1
General Discussion /
« on: December 24, 2005, 11:03:04 am »
Everyone had a role. I myself didn\'t manage to kill anything, but it was still fun to fight on such an epic scale.
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2
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 24, 2005, 02:55:51 am »
The evil has been stopped, and to all congratulations. We will forever remember this day as the day the Prince of Rogues was defeated and order restored to Yliakum.
3
General Discussion /
« on: December 24, 2005, 02:54:38 am »
Tonight there was a massive event on Planeshift, run by the RM team. Long story short (will post long story later) an army of players marched on the Ojaveda to defeat a common enemy.
The army was made up of all sorts of players, and I think everybody had fun.
It really gave us a sense of unity to all be hunting the same thing: The Prince of Rogues and his Amulet of Darkness.
All-round fun for everyone involved, from the Roleplayers who got involved in the story to the PLers who got to battle an army of rogues.
We need more events like these, and I think Planeshift will have more.
Thanks all and good night
The army was made up of all sorts of players, and I think everybody had fun.
It really gave us a sense of unity to all be hunting the same thing: The Prince of Rogues and his Amulet of Darkness.
All-round fun for everyone involved, from the Roleplayers who got involved in the story to the PLers who got to battle an army of rogues.
We need more events like these, and I think Planeshift will have more.
Thanks all and good night
4
In-Game Roleplay Events / [Serdin Karakth]
« on: December 23, 2005, 05:16:43 pm »
There is more than one way to fight, I say. I warn you, I cannot see you succeeding with brute force, but I wish you luck and may the gods be with you.
I have an alternative plan. Those interested seek me out in Hydlaa.
I have an alternative plan. Those interested seek me out in Hydlaa.
5
In-Game Roleplay Events / [EVENT] An Amulet for a Prince
« on: December 23, 2005, 01:59:10 pm »
***From Serdin Karakth\'s Notes.***
I continue my recounting of the Troubled Times as I experienced them in my youth. Yesterday I left off with the Tale of rescuing Saradi, and tonight I shall write this account of the event that finally precipitated the Troubled Times.
It happened the week following the abduction and rescue of Saradi, and a little after the rescue of Trasok. I was relaxing with Goland in the plaza (if I recall correctly, we had both had a few ales, albeit Goland as always had got himself very drunk) when we here a deep, bellowing voice calling for someone to help finish a \"project.\" Our interest was immediately aroused (at the time I was paying for my own studies of magic by doing odd jobs here and there, and Goland, an aspiring gladiator, was similarly funding his weapons and training) and we rushed over to get the job before anyone else would. Our speed was in vain, for the Smith was looking for a group of travellers to guard, enchant, and deliver an amulet he had just made. He was an out-of-town smith, and to this day I have never seen him again. I suspect he was a travelling smith, and I suppose he was thus more suited to the task of making an Amulet than was Harnquist.
We were told our mission was a simple one: Take the amulet to be enchanted by Levrus, and then deliver it to a Klyros waiting on the Ojaveda road. It had been commissioned by a group of mages, we were told. And so, we set off to enchant the amulet.
At the Magic Shop we gave Levrus the order and the amulet, along with the money to reimburse him. He told us it was just a simple protection spell he was going to cast on the amulet. This put some of our worries to rest, but I was quickly in doubt of this whole expedition again when Levrus said something did no feel quite right with the amulet; that it felt hollow or somesuch. I begged him to research it further but he would not; in the end by pressure from my companions I reluctantly agreed to allow Levrus to proceed with the enchanting.
It went according to plan, and I volunteered to carry the amulet, since the others were wary of any taint it might carry. We had just left the shop when an icy cold wind blew at us, freezing the ground at our feet for a moment. At this point I was seriously uneasy about the whole errand we were running, and I tried to express this to my fellows. They, however, decided that we should continue on and deliver the amulet to the Klyros, deciding what to do then. Against my heart I followed them, and it was not too long before we found the Klyros we were seeking.
He was a weary one - looked as if he hadn\'t slept in days. I remember clearly his rasping voice as he said to me, \"You carry the amulet - I can sense it on you.\" That was enough for me to make me want to turn and run all the way back to Hydlaa, taking the amulet and all with me. But I did not. As I have said before, I was more foolish back then than I am now. I believed that if anything bad were to happen, we might just be able to contain it - Oh how wrong I was. Still, I had one grain of wisdom: I kept the amulet until we were well within sight of the Ojaveda main gate. We were told that bringing the amulet inside the gates could cause chaos, as the Klyros was part of some sort of Rangers of Mages group; from what I understood, freedom fighters against the Prince of Rogues.
