The Unseen Servant forums

lenusmars wrote:Sorry about slow on response this weekend. Winter storm knocked out power and internet. Power is back but still waiting on internet.

That's ok, I'm still trying desperately to catch up...

I appreciate the enthusiastic role play but sometimes it makes me hard to follow all of what's going on. If I'm not responding it would help to have periodic posts indicating what you really need a response from me about, or pointing out stuff that came out in role play that might have significant implications.

I need to solidify my thoughts on the Foix family a bit and decide how it impacts the situation in the Wine Dark Rift. I may or may not decide to work up more detail on the worlds that are off map that have come up.

Frank

lenusmars wrote:Sorry about slow on response this weekend. Winter storm knocked out power and internet. Power is back but still waiting on internet.

Cell phone hotspot, I do it on my iPad from time to time. Connect, download, disconnect, write, re-connect, upload.

I remember a California roadtrip where we’re hit McD’s drive throughs for the wifi, write emails while driving hit the next McD’s and upload.

We are fortunate to have a group of very good and very active players so I’d humbly suggest as GM you just throw events and plot hooks at us! As a player I’m a little shy of “moving the scenery” / events about overmuch as I see that as the GM’s preserve - but that might just be me!

One vital piece of scene shifting is move us over to Lady Alicia's yacht with an event occurring so Lady Harper/shaidar has some PCs to interact with!

Foix won’t want to move much closer to home until he’s discovered more Intel on the state of the family so I don’t think we would want/need to go “off the map” as yet in game.

Foix has only just launched his campaign (via his propaganda/recruitment video – in game Grimaud is doing that now) and, as referenced by Ana, events regarding this are now limited by the “speed” of information transmitted by interstellar jumps. It will be at least two weeks until anything comes back – unless there is a local response on Arthiop.

However, the "other side" are under no such restriction and have (as per his backstory) already made one attempt on his life! If you go along with that event as canon to the campaign then they already have plans in action and may well have sufficient assets in place on Arthiop to take action against the PCs immediately! Logically they will have known his previous location and so may have a team(s) in place on Arthiop and/or on other jump routes heading back to the Foix domain.

So please feel free to throw assassin(s) at Foix or any other events to add action to the narrative. My particular vote would go for Arthiop’s most unlucky and ill-fated footpad to accost Ana and Sara on their way home (deckchairs and popcorn! )

Of course this is only my tuppence worth! Other folk may have an entirely different view / expectations.

Tiglath wrote:We are fortunate to have a group of very good and very active players so I’d humbly suggest as GM you just throw events and plot hooks at us! As a player I’m a little shy of “moving the scenery” / events about overmuch as I see that as the GM’s preserve - but that might just be me!

One vital piece of scene shifting is move us over to Lady Alicia's yacht with an event occurring so Lady Harper/shaidar has some PCs to interact with!

The scene should have already shifted to Lady Alicia's yacht. Did something get misread, or did I write it up wrong?

Foix won’t want to move much closer to home until he’s discovered more Intel on the state of the family so I don’t think we would want/need to go “off the map” as yet in game.

Foix has only just launched his campaign (via his propaganda/recruitment video – in game Grimaud is doing that now) and, as referenced by Ana, events regarding this are now limited by the “speed” of information transmitted by interstellar jumps. It will be at least two weeks until anything comes back – unless there is a local response on Arthiop.

However, the "other side" are under no such restriction and have (as per his backstory) already made one attempt on his life! If you go along with that event as canon to the campaign then they already have plans in action and may well have sufficient assets in place on Arthiop to take action against the PCs immediately! Logically they will have known his previous location and so may have a team(s) in place on Arthiop and/or on other jump routes heading back to the Foix domain.

So please feel free to throw assassin(s) at Foix or any other events to add action to the narrative. My particular vote would go for Arthiop’s most unlucky and ill-fated footpad to accost Ana and Sara on their way home (deckchairs and popcorn! )

Of course this is only my tuppence worth! Other folk may have an entirely different view / expectations.

