OOC - GENERAL Campaign Discussion

[Mr. Handy]

You're welcome! The guidelines that have accumulated over the years are geared more towards Zombie Apocalypse and include house rules that are just for that campaign, though there is a lot there that is generally useful. The first post there details how to use Invisible Castle, and there's one later on that explains how to use spoiler buttons (added when they became available on this site).

I've edited my equipment list into my character sheet, so Katie should be ready to go.



"Are you kidding? I was born ready!"

[royya]

"Are you kidding? I was born ready!"

After you'll see the mountain chain in the South Pole you will not repeat this phrase.

[Job]

Oh geez! That sounds like a dare for Katie!

On a different topic, I am eagerly awaiting Camille's player's return and also Katie's arrival on the expedition. If you've read any of Starkweather's history and letters and posts, you can well imagine the fun interactions of our ultra-courteous commander (?) with our team of not one, but TWO female pilots. I expect a lot of lighthearted roleplay punctuated with episodes of terror.

Job.

[Mr. Handy]

Katie can't resist a challenge. That's why she's here!

I'm looking forward to this too. It'll be good to meet Camille, and it should be fun giving Starkweather an earful in stereo.

[Job]

In the interest of providing an immersive experience, I've been playing around with adding audio clips to my campaign.

Here is a link to the post where I've inserted an audio clip of the U.S.S. Gabrielle embarking on their voyage from NYC

I try to use a lot of photos and, now, hopefully adding audio will add to everyone's enjoyment. Let me know what you think!

Job.

P.S. You can switch on the "repeat track" icon in the little player to listen to the clip repeatedly while reading/writing for our campaign! I found that I have to occasionally click on the GoEar browser tab to activate the repeat track function, but I just jump immediately back to my other active tab.

[Mr. Handy]

Nice! I like using audio and images in my games too, though I wasn't the first to do so here. I've done it most notably in Zombie Apocalypse, but I've also used it on occasion in my Doctor Who/Call of Cthulhu campaign.

[royya]

I placed a photo of father Paul James Rucker in the character’s thread

[Job]

I placed a photo of father Paul James Rucker in the character’s thread

Very nice, although he looks a little too happy... I'll fix that for you in the game.

Job.

[Job]

I've made a few changes to how I track skill increase rolls. Since we have quite a few characters and a number of threads open, I felt that I needed to improve this recordkeeping.

First, I've added a new thread entitled "OOC - Skill Increase Rolls" so that you, as a player, can easily see if you need to roll for any skill increases. You won't have to look through the many open threads, or check any PM's that you may have received from me, to find if you should roll for an increase. Simply check the first post in this new topic thread and look at what's due for your character.

Second, for all classes taken or that you plan on taking, I'm now listing the students (your player characters) in the class schedule (here's a link to the Sept 13 schedule). This way, you can easily see what I have you signed up for.

Third, on your character sheet, I'll record a history of your skill increases. When you successfully increase one of your skills, not only will I record the increase, but I'll now also started indicating when and what activity resulted in the increase.

I think that these changes will make it easier for you to spot and track your skill increases. If you see that I've missed something, don't hesitate to send me a PM.

Job.

[Job]

Hello all,

I have relatives here for the U.S. holidays, so I won't be posting much for a few days. I may occasionally find a moment to check in, but won't have any time alone for creative writing. I'll be back when the relatives depart.

Happy Thanksgiving (for our U.S. players)!

Job.

[Anatomist]

Enjoy your birds!

[BenTheRat]

It was awesome fowl!! Great stuffing, delicious pie and an excellent football game to boot!!

[Ewoklord]

Job said I should post here if I wanted to join the game (about a month ago, so if a spot is no longer available I understand. I got a bit distracted by Skyrim, and I thought for sure I had checked this within the last month. I'm more available now that I've got a few hundred hours in the game.) Anyways, I'd love to play in this game, it'll be the first I've actually played in, rather than run. I'm not exactly sure what character concepts would fit, but I'm sure you guys will be helpful in that regard. Thanks!

[Job]

Job said I should post here if I wanted to join the game (about a month ago, so if a spot is no longer available I understand. I got a bit distracted by Skyrim, and I thought for sure I had checked this within the last month. I'm more available now that I've got a few hundred hours in the game.) Anyways, I'd love to play in this game, it'll be the first I've actually played in, rather than run. I'm not exactly sure what character concepts would fit, but I'm sure you guys will be helpful in that regard. Thanks!

