Matt, 39, remarried, 2+1 kids
Systems engineer that develops avionics for fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft
LOTR/ST/SW/Firefly fan
Avid gamer since '92-93
Worked with Doug on the webzines for the late Decipher LOTR and ST RPGs
Developed my own basic system reference for the CODA system and created a Harry Potter RPG
Currently GMing 2nd Ed 7th Sea

Tom, 38, I too do government stuff. I have been RPGing since middle school. Might have started earlier but the kid in Fifth grade with the Redbook PH was really wierd. I am interested in all kinda of games and systems. I got started with Doug through his webzine when I was jonesing for a game while overseas. I played D&D2ed for years took a break and wanted alternatives to D&D. Currently not in a table game because of work requirements. I'm mostly done with my masters in History and need to write the damned thesis. (Merovingian Kingship)
I live in Massachusetts and usually type my posts on my cellphone or iPad, i swear my grammar and spelling are not as bad as I fat finger type these posts.

Cool stuff, thanks guys. 

Matt, how dos 2nd ed 7th Sea compare to the first one?  I got deep into the first edition - bought and read all the nation books and a fair swack of the secret societies - before coming to a gradual decision that the system didn't work for me.  I liked the flavour of the swordsman schools and the various types of sorcery, but there were just too many skills to keep track of.  Likewise, I eventually decided that the real 17th century was a lot more interesting to read about (c.f. the Baroque Cycle).  I noticed the kickstarter for the second edition but just didn't have the time or money to justify pledging.  I'm interested to hear what's changed, though. 

The system is geared more for supplementing role-playing instead of roll-playing even though you still use dice.  Its been a difficult transition for my players to get used to not being so tactical with their play but to let their dice help influence their actions instead of dictating their actions. The system is nowhere near as crunchy as it used to be but there is a great ability of customization for character creation and taking actions.  There are 2 types of actions: Dramatic and Action.  Encounters are run as one of these types of actions and  the players act/react accordingly.

Well, this will be the big 50 for me this year!

I am married with four kids - 1 lives back in Florida with her fiance, 1 is finishing college this year at Ohio University, and then a 13 year old, and a 6 year old.  
I work in finance - I am Series 6/26 LVa licensed and help families plan for their future. I am also a guitarist/singer in a band called Cadence, and finally I work with another company as their accountant.

Games I play - LotR [CODA] / LotR [TOR] / Star Trek [CODA] / Star Wars [Saga] / D&D 5e / Stormbringer [Chaosium]

I started playing D&D back in the early 80's when the boxed sets first hit the stores (basic and advanced) and then Christmas brought the first edition books. I have been hooked ever since. From D&D I went to Stormbringer and have been playing a homebrew based on that mechanic (and pretty much nothing else) until Decipher released Lord of the Rings. That was my first foray into Tolkien's world. From there, I added Star Trek because I like the genre and the CODA rules are really great.

With the release of the Force Unleashed, I decided it was time to try some Star Wars gaming and so I bought all the Saga stuff. Finally, Decipher went bust and I figured I'd at least look at TOR - and here we are.

I sold a bunch of stuff on Ebay - including my original 1st edition D&D stuff plus all the 3.0 books I had and took the money from that to invest in 5e - and I like it. I use it on Roll20 now.

Anyway, that is my gaming history.

Matt [GoB] and I met on the old Decipher boards around 2003 when we started working together on the webzines for LOTR and ST. He joined me on my boards here to play and we've been doing it ever since. Along the way some players came and left, but the good ones stayed - Tom! I wish Shawn had stuck around, but he moved on with the birth of his child. Finally, Paul joined us and here we are - a freaking story-telling machine!

Just returned from North Carolina - it was fantastic! We spent three days rolling dice, stopping only to eat, sleep, and take care of personal needs. I attached some pics in my next post, but this one has one of me and my world.

I will have a game post up tonight or tomorrow.

Here was the fun of North Carolina.

We rented a cabin at a halfway point for me and my old gaming buddies (we each live in different states now) to meet and play. It was a blast! Only John is not seen, as he was taking the pics.

Four days of gaming...we will be doing this again next year!

Cool beans.  Looks like you had your own mini-con going!

Also, you have upped the ante with photographs.  I will respond in kind once I get access to my laptop. 

Dang man, you put a number to it... 14yrs!  That's longer than both marriages (so far) and any of my other friendships.  Well here's to another 14      

That's impressive.  I've only gamed with two people for that long, and one of them is my wife. 

Our tale of years really needs an updaye

We might want to take a tactical pause here and make sure all the game admin stuff is caught up.

What was the determination on the lenght of this narrative break in terms of game time?

Quote from: tomcat This thread is going to last as long as you guys want to interact with Beorn. Due to the fact that you are with Grimbeorn, there is no need for a set Encounter.

Feel free to elaborate and give me narrative and dialogue of your time here. You guys will be here until at least the Fall (end of August through September) as you heal and rest. Bandy, now is the time, too, that we can have you visit your Easterly Inn.

We will have our Fellowship Phase through all of this... each PC is awarded:

Each PC will earn the number of AP equal to what is checked off on their sheet plus 5

Each PC will earn 6 XP

NO Holdings roll necessary right now. I am just leaving the following details for future FELLOWSHIPS to cut and paste.


• if the die roll result is equal to or less than the Holding's rating, you earned enough income to keep your PC's current standard of living.

• if the roll is greater than the rating, the PC gains his standard of living and treasure equal to the difference of the die roll and the rating.

• if the roll is , the PC earns his standard of living and the rating of the holding is reduced by 1 due to some good fortune.

• if the roll is , the holding suffers some disaster of misfortune. If the hero does not take action the next Fellowship Phase, the holding may be destroyed, or have its rating increased.

You guys are entering Grimbeorn's home in the latter part of August. I have you guys resting and healing for a number of weeks - until the end of September. So, six weeks downtime.

During this time, too, will be the Fellowship Phase that will allow for some short Undertakings. We will be having a long Fellowship phase after this next chapter - it will be a couple years long (as I don't really think the next two chapters of the DoM are worth the time to spend on them - they are very repetitive).

So, after this Fellowship - you guys can go to the Easterly Inn, look into helping Esgalwen save her Ranger companion, AND we will follow the storyline in DoM about finding the Werewolf of Mirkwood.

Once done, if your PC wants to go home, help Rorin and Bofri on the road, stay with the Hobbits at the Easterly Inn, etc - you can. This will be the ample time to introduce another PC, if that is desired. Your old PC- unless killed - will still be a viable piece of our story and one you can jump back to when you want.

I am starting a FELLOWSHIP thread just so everyone can post their use of XP/AP.

After that, I will be starting the new chapter and tying everyone back together.

Cool?

Doug,
Thanks for clearing that up. I had a draft post for Bandy but will revise that as its more fitting for the longer break. Which is what Bandy needs by the way. I imagine he had a hollow eyed Somme look.

C'mon, guys - my post is getting lonely! 

Also, I'm going to be on a camping holiday from the 26th to the 30th of June.  I'll probably have net access sometime around mid-week, but I'll otherwise be incommunicado. 

I will be posting new content today, Paul.