character.
• Keep metagame knowledge separate from In Character knowledge, so that knowledge my character could not possibly know does not unduly influence their actions.
• Not cheat, and let the dice fall where they may.
• Have fun.

In return, I expect that the DM will endeavor to:

• Check this thread at least twice per day, and post whenever it makes sense to in order to keep things moving.
• Be friendly towards and respect the players. If he has issues with something, I expect him to discuss them in a responsible and level-headed manner.
• Not play favorites or hold grudges against players or characters.
• Keep metagame knowledge separate from In Character knowledge, so that knowledge an NPC could not possibly know does not unduly influence their actions.
• Not cheat, and let the dice fall where they may.
• Have fun.

If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. I plan on checking the thread at least twice per day (but probably more), and I am in the Mountain time zone. As a fair warning, my weekends are pretty busy so I may have less chance to post during them than I do on weekdays.

Helpful PbP tips:

• Give character actions in third person limited view. For example, instead of 'I slam down my mug and shout at the bartender to serve me another round' write 'Bruenor slams down his mug and shouts at the bartender "Oy, barkeep! Give me another pint would ye!"'
• Use "color and quotation marks" when speaking out loud. Different colors can be used to represent speaking to different people or groups of people.
• Use italics when stating what your character is thinking. PbP is a great mechanism to expand upon internal character beliefs and give other players greater insight into your character's thoughts and motivations, try to make use of it.
• Use (color and parenthesis) when describing things OOC, including dice rolls. For example, "As he passes through the doorway, Bruenor scans his eyes around the pub, seeing what sort of atmosphere it has (Perception 7)"
• Keep posts to a reasonable length, you don't need to write a novel. Try to say more with less rather than writing walls of text.
• When rolling dice, save the post to see the result of the roll, and then edit the post to add your response to that result. Don't add new rolls before rolls already made, or edit or remove rolls already made.

(Perhaps the other PCs are at my concert?) 

I would suggest something where you can all interact with each other and have back-and-forth conversations.

Quote from skizzerz >>

I would suggest something where you can all interact with each other and have back-and-forth conversations.

(Brady is a priest, and does not have very expensive taste, preferring to keep to the simple things. That being said he does enjoy bowling, so maybe we are all part of a league? ;-) )

Quote from Madclergy >>

(Brady is a priest, and does not have very expensive taste, preferring to keep to the simple things. That being said he does enjoy bowling, so maybe we are all part of a league? ;-) )

(Is Rhodri a religious man? Maybe it's a Church event? Or part of a group We volunteer for?)

Quote from Madclergy >>

(Is Rhodri a religious man? Maybe it's a Church event? Or part of a group We volunteer for?)

(Two things: first, the DM did state guidelines for post format.  Second, that idea actually somehow works.) 

(They are just guidelines, we have some people new to PbP so I wanted to share some helpful tips. You can ignore those guidelines and post in whatever way is most comfortable to you, just please be consistent and understandable. I'm a fan of the fair idea as well, so let's run with that. You can post IC to help set the scene. We'll move it outside of the convention center to some fairground by the lake. Part of the point of this is to involve all of you in the world building, to help establish a shared narrative, so feel free to describe things about the setting that would normally be "my" purview)

Quote from skizzerz >>

(They are just guidelines, we have some people new to PbP so I wanted to share some helpful tips. You can ignore those guidelines and post in whatever way is most comfortable to you, just please be consistent and understandable. I'm a fan of the fair idea as well, so let's run with that. You can post IC to help set the scene. We'll move it outside of the convention center to some fairground by the lake. Part of the point of this is to involve all of you in the world building, to help establish a shared narrative, so feel free to describe things about the setting that would normally be "my" purview)

As you enter the fair, you see two Irishmen playing fiddles in what appears to be a competition.  (Rhodri got here a few minutes ago, saw a fellow fiddler, and challenged him to a contest.  7)

OOC: It doesn't matter whether I use Cha and Performance or Dex and fiddle proficiency.  +5 either way. 

(So, I may be stretching here, but the Renaissance Fair runs from July 8th through September 4th on the weekends in the Chicago Area...*cheeky grin* List of Events for July 2017 in Chicago)

Elsie looks around. Leaning against a fair stand near the edge of the grounds, her eyes scan the area, sharp glances taking in everything around her. For the casual observer, nothing is wrong. For the pointed observer, she's quite obviously looking for something. Someone who doesn't know her would think the fire in her eyes means some kind of strong emotion, hatred maybe, an attempt at repelling fear. Those who do know it's just her normal gaze. Her firm expression changes into a puzzled, glancing one as she spots someone moving in the crowd. Her paper cup nearly drops from her hand as she moves into the bustling mass of people, pushing through determinedly. She checks her watch and secures her bag over her shoulder, brushing her wavy auburn hair over her ear, feeling something near her hip as she looks around, doing a quick three-sixty scan.

This is done more out of habit than out of any real need. She slips her hand into her pocket before nodding to herself and forging ahead towards her target, eyes bright, firey and wary.

Charlotte stared off into the distance, barely aware of her surroundings. Letting out a yawn, she glanced around, her gaze settling on the two fiddlers. The sight reminded her of a pair of fencers- although the two musicians fought with their fiddles rather than with fencing foils. She absentmindedly reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell, checking the time. "They're late," she muttered, snapping the phone shut and leaning back against the wall. Her phone buzzed, alerting her to the fact that her friends would, in fact, be far later than she had supposed. Cursing under her breath, she stepped over to lean against a railing, looking out over the lake. Her mind wandered as she watched the water shift and shimmer. I'll have to write that paper tonight, she thought to herself. The fiddle music floated away as Charlotte zoned out, her mind flying back to her biochemistry homework.

[OOC: Covering what the DM requested that we discuss, I'll generally post after 11 PM US Central time, since I stay up later than normal people. However, there will be occasions when I'll be able to post sooner, depending on my work schedule. I look forward to playing with everyone, and I hope everyone enjoys the game as well.]