OOC - Chapter Five - Onto The Ice

[Decrepit]

Is Jack singing for his supper here, or is he "publicity" only?

[Steerpike]

I imagine Jack will be taking photos and writing articles. If he wants he can tag along with the pilots and take some airborne photos..McRaven promises no looping the loop or other crazy stunts honest!

[Raiko]

Yeah, as Steerpike suggested, Jack can pretty much tag along with whoever he likes, with the exception of the sled teams which don’t have room for passengers.

His only ‘job’ is too document the expedition and wire reports home. Any help that he can give with other expedition activities will of course be gratefully received.

*******************

Important:

Please could anyone who has a copy of their character sheet (either the original or one updated with skill increases) please either PM or email them to me (raiko (at) cthulhu1933 (dot) co (dot) uk).

I unfortunately kept the ‘official’ versions of your characters on the cthulhu1933 website, and these are lost. Fortunately I’ve got offline copies of most or all of them anyway and also still have PMs from several of you with your original characters. But all the same I’d be grateful for any copies that you can send me.

I’ve also got offline histories of skill increases from the end of the New York section, and the onboard courses.

I’ll be updating all of the characters ready for the next chapter, and will be posting the updated sheets in this forum this time instead.

[Decrepit]

PM sent for Jack. The double sets of numbers by the skills were just points' worth of skill increases, to make adding things up easier. I haven't changed Jack's numbers ever.

[Dave Syrinx]

Sadly, I´ve managed to throw a load of stuff away from my hard drive... Hopefully the PM I sent when I started the cruise will do. Hmmm, sorry!

[Raiko]

PM sent for Jack. The double sets of numbers by the skills were just points' worth of skill increases, to make adding things up easier. I haven't changed Jack's numbers ever.

Thanks.

Sadly, I´ve managed to throw a load of stuff away from my hard drive... Hopefully the PM I sent when I started the cruise will do. Hmmm, sorry!

I've still got that PM, no worries.

[Henrik]

I'll see what I can dig up during the Easter holiday. I remember having a character sheet somewhere probably on my old computer. I might have a paper copy as well.

[amarriner]

Sorry, I never grabbed the character sheet from the website when I took over so I don't have it.

[Raiko]

Sorry, I never grabbed the character sheet from the website when I took over so I don't have it.

It's ok. I'm fairly sure that I've currently got copies of everyone's character sheets. I've got a quiet weekend for once ( ), so I'll going to double check them all and make sure that all skill increases are applied (including the final batch from the last leg of the voyage).

I'll post all the characters on here this time.

Then we'll get moving again on Monday.

[Henrik]

I looked for my paper copy, but I suspect I tossed it away when moving. I don't think there was any major changes in skill values.

[Raiko]

Sorry RL is a bitch again.

Anyway I have had chance to confirm that I have copies of everybody’s character sheets. I also have records of all of the skill increases.

I’m still working on getting all the sheets up to date for reposting into the forum.

I’ll try to get a new IC post written tonight, but my main priority is to make sure that the game runs along smoothly from now on (ie I have to post every day once I resume IC posting).

Regarding the exploration teams:
The adventure as written has 4 sled teams, with only one explorer per sled. 3 of the 4 places are taken by the experienced sled / dog handling NPCs, which only leaves one place for PCs.

As Callum and Graves have already asked to join the exploration parties, I’m saying that for my game the sleds can accommodate 2 men per sled.

So there are still 3 places available for anyone who wishes to go. A decent Polar Survival skill would be essential, Drive Dog Sled is useful, but only required for half of the explorers.

If no other PCs join, then the Sorensen brothers will go along, with one other NPC.

Kitt / Laraqua:

Sadly Laraqua can only get online for 2 or 3 hours per week at the moment, so she won’t be able to run Kitt any more. Given the circumstances, and Laraqua’s commitments to her own games, I’m just glad that she can still participate in my Masks of Nyarlathotep game.

As the sole female member of the expedition, Kitt needs to be either a PC or a major NPC. There’s also the love-triangle thing. At the moment I’m inclined to run her as an NPC rather than looking for a new player, what do you all think?

