hakootoko

So I can take 12- [3], Super identity only [-1], Contact has access to major institutions [1], Good relationship with contact [1], Organization contact x3 = 12 cp

This means he can call the Fire Chief directly, explain the problem to him, and ask him to arrange a meeting with the Mayor, eh?

1. What is your experience with the Hero System Rules?
I first played Champions in the late-80s. I still recall that slim, perfect bound book with the light blue cover. There was an awful lot in that book, and it was the first time I'd seen a purely point-buy game. Later I played in a brief Fantasy Hero game, but we got annoyed by the build-your-own-spells aspect of it and gave up. Then I ran a couple of brief pulp campaigns using Justice, Inc. I don't think I've played Hero 6e before (or any Hero in ten years or more), but I'm reading it now. The lack of derived stats seems like it will make everything simpler.

2. What is your experience with PbP?
I've been on MW since 2009, and was on RPOL and Tangled Web before that. I've been in dozens of games, but sadly, most don't last even a few months. I've never run a PbP game, but I've run live online games for friends. We're using discord and roll20 these days.

3. What is your Role-playing Experience (overall, PbP and otherwise)? And, what makes a game "good"?
My experience with RPGs before PbP was about playing live with friends, learning various systems, making a mix of stock and oddball characters as the whim strikes me after finding out what the GM wanted. It wasn't until PBP that I got into playing with strangers, but I think the same things still apply. You have to make a character that fits with what the GM wants for their world and story, someone who is a team player, and someone who also has their 'niche', some narrow focus where they're the best in the party. A game is good when everyone is on the same page about expectations and where people aren't just responding, but are active and setting the stage for responses by the GM or other players. Specifically in PBP, it means responding promptly so the pace doesn't falter.

4. Please link me a couple examples of your Roleplaying here at the Weave (preferred). If no examples, be sure to post an "RP" in the open RP thread (when I get one up) I'd like to see a sample of your game-style writing.
https://www.myth-weavers.com/index.php?/topic/14496-blackwater-creek-game-thread/

https://og.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=542785

Here's one thread from oMW and one from nMW. Hopefully the oMW threads are still viewable by non-players.

5. Tell me about a couple of your favorite characters you've actually played (in PBP or even in TT) and why you enjoyed those characters so much.
In a live game that recently wrapped up after five years or so, I was a middle-aged grizzled guerrilla fighter whose planet had been conquered by humans. He, like his entire species, looked exactly like twelve year old human girls. It allowed for lots of comedic impersonation and undercover work. Everyone in the party got to make jokes about him. Yet he was a serious character almost all of the time who was at war for the survival of his people and knew how to pull off hit-and-run ops.

My first PbP character was a one-eighth-elf (human for all game mechanics reasons) who identified with his elven heritage. He was a ranger with one level of cleric of the elven high god. He tried to pal around with any elf the party came across, and some found they had to accept him because the elven high god had. He definitely wasn't the best fighter in combat, but was fun to roleplay.

6. Name (do not use the "mention" function) one or more players 'applying' for this game ("Shadows of the City") whom you would like to be accepted (Other than yourself, obviously you want to be accepted or you'd just withdraw) into this game and why you would like to play with them here. (example reasons. Good Character concept that fits well with yours, Played with them before and they are a good RPer, They are Helpful, whatever). Please be sure to put this response in a private tag for myself (if left blank, private tags are still viewable by the GM). Please use the Private tags. I don't want anyone's feelings to get hurt. Also, you may need to come back to this later after seeing who has applied.



7. Describe your desired character for me
Don't worry... change this as often as you need to. I fully understand that characters can't be fleshed out until you know what the heck you're playing toward!)

