Character set up / brainstorming

[Gerrin]

We can carry on the discussion about the PC's here.

[personalpariah]

Right now I feel like some input from the GM would be extremely helpful.

Some general questions:

• Can you provide us with a little setting info for us to dive into?
• Are you allowing non-human PCs?
• Do you have any questions for us that might help flesh out the setting?
• Should we start rolling our stats right now?
• How are we storing our characters? I am new to Unseen Servant, and I don't see any character sections. Are they just going to be individual forum threads?

[Liaozhai]

Yeah, some information about the setting would be really appreciated! In addition to personalpariah's questions, I'm curious if there are any of the old pre-Scream factions, like the Perimeter Agency, Exchange of Light, Terran Mandate, etc. still kicking around.

Also, I'm on the fence about doing a magic character. What's the origin of magic in this sector?

[Gerrin]

There is a quick background document I'm posted in the campaign forum.

As for the questions posted I'll try to address them:

The basic setting was posted in the campaign forum. Not sure if you guys want it to be more specific at this stage.
I'll allow non- human PC's if you can justify the reason
I will be getting player forums set up so the rolling can begin as soon as they are up
I'm going to look into being able to copy the fillable character sheets into the player forum. Not sure if that's possible yet.
If you guys have any ideas for that I'm open.
As far as you are aware there are no pre-Scream factions but information about the systems tin the sector is patchy at best.
The origin of magic came with the scream. People began to manifest powers shortly afterwards. No-one knows how, why or if it will stay.
Users of magic and psychic powers are alternately looked upon as being useful and dangerous to the various factions competing for control.

**Side note, I'm not familiar with the system as yet so any obvious mistakes I make please let me know. **

[Gerrin]

Also how would you guys prefer to start?
All together and pitch you in to a quick adventure or start individually on the same planet or even separate planets?
Or do you not care?

[personalpariah]

I vote for starting together with some sort of common goal.
As for how familiar the party is with one another, I could go either way. I bet we can figure out that part during character creation. There might be some fun overlaps.

[Gerrin]

Sounds good. I finished the sector creation and have a better idea of how things can shape up.
Once we get going on character creation, I'll give you guys the background

[Faanku]

Starting as an established "team" for whatever our goal is would be for the best, we can always talk in character about how exactly we fell in with each other.
What that goal is exactly depends entirely on the characters.

EDIT: I should probably add more to this post, I'm far too used to IRC and typing only brief replies.
Some concepts I would like to play, in a rough order of preference are:
- Metapsion: Never played a psion before and counterspelling has always been fun in other systems, though the other disciplines all look pretty neat as well.
- Free Nexus: Support classes are just awesome, and the SWN setting would allow interesting narrative angles for this class.
- Melee Warrior: Sunblade is incredibly cool, and Sekiro has reawakened my love for chambara recently.
- Mech Pilot: If personalpariah is OK with it it might be fun to play the space Michael Knight to his KITT, possibly without the mullet.

If VIs are indeed allowed, I believe we also have so far:
- personalpariah - Vehicle-based VI
- kalstone - Doctor/Medic
- Antman9 - Technician/Engineer/Scientist

Of course, all this may be up to the dice. How many players are there total joining the game?

[Gerrin]

We have 12 listed as interested but I expect we'll have some loss to that original number

[Liaozhai]

I'd like to play a face-type character, but I'm new to PbP kinds of games, so I think a more recalcitrant character might be wiser?

In terms of party function, I'm thinking pilot/gunfighter?

[Gerrin]

To be honest you can pick whatever appeals to you. Any skill holes can be filled with NPC's if need be

[personalpariah]

I'd like to play a face-type character, but I'm new to PbP kinds of games, so I think a more recalcitrant character might be wiser?

In terms of party function, I'm thinking pilot/gunfighter?

Here is a little bit about how PbP games differ from RL games. I am borrowing much of this from a post I found elsewhere on the internet.

Also, something to keep in mind with combat in SWN: IT IS DEADLY FOR YOUR CHARACTER. This isn't like Dungeons and Dragons where combat is like a sport. SWN is based on the Old School style where combat is war, and things can go south very quickly!

The Advantages of Play-By-Post Gaming

While play-by-post can’t replace the experience of a group of people coming together and focusing on the game for a few hours, play-by-post has some serious advantages as well. With play-by-post, you pop in when you can, read the latest posts, and then contribute your input, or actions.

Because of the asynchronous form of play, play-by-post gives players and GMs alike the time to think about their responses. I appreciate the time to look up and confirm rules, for instance. In addition, this extra time to think through each turn also means I’ve seen some of the best role-playing from play-by-post players. You have the time to come up with the words you want your character to say, you can look up prior actions, or lore for your characters or the NPCs to reference. As a GM you can check and double check the scenario to ensure your NPCs are providing the characters with appropriate and interesting interactions, or utilizing all of their abilities.

Drawbacks

It’s slow. Play-by-post takes about a week to get through what would be an hour of face-to-face gaming. You also lose the ability to quickly discuss options or come up with a plan (which, really, is much more realistic).

Play-by-Post Gaming Advice

One of the key points he discusses for PbP is that it’s important that when you post you should be sure to “push the action forward.” I’ve read and follow much of Painlord’s advice on how to better participate in play-by-post gaming. Painlord's game of choice is a rules heavy game called Pathfinder, so some of his advice is specific to that system, but is still good nonetheless.