I really need to sit down and read everything, piece it all together, decide what is actually going on, and make something happen.

Sorry, the holiday really cut into my time, and then things have gone sailing on so fast that many times I sit down and say "Hmm, I'll deal with that when I have more time..."

Frank

We were on the yacht. We talked. We left.

Ramona wrote:We were on the yacht. We talked. We left.

Ok. I really need to catch up. Let’s put a pause on things while I catch up.

Frank

ffilz wrote:

Ramona wrote:We were on the yacht. We talked. We left.

Ok. I really need to catch up. Let’s put a pause on things while I catch up.

Frank

Vee has Gauvain trapped in their cabin, where she is doing unspeakable things to him. They may appear in the morning, though.

Unless the assassins show up.

ffilz wrote:

Ramona wrote:We were on the yacht. We talked. We left.

Ok. I really need to catch up. Let’s put a pause on things while I catch up.

Frank

Ok, I'm never going to catch up with 7 pages of back and forth...

In order to continue, I'm really going to need that condensed down to what is directly relevant, and I don't know if we need to rewind some...

There has also been mention of possible spies? If so, who do you think they might be? The only folks present at the "party" (really more of a reception) on Lady Alicia's ship are crew of the Kiara Surabai and the Maize Star.

During the reception there was intent that Lady Alicia would share some about her planned expedition here, obviously I didn't say much on her behalf...

I'd also ask that maybe in the future we don't cruise so far ahead of my responses...

I'd like to get things back on track so we can have some action happen...

Unfortunately I've got another trip coming up, so my ability to post sort of ends Wednesday...

Frank

You could catch up, it’s only 7 pages. Think of it as a chapter in a book, a very confusing book.

Condensing what’s relevant, Foix has this bat crap crazy ex that he thnks may have arranged for a series of accidents to befall those further up the food chain, thus allowing him to assume the throne... such as it is. Have you ever seen Kng Ralph with John Goodman, Foix is Ralph.

Ana would like evidence of said wrongdoing scheme before buying in as currently there’s little more than Foix’s gut. Cart is way in front of the horse as far as Ana is concerned.

I think the “spies” is more a matter of misunderstanding where we were and who was there.

Us crusing ahead of you well that one you’re going to have to wear.

Agree with the summary as above plus Lady Harper joins Foix's cause.

joertexas wrote:Vee has Gauvain trapped in their cabin, where she is doing unspeakable things to him. They may appear in the morning, though.

Maybe afternoon ...

Ramona wrote:Unless the assassins show up.

You'd like to think they'd respect a "No maid service / Do not Disturb" sign!

Ramona wrote:You could catch up, it’s only 7 pages. Think of it as a chapter in a book, a very confusing book.

Condensing what’s relevant, Foix has this bat crap crazy ex that he thnks may have arranged for a series of accidents to befall those further up the food chain, thus allowing him to assume the throne... such as it is. Have you ever seen Kng Ralph with John Goodman, Foix is Ralph.

Ana would like evidence of said wrongdoing scheme before buying in as currently there’s little more than Foix’s gut. Cart is way in front of the horse as far as Ana is concerned.

I think the “spies” is more a matter of misunderstanding where we were and who was there.

Us crusing ahead of you well that one you’re going to have to wear.

Changing scenes without waiting for the GM is a bit challenging...

Monday, after I get back from our beach trip, I'm going to see if I can make sense of things and feel like I can continue.

Otherwise, it's possible we have a mis-match in play style. I get that play by post in theory allows lots of role played dialog and inter-PC interactions without necessarily slowing down the game overall, but I also know we have explicitly lost Starbeard because he couldn't keep up with everything, and now I'm feeling like I can't keep up as the GM.

Frank

ffilz wrote:Changing scenes without waiting for the GM is a bit challenging...

That is a bit unfair on the GM, I agree. I think we could at least wait for scene changes.

Agreed.

ffilz wrote:I'd also ask that maybe in the future we don't cruise so far ahead of my responses...

I'd like to get things back on track so we can have some action happen...

