/vx/ - Videogames and Paranormal

>>179614
Amber can't say she's been around many unicorns. Looking at her hoof, feeling her hoof, it does not appear to have been vaporized, or transmuted into something else, like a crab claw or a teacup. At least it doesn't seem to... Better tap it again, just to be sure.

"Again" High Sewn says

>>179615
She is surprised out of her reverie. Once again she tries the sewing technique.

[1d20+2 = (7+2) = 9]

>>179616
"Hmmmm..." She looks over at Amber's hoofwork. "A... very marginal improvement. Let me find a piece of cloth for you to practice with." She goes into the backroom, and Amber is left alone for some seconds. She comes back with a simple wool cloth, a needle, thread, and multiple buttons. "Here, rather than... someone's jacket."

>>179617
She smiles at the chance to practice without worrying about messing up.

"Thank you, Miss Sewn."

Trying again:
[1d20+2 = (10+2) = 12]

>>179618
"Better," she smiles and nods. She has taken another needle and thread, and is now sewing buttons onto the original jacket.

And Amber has done marginally better.

>>179619
Amber will definitely get this perfect if she's given time.

[1d20+2 = (3+2) = 5]

>>179620
High Sewn frowns

"Not so much."

>>179621
"I'll get it this time," she replies, her brow knitted in concentration.

I could just take 20 on this, but this is more fun

[1d20+2 = (17+2) = 19]

>>179622
She got it

Amber sews a button onto the cloth

Reeeeeee no you can't, you need to have a sufficient amount of skill points in the skill in order to take a 10 or 20. This being new to her is the entire point

>>179623
I forgot. At least she got a nondescript amount of XP out of it and the chance to level up a new skill in the future.

"I did it! How did I do?" she asks High Sewn with a cheerful smile.

>>179624
High Sewn gives hints of a smile as she looks over, turning her head but not coming closer.

"Good, looks like you got a button. I would recommend practicing with more. Eventually you may be able to do the repair work yourself, at least the simple ones."

>>179625
Nodding, Amber keeps practicing until either given a new task or until a customer needs assistance.

"Thanks for teaching me. It would have taken me a lot longer to try to learn it on my own."

I don't want to keep spamming rolls if that's okay

>>179626
She looks over towards Amber and, smiling, gives a nod."

"We all have those names and faces of those who began our journey." She says

To Posey's player:

I am told that you responded, even though I did not see your post. Again, I am sorry for how rude I've been towards you. I think that the issues we have can be sorted out. Could we try to work it out? I think we've sorted out many before, and I want to work with everyone to make things as enjoyable as possible for everyone.

I'm tired.
I'm sick.
I'm ticked off.
I'm burnt out.
I'm frustrated.
A third of my body is numb, and the rest of it hurts.
I'm probably going to die before I turn 30.
I have several strong reservations about how things have gone in this thread over the past year, and how they are going right now.
I need to consider how I want to spend my time on earth.
It would be gay to leave a party hanging right before an encounter, but idk...

>>179630
I really hope that we do hear from Rosey's player, and I'm personally okay with waiting for them before we proceed with the quest, including being open to any concessions that may be required now or in the future.
If my behavior has been a/the deciding factor - and it stands to reason that it was significant if not the major issue - then I can only apologize. I'm able/available to give all manner of explanations of what caused me to react in the manners I have - above and beyond the already detailed reasons (this is a learning/observation process for me) - but that's really secondary.
If there is something I can do to illustrate my sincerity - including listing off the many ways I have wronged you and you have every reason to not want me around and nothing to do with (cuz I do have a list, I'm not oblivious) - I am available on board or in private.
Tl;dr
Sorr, am retarde

>>179631
When you first asked to join and proposed your character idea, I approved it without really making critiques on how the character fit in with what to expect because I really wanted you to play. I don’t mean to say that I don’t think Posey specifically/you generally cannot or could not fit in. As I hope this time has demonstrated I’m willing to change things to fit in more with your style, and you’ve clearly done the same in return. I mean that I remained silent on things that frustrated me until they would occasionally come out in more or less explosive outbursts. I suspect that you’ve done the same, keeping silent on problems for fear of offending, just for things to explode all at once.