“This is the most important thing you can do as a PbP player. It’s not about posting often or quickly, it’s about doing stuff when you post. It’s about pushing your character’s involvement in the story forward. Whenever you can, push the action, push the direction, push the party along. PbP is already a slow format, so try to make it better by pushing while giving others a chance to respond, of course. To reiterate: it’s not the frequency of your posts, but what actions you take through them.” – Painlord

Check out his other recommendations in his post. Another thing to remember when posting is discussed in the comments to his post. Often, a few people will post their actions before the GM will have a chance to respond, so it’s important to post with contingencies in mind. “I’ll attack X, but if he’s down then instead I do Y.” or “I search the door for traps and if I find one here’s a disable device roll, once the door is clear, I ready my bow and open the door.” By doing this you change what may have been a few posts and a few days into one post and one day before you’re through the door.

Get in There and Game!

Play-by-post is a great way to get in some role-playing. If you can’t find, or don’t have the time for an ongoing face-to-face game, or just want to play some other scenarios while also playing face-to-face, play-by-post is a fulfilling alternative. While communication is a little trickier, and the game runs slowly, it allows you to play a great game daily, brings together people separated by both time and space, and due to the flexibility in how long you have available to post, allows greater opportunity for role-play, and checking rules or lore.

[Faanku]

Are we OK to roll stats, or would you prefer us to wait?

[Gerrin]

You can go ahead and start character creation. You can do it in the private forum so we can get it ready to go.
When and if others need to roll we can move on and get them sorted out as well.
I'll keep working on the campaign set up as well while we get the party organized

[Antman9]

I agree with

Starting as an established "team" for whatever our goal is would be for the best.

I like the idea of jumping in and figuring out the details as we go.

You can base yourselves from a home world if you like. My original thought was you were heading to a newly discovered planet to explore and gather loot. If you'd prefer to know each other as say a group of friends or mercenaries I'd be fine that way as well. Basically I'm giving you guys the chance to set it up. (Gerrin)

I kind of like the adventure/looting idea. Perhaps we each have an “Inner Drive” and maybe a “Purpose” for doing what we’re doing. Then we could figure out how that gels with each other and flush out individual stories accordingly? I also like the idea of each of us having one or more “Habits” or “Personality Traits.” I think that would be fun.
I’ll work on a few ideas and give my character a first stab tonight.

The character sheet from RPGNow lets you type in the info. Do we want to fill that out and then do an image capture and use the “Spoiler” code option to minimize it? We could use the standard US character sheet, but we would have to add most of the data in “Description” and “Background” text fields. That would be a little clunky. I haven’t been on in a while, so maybe they have new options now?

I also outlined the planets for our sector/systems. I can add them to the “Sector Map & Information” page if you want Gerrin.

Sector Stats:
(Systems & Planets)

Phiteol Upsilon (sector)

• Done Aldoia (sector 0001)
  • Hlif (planet)
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Temperate
  Athandisk (sector 0008)
  • Leda
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Warm
  Hoedara (sector 0102)
  • Phenes
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Temperate
  Kor (sector 0107)
  • Enda Kolazen
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Temperate
  Vig (sector 0205)
  • Polyphe
    • Atmosphere: Invasive, toxic atmosphere
    • Temperature: Warm
  Thorbjo (sector 0208)
  • Mecalei
    • Atmosphere: Invasive, toxic atmosphere
  Ioanakos (sector 0305)
  • Aethino
    • Atmosphere: Invasive, toxic atmosphere
    • Temperature: Cold
  Hallvei (sector 0307)
  • Grid
    • Atmosphere: Inert gas
    • Temperature: Cold
  Mazonco (sector 0401)
  • Sarokoulo
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Temperate
  Ahmood (sector 0406)
  • Nacippe
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Warm
  Oticle VI (sector 0408)
  • Halgerd
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Warm
  Groa (sector 0503)
  • Mumeri
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Warm
  Kham (sector 0508)
  • Tustika Tashnal
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Temperate
  Nadwa (sector 0606)
  • Dion
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Temperate
  Daphne (sector 0607)
  • Husadiq
    • Atmosphere: Invasive, toxic atmosphere
    • Temperature: Temperate
  Chris (sector 0701)
  • Kary
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Warm
  Teus (sector 0705)
  • Anjuhir Asi
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Cold
  Pri Rupamat XV (sector 0708)
  • Aretheu
    • Atmosphere: Breathable mix
    • Temperature: Warm

[Gerrin]

Yep, you can add that, i made a bit of a pigs ear of the list i posted

[Gerrin]

Whenever you guys are ready, just post in your private forum and we can get your characters started

[tpj]

Since I'm fairly new to this board - for the stat rolls, are we using the character sheet on unseenservant.com with the included stat rolls, or should we just do on-the-fly 3d6 rolls in our private forum?

[Faanku]

Since I'm fairly new to this board - for the stat rolls, are we using the character sheet on unseenservant.com with the included stat rolls, or should we just do on-the-fly 3d6 rolls in our private forum?

I used the "Roll 3d6" option on the character sheet on the US diceroller but my stats don't appear to be anywhere, just my background rolls. I probably went wrong somewhere.

[Gerrin]

I'm new at running a g ame on here so bear with me.
I think once you've joined a campaign you can use the dice roller (link in the top right of the screen) to roll your stats and it records each roll made.
If we have issues I'll reach out to an admin