Chronicles of the Blade OOC

[Alteiner]

I don't necessarily mind a Discord server for OOC stuff, though I check the forums pretty much every day before work and when I get home.

[Kaouse]

Sorry for the late post.

I had a bit of a health issue I was dealing with for the last few days, but I should be good to go now.

I'll try to make at least one post per day, possibly more.

[Kuro Dmon]

Just being able to know what people are doing in case there is some sort of disturbance, or being able to reach out is enough for me. I know that life ain't easy and we can't all be glued to our computers one hundred percent. Just in case anything happens, like me needing a way to more easily reach out when my laptop's being lame and I'm an 8 hour drive / 3 hour flight from my primary set up.

I am trying to adjust my Giantitp settings so that if I am PM'd, my email alerts me... though while my email gets it, getting my phone to give me a pop up about it isn't as easy as I'd like....

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In other news, working on a reply! Some of y'all, y'all got theatrics.

[Kuro Dmon]

Double Posting because I want this seen: I've got PMs about to go out to a few people for perceived knowledge relevant to what is about to be inferred, specifically Knowledge Local, and Knowledge Religion. I know who I was going to send this to at a glance, but I was going to ask if I might be overlooking any special abilities in that matter.

Also, I hope it's not an issue if I send people PMs for IC Info for them to know/share with others. Some knowledge (like Aldebaran being a state a bit over a thousand miles to the east of Benetnasch, and being a metaphorical stone's throw away from the Scarred Lands (I forgot I gave this land a proper name. ) would be at least semi-common knowledge, but other details sound a bit more interesting when they get to come from the player's mouths.

Also also, I better clear out my own message inbox. I thought I had plenty of room, but I suddenly fear I might not.

I thiiiink I responded to everyone, and gave out folk sufficient information for each to contribute (even with a few overlapping a bit). So I hope we can proceed well enough.

[ScrambledBrains]

If I wasn’t at work, I’d already be writing a reply. But since I am, I’ll try to get a post in a few hours.

[Kuro Dmon]

And this is one of the funny things about using Die to Roleplay. And I guess an upside to Diplomacy/Intimidate not being allowed to be used on PC's to change their minds on folk. Even if I had written something profound and compelling to have Leena convince Sieghart to trust her and her master, rolling a 5 (+20 modifier be damned) makes me roll my eyes. This is why I should always take 10 myself.

If none of the others post by the end of today, I might have her attempt to address him.... and make a buttload of more rolls in the process.

[Alteiner]

I actually tried pretty hard to clarify that Sieg's stance isn't "I don't trust you" but "I think it counts as mission critical whether we're keeping this a secret from a panicked public or someone who might try and stop us, because either option will necessitate different precautions being taken." I don't know; maybe I'm not making it clear enough.

[Kaouse]

It looks like we're gonna be facing a lot of Undead in this campaign.

Not exactly the best thing for a guy focused on poisons to be fighting, lol. That said, if we're still allowed to make minor adjustments, I'd like to be able to take an extra drawback in the Alchemy Sphere, which would allow me to pick up the talent "Specialized Venom," so that I can affect certain creature types that might otherwise be immune... namely undead.

For what it's worth though, the only drawback that I'd be able to take with my current character is Mana Chemistry, which makes my Alchemy Sphere poisons (and eventual formulae) count as magic for the purposes of spell resistance and dispel.

Note that this only applies to Alchemy Sphere poisons (and to my stinkbomb flasbangs as part of Harmacist). Also note that there's a tradeoff of various pros and cons when it comes to using a poison as an "Alchemy Sphere" poison vs a non-Alchemy Sphere poison.

[Alteiner]

If undead are going to consistently be an issue, I'll have to pick up Ooze Ichor and Essence Manipulation for bleeding the bloodless sooner than expected. Not really an issue at the moment, because I can just grab them through adaptation, but it would still be ideal to not have to use a limited-use per-day ability for it.