I remember at “Brony Church” at one convention, Fiara the Tank Girl said that when you are angry with someone, the best thing to do is to tell them you are angry, as that’s a beginning of a dialogue to try to resolve the issue. I think that should be done here, to see if the problems could be resolved.

Is the issue the frequency of the sessions? We can reduce it, or at least your involvement. Is the issue the slow pace? I’m trying to get better at that. Is it the lack of combat or visible progress? I’m trying to fix that.

>I'm ticked off.
>I’m burnt out.
>I’m frustrated.
Wanna talk about it? We didn’t know that

>I have several strong reservations about how things have gone in this thread over the past year, and how they are going right now
I didn’t know you had issues until recently… maybe could you voice them?

And if it turns out the differences are irreconcilable, then okay, at least we tried and we figured out that it wasn’t meant to be.

>I'm probably going to die before I turn 30.
I’m over thirty. I assure you, life just keeps going on and on

>>179631
>I'm probably going to die before I turn 30
If God is as merciful as He is said to be; I say that without a shred of irony or comedy.
I think you will not die, but you won't enjoy the process. That is how it tends to go for the specific demographic that gravotates toward cartoon hors nazis.

>>179632
>If my behavior has been a/the deciding factor - and it stands to reason that it was significant if not the major issue
Ngl, it has been.
I don't like to point fingers, especially at players who have been in the game longer than me, but these past couple weeks have really been unfun. I was looking forward to meeting the party for more than a year, but this made me question if it was worth the wait.
>>179634
>When you first asked to join and proposed your character idea, I approved it without really making critiques on how the character fit in with what to expect because I really wanted you to play.
That's fine, although making them now after a year makes me question if you even read my character sheet. I would have preferred getting nerfed a year ago instead of it happening now, just because it happening now makes me question if my character was being taken seriously.
https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets//?id=2789871
There it is.
>Is the issue the frequency of the sessions? We can reduce it, or at least your involvement. Is the issue the slow pace?
More like the frequency in spite of the slow pace. I'm fine with frequency, but when I spend three irl weeks posting every day about walking through a swamp without a single encounter, it gets frustrating.
Also, it gave me pause to learn that players who have been playing for 6 years have only gained one level. I'm none to complain, every PbP game is different, but that would make this the slowest PbP game I've ever heard of by far.
>Is it the lack of combat or visible progress? I’m trying to fix that.
I noticed that you're working on it, and I'm sorry to get all pissy right before the encounter, but I've had a lot of stuff that I can't even put into words going wrong IRL and in game that's taking the wind out of me...
>I didn’t know you had issues until recently… maybe could you voice them?
Idk, I have a hard enough time communicating irl.
Maybe we should just get on with the quest, to not hold up the other players.

>>179637
I am sorry thay it has been unfun. I was not trying to make it unfun, but I completely appreciate that I did. I also haven't been waiting on this mission as long as many/most/all, so I probably have a more flippant attitude toward it than one might assume/expect. I still have more yet to learn than I have learned.

And thats besides the fact that we're gonna get steamrolled if Rosey doesn't introduce herself.

Yes, I am offering to bow out this mission, if it would make things better for the otherwise existing party.

I'm going to take a guess as to what your biggest issue, or one of the biggest issues is, and address it now: the lack of progression.

I believe you've said that you envisioned this game as culminating in overthrowing the invaders, and presumably, a battle against Queen Chrysalis. This is a pretty traditional way to do things, with the set goal at the outset and consistent progression until the characters reach level 20.

As you've guessed, and as I was afraid to admit, that isn't what I intended here with this game. Not long after it started I settled into my current job, and time kind of just started moving. Time just kept going, and didn't seem to be building to anything. I got more money and much of my family died, but that is all that has happened. Occupied Equestria has no end in mind. It isn't even designed to have an end. I wanted to try and mimic how time works in the real world. In the real world, and unlike all literature, there isn't really a set climax or build up or ending. It kind of just keeps going. Until it doesn't.

