# Crossed Paths - OOC



## Manzanita (Apr 18, 2003)

_You are young, strong & restless. You have been trained well; your sensei is one of the best in the lands. You know you are capable of greatness. Thus you are neither surprised nor afraid when you are called to your master’s study. He/she looks at you. “You are my best student. My best ever. The time has come for you to assume your place in history. I have a very important mission for you….”_

Crossed Paths is a DnD 3E PBP adventure for 4-6 characters. It takes place in my homebrew world loosely based on the Mediterranean under the Roman Empire. The characters are called together, but not all may share the same agenda. Inter-character conflict will occur, though it is the players who will determine how much, & in what form.

Since the characters are not always allies, there will be no public Rogue’s Gallery. If you are interested in playing, post a brief response in this thread, and email me two characters. (ADfour76@aol.com) Characters will be started at 2nd level, with max gold for a 1st level character. (If you start multiclassed, your gold is that of your first class.) They may start with other advantages. If you want something in particular (a certain magic item, ability bonus, more gold, etc.), go ahead & ask. The guidelines are attached. Characters need not be all fleshed out. Initially, I just need to know:
1.    Race (& ethnicity if human or elven)
2.    Class
3.    alignment 
4.    brief description of appearance & personality. 
5.    anything special you want about them.
6.    Name, history, stats, skills, feats, etc. can be included, or can be filled in later in the process.

Most of the players should be human & of good alignment. At least one of the characters you submit should be good, & one human. (A good dwarf & a neutral or evil human would be fine, as would two good humans, for example.) Since the party has been called together, it must have certain characteristics. I will pick one character for each player, in order to balance the party appropriately. The other character may also end up being used, if the first one is killed, or to flesh out the plot in other ways. I expect a body count.

Initially, one character will know more than the others & be the defacto leader. This character must be a cleric, wizard or sorcerer, & should be played by an experienced gamer. Let me know if you’re interested in this role.


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## Manzanita (Apr 18, 2003)

*attachment*

I don't think my attachment is working properly.  I'll copy the contents here:

Crossed Paths

Overview for players

The map of the world is the same as our own.  Political boundaries are approximately as they were in 20 B.C.  The Roman Empire controls most of the Mediterranean.  Germanic Vikings control Scandinavia & much of European Russia.  Germanic horsemen & barbarians control much of modern Germany & France.  Huns-like horse warriors control central Europe North of the Danube.  The lands beyond the black sea are not well known to most Europeans.  Though travelers & traders go there & report rich, civilized lands beyond the lawless hinterland.  Sub-Saharan Africa is largely unknown, as is the Americas & Australia (which may not exist in the same form in this word – only the DM knows for sure at this point).

In general, wars are won by warriors.  Magic is not common.  Clerics, sorcerers & druids rarely exceed 6th level or so.  Rome has formal wizardry schools, which produce powerful wizards & are a key to their military success.  Elves & gnomes also have wizards, elves being the original & most powerful.  Other races & known human cultures do not have wizards.  Deities are active, but are generally prevented from direct interference in the affairs of mortals.  You don’t meet them, or their servants, on the roads.  Humans are by far the most populous of the races, & probably the most powerful, though the true power held by the elves is unknown & no human ruler has truly tested that power.

Character Generation:
Take the default array:  18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 10.  Arrange per your tastes.  If you would rather generate your characteristics another way, that might be arranged.

PCs start at second level.  Starting gold is max for the PC’s first class.  Classes are describes below & are restricted to those in the PHB.  I’m not necessarily familiar with the feats not in the Players Handbook, & permission is needed to use any of these other feats or skills.  There are no known psionics.

All that said, I want players to be able to play a character they like.  Deviation from the above may be allowed on a case-by-case basis.  Don’t be afraid to ask.

Races:

Human.  For simplicity, the following are the standard Human races/cultures (Pantheon in parentheses)  These are less “racial” divisions, as cultural.  Thus specifics apply to the culture where the PC was raised, not his/her genetic heritage.  Skill/feat restrictions only apply at first level.  Vikings speak Germanic.  Each other race has its own language.  There is no “Common” tongue, Latin being the lingua franca of the Roman Empire & is spoken by many outside it.  PCs can substitute Latin for common as a language known.

Romans.  These can be of any ethnicity.  The people of any Roman province in good standing are citizens.  They can be of any class.  Pick a region and ethnicity for your PC. 

Viking.  Tall, blond & somewhat barbaric.  Typical classes would be barbarian, cleric, druid, bard, fighter, Rogue and Ranger.  Typical skills would involve sailing, & the outdoors.  Could be from Scandinavia or Russia.  Bonus skills must be some combination of swim & Knowledge (nautical), which are class skills at first level.  Take 5 ranks if these are normally class skills.  They worship the Norse gods.

German:  Fierce warriors, though generally uncivilized.  Bows are not considered noble weapons, and the lack of horse archers limit their effectiveness.  They worship the Norse gods.

Gypsy:  olive skinned stateless people, often mistrusted & discriminated against.  Found mostly in central Europe.   Often rogues, fighters & druids.  Bonus skills must be in either sense motive or bluff, which are considered class skills for all classes at first level.  If these are normally class skills, take 5 ranks in them, combined.

Greeks:  Heirs to the greatest ancient human civilization.  Common among powerful wizards, bards, & fighters.  The Greeks have the best relationship with the Elves of any human group.  They worship the Greek Gods.

Itialians/Spanish:  Backbone of Rome.  Often wealthy & from prosperous, connected families.  Make up the bulk of wizards & monks.  Spain is known for its Calvary.  They worship the Greek Gods.

Gauls (French).  Parts of Gaul are under Roman rule, & many Gauls serve in the Roman army & attend the Roman academies.  But many are still barbarians at heart.  They worship the Greek Gods in the South, & Norse gods in the North.

Huns.  Horse warriors.  Generally barbarian, Ranger, Rogue, Fighter multiclass.  Generally have mounted combat as a skill & often mounted archery.  Favor composite bows.  4 ranks of Ride, & mounted combat are starting bonus skill/feat.  If Ride is already a class skill, start with 5 ranks of Ride.  Begin game w/long composite bow (if proficient) & light warhorse.  They worship Greek, Norse & Egyptian gods.

Slavs: Common in the Balkans, but not their own rulers.  Slaves & vassals to the Huns & Romans for centuries  They worship Greek gods.

North Africans  Heirs to an ancient empire, now smashed by the Romans.  Now most are Roman citizens.  The North Africans worship the Egyptian gods.

PCs could be of other races as well, Indian, black African, Chinese, etc.  We’d just have to derive a plausible reason for his/her presence in the campaign.  For the most part, stick to standard Mediterranean, European races for humans.

Non-Human Races.
Elves:  Elves do not commonly mix with humans.  They are rarely seen in human lands.  They hate to risk their long lives amidst the unpredictable & violent human lands.  They are a powerful force in the world, however, & control sections of forest all over the known world, as well as the entire enclave of Switzerland.  They wield powerful magic & have high level characters of many classes.  If you wish to play an elf, there are several subraces, which vary from standard DnD rules to tall, Tolkenesque elves.  The subraces are:
High Elf:  As per Players Handbook
Sylvan Elves:  As per PH, but no ability adjustments & favored class is Ranger.  These elves average about 5’6” for both males & females
Grey Elves:  Per PH, but ability adjustments are:  -2 Str, -2 Con, +2 Dex, +2 Int.  They tend to be smaller & darker toned.
Melnibone:  not available as PCs at this time.
Drow:  allowed as per Forgotten realms (+2 ECL), or no ECL, but reduce a couple characteristics.  It might well be hard to fit them in.

Playing an Elf as a PC carries a number of advantages & disadvantages.  Know that elves are very rare & attract a lot of attention wherever they go.  Elves can not be Barbarians, Monks, or Paladins.  Elves start with Elvish + one other language of their choice + int languages.

Half Elves.  These are also rare.  They are often just seen as unusual looking humans, & there is no official count of their numbers.  Half elves can be of any class.  There have been several powerful half-elves in the Roman hierarchy.  Half elves are like the PH, but get one additional skill point per level which must be in listen, spot, knowledge or craft.

Dwarves:  Dwarves are fairly common in the Roman empire & in other mountainous regions.  They are generally respected by humans & their skills with metal & stone much in demand.  Their lawful bent make them very much at home with the Romans, & they generally get along much better with them than other human sub-races.  They do sometimes get involved with the wars of men, but are more commonly at war with orcs, goblins & other subterranean humanoids.  The greatest known Dwarven kingdom is in the Pyrenees.  Dwarves cannot be wizards, Paladins, or Monks.

Gnomes:  Gnomes are fairly common in hilly regions in the known world.  They mistrust the serious Romans, but try to cooperate with the more powerful humans.  Their magic system is less formal than that of humans, most being illusionists.  They cannot be Paladins or Monks.

Halflings.  Halflings are integrated with many human lands.  They are much more common in western Europe than Eurasia or Africa.  They prefer warm climates with good agriculture weather.    They are often roman citizens are treated as equals (generally).  They could only be wizards or monks if trained by the Roman academy.

Half Orcs:  Half orcs are rare but certainly do exist, particularly in the Balkans & central/eastern Europe where orcs are more common.  They can become Roman citizens, though there is considerable prejudice against them in most human & demi-human lands.  They can be of any class, though it would be quite rare for them to have the connections & ability to become a Monk or Wizard.


Classes:

Barbarians.  Rare among the Romans, halflings, gnomes, & dwarves.  Very common among northern Europeans.  Unknown among Elves.

Bards.  Common.  Open to all races.  

Clerics.  All cultures & races have their own Gods.  Choose a god from Norse, Roman, Egyptian for humans, depending upon subrace.  Demi-human gods same as Greyhawk.  Clerics do not get the following spells:
All levels:  Summon Monster
7th:  Repulsion, Word of Chaos
8th:  Fire Storm
9th:  Energy Drain, Implosion, Storm of Vengeance

Druids:  More common  among barbaric races, particularly English.

Fighters.  Common.  Includes all Roman army regulars.  Roman soldiers start with Chainmail, Large wooden sheild & longsword.    

Monks:  This is a human invention, as far as is known.  The only known schools are in the Roman empire & entry is only available to a choice few.  They graduate with the rank of corporal in the Roman army.  There are three schools:  Stonefist, the official school of the Roman army (generally Lawful Neutral), the Scarlet Brotherhood(lawful evil), and the velvet hand (lawful good).  The latter two are sanctioned by the army, but have different entrance requirements.  Perhaps 1% of monks are halfling or halfelf.  Other races are unknown as monks.  Monks have disguise as a class skill if they are Academy graduates.  They are required to serve 20 years in the service of Rome.  They are not well known to other cultures & the Romans attempt to keep their existence under wraps, in order to use them for surprise.

Paladins:    Paladins can come from any human area.  They are generally trained in a monastery dedicated to a LG god.  Many were sent there as orphans or unwanted children.   Most common in the Roman empire, but respected in most all human lands, Paladins & their monasteries can be found anywhere.  Virtually all are human.

Rangers:  Common among all races.

Rogues:  ditto

Sorcerers:  Rare, but they do exist in every race & subrace.  They are unorganized, but very respected in lands without wizards.  

Wizards:  The only human schools are in Roman lands.  Most wizards are graduates of the state academy & are called Watchmages.  Upon graduation they are assigned tasks as soldiers:  to defend borders etc.  Though less structured assignments are not unusual.  There are two other Roman schools.  The Arcane Brotherhood (generally Lawful Evil) & The Order of the Many Starred Cloak (generally good).  The Many Starred Cloaks are of Greek origin & their academy is in Athens.  They are the oldest of the human academies.  Graduates of the Watchmage are required to serve the State for 20 years after graduation, though they are paid well for it.

To be accepted into these academies, an applicant must have a sponsor & show great talent.  As such, they are most commonly from rich families of roman citizens. Though lucky & talented outsiders can be accepted if they find a sponsor.

All wizards, if recognized, are feared and respected among the populace of Rome.  Among other cultures they may be subject to mistrust or even attack, as they are associated with the Roman state.  The Many Starred Cloaks are more universally accepted, as educated men realize their good intentions.

Upon graduation from the academy, all wizards are given a cloak.  Black for the Arcane Brotherhood, Reddish-brown for the watchmages, & grey for the Stars.  Theses high-quality cloaks are trimmed with color according to specialization.

Abjuration:  Orange
Conjuration:  Blue
Divination:  Brown
Evocation:  Yellow
Illusion:  Green
Necromancy:  Black
Transmutation:  Purple
Enchantment:  Red
Universal:  White

Each school starts with certain spells & skills, but none are inherently more powerful.

Spell Mastery can still be taken as a feat, but each wizard gets one spell per level that can be memorized for free, that can be cast w/o a spell book.  This spell must be one which he/she could cast before attaining that level.  (Thus upon attaining 5th level, the wizard would pick a 0, 1st, or 2nd level spell to master.  At first level, the wizard can pick a 0 or 1st level spell)

Deities.  For simplicity, only three main human pantheons are available:  Greek, for the Roman world, Egyptian, for the southern and eastern Mediterranean, and Norse, for the Germanic, Scandinavian, & Russian Barbarians.  I believe these deities are listed in the Dieties & Demigods book, but I don’t own it.  Most of you should be familiar with these deities & we can work out what the domains & weapons would be.


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## Jarval (Apr 18, 2003)

This sounds like a really original idea for a game.  I'm definitely interested.


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## Jarval (Apr 18, 2003)

*Re: attachment*



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> *Deities.  For simplicity, only three main human pantheons are available:  Greek, for the Roman world, Egyptian, for the southern and eastern Mediterranean, and Norse, for the Germanic, Scandinavian, & Russian Barbarians.  I believe these deities are listed in the Dieties & Demigods book, but I don’t own it.  Most of you should be familiar with these deities & we can work out what the domains & weapons would be. *




While I don't have Deities & Demigods, Dragon Magazine ran an article a couple of years ago detailing these pantheons (as well as a few others, including the Celtic pantheon).  It was in issue 283 IIRC.


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## Eldorian (Apr 18, 2003)

I'll send ya a pair of characters, Manzanita.

Eldorian Antar


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## Manzanita (Apr 18, 2003)

I got your email, Eldorian.  Both of your PCs look workable.  Feel free to keep fleshing them out.  Since I'm looking for certain traits for the party as a whole, I won't be able to tell you which you would start with until I get everyone's characters.  Thanks for the good response.

I've worked some on the Cleric domains of these historical pantheons, but would accept any published descriptions.  If anyone wants to be a cleric, pick your diety & reasonable appropriate domains, or ask here & maybe someone will provide the published domains for that diety.


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## Calim (Apr 18, 2003)

I would be interested as well


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## Eldorian (Apr 18, 2003)

http://www.pantheon.org/

My resource for real world mythologies.

Eldorian Antar


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## Jarval (Apr 18, 2003)

I've sent a couple of characters to you, Manzanita.


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## UnDfind (Apr 19, 2003)

I'm liking this idea, but unfortunately I can't play 

Have fun!


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## Manzanita (Apr 19, 2003)

I've received two player character ideas.  As soon as I receive at least two more, we can get started with the next phase.


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## Guilt Puppy (Apr 19, 2003)

I'll be emailing you some shortly... Definitely interested in this sort of game.


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## Inez Hull (Apr 20, 2003)

Definitely interested as well. I'll try and end you two cheap & nasty characters and do something more detailed after the easter weekend if thats ok.


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## Manzanita (Apr 20, 2003)

I've received Inez's excellent character concepts.  That makes three I've received.  I'll start making character decisions after I receive one more.  I'd like to keep this moving to preserve some momentum.  If more want to join later, I think I can fit them in.

The PCs I've received so far have been great.  Very well thought out.  I think this will be great game once we get it going.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Apr 20, 2003)

I just sent you a pair of characters.  I hope I a) got them in on time, and b) that they're good enough.   This looks really interesting, and I look forward to it.


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## Manzanita (Apr 20, 2003)

OK. I've received characters from 4 players, Thomas Hobbes, Eldorian, Inez Hull & Jarval.  None of you indicated a desire to play the initial lead character, but I think I can go ahead & identify your starters & go to phase two:  Character detail.

Guilt Puppy, Calim, if you're still interested, please go ahead & submit your PCs.  I want to keep this thing moving.


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## Guilt Puppy (Apr 21, 2003)

I've emailed them (two days ago), but not sure if they sent properly... I'm not too enthused about retyping all that, but if I have a chance I'll send along a shortened version as soon as I get the time.


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## ErichDragon (Apr 21, 2003)

Hey Manzanita.  I am very interested.  Is there still room?  I can have 2 characters by COB today.  If I don't hear anything from you I will send you the characters anyway.


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## Manzanita (Apr 21, 2003)

There's still room Mr. Dragon.  I'd be glad to have you.  Send them on in.  Could your email be saved in your sent directory, guilt puppy?  I hate retyping stuff too, but do please resend.  A truncated version is fine for now. You two would make 6, which would be a good group.


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## Manzanita (Apr 22, 2003)

I've received six character sets.  I'm awaiting PC stats & am working on finalizing backgrounds.  The game is full, but I will take alternates if anyone would like to submit them.  Conceivably we could open the game to seven players, as well.

I'll be away this coming long weekend at a wedding, so we probably won't get started on the gaming action thread until next week, but let's try to get all the PCs finalized in the next few days.

P.S.  does anyone know how to edit the title of this thread to take out the 'recruiting'?


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## Eldorian (Apr 22, 2003)

Edit your first post.  You can edit the title there.

Eldorian Antar


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## Jarval (Apr 22, 2003)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> *I'll be away this coming long weekend at a wedding, so we probably won't get started on the gaming action thread until next week, but let's try to get all the PCs finalized in the next few days.*




I've been pretty busy over the Easter weekend, but I'll have some stats and a more detailed background to you by this evening.


