Status of the Game

[GhostWolfe]

Status: Preparing

Welcome to the first Monday update! Player invites went out yesterday, but if there's someone you think really needs to be in this game, please let me know (and pass on the link to the Premise thread). I will be GMing alone, so I do need to cap the number of players, but I do have some wiggle room.

Over the next four weeks I will finish off the planning and start looking at setting a firm start date around mid-January. The forums are pretty much ready to rock, so please take a wander around Maize, and check out the info in Rules and Character Creation.

As you look over the rules & info, you may notice that the thread about Investigations seems quite hefty. Don't worry, it's less complicated than it looks, but I thought I'd give a quick overview of how they will work.

Anatomy of an Investigations Event

For investigations following the standard format, you will be given a range of timeslots. If you wish to RP parts of the investigation, you're welcome to make a separate thread, but note that investigating takes the entire timeslot. Rolls must be posted to the event thread, not the RP thread.

Your three options, as outlined in the linked post, are:

• roll solo, but contribute your successes to the group,
• roll as per the teamwork rules, or
• roll solo without contributing.

The last of these is not recommended, the likelihood of earning enough successes alone will be increasingly slim as the game goes on.

When rolling the teamwork option, there are two important factors to remember: all participants must use the same timeslot, and all participants must roll the same dice pool. In this context, "dice pool" refers to using the same Attribute + Skill. If, for example, an Investigation allows a choice between the Investigation or Socialise skill, you must all roll the same skill, you cannot choose whichever is better for you.

When everyone has rolled, or 48 hours has passed, whichever comes first, the thread will be locked and the successes tallied. The sooner everyone gets their rolls done, the sooner the clue can be revealed, and the more time you'll have to react to the information.

When you Succeed

Follow ups cannot occur in any timeslot equal to or earlier than the last Investigation roll. If characters use LA, EE, and LE to investigate, the follow up cannot start until EN; if everyone rolls during LA, the follow up can be from EE onwards.


If you have any questions, let me know. If you need the link to the Discord server, or you used the link to the Discord server but can't see the channel, also let me know.

[GhostWolfe]

Status: Procrastinating, but on schedule.

It's Monday again, and a couple of you have floated some ideas by me and I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. I'm not looking forward to checking everyone's maths. Maybe I'll just trust you all that you got it right? What could possibly go wrong?

Now seems like a good time to mention, if you haven't had a chance to go through the character creation and rules stuff yet: everyone starts at Wyrd 2 for no cost. I thought it might be fun to have slightly more advanced characters, without getting myself in over my head, as I'm pretty new to the system. Don't forget that you need to pick a Frailty for Wyrd 2.

The other thing that should be mentioned is that you can reserve some of your dots to spend once the game starts. This is specifically aimed at your characters forming a Motley once they meet. This Motley can be temporary, refunding the dots you invested at the end of the game. All the info is here.

And now... back to doing anything except the last few things I need to do for the game...

[GhostWolfe]

Status: Slacking on the last few things I need to do.

It's Monday again, and this week I have a proposed start date for the game. Living in the future can make setting firm dates a little tricky, or at least it is for me, as I struggle with numbers and that extends to dates and times. I'll be running the game on "US time", which is a vague sort of sense of being a day ahead.

Day flip will usually occur around this time of day. For me, it's Monday morning, but "US time" is Sunday evening, so those of you in the US can expect day flip to occur in the evening of the scheduled day. Does any of this make sense? I feel like I'm not making sense. Anyway, here's the schedule:

Start Date: Friday, January 10
End Date: Saturday, February 8 (assuming that no days need to be extended)

[GhostWolfe]

Status: Submissions Open

Morning lovelies! I'm opening character submissions for anyone who has finalised their character sheets. You have all the way up to the 9th of January, so don't feel like you need to rush.

How to Submit Your Character

1. Register for the forums under your character's name. If you haven't settled on a name, you can use a placeholder.

2. Post your character sheet to your Personal Forum. PFs will be located under the Character Creation forum, if you don't see one shortly after activation of your account, please poke me on Discord. A template can be found here.

3. Be approved. Once I've had a chance to check your character sheet, your post will replied to with APPROVED and locked. This means you're ready to rock. Changes can still be made up until 9th, just let me know.

Don't forget that all characters start at Wyrd 2 for no cost. You can also reserve up to two Merit dots for investing in a motley after the game start. I've tried to provide a balance of Mental, Physical, and Social rolls for events, but one of the things I like about character creation in this system is that it gives you a spread of skills and abilities. I'm not worried about the idea of not having a tank or bruiser, just so long as you don't all decide to put Physical last.

I've also tried to provide a range of activities, including: investigation, chases, combat, and dreamweaving. That being said, combat is decidedly the smallest component of the game unless characters choose to fight. If you do want to opt for a combat-oriented character, be aware that any combats will be in the latter half of the game.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[GhostWolfe]

Status: gettin' excited...

Apparently I overlooked specifying what should be in your signatures, so there's a thread here for that. You guys know the drill, I just wanted to ask you to include any Conditions or Tilts you might be under the effect of.

I also wanted to see if I can uncomplicate the Elements mechanic slightly. It might help to think of Elements in a manner similar to Destiny or Void. Like Star Wars Destiny, it is a shared pool, and like Void you can use more than one at a time. To make it easier for everyone, I will post in the Element tracking thread that the next 5 elements are "safe", meaning they can be used without waiting for approval. If a Tainted Element is coming up, I will indicate that one of the next 5 Elements is tainted, keeping in mind that it could be the very next element, or the fifth, only I know.

[GhostWolfe]

Status: Pre-pre-game

Sorry for the late update, but this is it, the last Monday update! This time next week the game will have already started, and updates will be posted on an as-needed basis. Starting... now, I guess, I’m going to be checking in with the forums more frequently, and I’ll be taking a proper look at your sheets. So far I’ve been assuming that you guys mostly know what you’re doing, and I’m not expecting any major errors in the mechanics, but I probably should check.

[GhostWolfe]

Status: Pre-game

There is just (approximately) 24 hours until the game starts. For my sanity, those of you who haven't submitted a character sheet yet, the sooner you do, the sooner I can approve you. The sooner I approve you, the more likely you will be able to dive right in when the game starts.

Now is also the time to post if there is any specific equipment you wish to possess. You can find some helpful reference lists as follows: Weapons, Armour, and Gear/Tools. At the very least, you are assumed to have a dumb phone in your possession. A dumb phone doesn't grant any equipment bonus, and has a size and availability of 1.

I do have two major concerns going into this game. The first is that there are elements that I still don't know how I'm going to introduce. I don't want players to feel that they are being spoon-fed or led by the nose, but I also know that the distance between a clue that's too subtle and a blinking neon sign can be pretty small. Consider this a hint from the GM: there is relevant information outside what can be obtained from Investigation Events and there are no red herrings (I say this with come trepidation, as you can never predict what players will attach significance too, and they may create a red herring out of thin air).

The second concern is that the game is too back-loaded. The first few days are slow, while the three most important events all come on days 8 through 10. Not to mention the still-floating elements mentioned above, and some potential side plots. I hate the idea of promising "it gets better", but I also can't tell if I've unintentionally skewed things too far. The best I can really do is cross my fingers and hope for the best at this point.

[GhostWolfe]

Status: GO! GO! GO!

What more can I say? Locations are open, events are up, weather is posted... have at it?

[GhostWolfe]

Status: End of Session 1

Congratulations! You've survived your first three days in the town of Maize. D4 is has been set aside for following up on what you've learnt so far, and securing things like a Hollow for the motley. Once per Chapter/Session abilities reset, and everyone gains 2 "experiences".