@Choie : I assume as admin you can approve accounts? I made an account for Eluned a couple of days ago just so that it would be clear who was talking, i.e. I'd be posting via Eluned or this account, but it's been 2 days and still can't access the forums. Any ideas?
I have my intro post ready to go but would prefer it to be from that account so it doesn't get confused with Walker. Let me know if there's an issue.
And also just for info, my reference for Eluned's portrait was Laura Bailey, a voice actor who plays on Critical Role (a streamed D&D game if you don't know it). It probably doesn't look anything like her because my drawing ability is shockingly bad (not as bad as my singing) but that was the inspiration haha.
Oh I'm sorry, ping! I don't get notifications of new registrations because 99.9999% of them are spam. The forum is essentially inactive except for us RPG folks.Do you want Eluned or Eluned1? They have different emails so I wasn't sure if you might've wanted one over the other. (The 1st one never got email confirmation, so I'm guessing the 2nd has the correct version? PM me your address and I'll resend your confirmation code for the Eluned account.)
I've heard of but not seen "Critical Role." I don't recognize Laura so it was pure guess on Renee. The artwork is very good either way and now that I know the inspiration I definitely see it. Don't disparage your artistry, I like the style very much IMHO!
If you ever need anything or have questions about tech issues, or even chat about character stuff, don't hesitate to PM me.
(Hey we're birthday buddies!)
Either address is fine, I made Eluned but it gave me an error, so I made Eluned1, but now it seems that the error has sorted itself so I'll go with Eluned original xD
I don't recall what email I used for her. Gimme a sec.
[edit]
I think I found it. I will PM you the email address attached if you need. It's the one starting hse@
They both start with hse@!
Well, I can respond, so all is well
ping, thanks for having two accounts - it does make things much clearer.
Please enjoy having two characters!
Jareen says he will be joining today hopefully, I have told him to get his account set up here because verification can take a while
If you could tell him to email me when he does,that would be super helpful! i r a (but add a "k" at the start) at k y f a l l s (but add an "s" at the start) dot com.
I think Jareen is very close to joining - it's been an agreeable process setting up the character.
P.S. Whilst returning to an old favourite ('Heroes of Might and Magic 3'), I notice one heroine in the game is called Aislinn.
I think Aislinn will like this:
Wolves are amazing. When I was in the US I visited a sanctuary in Colorado where they save wolves who've been born/bred into captivity without people knowing wtf they're doing and try to educate people into NOT DOING THAT. The wolves and wolf-dogs I met were incredible, they are incredibly intelligent and loyal.
Last edited by Eluned; 15 Jun 2023 at 11:50 AM.
Oh that's lovely, thanks for sharing, glee! GeoBeats is a great channel (as is The Dodo) for animal lovers.
Psst to Eluned - Unless I'm mistaken, I think we all trained in Dannesmoor, as part of the Drannasmor Security Guild, versus Versifal's Keep. (Sorry if I butchered that spelling!) That's about four hours away. Is that right glee?
Yep, GLee had said they trained together at Drannasmor. But I imagine You've met a lot of people and Eluned wasn't there very long, so Aislinn can be forgiven for not remembering her! Eluned just remembers the pretty name
Yes, the Scout Guild is in Drannasmoor (that city has has various spellings over the years
(Some Scouts accompanied Will and Alf, who run a trade caravan, along that route.)
Aislinn, Marron, Saradoc and Eluned* have all been trained at the Guild.
They may not have done all the same courses (or not necessarily at the same time), so it's reasonable that they may not remember everyone from the Guild.
However they will very probably have seen each other in the building sometimes...
*and Jareen's new character as well.
Meep, long post, sorry, but Aislinn *DID* ask and *DID* say she didn't mind Walker talking!
Eye right now:
"Whatchoo doin with my man, hmm? I got EYES on you!"
Last edited by ping; 17 Jun 2023 at 09:56 AM.
I guess it is only fair to post what Lydia Vaz (Ranger Barbarian) looks like.