As I have said before, the basic underlying theme of this campaign is supposed to be what I believe is the underlying theme of Hearts of Iron IV, which is a Hegelian style Dialectic. What I mean by that is that there are multiple competing ideologies that each have some idea of utopia that are each fighting each other for dominance and are trying to install their utopia. The game is not about the destination, but the journey itself. I would kind of like to imply that that the fight being fought here is doomed to an eternal return, to be fought again after however many generations, and of course I don't think anyone reading in modern times can honestly take any of these ideologies completely seriously, but I like the study. It's set in a kind of semi modern time where things are mostly recognizable, but being optimistic about the future is not rare and is a position that could be taken seriously. You could genuinely believe in progress. You could believe that there is a better future to be won, not just sit back and watch everyone you know slowly die off, like I have been doing.

I really don't mean to say that I think it's been without progress or without the world responding to things that happen. Posey's entire introduction to the world is shaped by the aftermath of the Hoebuck questline that the other party members did. Silver has multiple dating prospects, a cohort and a house. Amber has advancements in jobs. It's just unlikely that, you know, they will be killing off literally everyone on the continent in 2 IRL years time.

There has been little leveling because I've wanted to keep the scope of the campaign small. I wanted it to be about the kind of heroes that actually pop up in times of great turmoil. I wanted soldiers and mafia thugs to actually present a kind of reasonable challenge. 3.5 is the system I used here because it was a system I already knew. I had a time in the past where I looked up everything and was fascinated by builds and all of the math, but now I like roleplay and world building more than the technical aspects of the system. 3.5 has quite a bit of power creep meaning that at any given level, 75% or more of the monster manual is inapplicable. I don't like that, but it is what it is.

I really don't mean to say that I think we can't have, for example, Posey raise an army of undead and go on raids. That may be doable, but I didn't even know that was a goal until recently. Silver has a goal of his character being young and opening a smith shop. A former player had a goal of becoming the governor, which was hinted at becoming true in a flash forward, and so forth. Hell, Silver wants to go on a raid to rescue the princesses. There is quite a bit of room to do things if only you suggest it. I just don't think that this will ever lead to 1v1ing Queen Chrysalis

I also wanted to keep the scale kind of small because I wanted the systems and ideology to be the focus and not the personalities of the leaders. It's easy to talk about wars in human history and just talk about the leaders like we should just take for granted the people who followed them and why they followed them. I have very deliberately almost never named the leader of the New Mareland Faction, the ELF, and even the changelings, because I don't want these leaders to be who you'd think about. I would rather August Wreath be your idea of the ELF than Starlight Glimmer, the actual canonical leader.

>when I spend three irl weeks posting every day about walking through a swamp without a single encounter, it gets frustrating.
Come on, Posey had multiple encounters there, even if she talked around most of them
I can fix that. This quest is definitely not going to be that.

>makes me question if my character was being taken seriously.
I do, I just didn't want to say "no" and potentially upset you

>>179637
>Also, it gave me pause to learn that players who have been playing for 6 years have only gained one level. I'm none to complain, every PbP game is different, but that would make this the slowest PbP game I've ever heard of by far.
There have been other kinds of reward, like real estate, NPCs, and as you have noticed, a damn near overflow of magical weapons

>>179641
Ngl, if 1v1 vs Chrystalis, with the right motivation Brie could really help,... I'll shutup

>>179643
Just to clarify, I mean Brie would help set it up, and participate. His allegiance in/around the Hive is PURELY business, and shenanigens are always welcome

>>179637
>>179638
>>179641
I want to give you all a hug...

