Play@YSDC

Welcome, kick your shoes off, let your hair down and relax.

Shutting down. Will be back online Sunday evening.

I'm back, posted last night. Although I wrote that she has left the building, if one of you has any last question for Miss Hirt, I'll let you follow her out to the cab.

I'm going to let your characters discuss things before I post again to develop their lines of inquiry. To the extent that they go off on individual pursuits, I'll post individual threads. I'll probably post those as private and the individual characters will have to report their findings when they re-convene. I'd prefer that you work on it as a team, but if anyone wants to go lone wolf, I'll accommodate that.

John/Franky, while I was away I read most of Dennis Lehane's The Given Day. It's mostly about the Boston Police Department in 1918-1919. You might enjoy the background for Franky, although I think the NYPD was more advanced by that time. There are a few terms that strike me as anachronistic, but otherwise it's a good glimpse at the period.

Hope everyone is enjoying it so far.

Gaffer wrote:John/Franky, while I was away I read most of Dennis Lehane's The Given Day. It's mostly about the Boston Police Department in 1918-1919. You might enjoy the background for Franky, although I think the NYPD was more advanced by that time. There are a few terms that strike me as anachronistic, but otherwise it's a good glimpse at the period.

Excellent. I've read most of his stuff but not that one.

Don't know if anyone else is having problems or not, but I stopped getting email notifications from the site a couple days ago...

It seems like those email notifications are often unreliable.

Watch out for the Reviews From R'lyeh at the end of Yog Radio 39. Pookie reviews the book in which we find our current scenario. While he doesn't spoiler it too much, it does give a hint of what is to come.

Gaffer wrote:[No one notices that the Carnegie Delicatessen won’t be built until 1937.]

We're visionaries, man. Visionaries! Plus, we can buy now and make a killing in a few years!

HEY! Did everyone fall asleep over your deli sandwiches?

Dexter Ford wrote: I kinda feel we are overlooking an approach that doesn't directly involve wandering around the entire Red Hook district looking for our missing Mr. Hirt>

I don't think you have enough booze to get Franky involved in something like that...

We'll see...

Langdon/Sam/jabonko emailed to say he is having loading issues with Play@YSDC and Y-SdC. He'll be back as soon as he gets that resolved.

ha! I'm back! now to catch up on things I've missed

I noticed we hadn't had any activity. I wanted to make sure that I hadn't offended anyone!

I am not mad about Det. Esposito's actions. In fact, I realllllllly liked them from a narrative standpoint. They make sense, are in character, etc. But Langdon hates it! He feels he has a duty to the citizens, and in this case it means finding the missing person. Det. Esposito also has a sense of duty to the citizens. The conflict between these perceived duties is great stuff.

Just wanted to clear that up. OOC: not angry. IC: grrr!

At this point, I'm waiting for Dex to talk to Langdon and for Delores to reply to Franky's request.

I also need to know whether Dex is going back to Hirt's neighborhood tonight. (And if Langdon is going with him.)

Otherwise, I'm ready to proceed into Saturday evening and Sunday.

Generally, I monitor the game multiple times each day for new posts.

Hmmm I was waiting for Langdon to notice I was running after him...oh well, I'll just post something to get things going.

Regardless of what Langdon does, Dex will head back to Hirt's apartment and "let himself into the building" but not the apartment. But that depends on what he finds there.

I also realized Dex left all three books on the table. I'll say he grabbed one, and left the other two for Delores. Gaffer, let me know which one he managed to run out the door with.

Ohh and I am enjoying things immensely. Hope I didn't offend anyone OOC, but IC, be as angry as you wish.

Let's say Dex grabbed Devil Worship: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz by Isya Joseph (1919). At 224 pages it'll take him about 5 hours to read. It's fairly modern in language, but pretty mystical and obscure in style.

So, feeling homesick at all, Rod?

We only got 20" here. A bit more out in your old stomping grounds.

--john

We've been followin Facebook posts from you guys and other area friends. Can't say we wish we were there.

You enjoy it for us, John

I remember shoveling snow in the huge 1996 blizzard when I was living in Newark, DE. I don't want to do that again. Besides, I saw enough snow when I was in DE and Maryland at Xmas time. Brrr. My blood has certainly thinned since I lived in the northeast, and especially since I did my undergrad days in Montreal.