He was a talented sculptor that never got the lucky break he needed to make a go of it professionally. So he worked days as a fireman and practiced his art privately in his off time. Once, depressed over his lack of success, he took a couple of weeks of vacation and rented a cabin far off in the woods. There he saw a meteor fall and went to look for it. Whatever was in that meteor leapt at him and encased him in a semi-transparent blob of viscous goo. He didn't and doesn't know if it's even alive, but it definitely doesn't feel sentient. Back in the city, no one recognized him, but his new symbiotic abilities quickly made him famous, and he cast off his old identity and became Hardin. He pronounces it like Rodin, but most people mispronounce it as Harden. He got certified as a fireman (easy enough, since in his old identity he'd done that for years) and was deployed to places in danger of imminent collapse to shore them up and save lives. He's in thick with the whole fire department, and occasionally other parts of the city government use those contacts to call on him as well.

His powers (if I can manage to make this work in Champions) are the ability to hive off or throw chunks of goo he calls 'tectite'. He can make them harden into permanent forms, either to repair a damaged building before it collapses or to make a unique sculpture. Or he can encase someone in soft, temporary goo that slowly dissolves; gooing a hostage-taker and their hostage prevents one from shooting the other, and allows for the safe separation and retrieval of both. I could also see it being used to make a fortified wall or a field of caltrops, but perhaps these are things to grow into.

He supports himself now by selling tectite sculptures, mostly to those buying them to support him as a superhero. But money is money. At least there are a few experts out there who appreciate his creations as art.

Hopefully I can get this done in time. I'm still reading the 6e rules and have a busy next couple of weeks. If you have a recommendation for how much his relationship (contact?) with the fire department is going to cost, please let me know. That section of the perks chapter looks like mostly the GM's decision.

Reserved for character description and background

Reserved for character sheet

I might be more out of date with this than I remember... derived stats are no longer derived.

I'm not seeing any sort of poor, artsy district (ala Greenwich Village). Would it make sense to assume there's one near the community college?

Sorry to start such a huge tangent by asking what edition! I will re-read the rules after you choose an edition. Any is fine by me.

17 hours ago, Rumguzzle said:

If I extend thend east off the map I am cutting off sea access for Farhaven to sail south and west which is a main part of their fleet trade goals. I can basically move the canal into that area which means it will not be an endless grassland but cut in half by the sea.

As far as moubtains, lookibg for more extending east between thr two points mentioned of just move the eastern range that exists over to that spot?

I can definitely see that, and I don't want to interfere with your plans. My concern is that the map is turning into an island (water on three sides, possibly water or arctic wastes at the top) which is almost entirely the empire. The empire just has a bit of mopping up to do before it controls the whole land mass. That doesn't leave us room for any non-imperial land powers, like the plains nomads I was imagining. What do you think we can do?

As to the mountains, I was thinking of extending them East in a solid mass.

I haven't played Champions in forever. What edition?

Fili Kober

HP: 11/11 FP: 6/11 Conditions:

After the mad rush through the door, Fili only sees Harolde still in the room. She offers him a shoulder to lean on and they limp along through the doorway.

OOC:

I have no problem with getting specific about what stats translate to. Just keep in mind that the number is the 'crunch' and the specifics are just 'fluff'.

I.e. when my unit of Elvish Wizards faces off against your Panzer IIIs, it's resolved purely by military value.

@Rumguzzle

Telimnare: NW shore of the lake

Obar: In the pass between the lake and XXL

Tallihah: Above the 'D' in Allard

Could I ask for XXM (the nomad grasslands) to extend off the East side of the map? As you said earlier, we can decide later what the lands off that edge of the map look like. I'd also like a set of impassible mountains between XXM and Pith. I can't exactly ask you to squeeze an entire Tibet in there, but something high and broad.

Thanks!

I have no objection to rotating Allard on the map. But I liked Rumguzzle's second map more than Primeval Status' map.

Allard has two non-empire regions next to it that aren't next to each other. On Rumguzzle's second map, one is Pith and the other can be XXG. On Primeval Status' map, there isn't room for both.

3 minutes ago, Rumguzzle said:

The challenge is Allard and the Theocracy are both outlier realms so trying to makebthat work. May be able to adjust scale and make that happen, will have to see

I honestly don't mind having to redo that bit. Don't worry about it.

