OOC THREAD

[Posterboy]

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.

I have requested Tate, Stig and Kilic join Campaign #33. Feel free to use them as you wish. I'm not sure what happened to Idunn's or Kol's sheets.

I think Kol could end up stirring up trouble for Grimbeorn and his companions. The Barding has had lots of time to brood over the Wolfslayer robbing him of his life's destiny.

I'm going to be following along closely... I think it should be a riot to read this assembled fellowship navigate the political intrigue of Dale.

[Eclecticon]

Kolbeinn was in my profiler file - I've requested to port him over as well. 

[tomcat]

I have everyone but Idunn and Grimbeorn, as well as the two new players.

[Eclecticon]

Matt needed to duplicate Grimbeorn's character sheet, for some reason - the one he's been working with is Grimbeorn2 on the profiler.  I suspect that Grimbeorn Classic is still kicking around there somewhere. 

[Telcontar]

Doug,
 Does this mean you will be taking us through Laughter of Dragons? If so I'll refrain from reading the pdf when I preorder the book.

[Posterboy]

When is Laughter of Dragons supposed to come out?

[tomcat]

Doug,
Does this mean you will be taking us through Laughter of Dragons? If so I'll refrain from reading the pdf when I preorder the book.

This is very much a possibility, Tom! 

I will let you know when I have the PDF in hand and scan through it to see if I can bring any side-story arcs into the game. If not, I will let you know so you, too, can enjoy your new book.

When is Laughter of Dragons supposed to come out?

They said it wills be available for pre-order next week, which hopefully includes the PDF release.

Now Ayrn - I need to know what is going on.

In the last few threads, you have stated you are stepping back from the game for a while - sounding like almost a year - to do family stuff. You posted to have Idunn and Tate return home, so they would be active parts of M-E, but nothing that anyone has to deal with in running them as NPC's.

All of this is cool - I am fine with your RL needs, as we all are with any player that needs to take care of family first. But I am confused as to what to do, since you told me to add the narrative for Tate's year-end, but then brought him back to the work on the road. Then you changed it again and said he would instead go with Esgalwen.

I am not complaining - I just need to know what you and your PC's want to do. Either way is fine with me, but I don't want to write narrative/dialogue and then have the whole line turned around. I actually liked the idea of Tate staying, after all, and Esgalwen going off on her own. It feels more right with their stories - her being a noble-born Gondorian who won't commit and him wanting more, but being brushed off.

Now after a while, who knows what can happen when they reacquaint, but again that is to be seen and I do not know if you are around to play the character. I do not want to have to run two characters.

So - please let me know if you are going to be around to play and if not, where is Tate going. Thanks!!

[Posterboy]

Hey Doug,

Sorry that I am not being clear.

I do imagine that I need to take a break for playing online here in a consistent way. I'm not sure how long exactly, but it was my intention to sit out of the next adventure phase.

Regarding this Fellowship phase, I was under a misunderstanding of the rules regarding Working on the Dwarven Road... namely, that we all had to be part of it in order to open it... therefore, because other players were noting their intention to Work on the Road, I noted my agreement that working the road sounded like a fine idea, with the assumption that all the characters were working the road, especially Esgalwen... because Tate's primary affection and loyalty lay with Esgalwen.

So, I was caught off guard when you wrote that Esgalwen and Tate were moving in different directions, especially when Esgalwen's direction was Laketown and Dale. I think Tate would have dropped the road work in a heartbeat to follow after Esgalwen and head home... the road be damned.

Anyway... I can live with what you have written and will make it work... I'm not interested in you having to rewrite your story.

I would request that Tate and Kilic be unavailable as NPC's for at least the next adventure phase. I envision Tate finishing up his work on the road with the intention to catch up with Esgalwen in Dale.

On his way to Dale, he stops in Laketown and meets up with his previous companions, Kilic and Hobson. They inform him that merchants from Dorwinion were looking for Tate's father or his father's heir... apparently, Tate's father made a business investment in Dorwinion and that venture has had some kind of windfall. This piques Tate's interest and he invites his companions to join him.

Kilic is eager to return home and agrees immediately. Hobson is less eager and resists the invitation. He's a King's man now and his loyalty is to Bard and Dale.