Shit! I had no idea the next threads started up, and in the sweep of life I lost track of time. I definitely still want to play. Many apologies for the delay. I will try to get on either later today or tomorrow to make a catch-up post.

Gaffer, Dex, I got an email saying you sent me messages, but I don't see the messages in my inbox. If you need to contact me, feel free to use my email address. I believe it's posted in my YSDC profile (Jabonko)

No worries.

Things are going to be a little quiet on my end until Saturday. I have a big project to finish up today and tomorrow. I'll try to post again on Saturday.

Besides, things are moving pretty slowly, so I don't feel too bad. Just a heads up.

Sorry I have been kinda quiet. I was out of town to a conference in NYC over the weekend and I discovered that other than Thursday night, I didn't have internet access for the weekend.

Hey Guys,

We seem to be moving in fits and starts with flurries of posts followed by inactivity. Is there anything I can do to make things go more smoothly for you?

I'm pleased with what everyone's done so far. I think the plot is proceeding nicely.

What do you think?

I'll be the first to bite at a response: I guess I am feeling a little lost and floundering at times due in part to the pacing. I check everyday for a while, see we are waiting on one or two people, stop checking after a few days, then come back to find out everyone is waiting on my response or the plot really hasn't moved ahead. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying the hell out of the game when we do play in our spurts, but it is dragging a bit.

I am not sure I have any suggestions other than we try to check more regularly and keep things moving ahead even if they are little posts here or there. However, I am ready to move on to the meeting with Ms Hirt.

I apologize for my inconsistancy, work and life have been busy, so I try to get on when I can (which is usually weekday mornings before work). I'm not usually available to post on weekends, but I'll make an effort to get at least one in on the weekend in the future.

Would it help if we (the players) used the OOC spoiler-button to say "ok, I've done what I wanted to do here, let's move on"?

I've been busy with work, as always. It's always the worst towards the end of the quarter -- we do quarterly software releases. That's passed (though the actual release date isn't until 4/14) so I should be good for now. The biggest thing for me was that I had a bunch of in-character information that I needed to relay and just couldn't figure out the right way to do it. Now that that's out of the way I hope to be able to get back on track.

To echo what the others have said, I too am ready to move on. Have we missed anything important or can we call "scene" and move on to where we throw down on "Marlene Hirt?"

Finish your sandwiches and coffee, ask any last-minute questions of your associates, and I'll set up the visit to Alphonse Hirt's apartment to report your progress to Marlene.

If anyone thinks of something that should be covered at the station after we initiate the apartment, we can "flashback" to the other thread.

Do let me know what your travel arrangements are to the apartment. Dex and Langdon have their cars with them. It's about a 5 minute drive or a 20 minute walk.

Also, let me know how you proceed when you arrive at 8 Thomas Street. Do you just walk right into the building? Do you case the place first. And where does Langdon wait, if he doesn't go in with the rest. (There is a pay phone in Trilby's Hat - the coffeehouse/cafe).

My internet connection has been giving me problems, but I'll try to get the new thread opened shortly.

I'm going to be offline for the next several days. I'll be out of town for a funeral, plus Verizon has decided to totally F up my phone/DSL. I'm stting at the library right now trying to check email, etc...

Not sure yet when I'll be back. Likely not before Friday, though it could be later. Sorry for the interruption in the game...


--john

Way to go Library Use! See you when you get back

Sorry, I am swamped under end of the semester piles of work. I'll have a post up tomorrow or Friday at the latest.

Matt

We're still playing, right? People are just busy, but they'll be back, I assume. Just wanted to post to let people know I'm around.

I am waiting for a few others to respond as well.

I'm trying to wait for Franky to post an action.

I am heading to Boston for a few days to visit my sister and some friends. So my posts the next few days might be a bit sporadic, but I will try to post at least once a day as warrants.