>>179645
Use the noodle, she has a better grappling bonus

On the quick subject of noodle hugs and cutie boops.
In character, Brie will never act reciperocatingly, even though he will be touched by the gesture. Its a so-cross-class skill to be in either ways emotional or vulnerable. Ive told Silver, as a PLAYER my goal is for Brie to get his goddamn cutie mark, and transition from neutral evil to chaotic neutral.
He also hopes to share ideas with overlapping characters: he and Kira may have insight to offer one another about murder-struggles.
Rosey is the one Brie will be able to identify with least, so I'll file that under "delicate"

I like having Posey and Posey's player around. I think they make things more fun. I'd like it someday to see Posey and Silver interact after Silver learns the truth about her, because I think Posey would be surprised by Silver's reaction. I think it would be neat to see a situation where Posey is trying to corrupt Silver and bring him over to the side of evil, while at the same time Silver is trying to bring Posey to the side of good (or at least, the side of not-evil). I do understand the frustrations about not really progressing in terms of levels. It's the one major thing I'd like to see changed, to see the characters improve not just in the gear, property, or NPCs they possess, but also in their own personal power. Well, that and having GM pone agree to making Craft checks a per hour thing so the characters can actually work towards making their own gear in a reasonable timeframe (it really shouldn't take potentially months to make even the most basic of equipment or potions). I don't ever mention stuff like that because historically I've found people don't like it when I give them input on things and it just causes people to get sad or upset and causes more trouble than it's worth. so usually I'll just grin and bear it rather than tell anyone if I'd like to see something change.

>>179641
>I'm going to take a guess as to what your biggest issue, or one of the biggest issues is, and address it now: the lack of progression.
Actually my biggest issue was the building toxicity and arguing with Brie's player (and to a lesser extent, GM) in the past couple weeks, but that was a major factor. That and my failing health making me reconsider what I want to spend my time on.
I've said it before that Gloomy Sundae is based on me.
>I believe you've said that you envisioned this game as culminating in overthrowing the invaders, and presumably, a battle against Queen Chrysalis.
That is what I was thinking of, yeah.
>I wanted to try and mimic how time works in the real world. In the real world, and unlike all literature, there isn't really a set climax or build up or ending. It kind of just keeps going. Until it doesn't.
I can see why you would want to do that, but for me, it's a different perspective. For me, the flow of time has been a series of setbacks and struggles with me trying to move forward for the sake of people who depend on me, until I likely die before middle age with all of my projects unfinished and my personal dreams unfulfilled. I play games to distract myself from the painful futility of my existence and feel some fleeting sense of accomplishment.
>The game is not about the destination, but the journey itself.
Idk, I think it's possible to win EaW. Then again, the Dread League is a unique faction.
>There has been little leveling because I've wanted to keep the scope of the campaign small. I wanted it to be about the kind of heroes that actually pop up in times of great turmoil. I wanted soldiers and mafia thugs to actually present a kind of reasonable challenge. 3.5 is the system I used here because it was a system I already knew. I had a time in the past where I looked up everything and was fascinated by builds and all of the math, but now I like roleplay and world building more than the technical aspects of the system. 3.5 has quite a bit of power creep meaning that at any given level, 75% or more of the monster manual is inapplicable. I don't like that, but it is what it is.
I see what you're doing, it's called an e6 game. Maybe you're not sure what that is, but it's close to what you've been running.
https://dungeons.fandom.com/wiki/E6_(3.5e_Sourcebook)
Don't get me wrong, E6 games are fun. They're just not for every kind of character.
>I really don't mean to say that I think we can't have, for example, Posey raise an army of undead and go on raids.
Thing is, if I knew it was an E6 game, I wouldn't have played a Dread Necromancer. Posey doesn't learn to cast Animate Dead until lvl 8. Her goal of becoming a master, of being free from the suffocating control of her overlords, doesn't manifest until lvl 8. It's doable in an E8 game, but not E6.
>I didn't even know that was a goal until recently.
I thought I made that clear when I entered the game. Maybe that's my problem.
>Silver wants to go on a raid to rescue the princesses.
That would be fun.
>becoming the governor
Interesting idea.
>Starlight Glimmer, the actual canonical leader
Eww, Poochie.
>>179648
Ngl, Silver could be lvl 8 or even lvl 12 by now.
He could at least rack up some bloodline levels.

