So I know the hiatus has been a little long, and I apologize to everybody about the game lapsing the way it did. Bad personal shit at the time, and it just really wasn't feasible for it to continue. But that's in the past, now, and after I finally finish moving into the new place, there should be an even better setup waiting for me. MapTool has a new version out, which is always good too, and from what I gather there's still interest in resuming the game, which I'm more than happy to do.
So my plan is to get moved into the new place at the end of this month, have a week or so to set some things up, and then resume sometime around mid-May. We'll have to see if everyone still wants to play, and work on arranging schedules again since I know things have changed for some folks, but hopefully we can get it back on track without too much trouble.
Anyway, spread the word. I've still got lots of fun ideas for the campaign, and now that
Open Grave is out, I'm extra excited. I may even order some dice and a dice tray so I can roll just like a real geek behind the digital DM screen. AWESOME.
EDIT - Okay.
Open Grave has been ordered, and I'm once again working on content. I found the maps I lost of the next potential scenario. I'm going to have to start working harder on getting playable maps ready as the campaign opens up and more choices are available at any given time.
So I want to make a bit of a new deal this time, get off to a simpler and better start. That means both some general suggestions I have for keeping things moving and making things a little less confusing, and also some house rules I want to try to implement. This is by no means a complete list, it's just some ideas that came to mind over the last few days or some things I was thinking about for a time in relation to the campaign.
So: some stuff.
Either we limit all roleplaying to text chat and all OOC chat to Teamspeak, or we can use Teamspeak for all roleplaying and OOC chat can do whatever it wants text or audio, like sitting around a table. The reason for this is that it gets really hard to keep track of rolls, etc. when the window is getting clogged with chat. Roleplaying text won't interfere with this since there's comparatively little of it and it doesn't come so quickly.
Ask fewer mechanical questions. Just try stuff! If there's something that interests you, just say what it is and give it a shot. I'm there to figure out what you should roll and how it's going to work. Don't tell me you're going to do a perception check, just tell me what you want to check. Specific is better than general, and if there's something more general you might notice, I'll be ready to give you the opportunity.
- Don't be a slave to rules.
Think outside the box. There are plenty of opportunities that aren't in the rules in any exact form. Just because it isn't a weapon doesn't mean you can't use it as one, after all, and some of the more creative ways of escape may be a little less... conventional.
- I'm scaling back the time system.
We'll be moving to a 25 hour clock (24 hours plus the hour of sleep). As fun as it was building a bunch of crazy stuff, I was probably having too much fun at the expense of practicality. There will still be some strange facets, but the day will be shorter.
If you still can't think of anything to do or are still reading stuff after a fair bit of time, we're just going to say that you've delayed your action. I don't want to be strict about it, but we were taking way too long on some stuff. Acting a little more impulsively won't kill anybody, and hopefully we'll be able to cover a bit more ground in a session if we try harder to keep moving.
- The responsibility for status will be your own.
There were times when people were doing their own status effects and changing their HP, but it was inconsistent. Sometimes I did it, sometimes you guys did. So in the future, let's just say that each player should do it himself. You take care of yourselves, I take care of everything else.
- Try to think more in-character.
I want to focus a little more on roleplaying, in large part due to story arcs and stuff. I don't expect you to be super nerds about it. Whatever level you're comfortable with is perfectly fine, I just want everyone to be more in tune with their characters as that's also mechanically part of everything. Be aware of the languages you speak and understand, the likes and dislikes, habits, etc. It'll be helpful for me.
Okay? Okay! Now, a few house rules I'd like to try:
It will now be slightly more difficult to identify items. They cannot be identified any longer by a mere short rest, but only by persistent scrutiny during an
extended rest, or by using the item during an encounter. Any item can be identified instantly with a successful Arcana check.
If knocked out, rolling a 19 on your death saving throw results in stabilizing as though the heal skill was used. You regain no HP and remain unconscious, but you may stop rolling death saves. You can, of course, still suffer a
coupe de grace by any malevolent enemy, or die by suffering your bloodied rating in negative numbers from any extended damage.
- Armor size and armor repair -
If a player goes down seven times, his armor must be repaired by an appropriate professional. He will suffer -2 to AC and -1 to Athletics and Acrobatics checks until he gets his gear fixed. Any armor repair made before the seven-times-KO tally will reset the counter to zero.
Wrongly-sized armors will also confer the "broken" status debuff on anyone wearing one. Armors can always be refitted for a fee at any armorer, however. If a wrongly-sized piece of armor is worn and breaks as a result of the seven-times-KO rule, the negative effects will double.
If you tackle two encounters without taking a
short rest between them, you may spend multiple action points during the second encounter. Action points may be used during non-combat encounters to give another character a +2 to skill checks.
So that's it for now. More to come!