That's a pretty cool map. You're good at this.

It might be easier to discuss it if each XXX had a number or something, but hopefully I can get my points across.

I'd like to see Allard more securely ringed by mountains on the West, South, and East, with only an open side at the top. I was picturing a pass in its SW corner that connects to the Empire and South to a more tropical place not in the Empire, but I can change that to make the non-Empire neighbor be to the SE. The four XXX zones in the SE could be outside the Empire, zones of later expansion or outside contacts. The XXX farthest East could be the spice lands, and the XXX between there and Allard could be Allard's trading partner named Pith.

I'd have to redo parts of my kingdom background to conform to the fact Allard isn't a 'distant valley', but is the closest kingdom to the center and rather integral to it. But I don't mind making that change.

The three XXX zones North of Allard would then be the non-empire nomad grasslands between Allard and Katraen. I was kind of hoping to be the furthest East and least connected to the center, but I can see where this works to make Allard and Katraen culturally closer.

How do you see Farhaven getting conquered by the Empire? It's so far outside of it, and the imperial armies would have to march across inhospitable foreign wastes even to get to you.

Related to Land and Population, I think there's something else we're missing.

Each of our rulers only controls three population centers out of all the land in our respective realms (or water, for those of you who are sea powers). Each of us should decide if the rest of our land is 1) empty to be settled, or 2) full of barons and their populations who need to be won over as vassals. I conceived of Allard as the latter: a maze of river valleys full of people, with the currently king only a first among equals. If the need arises, he's going to have to work to centralize authority.

Fili Kober

HP: 11/11 FP: 6/11 Conditions:

Fili makes eye contact with Hank, and then quickly yanks the door open for him to race through. And getting both hands back on her staff, she's not far behind.

OOC:

It certainly seems reasonable to accept all of the locations people picked for their own countries if we are each a province among a large number of periphery provinces.

To reiterate what people said of themselves:

Allard - E, landlocked
Katraen - N, inland
Theocratic State of Iemanec Athiri - temperate mountain valley
Pricipality of Farhaven - NE, sea
The City-State of Respita - NW, penninsula
Edetka Alm / Hellaga Eterni - S, sea

@Delorphin Where would you prefer Iemanec Athiri to be located?

Does anyone want to specifically share a border with anyone else?

If Delorphin wants to place their kingdom to the East, between the core and Allard, I would be happy to share a border. Given the geography others have chosen, I don't see any other possibilities.

7 hours ago, Neopopulas said:

Do you feel like the stats are expansive enough to represent your nation and character? If not, what editions or revisions would help?

• I'm usually a huge fan of crunch, however too much might bog things down, so i'm willing to sacrifice some mechanical crunch lol. The stats are good and changing artistic to culture makes sense. I could see a couple of extra stats, something like Lands is the only thing that couldn't be rolled into something else. Normally when i think of things like this you need a half dozen or so, but we've covered most in an abstract way. Basically i can think of a few traits we need to have covered
  
  Defense, Influence, Lands, Law/Safety, Population, Power and Wealth.
  
  Defense and Power can both be Military (Defense is usually how dependable your lands are with natural features and fortifications, while Power is the actual military, but they can be folded together).
  
  Influence is one we don't have, but it could just be an RP thing if we want
  
  Lands is also something we are kinda missing. People have been very abstract about the size of their lands but it could be important
  
  Law/Safety could also be covered by Military, assuming the lord in change of the region is using his own forces to protect their people
  
  Population is another abstract we might not need unless we need to compare available 'manpower' to others, or use it as a resource for the commercial and industry stats
  
  Wealth is covered by both Commercial and Industry, so we might need to better clarify the difference between these two and which does what thing.

I'd rather not add too much.

I think Defense, Law/Safety, and Power are covered by Military. Influence is covered by Diplomacy. I was using Agriculture as a proxy for Population (i.e. your population has grown to what your agriculture can support). We don't have Lands at all.