Still, I demanded to have the guard present for the presentation of the amulet. The Klyros did go to fetch a guard, reluctantly. When the guard returned something happened - I forget now exactly what but I do remember him wilting in pain and somebody telling me he was drunk. Now, Goland and I had been drinking earlier, and I had stocked up well on certain Ivy leaves which when boiled and drunk purge the alcohol (and indeed anything else like poisons and whatnot) from the blood. I quickly administered these to the guard, but it did not help him at all - I now look back and realise he must have been under some sort of magical influence.
Regardless, I finally handed the amulet over to the Klyros, and it will be an action I curse myself for to my dying day. The Klyros immediately begin to cackle, and an evil darkness dropped around us, blocking out all senses. When it lifted, he was gone. In his stead a misty fog lay over the Ojaveda, its evil presence pressing against our minds. We rushed through the gates, in the hope of catching him, but all was in vain. We spent the entire night stumbling through the Ojaveda, chasing shadows and hunting whispers. But it was all in vain, and by morning we were forced to flee for our lives and warn the citizens of Hydlaa about the plague we had brought upon the land...
And that is the tale of how the Troubled Times began. Soon all the Enkidukai had heard of what took place in the Ojaveda. Some of them laughed, and shrugged their shoulders, saying they would face the evil if it came to Hydlaa. But many others had relatives in the Ojaveda - Relatives then trapped by the evil fog and the monsters that wandered it. The Enkidukai began to amass an army of great force, an army thirsting for vengeance. They gathered in their hundreds, and would soon march to lay siege to a city now coated with evil.
There were some brave and strong enough to defeat the monsters that guarded the city and wade through the fog - Most simply were engulfed by it and never seen again. But some others returned, with wild stories of strange icy winds and manic laughter in the mists. Yes, the Troubled Times had begun...
I continue my recounting of the Troubled Times as I experienced them in my youth. Yesterday I left off with the Tale of rescuing Saradi, and tonight I shall write this account of the event that finally precipitated the Troubled Times.
It happened the week following the abduction and rescue of Saradi, and a little after the rescue of Trasok. I was relaxing with Goland in the plaza (if I recall correctly, we had both had a few ales, albeit Goland as always had got himself very drunk) when we here a deep, bellowing voice calling for someone to help finish a \"project.\" Our interest was immediately aroused (at the time I was paying for my own studies of magic by doing odd jobs here and there, and Goland, an aspiring gladiator, was similarly funding his weapons and training) and we rushed over to get the job before anyone else would. Our speed was in vain, for the Smith was looking for a group of travellers to guard, enchant, and deliver an amulet he had just made. He was an out-of-town smith, and to this day I have never seen him again. I suspect he was a travelling smith, and I suppose he was thus more suited to the task of making an Amulet than was Harnquist.
We were told our mission was a simple one: Take the amulet to be enchanted by Levrus, and then deliver it to a Klyros waiting on the Ojaveda road. It had been commissioned by a group of mages, we were told. And so, we set off to enchant the amulet.
At the Magic Shop we gave Levrus the order and the amulet, along with the money to reimburse him. He told us it was just a simple protection spell he was going to cast on the amulet. This put some of our worries to rest, but I was quickly in doubt of this whole expedition again when Levrus said something did no feel quite right with the amulet; that it felt hollow or somesuch. I begged him to research it further but he would not; in the end by pressure from my companions I reluctantly agreed to allow Levrus to proceed with the enchanting.
It went according to plan, and I volunteered to carry the amulet, since the others were wary of any taint it might carry. We had just left the shop when an icy cold wind blew at us, freezing the ground at our feet for a moment. At this point I was seriously uneasy about the whole errand we were running, and I tried to express this to my fellows. They, however, decided that we should continue on and deliver the amulet to the Klyros, deciding what to do then. Against my heart I followed them, and it was not too long before we found the Klyros we were seeking.