Hello Ewoklord,

Alas, I'm terribly sorry but you were about a day too late in posting your follow-up request as I am now at the maximum number of players that I think I can reasonably handle. However, I've been running this game for a while now and PbP games--especially lengthy ones such as BtMoM--usually experience a bit of turnover over time, where some players drop out of the game for various reasons. If you're interested and don't mind watching and waiting, I'll add your name to our "alternates" list; simply send me a PM with your email address and I'll send you an email when a spot opens up. This game will be going on for a while, and we've barely scratched the surface of the campaign, so I feel fairly safe in saying that you would be hearing from me and that you'd most assuredly get an opportunity to die gloriously on the ice!

Job.

[Ewoklord]

Missed it by *that* much! Alright, I'll send you a PM. I look forward to dying a horrible death!

[Job]

I know that you folks will be astonished...

...but I've posted another video that I consider to be a work in progress for chapter 2 - Death of a Sea captain. I just couldn't resist taking advantage of the music! I'll update the video, adding images, as our chapter progresses.

You can view it here.

Now I guess that I'll get back to writing.

Job.

[Job]

I've updated the "OOC - Player Action Needed" thread to identify all die rolls that are awaiting for your characters. Most of you have die rolls to make, so be sure to check this thread.

For your ease of reference, here's a link.

Job.

[Job]

For those of you who are new to this game, I thought that I'd outline a few thoughts that describe how I handle multiple threads and the order of my responses.

I try to respond to each posting from each player in the order that they are received. In other words, if you responded first, then you will likely get the first response back from me. In this game, because we have numerous open threads, you will many times see me jumping around to respond to one thread, then a different one, etc. Normally, I jump from one thread to another because, as mentioned above, I'm trying to stick to my pattern of responding to all players' responses in the order that I recieve them.

I attempt to accomplish this by keeping a "To Do" list of which players' posts need my responses, and in which order. I feel that this best ensures that no players are ignored, it rewards those players who are very active, and also helps to keep the entire story moving, not just one thread.

On occasion, I may deviate from this approach, for example:

• Sometimes I'll post story elements that are not a response to a player, but simply an event that happens. Or maybe I get sidetracked on one of my creative YouTube efforts that you've seen...
• On occasion, I may decide that a player's post does not require a response from me (e.g. if two player's characters are speaking to each other, and not to an NPC)
• I may run a few quick responses in one thread, even though other threads might be ahead in the queue, to build momentum and quickly move that thread along. This is usually pretty rare, but sometimes this keeps things interesting (from my Keeper's point of view, anyway).

It may happen that I overlook one of your posts, and that's usually because I've made a mistake and did not add your item to my To-Do list. If you are waiting for me to respond to you, and you believe that I may have overlooked your posting, please be sure to send me a PM. I don't mind at all if you do this. The more communication between you, the players, and me, the Keeper, the better--and more fun--our story will be.

I hope that this helps. Comments are always welcomed.
Job.

[Job]

Some of you have commented that there are skills for this campaign on your character sheets which are not described in the standard CoC rules. This is true!

Here I've posted copies of pages from the BtMoM campaign book which describe a number of additional skills (e.g. Meteorology or Polar Survival) as well as two skills which have been augmented by the authors (i.e. Climb and Throw) for Antarctic exploration.

Job.

[Job]

I think that Santa will be bringing me a very Cthulhu Christmas!

• To tickle my creative writing skills in preparation for the cold Antarctic environment, I'm looking forward to receiving a Jack London compilation! (surprisingly inexpensive, I might add).
• To enhance my meager attempts at crafting YouTube videos, I may be getting the Adobe video editing tools! Not the professional tools, mind you; those cost hundreds of dollars! But maybe the package for your average Joe. Maybe. Learning Adobe tools is sometimes a lot of work, though...
• And finally, to delve deeper into the madness, and to spark my attempts to befuddle play-by-post players, I'll be getting a compilation of writers who pay homage to Lovecraft. Ever hear of the "Fat Face" short story?

What Cthulhu gifts (or general horror gifts) will Santa be bringing you? Any good horror movies, or books, or music?

Job.