OOC THREAD

[GandalfOfBorg]

... the first people, in what would be a long long line, to tell the English to F off and have it stick.

(Laughs in French.)

I think you mean:

[Eclecticon]

I do indeed!

Anyway, enjoy your fireworks, guys.

[Telcontar]

Hey Paul hopefully you guys arent getting rained out again.

[Eclecticon]

Well, we front-loaded all the misery and disappointment this time around.  The rain started on Monday evening and finally stopped about mid-afternoon on Wednesday.  What would've been Firstborn's first time rock-climbing got rained out and we ended up decamping to the nearest town on Wednesday for a cafe lunch (in the warm and dry). 

But afterwards, there was a bit of this gear:

[Telcontar]

Gentlemen,
 I was looking at the character sheets in dropbox. I'm wondering if we should do an extended Fellowship phase in order to get our shadow points under control? Is there anything pressing in game that is under a time crunch that would prevent us from doing so? What kind of risk are we running allowing the forces at play against us?

[Eclecticon]

Once you're done with this adventure, the next one won't kick off until the summer of 2959.  There's plenty of time for an extended Fellowship phase unless there's a particular thing that you guys wanted to do. 

[Telcontar]

Ahh so we do live!

[Eclecticon]

That much, at this point, is pretty certain.  Unlesss something goes completely tits-up, there's basically no more peril to your characters.  But can they prevent defeat from being snatched from the very jaws of victory???

[GandalfOfBorg]

Uh, the dice roller can for sure.

[Eclecticon]

As always, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the adventure - what worked, what didn't, whether you had any favourite bits or there was a part you loathed, etc. etc.  Feel free to PM me if you'd like to say anything in confidence. 

Coming up: a Fellowship Phase.

[Telcontar]

Paul,
I really liked this adventure. As we talked about before I enjoyed the new travel rules and I think they make travel much more interesting. I really got a sense for how terrible mirkwood was and how it was just eating up our characters. I also enjoyed that the adventure didnt end and we still had to deal with the journey back. I think that was an appropriate touch.

Take some LM kudos out of petty cash and have yourself a beer!

[tomcat]

To restate what we talked about in PM...

Thanks, Paul - great job this chapter. I felt Esgalwen's struggles. I have been there in life where you have NO desire to make the next step, or pick up the next thing, but you HAVE to. You created that feeling in the narrative.

I am trying to make Esgalwen not a whiny PC, always lingering on the life she gave up for the life she lives, but that is what I think would be her biggest obsession. Should I go home, or shouldn't I? Should I marry outside my bloodline, or shouldn't I? Should I choose the life of a woman, or continue the pursuits of a man's life (I know... I know... women can do anything men can do. But M-E is still set in days when each gender had its relative place). Every new scar makes me less appealing. Will I still be able to have children with how much I have harmed my body? Is there time?

Anyway, I am trying to give her new things to fear and obsess over, but these are the primary things that come to mind - and it is getting repetitive. Maybe because I am a man trying to think like a woman and these seem the most likely worries, but who knows. My wife would probably shake her head at me on this stuff.

All of this said, the chapter was great. The encounters were creepy and each action taken was a worry that it might trigger the wrong result, so bravo!!

Arbogast's Bout of Madness took me by surprise, as well. I knew we were all rolling in corrupted places, but I did not pay too much attention to the other PC's scores. It was a cool surprise. I enjoyed the potential of Esgalwen also turning on him due to her weariness. Cruel acts and words done in times of terrible stress and tension... very cool!

[Eclecticon]

Thank you both.  I worried that it got a bit repetitive - I was running out of ways to say 'everything aches and you can't see your hand in front of your damn face and you couldn't give LESS OF A SHIT whether this bumbling wizard thinks you're nearly there'.

I also thought having things end on a dramatic social challenge played with expectations a little.  I'm trying to mix up the 'go here, beat up whatever you find, bring back the macguffin' style of fantasy RPG storytelling.

[GandalfOfBorg]

I thought it interesting, a good story.  All the more reason Grimbeorn not wanting to leave his lands now but also the worry of his friend's fey nature and weariness of the world.  Suitable time for an elf that at least partially understands this weight upon one's heart.

[tomcat]

I will need the new characters uploaded to the Dropbox folder so that I can add them to the dropdown list.

Actually, some quick questions:

1) Does anyone use the dropdown for their character?

2) How about the resources dropdown?

3) Is there anything you guys would like added to our resources that might help our games?

Let me know.