He was a weary one - looked as if he hadn\'t slept in days. I remember clearly his rasping voice as he said to me, \"You carry the amulet - I can sense it on you.\" That was enough for me to make me want to turn and run all the way back to Hydlaa, taking the amulet and all with me. But I did not. As I have said before, I was more foolish back then than I am now. I believed that if anything bad were to happen, we might just be able to contain it - Oh how wrong I was. Still, I had one grain of wisdom: I kept the amulet until we were well within sight of the Ojaveda main gate. We were told that bringing the amulet inside the gates could cause chaos, as the Klyros was part of some sort of Rangers of Mages group; from what I understood, freedom fighters against the Prince of Rogues.
Still, I demanded to have the guard present for the presentation of the amulet. The Klyros did go to fetch a guard, reluctantly. When the guard returned something happened - I forget now exactly what but I do remember him wilting in pain and somebody telling me he was drunk. Now, Goland and I had been drinking earlier, and I had stocked up well on certain Ivy leaves which when boiled and drunk purge the alcohol (and indeed anything else like poisons and whatnot) from the blood. I quickly administered these to the guard, but it did not help him at all - I now look back and realise he must have been under some sort of magical influence.
Regardless, I finally handed the amulet over to the Klyros, and it will be an action I curse myself for to my dying day. The Klyros immediately begin to cackle, and an evil darkness dropped around us, blocking out all senses. When it lifted, he was gone. In his stead a misty fog lay over the Ojaveda, its evil presence pressing against our minds. We rushed through the gates, in the hope of catching him, but all was in vain. We spent the entire night stumbling through the Ojaveda, chasing shadows and hunting whispers. But it was all in vain, and by morning we were forced to flee for our lives and warn the citizens of Hydlaa about the plague we had brought upon the land...
And that is the tale of how the Troubled Times began. Soon all the Enkidukai had heard of what took place in the Ojaveda. Some of them laughed, and shrugged their shoulders, saying they would face the evil if it came to Hydlaa. But many others had relatives in the Ojaveda - Relatives then trapped by the evil fog and the monsters that wandered it. The Enkidukai began to amass an army of great force, an army thirsting for vengeance. They gathered in their hundreds, and would soon march to lay siege to a city now coated with evil.
There were some brave and strong enough to defeat the monsters that guarded the city and wade through the fog - Most simply were engulfed by it and never seen again. But some others returned, with wild stories of strange icy winds and manic laughter in the mists. Yes, the Troubled Times had begun...
6
In-Game Roleplay Events / [Serdin Karakth]
« on: December 23, 2005, 10:54:53 am »
The Enkidukai shall make a stand in their city? The place is blighted, now. It is the heart of a very strong evil. Your swords and magic, despite being wielded by brave hearts, will not be enough to defeat the Prince of Rogues.
No, Enkidukai, I implore you: Come take refuge in the city of Hydlaa, you have always been more than welcome. Together we will overcome this great evil that his befallen your noble city; we will call on the magic that rests in the bones of our citizens and together defeat those would think to pervert a great city such as is yours.
No, Enkidukai, I implore you: Come take refuge in the city of Hydlaa, you have always been more than welcome. Together we will overcome this great evil that his befallen your noble city; we will call on the magic that rests in the bones of our citizens and together defeat those would think to pervert a great city such as is yours.
7
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 23, 2005, 10:50:05 am »
A blight is upon that city, now! The rogue mages have a powerful Amulet in their hands; the Prince of Rogues has risen fully to power and it is only a matter of time before they march on Hydlaa! We must be ready for them!
8
In-Game Roleplay Events / [RP]A Damsel in a Dungeon, in Distress!
« on: December 22, 2005, 09:25:38 pm »
***Excerpt from Serdin Karakth\'s Notes.***
Today I recalled an adventure I had while I was studying magic by myself in Hydlaa....