Maybe we could put Commerce and Industry together into one stat, and then add Lands as our fifth stat?

Nice reference! You should add Primeval Status' kingdom to that, too ^_^

People's stated directions are:

Allard - E, landlocked
Katraen - N, inland?
Theocratic State of Iemanec Athiri - temperate mountain valley
Pricipality of Farhaven - NE, sea
The City-State of Respita - NW, penninsula
Edetka Alm / Hellaga Eterni - S, sea
 

My landlocked Allard position isn't going to be compatible if we've got seas in the NE and NW...

I'm going to suggest for consideration:

Allard - E, landlocked
Katraen - N, inland
Theocratic State of Iemanec Athiri - SE, temperate mountain valley
Pricipality of Farhaven - NW, sea
The City-State of Respita - W, penninsula
Edetka Alm / Hellaga Eterni - S, sea

This gives a sea stretching from the NW to the S of the center of the kingdom, sort of like Europe without an Africa. The 'empty directions' are NE (barbarians) and SW (open sea). The core empire is then analogous to southern Europe, but it leaves the seas to Edetka because there isn't much down there to exploit.

The only PC kingdom that approaches tropical is Edetka, due South. Katraen is sub-arctic. Everything else is temperate.

Thoughts?

The progress of the Coronation Dinner makes me wonder if this is really the game for me.

Will the play of the game once it starts be about nobles trying to out-noble each other, or will it be about kingdom development?

"The lion is the most dangerous, I think most here will agree, Grand Duke," Gasram begins, looking around the table to see who nods along. "I wonder if you get them so far north. I have heard that your bears are more ferocious than ours, and am suitably jealous. There is also the lion's cousin, the mountain lion."

"Then there is the gazelle, always leaping in a direction you don't expect and fouling your shot. We also have the mountain ram, which walks easily on treacherous cliffs. Chasing one down with horse and spear is an exhilarating ride!"

He pauses to take a drink from his mug, and turn a clean mug from the center of the table upright to offer to Katraen.

"If I may ask, I have long been curious if the steppe riders harass you so far north. Have you seen the Hularga in your realm? Or the Gopleke?" he says, mentioning a couple of the mounted nomad tribes he's heard of to the north-west of Allard.

The hardest choice was the skill... that'll get easier in a few levels, since her skill cap is rank 4.

Sarah is taking Intensive Training (S), +1 Survival, and of course +1 hp.

Fili Kober

HP: 11/11 FP: 6/11 Conditions:

Fili pads softly back to where Harolde, Hank, and Alvan are conferring. "There's some-un on the other side of that door. Hank, I'll yank it open, and ye rush em!" She doesn't waste words telling Harolde to lean or sit down; he's smart enough to figure that out on his own.

She moves back to the door, gently takes hold of the handle, looks back towards the others, and waits for someone to signal her.

OOC:

Next to enter is a burly, weather-beaten man whose face is framed by unruly hair and beard and topped by a golden circlet. He is dressed in a freshly cleaned plain, square, white silk tunic with open sides, held in place by a golden chain at his waist. The long-laced sandals on his feet have tall heels obviously meant for riding. Leading him into the room is a taller, older man with graying hair, similarly dressed in white but with long sleeves and pants, and a green sash at his hips instead of gold.

The younger man's lips are pursed and he's clearly not delighted to be here, but he follows the older man to the table. Those who have been around the capital before recognize Tarrsh Kalim, the ambassador from Allard to the emperor's court. "May I introduce to you his royal majesty Gasram III of Allard, here for the first time in the capital?" says the ambassador, before continuing on to name the notables present. "Pleased to meet you," says Gasram, words at complete odds to the look on his face. "Would that we all, even the Emperor, were on a hunt than sitting through hours of ceremonies and banquets! I invite you all to join in some properly active festivities in Allard, should you ever come that way!"