Anyway, I'm free for the rest of tonight and most of tomorrow. Let's just get this quest over with before we talk about the rest.

>>179649
>Actually my biggest issue was the building toxicity and arguing with Brie's player (and to a lesser extent, GM) in the past couple weeks
Oh.

Well, I really do need to mention that you really did piss me off by rubbing the powergaming into many player's and my own faces. Calling Zone of Truth a "meme" spell, showing up Garv with a higher bluff when he tried sense motive, claiming near complete immunity to explosives and complete immunity to the enchantment school of magic, telling Brie your character is so much more powerful because your character is completely immune to rogues, telling Defiant Dust that his character that's explicitly made to counter undead is worse than your at that purpose and then making a show of having higher initiative than his character... And then you wanted to say that your power gaming had no effect on any other characters, it seemed really insulting. Like I get it, finding combinations of different things to do in the various books and then building a character on the basis of that is fun, but do you have to insult us for not doing the same?

>I see what you're doing, it's called an e6 game
I had never heard of that before

>I thought I made that clear when I entered the game. Maybe that's my problem.
I knew there was a goal of setting up Baltimare as an undead state

>Maybe we should just get on with the quest, to not hold up the other players
>Let's just get this quest over with before we talk about the rest.
Well, I had originally wanted to land on the island and have the first massive combat encounter on this weekend, but this is important and needs to be addressed. The first (minor) combat can be on Sunday. Yes, the other players are okay with that.

>>179649
If you did want to move on, the landing at the island is described right here. >>179558

Brie, Silver, Kira, and Defiant have their declared actions in the posts that shortly follow

>>179651
>but do you have to insult us for not doing the same?
I did not mean to be insulting. It was wrong of me to behave that way. I apologize for any offense I caused.
>Well, I had originally wanted to land on the island and have the first massive combat encounter on this weekend, but this is important and needs to be addressed. The first (minor) combat can be on Sunday. Yes, the other players are okay with that.
Okay. Sorry for ghosting everyone.
>>179652
Rosey Ring would feebly get on one of the occupied rafts, trying not to vomit. She does not say anything because the close proximity to sea water has made her travel sickness even worse than it was on the plane.
She has her unseen servant take up one of the oars, and tries her best to row with her horn. She fastens her blinders and tries to shut out the universe until the boat lands.

Kira begins humming a tune that's unmistakably "Do Your Ears Hang Low" which she has apparently mistaken as some kind of pirate shanty.

>>179651
I suppose it should be asked, how difficult is the cliff in front of them to climb?

>>179656
I can handle the cliff, if you can get Posey to shore before she rots from the stress of being on boat.

>>179656
How much does Kira weigh?

>>179657
There are a couple options for that. Silver can help row Posey to shore on one of the rafts, or Posey can ride on Kira's back as she swims to shore since she got lucky and rolled a nat 20 on her Swim check.

>>179659
600 lbs. normally, though she may be a bit heavier at the moment as she's carrying a goat in her stomach.

>>179660
Lira is large sized? This might be a bit more complicated...
600 pounds is just *barely* within Posey's maximum carrying capacity (690)... which apparently imposes no penalty to climb checks...? Seems like an oversight, but whatever.

Here's what we can do.
Defiant and Silver can ride on Posey's Floating Disk, which carries up to 700 pounds.
Kira can wrap around Posey's body.
And Posey will climb the cliff:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGnyi2BsTYI [Embed]

>>179662
Hmm, an interesting idea, it minimizes the potential risk of multiple characters making climb checks and as a bonus means Posey will be the second character after Free Rover to handle Kira like that. As long as it's okay with everyone else, it sounds like a good plan to me. We just need to hear from GM pone about how difficult the cliff is to climb. Also Kira gave her hemp rope to Brie where he can fly up to the top of the cliff and secure it, so Posey will at least have a slight bit of help with climbing the cliff.

Right before the creatures get into the boats - or in Kira's case, into the water itself - the engines on the seaplane cut off. Now, the sound of waves crashing against shore and the lapping of waves on the seaplane dominate. Being in the plane has done their hearing no favors - every one of them hearing the ringing of tinnitus during the lulls in the sound, as does another sound associated with subjective tinnitus, a lower pitched sound like being underwater.