It happened a long time ago, around the time of the great Turmoil; indeed, it was an event which would predict the Turmoil to come. I was strolling through the plaza, enjoying myself with two friends, Seperot and Goland, after a day of studying. I recall we were joking between ourselves when suddenly an enkidukai (Swodan I believe his name was) who had dragged himself into the plaza let out a cry of anguish. \"Rogues! Bandits! Thieves!\" I recall him crying. Immediately we rushed to his side, just in time to catch him as he fell to his knees. It was clear that he had been in some sort of fight; he was matted in blood, coughing and panting. I immediately reached for my salves to help that poor soul, applying them in the way I was taught by my parents. It seemed to help a little. As I applied my salves the enkidukai began to tell us his tale: A female enkidukai he was meeting in front of the tavern (I never did learn why they were meeting) was captured by a stocky rogue. The lady was none other than Saradi, the wife of the city guard! Swodan told us that the lady was taken into the dungeon; the rogue soon returned and made an attempt on Swodan\'s life. The rogue told Swodan that he\'d seen too much; that he would soon witness the collapse of the city and all that it stands for. This piqued the interest of Seperot...He has a certain affinity for such things. In truth I should have been worried, but such was the time when any drunken warrior would spout off gibberish prophesizing the end of the world and the collapse of the System of the city; looking back now I think we would have done well to heed them. No, I was far more concerned about the damsel in distress (one must note that in those days I did little but read books in Jayose\'s library while waiting for my next lesson; my head was full of heroic fantasy and I fancied myself a hero waiting for a chance to prove himself). After having helped Swodan as best we could, setting him up in the Tavern to rest, we began planning how best to enter the dungeons. On a suggestion from Seperot, we bought a hundred metres of rope and hiked to the temple of Laanx (the agonised look on the priest\'s features when he saw us trampling through his holy Temple will forever bring a smile to my face). We tied the rope to a columnn and abseiled down into the dungeon. We landed amidst several sacrifices to Laanx; dead animals, trinkets, broken pottery...Naturally we did not touch the sacrifices, but continued our cautious ascent into the sacrifice pits. Several times we nearly slipped, Galand and I (Seperot had no problem jumping down to platforms below. He is, after all, an enkidukai). After some near mishaps, we found ourselves in the dungeons. Little more than a few minutes had we spent wandering the dungeons when we heard a woman\'s voice crying out for help. Immediately our minds went to Saradi. We ran through the tunnels and soon came to a suspended cage dangling over a pool of water, with the poor lady trapped inside. A quick search in the rubble around the cage produced the key to the cage, which was carried up to the ceiling by the acrobatic Seperot. Galand and I remained below, to catch the lady as she fell from the ceiling. Having rescued the damsel in distress (who was not too injured; just a swollen ankle if I recall correctly), we set off to escape from the dungeon. We had no way to return to the temple, but I believe Seperot knew of another way out of the dungeons. The details now are lost in the mists of time, but I believe that on the way we encountered several foes trying to block our flight. It was only when we were climbing the stairs that we realized that something powerful was coming our way; sounds of footsteps and fighting gaining on us. I remember reaching the top of the stairs and bursting out of a cellar (I think we tried to block our stalkers? paths by wedging barrels in the doorway) and falling several feet into a garden below. Seperot, however, was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly looking down at us from the wall we?d just fallen from was a heavily-veiled man wielding an evil-looking blade. He was just about to jump down and kill us all I think when suddenly Seperot emerges from behind him, blade in hand. Having the element of surprise, Seperot made quick work of his foe and soon joined us in the garden below. He?d found a note on the dead man?s body, which read something along the lines of, ?Keep the prisoner in the cage until I arrive ? The Prince of Rogues.?
This was just one of the episodes that foretold of the coming troubles. It is easy to look back on it now, after all is said and done, and link it in with what happened next. Unfortunately things were not so clear to us then. Ah, now I grow weary of writing of times past. My bed beckons, and my candle has nearly burnt itself out. Perhaps tomorrow I shall continue this tale....
Serdin Karakth
[[Guys sorry it\'s all one paragraph...Wrote it up on my PDA at school >.>]]
Today I recalled an adventure I had while I was studying magic by myself in Hydlaa....
