Yes, I totally want to RP out this one. And tomorrow over PM is totally good.
Sounds good! I'll make the joint post notification, then.
Etienne is currently in conversation with two tavern NPCs, Sam and Oliver. Other player characters may call for his attention, but if they do this, we'll have to work them into the convo.
This doesn't mean that other player characters cannot interact with other GM-run NPCs. Only Sam and Oliver are busy.
So then, question. Two private convos are about to take place, but some characters haven't made their entrance yet. At what point is it too late for someone to ask if their character can join in a specific convo? And is there any way that we can notate that point, like making a hold post?
It's never too late to join a conversation. Think of it as a cocktail party. People form small groups, holding semi-private conversations. Anyone can walk up to any established conversation and join in, but breaking off the conversation mid-sentence to go chat up somebody who just arrived is rather odd.
Actually, the cocktail party analogy pretty much sums up the whole joint post thing. And yes, people who arrive at 9 will not be able to sample the canapes that were served at 8, but that doesn't prevent them from helping themselves to the buffet.
If somebody wants to hold a post, they absolutely may do so.
Suppose that somebody wants to catch Etienne before he goes upstairs, but after he's done talking to Sam and Oliver. That person could say so here, but it might be better to post "I approach Etienne and wave to let him know I'm there, but I don't intrude on his conversation unless invited to do so" in the game thread. That lets everyone know his or her intentions in a way that won't break anyone's immersion. If we want to bring him or her into the private RP, we can, but if we're wrapping things up, we might just let it run its course and let Etienne talk to that person afterward.
Edit: This feels really strange, like I'm explaining how to engage in smalltalk or typing out instructions about boiling an egg. But I suppose I shouldn't assume that everyone plays in flexible campaigns. I've played with tabletop groups where we had to use a "talking stick" to make sure that only one person was talking at a time.
I thought about breaking it up into separate "gameplay" and "role-play" threads, but that seemed too disruptive for my inner critic. Yes, dice rolling and game mechanics will intrude and sully our pure RP experience, but keeping the RP in RPG seemed important to me. Does anyone else agree?
If not, I can split the thread into mechanics and RP, but IMO, we're better off treating the occasional bouts of game mechanics as a necessary evil and getting on with it.
As for breaking it down into individual character threads, I feel that would isolate players too much. We all have many demands on our time. How long would it be before we all got super busy and stopped checking game threads that didn't have our character names in the title? And besides, with 8 players in the game (I told fiance to GTFO*), it would soon degenerate into me creating 8 slightly different variations of exactly the same posts, and that was not something I wanted to do.
*No, our relationship isn't in crisis. For some reason, EA refused to let him register for the forums, despite the fact that he has never registered here before so could not possibly be IP banned (we use the same IP address, with only minor variations and I don't have so much as a single warning point, so that made no sense whatsoever). Given the fact that he would never be able to register under his own name, and given the fact that he's already playing the tabletop version of this very campaign and would be going in utterly spoiled on everything, and given the fact that he hates, hates, HATES verbal roleplaying, I decided that we might be better off letting Tessa be our sole 2H warrior.
About the fiance - that sucks! 
Tell him it's a shame he can't join us!
About everything else - sounds perfectly fine.
There are some really cool things happening in the "Background and Pre-Game RP" thread!
It sounds as if there are two potential joint post/private RP requests underway.
In the first, it seems as if Tess is inviting Auren and/or Laurelin to join her for dinner and conversation. Laurelin has accepted the invite. They could RP it out in the game thread itself, but that might become confusing if more isolated conversations interrupt them. It might be better for them to take it to PM or Skype and RP it out privately and then post the result as a joint post. If they decide to go this route, one or the other of the players should drop a line here to let the other players know that their characters are involved in some private RP and are temporarily busy.
Yes It would be better if we did it this way,although we should wait for Auren to make his entrance,before RPing this out with Bramblefae,his approach and reactions will give many RP possibilities between the 3 of us.
Different players have different playing styles. Some players like to really delve into the RP aspect, others just want to skip to the action. Neither is wrong, and I do try to accommodate both styles.