[Kuro Dmon]

I actually tried pretty hard to clarify that Sieg's stance isn't "I don't trust you" but "I think it counts as mission critical whether we're keeping this a secret from a panicked public or someone who might try and stop us, because either option will necessitate different precautions being taken." I don't know; maybe I'm not making it clear enough.

... it's less an error on your end, and more that my lazy carcass missed that amount of emphasis because I had physical therapy today, and they made sure to wear me out...

It looks like we're gonna be facing a lot of Undead in this campaign.

Not exactly the best thing for a guy focused on poisons to be fighting, lol. That said, if we're still allowed to make minor adjustments, I'd like to be able to take an extra drawback in the Alchemy Sphere, which would allow me to pick up the talent "Specialized Venom," so that I can affect certain creature types that might otherwise be immune... namely undead.

For what it's worth though, the only drawback that I'd be able to take with my current character is Mana Chemistry, which makes my Alchemy Sphere poisons (and eventual formulae) count as magic for the purposes of spell resistance and dispel.

Note that this only applies to Alchemy Sphere poisons (and to my stinkbomb flasbangs as part of Harmacist). Also note that there's a tradeoff of various pros and cons when it comes to using a poison as an "Alchemy Sphere" poison vs a non-Alchemy Sphere poison.

If it helps, it won't just be undead. Plenty of, of course, but aberrations, bandits, (things that count as) evil outsiders, other warriors, and the occasional caster.

You still have time to make your adjustments; characters were picked on general vibes of their abilities, along with roleplay, rollplay, and a spot of luck. So if you want to have some acid/venom to help ensure you can mow-down zombies, you can.

Though even if there were a heavy amount of undead, I'd go out of my way to give someone limited against them something else relevant to do.

If undead are going to consistently be an issue, I'll have to pick up Ooze Ichor and Essence Manipulation for bleeding the bloodless sooner than expected. Not really an issue at the moment, because I can just grab them through adaptation, but it would still be ideal to not have to use a limited-use per-day ability for it.

Hm... I wonder how many uses a day Leena has for what anti-undead tech she has. Sticking to how I swore i'd build her, she might not even be carrying as much as a chastity dagger, let alone anything in terms of normal combat. But in most cases, the more healing one has access to, the more they can put the hurt on zombie butt.

But yeah, same with Kaouse; you have room to make those adaptations still, but I sincerely doubt you need to. Undead are a quarter of what you'll encounter, but if this was an Undead heavy game, it'd be based more on Bloodborne than Soul Calibur (though I admit Dark Souls does hit a fine line between the two).

[ScrambledBrains]

I'm only really familiar with Code Vein.

Though, for the record, Code Vein is a fantastic game with an AMAZING character creator.

[Arael666]

Hi guys, sorry for being absent, I was having internet issues in the family farm. But now I'm back home and can post more regularly.

I'll read everything that went on and I should PM a couple of people before posting

[Kuro Dmon]

I'm only really familiar with Code Vein.

Though, for the record, Code Vein is a fantastic game with an AMAZING character creator.

I gotta laugh, because that's one of the Soulslike games I haven't played personally. I believe one of my friends streamed it for me a bit a few years ago, but the only thing I really remember is the limited Zero Punctuation review of it; Dark Souls but even more anime and with hotsprings.

..... is there room for us to add a hotsprings episode to this adventure, I wonder.

But I am somewhat aware of [Code Vein], if only tangentally. Might could change that in the future.

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And on the subject of character creators, I could probably work around it for your first encounter, but I was actually going to try to take a pass at some tech to try to create images for those who didn't already have them. Assuming your latest character descriptions were still accurate. Alaric and Sieghart, and indeed Darvan.

Spoiler: Brief mature discussion alert

Show

I'm aware of some of the controversy around the aforementioned tech. I know both sides are pretty passionate about it, too. I'd like to hope, just in case I lit a spark here in mentioning it, that we can be civil regardless of what anyone things.