It happened a long time ago, around the time of the great Turmoil; indeed, it was an event which would predict the Turmoil to come. I was strolling through the plaza, enjoying myself with two friends, Seperot and Goland, after a day of studying. I recall we were joking between ourselves when suddenly an enkidukai (Swodan I believe his name was) who had dragged himself into the plaza let out a cry of anguish. \"Rogues! Bandits! Thieves!\" I recall him crying. Immediately we rushed to his side, just in time to catch him as he fell to his knees. It was clear that he had been in some sort of fight; he was matted in blood, coughing and panting. I immediately reached for my salves to help that poor soul, applying them in the way I was taught by my parents. It seemed to help a little. As I applied my salves the enkidukai began to tell us his tale: A female enkidukai he was meeting in front of the tavern (I never did learn why they were meeting) was captured by a stocky rogue. The lady was none other than Saradi, the wife of the city guard! Swodan told us that the lady was taken into the dungeon; the rogue soon returned and made an attempt on Swodan\'s life. The rogue told Swodan that he\'d seen too much; that he would soon witness the collapse of the city and all that it stands for. This piqued the interest of Seperot...He has a certain affinity for such things. In truth I should have been worried, but such was the time when any drunken warrior would spout off gibberish prophesizing the end of the world and the collapse of the System of the city; looking back now I think we would have done well to heed them. No, I was far more concerned about the damsel in distress (one must note that in those days I did little but read books in Jayose\'s library while waiting for my next lesson; my head was full of heroic fantasy and I fancied myself a hero waiting for a chance to prove himself). After having helped Swodan as best we could, setting him up in the Tavern to rest, we began planning how best to enter the dungeons. On a suggestion from Seperot, we bought a hundred metres of rope and hiked to the temple of Laanx (the agonised look on the priest\'s features when he saw us trampling through his holy Temple will forever bring a smile to my face). We tied the rope to a columnn and abseiled down into the dungeon. We landed amidst several sacrifices to Laanx; dead animals, trinkets, broken pottery...Naturally we did not touch the sacrifices, but continued our cautious ascent into the sacrifice pits. Several times we nearly slipped, Galand and I (Seperot had no problem jumping down to platforms below. He is, after all, an enkidukai). After some near mishaps, we found ourselves in the dungeons. Little more than a few minutes had we spent wandering the dungeons when we heard a woman\'s voice crying out for help. Immediately our minds went to Saradi. We ran through the tunnels and soon came to a suspended cage dangling over a pool of water, with the poor lady trapped inside. A quick search in the rubble around the cage produced the key to the cage, which was carried up to the ceiling by the acrobatic Seperot. Galand and I remained below, to catch the lady as she fell from the ceiling. Having rescued the damsel in distress (who was not too injured; just a swollen ankle if I recall correctly), we set off to escape from the dungeon. We had no way to return to the temple, but I believe Seperot knew of another way out of the dungeons. The details now are lost in the mists of time, but I believe that on the way we encountered several foes trying to block our flight. It was only when we were climbing the stairs that we realized that something powerful was coming our way; sounds of footsteps and fighting gaining on us. I remember reaching the top of the stairs and bursting out of a cellar (I think we tried to block our stalkers? paths by wedging barrels in the doorway) and falling several feet into a garden below. Seperot, however, was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly looking down at us from the wall we?d just fallen from was a heavily-veiled man wielding an evil-looking blade. He was just about to jump down and kill us all I think when suddenly Seperot emerges from behind him, blade in hand. Having the element of surprise, Seperot made quick work of his foe and soon joined us in the garden below. He?d found a note on the dead man?s body, which read something along the lines of, ?Keep the prisoner in the cage until I arrive ? The Prince of Rogues.?
This was just one of the episodes that foretold of the coming troubles. It is easy to look back on it now, after all is said and done, and link it in with what happened next. Unfortunately things were not so clear to us then. Ah, now I grow weary of writing of times past. My bed beckons, and my candle has nearly burnt itself out. Perhaps tomorrow I shall continue this tale....
Serdin Karakth
[[Guys sorry it\'s all one paragraph...Wrote it up on my PDA at school >.>]]
9
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 18, 2005, 10:40:47 am »
Ah, so we can still take part in this? Nice, off to the Ojaveda.
10
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 13, 2005, 10:48:45 am »
For now it is difficult to do the hardcore roleplaying described above. Once events become more common (and players: Please do start talking about events in the Tavern) this should not be a problem.
One thing which makes it hard to have groups in PS is the lack of specialisation. The current system means that people become first good warriors and then good mages. That means that groups are less required. Hopefully this will change by specialisation being based on RPing rather than skills (i.e Thinker, Strategist, Most Powerful warrior, Spellcaster Supporter, Streetwise guy, etc).
