Quote from: tzunder;521514I am up for it. I am UK based. I can post most days. Got a play structure in mind?

Play structure? It will will a sandbox-style game in that the players can choose what to do and where to go. I'll throw out some hooks and you can take it from there. World exploration, ruin-looting, making coin anyway you can is kind of the thing I have in mind.

I'll assume that the party members have sufficient reason to adventure together and some common motivations.

Once we have some characters I'll start a new thread, post some set-up information, and we'll begin.

The world is pulp fantasy with no Elves or Dwarves, but set in a fallen empire with lots of scary ancient magic, decayed cities and effete aristocrats holding their noses against the barbarians at the gates.

Am I reading this right, that items in my backpack do not count as items when determining how much I can carry, only the backpack itself counts as one item?  Obviously the GM would have to look it over and ensure I wasn't cramming the backpack too full.

Also, a set of clothes is one item.  Does that include shoes or are those a separate item?

Haven't written anything down yet, but have the rules printed and have been looking over the skills. I'm thinking a smart, stealthy locksmith is the way I'm going. Urban type, if ya get my drift

I am interested in a game with clear standing orders per character so the ref can keep the story going if needed in player absence. I would like the ref to run all combats based on our preferred fighting styles and standing orders. I would like s party leader who has final say until such time as we vote in a new one, kill the old one or split. I would like an agreement that characters will die, no cry babies. I can give examples of such standing orders. I want a game where the story moves fast and fluid and we don't spend weeks playing out five minutes of game time.

Is this sandbox in that if we introduce a fact or setting detail then the default gm response us "okay, and...".... or are we exploring your world and we don't mess with it?

No great wish to be leader.

Now shall I be one of the barbarians or a freed slave pit fighter or a scion of the old nobility?

Quote from: tzunder;521667I am interested in a game with clear standing orders per character so the ref can keep the story going if needed in player absence. I would like the ref to run all combats based on our preferred fighting styles and standing orders. I would like s party leader who has final say until such time as we vote in a new one, kill the old one or split. I would like an agreement that characters will die, no cry babies. I can give examples of such standing orders. I want a game where the story moves fast and fluid and we don't spend weeks playing out five minutes of game time.

Is this sandbox in that if we introduce a fact or setting detail then the default gm response us "okay, and...".... or are we exploring your world and we don't mess with it?

No great wish to be leader.

Now shall I be one of the barbarians or a freed slave pit fighter or a scion of the old nobility?

I agree on keeping the game running fluidly and not bogging down for weeks on a conversation in a tavern. I will run it on the level of "you go to the market place and hear the following rumors....X....Y....Z....You see the following interesting things....A...B...C" Then the players can pick up the ball on an individual detail, or not.

I'll post 5-6 days a week, at least once, probably more, but I won't post at length or constantly.

I'm happy to run the combats myself and then give you the rundown. I'm no killer GM, but the chips will fall where they may and it only takes 5 minutes to create a new character with this system.

Feel free to introduce setting elements. Maybe not new races, but "remembering" that you have visited this town before and met the local lord, or making up your character's deity, that's great.

Finally, don't overthink it! Let's spend 10 minutes a day on this, create a story and roll some dice...I love the clatter of d6s!!!

Sounds good to me.

Quote from: tzunder;521667I am interested in a game with clear standing orders per character so the ref can keep the story going if needed in player absence. I would like the ref to run all combats based on our preferred fighting styles and standing orders. I would like s party leader who has final say until such time as we vote in a new one, kill the old one or split. I would like an agreement that characters will die, no cry babies. I can give examples of such standing orders. I want a game where the story moves fast and fluid and we don't spend weeks playing out five minutes of game time.

I'm not sure what all this is about.  Clear standing orders?  How about if I just post what my character does when I decide?  I'll be checking in almost every day, so I don't think I'll be holding anything up.  And I'll run my own character in combat if that's ok, although I don't mind if the GM runs more than one round at once to speed things along.

I think it's likely one character will emerge as a leader during the course of the game, but they will in no way have any say, final or otherwise, what my character does.  That being said, in the event that I am unable to check in for a day or two, I have no problem with the GM NPCing my character if it is necessary to keep from holding everyone else up.

Character death, no problem there.  That's just part of life as an adventurer.

@ The_Shadow, one more question about gear before I post my character.  Part of the back story I wanted for my character is that he took his former master's spell book when he fled (more on that later), so I want to check with you and make sure that's ok to include with his gear.  I won't be using it to give myself any advantage whatsoever, it will just be there for story purposes as the means by which he learns new spells when he levels up (the idea being that he will be studying the book in his off time).  

If you are using the rule that new spells can only be acquired through quests or finding a teacher, then disregard that last.

Sounds good to me too.