Just waiting on if GLee introduces Lydia, or if Lydia is to respond first
Relax - let me do the introductions!
(I was waiting to hear the final details of the new character..)
P.S. I have let everyone know how well you all know each other - feel free to check with me if it's not clear.
Hi Jareen, and welcome to Lydia! A dainty name for such a fierce woman. Really looking forward to her joining the team, and what the dynamics will be among them all.
Dang this is one estrogen-heavy group! Nice change.
Jareen does like his fierce, scarred and usually sweary and Scottish-accented barbarian womenApparently he's been told no swearing so you'll just have to imagine that and insert where appropriate, and also the Scottish accent
A Scottish accent would be most appropriate, given the setting.
@jareen (will also send this via diacord) is the bear headpiece/cloak a new thing? Or has she had it a while?
Correct, with Ping I did for over a year a campaign where I played an Half Elven Scottish Accent potty mouthed Barbarian called Elhlin (pronounced Ellen). Quite funOriginally posted by ping
Jareen does like his fierce, scarred and usually sweary and Scottish-accented barbarian women
Also @Eluned, like I said it in discord: I think it is an older thing that was there pre training
Jaleen -- just an FYI, Aislinn didn't offer a handshake--at least I don't think I indicated one? Maybe something was written too vaguely, my apologies.
I envy you all who've met and played IRL. I have a feeling I'm gonna be missing a lot of in-jokes and such! Which is fine since Aislinn's meant to be an outsider anyway!
I thought she did, my bad, I changed my reply so it would make more sense. And I don't really think you will too much In Character. As this character is not the one I normally play. And the only stuff you might not know is a small portion of backstory.
Apologies, the "myehhh?" was meant to be a sort of shrug gesturing for Aislinn and Walker to come over. Think of a sort of shrug and gesture with the hands saying oi get your arses over here.
I'm just giving you a little more time to introduce each other (and mention skills?!), then Druid Kitty will return and move things along...
I think we're probably ready to move on, unless anyone else has anything to add. After mine and Eluned's last comments.
Silly fun thing asking about the skill check, but out of interest... I don't know what sort of check we'd roll to see who holds the glare longest? Constitution?
Yes, I would use the character's statistics to help settle interesting stuff like that.
My usual practice is to pick the appropriate characteristic (for staring, either Constitution or Charisma...) and give each player combined roll of 'd20 + characteristic'. Highest wins.
Eye'm up for a roll-off if Jareen is (I think he is!) to see who wins this
Last edited by ping; 22 Jun 2023 at 03:01 PM.
I appreciate that players like to see reasons why my NPC's hold the views that they do, so I hope I have fulfilled that in the game thread (posts to follow...)
Goodness (literally!) you needn't worry, I think the Keep NPCs' rationales have been ably and thoroughly explained! It's not "why" that Aislinn is asking for, it's "please give us concrete details, and if you don't have any, maybe let's figure out how you can get some?"
But that's in-character hopeful thinking. OOC and out here on the meta plain, I know we can't really have much influence over NPC actions, at least not these high-level characters this early in the campaign--well, it's been over a year I guess, but it still feels early esp. since 3/4 of our PCs are new--and especially given our PCs' own lower-level status. And also speaking meta-ish, right now we're in the random encounter phase where we need to build up levels. So the PCs can't get more intel or it'd harm the plot.
Anyway, as I said, speaking for myself and I guess Aislinn, the NPCs' thinking has been fully communicated so if any frustration goes on with Aislinn (and there will be), that's just the general angst & weltschmerz baked into her character.
I do wonder... I thought Walker was Arthurian himself, no? Could've sworn that was the case. If he's not, is Lydia? Surely we can't all be Nimueians. OTOH at least we'd all have something in common, which seems important right now for group cohesion.
Goodness (literally!) you needn't worry, I think the Keep NPCs' rationales have been ably and thoroughly explained! It's not "why" that Aislinn is asking for, it's "please give us concrete details, and if you don't have any, maybe let's figure out how you can get some?"