As for what I think; first and foremost above anything else, I think it should only be used for non-profit purposes. Anything involving the actual trade of money, like art for the cover of a product or whatever, absolutely should not involve bot tech. Actually get the references and descriptions needed for your project if it's going to move to commercial matters.

But for casual things, like just making silly references for a play by post game that isn't expected to get turned into a monetization podcast or book or anything, I don't think it's impactful enough to hurt anyone on that level. Not when half the time the alternative is people just taking art for their face-claims anyway.

Possibly relevant to the convo is that I do not use any of the monetized models, and that I stand by legislature against AI being made to just steal voices/likenesses/art from creators... which I admit is a somewhat mixed perspective, isn't it.

Hi guys, sorry for being absent, I was having internet issues in the family farm. But now I'm back home and can post more regularly.

I'll read everything that went on and I should PM a couple of people before posting

I feel a bit better about waiting to PM you to see if things were okay. I'm spoiled for my own internet speeds (when Comcast is behaving, anyway), even with the Forum having its various hiccups. You and Da'Shain had me worried for a bit; the latter still, frankly. I tried using the forum to send them an email, and everyone should have gotten a PM that helped trigger additional roleplay a bit ago.

I was going to go for an update, but between giving you a bit of time to post, giving Da'Shain time to reply/check back in, and potentially see if anyone else feels like replying to the idea of the contract (which you better believe Leena already has a retort to; one that would affect every single character mechanically), I'm gonna wait until Wednesday before her answer.

[Arael666]

I feel a bit better about waiting to PM you to see if things were okay. I'm spoiled for my own internet speeds (when Comcast is behaving, anyway), even with the Forum having its various hiccups. You and Da'Shain had me worried for a bit; the latter still, frankly. I tried using the forum to send them an email, and everyone should have gotten a PM that helped trigger additional roleplay a bit ago.

I was going to go for an update, but between giving you a bit of time to post, giving Da'Shain time to reply/check back in, and potentially see if anyone else feels like replying to the idea of the contract (which you better believe Leena already has a retort to; one that would affect every single character mechanically), I'm gonna wait until Wednesday before her answer.

Yeah, the internet there comes and goes as it pleases. And lately the playground has been very slow even on my connection at home.

Regarding the contract, Baldret has already accepted the terms, he is a man of his word and no piece of parchment can replace that.

[ScrambledBrains]

Honestly, the only reason I played Code Vein is because one of my IRL friends helped me through it, since it has two-player co-op and he's a Souls series veteran. I will say though, if you want all the trophies for it/want to see everything in it, be prepared for a bit of a slog, since you need to do four runs on one character.

As for our game, I'm also refraining from posting now since A: I'm trying not to be 'That Guy' on a PBP game who monopolizes everything and B: Darvan has already pledged his support and he has no real frame of reference for this contract Dorian is preparing, so he doesn't want to speak up until Leena replies.

[namo]

Da'Shain has been incommunicado in another game (on another board). Hoping is everything is OK for them, but I think you can move forward, and at worst they'll catch up.

Yeah, Dre'k will not be into the contract much either, but I refrained from posting about him tearing it up - we don't need too much drama this early on.

[Kuro Dmon]

Regarding the contract, Baldret has already accepted the terms, he is a man of his word and no piece of parchment can replace that.

I am curious if you worked out the two of you knowing each other already. That's certainly neat! News to me, but I'm not against it. Even if we'll be doing combat in a few posts, it's definitely fun to have established some dynamics and learned about each other.

Mind, I am a little confused about that last bit of wording in your post. Is that also something that was worked out? If not, be careful about wording someone else' character as part of your reply. (says a Dm who's gonna have to do similar with a PC in a sec. )

Honestly, the only reason I played Code Vein is because one of my IRL friends helped me through it, since it has two-player co-op and he's a Souls series veteran. I will say though, if you want all the trophies for it/want to see everything in it, be prepared for a bit of a slog, since you need to do four runs on one character.