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## Guilt Puppy (Apr 26, 2003)

Question: Are we actually playing two characters each? I was under the impression that one of the two would get selected as "best fit" to the party... If we are playing one character each, is it your selection or ours? (I'd almost prefer it being your selection -- would make my life easier  ). This is stuff I'd like to know before writing up the sheets (as I don't want to do _two_ if I only need _one_.)


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## Manzanita (Apr 26, 2003)

*Status*

OK, gang.  I've received final PCs from everyone but Guilt puppy & I've sent intros to all of you as well.  So I believe everyone is set to be at the appointed place at the appointed time.  I'll try to get the IC thread up Monday evening, when I return from my trip.

Guilt puppy, each player will play one character.  Generally I picked one of the two, although in some cases, I allowed the player to pick.  I had asked you to go ahead & pick one, but perhaps that email didn't get through.  At this point, I think your Bard (Nathanial) would be a better pick.  Please get him/her finished up with stats, feats, etc & email  to me.  I will then review & send you your intro.  (I actually don't have your 

I think we have a great bunch of characters & players.  I'm psyched to get started.  Thanks for the high quality responses so far.

Your loving DM


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## Manzanita (Apr 29, 2003)

The game is on!  The IC thread is here:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=864609#post864609


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## Eldorian (Apr 29, 2003)

Manzanita, I'd like to give a more thorough description of my character.  Where would you like it since we won't be using the rogue's gallery?  Or would you like to use the rogue's gallery for character descriptions?  

Eldorian Antar


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## Manzanita (Apr 29, 2003)

Eldorian, my first thought is that you should email it to me, but perhaps a Rogues Gallary for PC descriptions is a good idea.  It would help the players keep track of who was who.  If you don't mind, go ahead &start one.  The rest of you can add your characters description if you like.  Just put what the others could tell by thier interactions with you.  Physical description, equipment, manorisms & whatnot.


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## Eldorian (Apr 30, 2003)

I started the Rogue's Gallery here

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49437

And did my post.

Eldorian Antar

P.S.  I can't seem to get an email to you Manzanita.  I've had 2 returned.  I'll try again.


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## Manzanita (Apr 30, 2003)

ADfour76@aol.com

This email should work - others have been using it.

Thanks for starting the thread, Eldorian.  I'll put some NPCs there too, as we proceed.


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## Manzanita (May 5, 2003)

*game speed*

I'm a keep it moving kind of DM, & I tend to post twice a day, so I'm trying to push the game along.  If any of you think I'm moving too fast, let me know.  I'll go slower in situations where everyone needs to post, like combat or important decisions.  But my experience w/PbP is that things go pretty slowly, so I'll keep it moving as much as possible.


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## Manzanita (May 6, 2003)

*History*

I'll try to make some posts about this world here.  I think knowing more about the history & politics may help you to better understand your PC, as well as help you make some decisions later in the game.  Feel free to ask questions.  Not that I know all the answers...

Players Chronology/History

Creation Myths vary by region.  Generally, each of the three main human Deity groups claim credit for the earth’s creation per their particular legend.  Central to all myths, though, is the existence of Ua, who is variously depicted as the sky or earth.  This being is generally thought to be the creator in religions of all races.

It is generally known that before the days of the dominance of men, the most dominant race was the Melnibone.  The Melnibone are an Elven race, tall as humans, with pointed ears and almond shaped eyes.  They are said to have made advanced ships, capable of circumnavigating the planet.  They had tamed Dragons & other beasts, & had great magics, never since duplicated.  Eventually their civilization went into decline.  Some say humans overtook them in power.  Some say civil war destroyed them.  Others say they offended the Gods.  Still others say their dragons turned against them.  In any case, their civilization waned, and now only exists on isolated islands & regions in the known world.  (In the Mediterranean, the Melnibone still rule Malta.)

Various other empires grew over time, since the dark ages following the fall of the Melnibone.  The Greeks achieved great power in magic & technology & learning, partially though cooperation with the elves.  They were not able to unify, though, & were a great empire only for the lifetime of one man.  

The modern calendar starts at the founding of Rome.  Chronology follows:

Approx 2000 to 3000 B.R. (Before Rome)  Fall of the Melniboan Empire
Approx 1000 to 1500 B.R.   Great Pyramids built by Egyptian Empire
500 B.R.  Apex of Early Greek Expansion Under Alexander the Great.  This Greek General and Emperor, generally considered the greatest ever, extends his empire as far east as the Indus river.  Much of this is lost over the next generation.
497 B.R.  Disappearance of Alexander in the North East.  No trace of his party has ever been found
0 Founding of Rome.  This empire is said to have started by two brothers, Romulus & Remus, raised by wolves.  It’s growth is slow at first, encompassing only Italy by 100 A.R.
500 A.R.  The Roman Empire has conquered most of the Mediterranean Coast, Western Europe (Spain, France & southern Germany) & Turkey.  Wizard & Monk Academies well established, & key to expansion & maintenance of empire.
550 A.R.  From beneath the earth, Saracens, “Snake People” attack the Holy Lands of present day Palestine & Israel, considered holy by Greek & Egyptian pantheons.  They are led by demons, and followed by hordes of orcs & other humanoids.  Sporadic fighting has followed.  They have not attempted to significantly expand, and various attempt to recapture the region have failed.  
600 A.R.  Knights Templar established to reconquor the Holy Lands.  This is an order of Paladins of Horus, as well as followers of many other deities united in common cause & enjoying widespread popular support with humans all over the Mediterranean.  
1011 A.R.  Today…


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## Thomas Hobbes (May 7, 2003)

Yay!  Backround!

Are we in the "Republic" or "Empire" stage of Rome?


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## Eldorian (May 7, 2003)

"Hey, did anyone catch what Glaucon was saying?"
"It was all Greek to me."

Hardy har har har.

_retreats back to the darkness_

Eldorian Antar


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## Manzanita (May 7, 2003)

Current Roman politics the subject of a future post.  It is an empire at this point, though.


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## Thomas Hobbes (May 7, 2003)

Eldorian said:
			
		

> *"It was all Greek to me."*




When I took Ancient Greek, every time we had a visitor, they would make that joke.  _Every.  Time._

Drove me crazy.

That is all.


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## Manzanita (May 9, 2003)

*History Part II*

Rome.  Currently ruled by Emperor Caesarean, son of Julius Caesar and Queen Cleopatra of Egypt.  Cleopatra is actually Greek, the Greeks having conquered Egypt back in the day of Alexander the Great.  His general Ptolemy settled as ruler of Egypt in the succession wars that followed Alexander’s death.  His family had ruled ever since.  Upon Cleopatra’s marriage to Caesar, Egypt became part of the Roman Empire.

Caesarean has two sons, Julian, who is a follower of Athena, & Octavian, who is a follower of Ares.  It is well known that control of the Empire is divided between the followers of these two deities.  Over the past few centuries, control of the empire has gone both ways.  Many powerful people, both inside & outside of the empire, support one or the other of these sons as heir, for varied reasons.

Perhaps you can tell, much has yet to be fleshed out in this world.  Feel free to make suggestions, particularly if you have historical knowledge of some region of this period.


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## Manzanita (May 12, 2003)

*Combat style*

When posting combat actions, I like to see some if-thens, to keep things moving.  Something like this would be great:

"If the orcs advance on his friend Arther, Sargon will intercept them & defend Arther, otherwise,  Sargon will attack the nearest Orc, striking with his long sword until it dies.  If Sargon is brought to below 5 HPs, then he will retreat in the direction of the cleric."

That way I can play out multiple rounds & don't have to wait as much for people to post.


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## Manzanita (May 27, 2003)

*Experience points*

whoops.  I've realized I assigned about 475 extra experience points to everyone for that combat.  (The sahuagin weren't really all that tough, were they?).  This was due to a careless lack of updating my spreadsheet formulas from an earlier estimate.

At this point, only two of you have responded with updated PC sheets.  I'm thinking it might be fun to be 2nd level a little bit longer.  Chime in if you want, but I'm tempted to drop everyone's points by 475, which would leave everyone still at 2nd level (barely).


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## Thomas Hobbes (May 27, 2003)

I wouldn't mind.  No worries, right?


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## ErichDragon (May 27, 2003)

Fine with me, I haven't leveled Ecgthow yet.


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## Jarval (May 27, 2003)

Fine with me.  I was looking forwards to using _flame blade_ but I can wait


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## Inez Hull (Jun 27, 2003)

Ehldannis Character sheet


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## Manzanita (Jul 31, 2003)

The 3.5 rules are out.  I've perused them a bit, and generally like the changes.  I'm wondering if the group would be interested in converting to them.  The SRD is here:

http://www.wizards.com/D20/article.asp?x=srd35

Perhaps a good time to move up is when we go to 3rd level, which is as soon as the PCs get a good rest.  We could wait til 4th level too, or put it off indefinitely.

Just curious what everyone thought.


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## Eldorian (Jul 31, 2003)

If we convert or not matters little to me, my character will recieve only minor changes.  Although I do like the new rules and would be eager to convert if my character would be affected =)

Eldorian Antar


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## Inez Hull (Aug 1, 2003)

I'm easy either way. Personally I'll be picking and choosing from 3.5E and adding the changes I like into 3.0 rather than swapping wholesale.


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## Inez Hull (Aug 5, 2003)

Who's still playing in this game? It would be a real shame for this one to go down through lack of interest.


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## Manzanita (Aug 5, 2003)

I agree.  I'm trying to let the group make decisions - I don't want to lead you around by the hand, but the game does seem to drag when this happens.  I'll put in a post for the PC/NPCs as I understand them in the IC thread.  Please let me know if you have any feedback for the game or if anyone wants to drop out.  I wouldn't be offended; I would try to recruit some new players.


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## Inez Hull (Aug 5, 2003)

This is a good game Manzanita, I for one would like to see it continue. Hopefully some of the missing players will turn up, but I think rerecruiting may be on the cards soon. Have you tried emailing the missing players?


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## Manzanita (Aug 6, 2003)

ThomasHobbes, GuiltPuppy & Jarval are temporarily out.  As soon as the group returns to Sevestapol, their PCs will get 'sick' and recover when they return to the game. That should leave four active posters.  Please keep things moving guys.


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## Jarval (Aug 8, 2003)

I'm back.  Sorry about the gap in posting, but I was away for 10 days+, and then I've had some very busy days at work.  But I'm back now, and hopefully I'll get back onto a regular posting schedule again.

As far as converting to 3.5 goes, I'd be happy to make the switch, but since I'm playing a druid you might have guessed that   But I'm fine with whatever the majority want to do.


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## Manzanita (Aug 10, 2003)

Actually, all the posts regarding 3 vs 3.5 have been positive on switching, so I say, let's do it!  I haven't received any 3rd level PCs yet, so let's do the characters as 3.5.  For those w/o the books (like me), the internet address is

http://www.wizards.com/D20/article.asp?x=srd35

I'm also thinking of trying to recruit another player or two to attempt to get this game going a bit more.  With players being out and a couple being rare posters, it seems to be lagging.  Good to have you back, at least, Jarval.

Any comments on recruiting another player or two?  It's a good time, gamewise, at least, to start a new PC.


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## Inez Hull (Aug 10, 2003)

I've emailed you an updated character, but it was 3E as per your email, so I'll get a 3.5E update to you soon. 

PersonallyI'm quite happy for you to rerecruit, although the only person who seems to have gone missing without explanation is Khen.


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## Manzanita (Aug 11, 2003)

I don't know when ThommasHobbes will return, & I think we could do with another good player.  If any of you know someone who you'd want to roleplay with and who might be interested, have him/her post here or email me.  If we can't find someone informally, I'll post a recruitment thread.  Meanwhile, get those 3rd level stats in & on with the game...


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## Manzanita (Aug 14, 2003)

I've now received Ehldannis and Ecgthow as 3rd level 3.5 E PCs.  Thanks, guys, they both look fine.  I'm enjoying Brioc's and Ehldannis' conversation in the IC thread, and I'll wait til it's over before further posting on my part.  The pacing thing is one of the hardest parts for me to get the hang of as a PBP DM.  I jumped the gun with the Dward intro... whatever.

At this point we only have three active posters, though Guilt puppy should return soon.  I'll go ahead & open a recruitment thread.  If we end up with 8 PCs, I reckon that would be OK.

RL considerations have kept me from spending too much time on this game lately, and they will get worse soon, as I'll be missing the entire week of Aug 23 - 31, probably.  (I'm going on an Alaskan cruise, so it's not a bad thing.)  Hopefully in September, we'll have a healthy number again & get our momentum back.

I'm enjoying it, guys.  Thanks for your participation!


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## Manzanita (Aug 19, 2003)

OK.  Well, perhaps you noticed that I did, in fact, recruit two more players.  Please welcome within the context of your own character.  For now, the non-active characters can be assumed to be sick in their room and unable to communicate, but predicted to recover.  When their players return, they can quickly be reactivated.  (as long as the party is in town, at least).  The inactive PCs are:  Glaucon, Octar, JNathaniel, and Khenemetsobek.


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## Inez Hull (Aug 20, 2003)

Glad to hear you're enjoying things and still keen to keep GM'ing. This is a good game and I was getting that awful feeling that this game was going to go the way of every other game I start really enjoying.

Oh, and enjoy the cruise!


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## Jarval (Aug 20, 2003)

Manzanita, I've just submitted my stats for Brioc at 3rd level to you via e-mail.  It's all 3.5 rules, and I've now included stats for Wolf.

I'm going to be away from the 21st until the 29th, which seems to fit in pretty well when you're going to be away, so fortunate timing there.  Like  Inez says, this is a darn good game, and I'm glad to see we're keeping the number of players up.

And have a good time on the cruise


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## doghead (Aug 20, 2003)

Hey everyone. 

I noticed that there are no signatures in the IC thread (apart fom mine). I think that I have found out how to turn them off - the show signature box in the options below. I'll give it a whirl now.


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## Manzanita (Aug 20, 2003)

Welcome back, Guiltpuppy.  I'm very happy you've returned.  That gives us a very solid party of 5 (assuming Thels joins us - or a very solid 4 otherwise).

I hope you will take the time to chat about stuff this next week.  I worry I've set the pace to fast for the PCs to really chat and get to know each other.  Well, this coming week is your chance.


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## Manzanita (Sep 2, 2003)

Just a note to say I'm back and psyched to keep rolling.  We've got 6 active players (at least).  Please chime in, everyone, in the IC thread, and let's get get it going!


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## doghead (Sep 3, 2003)

I'm here but I couldn't think of anything to post IC (other than Marcus takes a drink of ale and shuffles his feet or some such).

I will be gone from September 15 to the end of the month and won't have internet access. Sorry. Feel free to autopilot me (although, I have never seen this done actually).

the head of the god


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## Thomas Hobbes (Sep 3, 2003)

Hello everyone!  I'm here to reactivate Octar, if I may.  I apologize for my extended absence; the period I was away from the internet was longer than anticipated.

If I'm not mistaken, 3rd level statisitcs are needed, and I'll get them to you shortly, Manzanita.  Could anyone summarize for me what has gone on in my absence?  Or alternatively, tell me to stop being lazy and read the thread myself.


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## Manzanita (Sep 4, 2003)

*Welcome Back*

Great to have you back.  Personally, I can't remember when you left.  I suspect all you really missed was the fight in the mist and the sight of the Wendol camp.  You can get pieced in with the two newbies if nothing else.

Octar just needs to get better and come downstairs.  I realize I hijacked your second PC's origin a bit to get Doghead into the game, but hey, that's why I gave you the origin I did.  Octar will remember Marcus as the friend who asked him to go on this little adventure.  you two can piece together the rest as you see fit.

You did receive the experience point email?  Just submit your 3.5 3rd level PC before the first fight (which is ASAP)


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## Manzanita (Sep 8, 2003)

Unfortunately ErichDragon informed me he needs to drop this game for a month or so.  Erich, I'll miss you and I hope you'll rejoin the game when things settle down for you.  Ecghtow will be incapacitated but well cared for in the Inn in Sevastopol, and if/when he wishes to rejoin, I suspect we'll be able to reactivate him quickly.  Good luck with your busy season.

We've still got 6 fine players in this game, which should be just right.  Let the game continue!


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## Manzanita (Sep 8, 2003)

Unfortunately ErichDragon informed me he needs to drop this game for a month or so.  Erich, I'll miss you and I hope you'll rejoin the game when things settle down for you.  Ecghtow will be incapacitated but well cared for in the Inn in Sevastopol, and if/when he wishes to rejoin, I suspect we'll be able to reactivate him quickly.  Good luck with your busy season.

We've still got 6 fine players in this game, which should be just right.  Let the game continue!


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## doghead (Sep 14, 2003)

As tomorrow will probably be a bit of a rush, I'll take this opportunity to exit stage left.

See you in October.

... Ah. I just checked back over the thread. I thought that I had posted to all the OOC threads to give my GMs a heads up. I missed one. Must have been having too much fun on the IC thread. Sorry.

I will be away till the end of the month. Basically, I won't have internet access. Manzanita, feel free to remote pilot Marcus so the game can continue. Once again, sorry about the lack of notice.

the hung head of the dog


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## Manzanita (Sep 30, 2003)

*testing*

Just testing mapping here.

OK - still can't seem to posts .jpgs any more.  I think I'll go back and try the earlier suggestion.

By the way, I just wondered if anyone noticed my shameless hijacking of other people's stuff for my campaign.  Anyone familiar with the Melniboneans?  The whole Wendol saga?  The 1979 Judges Guild module: The Caverns of Thracia?  The old man on the raft saying "...its..."?  Nemmerle's _Out of the Frying Pan_ story hour?


