OOC THREAD

[tomcat]

Aly, did you create the name Laeral or is there an Elven translation of which you are aware?

Looking up the components of the name in the Sindarin Dictionary, I see Laer is a prefix for either season of summer, or song. There is no suffix al, but I do find a prefix ael which stands for lake, pool, or mere.

So, I have no problem making the prefix a suffix and making the translation of your character's name as either:

summer pool (or lake)  --or-- song of water

Something like that?

Let me know what you have, or what you like and we will make it a part of the PC. Having a High Elf in Tolkien's world has a lot of meaning as the characters are usually a big part of the history and so these kind of things can help define her past.

[AlyC]

I created the name. I will go with Song of water. Thanks

[tomcat]

With the challenges everyone was having with the Google Drive account, I went ahead and moved the files back to Dropbox. You each should have received an email to invite you to my Dropbox RPG folder.

[Eclecticon]

Doug, have you had any further thoughts about additional XP and AP for Laeral?  I think Aly may be waiting for her to be complete before she brings her fully on stage. 

[tomcat]

Let's go ahead and start her with 50 points in each to spend. See what she looks like after that, but that should get her some better skill ranks and either weapon or Wisdom/Valour increases.

[Eclecticon]

Generous!  I'll help Aly spend them and then we should see Laeral come fully into the story.

[Eclecticon]

Cool - but not quite the right place for it.  Doug, are you able to move the post or does she need to re-do it in the story thread?

[Telcontar]

Welcome to the game. This is a great narrative campaign over the long run so just try to wait through the dry spells.

As for playing a High Elf.....

I found it really hard to balance the inherent age and background of the High Elves against the skill stats that a player receives while also presenting a believable character. I think for a player character the easiest path is to select a younger elf with less experience and also have them been moved or motivated to action by an event or personal calling that breaks them from their normal lives. We see very few younger elves in the Lord Of the Rings. Most of them are in a waiting pattern before they depart to the west. Kinda like the folks who order another beer after the bar lights come on, they just want to stay a little longer. I also did some reflection on the different types of Elves. Wood elves being the easiest to play, being less knowledgable and on the surface more akin to a human. Sindar elves are a little more complicated, but tied to Middle-earth so they too have the guardian mentality. Noldor elves are difficult. There are very few of them left, their motivations are complicated and deeply tied to history. We see very few pure Noldo elves take an active role in the Third Age.

Playing a Noldor elf I think the challenge is inferring deeper knowledge without bringing it up. Having a motivated specific goal or mission in mind. Something that would motivate someone with serial longevity to undertake risk at the expense of being isolated in the Halls of Mandos in the event of death. (The sons of Elrond are a good example.)Give them little involvement in past historical events so their is plausible ignorance or personal connection to those events. I guess also work with Doug a lot to bounce ideas off of and what you know and dont know so as to keep the character plausible and also mechanically grounded with the group. Doug is really good at weaving your ideas in that will still preserve the balance.

Take a look at Laws and Customs of the Eldar in History of Middle Earth Mogoth's Ring. Also the debate between Finrod and Andreth is a cool read to see opposing view points and understandings of the world.

Lastly, have fun with it and see if you can change your opinion about Elves or reveal something new about their culture. Be guided by cannon but also dont feel like everything has already been said. That probably sounds contradictory but that's the best I got.

[Telcontar]

Sorry if that sounded pedantic, I'm stuck in the house and I've been a Tolkien dork since the seventh grade.

[tomcat]

Hey guys, we just did a software update for the website and so we have temporarily lost my mods (as they are overwritten every time).

I will get everything fixed some time tomorrow, as we also have to make adjustments to the firewall and my VPN login. Sorry for the temporary inconvenience.

I am going to hold off on my post until I get the mods back in place, as I will need the rollers and stuff. While I am modding, is there anything you guys would like to see added in the menues?

Let me know by tomorrow, and I will see what I can add.

[tomcat]

Testing rollers

Rolled 1d6 : 2, total 2

DC -- skill info

1d20+8 : 8 + 8, total 16

2d6+2 : 4, 6 + 2, total 12

TN -- skill info

1d12 : 11, total 11
Rolled 3d6 : 2, 1, 2, total 5

     edge:     injury:

[tomcat]

Okay!

We should be back in business!

I will post shortly.

[tomcat]

Alright, there should be nothing else I need to add unless it is a request from one of you.

I added the characters back to the drop down and you can open the PC via this option, but it will allow you to look at the sheet only. If you want to edit your PC sheet, you will have to open it via Dropbox or on your computer if you have the Dropbox app installed.

If there are any questions or problems, please let me know.

Thanks!

[tomcat]

This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 1d6 : 4, total 4

[tomcat]

I will get the story updated tomorrow. We had a busy weekend with the announcement of my daughter's wedding date and all the planning that has started.