Application-related discussion

[Vladim]

For any questions, comments, concerns not related to Session 0 topics.

[Malkavian Grin]

So, a few questions. All of the following assumes the Ironsworn version of this game.

1. Where are characters starting?
2. Are we joining an in-progress team?
   1. If so, who? None of the threads have IS mechanics listed.
3. I assume we will be in the Middle Earth map and not in the Ironlands?
4. Which adventures have taken place?

[Vladim]

54 minutes ago, Malkavian Grin said:

So, a few questions. All of the following assumes the Ironsworn version of this game.

1. Where are characters starting?
2. Are we joining an in-progress team?
   1. If so, who? None of the threads have IS mechanics listed.
3. I assume we will be in the Middle Earth map and not in the Ironlands?
4. Which adventures have taken place?

Sure!

1. In one of the Woodmen villages, probably Rhosgobel or one of those nearby. Radagast (the Brown Wizard) will summon the PCs (new and old), so some reason for that hook would be helpful, but it doesn't need to be long. If you need help with those, I am happy to offer suggestions (as far as I can come up with any).
2. Yes. It's in the FAQ, but for the sake of convenience I can add it here: Idunn, a Woods-woman of Mountain-Hall (played by me); Tarric, a Beorning (played by BlueTrillium); Bróin, a dwarf of Erebor (played by Maester1216). I'm running the Ironsworn game in co-op mode so we all get to play (and GM a little, though I have so far done most of that).
3. Yes.
4. This game's been running for a while, so the answer is 'lots' (summarized here). However, there's little need or expectation to know what happened. I've started running Ironsworn only recently, and ran only one solo (completely improvised) adventure (here) and one co-op that's almost finished (here). The gist of the last one is that orcs attacked the Woodmen settlements, and Radagast tasked us with travelling to the Woodland Realm to ask the help of the elves. We did so and returned in time to defend the settlement, hopefully successfully (there's a chance for disaster if we roll double 10s at the conclusion, but that's always the case with Ironsworn).

If it helps to set expectations, the next Ironsworn adventure will be about setting out to investigate Dol Guldur.

[Malkavian Grin]

Thanks for the fast replies!

1. I figured it'd be that area since that's what the Setting threads are about. I'll have to do research as I know nothing about this place or its people.
2. Perfect. I'll go over the characters then and try to fill in a needed gap.
3. Again, I figured. Doesn't hurt to be sure.
4. Links are very helpful thank you! I'll read up on those.

[Vladim]

13 hours ago, Malkavian Grin said:

Thanks for the fast replies!

1. I figured it'd be that area since that's what the Setting threads are about. I'll have to do research as I know nothing about this place or its people.
2. Perfect. I'll go over the characters then and try to fill in a needed gap.
3. Again, I figured. Doesn't hurt to be sure.
4. Links are very helpful thank you! I'll read up on those.

No problem, take your time. And if you have questions please feel free to ask. A good way to start is the specific 'culture' your PC is part of; that's how The One Ring does it. It has no bearing on the mechanics for Ironsworn, but it can help kickstart a backstory. If you need more info on any specific one, please feel free to ask, and I can provide more fluff if necessary.

[Vladim]

Alright, I don't think the ad will get more interest. @Malkavian Grin @Grillo Guy are you still interested, or have you withdrawn your applications? I am happy to give you time to finish them, if you want, but if you've changed your minds just let me know-so I can just move with whomever is still interested.

[Malkavian Grin]

I'll admit to hitting a bit of a mental roadblock here. I like Middle Earth, but I always feel intimidated by how big/deep the lore is, and that I'm gonna mess it up.

I'll make an effort to flesh something out; have you chosen your character for Ironsworn yet? Or should I look at One Ring?

[Vladim]

4 hours ago, Malkavian Grin said:

I'll admit to hitting a bit of a mental roadblock here. I like Middle Earth, but I always feel intimidated by how big/deep the lore is, and that I'm gonna mess it up.

I'll make an effort to flesh something out; have you chosen your character for Ironsworn yet? Or should I look at One Ring?

I don't really mind the lore issues; if you play a character with limited knowledge, you can always RP any inaccuracies as just the character's misconceptions. But up to you. 

Regarding characters, I'd love to run a bigger Ironsworn group, but that game doesn't work so well with more than 4 PCs in my experience. I haven't finalized my choices yet, but I think you'd maximize your chances by being open to both systems... though only if you have interest in both. I don't need any crunch for the pitch anyway; mechanics can be finalized post-selection.

The character builder for the One Ring is also useful for playing around with, reading the fluff and getting potential inspiration for concepts. I strongly recommend it, esp. if you feel stuck.

