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I Forge Iron

The RPG connection, or "blacksmithing, the game"


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The GM does have the most control of how a game goes and yes, it's a balance between realism and playability. We had good times playing without dice because we'd played together a lot and knew or could decide what played well. We won most of those for values of won.

The worst part about the 4d caltrop roll is passing your dex roll to turn your foot over far enough to read what you rolled.

I remember jacks my little sister left where the cats slept. The first clue was one of the cats jingling as it trotted past and petting it was confirmation. That was before shag carpets and explained why Shannon's jacks were always really bright colors.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Been many a time I have played diceless. It is always best when it is more about the story and character interactions and growth than how many monsters you can hack down.

Speaking of the cat reminded me of the time we played at a friend's house who had three free-roaming ferrets. One of them loved to steal straws and cup lids... the other two... well, let's just say you better put your dice back into your Crowne Royal bag after each roll.

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A bit of the old hack and slash has its place! Especialy when one gets up to buckling swashes! 

One must never discount the old dongeon crawl nithe! (Be it a ship wreck orbiting a distant moon, the newyork underground or a monster infested complex built for a mad good in a world inhabeted by men, dwarves and elves!

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A number of guys have shown interest, I imagine when we decide on a system we might get a couple few more. Do we put a limit on the number of players? We found that too many made things too complicated but we just may not have known how to play larger groups.

Frosty The Lucky.

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I always found with big groups everything had to be done in one sitting. If not, next time around someone was bound to not show up. So you've traveled across the land battling random monsters and brigands and just started to enter the fortress of the monsters killing off the watch in the entry when the session ends. Next session session, you fight your way across the fortress to just outside the leaders quarters, but "Tommy the Terror's" user can't make it that week. So what happens to him? He's run off during the fight thru the corridors because he's got to go take a poo bad ( must have been some badly cooked giant beetles and shrieking fungus the night before), and can't find a bathroom with any paper in it, but he manages to return in time to catch up with the rest of the group for next week?

 

Even with small groups we'd have those issues. Most times someone else would simply take over the missing guys character, but that always brought bad feelings if something untoward happened to them when they weren't there. Sorry John, your Paladin who finally managed to achieve his life's dream with you last session by finding that Holy Avenger broad sword attuned to your God Grrr, who is the god of bastard half dwarven sons of  one armed left handed window washers,  lost it to a rust monster while trying to save the Amazing Clutzo who failed a dexterity roll and sprung a trap.... But hey maybe they can take the bladeless hilt and make you a set of Holy Brass Knuckles or something instead.

 

Adding guys wasn't usually a big problem. You just gave them one of the spare cannon fodder who tagged along for just these emergencies, or one of the clerics who were pretty much there to play medic anyways. Here you play the thief... All you have to do is check for traps and scout in advance of the rest of the party.. You've got that ring of weekly resurrection so it you trip another death trap again like that guy did last week, it will all work out....

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I'll drink to that, TP

with a telecomuting game, missing players usualy isnt an issue unless it is a real time sessin. as "span of controle" is from 3-8 with 5 being optimal i would recomend the any one group be kept with in that range, mutiple groups being the way to handle an over abundance of players. That of corse leads two senerios, multipe games ran by multipe GM's or one game ran by one GM or a combination of the two (a GM and moderators as it were) the one game alows for character drift from party to party, as well as having allies when takling a big issue. 

When trying to play in real time to mediate the missing character issue is best to play episodic games, they may all be lart of a bigger story but the emidiate mission should be resolved in session. This is not as much a problem with email or text only games. But a combination of the two are probbably the best situation. 

I imagine now is the time to ask for ideas as to genra and who is acualing sighning on to play?

 

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Oh NO, you do NOT want me as DM, my brain isn't up to it. Seriously, driving safely is about as much as I can manage and I have moments then. I'd spend more time reading preceding posts to try figuring out where we are than running a game. I would be a BAD choice, really.

We tried a number of ways of handling guys missing games but none were too satisfactory. The character is invulnerable was maybe not horrible but not good. You'd invariably get a player who was always asking "what's happening now?" during a session just so "HAPPEN" to miss a session after he'd committed a fatal mistake. When DMing I made it plain to everybody at the beginning of every session that  anyone who asked "what's happening now" had just tripped a fatal trap.

Putting the "unconscious" character in the "bag of holding" till the player made it back was O-K-A-Y but had it's issues. My first Richard character (Ranger Rick) was in the bag while I was out of town drilling and I came back to discover the Elvin mage, fighter who was carrying the bag lost three rolls in a row and was carried off to hell WITH the bag and Richard. <sigh>

"The character got lost" method wasn't too bad at all. When the player made it to another session s/he'd have to make a few more saving rolls during the game but nothing too onerous. The rational was they got separated by X mechanism and couldn't find their way back till they did. The penalties was treasure, they couldn't collect any GOOD treasure while lost but also didn't suffer any permanent or fatal damage either. It was a playable technique.

Different times people and situations called for different MIA mechanisms.

I don't see us playing real time unless we're all in the same general time zone. I live 3-4 zones west of most of the guys showing real interest in the game as it is. How do we work it?: Old school snail mail game rules? Play 3 +/- turns a day? Just toss stuff out till the DM says what happened?

All my manuals and such are at least 25+ years old. How do we work equipment, etc.?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

 

Edited by Frosty
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True, the GM applies the rules as needed and it isn't the players worry. However it's pretty important to know the basics so for instance I wouldn't try flying if it isn't possible or would if it were. Then I suppose thats what you mean by "Really" Know the rules.

Generating characters can go pretty quickly from the front or the back. Say a player wanted to play a fighter of Conan like strength and agility. The GM could roll up a character to fit the general specs. OR the GM could provide a number of character blanks and we could chose or roll the dice for one and turn it into the character.

Either works for me, I don't even need to be human or a life form.

Unless someone knows how I think maybe turns might need to be figured out from play.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Doen't see why not, lol. Lets give others a chance to chime in befor descusing genra. At that point we descuse who starts out GM'n and the system. 

Yes, Master Frost, keeping track of the time line is imprtaint. So turns are certainly part of the skeam. Tho we can not expect the GM to dedicate their lif to this endever, just a good bit of his entrrtainment time and creative juices.

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:)  Aside from Frosty being a Ranger,  it's going to be like the Movie Resevoir Dogs where they all want to be Mr Black.  Everyone is going to want to be the Smith....   Sounds like an entertaining endeavor if theres room and timing works  I'm in.

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Dwarves with hammers is a problem for anyone but the opposition? Grab the troll, or other unfortunate monster by the nose with my tongs and let it have it on the forehead with my war hammer. Sounds like fun.

About other folk chiming in Charles, you and I have been carrying this because they aren't.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Hey what about the elves. They forge stuff too! LOL

 

It's been way too many years since I played anything like D&D. Back then it was all in person. I never tried any by mail or online. I'd want to watch 1st and see how things get played most likely before jumping in, but it certainly sounds interesting. My typing skills means it's going to be quite awhile for me to put up any replies.

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