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## Inez Hull (Oct 5, 2003)

Well I did kinda notice a few familiar names from RttToEE. Don’t suppose the Wendol were inspired by the 13th Warrior perchance? That said this game is going along nicely and comes across as very original for all its diverse inspiration. The game seems to have several threads running at once – I’m not going to be surprised if those Roman archaeologists are hunting around for greek fire too. Very nicely done.


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## Manzanita (Oct 6, 2003)

Thanks for the positive feedback.  We hard-working DMs everywhere need that kind of thing.

The 13th Warrior was the name of the movie, which I was not particularly impressed with.  However, the Michael Crighton (sp?) novel, The Eaters of the Dead was great.  And it is the novel I was basing the Wendol saga on.  So don't go buy it until we finish this part up.  I have no Experience w/RttToEE, which is what allows me to join the game Thels is hosting.  I do have the original Homlett module from 1979, which I had originally planned to incorporate to an extent, but when I converted this campaign from Tabletop to PbP, I radically shortened it to account for the slow pace of PbP gaming.


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## Manzanita (Oct 17, 2003)

*image test III*

Iii


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## Thels (Oct 17, 2003)

Uhh, ARGH! Somehow the IC thread must've gotten unsubscribed, making me completely forget about it


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## doghead (Oct 17, 2003)

Image Test III is a go!

_Ur, what I mean is umm, I can see a grid with green squares (with white centers) and a couple of "h" above C2 and D2. Does that help?_


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## Manzanita (Oct 18, 2003)

That's interesting Doghead, I can't see a thing.

This image attaching has gotten screwy.  I may have to resort to using letters on notepad like some of the other DMs.


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## Inez Hull (Oct 18, 2003)

I can see the attachment fine too.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Oct 18, 2003)

I can also see the image....


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## Manzanita (Oct 18, 2003)

maybe one of you guys should attach an image & see if you can see it.  & see if I can see it.


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## doghead (Oct 18, 2003)

*Image test*



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> maybe one of you guys should attach an image & see if you can see it.  & see if I can see it.




Are you using insert image rather or attach image? Is your  Code set to "On"? (I don't really know what this does, but it [i]looks[/i] relevent somehow.) 

The first image is inserted using the IMG tag. The second is an attachment (hopefully not a preview of things to come). I can see both in the thread.

[CENTER]
[IMG]http://www.monkeycities.net/doghead/images/d_image/cerise-preview.gif
[/CENTER]


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## Thomas Hobbes (Oct 19, 2003)

I can see both....


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## Manzanita (Oct 20, 2003)

Interesting; I can see neither.


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## Inez Hull (Oct 20, 2003)

Manzanita, you might wanna check your user cp and check that you've got viewing pictures in posts enabled. Just a thought.


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## doghead (Oct 25, 2003)

OK. I'm outa here. See you in November.

I'm ok with marcus being remote piloted in order to keep the game moving


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## Thels (Oct 25, 2003)

Sorry guys. Recent pasttime was real hectic to me, with some forum downtimes on top of that


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## Thels (Oct 27, 2003)

Nope, no mail. But my email's acting up weird lately


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## Jarval (Nov 16, 2003)

Right, long answer to a short question.  Brioc's cast the 3.5 version of the Summon Swarm spell.  It summons a swarm of creatures for a duration equal to Concentration + 2 rounds.  Given that he's been wounded, he's going to need to make a Concentration roll, but even if he fails the swarm will stay in existence for another 2 rounds.

Summon swarm is treated rather differently under 3.5 rules, due to the addition of the Swarm creature type.  While bats individually deal no damage, in a swarm they deal 1d6 points a round, with no attack roll needed.  I've copied full details for both the Summon Swarm spell, and the Swarm creature type below.  (Both are taken from the 3.5 SRD.)


Summon Swarm
Conjuration (Summoning)
Level: Brd 2, Drd 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One swarm of bats, rats, or spiders
Duration: Concentration + 2 rounds
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You summon a swarm of bats, rats, or spiders (your choice), which attacks all other creatures within its area. (You may summon the swarm so that it shares the area of other creatures.) If no living creatures are within its area, the swarm attacks or pursues the nearest creature as best it can. The caster has no control over its target or direction of travel.
Arcane Material Component: A square of red cloth.


SWARM
Swarms are dense masses of Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creatures that would not be particularly dangerous in small groups, but can be terrible foes when gathered in sufficient numbers. For game purposes a swarm is defined as a single creature with a space of 10 feet—gigantic hordes are actually composed of dozens of swarms in close proximity. A swarm has a single pool of Hit Dice and hit points, a single initiative modifier, a single speed, and a single Armor Class. It makes saving throws as a single creature.
Many different creatures can mass as swarms; bat swarms, centipede swarms, hellwasp swarms, locust swarms, rat swarms, and spider swarms are described here. The swarm’s type varies with the nature of the component creature (most are animals or vermin), but all swarms have the swarm subtype.
A swarm of Tiny creatures consists of 300 nonflying creatures or 1,000 flying creatures. A swarm of Diminutive creatures consists of 1,500 nonflying creatures or 5,000 flying creatures. A swarm of Fine creatures consists of 10,000 creatures, whether they are flying or not. Swarms of nonflying creatures include many more creatures than could normally fit in a 10-foot square based on their normal space, because creatures in a swarm are packed tightly together and generally crawl over each other and their prey when moving or attacking. Larger swarms are represented by multiples of single swarms. A large swarm is completely shapeable, though it usually remains contiguous.
COMBAT
In order to attack, a single swarm moves into opponents’ spaces, which provokes an attack of opportunity. It can occupy the same space as a creature of any size, since it crawls all over its prey, but remains a creature with a 10-foot space. Swarms never make attacks of opportunity, but they can provoke attacks of opportunity.
Unlike other creatures with a 10-foot space, a swarm is shapeable. It can occupy any four contiguous squares, and it can squeeze through any space large enough to contain one of its component creatures.
Vulnerabilities of Swarms
Swarms are extremely difficult to fight with physical attacks. However, they have a few special vulnerabilities,
as follows:
A lit torch swung as an improvised weapon deals 1d3 points of fire damage per hit.
A weapon with a special ability such as flaming or frost deals its full energy damage with each hit, even if the weapon’s normal damage can’t affect the swarm.
A lit lantern can be used as a thrown weapon, dealing 1d4 points of fire damage to all creatures in squares adjacent to where it breaks.

BAT SWARM
Diminutive Animal (Swarm)
Hit Dice:	3d8 (13 hp)
Initiative:	+2
Speed:	5 ft. (1 square), fly 40 ft. (good)
Armor Class:	16 (+4 size, +2 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple:	+2/-
Attack:	Swarm (1d6)
Full Attack:	Swarm (1d6)
Space/Reach:	10 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks:	Distraction, wounding
Special Qualities:	Blindsense 20 ft., half damage from slashing and piercing, low-light vision, swarm traits
Saves:	Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +3
Abilities:	Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 4
Skills:	Listen +11, Spot +11
Feats:	Alertness, Lightning Reflexes
Environment:	Temperate deserts
Organization:	Solitary, flight (2-4 swarms), or colony (11-20 swarms)
Challenge Rating:	2
Treasure:	None
Alignment:	Always neutral
Advancement:	None
Level Adjustment:	-
A bat swarm is nocturnal, and is never found aboveground in daylight.
Combat
A bat swarm seeks to surround and attack any warm-blooded prey it encounters. The swarm deals 1d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move.
Distraction (Ex): Any living creature that begins its turn with a swarm in its space must succeed on a DC 11 Fortitude save or be nauseated for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Wounding (Ex): Any living creature damaged by a bat swarm continues to bleed, losing 1 hit point per round thereafter. Multiple wounds do not result in cumulative bleeding loss. The bleeding can be stopped by a DC 10 Heal check or the application of a cure spell or some other healing magic.
Blindsense (Ex): A bat swarm notices and locates creatures within 20 feet. Opponents still have total concealment against the bat swarm (but swarm attacks ignore concealment). 
Skills: A bat swarm has a +4 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks. These bonuses are lost if its blindsense is negated.


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## Thels (Nov 17, 2003)

Sorry for not posting... Had a hectic last few days. I seem to have those a lot lately


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## Manzanita (Nov 17, 2003)

Always good to have you back, Thels. Did you get the email about Dhormium's mentor this time? (come to think of it, I think you acknowledged that message in an email, so never mind.)


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## Thels (Nov 18, 2003)

Ahh, so it did arrive back. Good, I was wondering about that.


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## Manzanita (Nov 28, 2003)

test


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## UlyssesX (Nov 28, 2003)

*Manzanita*

still trying to add images


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## Manzanita (Nov 28, 2003)

*ok*

So it seems if I make my ID able to post images, then I can't view them; if I can view them, then I can't post them.  Still, I think this will be workable when a map is again needed.


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## doghead (Dec 3, 2003)

Hey all, going to be gone for 48 hours. Catch you later.


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## doghead (Dec 14, 2003)

Loot mentioned: 



> The crone wears fancy leather armor, a scimitar, pearl earrings, and some sort of jade necklace. The braziers in the room are burning oil and seem to be made of silver, with ornate carvings, probably worth something to the right buyer. The tapestries too, seem ancient and well made, but are smoke stained and not very clear. They are also large and heavy.




I'm quite happy with a "magic of television" jump to the next stage. The thought of swimming that tunnel again leaves me cold ...


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## Manzanita (Dec 15, 2003)

*Experience points*

As the veterans know, I award experience via email.  I award 5 pts/post, plus a bonus for quality of posts (roleplaying), plus something for problem solving, if appropriate, plus combat, plus other bonuses occationally.  I award anonomously because in my experience, awarding bonuses on roleplaying is inherently biased, & I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings if I give someone else more.  Everyone is still pretty close together, experience-wise.  The two new players started out with a lower amount, by a few hundred.  If you don't get an email in the next day or two, or if you know that the email I've used for you before is no longer good, let me know.  I don't think anyone gained a level, but you're getting close!


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## doghead (Dec 16, 2003)

Oooh. Goody. Christmas has come early. 

Hanging out for that new level. Marcus really does need to get some focus in his skills. Right now he's got a *little* bit of everything. The only question is, which! Perhaps he should become a fighter.


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## doghead (Dec 16, 2003)

Actually, Marcus does want to become a better "fighter". Only I have no idea how changing classes works, having never done it. 

Any suggestions or advice would be welcome.


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## Manzanita (Dec 16, 2003)

Considering how much fighting Marcus has done, it shouldn't be any stretch for him to take a fighter class.  I appreciate the role playing, but for that particular multiclass, you would need no special training or DM permission.


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## doghead (Dec 17, 2003)

OK. I'll look through the rules and see if I can sort it out. I agree with selling most of the stuff and going with gold. The scimitar sounds spooky, but the Mithril chainmail would be good - what constitutes tall? And who is G.

I'm also gone from the 26th to the 30th.


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## Manzanita (Dec 17, 2003)

Marcus is sufficiently tall to be able to wear the mithral chainmail, as is Nathaniel and Octar.

P.S.  I just sent all the experience point emails.  Everyone's still 3rd level.


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## Jarval (Dec 17, 2003)

With regards to the scimitar, would there any objections to Brioc taking it?  It's a rather powerful item, so I don't want to hog the best treasure.


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## doghead (Dec 17, 2003)

No problem here. Too spooky for me even if I could use it. The mithril on the other hand ...


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## doghead (Dec 17, 2003)

OK. Multiclassing 101.

For Marcus to take his next level as a Fighter:

I am assuming that as this is his 4th "character" level, he needs to gain 3000XP, 6000XP in total.

Add d10+1 HPs
Add 2+2 Skill points (Rogue & Fighter skills are now class skills).

Taking first level in fighter would give Marcus:

..........BAB....Fort...Ref...Will
Rogue3.....+2.....+1.....+3....+1
Fighter1...+1.....+2.....+0....+0

Effective..+3.....+3.....+3....+1

Rogue and Fighter Weapon and Armor Proficiency.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Dec 17, 2003)

Octar wants none of the tainted loot!  (see shortly to be posted IC post).


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## doghead (Dec 19, 2003)

A heads up: I am going to be gone from the 26th until the end of the year. I probably won't be able to check in during that time.


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## Manzanita (Dec 19, 2003)

Looks good doghead, when the time comes.

It looks like treasure is to be divided as so:
magical pearl: Ehldannis
Mithral chainmail: Marcus
Bane scimitar: Brioc (this weapon has no alignment)

Any takers for the masterwork dagger? 
Do you plan on leaving the tapestry in Sevastopol?

Looks like we're about ready to continue with part II.  Last chance to pick up stuff in Sevastopol.


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## doghead (Dec 19, 2003)

Marcus will reprovision - 5 days rations and water. He'll add an extra quiver with 20 bolts (and replenish those lost). The second quiver will go on the horse, he needs to keep the weight down as he can carry only 33lbs before being encumbered.

We should keep the tapestry, or perhaps gift it to the dwarves (they seem to be interested in recording history). Perhaps they could seal up the caves in return. 

I'm quite happy to add an extra daggar (to the 4 I already have). Particularly a masterwork one. But only if no else wants it.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Dec 19, 2003)

doghead said:
			
		

> OK. Multiclassing 101.
> 
> <snip>




The only thing I saw wrong there is that Rogue skills aren't class skills (although their max ranks are still 3+character level, you still buy them at a rate of 2 points per 1 rank).


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## doghead (Dec 23, 2003)

I got the impression from somewhere (the character gen section?) that this is a fairly low magic world. So whats the situation with Sunrods, Smokesticks Thunderstones and Antitoxin. These would be handy additions, but do they exist? Would Marcus have even have heard of them?

Of course, I don't see these as things that the townsfolk would offer, but some of them are with Marcus' limited means.


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## Manzanita (Dec 23, 2003)

Yes, it's a low magic world, so those things aren't commonly available.  Certainly not in a provincial town such as Sevastopol.

The low magic, arcane magic, anyway, aspect, is one of the reasons I wanted the party to stay in Sevestopol long enough for Ehldannis to get some new spells.  Wizards don't get new spells automatically with leveling increases, and other wizards can be hard to find.

I think we're ready to go.  Any final Sevestopol action or dialogue can be put in Part I, but I'm going to go ahead & open Part II.


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## doghead (Jan 10, 2004)

Manzanita,

Sorry, my post before last probably wasn't so clear. I thought that it would be easiest to just go with how you had read it. 

Let me know if you would rather handle it differently.


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## doghead (Jan 12, 2004)

Manzanita,
There isn't really any mechanics for trying not to kill someone, is there? I'm not talking about non-leathal damage, as from what I remember, thats rather ineffective except in some situations (like with a blackjack). I suppose I was thinking more along the lines of avoiding the "critical damage" multiplyer by not stabbing Sergius in the heart or some such.

If its not possible, just play it as a regular attack.

cheers.


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## Manzanita (Jan 12, 2004)

Yea, I think subdual damage is your only option other than a regular attack.  I'm no rules lawyer, though.  If anyone else can elucidate us on this issue, please feel free.

By the way, Doghead, I did notice and appreciate your 'career revelation' in the woods, right before the combat started.  Nicely done.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Jan 12, 2004)

You can take a -4 penalty to deal subdual damage with your short sword, but you lose sneak attack damage.

Since he's unarmed, you could attack barehanded and avoid the AoO (since he's unarmed) and deal all subdual damage, still with sneak attack (the sneak attack damage is of whatever type the weapon deals, but it goes away if you take a -4 to deal the other type).


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## doghead (Jan 12, 2004)

Yeah, thats kind how I thought it went. I don't think it makes sence to discard the sword at this point - not with so many orcs still around. Serguis better hope I don't role a critical (or perhaps he shouldn't - Marcus wants answers from him, even it if requires a little persuasion.)

Thanks Manzanita. Marcus seems to be running the gamut of emotions at the moment. Sometimes characters seem little more than cyphers, other times they seem to take on a life of their own. Writing for this game is definately a case of the latter. It easy when you have lots of good material from everyone to play off.


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## Manzanita (Jan 17, 2004)

I wanted to mention that I think it's time to recruit another player or two.  I'm in something like 4 games w/Thels, and I think he's great, but RL seems to have gotten the better of him of late.  I think Dhormium can hang w/Mendicus for awhile until Thels can get into it, assuming he survives this encounter.

Speaking of which, I hope Brioc hasn't forgotten that two of his companions are lying on the ground quite possibly bleeding to death.

In any case, I wanted to let you guys know of my recruitment thoughts.  If you have any opinions on that, I'd love to hear them.  Or if you know someone who you'd like to join the game, let me know.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Jan 17, 2004)

More people sound fine to me.

And Brioc would do well to make sure we don't need an extra one or two new characters to fill in vacancies...


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## doghead (Jan 17, 2004)

I'm easy either way.

PS. I didn't really like the name Romeriez when I created Marcus (it seemed out of place), but couldn't think of anything better. Some hasty cutting and pasting of Marcus' character sheet last night resulted _Romeri_. Ah, much better. Can I keep it? Please Please.


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## Manzanita (Jan 17, 2004)

Sure, while you're at it, all survivors of this encounter will wake up in the morning at 4th level, so you can start working up your new character sheet.


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## Jarval (Jan 17, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> Speaking of which, I hope Brioc hasn't forgotten that two of his companions are lying on the ground quite possibly bleeding to death.



Believe me, I've not forgotten!   I'm just making sure that there's something keeping me covered while I do the healing...  I'm only on 2 hp myself 


			
				Thomas Hobbes said:
			
		

> And Brioc would do well to make sure we don't need an extra one or two new characters to fill in vacancies...



  Oh hush, you   I'll be onto the healing next round 

More players is fine with me.  The structure of this game makes it pretty easy to add new people in, although Brioc and company might be a little less trusting of newcomers after this encounter...