Shadow and Laraqua are two of my best ‘online friends,’ but RL problems have caused both of them to drop out of the game. I’m fairly reluctant to risk another fresh face, particularly as Kitt has already had noticeably different personalities under Shadow and Laraqua. A third players version of her might make a mockery of her very high SAN score.

If she’s NPC’d she’ll be joining McRaven, Jack and one of the NPC professors in the monoplane. McRaven will be the pilot, Kitt the co-pilot / navigator.

James / Orion:

Orion hasn’t posted for a while, so I’ll be (temporarily at least) running James as an NPC. Orion, if you are reading this, then please make a post.

If I have to NPC James, then he can tag along with the sled teams if there’s room, as James attended lots of the ‘dog sled’ classes.

[Dave Syrinx]

John will try to join one of the sledge teams when he has helped out with unloading the gear. There was a team that was exploring a far off camp site, right? And maybe the Peabodie campsite...

[amarriner]

Isugtag has already committed to the camp prep team, but otherwise he'd be all over the exploration team. :p Oh well!

[OrionUK]

Sorry Raiko bit of misunderstanding... I thought you were letting me know if I had done any Polar Survival or Sledding classes so I will post regularly now (as long as I can steal a few minutes on the pc that is)

If you need me to post & I haven't done just send me a quick message & I will try to get on as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience.

[Decrepit]

If I disappear, then Raiko can run all three sides of the love triangle himself.

[Henrik]

Ah, the love triangle. Has been very amusing so far...

[Raiko]

Sorry Raiko bit of misunderstanding... I thought you were letting me know if I had done any Polar Survival or Sledding classes...

Oh sorry! In that case the misunderstanding was actually my forgetfulness. oops.

James has attended polar survival, climbing and sledding classes, as well as teaching his own boxing classes.

If I disappear, then Raiko can run all three sides of the love triangle himself.

Lets hope you don’t disappear then!

I’ve just noticed that it’s taken just over a year for the voyage section of the campaign.
Sorry about that, but at least it’s over now.

I’ve made a short IC post, Moore replying to James. I’ll definitely be making a longer post later today. This will narrate the initial construction of the sea camp, unloading of the Gabrielle and scouting for a land route up onto the barrier.

Then I’ll move on again once I know whether Olof would like the last place on the initial monoplane flight (see below).

John will try to join one of the sledge teams when he has helped out with unloading the gear. There was a team that was exploring a far off camp site, right?...

Isugtag has already committed to the camp prep team, but otherwise he'd be all over the exploration team. :p Oh well!

As James and Moore are discussing, two of the sleds will initially be used to help establish the ‘sea camp’ on thicker ice, fairly close to the Gabrielle.

So John and Isugtag can help with the camp gear and still be involved with the sleds.

How about this?:

Scouting a way up the Barrier:
Sled 1: Gregor Pulaski, Callum
Sled 2: Olaf Sørensen, Graves

Camp Building:
Sled 3: Frodesen, John
Sled 4: Isugtag, James

There’s room for Olof to squeeze into the monoplane with McRaven, Kitt, Jack and Professor Griffith. If he fancies being an early chance to see Antarctica from the air. This will be the expedition’s first flight, as soon as an airstrip is established at the ‘sea camp.’ The Fairchild doesn’t require reassembling, the wings need unfolding, then it just needs fuel and preflight checks.

Once a good route up onto the barrier ice has been located, all four sleds will set off into the wilderness to locate a site for the SME Base Camp.

...And maybe the Peabodie campsite...

The Lake Camp is far, far away. You’ll be using the aeroplanes to reach it. Sleds will be used to establish an emergency fuel/food cache between the base camp and the Lake camp though. This won’t happen until after the base camp is completed though.

[amarriner]

So John and Isugtag can help with the camp gear and still be involved with the sleds.

Great!

[Raiko]

I didn't get the expected free time last night, but I got my post out eventually. I hope to post again tomorrow.

Note1: 0°F = Approx -18°C

Note2: The McMurdo Ice Shelf (in the map) is a part of the Ross Ice Shelf with it's own unique geological conditions. It wasn't named separately from the rest of the shelf during the 30s though.

The sled teams are as listed above.

[Henrik]

Seeing Antarctica from air would be a real thrill indeed. Count me in!