I am going to head to Providence on either Wednesday or Thursday and try to track down HPL's grave. I might also head off to Salem/Marblehead area to search for the inspiration for Arkham and Kingsport. I have been to Boston several times, so the traditional sightseeing won't be a priority this time. I might even head up to Lowell one day to see the NPS historic site there that I have never seen.
The only truly touristy thing I will do is try to head to Plimoth Plantation one day. It always is fun to compare Plimoth with Colonial Williamsburg.

Anyway, I am glad we are back on track with the game. Hopefully the momentum will keep up...

Have a good trip.

I've been asked whether a .38 revolver can fire more than once per combat round, as in CoC/BRP. The only reference I find in the ToC rules to Rate of Fire deals with automatic weapons, so I'm going to rule that all non-automatic weapons can only fire once per round. That applies to so-calld "automatic" pistols, as well, which are actually only semi-automatic.

What do you all think?

Gaffer wrote:I've been asked whether a .38 revolver can fire more than once per combat round, as in CoC/BRP. The only reference I find in the ToC rules to Rate of Fire deals with automatic weapons, so I'm going to rule that all non-automatic weapons can only fire once per round. That applies to so-calld "automatic" pistols, as well, which are actually only semi-automatic.

What do you all think?

I think we need a BAR.

--john

I'm still reading - not posting due to extenuating in-character circumstances. I'll post when it's time.

So, when it comes to tracking down where the waders were used, Langdon's got some information to share. Meanwhile, I'm exhausted from a busy week that's leading into another busy week. Grr. Oh well.

I'm thinking Langdon will offer up what he can figure from the waders to Esposito, then drive around trying to find Dex. Probably stop at the hospital then his office.

Langdon wrote:I'm thinking Langdon will offer up what he can figure from the waders to Esposito, then drive around trying to find Dex. Probably stop at the hospital then his office.

His office might know where he is and you have his business card.

Is everyone back and ready to continue? I hadn't posted because I thought we were on a break, my bad

I got back from Origins at midnight last night. I have a ton of work to try to catch up on and I'm going to the beach Friday to Tuesday 7/5. So we won't really be back until next week.

I've been around and waiting for everyone to get back on the ball.

I am giving some advance notice: Saturday 7/10 and Sunday 7/11 I am headed to Hawaii for a month to attend a workshop and an NEH grant conference. The first is for infusing college curriculum with South Asian studies, and the second one is looking at the Legacy of WWII in the Pacific 65 years after the end of the war. Since I will be traveling on Saturday and recuperating after 15 hours of travel from Florida to Hawaii, and a six hour time change, it may take me a day or two to be back on schedule.

If anyone is interested in following my travels, I have a blog set up (and eventually pictures).
http://hawaiiexpedition2010.blogspot.com/

Matt

I'm home and kind of caught up with work. I plan to have a new thread up tonight for each of you.

do me a favor and post here or PM me to let me know via PM so I can check for the new threads.

Okay, we have several people out of contact for the weekend (some for a bit longer). We'll pick up at Flannigan's in a new thread.

I'm going to try to summarize the clues and leads that are known and let you concentrate on planning your next actions. We've been at this for ten months now (don't time fly when you're having fun). If you like, I can point out the most effective leads and/or steer you away from those least likely to bear fruit.

[I've sent a PM saying basically the same thing.]

Sorry about my lack of posting the last few days. I have been swamped with the demands of the workshop I have been at for the last 2.5 weeks in Hawaii. I'll post, but it may be spotty for the next day or two. We are also going to run into the GenCon lull soon.

The ToC rules say "Investigative Ability pools are refreshed only at the end of each case", meaning at the end of a scenario. I feel that's untenable in a PbP setting when a scenario can stretch over many RT months. So my solution is to refresh 1 point of each Investigative ability upon awakening each day in game. Note that this means failure to sleep between days results in no Investigative Ability refresh.

On the other hand, characters "may refresh up to three General Abilities, except Health, Sanity and Stability...whenever they are able to create a temporary haven...free from danger and horror manifestations for an hour or more...per session." I read this as refresh three selected abilities to full levels.

Also, "the physical abilities of Athletics, Driving, Firearms, Fleeing, Piloting, Riding, Scuffling and Weapons fully refresh whenever 24 hours...elapses since the last expenditure."