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## doghead (Jan 18, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> Sure, while you're at it, all survivors of this encounter will wake up in the morning at 4th level, so you can start working up your new character sheet.



 Assuming that I do, Whohoo! Fighter1.

Manzanita, could you confirm something.



> *From the 3.5SRD* Skills: If a skill is a class skill _for any of a multiclass character’s classes_, then character level determines a skill’s maximum rank. (The maximum rank for a class skill is 3 + character level.)




Does this mean that skills from both Marcus' classes are considered class skills? (I kinda assume not, but no harm in hoping.)


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## Thomas Hobbes (Jan 18, 2004)

I believe that while you can only buy fighter skills with fighter skill points at the rate of 1 to 1, with everything else being the cross-class 2 to 1, the max ranks of any skill that's a class skill for any class you have is 3+character level.

That make any sense?  It reads a little confusing...


----------



## Manzanita (Jan 18, 2004)

That's interesting.  Do you think this aspect of the rules has changed since v. 3.0?  I'll have to read that section of the SRD (since I don't own the books.)  Where's Thels when you need him...?


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## doghead (Jan 19, 2004)

I assumed the worst case because its better ti get good news. But its a difficult call. Real  life isn't much use - you could go both ways. 

Adding a new class doesn't make it more difficult to improve something you already have learnt. The "total is equal to the sum of the parts" idea suggest that they should be see as a combination, not a sequence. One the other hand, you could say that in order to advance as in a new class, you need to focus on it (ie developing the class skills). It, of course, being some generic concept of the class as specified by the class skills etc.

Both ideas are somewhat flawed as technically, the XP  spent to get the next level was accrued while in the previous level. ie a wizard picking up a level of rogue gets the rogue's skills but has not really been one yet. 

Anyway, just some ramblings. Let me know when you know.


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## Manzanita (Jan 19, 2004)

*multiclassing skills*

I would think if Marcus takes a fighter level next, you would get 5 ranks (2 class, 2 int, 1 race).  If you wanted to spend them on, say, move silently, you could spend two ranks on that as a cross-class skill, adding essentially only one rank.  If you'd  maxed on that skill as a rogue(6 ranks at 3rd level), you'd have a total of 7 ranks in it, which would be 3+character level.  You couldn't spend 4 of your fighter skill points on it to get it to 8 ranks.

Does that sound right?

Does anyone have another action to post before we continue to round 9?


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## doghead (Jan 19, 2004)

Yeah, thats how I did it. I took Hide (2 points for +1 Rank) and MoveSilently (2 points for +1 Rank) as cross class skills, Ride as a class skill (1 point for +1 Rank). As I diversified alot initially, he has no worries about maxing out at this point.

Thanks.

PS: Ready for Round 9.


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## Manzanita (Jan 19, 2004)

*Death #1*

Perhaps I should go ahead & state that Nathaniel has died.  He reached -10 hps in round 8.  I didn't mean to kill him per se.  He was fighting very effectively in the beginning and thus became the focus of Sergius' sneak attack.  From the beginning, I resolved not to spare death for the PCs.  It seemed like it would make it a better game with the possibility of real death.  More realistic too.  I let the dice fall where they lay.

Guiltpuppy, you're certainly welcome to create another PC.  He/she can start with the same experience where Nathaniel left off.


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## doghead (Jan 22, 2004)

Manzanita, what was the outcome of Marcus' listen check?

Guilt Puppy, I was going to ask what type of character you were planning on, but then thought that you might want to spring it on us IC. I hope that you do choose to jump back in.


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## Manzanita (Jan 22, 2004)

I'm going to go ahead & start the recruitment thread.  It will take a while to get the new PCs up & running.  Feel free to chime in on that thread if you have anything to add.


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## Manzanita (Jan 29, 2004)

OK.  So we've added a new player to take over Dhormium.  The other new player will be introduced very soon.  Since you all had a week in Sevastopol to practice up, you can all level up immediately.  As soon as your PC sheet is in & approved you're 4th level, congratulations.  I'll be emailing the experience points out here shortly.


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## eoghanbt (Feb 4, 2004)

Manzanita, if you could email me with the answer to a question I'm about to send, would be great...


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## Manzanita (Feb 4, 2004)

Hopefully I answered your question.  Keep asking if I didin't.


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## Thels (Feb 7, 2004)

Hey all, I'm sorry about being so sparse with info for the last month. Just when you think you got this thing called 'Real Life' figured out, it goes crazy on you 

Anyhow, I see Dhormium has been taken over. I guess that's a good move, since with my recent troubles, I wasn't able to keep up enough attention to the game. So, good luck to you all, and sorry to hear about a PC casualty (though it's kind of good to know it's a possibility).

Laterz, Thels


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## Manzanita (Feb 7, 2004)

Hey, Thels.  I knew you'd be back.  I hope you'll be able to return to regular posting on the boards.  If so, you're welcome to return to the game in some form.  Hope everything is going well for you, and that your RL stuff was good, not bad.


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## Thels (Feb 7, 2004)

It wasn't really 

Anyhow, don't let that spoil you. I think there are currently still enough games on my list to keep up with, so I'll abstain from building new chars for now. Thx for the support though.

Laterz, Thels.


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## Manzanita (Feb 8, 2004)

OK.  I hope things go well.  Persephone & Rinaldo could use a hand, and I'm still waiting to get to the Temple of Elemental Evil.  Zanock needs to get busy to stay on board, too.


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## Thels (Feb 8, 2004)

Yeah, I know. I was in too much threads. Reading back up on them one by one...


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## doghead (Feb 9, 2004)

Hey all,

I'm going to be away from tomorrow til saturday. Its unlikely that I'll have any access during that time. Feel free to keep things moving along.

cheers

the head of the dog


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## Manzanita (Feb 18, 2004)

As we enter a dungeon crawl portion of our adventure, I think it might be handy to have a 'caller.' Since Brioc seems to be regarded as the leader by many of the company, perhaps he could assume this role. I just think it might expedite the pace if we had one person who could make simple decisions for the party, such as going left or right at an intersection, or placing the party in a marching order.

Feel free to comment on this, and let me know what you think. I would appreciate a party order for a 10 foot corridor, and who holds what light sources.  I'll assume Marcus holds a hooded lantern, giving 30 foot range of vision to the humans, and 60 feet to Ehldannis.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Feb 18, 2004)

Brioc makes sense.

As for marching order, Dhormium (darkvision and stonecunning) should be in the front; Marcus also seems to have been nominated, but I'm not quite sure why.  Octar should be either in the very front or back, for easier smashing.  Brioc, as a healer, should be second rank; weaker characters like Mendicus and Ehldannis in the middle; Dunno about Tullius.  He can't lead us because be hasn't been, and he seems (?) like a fighter type.

Did I miss anyone?


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## Manzanita (Feb 18, 2004)

Thomas' reply is cogent and reasonable, but it is actually exactly what I am hoping to change. We are all polite and good team players. As such, we are often reluctant to jump in and assume we can speak for the group. But this is just what I'm looking for. I would prefer a response more like this:

'For marching order, how about Octar and Dhormium in front. Octar for smashing and Dhormium for darkvision and stonecunning. Brioc in second rank for healing, and Marcus with the lantern. Next should come physically weaker characters like Mendicus and Ehldannis. Tullius could take up the rear. If anyone would like to modify this, it's fine with me.'

This way, some decision is made, and the burden of assumption is off of me. And I'm sure all you other DMs can attest that our burden is sufficient as is.

As for the group caller, perhaps simply the first responder should be able to make a tentative decision as to which direction to go & such. Most of you have gamed together for some time now, and have developed a certain trust and mutual respect sufficient for such an arrangement.

All of this is just suggestion, merely to expedite the game. Any comment from the players?

By the way, I'd also like to know what the characters have in their hands, what weapons prepared or whatever.  If Octar is bringing his longspear & whatnot...


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## Thomas Hobbes (Feb 18, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> Thomas' reply is cogent and reasonable, but it is actually exactly what I am hoping to change. We are all polite and good team players. As such, we are often reluctant to jump in and assume we can speak for the group. But this is just what I'm looking for. I would prefer a response more like this:
> 
> 'For marching order, how about Octar and Dhormium in front. Octar for smashing and Dhormium for darkvision and stonecunning. Brioc in second rank for healing, and Marcus with the lantern. Next should come physically weaker characters like Mendicus and Ehldannis. Tullius could take up the rear. If anyone would like to modify this, it's fine with me.'
> 
> ...


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## Manzanita (Feb 18, 2004)

Besides encumbrance, how would one carry a long spear, if not in his hands?


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## Krilith (Feb 18, 2004)

Wow! we have an OOC thread?!!

I am happy with both presented marching orders. In character I asked Marcus up front, but Brioc is welcome to smash along beside me.
for what Manzanita said about the weaker fysical ones in the back, it would seem logical to make that decision.

So if i had to choose about the marching order, i'd go with the one manzanita had. it's a 10" corridor, you could run towards the melee fast enough.

and the decision who's caller, i don't realy mind, but as a player it would be nice to be able to make such a decision once in a time...


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## doghead (Feb 18, 2004)

*cough cough* doghead prepares to try his VOICE OF AUTHOURITY

Like it or not, Brioc is the leader (sorry Jarvel) .So he calls. If you disagree with his decision, say something. But regardless, post up to say you've read it.

ie _Marcus, impressed with their leader's great wisdom, nods vigorously in agreement._

Got it?

Er, ... how's that. Is it OK? Too strong? I can change it if you like ...

BTW, good question about the spear. Wondered that myself sometimes.


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## Manzanita (Feb 18, 2004)

OK.  I didn't mean to kill of any diaglogue in the IC thread.  Feel free to post consensus-seeking replies, or whatever.  My suggestion was a general one.  Just something to think about.


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## Thels (Feb 18, 2004)

Heh, even though Dhormuin's a Cleric, he's pretty fighterbased, so he should be able to hold his own at the front of the party.

Btw, who's playing him nowadays?


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## Jarval (Feb 19, 2004)

doghead said:
			
		

> Like it or not, Brioc is the leader (sorry Jarvel) .So he calls. If you disagree with his decision, say something. But regardless, post up to say you've read it.



   To be honest, I'm always a little worried about issuing orders.  I don't want anyone to think that I'm controlling their character, but I'm happy to call the marching order if that's alright with everyone else?


My favoured marching order would be (from front to back):

Dhormium (darkvision) & Brioc (good Spot and Listen skills)
Marcus (Lantern bearer) & Wolf (following Brioc)
Ehldannis (always put the wizard in the middle )
Tullius (still not entirely trusted, so put somewhere we can keep an eye on him...)
Mendicus (keeping an eye on Tullius )
Octar (watching all our backs)


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## Thomas Hobbes (Feb 19, 2004)

Jawol! (Octar will, generally speaking, do what Brioc asks him to and actively seek his guidance.)


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## doghead (Feb 19, 2004)

Sorted.

Don't worry Jarval, I don't think any of us will let your ego get out of hand


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## Thomas Hobbes (Feb 19, 2004)

As to longspear- unsure of precise mechanic, but I've seen enough pictures of warriors with sword and shield and hand and spear on their back.   It's probably in a harder place to draw than move-action, but I think it can be done (like a longbow).


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## Manzanita (Feb 19, 2004)

Not feeling left out, are you, Thels?  I'd be happy to try to work you back into the script.

Jarval, did you want Ehldannis and Tullius side by side, with Octar and Mendicus side by side behind them, or these four single file?


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## Thels (Feb 19, 2004)

Nah, there's more than enough games on my plate for now. I used to have a huge load of free time before things went wacky.


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## Krilith (Feb 20, 2004)

Hello Thells, i'm playing Dhormium at the moment, i'm happy to see you don't mind, i was dying for a chance to play a PbP game since my real life dnd group is failing to get organized.

This about the bit of calling where we are going to and who's the leader.
I hope i'm not stepping on anybody's toes here for taking some calls, it's just that, dhormium feels happy underground...if it's a problem let dhormium know


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## Manzanita (Feb 27, 2004)

I have a few issues I wanted to bring up.  Feel free to comment as appropriate.

1.  Brioc, Ehldannis and Dhormium all used a spell "this morning."  Please let me know which of your standard spells you sacrificed for 'identify' or 'resists elements'.
2.  I hope I'm not pushing the combat pace too fast.  Tullius, I hope i haven't left you out.  When I get four or five responses, my inclination is to continue, particulalry in a narrow corridor where not everyone can really get in there anyway.
3.  As the older players know, I give experience per post, as well as for what I consider good role-playing or otherwise making the game a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved.  Traditionally, I've given 5 pts per post, + 20 points (give or take) for instances of good RP.  I've decided to double this, now that you're fourth level, since it takes you twice as many EP to level up.  I do this partly to encourage good frequent posting, and partly to keep you moving up levels at a reasonable rate, since PbP is notoriously slow.
4.  I'm trying to keep track of time.  I'll say you entered the caverns at about 9 am, and it is now about 9:30.
5.  Be sure to let me know if you have any suggestions.  I'm pretty new at this DM thing.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Feb 27, 2004)

I think you're doing quite well, Manzanita.  And the proof is in the pudding- this is one of the longest running PbP I've played in, perhaps the longest, and the turnover rate has been remarkably low.


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## Jarval (Feb 28, 2004)

Hmm, haven't checked the OoC thread for some time...



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> Jarval, did you want Ehldannis and Tullius side by side, with Octar and Mendicus side by side behind them, or these four single file?




I was going with the last four of our group marching in single file, but side-by-side works fine.  Go with whichever makes your life easier.



			
				Krilith said:
			
		

> This about the bit of calling where we are going to and who's the leader.
> I hope i'm not stepping on anybody's toes here for taking some calls, it's just that, dhormium feels happy underground...if it's a problem let dhormium know




No problem at all.  Brioc's fully aware that Dhormium's spent far more time underground than himself, and is letting Dhormium chose the group's path.



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> I have a few issues I wanted to bring up.  Feel free to comment as appropriate.
> 
> 1.  Brioc, Ehldannis and Dhormium all used a spell "this morning."  Please let me know which of your standard spells you sacrificed for 'identify' or 'resists elements'.




Oops, sorry, should have mentioned that.  Brioc's dropped _warp wood_ to cast the _resist elements_ spell.



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> 2.  I hope I'm not pushing the combat pace too fast.  Tullius, I hope i haven't left you out.  When I get four or five responses, my inclination is to continue, particulalry in a narrow corridor where not everyone can really get in there anyway.




I think we've got a good pace going for the combat.  It's driving things along pretty quickly, and as you say, several of the PCs can't really take much in the way of actions.

3.  As the older players know, I give experience per post, as well as for what I consider good role-playing or otherwise making the game a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved.  Traditionally, I've given 5 pts per post, + 20 points (give or take) for instances of good RP.  I've decided to double this, now that you're fourth level, since it takes you twice as many EP to level up.  I do this partly to encourage good frequent posting, and partly to keep you moving up levels at a reasonable rate, since PbP is notoriously slow.[/QUOTE]

Good idea.  It'll keep us focused 



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> 5.  Be sure to let me know if you have any suggestions.  I'm pretty new at this DM thing.




I think you're doing a fine job of DMing this game.  As Thomas Hobbes says, this is one of the longer running games on EN World, and we've still got quite a few of the original characters with the group.  Given how many PbP games fold after a few months, you've got to be doing something right!


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## Krilith (Feb 28, 2004)

Manzanita, I dropped Command as my first level spell.

i like your method of giving XP for the roleplaying part, but i think with the way i see other people post....it's almost like reading a very good book!

all i can tell you all is, i'm playing in this group for four weeks maybe? and we went from page 5 to page 12 on the board, lots of posts!!


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## Manzanita (Feb 28, 2004)

Krilith, resits elements is a second level spell - so Dhormium would have had to drop a second level spell.

Jarval - I'll keep the last four in single file for the most part.  It's all the same to me.


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## Krilith (Feb 28, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> Krilith, resits elements is a second level spell - so Dhormium would have had to drop a second level spell.




Oops, my bad, i'll drop zone of truth.


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## doghead (Feb 28, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> 2.  I hope I'm not pushing the combat pace too fast.  Tullius, I hope i haven't left you out.  When I get four or five responses, my inclination is to continue, particulalry in a narrow corridor where not everyone can really get in there anyway.



 I think that this is the way to go. Combat should be (as) pacy (as possible). It helps to maintain the tension. If I'm away for a few days and miss a round or two, you won't here any complaints from this end. I can't say I've noticed anyone really getting left behind so far.



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> 3.  As the older players know, I give experience per post, as well as for what I consider good role-playing or otherwise making the game a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved.  Traditionally, I've given 5 pts per post, + 20 points (give or take) for instances of good RP.  I've decided to double this, now that you're fourth level, since it takes you twice as many EP to level up.  I do this partly to encourage good frequent posting, and partly to keep you moving up levels at a reasonable rate, since PbP is notoriously slow.



 I'm easy either way. Going up is good (and I tend to post alot), but it should take longer to get to the higher levels. Its your call.



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> 5.  Be sure to let me know if you have any suggestions.  I'm pretty new at this DM thing.



 Gotta go with Hobbes' pudding here. I've already taken a couple of ideas for my game.


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## Inez Hull (Feb 28, 2004)

I think I emailed you that I would drop Shield for Identify?

And Manzanita, I agree with the others, this is a fine PbP and shows promise to continue doing so.


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## Krilith (Feb 29, 2004)

Inez Hull said:
			
		

> And Manzanita, I agree with the others, this is a fine PbP and shows promise to continue doing so.



yeah, about the continuing bit, please do! i'm enjoying myself almost to much!


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## Inez Hull (Mar 2, 2004)

I'll be off the net for up to a week. Please feel free to autopilot my character Manzanita.