Alwyn Black

ST- 10
IQ- 11
DX- 12
EN- 9

Move- 6
HP- 10
Level- 1
XP- 0

Coins- 3

Skills:
Swords +1
Detect / Disarm Traps +1
Pick Locks +1
Stealth +1

Gear:
Short Sword (60)
Dagger (10)
Leather Backpack (10)
Belt Pouch  (2)
24 X Caltrops (2) **
12 X Chalk (5) *
Small Mirror (25) *
Lock Pick Set (10) *
Leather Sack (5) *
Messkit (5) *
Waterskin (5) *
Bedroll (5) *
Travel Clothes (4)
Commoner Clothes (4) *
Leather Gloves (5) *
Leather Shoes (10) *
Travel Cloak (10)

* in back pack
** in belt pouch

Tactics:
Alwyn will try to evade detection, and if possible catch enemies by surprise. Otherwise, he works with his comrades to move into melee range and flank or surround enemies when possible and otherwise attempts to use his DX and sword skill to finish off opponents as quickly as possible.

Story:
Alwyn grew up in the city where he learned, in the poorer areas where he lived, to survive by his wits and a healthy dose of self-preservation. His black hair and beard along with his preference for darker clothing earned him the moniker “the black” which he has since shortened to “Black”. With both his parents dead and only a brother he has not seen in years left as family, Alwyn has decided to seek his fortune as an adventurer since stealing from other folks has never sat well with him. He is a generally cheerful and curious fellow, unless treated poorly, when he will turn much more cold and unfriendly.

Starting money roll: 18 X 10 = 180

Quote from: Technomancer;521701I'll run my own character in combat if that's ok, although I don't mind if the GM runs more than one round at once to speed things along.

@ The_Shadow, one more question about gear before I post my character.  Part of the back story I wanted for my character is that he took his former master's spell book when he fled (more on that later), so I want to check with you and make sure that's ok to include with his gear.  I won't be using it to give myself any advantage whatsoever, it will just be there for story purposes as the means by which he learns new spells when he levels up (the idea being that he will be studying the book in his off time).  

If you are using the rule that new spells can only be acquired through quests or finding a teacher, then disregard that last.

It's understandable if you want to run your guy in combat. But I think all players need to take the same approach - either we go on autopilot when combat starts (perhaps with standing orders governing what to do if your HP get to a certain threshold etc) or we all take turns rolling and posting.

As Technomancer isn't keen on the former, what say you Sigmund and Tzunder?

With regards to the spell book, feel free to include it in your gear. It contains your initial spells, plus 1d3 other ones which you can learn one at a time when you level. Beyond that you'll have to find new spells in the course of play. The spellbook counts as an item of encumbrance.

In order to answer I need to know how long a combat takes.
If it's 5 turns, and that's going to take 5 days then it's a deal breaker for me.

I would usually write my standing orders like this:

QuoteCombat: Defensive stance with opportunistic lunges.
Against ranged attacks, in turn, gain cover, use Tactics to seize initiative, then return missile fire.
Against melee attacks, stand ground, deploy sword and shield, attack biggest foe whilst defending wizard, when hit use Block with shield, losing movement.
Against combined, find cover, use Tactics to seize initiative, then defend with sword and shield as in melee above.

Then I'd be happy to read the battle report, hopefully with florid language, and if it ends with "YYYY struck the troll and then took a mortal blow from the goblin spearsman and died shouting out Vengeance!" then so be it. I'd rather that battle reports are

Florid Description [game mechanics in brackets]
More florid stuff [more game mechanics]


Ditto exploring buildings and dungeons, we should pause at interesting break points but I don't want to map empty room after empty room, hint: have no empty rooms!

So in short, I don't want a combat to last more than a real day, so if anyone wants to run it turn by turn they'll have to do so inside a 24 hour period, which is a lot of work for the player and GM concerned.

Are we using ST as the characteristic that tales damage or creating a HP stat?
It'll make some difference since by having a separate HP stat then ST rolls don't detoriate as you take damage.
BUT the bigger difference is that if we use HP and it's ST+EN then we have a bigger pool of damage we can take before we're dead.

However since NPCs and monsters have the same enhanced pool (or do they?) then it makes combat longer, so I vote that we don't use HPs and accept a higher kill rate, which is old skool after all..

I prefer to use HP as a separate stat, based on ST only.

1: Could we use Dropbox for shared files? Or have you an alternative preferred option.
2: Here is my character and a potential Excel spreadsheet character sheet we might share.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/435076/Bedlam%20Iceseraph%20and%20Character%20Sheet.zip

or not..

I honestly don't care either way. Also, I pretty much have my character made, just have to now type it in to a .doc and then post it. I have a doc appointment now, but hopefully will have him posted later today.