OOC THREAD

[WaitingCynicism]

Thank you for the welcome! Looking forward to you all meeting Eomund, a young rohirrim hunter!

[tomcat]

If the offer is still open, I'll look forward to sticking my hand up for another opportunity after I'm done.  Who knows, maybe I'll have had an original story idea by then!

Well, we are rounding on year number 4 with 2019, so I think we might still be here in 2 years and give you that opportunity!  

[Posterboy]

Hey All,

Sorry for the sudden drop off. I'm going to need to step away for a bit to work through some RL stuff. Working through resigning from my present workplace and will be hunting for some new employment.

If Jacob wants to run Tate or Idunn in this present moment until he can bring in his own character, I'm good with that.

Otherwise, feel free to move Idunn and Tate back to their respective homes for a bit... or perhaps Tate sticks around with Hathcyn for the year. I'll be reading along as I can.

Peace,
Ayrn

[Eclecticon]

Thanks for the update, Aryn.  Best of luck, mate. 

[GandalfOfBorg]

Good luck, I know all too well that strain.

[Eclecticon]

With the adventure (finally) over, I'd like to take this time to do two things.  Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for keeping up the standard we've established in the game so far for excellent writing and inter-character drama, and for having your characters do unexpected but cool things.  It's been a blast being at this end of the online table! 

Second, I'd like to solicit any feedback you may have - things that really worked for you, or really didn't, things that you didn't understand, rules queries, etc. 

I'm happy to kick off by saying that I'm not nearly as enamoured with the Mythic Battles rules now as I was when I decided to use them.  I still like the idea of your position in the battle determining how hard it is to keep body and soul together, and the hazard rules seem to work well, but it's obvious with a playtest that the actual length of a battle is purely down to the dice - there's nothing that PCs can do that affects the overall success in a positive way, except via GM fiat. 

[Telcontar]

Well done Paul. I really enjoyed the style and the development of the story. The combat scenes seemed to add to the story instead of being the focus. One of the things I like about the game is taking what's written in Tolkien or in the books and expanding the bubble of detail and reality.

I think this story arc did a fantastic job of bringing the Beornings to live. We got an idea of their culture, their ways and laws, society structure and were also able to contrast that with the Vigs and Woodmen to see how they were different. I think we gave them their own distinct identity with an almost Icelandic Commonwealth feel to them as a people.

I did not mind the mythic battles rules, but I would like to use them again before making a final judgement. Paul's point about the end being arbitrary I think was a design concept. The heroes were supposed to be involved in the battle but ultimately not the driving force to it, more so participants as opposed to the main drivers. Takes away from the heroics of it, but maybe shows the grand-scope of battle.  Also, I think we as players were taking too much of a D&D tactical position approach to the battle instead of a general approach. The great sweeping action was to show the chaos and the micro aspects of the battle the characters were in. There were some choices and mechanical bits to consider and I think a better grasp of the rules and concepts would result in a better result. I'd like to give them another shot as a group now that we have all touched them once.

The only real criticism I have is that the party was divided for most of the story. This didn't allow for the characters to interact with each other and it meant that we had two threads that were suffering from the innate fits and starts of play by post. Mechanically this upset the party roles and fellowship foci aspects of the fellowship. Narratively the separation meant the characters didnt grow or experience together. I think the play by post  makes a split party more operationally feasible, but at the cost of significant delays,  taxing the the LM twice, and some mechanical hurdles.

The party split also means their is no group memory of events. For instance, with both Tate and Esgalwen leaving the group there is no longer any party connection to the events or characters that were developed in the south.

Overall I think it was a great chapter for the story and look forward to seeing Paul go at it again down the line. He certainly gave me some things to shoot for if I ever take up the mantle again.

[Posterboy]

Hey All,

Just dropping in for a second to say a few words.

Paul, I enjoyed sitting under your narration too! You were really good at giving a full-body feel to the world of the Beornings (definitely supported by the other players). Your addition of some great poetry and living into a specific manner of speech for the Beornings was awesome. Some scenes that really shined: Hathcyn's interaction with the widow and the presentation of the banner to Grimbeorn were powerful scenes for me. Seriously... well done! Thank you for the work you put into making this happen for us.

I'm not going to lie... I am also looking forward to reading more of Arbogast's story. I've loved your writing for him and his family.