[Malkavian Grin]

8 hours ago, Vladim said:

I don't really mind the lore issues; if you play a character with limited knowledge, you can always RP any inaccuracies as just the character's misconceptions. But up to you. 

Regarding characters, I'd love to run a bigger Ironsworn group, but that game doesn't work so well with more than 4 PCs in my experience. I haven't finalized my choices yet, but I think you'd maximize your chances by being open to both systems... though only if you have interest in both. I don't need any crunch for the pitch anyway; mechanics can be finalized post-selection.

The character builder for the One Ring is also useful for playing around with, reading the fluff and getting potential inspiration for concepts. I strongly recommend it, esp. if you feel stuck.

Oh, I completely misunderstood that then. I have the rules for One Ring (it's 2e, right?) so I guess I'd be open to learning more about it.

I'll make something up and you can see if they fit somewhere. I'll check out OR for concept ideas/help. (I definitely need the help, because I feel like the world is too big).

[Vladim]

6 hours ago, Malkavian Grin said:

Oh, I completely misunderstood that then. I have the rules for One Ring (it's 2e, right?) so I guess I'd be open to learning more about it.

I'll make something up and you can see if they fit somewhere. I'll check out OR for concept ideas/help. (I definitely need the help, because I feel like the world is too big).

It's 1e actually, just to be clear. We've tried a bit of 2e but for the next adventure we're going back to 1e.

[Malkavian Grin]

Oh, gotcha. I'm not exactly sure what version I have. Google was less than helpful on that front.

Nevermind, I'm pretty sure I have 1e. It's the one without the big red circle on it.

[Vladim]

2 hours ago, Malkavian Grin said:

Oh, gotcha. I'm not exactly sure what version I have. Google was less than helpful on that front.

Nevermind, I'm pretty sure I have 1e. It's the one without the big red circle on it.

Yeah, if it helps, this is the cover of the (revised) first edition. It's the one I'm using. It's not really hugely different from the original (non-revised) first edition, so no worries if you have those older books (you'll know if you do because those old books are separated into 2-player's guide and loremaster's guide, or something like that).

If it helps, this is a neat little character builder:

The One Ring - Online Character Sheet (azrapse.es)

Not really just for the stats & crunch (I don't need those yet, and definitely not if you end up playing Ironsworn), but it's handy for the fluff it provides as well-just click the little question marks under each entry during the char-gen process and you can get some very setting-appropriate info.

As the game will be taking place in and around Wilderland (Rhovanion), I recommend the Wilderland cultures, regardless of system. Others may be possible too (for example, we have a horse-lord in our TOR group) but may require a bit of backstory justification. Some (e.g., Dunlendings, Elves of Lorien) may be quite tricky to justify without twisting cannon a bit too much, but I'll try to be accomodating.

[Vladim]

Ok, I think at this point it's not worth to prolong the application phase much longer, so I'll give it till Friday (Japan time) for folks to finish their apps and then go ahead with selection.

I'll lock the ad at the OGMW page to reflect this.

@Malkavian Grin if you need more time than that, let me know and I am happy to extend it 🙂 But I think there's no additional interest so I don't want to wait till May 4 if I don't have to.

 

[Malkavian Grin]

Absolutely no worries there. I started looking at the character info in One Ring and it is indeed quite helpful. It's been more than half my life since I read the books, but already I'm getting reminded of things I'd forgotten (or never knew or realized, like Bard becoming king!).

My initial interest tells me to go for an Elf of Mirkwood, because I love Elves (Dwarves rock too); would this be an appropriate choice? I'll keep reading, but wanted to ask. (I also saw the variant "Free Elves" in the generator....)

[Vladim]

4 minutes ago, Malkavian Grin said:

Absolutely no worries there. I started looking at the character info in One Ring and it is indeed quite helpful. It's been more than half my life since I read the books, but already I'm getting reminded of things I'd forgotten (or never knew or realized, like Bard becoming king!).

My initial interest tells me to go for an Elf of Mirkwood, because I love Elves (Dwarves rock too); would this be an appropriate choice? I'll keep reading, but wanted to ask. (I also saw the variant "Free Elves" in the generator....)

Yup, that would be totally doable. There's also the Wayward Elves variant (which is basically something slightly closer to the folklore about occasionally mischievous nature spirits) and I think they would also make for a good option, as long as party cohesion is maintained (i.e., the golden rule of "don't be a jerk" 🙂)

For elves, there's the assumption that they are more learned in lore, but I can always feed you info or you can read up on things, and anyway Mirkwood Elves are a bit wilder than their High Elf cousins in Rivendell.