You may refresh your abilities as appropriate. You have started four new days, counting Tuesday.

Please summarize your refreshments in this thread.

I don't remember exactly what I've spent, but if I've spent these Investigative abilities I'd like one point back in each:
Art History
Bureaucracy
Credit Rating
Outdoorsman

General Abilities to refresh (in addition to the noted physical abilities):
Stability, Sanity... just kidding
I don't think I've spent points from any

Sorry, I have been swamped with a work project.
I managed to write 150k words in 20 days...
As soon as I get a moment to breath and get my head out of the project, probably Tuesday, I will catch up with the game.
My apologies for the absence the last week or so.

Matt

You are, like, made of AWESOME!

Thanks..but you can understand the creative juices will take a while to replenish.

Anyway, back into the groove of things...

I'd like to replenish:
Library Use
Evidence Collection
Assess Honesty
Streetwise

Got a ping in my email and saw that you guys were able to keep going without me. Excellent! I am making progress on my exam and once I'm done, I'll be able to join back in. If you have any questions on what Langdon might do send me a message or something and I'll try to answer. I may also try to hop on here briefly once in a while.

That's great.

Dexter Ford wrote:I managed to write 150k words in 20 days...

Great googley moogley! I barely managed to bang out 50K in 4 weeks for NaNoWriMo last year -- and it was exhausting. Hope you got paid well for that effort!

--john

I'm back! Hooray for major exam being over

Welcome back, dude!

I realized we've been going for just over a year and still have the four original characters. Very cool!

Can anyone bring me back up to speed so I can start playing again? I'm feeling way behind

Langdon spent Tuesday morning at City Hall (ostensibly working) checking various public records for information on Koslov's Art, the gallery a few doors from Hirt's apartment building where Delores had seen a disturbing painting. He met up with Dex at the New York Public Library.

Here's what he told Dex and Delores:

The building at 13 Thomas Street that houses the art gallery is owned by Burton, Eliot & Finney, Inc. It's a long-established property investment firm, in fact, I went to school with the youngest of old Finney's sons, Grandison. Hieronymus Koslov leases the building for commercial purposes, but his business license renewal is a couple of months overdue. So is his rent. Burton, Eliot & Finney have filed for eviction and seizure of assets and obtained an order, but Koslov got it stayed, claiming that the artwork is mostly on consignment, not his property, and that he's been unable to locate some of the artists to return their pieces. Burton, Eliot & Finney agreed to the stay, because they didn't want to be responsible for storing and safeguarding the art themselves. Koslov's residential address is also 13 Thomas Street. He apparently lives over the shop.

Dex had spent the morning talking to a couple Fordham professors and a librarian at the New York Public Library about the Yezidi and their 'devil worship.' Here's what he told Langdon and Delores after they picked her up at the World-Telegram:

Dr. Lavoie explained that the most troublesome sect or cult at the time of the great crusades were the Nizari, sometimes called the Hashshashins, under the leadership of Rashid ad-Din Sinan, also known as Shaykh al Jabal or the Old Man of the Mountain, based in Masyaf and controlling various districts in northern Syria. The Nizari defied both the Christian invaders and Saladin who ruled over Egypt and Syria. He said that the Yezidi are somewhat outside his specialty, being based in Northern Mesopotamia. He advised that I talk to Philip Richardson.

Dr. Richardson says that Peter Thwaite would be the best one to speak with, since his area is northern turkey and what has now become Iraq; but he's on sabbatical in Istanbul at present. Richardson nevertheless tells me a bit about the so-called 'Yezidi Devil worshippers' of Iraq. They originally came from Southern Iraq and migrated north to Mount Lalish. It is supposed by many that they are descendants of the Assyrians who sought refuge after the fall of Nineveh in the 7th century B.C.

Their original home was Eridu or Irem, an ancient city in Southern Iraq, also known as “Enkidu” and called Father Satan's city. The valley of Baten El Ghoul which is right over the buried ancient city is now known as "The Devil's Hole" and "Belly of the Beast." The Jordanians and many others consider it to be haunted. Demons have been seen by many who have spent the night there. Those who have been there for any length of time claim it has a powerful energy which people label as "evil." He stated that the people there also had stories about passages being opened to other realms full of demons and monsters, fairly standard stuff, really.