I love Souls Co-op. I'm one of folk who are at least decent at the games (mind I still need to tackle Elden Ring, but I also 100%'d Hollow Knight during my time off, so there's that), but I absolutely recommend playing it with friends. I don't like the theme of "The world's screwed and everyone's screwed so bite the pavement"; I much prefer "The world's screwed, but we're all in this together so we can try to make the most of it!". And seeing folk explore it for the first time is pretty fun, at least for me. Done it a few times at this point.

As for our game, I'm also refraining from posting now since A: I'm trying not to be 'That Guy' on a PBP game who monopolizes everything and B: Darvan has already pledged his support and he has no real frame of reference for this contract Dorian is preparing, so he doesn't want to speak up until Leena replies.

Yeah, Dre'k will not be into the contract much either, but I refrained from posting about him tearing it up - we don't need too much drama this early on.

Leena will be replying this evening/tomorrow morning, then. In a couple hours if I can wrangle it. She also isn't familiar with how contracts work. Hilarity ensues.

[Arael666]

I am curious if you worked out the two of you knowing each other already. That's certainly neat! News to me, but I'm not against it. Even if we'll be doing combat in a few posts, it's definitely fun to have established some dynamics and learned about each other.

Mind, I am a little confused about that last bit of wording in your post. Is that also something that was worked out? If not, be careful about wording someone else' character as part of your reply. (says a Dm who's gonna have to do similar with a PC in a sec. )

They fought side by side and have a mutual trust in each other's capabilities and morals, but they are not close enough that they can be called "friends". At least thats what Baldret thinks. So I figured they could build a closer relationship as they interact.

Also, I PM'd Athaleon with my update before I made the post asking for his permission, I would never have done that hadn't he gave me the ok. But other than that, the coment has no further meaning (yet. we might include some flashbacks in the future now that you gave the idea ).

[Kuro Dmon]

Also, I PM'd Athaleon with my update before I made the post asking for his permission, I would never have done that hadn't he gave me the ok.

I shouldn't have even remotely suspect anything of the sort. A different friend had been spending time with me with those CritCrab tabletop videos, and boy have those been as entertaining as they've been horrifying.

...then again, they also warn me about some of the potential pitfalls I can only hope I'm not walking into, so we'll see.

Speaking of we'll see, I wonder who'll react to this update first, and how. Adventurers might be used to more money than just warriors, but I'd like to think that might still be a lot to most folk.

[Da'Shain]

I'm here, I'm here! Things went a bit crazy at work after the vacation and I've been running around, sorry I didn't make time to come check here. Anyone else having trouble even accessing the forums sometimes?

In the future, if there is a need to move forward feel free to puppet my character for a bit or assume she's going along, I won't mind; pretend she's just been sipping booze and pasting a knowing smile on her face despite knowing nothing. To be honest, the discussion of the finer points of mercenary contracts is a fortuitous time for Freki's attention to have wandered, as she would have basically nothing but jokes to contribute to it.

[Kuro Dmon]

I'm here, I'm here! Things went a bit crazy at work after the vacation and I've been running around, sorry I didn't make time to come check here. Anyone else having trouble even accessing the forums sometimes?

In the future, if there is a need to move forward feel free to puppet my character for a bit or assume she's going along, I won't mind; pretend she's just been sipping booze and pasting a knowing smile on her face despite knowing nothing. To be honest, the discussion of the finer points of mercenary contracts is a fortuitous time for Freki's attention to have wandered, as she would have basically nothing but jokes to contribute to it.

A) YES. DEAR GOD YES THE FORUM'S BEEN CRAY-CRAY RECENTLY. I need to get my tech up so I can actually contribute to the site thread trying to monitor it. I really hope we aren't going to have troubles like we did a few years ago when it just straight up died for a while.

B) You were SUPER the longshot in regard to "who I expected to reply first". I'm very much glad to have been wrong! I'm trying to be permissive about that sort of thing, particularly with the forums being crazy and it being right after the holidadiess. (In a different game, I had a friend who I even added in Discord who disappeared while I was on my flight during this game's recruitment, and I hadn't noticed until I got back from my trip. Turns out, her computer apparently *literally* exploded, which is about as valid an excuse as any to have not been able to keep up.)

