OOC: Chapter One - September At Last

[Raiko]

Nice posts everybody

OOC: Callum, Idea Roll(80%) = [38](Sorry I’ve not got access to Invisible-Castle from work)

@Steerpike: McRaven shouldn't have been back in time to see the huddle in the Amherst, but as I'm glad you are all back together we'll say the pilots caught an earlier train than Kitt did, so they arrived at Penn Station at 09:05, rather than 11:05 as stated.

So everyone's back together.

Note that you will need some excuses in order to avoid checking more of the cargo lists today.

Jack & Kitt don't need to go to the docks - they have a press conference at 01:00pm

As I've mentioned in PM's to one or two of you, James can get out of working at the docks, as he donated a large amount of money to the expedition, he could also fairly easily (maybe with a credit rating check) get one or two of you out of the work, if he can think of an excuse.

Jack has excellent Fast Talk skill (not that worked yesterday), so he could probably get an extra person out of working at the docks, again he need a decent excuse though.

Nobody will really be expecting McRaven at the docks today, the first planes arrive tomorrow though.

Various other characters could use their own fast talk or persuade skills.

You could also just sneak away, without telling Moore

Remember that Moore will not be happy if all of you try to dodge the work at the same time, so maybe you could take turns (maybe in groups) during the day or something.

I'll give you until Sunday (my time) to discuss your plans, then I'll try to resolve the events for the rest of the day (this will take us up to the start of chapter 2).

If you seem to have come to a consensus before Sunday (today maybe? 8)), then I'll resolve things immediately.

[Steerpike]

Nice posts everybody

@Steerpike: McRaven shouldn't have been back in time to see the huddle in the Amherst, but as I'm glad you are all back together we'll say the pilots caught an earlier train than Kitt did, so they arrived at Penn Station at 09:05, rather than 11:05 as stated.

Sorry about that Next time when there is a "time" difference I will OCC a quick query about McRavens possible actions.

cheers

[Raiko]

@Charles Graves: I fear that you jumped the gun slightly, you posted before I had the chance to post an extract from Lawrences Diary.

Still it's good that things are moving too fast for me now.

Beats those damn lists eh?

[Raiko]

I could do with you all making a decision within the next 24 hours.

I am prepared to wait a little longer, but don't be surprised if I try to push things along IC if you haven't made your plans by then.

As we are aproaching the end of a chapter, this seems like a good time to mention something that PrBatblind brought up in his game:

This is a very nice opportunity to introduce a new advancement rule I used this summer and that did work fairly well. I’d like you to tell me what you think of it.
Instead of throwing for each checked skill at the end of the adventure (was it a chapter or whatever), the keeper gives a number of skills (generally three, but I suppose an act or bravery or a spectacular role-playing could earn a few more) which can be raised. Then the player chooses which he wants to increase, considering they can be all that he used in the adventure, was it successfully or not. Therefore, the skills are increased according to their actual scores, following the following table:
If the skill ranges:

From 01 to 30, 1d10
From 31 to 50, 1d8
From 51 to 70, 1d6
Above 71, 1d4.

This system is less frustrating than the official rule, for players always get rewards, and have an influence on their progression.

The official rule for training stipulates that one could train in any skill with the right teacher, but at the rate of… six month for a 1d10 progress. Now with the new system I could allow points before the end so that the player could learn the fundamentals of, for instance, shotguns…

Your thoughts on the general rule?

Character advancement is one area that I would always houserule in a tabletop game, as I hate the official rules. So what do you all think of Séb's houserule?

I like it a lot and I'll use it if most of you like it, this will include backdating to the prologue as I never updated the character sheets.

I won't be using any other houserules though.

[Henrik]

I like the rules as they are now, but if you want to use this rule instead I'm not opposed to the idea.

[Charles Graves]

I like Seb's houserule for experience. It allows the Gamemaster to reward good play and doesn't rely so heavily on luck.

[Raiko]

Moore has already departed for the docks, you could either speak to him there, or wait until the evening

[Steerpike]

I'm all in favour of increases being settled at the end of each chapter. That way we only increase the skills we are using, if we are allowed to pick any 3, the temptation is go for areas were we are weak in anticipation that we might need them.

Like Mcraven suddenly getting better at occult, library use and fast talking without ever having used them sucessfully.

I'll take my GM hat off now and go sit quietly in the corner.

[Mister Juan]

I'm fine with the advancement rule.
Also chirping it to say that I am not dead, just terribly busy at the moment

[OrionUK]

I dont mind which rule Raiko chooses. I have had some funny shifts over the weekend so sorry for the delay in posting but should be ok for the rest of the week now.