Doug, thanks for wrapping up Tate and Esgalwen's story for now. Sorry, you keep getting stuck with my writing my characters! Truth is, I love what you've done with Esgalwen and I hope her and Tate's story continues to blossom.


Also, really loved the interaction between Tate and Hathcyn! Hathcyn and Tate's moment around the fire... another favourite of mine this phase.


I'm not sure how many years I've been year, but this is by far my favourite pbp RPG site. Thanks to all of you who make this happen!

Peace,
Ayrn

[tomcat]

Hey Ayrn - it has been eight years since you joined the site!

My feedback will contradict some - I had no problem with the party split. In truth, it gave our PC's something to do as outsiders in a very Beorning-centric Adventure Phase. I also liked the battle rules  - after I really gave them a solid read and allowed my brain to process, instead of the previous glance-over and let the LM do the work! 

Sorry for not doing my part in that process.

Back to my comments - even though Esgalwen has been a long time companion of Grimbeorn, she was not a Beorning and it was difficult to be anything but an observer in a crowd. All the other primary roles changed in this phase - Arbogast went home to allow for Paul to be LM; Moriruse disappeared and Tom created Hathcyn; and of course, Bandy and Rorin were NPC's who only played a brief part in the phase. So, the split in party worked for me, as it allowed Tate and I to be independent of having to wait for what Grimbeorn was going to command  or demand. Although I like The One Ring mechanics, I am not concerned if the Fellowship is not a cohesive group for one or two phases.

It was one of the reasons I was writing Esgalwen the way I was - due to her dwindling hope and the departure of her friends - she had become lonely, unsure, and even a bit scared. Yes, Grimbeorn was there but he was no longer a friend beside her, but a figurehead that was tending to his people. Tate was her only companion that she could attach to and so them going off together was necessary - at least in my opinion.

The immersion was great! As Tom said above, it was a very vivid detailing of Beorning life - the names, the games, the traditions, and the songs. All well done and now a bar that I will have to step up to and try to reach! 

So, I say great job and I look forward to you taking the seat again in the future.

[Posterboy]

8 years! Wow! Hard to believe. Well, like I said, super glad to have found this site! It has been a gift.
Sadly (for me), I am going to need to take a break. With so much junk going on here -- bleh -- I need to focus on the family here at home (I've got 6 of them begging me to run a Voltron RPG, and 4 of them hoping we'll revisit a 5e DnD game.)
Hopefully, I can join up again at the next year-end. So many stories to tell!
Doug, feel free to use Tate as needed for story purposes. I'll just keep populating Middle Earth with my progeny.
Peace,
Ayrn

[tomcat]

Before anyone goes anywhere, I need EVERYONE to unlink your characters from Paul's campaign in the Profiler and request to join #33.

This includes you Ayrn for all characters you have roaming about Middle-earth.

[GandalfOfBorg]

I'll respond more over the holidays, still working way too many hours.

[Telcontar]

Done

[Eclecticon]

Thanks guys.  All feedback is good, but not all feedback is this good to hear!  

Some specific points:

The combat scenes seemed to add to the story instead of being the focus.

Yeah.  The original characters (and Tate, who was built to match them) are all at a point now where they can win just about any fight they get into, so to keep the sense of uncertainty a fight needs to be about more than just killing the other guy.  So in this adventure, the question wasn't 'can you win', but 'can you win while keeping your followers alive', or 'can you win while achieving broader political objectives'.  

Incidentally, the duel between Grimbeorn and Thunar, with weapons stuck into the ground and the objective being to break shields or disarm the other guy, is a scene I've had kicking around my head since the last time I played D&D, back in 2004 or so.  I was so pleased to finally get to use it!  

One of the things I like about the game is taking what's written in Tolkien or in the books and expanding the bubble of detail and reality.

I think this story arc did a fantastic job of bringing the Beornings to live. We got an idea of their culture, their ways and laws, society structure and were also able to contrast that with the Vigs and Woodmen to see how they were different. I think we gave them their own distinct identity with an almost Icelandic Commonwealth feel to them as a people.

You noticed!  Yeah, I kept thinking of the Icelanders whenever I read about the Beornings.  I think it's interesting how they're very strong as a culture but politically knit together only by personal loyalty to Beorn.  I had a suspicion that if Beorn were taken away they'd become quite fragile, and having Grimbeorn in the party, and with a low Standing for his lineage, gave me the chance to put that front and centre.  There's a line - I think it's in The Heart of the Wild - along the lines of "one king leads to another king", which also informed the story.  Having come together under Beorn, the Beornings need to reach an agreement on the next in line before he dies or they may tear themeslves apart as each thegn tries to succeed the Old Bear.  

