Rain tries to talk Kowsauni into In Nomine

[Rain Yupa]

Kowsauni

So something I learned over the years of managing this guild, is that bigger games are more prone to stalling than smaller ones. "I'm going to be in the middle of this super important scene! And then disappear for several weeks!"

I know you prefer 'heroic' D&D. However, D&D is a trickier game to run with very small groups. Have you ever played and/or heard of In Nomine? In case you haven't, it's a game where the PCs are angels, doing Heaven's work on Earth while trying do everything they can to prevent Lucifer's minions from gaining footholds. The war between Heaven and Hell is ever present, except it is done covertly, on Earth itself, in the style of a cold war (you have expendable mortal vessels which make you fit in with all the other humans!).

I can run this for you as a solo game, if you wish. If this is a game that sounds interesting to you and you might want to play, let me know. Also, if you wish to include and/or invite others (say, just you and the missus), I can work around this too.

Also, worst case scenario, if you do try to be super inclusive about this game, and a player that joins stop posting, it's very easy to write them off, temporarily or permanently. All angels work for their Superiors (Archangels) and they could very easily be recalled to Heaven to be reassigned like the pawns you are!

Thoughts?  

[Kowsauni]

Wife going into labor this morning, I'll have to get back yo you on this. I'm probably going to be out for the next couple days.  

[Rain Yupa]

Kowsauni

Wife going into labor this morning,

That's the worst reason I've ever heard. Good luck, SauniFish family!  

[PupSage]

Kowsauni

Wife going into labor this morning, I'll have to get back yo you on this. I'm probably going to be out for the next couple days.

CONGRATS!

And yeah ... half of the Ryutama campaign is missing like half of the people ... ie all of our muscles D;

And I'm not good at 4e character creation :/  

[Ravanan]

A Wild Random has appeared. o .o

This thread used Interesting!

It's super effective! ; - ;  

[Rain Yupa]

Ravanan

A Wild Random has appeared. o .o

This thread used Interesting!

It's super effective! ; - ;

Hmm? Interesting, howso?

*notes Ravanan's snakey avatar*
*notes his own snakey avatar*

... wait...  

[Mongooseh]

Kowsauni

Wife going into labor this morning, I'll have to get back yo you on this. I'm probably going to be out for the next couple days.

I do declare that kowasuni will need to change his name to kowadaddi  

[Mongooseh]

Rain Yupa

Kowsauni

So something I learned over the years of managing this guild, is that bigger games are more prone to stalling than smaller ones. "I'm going to be in the middle of this super important scene! And then disappear for several weeks!"

I know you prefer 'heroic' D&D. However, D&D is a trickier game to run with very small groups. Have you ever played and/or heard of In Nomine? In case you haven't, it's a game where the PCs are angels, doing Heaven's work on Earth while trying do everything they can to prevent Lucifer's minions from gaining footholds. The war between Heaven and Hell is ever present, except it is done covertly, on Earth itself, in the style of a cold war (you have expendable mortal vessels which make you fit in with all the other humans!).

I can run this for you as a solo game, if you wish. If this is a game that sounds interesting to you and you might want to play, let me know. Also, if you wish to include and/or invite others (say, just you and the missus), I can work around this too.

Also, worst case scenario, if you do try to be super inclusive about this game, and a player that joins stop posting, it's very easy to write them off, temporarily or permanently. All angels work for their Superiors (Archangels) and they could very easily be recalled to Heaven to be reassigned like the pawns you are!

Thoughts?

I think the latter point is just DM's being a bit rigid. I've played with a DM where they had a player turn up just to sit around having his character catch up to the party.

I personally never gave two geoff's for continuity over player agency. Plan around players disappearing and have them appear and disappear where necessary. It may be different on the forum but RL the player usually has reasons for not turning up and I don't think it's fair to punish both the attending players and the absent players with arbitrary details.  

[Ravanan]

Rain Yupa

Big Snek.

And the idea of the game is interesting.  

[Rain Yupa]

The forum aspect is exactly why it's an issue. Such as, players suddenly vanishing in the middle of combat. Especially when it's balanced to everyone being there.