Of course all this is just superstition, the way ignorant people explain things they don't understand and demonize outsiders. Richardson seemed to recall that there was some fuss here in New York about supposed 'child stealers' and 'devil worshippers' down in Brooklyn. He had just become a faculty member at that time, but he remembers that Thwaite was consulted by the police, in particular a detective named Maloney, if he remembers correctly. I called my police contact who said Maloney is living in Rhode Island at the moment having retired from the force. He mentioned that some of these Brooklyn home-grown devil-worshippers, caused enough of a stink that there were police raids and a building that was demolished. Some society woman and her husband died, perhaps. It must have been a decade ago.

Following Dr. Richardson ‘s advice I went to the New York Public Library to look up some tomes. Oh he also mentioned that Thwaite is due back in January. He recommends Isya Joseph's 1919 volume Devil Worship: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz and suggests an older book, one of the first to outline Yezidi beliefs, though from a rather uninformed viewpoint, An Inquiry into the Religious Tenets of the Yezeedees by George Percy Badger, written in the mid-part of the last century.

In the library I was introduced to some sort of archivist named Tweedy. Creepy fellow if you ask me. He gave me some more information about these Yezidis. He said that the Yezidis have long been a secretive people who keep their real beliefs hidden. As a result - and because they eschew the orthodoxy of the dominant religion of their region - they have been severely persecuted. As a result they are most suspicious of outsiders.

Most Yezidis are illiterate and the few doctrines they have are passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. They have purposely deceived outsiders concerning their beliefs and doctrines and kept their books a mystery, which explains why there are so many conflicting accounts of their faith. And it must be admitted that they have at times referred to their deity as 'Shaitan' or Satan, though this entity is not necessarily a "devil" or "demon" as Christians understand him.

In general, the Yezidi people are forbidden to mention the name 'Shaitan' or any of his attributes. They refer to their Shaitan instead as “Melek Ta’us” or the 'Peacock Angel' because of his beauty and pride. He is the “Proud One” and “Ruler of the Earth” and they consider him an archangel.

Despite centuries of persecution by Islam and Christianity, they have clung faithfully to their beliefs. I am quite certain that, to the extent there are Yezidi in this city, they practice their ancient religion here. Certainly the Jews have maintained their faith over the centuries in the face of similar treatment wherever they have settled in the world.

Delores had been talking to Hirt's agent Guy Grenville.

Here's what she told the guys on the way to Koslov's Art:

He's read some of the stuff that Hirt was working on, and he's trying to hide from it in the bottom of the bottle. He said that Hirt had been talking about some ceremony he'd taken part in and he'd seen the moon bridge. I saw something similar in the picture in Hirt's flat, and in the shop too.

At the gallery, they were afraid Koslov would do a skip, so Dex went around back while Delores and Langdon covered the front door of the gallery and the stairs up to the flat. Dex flushed a guy who came running down the stairs with a bundle under his arm. Langdon tried to stop him and got knocked on his keister. Delores managed to trip the guy and now Dex has him covered.

No one's heard from Esposito.

I am waiting for Delores and/or Langdon to post to my thread since the art dealer seems to be waiting on them for a response.

Yeah, they're not as scary.

Dexter Ford wrote:Okay,Honestly the frustration above is both IC and OOC. I do feel we have been chasing our own tails for the last couple of months.

I understand your frustration.

I think some of it is appropriate to any such investigation, compounded by the strung-out nature of PbP. What might take a session around a table takes weeks or even months on-line, especially when RL sometimes takes players away for extended stretches, as with Langdon recently. Esposito has also been silent for some time.

I've been trying to follow the characters' leads on the investigations and use that to provide some alternate paths to certain clues. Right now I think it's time to meet at Flannigan's for another session of clue sharing and leads assessment. You three and Esposito have gathered some information today that needs to be put together. And there's something I should probably retcon.

In the end, though, I think Dex is right:

Dexter Ford wrote:"It's time to...go directly to Brooklyn."

What do I need to do to revitalize us?

Dex/Lammomedes, you've run a successful game to conclusion, any hints or suggestions?