But that's in-character hopeful thinking. OOC and out here on the meta plain, I know we can't really have much influence over NPC actions, at least not these high-level characters this early in the campaign--well, it's been over a year I guess, but it still feels early esp. since 3/4 of our PCs are new--and especially given our PCs' own lower-level status. And also speaking meta-ish, right now we're in the random encounter phase where we need to build up levels. So the PCs can't get more intel or it'd harm the plot.
Anyway, as I said, speaking for myself and I guess Aislinn, the NPCs' thinking has been fully communicated so if any frustration goes on with Aislinn (and there will be
I do wonder... I thought Walker was Arthurian himself, no? Could've sworn that was the case. If he's not, is Lydia? Surely we can't all be Nimueians. OTOH at least we'd all have something in common, which seems important right now for group cohesion.
Walker is technically Arthurian, just by default as it's the tradition he has grown up in. He isn't as fervent about it as Marron and others may be. Having spent so long wandering on his own he does see the Arthurian and Mordred traditions sort of as two sides of the same coin - one good, one bad, but both unwilling to back down. Alignment-wise he would probably naturally drift towards the centre just because of the people he has visited and where he's travelled, but his upbringing was firmly in the Arthurian tradition here at the Keep.
Eluned is 100% Nimue. I think Lydia is too. I guess count Walker as agnostic-leaning-towards-Arthurian just because family.
Dm: I'm not sure how far away the druid grove is, but Eluned would like to head out and pick up Denzil (not physically!) and bring him back towards the Keep, leaving him outside of course and away from the stables.
I'm aware that I don't want to derail GLee's plans for our group's next quest, but Aislinn has brought up some very good points...................
Please don't worry about my plans!
I have a flexible approach - if the party simply carry out each mission, then the next one appears; if the party come up with an interesting idea... then I'm happy to change things around.
So do keep up the dialogue and I'll do my best to react smoothly.
P.S. Sorry about the slight delay ... I'm celebrating my 70th birthday soon and the first event* of a series went off splendidly.
* a delicious meal
Aislinn thanks you.
This way, even if the Count were to say "hey, great ideas, go on that quest," just 'cause we start off in that direction doesn't mean we won't be waylaid and steered back onto the plot. The best plans of mice and men, after all!
The ball's still securely in the Count/glee's court, as it should be! It's flexible. Either way we're none the wiser what's in store.
Edited to add: Ah we simulposted, glee! Glad this wasn't a problem, thanks! And wow, happy happy birthday!!! How wonderful!
Happy Birthday!
[narrows eyes] Am I the only one who's starting to wonder if we're absolutely sure the Count et al. are Arthurians?
DM, can you remind me how far Eye can go? I know we had this discussion in the past and I know there is a limit to being able to SEE through her, and a limit to which I can mentally communicate, but not sure how far she could just fly (as the crow flies!) and return.
They're shady as f---!
(Probably not, in GLee's world-view, but from outsiders looking in, definitely shady haha.
First I apologise for missing an important question by Walker in post 492 (game thread) i.e. have people been to check on previous attacks by the Patrol the party defeated?
I'm going to address that in the game thread.
Secondly (as you know) it is much harder to pass information in an Internet game than in a face-to-face one.
I'm not sure what has gone wrong, but I never intended for both characters and players to question the morals of the Arthurians...
The whole campaign is based on good + neutral v evil (with some evil being fanatical interspersed with an occasional conversion from evil to neutral.)
If the idea of irredeemable evil is not to a player's taste, then sadly that is going to cause endless problems.
If on the other hand it's my characters giving the wrong impression, then I will try to correct that.
Your comments on the above are of course welcome!
Ping, I've given some details of communication between Walker and Eye in post 303 of the game thread (reproduced here):
DM: Assume that Walker and Eye can communicate if they are in line of sight - which is about a mile vertically up out of doors on a clear day with no ground cover!
Eye is a real bird that has been magically enhanced, so can indeed travel away to the Keep with Saradoc and listen in to his conversations. N.B. The staff at the Keep are familiar (heh) with Walker's familiar and will feed and generally look after her. Note that Eye would need to fly back to Walker to pass on any information gained that way.
