This is an Intermezzo week for the Collegium Arcana game, where all the players have individual sessions to further their own goals and learning.  It is a game about a School, after all.

Session 33 was pretty amazing, and also amazing in how much Roleplaying and investigation can get done waking up in the dorm, washing up, and going to breakfast.

It was nice having one of the players say that the school grounds felt more real than any game location they had ever played in.

Now, we need to schedule the Intermezzo sessions.

Speaking of heavy Necromancy...from that thread...
the first Intermezzo session features heavy Necromancy tonight.

34 full session and some 30 intermezzo sessions.

The group dealt with their strange dreams, and found that Christo had succumbed to some strange controlled slumber...

Les'z: "dream of nothing in particular, everyone"
Mezerous: "Sleep is good. We have a lot we will inevitably have to do tomorrow."
(To Pholian Mar): roll det+1/4 nec
Pholian Mar: rolling d100
(
100
)
= 100
LordVreeg (GM): hah. hahahahahahahahhahha
Pholian Mar: ooc: Seriously, it's a good thing those dice are virtual
ooc: Or I'd be now burning them
(From Pholian Mar): This can be bad xD
LordVreeg (GM): ooc...sigh
ok.
Les'z: ooc did pholian just fall out the window?
Pholian Mar: ooc: More likely I tried walking through the closed door
Mezerous: either sounds ideal
good comedic effect
(From Les'z): listening to Telekon
(To Pholian Mar): you don't just have bad dreams...you have dreams of white mist and Fox face leading antlers to a small obelisk, then sacrificing Christo on a stone table beyond it, whie you watch
(To Les'z): always a good choice
(From Pholian Mar): I wake up trying not to scream, and spend the rest of the night looking at the ceiling, no longer even having a lamp to dispel the darkness
(To Mezerous): you have dreams of flying above the campus, of it being covered in white fog.
LordVreeg (GM): (to Mezeros)You spot a procession, led by a human in an antlered skull, and a fox-faced human in a top hat. They bear Christo, chained, and white as snow

Mezerous: ooc at least now everyone understands why I'm crazy
Les'z: OOC ffs
Pholian Mar: ooc lol
(To Les'z): you dream a rough night as well, of endless buzzing
(To Les'z): of words half heard, of communication all around...and in half awakeness you realize that the dreams o others are waffected heavily by outside sources.
LordVreeg (GM): IN the morning ,it is cold and wet
no even 40 degrees f
Gregoir is awake, and has lit a fire in the common room before anyone else gets up
on the am pf Harvak the 17th
(To Les'z): you also dreamed of a workshop, of black metal and clay models
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir knocks on Pholian's door in the morning
(From Pholian Mar): Did I fall asleep again or awake?
(To Pholian Mar): asleep, finally
Pholian Mar: No answer
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir knocks harder
Pholian Mar: "Argh! Who's there?"
 
Mezerous stumbles out of bed and seeks the fire for warmth
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..."Um....you need to see"
Pholian Mar: I walk over and open the door with bloodshot eyes "What?" I clear my throat
(From Les'z): i am going to search purposefully for the echo effect
Les'z: (To GM) rolling d100
(
15
)
= 15
LordVreeg (GM): lying next to Pholian's door is Christo, in a white gown, covered in blood and her feet are covered in dirt. there are scratches in the floor, and her nails are bloody as well
(To Les'z): it does not show up until Mez comes out of his room
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir is in a bit of shock
 
Mezerous looks over half-asleep. "I don't suppose now is a good time to be talking about dreams, is it?"
LordVreeg (GM): "don't ...don't see how I missed her....."
(From Les'z): ffs

The group works through the trauma there, and then at breakfast figures out an amulet worn by one of the pcs has actually been spying on them....


Really, this many sessions in, with a few new additions, this game has been the most literary quality I might have been part of.

The collegium game continues, stronger than ever.
One of the very cooleset things about staying text based in an online game is the game logs.

We actually have already 1500 pages (not kidding, word gives you page counts) of singlespaced gamel logs for this game.  And as the story gets deeer and the mysteries of the Campus and the Statuettes and of the different types of magic, it is all their, nearly in story form.

Add that to the intermezzo sessions, the bi-weekly one-on-one sessions that alow for individual research,etc....and you have a very different game

36 full sessions, plus a few dozen intermezzo sessions, the young students have been in session 4 hawaaka (the 8 day week), and are finding a real identity, learning about magic while drilling into the mysteries that seem to haunt the ancient old school of magic.