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## eoghanbt (Mar 6, 2004)

I'm back. Lost Internet for a bit at work due to a phone company mistake, got it back now...


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## Krilith (Mar 8, 2004)

Manzanita, how high is the corredor we are currently in? and was the hight even all the way?


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## Manzanita (Mar 8, 2004)

The corridors have been a pretty consistant height, about 8 to 10 feet.  Not built by dwarves, evidently.


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## Krilith (Mar 11, 2004)

I know I am posting this way off topic, but I was looking around the messageboard and I was wondering what the difference is between: Living enworld and this play by post game? something about offical characters and walking around in a 'real' world.
is there somesort of guide, or information thread?


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## doghead (Mar 11, 2004)

Living Enword is basically a self contained game setting. The actions of the players and the elements of the various games becoming part of the history of the world. You can only use the basic core materials, basically, and have to start at 1st level. There is a Guide thread. Have a poke around.


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## Manzanita (Mar 11, 2004)

LEW is cool b/c your PC can experience multiple DMs over time, and if one DM dissapears, your PC can continue in another adventure.  The drawback, if there is one, is that the DMs can't really go to town with their own world.  I play in LEW & in other threads; I suppose most people do.


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## Krilith (Mar 12, 2004)

i'll take another look for that newb thread.

another thing, i don't have acces to the internet this weekend, manzanita, Dhormium will try and hold that defensive line with Octar. if the line breaks for some odd reason, and dhormium stands alone, he will cast enlarge person on himself.
his hight will double (and the ceiling permits that) and he will use his new 10" reach as much as he can.


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## doghead (Mar 13, 2004)

Thanks for the clarification TH. I missed the fact that a Feint was a standard action. The whole Feint/Sneak Attack melee combo for a rogue seems a little wonky to me, to be honest. It really seems to be the sort of thing an accomplished fighter would master. Having to sacrifice an attack to do it makes it seem a little better balanced. Halve the number of attacks you make in exchange for tripling (with a shortsword) the damage 1d6>1d6+2d6 when you hit. Improved Feint/Sneak attack now looks like a tasty option. I really would be a hopeless powergamer. 

_Gotta keep this in mind for next time. Perhaps I should get Marcus killed so I can start again ..._

So does the whole "Tumble through threatened spaces and even through occupied squares" things seems wonky to me also. Sure, if you're Neo, or a lycra clad flip belt wearing Harlequin acrobat extraordinaire. But for a winter outfitted, chainmail clad, backpack lugging adventurer, it seem a little far fetched.

Except when my character wants to do it, of course.

What are your thoughts on it, Manzanta?


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## Manzanita (Mar 13, 2004)

It does seem like improved Feint would be a good feat for a rogue.  I'll have to look it up.

As for tumbling, I agree.  It's hard to imagine tumbling wearing anything more than leotards.  But tumbling is probably to be interpreted in a more general sense, & I'll let the rules stand as written.

By the way, I decided to bag the posting of all die rolls.  Although I like it when one of favorite DMs, LazarusLong42, does it, it's simply too time-consuming for my tastes.


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## doghead (Mar 13, 2004)

Hey Manzanita

I'm easy with the posting of the dice rolls. I was wondering how long it took you though. And it did show me a rule that I had not really understood properly.

Thanks for the feedback on the other stuff.

doghead


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## Thomas Hobbes (Mar 13, 2004)

Keep in mind each space if 5 ft. by 5 ft., and you opponent can be anywhere in that space.  So you're not so much diving through his legs as passing by really close.


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## Krilith (Mar 19, 2004)

manzanita, i can't log on (again    ) for the next weekend. sorry, my home internet connection is still not running and due to some personal problems i can't easily get online somewhere else.
i hope thats not big problem for you, or others in this game.

I'm working on getting a connection at my own home.

Have a good weekend.


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## Manzanita (Mar 20, 2004)

No problem, Krillith.  I'm really enjoying how you play Dhormium.  I look forward to your return.  I doubt if any great happenings will occur over the weekend.


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## Krilith (Mar 23, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> _It's only about 10 am, although, nothing keeping you from spending the night here.  Let me know if you're ready to roll the day along._




i'd say try to answer the questions and then move on to the next day, we are nice, safe, and warm and completely out off spells
i'm going to make a more 'agressive' spell list for tomorrow.
edit: make that a more, water-based list. 

Bah, dwarves hate water, they tend to sink like stone.


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## Krilith (Mar 31, 2004)

Hello,

i'm sorry i was hoping to get this email through on monday, i'm swamped in work at school. i've got a big big presentation tomorrow that i do not want to screw up.

i hope to get some of my senses back afterwards.
sorry for my absence

Krilith.


<this was an email at first. but it could just as wel have been posted here.>

another note, in about 10 to 12 workdays i'll have my own internet connection at home.


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## doghead (Apr 12, 2004)

I've lost track of who I have and haven't told. So just in case - I'll be away from the 14th to the end of the month. I'm not going to get much time to check in before I leave, so Manzanita, feel free to ghost Marcus from here. Cheers. the head of the dog.


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## Jarval (Apr 13, 2004)

I'm going to be away from EN World until the 23rd.  Sorry about any problems this might cause, but I've got quite a build up of RL stuff to deal with :\

Once I'm back, I'll give a bit more time to this game, as I'm sure my patchy posting must be really annoying given Brioc's role.


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## Inez Hull (Apr 13, 2004)

Damned RL!!! Has a way of interfering with the more important things in life.

I haven't been around much lately but _should_ be posting a bit more frequently.


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## Manzanita (Apr 13, 2004)

Doghead & Jarval are out for awhile.  Shall we try to keep it going before they return?  Shall I accept directions from other players?


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## Thomas Hobbes (Apr 13, 2004)

Hmm.  I could go either way- pause or go on.  Octar's more of one to follow Brioc, truth be told, so someone else would have to take care of things IC.


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## Manzanita (Apr 14, 2004)

Perhaps you could talk to each other for awhile.  Ask each other about backgrounds, future plans after this quest (hint, hint) or talk about the mission you're on.


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## Krilith (Apr 15, 2004)

Sounds ok. it could be better to just wait untill they are both availeble again.

but are to have this discussion 'in Character' or in ooc thread?


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## Manzanita (Apr 19, 2004)

IC.  I've been out a lot the past couple weeks, but my mind has been active.  I think I've figured out what everyone else is doing while the PCs are snoozing, so I'm psyched to get it moving again.  Whenever you're ready...!


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## Krilith (Apr 19, 2004)

this is just to clarify something for myself now, doghead and jarval are still unavaileble? are we going to start up the story line again?


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## Thomas Hobbes (Apr 20, 2004)

Reportin' for duty.


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## Krilith (Apr 23, 2004)

yeah, i'm still here too. anxious for this game to pick up again! i was realy starting to like this mystery spearpoint!
it feels as if we are starting to get close..but then. it feels af is we are still far far away!!

manzanita, don't keep us in this suspension! 
this is a good storyline, and i want to see it unfold!


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## Manzanita (Apr 23, 2004)

Thanks, Krillith.  I'm psyched to move too.  But what do you want me to do?  You guys need to take some action.  If you don't want to re-enter the caves until Jarval and Doghead re-activate, you could chat amongst yourselves, or with Mendicus, or venture to town, or whatever you want.  I'm still here!


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## Inez Hull (Apr 23, 2004)

Just out of interest, is there any reason why the party is reentering the caves prior to our meeting with the Lizardman shaman? What are we planning on doing when we reenter? I'm just a bit unsure whether we should go wandering about with no plan and some players missing......

If on the other hand we are just looking for some cheap Xp and gold then say no more!


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## Krilith (Apr 24, 2004)

I think the main plan was to enter the caves with the lizard shaman and do a 'mock' blood ritual to please him. (that’s why the shaman wanted one of ours).

we also think that, if the creature in the cave has received his blood he will lay dormant for a while, giving us the opportunity to see where sirius (that was his name right? I’m having a hary potter flashback as well) was going when he went in to retrieve the spear point. also, I can't remember the name of the roman rogue we rescued (sorry :S ) but he was ambushed and some of his fellows where captured. so it's a recon with a possible rescue mission as well!
correct me if i'm wrong here (manzanita).

for the rest, dhormium is as happy as he can be, but he does not now a freaking thing that is going on and he does have some questions for jarvals character.
and as for entering the village, i could not find a meaning for Dhormium to go.


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## Inez Hull (Apr 24, 2004)

Ehldannis has been around from the start and can prolly fill in Dhormium if he has any IC questions.


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## Jarval (Apr 25, 2004)

I'm back at last!  Sorry about the delay, and I'll deal with any questions you've got for Brioc.


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## Manzanita (Apr 25, 2004)

Great to have Jarval back.  Krilith, I'd prefer to see plot questions discussed largely in the IC thread.  Both because it's worthwhile roleplaying, and because not everyone necessarily has the same notion of what's going on.  I think a discussion of goals would be well worthwhile.  Feel free to email me about it as well.

FYI, Matriculus was the name of the roman archeologist Tullius says was kidnapped.  Sergius was the name the half orc with the spear was going by.

I'm going to assume you're heading back underground now, so off to the IC thread...


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## Krilith (Apr 28, 2004)

Whoopdiedoo!



sorry, i thought this game was going to pick at the real end of April.

"To the bat cave Rob...", err oops different setting here!


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## doghead (Apr 30, 2004)

Hey all. Back now, and off to the IC thread.


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## Manzanita (Apr 30, 2004)

Great to have you back Doghead.  You too, Jarval.  Let's get going!  My understanding is that you guys headed straight north, once down the stairs, except Marcus, who is hanging out at the entrance.


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## doghead (May 1, 2004)

Good to be back. Well, back on the boards. I'd quite happily still be back in the Whitsundays ... 

For some reason I had thought we had gone in through the room where we fought the lizard men. But straight north makes more sence.


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## Manzanita (May 1, 2004)

Dhormium set the path.  Did Krilith intend to head staight north, though the bat guano chambers, or around the coridor and through the ex-secret door?  It could matter.


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## doghead (May 1, 2004)

You're right. We did take the direct route. It was the comment about the door mechanism that had me thinking that we went that way (I got distracted wondering what it was that marcus had done to the mechanism).

In that case Marcus is at the south entrance to the guano cave. I'll edit the IC post.


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## Manzanita (May 2, 2004)

OK.  I handled the centipede encounter rather poorly.  As you know, this is my first DMing foray, and I'm still figuring things out.  I'd envisioned this campaign as a tight, tense, and somewhat rapid.  I don't know that it's turning out to be any of these, although I am enjoying it.  I would like to keep it moving, as you know, & I've largely stopped even rolling for wandering monsters.  I want the encounters to be more plot relevent.  As you may know, you are now, for the first time, in a published module, the 1979 Judges Guild module, _The Caverns of Thracia_.  I've taken the liberty of modifying it in numerous ways, and plan to do some more editing as we continue.  This centipede room had no treasure, no other exits, and thus little to contribute to the plot.  It also would have been a one way slaughter since centipedes aren't very tough.  Thus I didn't really want to play it out.  I'll probably do away with most of these sorts of encounters in the future.  Unlike most dungeon forays, the PCs are interested in more than just maximizing XP and treasure.

Enough insight into my psyche!  Just keeping you posted on stuff.  Player feedback welcome as always.  Carry on!


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## Krilith (May 2, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> OK. I handled the centipede encounter rather poorly. As you know, this is my first DMing foray, and I'm still figuring things out.
> This centipede room had no treasure, no other exits, and thus little to contribute to the plot. It also would have been a one way slaughter since centipedes aren't very tough. Thus I didn't really want to play it out.



Not that i feared it would not contribute, i was still thinking, omg 20? and being stung by a centipede once (okay i was 6 at the time) and my total lack of knowledge in the monster manual did help in that decision.




			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> I'll probably do away with most of these sorts of encounters in the future. Unlike most dungeon forays, the PCs are interested in more than just maximizing XP and treasure.



~Nods~ the reason for venturing into the chamber was just for exploration and clues to the roman archaeologists.



			
				doghead said:
			
		

> You're right. We did take the direct route. It was the comment about the door mechanism that had me thinking that we went that way (I got distracted wondering what it was that marcus had done to the mechanism).



I thought that Marcus jammed the mechanism so that it could not be opened when we where there talking with G’ruk (a stone in the mechanism or something?), and maybe G’ruk would have been that and that could have been less pleasant as well…therefore another trip through the ‘goo’.


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## doghead (May 3, 2004)

Mananita, no complaints about the DM'ing from this end. The centipede encounter was quickly dealt with by getting out and closing the door. 

Krilith, I did do something with the secret door, you right. But if memory serves me correctly. I just checked to see if it could be opened from inside before we shut it. I haven't gone back an looked it up.


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## Inez Hull (May 4, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> OK.   I'd envisioned this campaign as a tight, tense, and somewhat rapid.  I don't know that it's turning out to be any of these, although I am enjoying it.




Things maybe haven't been as rapid as they could have been lately, but you've definitely been running a tight and tense game. I've been really enjoying this game and am glad things are getting rolling again.


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## Manzanita (May 4, 2004)

Thanks for the positive feedback, Inez & doghead.  I'm certainly glad you're still fitting this one into your increasingly busy schedule, Inez.  (what's her name, by the way?   )

I think _Caverns of Thracia_ was well received; there is actually a _Return to Caverns of Thracia _ out there.  A version of Sergius appeared in a _Dragon_ module called _Citidel by the sea _ in the early 80s.  Eoghant actually caught that.  Are you still out there Todd?


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## Manzanita (May 18, 2004)

I'm thinking of opening this game to recruitment again.  I'm very happy with our current 5 players, but it appears we've lost Eoghant.  Tullius, however, remains with the party and I'm reluctant to NPC him or to dump him.  I also think another player or two could be a big help here, as there are some very tough encounters in these caverns.  (you have been warned!)  I also feel that there are a lot of players out there who want more games, and its up to we DMs to deliver!

I'll wait a day or two to see if the current players have any comments.


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## Krilith (May 18, 2004)

Oh, if we are recruiting again, is it possible for me to ask my roommate into the game? he played a game on enworld a half a year ago that lasted a sadly 6 or so pages, but i was so drawn into that roleplay that i made this account and started looking for games myself. i play 'regular' dnd with him too and he'll be quite active too if it concerns dnd.
i'll drop him a note.

and the fact that we would be with so much players isn't realy bothering me, we're not ll huddled around the same table or anything. it gives you more to read and roleplay with, in my humble experience that is of course.


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## doghead (May 18, 2004)

Some thoughts from this end.



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> I'm thinking of opening this game to recruitment again.  I'm very happy with our current 5 players, but it appears we've lost Eoghant.  Tullius, however, remains with the party and I'm reluctant to NPC him or to dump him.




I'm with you here. In my experience a DM, one NPC party member is fine, two becomes a bit of a pain. Having someone take them over is the neatest solution, and in the case of Tullius, there hasn't been a great deal of IC action to have to take on board/allow for. I don't even know what class he is. - a fighter I suspect given his choice of weapon. Another option would be to have him run by one (all?) of us (the players).



			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> I also think another player or two could be a big help here, as there are some very tough encounters in these caverns.  (you have been warned!)




I think that is fair to say that generally, the larger the group, the slower things tend to move. Whether the current party is equiped to handle the rest of the caverns is something I can't judge. But as a player, I have no problems with having the characters retreat, recover, and return.

On a related note (ie. survival) I been feeling that we could do a lot better if we were a little more organised. Personally, I'm not much of a tactician (as TH can attest to, and as my last ic post probably reveals. I don't think that hanging the wizard out on the left was a good suggestion. But then again, Marcus is a gypsy. He's winging it here.). It seems to me that we have been caught in the hop a few times. What do you guys think? Or what do you think that your characters will think? Marcus will probably bring it up at the next opportunity as it has been playing on his mind somewhat. But I thought that I would ask here as well. 

A final note. I'll be away from the Thursday til Thursday next week. Sorry, another trip. I think that my online access will be very limited so I don't think that I'll be able to update during that time.

doghead


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## Krilith (May 18, 2004)

doghead said:
			
		

> I think that is fair to say that generally, the larger the group, the slower things tend to move. Whether the current party is equiped to handle the rest of the caverns is something I can't judge. But as a player, I have no problems with having the characters retreat, recover, and return.
> 
> On a related note (ie. survival) I been feeling that we could do a lot better if we were a little more organised. Personally, I'm not much of a tactician (as TH can attest to, and as my last ic post probably reveals. I don't think that hanging the wizard out on the left was a good suggestion. But then again, Marcus is a gypsy. He's winging it here.). It seems to me that we have been caught in the hop a few times. What do you guys think? Or what do you think that your characters will think? Marcus will probably bring it up at the next opportunity as it has been playing on his mind somewhat. But I thought that I would ask here as well.
> [doghead



I agree with Marcus here on both points, a bigger group has the risk of being slowed down, i do know on the other hand that Manzanita did a great job on speeding up the combat (didn't u do that when we first encountered that orc, with the spear point? i keep forgetting his name).
And about the tactics, we are a bit unorganized but from my perspective, and Dhormiums as well, it is good roleplay up to this part. the interaction between players is somewhat limited, it is there. but so is the somewhat coordination of the combat. as for Dhormium and interaction with players, Dhormium is quite curious for the reason that you are all travelling around together.


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## Manzanita (May 18, 2004)

OK.  thanks for the feedback.  There's an interesting part coming up where I think it would be cool to introduce a new PC, but honestly, it could be next week or it could be months away depending upon the PC's actions. 