For what it's worth (and I've only been reading my thread, not the others) we (the PC's) know something is happening. The impression I get is that we don't know where - if we knew that, it would give us somewhere to go to.

Cheers,

Phil.

I think my one piece of advice is that I tried to narrow the clues down to a limited number. Perhaps a bit more railroady that way, but as time grows on, we forget where were headed and we get lost in dead ends. In a game where you can spend four hours sitting around a table, you don't mind heading down dead ends, but in a game where that same four hours takes six months to finish, well you can see where this can bog things down. I think the other part might be more prone to any game that has been going for a year, and that might be some player burn out.

In my case, I know I have been temped to pull the module out of the garage where the rest of my ToC stuff is located just to see what the heck I have been missing, but I have resisted doing so. That means I end up despite being a private detective as a character, turning in circles and not feeling like I have access to the right set of clues. As Phil said, I know something is going on, but I don't think I have stumbled across anyone who knows exactly what is going on. Especially as I have studiously avoided reading other threads and even the OOC stuff in my own threads that were directed at other people. So after more than a year, I feel that the pauses between postings are slowing the game down to even more snail like crawl. Whether that is from busy lives or player burn out, I don't know. All I can do is speak about myself, and that is I am posting when things are moving, and you'll get a couple of quick posts, but then I have to slow down to wait for other people to catch up, and then perhaps a few days will pass by. For me that has been the biggest gripe I have had of late: the hurky-jerky nature of posting. And I am guilty of it as much as anyone else.

It might be harder to run an established module than something you come up from by yourself. When you have created the adventure, as I did in my game, I could speed the plot along, or sit back and let it develop as it needed to do, based on what the players were up to. In this case, you are in a sense stuck with the plot and pacing of the adventure.

Dexter Ford wrote:It might be harder to run an established module than something you come up from by yourself. When you have created the adventure, as I did in my game, I could speed the plot along, or sit back and let it develop as it needed to do, based on what the players were up to. In this case, you are in a sense stuck with the plot and pacing of the adventure.

I thought the exact same thing when I saw Gaffer's questions. Another difference that I saw between this and "Season" was that the New York gang has spent a lot more time split up. In "Season" we really only split up twice, IIRC, and both times very briefly. (Upon arriving at the train station in Paris, then the next morning going to retrieve our luggage after that unfortunate fire...)

FYI, I'm heading out of town this evening. I'll have access to teh Internets, but don't know how much time I'll have for posting. Next week is also dicey as I'm back Tuesday afternoon, running Delta Green Tuesday night, "working" Wed, big company party Wed night, off Thursday until... next year.

In any case, here's hoping everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday. Look out for guys in fezzes. And for crap's sake, don't go anywhere near Red Hook. That place just ain't right.


--j

So Delores is worrying about what to wear when she's bringing a shotgun to a dance? LOL

Hey, a girl's gotta be co-ordinated, ain't she?

Does anyone have the Secrets of Japan book? Justine and I are finishing a Japan-based event for Origins. She has the book, but she's in New Haven and it's at her Mom's in Maryland. We need the stats for an Oni (Japanese Ogre).

Nope, sorry!

I leave for Origins on Wednesday morning 6/21 and returning Monday 6/27. Don't expect to be online during that span.

LOL Before I start jumping to conclusions about these two new arrivals, do I know anything about Mr Bad Breath and Two-Guns?
If its up to me to make a connection, I'll go right ahead and do so. Just don't want to step on GM toes before answering.

They're two of your fellow ex-Feds. Or you can make up other backgrounds for them.

You know they're stand-up guys in a tight situation, whatever bio you choose to assign them.

Speaking of Origins... I'll be leaving Tuesday afternoon and returning the following Monday.

In the meantime, I'm frantically struggling to finish my events, so... I don't expect I'll be posting much any time soon.

Gaffer: Any preferences on who you'd like to play in The Maltese Fhtagn? Spade? Cairo? Gutman? Someone completely different?

Love them all, even Wilmer. Let others have their pick.

Justine would be great as any of the women.

I have to tell all three of you how much I'm enjoying this game and your characterizations.

