The Unseen Servant forums

Apologies for the slow pace of the game, lately. Very full plates. I think we'll be able to have some more substantial progress from here.

Oh geez guys, I happen to check the game to see when the last posting was & here I find I have 7 pages of catching up to do since I last posted, geez, sorry!!!

I am sub-ed to the game, don't know why I have not been getting notices!!!

No worries, Pyro. Quick catch up: The party agreed to clear a Pass through the White Mountains, and got attacked by harpies. You are presently being carried away over the mountains by a harpy, along with most of the party.

It is getting harder and harder not to read the Pass thread, now that I am no longer in it. Never split the party.

Of course it does make roleplaying not knowing what is happenning to my friends who didn't get carried away with me easier, because I really don't know what is happening with them!

Posts from me may be very limited after weds as I will be in California for a weeklong convention.

Enjoy your time in California!

It finally occurred to me that since my only game on here is this one, it might make sense if my avatar actually looks like Bürd. So now it does.

I always pictured Bürd as your old avatar

Yeah, that's what occurred to me. My old avatar was also an old dwarf with an eyepatch. Bürd's young, and although he has a nasty scar across his face, it didn't take his eye.

I'm playing around a with couple rule-refinements.

1.
A few have expressed a lack of elegance in the roll-under mechanic for attribute checks. There are, of course, variations that allow for attribute checks to become roll-overs, but they all involve an extra step or two that I find considerably less elegant. So let's try this: Roll high/under.

Basically it's the exact same: try to roll under your relevant attribute (+skill). But, higher rolls are better than lower rolls. You want to roll as high as you can without going over your target number. So, a 1 is always a pretty lousy success, and the closer you get to your attribute, the better. And, in case of contested attribute checks, the highest non-fail roll wins.

It doesn't require any extra steps, and preserves the intuition that bigger numbers are better.

2.
Since I've started using the Death & Dismemberment Table, I've been much more generous with HP-recovery rates. The thinking is that the D&D table models serious meat-damage, therefore HP must model minor damage and general vim and vigor. Vim and Vigor can be restored by all sorts of things: a well-cooked meal, and shot a of spirits, a rousing speech, a decent nights rest.

I'm still figuring out the right balance with this, however. So, if it seems like healing rates are inconstant for awhile, um, they are.

Lemme know if you have any questions/suggestions!

Joel

I'm back from a great convention. Now to catch up on the game.

Guys: It's end-of-the-semester madness, over here, so I'm not expecting many opportunities to update. See you next week?

No stress Pulp. See you soon.

No worries Pulp!

Gives us plenty of time to worry about the trial results!

Don't sweat it Pulp. Take care of the important stuff first.

It's probably safe to assume you're all fans of fantasy literature, and I'd like to recommend something wonderful: The Vorrh by B. Catling. It doesn't fit neatly into the genre - no wizards or magic swords - but there's inexplicable magic, a mysterious bow made of a dead lover's body, a mythical forest that may be where Adam and even God still live, and poetic prose like this:

The thunder enters my sleep. It slides between the laminations of dreams with the grace of a panther, its first sound being no more than a whisper or a vibration. Each mile it runs it gains volume and power; each mile it flies it trains my unconscious to not respond, each growing resonance being only fractionally louder than the last. The hours are eaten in its stealthy approach, my nightmares absorbing the shocks until it is directly overhead and its massive percussion shakes the ground with light; a huge whiteness, battering the pale morning with a fury that refuses all kinship.

I'm only a few chapters in and it's completely grabbed me. Worth a read I think if you have the time.

How's life Pulp? Things calmed down any?

Still dropping by to check in here. Hope finals went well for Pulp.

Oh my! I didn't even realize we had a chat thread going! I'm so behind......

Thanks for your patience, folks! I wrapped up the semester handily enough, but then got immediately pulled into a massive and stress-inducing project—filming something like fifteen hours of lectures for an online course. And, while I've learned to accommodate myself to public speaking over the years, having my every stumbling utterance captured in the cold, dead eye of a camera is a whole other deal.

But, whatever. Let's play some D&D! I think I've gotten over the initial learning curve on this project, and should be able to get the action rolling in the Harpy Arena, soon enough.

Yes, let's!

Glad you're back Pulp. I'm on the edge of my little dwarven seat, waiting to see what happens next.