For now, let's just try to find a replacement for Tullius.  Krilith, do you think your friend would be interested in taking Tullius over?  As you know from taking Dhormium over, I would only require that the things the party currently know about Tullius remain consistant.  He would be someone who could wear chainshirt armor, and fight two handed w/battle axe and short sword.  He would have to have been in the Roman military and be hired to be in charge of security for an archeological expedition.  The exact class, feats, skills, alignment, and ability score assignments could be set any way the new player liked, as long as it didn't contradict the above.

If your friend is interested, have him/her post here, then we'll start up an email conversation & get it all fleshed out.  The sooner, the better, I'd think...(check IC thread  )


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## Krilith (May 19, 2004)

I’ll copy paste him the message you just posted and will supply him with your mail address and the link to this ooc char thread. 

I’ve mentioned him that there might be an opening in the playergroup and he was quite anxious to join in. he was reading along with the adventure for a great part already.

I’ll talk with him about taking over tullius and how I felt about taking over dhormium and shaping him into my own idea’s.

=====
the added bit:
Manzanita, Dhormium will ready an action to attack gnolls that try to attack Marcus. I said I would be standing in b3, but I thought that the grids where 5' by 5', not 10'by10'. I’ll be standing in the square as I am standing now where it 5x5 squares.


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## Despaxas (May 19, 2004)

OK, I just got Krilith's mail. Jippieeaayeee! 

I don't see any problems in playing Tullius, I've been following a long with the adventure a bit and as I recall he hasn't said that much so it shouldn't be too much of a problem adapting him to my style.

I'll make the character right now and I'll mail it to you Manzanita. If all goes according to my scheme ... ehm plan  things should progress rapidly.

Greetz,

Despaxas


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## Krilith (May 19, 2004)

Hey, glad to have you aboard!

feel free to feel yourself at home here!


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## Despaxas (May 19, 2004)

Well, might as well jump right into the discussion. 
Organizing combat is pretty hard because we can't have extensive discussions on a messageboard. But there are some things we could do. Some people need protection from melee, such as wizards, sorcerers and to a lesser extent rogues. What every party should have is a line-up. Who's up front where the fighting is usually the fiercest, who's in the back to cover that approach and who are the ones that should be protected in the middle?
These are things that are usually very obvious but still need to be implemented. 
Another thing that really helps is to have fighting buddies. Teams of 2 characters that always stay together in combat, this should be a fighter and a cleric ideally, and a ranged fighter-type paired with the wizard so the fighter can protect the wizard when they fall under attack. These sort of things.

Just my 2 copper pieces.


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## Manzanita (May 21, 2004)

Glad to have you on board, Despaxas.  I'll check my email here shortly.

On a negative note, a project long delayed is inevitably here, and promises to suck up my free time like a new vacuum cleaner.  I'll try to get three posts in a week, but I'll definitely be slower for some time, probably the rest of the calendar year.  This project will end though, whereas my interested in this game will not, so it will keep going.  Hopefully I'll get an IC post in here soon.


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## Krilith (May 21, 2004)

then we will have to make it up by some more inter character communication (ow gawd NO! )!
and write out our actions even more!

no worries!


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## Manzanita (May 21, 2004)

OK.  I emailed you back Despaxus.  You'll need to pick you languages, and your geographical home.  Somewhere w/in the roman empire, presumably.  I don't think the original Tullius ever said anything about that. 

I appreciate your enthusiasm, and hopefully you'll be picking up Tullius in the current combat.


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## Manzanita (May 21, 2004)

In fact, Despaxas, go ahead & start playing Tullius in the IC thread right now.  His background details & such we can work out as we go.  They aren't that important for combat.  You are currently armed with a masterwork battle axe, a short sword, and a chain shirt.  I believe you also have a longbow and 20 arrows.


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## Despaxas (May 22, 2004)

Okidoki


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## Jarval (May 31, 2004)

Due to some time consuming RL issues with my university study and having a job landed on me, I'm going to be away from EN World until the 12th of June.  I'm sorry for any problems this might cause :\


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## Despaxas (Jun 1, 2004)

Well, I'm enjoying myself immensly 

I hope nobody is taking offence that I'm shouting out orders like I've been doing. Tullius has been in the legionnaires so he's just bringing some experience into our combats. And it seems to be working rather well. I know Brioc is kind of our leader but he did say he didn't have much experience in combat, so I'm kind of assuming warchief position  If anyone has a problem with it, please bring it up in character, it might lead to some interesting roleplaying. 

Other then that, let's rock!


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## doghead (Jun 1, 2004)

With Jarval gone for a bit, it doesn't hurt to have Tullius leading things. Jarval has never been very territorial about his 'turf'. And don't worry, if Marcus takes offence at anything, he will let Tullius know. 

I'll try and keep an eye out for Brioc and his wolf. Which reminds me - the wolf is cool. _Hey Manzanita, can I have one too? Or a bear?_ Yeah, a bear would be pretty cool. A bear and some throwing axes. Perfect.


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## Manzanita (Jun 1, 2004)

I can see it now.  Marcus the rogue/fighter/druid...  

Despaxus, I'm enjoying the latin.  I know no latin, but it lends a lot of flavor.  How much do you know?  

Tullius is being a great war leader.  I suspect you may just head back to the surface after this fight.  I think you'll all reach 5th level after this...


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## Despaxas (Jun 2, 2004)

Well glad to hear that I'm not being an ass 

As for my latin ... I could remain mysterious but I'm drinking wine at the moment so I'm feeling magnanimous. I know absolutely no latin whatsoever, I'm pulling it all off of a neat Roman Phrases database. Lol.

BTW, I still need an animal companion, so if you could plan for that Manzanita I'd be most gratefull


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## doghead (Jun 2, 2004)

Despaxas said:
			
		

> As for my latin ... I could remain mysterious but I'm drinking wine at the moment so I'm feeling magnanimous. I know absolutely no latin whatsoever, I'm pulling it all off of a neat Roman Phrases database. Lol.




Gotta love the internet. Its got something for every occasion.


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## Manzanita (Jun 2, 2004)

Read your PH or SRD on animal companions, & play it IC accordingly.  Let me know if you have any questions, but it seems fairly straight forward and easy to me.  I was a little dissapointed Tullius' prior player never tried to get another one.

As for the Latin, more power to you, and thanks for bringing that into the game.


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## Krilith (Jun 2, 2004)

Just be glad you're not an ass, or you might just be what a certain gypsy might desire next!


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## Manzanita (Jun 6, 2004)

*XP revised*

I've decided to stop (at least for now) assigning experience points individually, and privately.  It creates significantly more work for me.  I also don't think its necessary at this point, as I think everyone is doing a great job at participating and role-playing.  The group is really coming together as a team.  As such, here is the XPs assigned.

600 - 2 gnolls killed when Tullius freed
2100 - 7 gnolls killed in tunnels
5200 - Lizardman smackdown
9600 - Gnoll smackdown
2000 - RP and non-combat decisions

This comes to 3250 XP each, bringing everyone to 5th level!  You all still have slightly different totals, due to the different amounts I assigned earlier, and, in some cases, different starting amounts.  But everyone now is 5th level.

I would just say that to get your new stats, you must meditate, pray, practice, or whatever for a few hours, and get a night's sleep.  You must also, of course, email me your revised character sheets.  (kiwiwpie_at_Juno.com)  Well done, Gentlemen.

Also, Inez, assume your old master copied two third level spells (you pick) into your spellbook before you left Switzerland.  Only now have you progressed enough to cast them.


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## doghead (Jun 6, 2004)

Getting right on it.


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## Krilith (Jun 6, 2004)

So, we are topside again, in camp? but...what about the big chest! we can't just leave it there!


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## doghead (Jun 6, 2004)

No, still in the dungeon.

I was just messing with you with the great sword reference. But I also thought about changing over to a longsword to get some more clout. Particularly two handed. Then I realised that 1.5 time +0 was er, ... zero. OK. So Marcus is a wimp.

I did plan to change over to a bow when we got topside and got really excited at finding the gnoll's. Then Manzanita crushed that like a daffodil under a boot. Yeah, thats right, Marcus is a wimp.

I may not be able to use it, but I am still going to KEEP IT cos I FOUND IT!


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## Manzanita (Jun 6, 2004)

Octar is down 27 hps, Brioc down 22, Tullius down 16, Ehldannis 5, and wolf and Mendicus don't look so hot either.  Marcus and Dhormium are untouched.  Pretty good, really, against 23 gnolls, 3 of whom had class levels.


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## Despaxas (Jun 7, 2004)

Pfft. They were wimps, none can stand against us! Especially if we follow my tactically brilliant plans. 

Heh ... ehm guys, why are you all looking at me like that? AAAAAARGH!!!! *gurgle* stop choking me.


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## doghead (Jun 7, 2004)

Manzanita,

I tied to send you the character sheet at kiwiwpie_at_juno.com (with the approapriate formatting) but got an error User Unknown message.


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## Manzanita (Jun 7, 2004)

doghead said:
			
		

> Manzanita,
> 
> I tied to send you the character sheet at kiwiwpie_at_juno.com (with the approapriate formatting) but got an error User Unknown message.




whoops, that would be kiwipie_at_juno.com


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## doghead (Jun 8, 2004)

On its way. I would have done better if I had just done it from memory rather than cut'npaste. Oh well.


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## Manzanita (Jun 10, 2004)

I was thinking that we should opena rogue's gallary.  This group is really growing as a team, coming to trust each other and know each other quite well.

Here's the parameters I was thinking.
1.  Enter your PC's physical description and visible equipment. (required)
2.  Put in all the standard stuff (class, feats, skills, spells...) (optional, but encouraged.  Feel free to leave out anything you want to keep private)
3.  Do NOT include your alignment
4.  Everything you do put in must be accurate...
       4a...Except background.   Put in whatever background your PC would tell the others.  This could range from detailed truth to baldface lies.

what do you think?


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## doghead (Jun 10, 2004)

A rogues gallery would be good, but why not leave it at just a physical description and whatever they would choose to reveal to others (whether or not its true) about their past.

I like the fact that I don't think of the others as Brioc Druid 5 and Ehldannis Wizard 5 (assuming that they are). Rather, I think of them as Brioc the Druid and Ehldannis the sorcerous elven historian.


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## Krilith (Jun 10, 2004)

doghead said:
			
		

> I like the fact that I don't think of the others as Brioc Druid 5 and Ehldannis Wizard 5 (assuming that they are). Rather, I think of them as Brioc the Druid and Ehldannis the sorcerous elven historian.



I agree with doghead on this part. I remember when I joinend the adventure I had learn what kind of people I had as travellingcompanions. And thinking about them as Brioc the druid Octar the legionnaire, adds character to the characters.

For the rest, a description of appearance, character (have a bad temper, reacts friendly towards strangers, stuff like that) and a background (as you yourself see fit) would be nice.
Question is, if we do it like that, can we still post it on the general rogue’s gallery.


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## Manzanita (Jun 14, 2004)

Sure we can.  & I appreciate the feedback.  We had a RG of just this sort of physical description in the beginning.  If we do it again, we'll start a new thread, since the first one contains several PCs no longer with us.  Do you think a thread of this sort would be useful?  I'd put a link to it in the first IC & OOC posts to keep it handier.


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## Thomas Hobbes (Jun 14, 2004)

Sounds like a plan.


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## wysiwyg (Jun 14, 2004)

This is it. I've been waiting to play in such a campaign since I started playing D&D in the 80's.

Do you still have room for one more?
I'd like to play a ranger - with one little twist:
The class will have all the abilities of the 3.5 ranger with a different title, namely: "Philosopher". 
At least a certain path of philosophy studies the natural world, and the arcane too - at a higher level (when he starts to get his ranger spells).


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## doghead (Jun 14, 2004)

I'm not that keen on writing up a personality blurb for Marcus. I think that the value of and RG is in allowing new players (and lurkers) to get a mental image of the people they are reading about. The personality is something you would only come to know over time.

Humm. On the other hand, how about this: 

*In the eyes of others. Marcus on Mendicus.* "Mendicus?" Marcus flashes a grin. "A quiet one. I'm really not sure what he's thinking, but still waters I suspect. Seems devoted to Brioc, although I'm not sure how they came to be travelling together. He's a good man to have around, a few of us have reason to be grateful that he was watching our backs." 

In other words, each of us writes up how we would describe the others in the group if asked. I'd be really interested to see how Marcus is perceived. (Not so keen on having to write up something for everyone else but   )

the head of the dog

woof


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## wysiwyg (Jun 14, 2004)

Is there room for 1 more PC?
I've wanted to play a roman campaign since the 80's.

I'd like to play a ranger from the Alps if that's possible.


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## doghead (Jun 14, 2004)

Hey wysiwyg

I didn't mean to ignore you there. I was just leaving it up to Manzanita to handle things. Hang in there. He'll be around sometime.

the head of the dog.


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## Manzanita (Jun 15, 2004)

*new player*

I'm flattered to be approached by an eager player, Wysisyg.  I'm reluctant to accept a new player out of the blue, though.  We had discussed recruiting a month or so ago, when we let a new player in for Tullius.  The consensus seemed to be that six was a good number of players.  I'll give this some more thought.  If anyone wants to comment on this, feel free.

As for the rogue's gallary, I agree that a personality description is superfluous.  This group has gamed together for some time.  And new characters will define their personality with their actions.  A simple physical description and list of obvious equipment would suffice, I would think.

I like Doghead's idea of describing others.  We'll just make that voluntary, to describe anyone you like.  Perhaps I'll do that for Mendicus...

I'll get a RG link up as soon as I start the thread.


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## Manzanita (Jun 15, 2004)

Here's the RG link:

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=91308


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## doghead (Jun 16, 2004)

I'll get something up in the rg thread this weekend hopefully.

OK. My thoughts. I think 6 is a good number of players. More players that tends to make for longer turn around times and a slower game. I have also found there is a greater risk drop out amoung new members. There is an initial flush of excitement (I still remember it) but then other things came along, other commitments come a calling. Established members have shown that, barring RL events, they have made a place in their schedules for checking in. Of course, I realise that all established members were once new.

On the other hand, RL events do claim the best of posters. So there are reasons to keep a small surplus of characters. Particularly if the player is keen enough to post up in the ooc thread on their own initiative.

Sorry WYSIWYG. I realise that that is not great for you. But its not personal. There won't be any bad feeling from this corner of cyberspace if Manzanita takes you on. Indeed, it is a great game and I understand your interest in playing it.

the head of the dog


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## Krilith (Jun 16, 2004)

Manzanita, i'd go with the route via the corridor. the bat guano is just NOT necessary, since we would need to cross g’ruks room again, and he might he home this time.

So, through the hallways is just fine with me, what say the rest?


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## Krilith (Jun 16, 2004)

roses are red
violets are blue

and when the weather is fine
my inner spirit will shine!


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## Inez Hull (Jun 17, 2004)

Man, gotta check this thread more often - a level waiting to be had and 3RD LEVEL SPELLS!!!! Ahem. Nothing to see here. 

Will try to get an updated sheet and a description in the RG thread soon.

Wysiwyg, sorry mate but I've gotta second doghead's take. Hang about though, although there are a few originals in this game, there has been dropouts and PbP being what it is there probably will be in the future.


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## wysiwyg (Jun 18, 2004)

No hard feelings mates. Please just keep this addict in mind if you ever decide to recruite again.


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## Krilith (Jun 24, 2004)

the reason i havn't posted in the last few days is the following: i'm currenty ending my year at school and cannot focus my attention to this story. my report is due monday and after that i'll hopefully join in as actively as i was.


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## Krilith (Jun 29, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> You wade through the bat muck briefly before getting into the stone hallways. Descending the stairs to the second floor, the wide dirt-floored room is quiet.



I was just wondering, do you enjoy letting us walk through that muck? there is a perfectly clean hallway without opening and closing a hidden door. or it could just be that i am misreading this post 

today is my last hard-work-no sleep-no fun-schoolday, after that, artifacts and lizardskings HERE I COME!


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## doghead (Jun 29, 2004)

I'm just pretending Marcus went the other way


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## Manzanita (Jun 29, 2004)

You have no choice but to hoof it through one room of bat guano.  The first room you enter as you descend the stairs is covered in it.  If you then turn East, you quickly exit the gunk. (which is what I'm assuming you do).  If you head North, towards the centipede and lizardman rooms, then you have to wade through the guano for much longer.


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## doghead (Jun 30, 2004)

Oh well. Through the bat guano it is.


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## Jarval (Jun 30, 2004)

Well, we could always carry Dhormium over the guano.  I imagine it's more of a problem if you've got less distance between you and it...


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## Krilith (Jun 30, 2004)

'THERE WILL BE NO CARRYING OFF DWARVES!!’


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## Krilith (Jul 6, 2004)

Hello,



I’m going to an akikido summerschool for the next five days so i won’t be online until next Sunday or maybe even Monday.



Manzanita, could you handle Dhormium for the next few days? I was thinking about him taking care of Grassus a bit, since he’s so comfortable under ground, he took quite a licking in the little man. The spells I have prepared are the one you have at the moment when I sent you my 5th level stats.



So have fun now and please add me into your prayers since I’m SO going to get my ass whooped at this summerschool  



Bye.


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## Manzanita (Jul 20, 2004)

I was wondering if everyone is doing OK with keeping up with the plot.

In another adventure I'm in as a player, we have a thread dedicated to tracking the (somewhat complicated) plot.  We cut snippits of dialogue and clues and such, and paste them in there.

That might be harder to do on these boards, but we could create a new OOC thread dedicated to that and bookmark it so we could find it when needed.  

It may well not be needed, but I don't want the players to lose track of who said what, or what happened or why you're here.


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## Krilith (Jul 20, 2004)

well i think the general idea of the plot is well know. we are still investigating the underground tunnels and floors to find a 'clue' what the mongrell was doing here.

I do think it could be handy to make such a thread. So I would not mind trying it out.