And C) I figured, at least up until the combat that's going to be starting soon, I could have role-played Freki exactly like that. Stuffing her face, and distracted by the shiny, even with more going on in the back of her head than that, haha.

Though quick q; Your little sheet shortcut thing (which looks cool; if Leena weren't being made on a Google Doc I'd want one) says Freki's got a whopping 50 AC, but her sheet says it should be 29? o.o

[Da'Shain]

A) YES. DEAR GOD YES THE FORUM'S BEEN CRAY-CRAY RECENTLY. I need to get my tech up so I can actually contribute to the site thread trying to monitor it. I really hope we aren't going to have troubles like we did a few years ago when it just straight up died for a while.

B) You were SUPER the longshot in regard to "who I expected to reply first". I'm very much glad to have been wrong! I'm trying to be permissive about that sort of thing, particularly with the forums being crazy and it being right after the holidadiess. (In a different game, I had a friend who I even added in Discord who disappeared while I was on my flight during this game's recruitment, and I hadn't noticed until I got back from my trip. Turns out, her computer apparently *literally* exploded, which is about as valid an excuse as any to have not been able to keep up.)

And C) I figured, at least up until the combat that's going to be starting soon, I could have role-played Freki exactly like that. Stuffing her face, and distracted by the shiny, even with more going on in the back of her head than that, haha.

Though quick q; Your little sheet shortcut thing (which looks cool; if Leena weren't being made on a Google Doc I'd want one) says Freki's got a whopping 50 AC, but her sheet says it should be 29? o.o

Yeah, that AC was a mistake because I copied the format from another game I'm in and forgot to edit that part; should be fixed now.

Alternately glad I'm not the only one having site issues and apprehensive about the site issues themselves. I'll try not to let it fall by the wayside any further.

[Kaouse]

I'm thinking that we should probably move things along into a combat before people lose too much interest.

[Arael666]

I'm thinking that we should probably move things along into a combat before people lose too much interest.

I tought my character stated this in the IC thread, but re-reading it I realized I said it in a response to KuroDemon. So, would it be ok if we just assume that it's implicit that Baldret is not gonna sign the contract? I'd also like to move forward to the combat

[Kaouse]

Perfectly fine by me, I think we should just assume that whoever wanted to sign it, signs it.

It's not really important, it's just something I thought my character would do considering his backstory.

I didn't really intend for it to take too much time.

[Da'Shain]

Freki was never going to care overmuch about contract wording when she doesn't care overmuch about contracts in general, so she's attempting to sweeten the pot and move things along with her offer of wine; feel free to skip past it.

[Kuro Dmon]

I apologize for having lost way too much time this weekend between family and personal obligations, or this post would have been in progress 2 days ago.

So, I'm trying to work on something for the sake of "skipping past it". I'm sad that Google Docs isn't being the easiest when it comes to adjusting for this sort of thing, though. In particular, I seem to have no control over which images stay above the battle map.

I think I can provide links to it and find somewhere to upload them to, if that works for everyone?

And speaking of images; Alteiner, ScrambledBrains, Athaleon, and anyone who has a mount; I'll try to use stand-in images for the aforementioned characters, unless you'd possibly find one you'd like to use yourselves?

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Random comment, for those of us using Mythweavers sheets, you should update your passwords and make sure you can still log in properly to your sheets, just in case. Looks like they had a breach recently.

[namo]

I think it's fine if you use characters instead of images if it's easier. (This requires a legend though.) E.g. U1, U2, U3 are the 3 Undead, ...

[Athaleon]

A stand-in image is fine. I have a hard time finding images for my characters, since I get so particular about it, so better if you pick one for me.

[ScrambledBrains]

I've been trying to find a decent picture for Darvan, but so far, I'm rolling snake eyes. So, I'm ok with a stand-in as well.