In the somewhat drafty attic common room, warmed by stolen firewood, with dark wind howling outside, and lity by the fireplace and three candles...
...
Grfank..."Vee, did Prefect Pretty find you?"
Bosh keeps feeding the fire, it is cold in there
Vee: "No, was she looking for me?"
Mezerous: "Vee, do you know of a strange gnomic fellow... talks in riddles... has odd hair?"
Vee: "I think so. He's a ghost of an old professor, right?"
 Grfank..."uh.."
Pholian Mar: "Oh?"
Mezerous: "That explains a lot, actually. I was over at Zofter recently and I'm pretty sure we had a chat."
Grfank..." I am beginning to feel left out"
Bosh..."INdeed. Where are MY ghosts?"
Pholian Mar: "I'll be sure to sell you two some, once I can."
"What did you chat about?"
Grfank...."Vee, she did not say. Do you want a half glass of this?"
Vee: "Warden Jomak, was his name, I think."
"Is."
"Whatever."
Mezerous: "He didn't seem to be addressing me properly all of the time really... let's see..."
(To Pholian Mar, in his head): calm voice.."Was is proper"
Mezerous: "He said to me 'You realize you lost your freedom and fly downward and away' and then 'and when it burns, it burns bright' "
Grfank..."maybe I don't want one"
Mezerous: "He's referred to you twice, Vee. And all the others"
Vee: quietly..."I don't like it that a dead person is talking about me
...

thirty seven full group sessions and obviously, many more intermezzos.  So well over 80 total now.
over 2000 pages of typed gaming.

And we are just scratching the surface of this emulation of life as a young, talented student in a huge school of magic.  We've added 2 players (5 total, about what I can really handle in this format and with all the Intermezzo).  And it goes incredibly well.

Session 38 here.
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/91108209/Session%20Thirty-Eight%20of%20the%20Collegium%20Arcana%20Game

After a lot of intermezzo time, where the players work by themselves, had them all over the place.

But sometimes, a PC makes a great roll and changes the course of the game.  In this case, Young Pholian, a gwynnellian human, and Bosh the Black, orcash lad were out after dark on a cold late-autumn evening, sneaking around campus trying to steal some more firewood (what could go wrong?)...
And in an alcove, next to the old Finni Library, he spots a thin, gaunt man in a high collared cloak...and remembers little more...

the main session revolved around the PCs, other young students, sneaking out to investigate the area where it happened, and to try to learn more about  it...a spooky night adventure.

For any interested, here's session 39:

http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/91790616/Session%20Thirty-Nine%20of%20the%20Collegium%20Arcana

And over the course of last two ones, my character died and came back. Armless but not harmless.

Session 40 here.
And I can honestly say there is no end in sight.  I mean that in a good way, that the storyline seems to move of it's own accord, always a goal in a game.  The players lead it where they will.

"Durhum Lentilles moves to inspect the silver item

GM: at the base of the rungs....
A statuette of a human in robes, wonderfully ornate, with twin kukri daggers, 4" tall.

Vee: "So that's where you went."
 
Vee picks it up again.

LordVreeg (GM): vee roll reflex
Vee: rolling 1d100
(96)= 96


 Gregoir...That statue ..all of them...give me the creeps
Les'z: is that the same one?

LordVreeg (GM): the statue slashes Vee, drawing a lot of blood
though no one sees it move

Vee: "Ow. What the..."
"It cut me."
(To Vee): take one hit on the non-physical side

 Grfank..."what in the name of Bael?"

(To Mezerous): you see, for a second, Pholian's face on the statue

Durhum Lentilles: This night is cursed.
Les'z: "leave us be, foul spirit, havent't you done enough damage tonight!"
Mezerous: "That statuette is cursed, too."

 Gregoir..."He has three....this one is not the one that travels, normally

And there is an example of the questing of the students in the ancient halls of the Collegium Arcana...

Full group session 43 last night.

The Group and their self-discovered nature ended up going before the Council of Students.  So the fact that they are sensitive to certain void sources of power is now known to the very highest authority in the Collegium.  That was an interesting meeting.