Frank

I believe we have all the ingredients for a great game - keen players and a good GM. That combination is a rare commodity in PbP but pace is at the very heart of a great campaign. Settling to a good pace with plotted action and adventure will solve any issues of the game running away with itself.

Tiglath wrote:Agreed.

ffilz wrote:I'd also ask that maybe in the future we don't cruise so far ahead of my responses...

I'd like to get things back on track so we can have some action happen...

Frank

I believe we have all the ingredients for a great game - keen players and a good GM. That combination is a rare commodity in PbP but pace is at the very heart of a great campaign. Settling to a good pace with plotted action and adventure will solve any issues of the game running away with itself.

In one of my games, I created a separate thread for side conversations, so that the character interactions wouldn't clog up the main story threads.

That's a useful mechanic. Similarly the use of headings/sub titles of "Fluff" or "Action" (or some other designation) would allow for action (story) posts to be read and adjudicated while fluff (PC interaction) posts could be skimmed over if so desired.

use the spoiler tag to hide fluff?

shaidar wrote:use the spoiler tag to hide fluff?

That might be one option, though that might make it frustrating to read, and I'm not sure how spoilers work in quoting.

How about this idea instead:

Use the ooc tag to highlight direct action the GM needs to respond to or be aware of.

Use the dialog tag to highlight dialog the GM needs to respond to or be aware of.

Keep the rest of the post not colored (maybe use italics for non-dialog fluff).

That way anyone just wanting to follow the action can skim through for blue and red text...

That may also be hopeless and confusing...

It may yet be a few days before I really have a chance to dig in and get back on track here... Things have heated up in my life and I have some things to take care of that make it hard to manage a game that isn't amenable to a quick post and run...

I'm sorry that the holiday time got me so off track at the same time that we had a new player come on board and the situation with the Foix family is getting more defined and thus needs some deeper thought from me as to how everything fits together.

Frank

ffilz wrote:I'm sorry that the holiday time got me so off track at the same time that we had a new player come on board and the situation with the Foix family is getting more defined and thus needs some deeper thought from me as to how everything fits together.

No worries! Lady Harper was introduced to the group over the holidays which was a post intensive task which is now complete.


I'm sure we can do our best individually within the existing dialogue protocols to flag up information and actions for Frank to facilitate swift GMing.

I believe all will become clear once we resume but broadly how about a Red for Stop / Green for Go method? Frank only reads through Green headings which summarize any plot and he skips all narrative text until he's stopped by a Red action.

Unheaded shorter posts are what they are.

If a long post has a Green heading: Foix and Vee play cards in the Casino. Frank can skip on through (because we all now know he will) until he hits either the next post or an action For GM: Foix tries to listen to the conversation on the next table. Please advise as to the result.

This would hopefully mean larger "fluffier" posts could be dealt with at a glance.

Tiglath wrote:

ffilz wrote:I'm sorry that the holiday time got me so off track at the same time that we had a new player come on board and the situation with the Foix family is getting more defined and thus needs some deeper thought from me as to how everything fits together.

No worries! Lady Harper was introduced to the group over the holidays which was a post intensive task which is now complete.


I'm sure we can do our best individually within the existing dialogue protocols to flag up information and actions for Frank to facilitate swift GMing.

I believe all will become clear once we resume but broadly how about a Red for Stop / Green for Go method? Frank only reads through Green headings which summarize any plot and he skips all narrative text until he's stopped by a Red action.

Unheaded shorter posts are what they are.

If a long post has a Green heading: Foix and Vee play cards in the Casino. Frank can skip on through (because we all now know he will) until he hits either the next post or an action For GM: Foix tries to listen to the conversation on the next table. Please advise as to the result.

This would hopefully mean larger "fluffier" posts could be dealt with at a glance.

Yea, that would help, we might want to use a separate red from the standard ooc tag though? Or just use the ooc tag for red?

Thanks for thinking about ways to make it easier. I love the role playing you folks do, but sometimes it's hard to keep up and know what is important for me to react to.

Frank