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## Manzanita (Jul 20, 2004)

I was thinking we might be able to roll this into the rogue's gallary thread.  I could put an entry in for some NPCs, such as G'ruk and Sergious, describing the party's knowledge of them.

Also, I should mention that I am going on a rustic vacation later this week that will last about 10 days.  I am not planning on logging on during that time, though if I encounter an internet cafe, it would be tempting.  In any case, you should feel free to 'talk amongst yourselves' while I'm gone.   (Perhaps I should leave an OOC question to occupy you, such as 'what's your favorite sport?'  I suspect cricket for Inez and Aikido for Krillith.  (it would be racquetball for me!))


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## Krilith (Jul 21, 2004)

or: what is your favourite TV show. and why?
it would be Andromeda for me (by gene roddenberry, from startrek etc.)


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## Manzanita (Jul 22, 2004)

I don't have a TV.

I didn't really want to pause the game in the midst of combat, but I may be around a couple more days so I'll keep things moving.  Brioc still has his produce flame spell burning.  Let's say only 1 minute has passed in conversation, so as I understand it, he can still throw 4 fireballs if he so chooses.

Water elementals have no ranks in hide or move silently, yet I envision them as being essentially made of living water, and thus virtually invisible and silent in the water.  Since I prefer flavor over a strict adherance to the rules, I've been playing it as if it had quite a high hide score.  Any one else have thoughts on this? 

I'm also going to say Marcus inflicted 1 hp of damage on himself in his blood on the water move.


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## Jarval (Jul 22, 2004)

Krilith said:
			
		

> or: what is your favourite TV show. and why?
> it would be Andromeda for me (by gene roddenberry, from startrek etc.)



Buffy for me.  Well written, witty scripts, interesting characters with some depth, a good sense of continuity and "new big bad for every season" added up to make a fantastic show 

I'm a fan of Andromeda as well (although we've only seen up to the end of Season 2 here in the UK).  I'm not entirely certain about the new Trance, but it's an interesting storyline they've got running with her (and an interesting mirror to Dylan's own situation).




			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> I don't have a TV.



  No tee vee?  _Jarval's mind boggles at the very idea..._ 




			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> I didn't really want to pause the game in the midst of combat, but I may be around a couple more days so I'll keep things moving.  Brioc still has his produce flame spell burning.  Let's say only 1 minute has passed in conversation, so as I understand it, he can still throw 4 fireballs if he so chooses.



Don't worry about pausing in combat, it'll just make sure we're all ready and waiting when you get back   And the produce flame duration sounds good to me.




			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> Water elementals have no ranks in hide or move silently, yet I envision them as being essentially made of living water, and thus virtually invisible and silent in the water.  Since I prefer flavor over a strict adherance to the rules, I've been playing it as if it had quite a high hide score.  Any one else have thoughts on this?



Works for me.  To be honest, I don't really see how you could spot a water elemental in a body of water, unless it's been summoned and you're using _detect magic_ (or something like the Shugenja's sense elements ability, or a _true seeing_ spell).  As you say, flavour should take prescience over the rules, so just give the water elemental some huge bonus to hide checks in water


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## Despaxas (Jul 22, 2004)

Damned elementals, I hate em, they should stay on their own plane, ours is overcrowded as it is. I'm gonna sick the INS on em


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## doghead (Jul 23, 2004)

Missed the ooc thread in the great subscription meltdown.

Back now.

No TV here either. Well, I have a tv, but its not connected to an antenna. Just a dvd player.

the head of the dog.


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## Krilith (Jul 23, 2004)

Jarval said:
			
		

> Buffy for me. Well written, witty scripts, interesting characters with some depth, a good sense of continuity and "new big bad for every season" added up to make a fantastic show
> 
> I'm a fan of Andromeda as well (although we've only seen up to the end of Season 2 here in the UK). I'm not entirely certain about the new Trance, but it's an interesting storyline they've got running with her (and an interesting mirror to Dylan's own situation).



I've downloaded all the seasons when despaxas showed me the first show.
The new trance is pretty cool. although i like the colour purple on her too. i'm currently at the beginning of season 4, which is the last they have made so far.
I did have some trouble seeing dyland hunt as Dylan hunt. I always thought I saw him walking around as the son of Zeus, Hercules 
I’ve seen buffy once or twice myself, it’s a pretty good show but I didn’t get hooked on it.
I like charmed though, with the three witches/sister fighting darksiders and demons and what ever they think about.
Also I’ve seen a few episodes of Witchblade I believe. It’s about some female cop that ends up with a strange bracelet which turns into this magical gauntlet that gives her lightning reflexes yadaa yadaa yadaa, the storey line was pretty good but I din’t think they will make it to season two or three.


Manzanita as for for seeing the elemental in the water. The elemental would consist of 100% pure and clean water, if it would swim in a river or dirty water i think it would stand out. but you would need sufficient light and time to still spot. so hide/move silent all sound very reasonable to me.


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## doghead (Jul 25, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> I was wondering if everyone is doing OK with keeping up with the plot.






			
				Manzanita said:
			
		

> I was thinking we might be able to roll this into the rogue's gallary thread.  I could put an entry in for some NPCs, such as G'ruk and Sergious, describing the party's knowledge of them.




I have a general idea of the plot, but not in fine detail. For me this works fine. Marcus has never really sought an indepth explaination of what it is they seek, and why we seek it here. As he sees it, it is his role to help Brioc (and the others) find it. He know enough to do that. He thinks.

However, I image that the topic, and individuals encountered so far, would have been discussed many times during the long hours in the saddle and around the campfires. So perhaps a ooc thread to track things would be a good idea. Or perhaps we could just use the regular ooc thread and keep a summary of things on the first page, were it would be easy enough to find, or direct people to.


Favourite sport: Sailing.


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## Jarval (Jul 27, 2004)

Due to study and work commitments, I'm going to be away from EN World from the 27th of July until the 5th of August.  Check out this thread for more details.

Sorry for any problems this might cause


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## Inez Hull (Jul 29, 2004)

I always forget to check this thread and when I do always seem to leave a little bit more enlightened about what's going on in the game. [note to self: check bloody OOC thread more often].

Ya, Cricket for me Manzanita, I could sit back with some good company and a few beers and watch it all day. As for TV, I don't know if I'm getting old, but I find most stuff on is total crap these days. I can go days and even weeks on occasions without watching. I think it's one of those things - the more you watch the more you feel compelled to watch. Lifes too short and way too busy to tune out watching BS - excepting cricket of course  although most of the good series' are on pay tv now


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## Manzanita (Aug 1, 2004)

I'll try to get some NPC stuff posted on the RG thread for starters.  I'll let you know when I do.  It will be a little while, as I've got a lot of stuff to catch up on.  I do tend to think the PCs would have an easier time keeping things straight than the players.  For instance, we've been at this game now for about 16 months real time, but less than 5 weeks game time.


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## doghead (Aug 1, 2004)

Hey welcome back from the wilds.

I agree that the pcs would find it easier to keep things straight. Although they cannot go back and reread the ic thread, they would have plenty of opportunity to discuss the issue amoung themselves, toss around ideas, etc in 'downtime' in a way we can't as players. They also don't have to worry about managing a second life as a builder, banker, bookkeeper etc.

godhade


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## doghead (Aug 9, 2004)

Hey manzanita,

Whoops. I checked over my character sheet and realised that I haven't made a record of  how much loot was gathered after the battles. Marcus' intention was to gather it up and share it out once we had time.

I can go back over the ic thread, but you wouldn't happen to have the amount handy would you?

ps: Marcus has ben a bit quiet of late. Apologies for that. Real world stuff at this end. But things are looking up a bit so he should be a little more animated.


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## Manzanita (Aug 9, 2004)

I have been tracking the loot.  I might have missed some things, but here's my list.  Looks like you do actually have 155 gps.:

Mithral chainshirt			Neandrathall Ranger to Marcus
masterwork dwarven dagger		inscribed with H Balderk; Mendicus
gold ring		                  100 gp	Manticore	
Scimitar			Crone	+1 Bane vs. Reptilian Humanoids.  Inscribed in Melnibonean saying:  "There can be only one Master Race.  Sauron Bane'
Pearl of power (1st lvl)			Crone Ehldannis	
silver braziers		200 gp	Crone	
Ancient Tapestries		no immediate value in sevastopol		
gold pieces		50	orcs	
gold necklace		500 gps	Shagrat (orc)
24 sp	36 gp	38.4	from gnolls on level 1	
jeweled bracelet		300 gp	gnoll sorcerer	
longcompsitebow mighty (magical)	Octar			
masterwork heavy flail				
scroll of reduce, mount, and knock	Ehldannis
69 gps 133 sps - gnolls on second level.


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## Jarval (Aug 11, 2004)

Sorry if my last IC post came across as a bit overbearing, but Brioc's feeling a bit twitchy about the sphinx.  Creatures threatening to eat him tends to do that


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## doghead (Aug 11, 2004)

Hey Jarval, not at all. 

Marcus was off on another one of his "brilliant ideas", so Brioc is probably wise to jump in. I'm surprised that you let him go on for so long.

I also got a good laugh out of Dhormium's idea of a subtle hint.

No hard feelings in this corner of cyberspace. Far from it actually.

Lets see what the gyrominx has to say for herself.


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## Jarval (Aug 12, 2004)

Glad it's cool   I'm a bit oversensitive to not stepping on other people's toes in game, after a bit of a spat between two of the players in a game I DM.

Anyway, how to we tell the sphinx what knowledge we could trade with her without actually telling her before we've made a deal?


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## Krilith (Aug 12, 2004)

yes indeed manzanita...the characters are facing a tricky sintuation 

and marcus?
I'm glad you continued on with your ramblings, i wanted to post the 'poke in the rib' message the day before yesterday, but i had to fled my home cause is was late for work. i had my second thoughts about your wounded look, but i decided dhormium just didn't care. So, nord hard feelings, just a sore spot


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## doghead (Aug 12, 2004)

The wounded look was only because he had already got the point from Brioc. I would have had him say "Enough already! I get the message." (which, funnily enough, someone said today at work) But it didn't sound very classical civilisation era 'ish.

Yep, no hard feelings.


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## Krilith (Aug 16, 2004)

okay well, YAAAY we are up and running again!


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## Krilith (Aug 21, 2004)

Doghead, i was just wondering, can marcus speak dwarven, i don't know if grassus does either, but it seems he understands what i am trying to say, thats why i'm keeping it up, and Dhrormium like to speak his tongue from time to time.
I've been talking dwarven to grassus from the beginning now, i left it out the last few posts i think.
and maybe to clarify my roleplaying a bit, i'm trying to 'be there' for grassus, and let him not he is not being forgotten or bossed around. And he seemed happy to help with the food and other smallish campingsite tasks when we where on the surface, so i thought he wouldn't mind


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## doghead (Aug 21, 2004)

Hey Krilith, good call. I didn't realise that Dhormium was speaking dwarven. I presume that you mean the stuff in red. I'll watch out for that next time. 

I think that you have done a nice job of rounding out Dhormium, putting flesh on the mechanical skeleton. I know what Dhormium is trying to do. Marcus does as well, basically. But he does have a bity of a temper at times, and tunnels can make him grumpy and irritable. You'll notice that he did in the end, bite his tongue and keep his thoughts to himself.

On the other hand, I thought that telling Grassius to get food ready did come across a bit as bossing him around. Thats what Marcus reacted to. Whether it was ment that way (which I don't think it was) is another matter. But Marcus, as mentioned, isn't at his most gracious at the moment. 

doghead.


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## Jarval (Aug 21, 2004)

Oops!  Like doghead, I didn't notice that Dhrormium was speaking in Dwarven.

Like Marcus, Brioc's feeling a little on edge at the moment, although not because of the tunnels.  The sphinx worries him, not least because of the casual threat to eat the group if they didn't pay.  Hence his insistence on taking Grassius with the group, as he doesn't trust the sphinx any further than he could throw her...


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## Krilith (Aug 21, 2004)

yep, red is dwarven, sometimes i might have forgot when i pray to clangeddin but i think it adds nicely to the roleplay to just use the colour.

Dhormium is underground and is in his own habitat.
remember when we first got here? and we decended down those steps? dhormium naturally took over some of the leadership, it just felt natural for him. 
And with grassus, i'm just trying to integrate him in the group giving him a part and a job to focuss on, and i like the little man.


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## Manzanita (Aug 30, 2004)

For what it's worth, I did add to the Rogue's Gallery  entries for Mendicus, Grassus, Sergius, G'ruk and Ecthow.

Let me know if you want more details about any of them posted, or about any other facet of the game.  It need not be about a person in particular.

You should all feel free to expand your RG entry with whatever theories or notes you want to have handy.

As for the IC thread, I'm waiting for someone to say something along the lines of "I use my sword to try to cut through the spider webs barring the stairway."  or a torch, or turn them into violin strings, or whatever...


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## Inez Hull (Aug 30, 2004)

Thanks for the updates to the Rogues Gallery thread Manzanita. Whats the go with Ecthgow, is Erich Dragon (that was Ecthgow's player right?) back on the boards?

'twould be interesting to see a writeup from the other players [nudge, nudge] - also to see what those characters not with the party from the start make of the quest.


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## doghead (Aug 30, 2004)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> As for the IC thread, I'm waiting for someone to say something along the lines of "I use my sword to try to cut through the spider webs barring the stairway."  or a torch, or turn them into violin strings, or whatever...




I think that Ehldannis has seen to that.

BTW, what was the original tie in between Marcus and Octar? Where was it that they parted ways and where was it that Marcus caught up with the party again?


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## Manzanita (Aug 30, 2004)

I'm not aware ErchDragon has returned.  I may have use for Ecgthow in the future, though, so I wanted to make sure everyone remembered him.

As for Marcus and Octar.  Marcus was the chosen one, whose master asked him to meet Brioc and aid him in whatever quest he was undertaking.  While he was traveling from Romania to Bulgaria he met Octar and was impressed with the man's character and skills.  A couple days out of  (insert town name)town Marcus fell ill, and the local clerics predicted he would die.  Not wanting to completely fail his master, Marcus gasped out his story to Octar before falling into a coma.  Octar then went on to meet Brioc and the others at the Inn of the Green Griffin.  A week or so later, Marcus emerged from his coma, feeling much better, and managed to track down the others in Sevastopol.

Since this is the OOC thread, I might add that I inserted that story into their origins 1) to facilitate the addition of another player down the line, and 2) to inject a bit of mystery into Octar's origins.  Whatever his motivations for continuing the adventure, they are his alone, and not based on a request from a 'father-figure.'  Nor does he have any ties to the adventuring party of Brioc's father.  To understand more of his motivations, one would have to ask Octar himself.

Speaking of that, Thomas Hobbes has been gone some time.  Does anyone have an opinion of what we should do w/Octar?  Replace him?  Recruit another player?  Wait?  When we do reach the climax of this adventure, I don't want to be controling any of the PCs.  So before then, I'll have to recruit a replacement or get rid of him in some other way, which would probably be less pleasent for Octar.


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## doghead (Aug 31, 2004)

Thanks, that kinda what I remember for Marcus. I didn't remember that Octar was 'an outsider' so to speak. Interesting. 

For me, the encounter with the wendol witches and the confrontation with Octar was Marcus' initiation into the game. I would hate to lose Octar. But without TH, its not really Octar. And I know what you mean about ghosting characters as a DM.

Replace Octar or recruit an new ghost? Its your call.


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## Inez Hull (Aug 31, 2004)

TH has been off the boards for about two months, does anyone recall him mentioning that he would be away or did he do the good ol' disappearing act. Manzanita are you able to email him? As one of the originals it would be great to keep him on - only Jarval and myself left now I believe.


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## Manzanita (Aug 31, 2004)

TH has been having computer problems.  I did just send him an email.  I won't replace him yet.


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## Jarval (Sep 1, 2004)

Brother Shatterstone's PbP Player Absentee List said:
			
		

> Thomas Hobbes (Unplanned Internet Issues no ETR)
> 
> ETR = Estimated Time of Repair



So hopefully TH will be back, but there's no indication as to when it might be   As Inez says, he's one of the original players, and it'd be a great shame to loose him.

On that note, how long has this game been going now?  It's got to be one of the longest running games on EN World.


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## Manzanita (Sep 1, 2004)

I started recruiting April 23, 2003.  The game started a week or two later.  There are a number of older games (including at least one of your, Jarval), but we're up there, I suppose.


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## Jarval (Sep 2, 2004)

There's Of Sound Mind and the Psionicle, but other than those I can't really think of any games older than this that are still going.  Oh, and there's the Star Wars Iconics, of course.


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## doghead (Sep 2, 2004)

Manzanita,

Whats your prefered terminology for Marcus' people? From what I understand, the gypsies originally settled in Europe from northern india. Romarian? (from Romany - their original language I think. Is this the origin of Romania?) Gyptian? (the gypsies were originally thought to be from Egypt apparently)

Just wondering.


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## Manzanita (Sep 2, 2004)

oh, I noticed you used Romarian in one of your posts.  I think of them as gypsies, but there is another name, the official one in our world.  It's currently escaping me.  Whatever you want.

As for other games.  Wow.  Kind of sad, really, if those are the only ones older.  Its tough keeping these games going.


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## doghead (Sep 4, 2004)

Gypsy is fine. But let me know the name you use when it comes back to you.

Keeping games going is hard, in my experience. Thats why games like this are such gems. Thanks from this corner of cyberspace to everyone.

the head of the dog


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## doghead (Sep 6, 2004)

Hey Despaxas

I saw you "reason for editing" comment. Nice. Very droll. 

the head of the dog


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## Manzanita (Sep 12, 2004)

I noticed that this module is being reissued by Necromancer Games.  Here's  link to a discussion thread.