Because the merchant train is leaving with haste from Laketown for Dorwinion, Tate requests Hobson seek out Esgalwen in Dale and deliver to her a gift and letter from the minstrel. Until I actually find the time to write that letter for Tate, we can assume that Hobson hasn't located Esgalwen. When Hobson does finally find the Ranger if the gift has a game mechanic benefits, great. If not, it's the sentiment.

From there, as you said, Doug, we can wait and see what happens between Tate and Gwen. Regardless, it definitely leaves you free from having to write for Tate (or Kilic).

Does that sound good?
Ayrn

[tomcat]

Sounds great, Ayrn!

We'll get them back together in Dale after Tate takes a season working on the road.

The new FELLOWSHIP thread that is locked and stickied is where you guys will see the following information:

• What role you have assigned your PC
• Who their Fellowship Focus is
• What the current Fellowship Pool is at*
• What the current Awareness is for the Company

Also, I will be listing the completed Undertakings for each PC and what benefits they bring to the Company, or what tasks have been completed. If anyone sees something I have missed, let me know!  

Jacob and Mike - I need you guys to transfer your characters to my Campaign in the Profiler. It is # 33. If you need help with this, let me know.

Jacob - I need some background info as to why Eomund is in the Anduin Vale among the Wood-men Clans. Is he traveling with a merchant caravan, or doing something personal?

*about the Fellowship Pool: In the books, the Fellowship Pool is available to the characters by consensus and it allows them to re-stock their used Hope points. The pool is re-filled at each new gaming session. This has been a challenge for PbP gameplay, as we do not have clearly defined 'gaming sessions'. So, I will be date the pool each time it is re-stocked, and it will be filled once every two real life weeks. We will consider this span of time a 'gaming session', because I would estimate we get an equal amount of content done in two weeks that we would in a night of gaming around a table. Please give me any arguments to this thought, if you think it should be shorter or longer.

[Telcontar]

Doug,
We can try it but I think two weeks maybe too short. I have liked the way the paucity of hope has changed and developed the story. At the
Ment i dont have a better suggestion though.

[tomcat]

I have consolidated the Tale of Years into the new FELLOWSHIP thread.

You guys will have the ability to add to is as you like.

[tomcat]

Okay, the new FELLOWSHIP and TALE OF YEARS thread is mostly complete. I have a few things to add for Weal and Woe benefits and Holding statuses.

The post I do after that will be our introductory scene for our new chapter.

I am sending out a post once last time to Jacob to give me some insight as to why his Rohirrim is up north. If there is no reply, I am going to not include the character in the introductory story-arc.

We can try it but I think two weeks maybe too short. I have liked the way the paucity of hope has changed and developed the story. At the moment I don't have a better suggestion though.

Tom, I extended it to three weeks. We shall see how that works. And I agree with you, having the limited resource makes us more careful in their use.

[Eclecticon]

I would argue that almost any time period would seem arbitrary.  I'd prefer to divvy it up based on the progress of the story - i.e. refreshing the Fellowship pool after significant plot developments where you might end a session.  F'rex, in the last adventure I might have called a refresh after Esgalwen and Tate crossed the river and Grimbeorn and Hathcyn went north to the Viglundings, and another one after you all reunited.  Or maybe just the latter - I also think that it shouldn't refresh too often, and that having to keep a close eye on our Hope use has driven good play so far. 

That said, I'll go with whatever you decide. 

[GandalfOfBorg]

I'm fine for giving it a try.  Running low on Hope especially using it as a means to help protect my group has been difficult, especially since encountering the big spider at Milfort.

[tomcat]

Well, no matter how often it is refreshed - just having this marker now in place where everyone can watch and see it has been a long time coming. As a pool of available points, it makes it a little easier to use a hope when you know you can immediately replace it, even if the pool itself isn't refreshed until the end of the current thread.

I just think having a Fellowship Point pool visible makes it easier for PC's to make a decision. Maybe that is just me? Unless of course, you play a culture that adds to the pool but cannot draw from it! 

I also think that it shouldn't refresh too often, and that having to keep a close eye on our Hope use has driven good play so far.

I agree with you here, Paul, too! I think that Hope is a resource that shouldn't just be used willy nilly - there needs to be caution, otherwise the fear of Shadow becomes less.

But, we do see Matt's PC aggressively burning points to aid in beating back the foes.

So, let's see how it goes and we'll adjust as needed so that our good game play continues - the feeling of overwhelming struggle.