OOC THREAD

[Eclecticon]

Okay, for simplicity's sake, I've given you five points - the same as I took for Arbogast.

[Eclecticon]

Once again, I wasn't quite able to get a story post up today.  Look for something tomorrow. 

[Posterboy]

Hey, just noting that I am away for work starting today until Monday... and next week will be pretty crazy too.
After Mar 11 it should settle down for me until mid May.
Peace,
Ayrn

[Telcontar]

Am I marking the hunting and stealth roll? I went to do it and there were already marks in those categoreis. Were those from the games?

[Eclecticon]

The movement roll I think is from his athletics check to escape Gnornung.  I think the survival one is already marked from his successful Hunting roll.  Sorry for the confusion. 

If it helps, I haven't marked anything since it's been you making the rolls. 

[Eclecticon]

More story coming tomorrow.

[Eclecticon]

I'm going to set up threads for the two different pursuits.  I don't have access to my usual work computer today (I'm in a different office testing some record keeping system) but I'll get posts up as soon as I can.

UPDATE:  Still working on the other thread.  Hopefully later tonight (my time) or tomorrow morning. 

[Eclecticon]

Wow, have I ever let you guys down.  The only excuse I can offer is that work turned feral right as my wife got sick and I had to start work on uni essays.  Despite all of the above, I had the GENIUS IDEA that I would write a song that the orcs were singing in the Beorning steading.  That occupied all my 'creative time' for several days before I decided that I just couldn't hit the black humour tone that I was going for and that the attempt was holding everything up. 

I'll be a little more realistic about what I can deliver from here on. 

[Eclecticon]

  ... I would like to ask if Esgalwen can invoke her Fair trait to succeed at Introduction (Courtesy) check?

I'm pretty happy to give out auto-successes for uses of Traits - especially in circumstances where failure would make the story less fun and interesting.  The tradeoff is that you don't get an advancement point. 

[tomcat]

Well, I wouldn't get one anyway due to needing the bonus die - right?

Do we reward failed rolls that are bumped to a success with a bonus die?

[Eclecticon]

That's the way I've always played it.  Once you roll dem bones, a success is a success.

[Telcontar]

We have petty cash APs!

[Eclecticon]

Doug, Aryn, I haven't forgotten about you.  Expect a meeting with Brunhild tomorrow. 

[Eclecticon]

I would say yes, but it would come via a buyable trait. Not a weapon enhancement, but a fighting-style trait that you can buy with experience.

I agree with what you're saying about the benefits of the spear keeping combatants at a distance, but it would be an awkward weapon at first. The defensive benefits would be learned by use.

Does that make sense?

The more I think about this, the less enthusiastic I am about it applying purely to one type of weapon.  Long spear is long, yes indeed, but (and I'm speaking from personal experience here) it's not that hard to get inside its reach, at which point it's more of a liability than a help.  An opponent who knows what they're doing (CAVEAT: most historical combatants did not know what they were doing) wouldn't find it much harder to hit someone with a long spear than someone without one. 

I might get behind some sort of Mastery that increased your Parry score - it sort of seems odd that characters can get better at dealing out damage as they accumulate experience, but not avoiding it - but you'd need to make sure that it wasn't just a shortcut to invulnerable PCs.  As Doug will no doubt agree, they can be hard enough to hurt as it is. 

[Telcontar]

As I think about it more I think I was looking at it in a vacuum of weapon statistics. I think the Fighting defensive options in the Defense Stance achieves what I was thinking and does it in a broader way.