[Raiko]

Sorry for the short delay, I couldn’t post at lunchtime today as I finished early to get something done on my car, and I can’t post properly tonight as I’ve got a very early start tomorrow.

As you seem to have mostly finished planning what to do next I’ll give you until my lunchtime tomorrow to decide who’s going where (thats about 13-14 hours from now).

Remember that you’ll need to go to the docks if you want to speak to Moore (either to officially get out of checking the lists, or the question him about other things).

He’ll be back at the hotel in the evening, so that’s probably a better time to question him, he’s always got a little time to spare for members of the team.

Starkweather is still at the hotel, probably looking for some journalists to chat to.
He isn’t as good at finding time for team members as Moore though. Getting permission from him is as good as getting it from Moore though.

At lunchtime tomorrow I’ll go with whatever plan you seem to have hatched, at the moment I’ve got this:

Jack and Kitt are going to the library, then coming back for the press conference at 1pm.

Professor Graves is planning on going to the library as well, either he or Jack could talk to Starkweather or Moore about that (possibly after the deed is done ).

Olof is accompanying Graves.

James is going to the docks.

Callum thinks everyone should ‘bunk off,’ but Nils disagrees with him, warning that Starkweather puts his pride first.

Both Sorensen Brothers will continue at the docks for now (they are the only NPCs in this little gathering).

McRaven has suggested talking to Commander Douglas about the mysterious note, Douglas is due into New York tomorrow (6th Sept 1933), Starkweather has promised the press access to the commander the day after that.

[Ghost_1971]

I didnt mean we should bunk off. I just meant that we could use the fact that Moore is under pressure. Therefore we could all go and investigate, instead of just one or two people

[Raiko]

I've re-read your post, and maybe I misunderstood it, as I originally read it as meaning that you don't want to consult Moore (or Starkweather), hence my "bunk off" phrase.

I'll assume that Callum is accompanying Graves when he goes to see Starkweather, under the pretence that his arctic survival experience will aid the professor’s research.

I’m also assuming that Olof and Sean are accompanying Graves as well.

McRaven is still free to do as he likes for today, I’ve assumed that he goes with Jack and Kitt.

This leaves James, Isugtag and Clark who are still going to the docks.

I'll be posting in an hour or so, I couldn't from post from work as I need to use Invisible Castle.

[Decrepit]

"Eduardo" at Dell says the problem with my computer is the monitor, and they claim to be sending a replacement. Of course, they also told me they were going to send me a second email about it, and they haven't, a few days later. Which is a round-about way of saying I'll be in and out. Nice time for me to take some time off work to work on my dissertation stuff ...

[OrionUK]

Hi Raiko, when James gets to the docks with the Sorensen Brothers can he spend 1/2 hour or so helping with the lists & then, whenever the right opportunity presents itself, start "chatting" to Moore whilst slipping in the odd question about previous expedition members, survivors & previous goings on - to see how susceptible Moore is at releasing any info about the recently received warning?

If the others still need more time to investigate after this afternoons press conference I will think of an excuse to give to get a couple of people back out again depending on peoples findings.

[BlackGoat]

Sean is accompanying Graves =)

[Raiko]

Sorry, I've been much busier than I like to be , hopefully things will go smoother for the rest of the week and I can resume posting at my normal pace again.

[Raiko]

Hopefully I'm back on track now, the rest of the week shouldn't be quite as busy.

I've mostly written a post concerning James meeting Moore at the docks, I'll post the full thing from work.

I'll be starting Chapter 2 from work tomorrow as well, you can all post replies in either chapter 1 (for 5th Sept stuff), or chapter 2 (for 6th Sept stuff) for a day or two if you like, until you are happy that your actions are complete in chapter 1.

[Raiko]

That was my final planned post of chapter one, I will of course reply to any posts that you all make.

As I've made several IC posts today, here is a link to the first.

@Charles_Graves & Ghost1971: I'll PM you both a copy of Greene's resume later, I need to copy some stuff out the book first.

I'll be beginning Chapter Two from home later, again I need to copy some handouts from the book (I thought I'd done them a while ago).

[Decrepit]

I'm mostly back now, maybe. My replacement monitor got lost at the opposite corner of the state, but hopefully I'll be up and running today.

Raiko, I'm not sure how far you want me to push the investigation of perhaps-ancillary events. They're certainly intriguing, but I don't want to derail things, either.