"LordVreeg (GM): the gnomic High Warden..."this makes some sense, though takes some processing.  Based on the fact that two of you see the undead.  "  She ssems thoughtful, then looks back to the group.
"Dexie Vee...would you mind if I tested this claim?"
Vee: "No, but I don't entirely have control over it, so I cannot promise it will work."
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir, whispering...."grunt soldier, reporting for duty"
Gnomic High Warder...."I am going to activate a ring. When you see it, let me know what you see. Is that alright?"
Vee: "Yes, sir."
LordVreeg (GM): she stands up and lifts her left hand.
(To Vee): roll det+1/4 art.
Vee: rolling 1d100
(2)= 2
ooc Hahahah.
LordVreeg (GM): ooc ha
(From Vee): Detect +11, Art +4
Pholian Mar: ooc nice
(To Vee): on her other hand, her right hand, a soft blue glue starts, with a limning of silver
Vee: ooc Last time I was that nervous for a roll, it was a TPK.
(To Vee): 23 exp art
LordVreeg (GM): ooc talk to the dragon....
Vee: "On your right hand, I can see blue and silver. I'm not entirely sure what Houses those are."
(To Durhum Lentilles): oh btw, 13 exp in soc
Vee: "I think the blue might be restoration."
LordVreeg (GM): she had been lifting her left....she smiles...."right on time......and this ring creates an atmosphere of greater healing"
she looks at the others. "Ever see one so young?"
Perrold Bin. "There are a few of them that are like that. And no, never seen the like"

This really does seem like a great concept for a campaign. I can see how it would lend itself to longevity.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;819087This really does seem like a great concept for a campaign. I can see how it would lend itself to longevity.

It is a pretty cool game, definitely one of my top 10.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;819087This really does seem like a great concept for a campaign. I can see how it would lend itself to longevity.

I think there is something do that.  The first thing to create longevity is to create a conceptual storyline that supports the scrutiny and depth that should happen over the long haul.  That is the reason a lot of games fall off; the idea is cool, but disbelief kicks in without the supporting detail.  This game is 43 sessions in, with the feel that we have only scratched the surface.  I'd put money on it totally eclipsing the lasr online GS game, which lasted 160 sessions.

but understand, as I often say, that most rulesets don't support a really long game.  Especially without massive power gain, but with some small continual improvement reinforcement.

Session 44 a few nights ago.

As the Dexies learn their fate, to understand if they will be kicked out by the Council of Students or not.  Could the Dexies explain their late night shenanigans, and make the case that they were doing what made sense?  Or will the trouble and mayhem they have caused (and their big mouths) get them removed, and sent searching for a lesser school?

"Warlock Teramia Bin: "The Council voted, five to none, to keeping you in Kravent hall, but adding another Prefect to the hall."
Warlock Amund:..."There is no doubt but that you have been marked, in some ways."
 
Les'z looks a bit puzzled
 Jobs nods, frowning
(To Pholian Mar): take 5 exp.
 
Durhum Lentilles is smiling, clearly happy with the votes
Pholian Mar: "so...we stay, yes?"
 Warlock Teramia Bin..."you stay, Dexie Pholian."
Pholian Mar: "YES!"
"Uhm, sorry"
I blush
Les'z: "we have much to learn, thank you for your patience"
says Les to the council
Warlock Teramia Bin: 'The Council voted, three to two, to leave your punishment as helping the Historical Eyes brotherhood in keeping up Fesssenden halls on every Lawsak afternoon for the remainder of the year."

Another fun session.  They were able to stay.  I want to see the movie version of this.

Session 45 last night.

Very Atmospheric.  On Fastak, the 20th of Hisui.  Also a huge Holiday, the Day of Chaos.  The party had been called to Tom Free Hall to stand before the Council of Teachers to answer for some transgressions and issues.  This, and some side tracks )including  an exploration into the old basement, had been a harrowing morning, and the group had been punished, but still was in the school and not removed.  

This session comprised of the relieved first year (Dexdemit) students leaving campus to go up to the Godstraat of Stenron to enjoy the later, more adult and riotous part of the holiday, where the many churches with any sort of an entropic bent compete and make merry.
The group had an atmospheric walk through the busy streets up to the Godstraat, through the Grace of Water District and the Forge of Hewecar district to get up to the huge and ancient Street of Temples known as the Godstraat.
There the members found the Church of Chance Meeting, and ran into other people whilst drinking weak light beer,  then conversing with a professor, Senior Enchanter Woolridge.