One thing which makes it hard to have groups in PS is the lack of specialisation. The current system means that people become first good warriors and then good mages. That means that groups are less required. Hopefully this will change by specialisation being based on RPing rather than skills (i.e Thinker, Strategist, Most Powerful warrior, Spellcaster Supporter, Streetwise guy, etc).
11
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 12, 2005, 12:45:20 am »
Right, right. It\'s all a different mindset to today\'s modern instant-communication world. Nice challenging RP.
Can\'t wait for the next one!
Can\'t wait for the next one!
12
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 11, 2005, 08:37:02 pm »
The thing about PS time is that it flies faster than normal time. And we all know how fast normal time flies.
13
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 11, 2005, 08:03:36 pm »
Hmm, amulets. Dunno. A little too magicky for me (I prefer to keep magic as a sort of elite thing which is used for special purposes). I think we should try to RP without group chat. Makes it more medieval-style sort of thing. If amulets are introduced, they should be pretty expensive.
As for group size, it\'s all about what you guys can handle.
As for group size, it\'s all about what you guys can handle.
14
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 11, 2005, 02:41:02 pm »
Yup, that is a point to keep in mind. Last night took four hours and we were just doing the essentials. GMs might want to analyse why it took so long:
-> Too many items to collect?
-> Too far in between?
-> Technical difficulties?
-> Players wasting time?
-> Players not catching on fast enough to plot?
These are just a few of the questions that will have to be asked if we want to shorten RP time.
Also I might suggest that someone keep time during the next RP, to get average estimates of how long players are spending doing what. From these results both players and GMs will be able to change style accordingly to maximise both efficiency and fun.
All hail the scientific method and all that.
-> Too many items to collect?
-> Too far in between?
-> Technical difficulties?
-> Players wasting time?
-> Players not catching on fast enough to plot?
These are just a few of the questions that will have to be asked if we want to shorten RP time.
Also I might suggest that someone keep time during the next RP, to get average estimates of how long players are spending doing what. From these results both players and GMs will be able to change style accordingly to maximise both efficiency and fun.
All hail the scientific method and all that.
15
In-Game Roleplay Events /
« on: December 11, 2005, 01:14:26 pm »
Right, some comments:
First off I\'d like to say how great it is to see people taking an interest and organising events for us. Really rocks. This was my first RP and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
I\'ll tackle some of the issues encountered in the game now.
Inititialising the RP
To start it off, we had to stay running around looking for a Damsel in Distress. We got lost a bit but finally gathered into one group. Ideally, the GMs come to the players. That is, Taera would have wandered into the Tavern, where we were, and begin to cry. We\'d ask her what\'s wrong, etc. The players should have gathered 1 hour before the event and RPed a bit together to get to know each other (e.g. they meet each other in the Tavern). In future, GMs will have to see a group of large people and start a pre-planned RP with them.
The problem of Scattering
Jose was running to keep up with us and Sep had to mediate for the entire group. This caused some frustration on both sides. There are several ways in which this could be tackled. One is for everyone to just take it more easy. This is a big problem in online RPGs. The characters never really take a break to find out about each other, etc, usually to avoid making the GM impatient. This is somewhat understandable, since the event was 4 hours long, and we were just doinf things, RPing only with the NPCs. Ideally it would be like a film, where the protagonists would get a chance to ask each other questions and RP together. This has to come as much from the players as from the design of the RP to allow for such filler RP. As for the problem of scattering, which I should be writing about What could have been done is a little cheesy, but: A member of the party would possess \"special powers\" for example, a contact with the gods or blue way spells to forsee things, etc. The GMs would then use the person to comunicate with the players. The group would, in turn, consult the mediator every few steps in the plot or so to be sure they\'re not going off track.
Plot Design
I\'d like to say a few words about the Plot itself now. The difference between NPC-given quests and GM-given quests is that with one you\'ve got humans in charge. The great thing about humans is that we have imagination and creativity. This last RP I felt was a little \"rail-roaded\" meaning that it had one track, designed by the GMs, which had to be followed. This can be frustrating to both players (not being able to use their creativity and innovate solutions to puzzles) and to the GMs (the players deviating from the plot line). The fact that the GMs are people gives the RPs an opportunity to be flexible and free-flowing. I\'ll give an example:
The Gobble
One of the things we had to do in this RP was to chase a Gobble (good ole\' Rjj) through the sewers to its hoard, where we would interact with it to make it give us an Amulet. This was alright, but at one point I gave a suggestion that perhaps we should try to lure it out of the sewers at night and catch it unawares. When I design adventures for DnD I usually do it the following way: The players are given a problem. They discuss how they\'re going to work it out. Then I accomodate myself to their plan. Gives the players a sense of involvment. That said, it\'s still good to have a solution thought up yourself which you can then mediate to your group should they be unable to solve the puzzle.