I hope we can pick up the pace a bit and gallop to the end.

Gaffer wrote:Love them all, even Wilmer. Let others have their pick.

Justine would be great as any of the women.

Wilmer didn't make the cut. Four from the movie (Spade, Gutman, Cairo, and O'Shaughnessy) and four from the Lovecraft side of things.

If this works it's going to be a blast!

If it doesn't work...

It'll still be a blast!

Just a heads up: I am leaving for Gencon on Thursday, 8/4 and won't be back until Monday, 8/8.
While I should have some internet access with friends I am staying with, I can't guarantee I will have any real time to post.
Anyone else headed to the Big Show in Indianapolis?

Matt

I'm headed out this afternoon and won't be back until Tuesday 8/9.

--john

Sorry for my infrequent posts - just got my internet connection back after a week!

I've been having a bit of a dry spell, folks. Sorry. I should have something posted by Friday.

I am headed out of town this weekend to play in a Wild West LARP in MD, but I should be able to check in either in the mornings or evenings. But with the pace of this game (::) I should be okay.

Since this game is slowly wrapping up, I am prepping to run a new game set in 1857 India. See the "I am thinking about running" part of the forum and the "End of John Company, India 1857" for a brief blurb. I hope I can lure one or two of you to play, along with any of your friends or others interested in rp.

If you have questions, ask away.

In Injia's sunny clime
Where I used to spend my time
A-soldiering for Her Majesty, The Queen

I'm in, if you'll have me.

My daughter and I watched The Man Who Would Be King when she was here this summer. I've read all the Flashman stories.

It sounds great fun.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Cheers, hope you all had a good one

Merry Christmas everyone. I am interested to see how this all ends up now the Delores is kinda on her own.

I'm back. Will catch you up today.

Well, after about two and a half years, that's it. I hope it wasn't too much of an anticlimax.

Thank you both for sticking with the game for so long and playing a couple of great characters.

I'd love to hear what you think of the scenario and the way I ran it.

I'd also like to kick around thoughts about the Trail of Cthulhu system.

Gaffer,

Thanks for running us through this game. I am sorry only two of us made it through to the end, but I had a great time with the game and it gave a good chance to see some of the ToC system in action as a virtual system.

The scenario was pretty good, but I am also quite sure it would have run differently in a F2F setting rather than online. Nevertheless, I never once went and sought out my copy of the scenario, which is a testament to wanting to see this play through to the end without foresight or knowledge. The latter part of the scenario, including the raid and the journey to elsewhere really brought the end to a dramatic conclusion. I am not quite sure what Dex will do know, but I am sure he has some explaining to do to his partner and to Lila, the probably ex-girlfriend.

I am considering giving ToC a serious go with my next tabletop CoC game, wanting to see how it will play out that way. I have used some of the excellent ToC scenarios with good old BRP based CoC, but I'd like to try them on their own, especially calling upon the pillars of sanity and so forth. I'd love to see how the system plays out as players make choices on spends, etc. That was my only criticism because of the length of the game, I purely lost all track of what I spent, what I hadn't. I don't think we abused the system, but it worked out for us enough to ensure we made the rolls we had to.

Matt

Hey Matt,

Glad you enjoyed it and stuck with it. If you get a F2F game running in Melbourne, give me a holler. If I can make the logistics work, I'd like to be included. I'm up the road in Ocoee. Mobile number is 407-340-1231.

This is the second PbP I've run with ToC. I also ran The King's Men scenario over on Rpol. Overall, I think I still prefer CoC for a number of reasons. Familiarity certainly enters in, but I miss the attributes and the derived attributes like Know and Idea and Luck. They make it easy to do a quick Strength check or Dexterity check.

I don't think the investigators (or the NPCs) are as vulnerable to combat and mental damage, which makes such situations take longer to resolve. I also like the simplicity of percentile rolls, rather than target numbers and resource management.

The core clues given out for simply having certain skills is very efficient -- so long as the PCs have the necessary skill covered. Losing Vila's Outdoorsman skill and Franky's Forensic skill partway through made things a bit more problematic. I also never accepted the basic ToC premise that a single failed roll means the players are left unable to solve the mystery. Not when the GM is competent it doesn't.