So Eye could fly more than a mile away from Walker, but would then need to have a safe place (e.g. The Keep) to rest (or return asap to Walker...)
First, happy "thank God we got rid of those idiot sceptics!" day to all in the UK. In hindsight, that was a boss move.
Second--don't worry about the irredeemable evil part; honestly, you've been very good at communicating this, and at least as far as I'm concerned, I'm clear! It is a little like fighting mindless orcs, just with better tactics. Maybe that makes it easier in the gameworld not to have players who worry about the morality of killing. But those are the long-established rules of your world and on a meta level, this player gets it.
Aislinn is shakier on this, though she's obviously aware that the Empire soldiers and leaders are Team Evil. Motivationally, however, I see her as being uncomfortable with the concept of irredeemability, mainly because what she recalls of her own (pre-slavery) background is morally iffy and while it's not even in the same ballpark as what the Empire does, she's still anxious about what people's opinions of her would be if a) they knew, and b) if they don't believe people can change.
Now, as far as the "are we sure they're Arthurians?" question goes, it was a joke, albeit one with a hint of curiosity. The curiosity part is because, though I know 99.99999% that in this game the good noble NPCs (esp. the ones who, I gather, are repeating regulars), the reader/writer/player in me who loves twists would find it incredibly awesome if the Keep were secretly not the bastion of Goodies after all. So as much as I intellectually believe the premise, I can't help holding a teeny tiny minuscule bit of interest in the option that we're being cleverly hoodwinked.
And in-game, what are Aislinn et al. supposed to think when they've repeatedly asked if either our party or some of the Count's soldiers can please check back to see what damage this particular band of baddies might've left in their wake, yet the Count & Littlejohn have, multiple times, ignored that and seem to be shrugging their shoulders, like "meh, what's done is done." We've tried to clarify but still the Count barrels forward. Surely you can see how our non-omniscient characters would start to be a little, "what the hell?"
It's funny. To me, playing via text input makes it both easier to convey information--slower, perhaps, but easier--and to retain it. What's written is available to be reread, and refreshing one's memory to see what others have said or done is easy as pie. Maybe it's just how different minds work. I process stuff better in the written word. As you can probably tell because I use so friggin' many of them.
Thank you for the reminder re. Eye.
Agreeing with what I think choie is saying; we *as players* aren't trying to break your world here GLee, meta-gamingly we know - because you as DM have told us - about the moral structure of the world, but it is quite fun for us in character to be able to raise an eyebrow at the rigid black-and-white of blindly accepting that Arthurian = good, Count = Arthurian, therefore Count = good. Aislinn's comment was amusing to me because it reminded me of that sketch with David Mitchell (Mitchell and Webb Look) "Are we the bad guys?" "Yeah we killed him but trust us this guy was horrid".
Maybe we are all just too cynical for your lovely world
Rambling now and about to go get on a plane to Mallorca, but just wanted to say that any dissent/questions we have are in character, and I think we are trying the best we can to separate the knowledge we have out of game from what our characters would think and feel given the situations they have been in and the answers they've been given.
Last edited by ping; 05 Jul 2023 at 02:19 AM.
Choie and Ping, thanks for explaining and your point about previous casualties is a good one!
I should have picked up on that much earlier.
However the senior staff at the Keep do have more excuse than me (!), as will appear in the main thread shortly.
Please do carry on with your character's roleplaying, as it really enhances the game.
I should add that it's possible for NPCs to change alignment.
(For example, Woody went from evil to neutral.)
The only rigid believers are Clerics (either Arthurian or Mordred), Druids and powerful monsters (e.g. Dragons.)
N.B. You can test for Mordred Cabal using Detect Evil (which also gives how strongly they believe.)
Arthurians can be tempted astray by money, power etc; Mordred Cabal converted by friendly persuasion and a better life...
[Spoiler] I can tell there there's soon going to be a crime within the Keep!
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