Those are a few of my thoughts on the whole RP thing. I\'d like to keep working at it until we have the dynamic RPing we all dream of in PS
EDIT: Oh yeah, one more thing. The size of the group involved in the RP. I think taking it beyond 6 people will get confusing for both GMs and players. 6 is usually the legal number of people allowed to gather in the street. Anything more is a crowd and must have permission. For this reason I suggest a feature be implemented in PS involving groups and GMs. GMs should be able to \"watch\" a group (i.e. listen in on their group chat, see the position of the members, teleport members, etc). Those would be very useful features to implement into the game, IMO.
First off I\'d like to say how great it is to see people taking an interest and organising events for us. Really rocks. This was my first RP and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
I\'ll tackle some of the issues encountered in the game now.
Inititialising the RP
To start it off, we had to stay running around looking for a Damsel in Distress. We got lost a bit but finally gathered into one group. Ideally, the GMs come to the players. That is, Taera would have wandered into the Tavern, where we were, and begin to cry. We\'d ask her what\'s wrong, etc. The players should have gathered 1 hour before the event and RPed a bit together to get to know each other (e.g. they meet each other in the Tavern). In future, GMs will have to see a group of large people and start a pre-planned RP with them.
The problem of Scattering
Jose was running to keep up with us and Sep had to mediate for the entire group. This caused some frustration on both sides. There are several ways in which this could be tackled. One is for everyone to just take it more easy. This is a big problem in online RPGs. The characters never really take a break to find out about each other, etc, usually to avoid making the GM impatient. This is somewhat understandable, since the event was 4 hours long, and we were just doinf things, RPing only with the NPCs. Ideally it would be like a film, where the protagonists would get a chance to ask each other questions and RP together. This has to come as much from the players as from the design of the RP to allow for such filler RP. As for the problem of scattering, which I should be writing about
What could have been done is a little cheesy, but: A member of the party would possess \"special powers\" for example, a contact with the gods or blue way spells to forsee things, etc. The GMs would then use the person to comunicate with the players. The group would, in turn, consult the mediator every few steps in the plot or so to be sure they\'re not going off track.Plot Design
I\'d like to say a few words about the Plot itself now. The difference between NPC-given quests and GM-given quests is that with one you\'ve got humans in charge. The great thing about humans is that we have imagination and creativity. This last RP I felt was a little \"rail-roaded\" meaning that it had one track, designed by the GMs, which had to be followed. This can be frustrating to both players (not being able to use their creativity and innovate solutions to puzzles) and to the GMs (the players deviating from the plot line). The fact that the GMs are people gives the RPs an opportunity to be flexible and free-flowing. I\'ll give an example:
The Gobble
One of the things we had to do in this RP was to chase a Gobble (good ole\' Rjj) through the sewers to its hoard, where we would interact with it to make it give us an Amulet. This was alright, but at one point I gave a suggestion that perhaps we should try to lure it out of the sewers at night and catch it unawares. When I design adventures for DnD I usually do it the following way: The players are given a problem. They discuss how they\'re going to work it out. Then I accomodate myself to their plan. Gives the players a sense of involvment. That said, it\'s still good to have a solution thought up yourself which you can then mediate to your group should they be unable to solve the puzzle.
Those are a few of my thoughts on the whole RP thing. I\'d like to keep working at it until we have the dynamic RPing we all dream of in PS
EDIT: Oh yeah, one more thing. The size of the group involved in the RP. I think taking it beyond 6 people will get confusing for both GMs and players. 6 is usually the legal number of people allowed to gather in the street. Anything more is a crowd and must have permission. For this reason I suggest a feature be implemented in PS involving groups and GMs. GMs should be able to \"watch\" a group (i.e. listen in on their group chat, see the position of the members, teleport members, etc). Those would be very useful features to implement into the game, IMO.