There may be spoilers in there, although I didn't see any as I glanced through.  I thought I'd give you guys the heads up on this, in case you didn't know that you were actually adventuring in a published module.  I've taken a number of liberties with it, of course, & am going off my own 3E conversion of the original, not this new version.

I'm glad other people seem psyched about it.  I always thought this was one of the coolest modules ever.


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## doghead (Sep 18, 2004)

I can't remember if I told you that I'm going to be gone from the 20th til the 4th of October. I've got a feeling that I didn't. Sorry about that.

I don't know if we will get that far, but if we do, before leaving, Marcus wants to ask the Sphinx about the spearhead, and the one who gave it to the mongrel, Sergius. He'd be more inclined to haggle this time as well.

the head of the dog.

ps: watch out for the gargolyes.


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## Inez Hull (Sep 19, 2004)

I usually try to avoid metagaming, but when Manzanita gave Ehldannis the heads up that he knew what sort of creature the sphinx was I had a quick peek in the MM. I noticed that they have the ability to use legend lore so that was why Ehldannis was being such a suck - in the hope that we could get the sphinx to ID the spear for us.


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## doghead (Sep 19, 2004)

I can't remember how things went exactly. If Marcus seemed a little cold on asking the sphinx more about the spear, it was probably because we seemed to be going around in circles (or was it going every which way?). 

But I/Marcus agrees that we should try and mine the sphinx for info. We should also try and coordinate our questioning a little more. Having just one speaker would be an idea. Or particular roles. Marcus would be willing to leave the negotiating in Ehldannis's hands.


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## Krilith (Oct 13, 2004)

Heya manzanita, 

Yesterday I forgot to add my OOC message in which i was supposed to say what spell i was casting on myself..but i forgot, bad bad headaches.

Is it okay to add it now? i wanted to cast the domain spell, Magic vestment?
thanks.


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## Manzanita (Oct 14, 2004)

Sure.  I thought that was a bit funny.  Assume the spell was cast.


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## Jarval (Nov 9, 2004)

Hi folks, I'm back   Sorry about the rather huge delay in my return, but things got _very_ hectic for a bit.  In truth, they're not all that much quieter now, but it's on a bit more of a regular routine, so it's a touch more manageable.

Anyway, Brioc's back in the fray, and I'm caught up with the IC thread


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## doghead (Nov 28, 2004)

A Heads Up.

It looks like I'm going to be away from the keyboard for about a week. At this point looks like it will be from the 9th to the 14th of December. During this time I suspect that my internet access will be minimal.

As usual, feel free to ghost Marcus during this time as needed.

the head of the dog.


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## Manzanita (Dec 5, 2004)

Well, how are things going out there, gang?

I must admit, I've had some trouble keeping my heart in this game these past few months.  My creative energy has mostly shifted to my involvement in persistant worlds.  But this adventure is pretty well planned out and I do think it's a great module.  I also look forward to the climax, although I no longer think I"ll be continuing it after we finish the current story line.  (So someone else might have to take over DMing these PCs if Marcus is ever going to make Shadowdancer :\ )

I'm thinking I'll try to fast forward us a bit.  Even if I do, there's still a good bit left to play out.  It would be nice to have Brioc more active now, and during the climax.  Meanwhile, are there any ideas how we should handle his reduced involvement?  Or other comments, ideas or suggestions about this thread?


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## Krilith (Dec 5, 2004)

To clarify my 'lack' of regular attendance a bit, I’m currently in a very busy period at school. It is not entirely keeping me away, but it sure is dampening my creativity and will to play. 

If there is a chance though that we continue this story I DO hope everybody takes it. I have been playing with all off you from around January this year and had a great time exploring this world.


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## doghead (Dec 5, 2004)

Hey Manzanita,

If we can play out this storyline to the end I'll be more than happy. In the world of pbp, thats an achievement not to be scoffed at. As for after, we can cross that bridge when we come to it.

As for taking the lead, I'm more than happy to let Marcus slide in to take up the slack. It kinda fits his growing sense of confidence. I distinctly remember the first encounter with the Mantacore when Marcus felt the exact opposite - completely out of his league. Leading his people was what his Grandfather raised him to do. So it gives the character a nice sense of completion.

the head of the dog


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## Manzanita (Dec 6, 2004)

Let's finish this one out!  It's going to be fun!  When we do complete the current story arc, we'll take it from there.  Perhaps I'll feel motivated to contiue as DM, or maybe someone else will.

I also had another thought on this.  It's a bit crazy, but I'll put it out there.  This isn't the only campaign on these boards that is set in 'real world' geography.  I know JohmSelmac's Golden circle game is set in geographic Russia.  I can't remember the other one I saw that was.  Perhaps one of them would take a PC or two that might venture in that geographic direction...


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## doghead (Dec 7, 2004)

I'm not worrying too much about after at this point. Next year is starting to look more and more up in the air for me. But if there is an after, I might see if I can wrangle him into another game.

the head of the dog.


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## Jarval (Dec 13, 2004)

I really can't apologise enough for disappearing yet again   A combination of a last minute trip to see my grandmother, being ill enough to require two late night visits to the doctor's, and some minor computer problems have kept me tied up over the last couple of weeks.

Things now seemed to have settled down enough for me to be able to post regularly again, and I'd really like to carry on playing Brioc, but I'll understand if you're reluctant to have me back in the leadership role.  I'm sure my patches of non-posting have been a hell of a pain to deal with.


----------



## Manzanita (Dec 13, 2004)

It hasn't been bad.  This is an experienced and capable group.  I'd be psyched to see you back to regular posting.  & I just don't think anyone could replace the fearless leader!


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## doghead (Dec 14, 2004)

Hey Jarvel,

You're the boss. No trying to get out of it.

thotd.


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## Jarval (Dec 15, 2004)

OK, I'll get back to ordering you all around then


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## doghead (Jan 5, 2005)

Hey Manzanita,

Another game I was in had its thread closed cos it had more than 500 posts. Thought I would let you know.

thotd.


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## Manzanita (Jan 5, 2005)

Thanks for the tip, doghead.  I'll start a new thread for this after the current conversation with the sphinx.


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## doghead (Jan 5, 2005)

Manzanita. Did you name your character in Storms of Change after your username, or take the username to match your character name?


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## Manzanita (Jan 5, 2005)

neither, really.  When I first joined the boards, back in June 2002 (I think) I originally had the username Poto Knezer after my old 1E gnome illusionist/theif.  But in Jan 2003, I joined a PbP game in which I played a half-elf bard named Manzanita, and the DM (who was a bit over the top), insisted that I post under a username that matched my PC name.  I found it too cumbersum to switch my usernames back and forth, so I simply did all my posting as Manzanita, even after that game bit the dust after a few months.

I do recycle my character names frequently, so the Storms of Change PC I named Manzanita Sparrow as well.  She's actually the third Manzanita I've played on these boards.


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## Poto Knezer (Jan 5, 2005)

Hey, check it out.  my old ID is still out there!


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## doghead (Jan 5, 2005)

There was a game I was thinking of joining, but the GM was insisting on the same thing - new usernames in the name of the character. I decided to leave it. Like you said, switching between usernames would have just been a hassle.

And it messes with you post count. Completely unaccepatable for any Power Poster.


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## Jarval (Jan 5, 2005)

I've been in two games where all the players used alt IDs, but given that one was PC's Iconics Adventure, and the other was/is Pbartenders Star Wars Iconics game, it seemed appropriate.  I'm not actually sure if my Kazak ID is still about.  I'll go check...


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## Kazak (Jan 6, 2005)

Hah, it's still working! 

*Edit:* Although not the sig pic apparently.  So, any other ex-iconics in this game?


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## Manzanita (Jan 6, 2005)

which iconic is Kazak?


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## Jarval (Jan 6, 2005)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> which iconic is Kazak?



 Now, it's things like this that proves the need for the PsIconics Awareness Society... 

Kazak's the dwarven Savant from the Psionics Handbook.  He made it across to the Expanded PsiHB, but lost any reference to his name.  Here's a picture of him _Concussion Blasting_ a troglodyte: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/xph_gallery/33198.jpg


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## Krilith (Jan 25, 2005)

I was just wondering if i missed the memmo where it said that we were not going to continue.


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## Manzanita (Jan 25, 2005)

Sorry.  I haven't been posting a lot recently, especially on my DM posts due to a couple RL considerations.  But I believe I'm waiting on how the last character in the group choses to descend.  He would either have to allow the Sphinx to hold the rope, or use some magical means to descend the last 20 feet.


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## Manzanita (Jan 27, 2005)

For what its worth, the Sphinx has given the party a shortcut to the climax, as it were.  So the adventure should be taking a turn soon, from dungeon crawl to group decision issues.  We haven't heard from Thomas Hobbes much of late, and Jarval hasn't posted recently either.  It's a bit hard to keep a good pace w/key players missing.


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## Manzanita (Jan 31, 2005)

*what next*

OK.  This is definitely dragging.  I wonder what the players want to do with this.  Jarval hasn't been seen since Jan 9, TH since 12/24.  I think the rest of you are still around.  We could simply continue as we have been, although I would really like active PC participation in the climax, which could be quite soon.

Conceivably I could recruit, but I'm reluctant to do so.  I could also pull some DM trickery and temporarily separate the inactive characters from the group.

Are the rest of you around and ready to continue?  Inez?  Krillith?  Doghead?  Despaxus?


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## doghead (Feb 1, 2005)

Hey Manzanita,

Everything seems a little slow these days.

I suggest that we have people ghost Brioc and Octar. That should allow us to run without you having to ghost any PC's. I'm happy to pick up either.

thotd


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## Inez Hull (Feb 2, 2005)

I really should chek this thread more hey! Things have been slow over the new year and then with the server down, hopefully the other mainstays will surfae soon. Maybe wait out the week an then decide what we do with missing players.


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## Despaxas (Feb 2, 2005)

I'm still here, Tullius just doesn't have a lot to say 

I'd say ghost them until they show up again. Or find someone else to play them. It's really up to you as DM, Manzanita.


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## doghead (Feb 2, 2005)

I don't see the point in putting yourself through the whole recruiting rigmarole if we are heading into the home straight.

Lets ghost and go.

_Gentlemen! Wot will you give me for these two fine examples of adventuring prowess. A fine fighter and a delicious druid. As a special bonus for you, our best customers, we will throw in a wonderful wolf animal companion and scrumptious scimitar (guaranteed to slice slinkies) and a most bodatious bow!

Step right up and purloin a PC before they are gone! This offer won't last! Step right up!_


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## Manzanita (Feb 2, 2005)

OK.  We'll ghost and go.  First come first serve.  Whomever takes Brioc can play him in combat and such, but is not required to lead.  The rest of you will just have to make the decisions communally or whatnot.


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## Krilith (Feb 6, 2005)

Oops. sorry i missed the OOC part. i didn't check in for a while.


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## doghead (Feb 6, 2005)

Manzanita said:
			
		

> The rest of you will just have to make the decisions communally or whatnot.




Or just hijack Brioc's shell and make 'executive decisions'.


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## Krilith (Feb 7, 2005)

Whooo there were like 5 new posts! lets keep up this pace!
and marcus, could you make Brioc do something funny? jump like a monkey and crow like a rooster


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## doghead (Feb 7, 2005)

NO. 

But you can. Try it. You'll like it.

But seriously, I don't see that we need to have an exclusive ghost for each character. If we all take a bit of the load, it we should be able to keep things humming along.


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## Manzanita (Mar 10, 2005)

I'm feeling burned out on this one, and am having difficulty putting together the next post, which would involve combat with long suspected undead.  Sorry.  If you harass me sufficiently, I'll get it in.


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## Inez Hull (Mar 15, 2005)

Consider this an attempt at harrassment. I've had net troubles for the last few weeks but now that I'm at least semi-accessable I'm keen to get back into this. This has been a long running game and it would be a shame to see it die off so close to the end. 

I can relate to the burnout thing, life sometimes gets too full to spend time GM'ing a PbP thats not getting much attention from players. I had high hopes for that ME game I was running but just couldnt keep the motivation going. That said, I didnt have a charming player like myself pestering to play on.....


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## Inez Hull (Mar 20, 2005)

kick



....next time it'll be you Manzanita.

OK, maybe that crosses the line between harassment and threatening behaviour. 
....next time it'll be you Manzanita.


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## Manzanita (Mar 21, 2005)

Let's get this one going again.  There's actually all sorts of loose threads in this game, and we can probably take all the time we want straightening them out.  There's no need to end the game soon. 

But I want to replace Jarval and Thomas Hobbes.  I think they've had sufficient time to return or post some sort of note.  I dont' want them NPCed much longer.  There's rarely a shortage of players willing to join a game around here.  (keeping them around is another story).

I'd like to recruit two or three more players, restate where things are at, and get this moving again.  I was feeling my gumption return last night after seeing Inez's posts.  I want Inez to keep interested, anyway, since I fully intend to crash at his flat and drink his Fosters on my long anticipated, but still not planned trip to Australia.

Can all current players make a post with their thoughts & show who's still around?


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## doghead (Mar 24, 2005)

Back.

Sharpening up the pencils as we speak ...


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## Manzanita (Mar 25, 2005)

My two old faithfuls are still here.  Do our Belgium buddies want to stick with it as well?


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## Inez Hull (Apr 7, 2005)

Thought I should poke my head in here now that I have the net back on. HOORAY!!! - man no regular net access is hard! Anyway, I'm still interested in playing and can post regularly again. Despaxas is still about if you can email him and let him know. [edit: and TH too]

Bad news though Manzanita, the flat is welcome for crashing but we don't actually drink Foster's in Australia - it tastes too good. Think horribly bitter and you're getting there.


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## doghead (Apr 7, 2005)

Hey Inez.

I thought that it was obvious Australians didn't drink Fosters. If they did, there wouldn't be any to export.

I don't know about Despaxas, but TH hasn't been seen anywhere in a long time. His LEW game was shut down a while ago.


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## Manzanita (Apr 8, 2005)

Each of our Belgian friends had been regular posters before our slowdown.  I can't find an email for Despaxus, but I sent one to Krillith.  Assuming they both want to continue, I'll plan on recruiting three more players.  I prefer to recruit one more than necessary.  I'll try to get one to take Brioc and one to take Octar.  The third I'll give a choice.  I have a couple other PC options they could choose from.

To keep you busy while we regroup, I'll count on you two to help bring the newcomers up to speed with what has happened and what the party is up to.  So keep you eyes out on the threads.  Thanks for your continued interest.

Meanwhile, I've changed my travel plans.  I'll head to New Zealand instead.  I like Fosters!


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## Inez Hull (Apr 16, 2005)

bumpage


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## Manzanita (Apr 16, 2005)

Well, no reply from Pim.  I think we'll have to recruit all new players except for Doghead and Inez.

I'll post a recruiting thread for 4 or 5 new players.  Keep your eyes out.


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## Manzanita (Jul 12, 2005)

OK.  I have to admit I'm burned out on this one.  (can you tell?)  I can't seem to put together this next post (which would be combat).  

I do still have creative juices flowing.  In fact, I'll soon be starting to DM a new adventure in Living EN World.  To assuage my guilt at abandoning this thing, I thought I'd offer any of you who is interested a spot in that adventure.  I've modified the old 1E module L2- Assassin's Knot, & plan to run it.

Any thoughts?


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## DarkMaster (Jul 12, 2005)

I think I have a 1 level barbarian that I could use in LEW


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## Velmont (Jul 12, 2005)

I already have 3 characters, and all on the loose. I doubt I can make it back to the Inn in time.


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## Inez Hull (Jul 13, 2005)

Yeah, things have been going pretty slowly in the game, I was kinda expecting this. This is the only PbP I'm in these days and will probably bow out of ENworld for a while - I only really got into the PbP thing coz' I wasn't playing any PnP games but now that I am gaming fairly regularly I'm not too fussed. Shame to give up on a 5th level character but ya get that. 't has been fun. Thanks MZ


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## Wilphe (Jul 14, 2005)

Well I enjoyed stepping in for the short time I was around.

Thank you one and all.


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## Jarval (Jul 14, 2005)

As one of the original players for this game (and one of the number who went missing), I just thought I'd drop by the thread and say thank to Manzanita.  I really enjoyed playing Brioc, and I'm sorry I had to drop out of the game.  I hope your LEW game goes well.


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## Velmont (Jul 14, 2005)

I would have liked to explore a bit more Tullius... but I respect your choice. I know you are a good master and it is part of being a good master to stop a game when you don't have the taste for it.

Thanks


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## Manzanita (Jul 17, 2005)

Well, it looks like you're the only one interested in the LEW game.  That's fine; it's really more for 2nd to 5th level PCs.  If you want to join it, DM, modify your PCs background to give him a reason for being in Monemvassia, where the adventure will start.  I plan to start it when some other adventure ends, so as to have higher level PCs.  I don't know when that will be.  A description of Monemvassia can be found in the atlas & almanac section.

All the rest - nice gaming w/you & see you around the boards!


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## DrZombie (Jul 19, 2005)

Sorry this didn't work, Manzanita. I have been very busy in real life, with moving house and a baby on the way.
I'll be busy for a few more weeks. If you need a player for any of your games, just give me a peep at maarten no space kuppers ad hotmail dot com.

Cheers


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## doghead (Jul 22, 2005)

Ahh, well that saved me having to post this.

Manzanita, its been a great game. And thanks to everyone who has helped make it so. Any other time I would be all over your LEW offer (I have a character cooling his heels in the tavern at the moment) but I'm not going to be around much for the next two months as I relocate myself back to Oz.

Oh well. Another time then.

Cheers everyone.

the head of the dog.


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## Manzanita (Jul 23, 2005)

My adventure there might not start for another couple months.  Keep you're eyes open!


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