It would be easier if, say, they had split up while exploring and some didn't come back. I could work around being overnight and they left before others woke up. But it's hurtful when stuff hinges on them and they poof.

It's like someone getting up from a RL game, walking out without a word, and you never seeing him/her again, right in the middle of the session. What do you plan for?

This boils down to some games, it's easier to write out someone and write them back in later than others. In Nomine is one such game.  

[Rain Yupa]

Ravanan

Rain Yupa

Big Snek.

And the idea of the game is interesting.

It's kind of like a superhero themed game, except that everything is angelic (and diabolic) powers, rather than super powers. You have songs which can do things like restore wounds, teleport, burn the wicked in righteous holy fire, speak any language, etc.

In place of a race/class combo, you are part of an angelic choir (seraphim, cherabum, elohim, etc... 7 in total) and serve a Superior archangel (Michael, Gabriel, Yves, etc... 13 in total in the core rulebook). You have 6 stats in pairs (Corporeal = Strength, Agility; Ethereal = Intelligence, Precision; Celestial = Will, Perception).

Each archangel has a list of powers (attunements) and roles they grant their angels, based on their choir. A fellow player in my first game played Jael, a Seraphim of Gabriel (Archangel of Fire). A Seraphim of Gabriel have a duty to stalk those who profit knowingly from the suffering of others, or who lie to themselves about what monsters they really are.

You have an expendable resource that powers your supernatural stuff called Essence. Each superior have their own rites that if you perform, will help you regain Essence. A servitor of Gabriel regains essence when they spend 3+ hours near a heat source, spent an hour in intense conflict (mental or physical), and when they kill a demon with fire!

So you can go through sessions without any angel/demon conflict, and just focusing on the human side. Trying to save souls and protect people worth protecting, and just trying to make the world a better place. But, for all you know, the agents of Lucifer might be working towards just the opposite of that behind the scenes. They are numerous and varied, with 7 bands (demonic choirs) and 13 Demon Princes to serve, with their own rites and powers. And be warned - some demons might be familiar faces, since angels can fall from grace!  

[Mongooseh]

Rain Yupa

The forum aspect is exactly why it's an issue. Such as, players suddenly vanishing in the middle of combat. Especially when it's balanced to everyone being there.

It would be easier if, say, they had split up while exploring and some didn't come back. I could work around being overnight and they left before others woke up. But it's hurtful when stuff hinges on them and they poof.

It's like someone getting up from a RL game, walking out without a word, and you never seeing him/her again, right in the middle of the session. What do you plan for?

This boils down to some games, it's easier to write out someone and write them back in later than others. In Nomine is one such game.

See I tend to not have these issues because in pathfinder at least (cant speak much for many other games as pathfinder is the one ive gmed the most) I tend to have a good feel for the strength of the party so the encounters are scaleable. This of course is my personal experience and may only be within the confines of PF.

Going outside of anecdotal I do think it might just be something GM's really shouldn't get hung over. In the context of forums Kowasuni's game is a good example of this just screen and prep potential players (like in heart of a monster). Lay out expectations and the consequences of not following those expectations. So that maleficent and accidental negligence are dealt with easily with the same process. So annoyances should know whats coming and absentees should come back with the expectation that they've been skipped but that should be alright.

BUT I think that this is just a symptom of a wider issue with the play by forum open to the public style. You do just get people walking in and out, people who thought they might like DnD or something, takes a slot and then leaves when it ain't their jam. Rather than a close knit group of people who know each other and know they're down to clown.  

[Raganui Minamoto]

Mongooseh

Kowsauni

Wife going into labor this morning, I'll have to get back yo you on this. I'm probably going to be out for the next couple days.

I do declare that kowasuni will need to change his name to kowadaddi

Bad Mongooseh. Bad.

And Congrats, Kowsauni.  

[Ravanan]

Rain Yupa

Yeeeeeeeeeesss.

Time for me to learn everything about this game o,.,o And then probably end up playing it only once in my life.  

[Rain Yupa]

Mongooseh

Kowsauni

Wife going into labor this morning, I'll have to get back yo you on this. I'm probably going to be out for the next couple days.

I do declare that kowasuni will need to change his name to kowadaddi

I disagree. Though I feel that the behbeh's name should def be 'kalfsauni'.