Still, I'd like to play it on a table sometime and see how it runs.

Phil, what's your take on all of it.

I also want to say that you guys are still two of my favorite people to play with. I thoroughly enjoyed your characterizations of Dex and Delores. I do wish the others had stayed with us.

I made a lot of 'improvements' to the scenario Return to Red Hook as written. I think you all picked up on everything really useful except the bookstore, which for some reason was avoided.

I don't think I'm likely to play on this board any more (until End of John Company starts up again, Matt). I think most of rpol.net's solutions and mechanics are better and I'll probably mostly stick there in the future. You guys should check it out. I'm Gaffer there, too.

Cheers, man. Just butt in to say just that. Good luck, back over at rpol.net.
I guess the main flaw of this site is the lack of a dice roller...
And when arriving from a previous "home site of gaming" any new site seems odd and peculiar, right?

Anyhow, I´m glad I had the privilege of having Gaffer as a player.

Cheers, till we cross roads again.
/Dave

Gaffer wrote:I also want to say that you guys are still two of my favorite people to play with. I thoroughly enjoyed your characterizations of Dex and Delores. I do wish the others had stayed with us.

I made a lot of 'improvements' to the scenario Return to Red Hook as written. I think you all picked up on everything really useful except the bookstore, which for some reason was avoided.

I don't think I'm likely to play on this board any more (until End of John Company starts up again, Matt). I think most of rpol.net's solutions and mechanics are better and I'll probably mostly stick there in the future. You guys should check it out. I'm Gaffer there, too.

Gaffer,

I think you did a great job in making it flow. I even came across a few hints about how to make John Company run faster when it is resurrected sometime in the fall. I am not sure why we missed the bookstore, but things happen. I'll check out rpol.net's solutions and looks there.

BTW, I will be at GenCon come August and running some preview sessions of the new Colonial Cthulhu ruleset. Gaffer and anyone else from this game, let me know if they want one of the extra seats around the table. I'll let you know once GenCon assigns rooms, but right now the offered schedule is:
Colonial Cthulhu: The Hooded Woman, Thur 8pm, Fri 2m
Colonial Cthulhu: Northern Lights, Sat 10am, Sat 4pm

I can't let anything more out of the bag at the moment, but I'll make some posts over at the regular Yog-Sothoth site once I get a confirmation from GenCon with rooms and times.

Matt

Gaffer wrote:Hey Matt,

Glad you enjoyed it and stuck with it. If you get a F2F game running in Melbourne, give me a holler. If I can make the logistics work, I'd like to be included. I'm up the road in Ocoee. Mobile number is 407-340-1231.

I will certainly do that. It probably won't be until after GenCon, but I might try to organize a pickup ToC game at GenCon too if you'll be out there.

Matt

I would love that, but unlikely to make it to GenCon. However, John Addis (Franky) goes just about every year, I think.

Hi Guys,

sorry for my sudden absense - turned out to be a really busy week!

I really enjoyed the game and glad I managed to hang on in to the end - I thought the characterisations and atmosphere were great. I thought that Delores was a gonna when she followed Merivana (sp?) but the ending really worked for me.

Let me know when you're back on the board but in the meantime I'll take a wander over to rpol and see what's happening.

Cheers,

Phil.

Delores spontaneously following Merivana was one of the coolest actions taken IMO. I was very glad to have you in the game start to finish.

If you want to 'lurk' in one of the games I'm currently running, just send me an 'rmail' there and we'll figure it out.

If no one has anything more to say here, I'll ask Mr. Handy to move this to the Hall of Fame.

I think we're done. Cheers for running this Gaffer.

Great game, everyone! I've enjoyed reading it. I'll move it over to the Hall of Fame once Dex posts.

Thanks, Handy.

LOL I thought we were done.
Okay, thanks to Gaffer for running this and to the other players for sticking around.
Special thanks to Delores from Dex...I am sure he will be keeping an eye on her for a while until she feels better.

Mr. Handy, close up shop and move this to the crypt...

Dexter Ford wrote:Special thanks to Delores from Dex...I am sure he will be keeping an eye on her for a while until she feels better.

Fresh!