Incidentally, Grimbeorn still isn't quite at the same Standing level as the more powerful thegns (who are ~Standing 5), so there's still room for a truly ambitious one to dispute his claim to Beorn's seat.  And Grimbeorn's recent rise to prominence just means that, instead of being an obstacle to such a man, he's now an active threat...  

More broadly, I'm with you on expanding the detail and reality of the setting.  Making fantastic places seem real is perhaps the part of gaming that I enjoy the most, and after venturing into various hearts of darkness to fight Ringwraiths and terrible remnants of prior ages, I thought that the campaign might benefit from a change of pace - an adventure where the PCs are essentially not leaving their home turf, most adversaries are evil (or just misguided) Men and part of the tension comes from the actual, unforgiving requirements of an agrarian society.  

I did not mind the mythic battles rules, but I would like to use them again before making a final judgement. Paul's point about the end being arbitrary I think was a design concept.
<SNIP>  
I'd like to give them another shot as a group now that we have all touched them once.

I also liked the battle rules  - after I really gave them a solid read and allowed my brain to process, instead of the previous glance-over and let the LM do the work!  

I think my main problem with the battle rules is that I keep holding them up against the mass combat rules from Pendragon, which are a work of a genius designer at the top of his game.  They give the same feeling of being a participant in a much larger event, but allow lots of room for individual stories to develop – characters get pushed around the field of battle, but can choose the tactics of their own unit to respond, and there are plenty of opportunities for heroic actions.  

I think that the latter could be added in to the Mythic Battles by two things:
1. giving the PCs special manoeuvres to attempt, in the same way that basic combat does, and
2. allowing a special opportunity to do something that might affect the overall battle on a for a Battle roll.  

I'll have to noodle around and see whether I can come up with some interesting options by the next time we get ourselves into a major scrap.  

Incidentally, the skirmish rules that I was using on the back end for the skirmish at the steading are also swiped from Pendragon.  I'll post the whole lot up in the Resources thread when I get a minute.  

I had no problem with the party split. In truth, it gave our PC's something to do as outsiders in a very Beorning-centric Adventure Phase.
<SNIP>
It was one of the reasons I was writing Esgalwen the way I was - due to her dwindling hope and the departure of her friends - she had become lonely, unsure, and even a bit scared. ... Tate was her only companion that she could attach to and so them going off together was necessary - at least in my opinion.

The only real criticism I have is that the party was divided for most of the story.

Ye gods, the split caused me so much work – especially when people went off in different directions and time started passing at different rates!  I've attached the spreadsheet I ended up using to keep track of what was supposed to be happening when.  By happy accident, it ended up helping the feeling I was going for with Matt – having dispatched Doug and Aryn south, he didn't have a lot of time to keep up with what they were doing, apart from having a general sense of danger and uncertainty, so he just had to trust his own judgement that delegating you guys to go take care of something really important was the right thing to do.  I didn't realise that all this was going on until he admitted that he had no idea what the story was with Oderic during the scene at the Carrock.  

So, narratively satisfying.  But guys, let's not make a habit of splitting the party.  Loremasters don't grow on trees, and burnout can be a real issue.  

Your addition of some great poetry and living into a specific manner of speech for the Beornings was awesome.

Aaaaw, cheers mate!  I wanted this to feel like a story that would be told sometime in the early Fourth Age about how Grimbeorn came to lead his people – hence the doggerel at the start of each sub-chapter.  And the manner of speech is something I try to do as often as possible to reflect a general Northman use of language (you'll notice that Arbogast talks the same way, too) 'cause see comments above about making the place feel real.  Verisimilitude, yo.  

[Eclecticon]

Wow! Yea, the roller hates us.   

I think if the last adventure phase had continued, the roller would have had Esgalwen falling on her sword.

I was using the Eye Awareness rules (from Rivendell) throughout the adventure, and thought that when the party split it would be the end of that mattering.  Suffice to say, the die roller had other ideas.  Even with half the base awareness, you and Aryn managed to roll enough s to trigger a revelation episode at the riverbank - hence the sudden death of Wiliferd.  You were pretty close to another one during the final battle, too, despite the high threshold for being in Wild Lands.