The air, while clearly cold, is still above freezing, and warmest closest to the water. There is a distinct smell of salt water, but also something else. It isn't completely unfamiliar, perhaps diesel fuel and dead algae.

In every direction, fog dominates. At around 300 feet, everything becomes a wall of grey, and figures are harder to see up close. Anyone who looked out the window as the plane landed, or sticks their hooves in the air and feels the wind coming from behind the plane, knows that this is not a true-fog, but very low-level clouds on the move, and visibility varies with the passage of time.

In front of the creatures is 150 or so feet of ocean with waves that, while hardly storm quality, are not calm either, and shake the little boat. Beyond this is a rocky beach that is reaosnably thick, about 30 feet wide, and seems to hug the cliff in both directions. On the right side it tapers off into the mist. On the left it simply continues, though where it goes is obscured by a sea stack. Above this beach is a cliff of about 50 feet of rock. Hardly the friendliest, nor worst cliff ever seen. Above this is a hillside of both dead and still living grass, not covered in show, that gently slopes upwards and continues beyond the field of view.

Mala enthusiastically jumps into a raft, more comfortable in it than in the plane. The rafts rock gently. A large reptile can be seen swimming through the water... but it's just Kira. If these waters are filled with mines or dangerous sea life, it hasn't been encountered yet.

The creatures can make it to the beach

>>179665
>sound of waves crashing
>distinct smell of salt water
>waves that, while hardly storm quality, are not calm either, and shake the little boat
"BLAAAAARGHHH-GLUUURRRK-CHHHRRREEEAGHHH-HHHRRNNNNNNNN-URRRRRGH-KLAAARRK-KRROOOOAAAAGHHH-PLOOOOORRRRK-SSKKKK-THHHRRKKK-GLURRRRRGHHH-HRRRRRRRRRRKKK!"
Posey rows frantically
>A large reptile can be seen swimming through the water... but it's just Kira.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGnyi2BsTYI [Embed]
>The creatures can make it to the beach
Please do.

>>179666
Wrong clip
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WkRjBcnj4T8 [Embed]

>>179665
Brie will assume a low-flying elevation of around 100' for the crossing, attempting to glean any details from the landscape.
Spot [1d20+8 = (11+8) = 19]

>>179668
You could affix a rope to the top of the cliff, to make it easier for Posey to climb.

>>179668
The only thing immediately discernable is that the beach does indeed go on beyond the stack, and above the cliff, the hillside continues, covered in grass with a few shrubs. Nothing immediately jumps out. Except, perhaps, the island itself. With the sea stack and the hillside, it's difficult to keep 100 feet up.

>flying in the fog
Brie quickly sees why the seaplane was reluctant to do this, so close to the island
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqz2TKn3AOs [Embed]

>>179669
Indeed, and assuming nothing subtle/nefarious results from the spot check, thats precisely what he will do, utilizing the very coil of unnecessarily heavy rope that Kira provided.

>>179651
I for one would like to say I was not insulted, I figured it was all just good fun.
Posey is definitely eating a Searing Light up the ponut if it comes down to an actual dick measuring contest. Mayhaps with lube. Probably not, unless she asks nicely.
>>179662
>Dust ... can ride on Posey's Floating Disk
Can they get dinner first? Bad jokes aside
>>179665
>to the beach
Zeeb would be very happy to be back on land.

>>179673
>Posey is definitely eating a Searing Light up the ponut if it comes down to an actual dick measuring contest. Mayhaps with lube. Probably not, unless she asks nicely.
Your character is so getting raped by Posey. Not poetically or theoretically or figuratively or metaphorically, but raped, straight up.

But yes, he can arrive on the rocky shore. The stones are wet, and there are a few signs of wildlife like bird feathers.

>>179674
Oh, can Kira tell what kind of wildlife is on the island? Would that be a Survival check? Nature check?