You only *have* to post once a week (except during combat). The only posts that you really have to read are going to be marked "Plot Post" or "Combat Post Round X" in blue font and they'll be posted every Saturday. Unflagged RP posts are there for our entertainment and are optional.
The Background and RP thread is there for flavor. You could skip the whole thing and wait for the official game to start. Once the game starts, you could read only the plot posts and make one game post per week. You would miss RP stuff, but you could still play the game without falling behind. Or you could switch back and forth between more and less active roleplaying as your schedule and inclinations allow. As long as you read the plot post and respond once a week, you're good.
There are also going to be times when RL is too overwhelming for even once-weekly posts. If that happens, let people know that you will be away and unavailable for a given interval. I'll probably post a vacation thread once the game gets moving to allow people to plan their absences better. If a player leaves standing orders ("I designate solaas to play my character for me" or "I keep up with the party, and I participate in combat as per my usual tactics), they're still in the game and they can dive back in when they return. If they don't leave standing orders, there are places in the campaign where characters can disappear for a while to be reintroduced later. Even in tabletop roleplaying, players miss weeks periodically.
Okay I skimmed the background thread. Wow! That's a lot! I'll have to read it over tomorrow. To be honest I thought we were only going to be posting once a week. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up with this pace, but I'll let y'all know if I have to drop out.
Honestly, Artemis, don't feel pressured. There's no hurry, honestly.
We'll go at whatever pace suits the group, I imagine. Also, maybe keep in mind that while the activity may seem a bit frenetic right now, it'll settled once the party's actually a party. You know, once all the introductions are made and we all come together in a group.
Yup, I'm always big on the RP part and then when the combat starts, it'll be something along the lines of "..Etienne holds his action..." 
If you want to wait it out, you could go ahead and let the other two RP out their encounter (maybe even included in the PM so you can watch) and judge what you'd like to do based on how that goes. Replies and whatnot go a lot faster than what you might think.
Maker, no!!!!! I've been trying to "modify" this campaign, as in "turn it into a mod" and I got the whole village layout done apart from fenceposts and garden plots... and the toolset crashed.
*ugly sobs*
(And what's worse, it looks as if I'm not going to be able to recover from this without a hard boot. Ick.)
Maker, no!!!!! I've been trying to "modify" this campaign, as in "turn it into a mod" and I got the whole village layout done apart from fenceposts and garden plots... and the toolset crashed.
*ugly sobs*
(And what's worse, it looks as if I'm not going to be able to recover from this without a hard boot. Ick.)
Ack! Oh man. Ack. *hug*?
Thanks for the sympathy. It helps... a little.
I'm developing a deep dislike of terrain levels, though. Fortunately, this adventure has a limited number of them.
But a thought occurs to me. I've been writing all the follower NPCs, but it occurs to me that I don't have to be a creativity hog. This gaming group contains writers who have well developed characters, and I can code. If you've always wanted to write a follower NPC but you were daunted by technicalities, here's your chance.
I split the topic to keep this thread game-related. Mostly.
For anyone contemplating thievery, keep in mind that actions have consequences. A failed pickpocketing attempt means that your mark noticed your touch.
(dropping back in for a moment to leave this here and modify the game post to add the stranger to the list of pickpocket marks)
I'll see if I can reopen the thread, but I'm on my phone so no promises.
You don't have to; I'm just not sure if I'm supposed to reply to her in the new thread. If not, what do I do?
Reply in the new thread. Kesla asked the party to check out the farm.
For anyone contemplating thievery, keep in mind that actions have consequences. A failed pickpocketing attempt means that your mark noticed your touch.
(dropping back in for a moment to leave this here and modify the game post to add the stranger to the list of pickpocket marks)
But I want to steal someones pants! 
Reply in the new thread. Kesla asked the party to check out the farm.
Okay, when do we start rolling dice and stuff?
Okay, when do we start rolling dice and stuff?
Berelinde posted this in the Vacation thread earlier today:
.. And I'll start the thread with my own AFK message. I'll be away from my computer from now until tomorrow morning. Please carry on without me. I'll be back to fill in GM responses in the morning.
Berelinde, when you get a chance to see this~ what is the name of Keeper Orrel's clan?
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