The Sacrifice Camp (OOC)

Out of character chatter about The Sacrifice Camp can go here to avoid cluttering up the Roleplay thread.This is for longer questions and answers related to that Roleplay, general rules questions not answered in the Help! thread can go in General.

Add a link back to the post in question so we can have context. After posting you can right-click on the orange header and select 'copy link address' (or whatever your browser calls it), then paste that in your OOC post.

I've probably got the distinction between OOC clarification in the RP post and stuff that goes here all wrong but regardless:

Pretty much, well done. :)
If you need an answer in OOC, then post it here so we can talk about it.
If you just want to describe what you are doing so there is no confusion about your intent, that can go in the RP thread. The above description of intent could have gone in an OOC tag, but could also have been part of your RP, as you did with the 'prayer to Selusia' that you don't hurt her.

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Now, that 'prayer', is that a thing that you think should have an affect on the story? Did you take the time to pray for that before you threw?

If it was just fluff, then we can handle the throw, which I would assume is with DEX (so `2d6+2`).

If you are praying first, then we can handle that and it will affect your throw. So far we have modeled asking a god for help as a social skill, same as if you ask anyone else for help, so that is usually +CHA --but depends on the situation and the fiction of how things are being asked. From the fiction you presented, Olden is not doing anything particularly special and just asking (if at all), so this seems like CHA.
There are no mechanical advantage and disadvantage rules, the fiction before the roll affects what sorts of outcomes we can expect, so such 'disadvantage' will be in the form of changing the 'effectiveness' rather than the 'chances'.

A Success on the 'bola attack' might only trip her rather than entrap her (it is not proper weighted bola and not very long). You would need a 12+ to have it miraculously work as a proper bola.

Since you flavoured the fiction with a strong desire to not do damage, that might shift the whole spectrum to where a 12+ is a proper bola ensnaring, while a 10+ is a trip, and a 7-9 is a miss that does not hit her and does not do harm, while a 6- sees the heavy belt --or the ground she falls on-- injure her. Those are the stakes you set.

Selusia's help can shift those stakes up or down based on what you roll for your prayer. A Success would remove the chance of hurting her, but possibly at the cost of making both 6- and 7-9 see you missing her and doing nothing, a 10+ would shift the 6- to being a miss and the 7-9 as being a trip; a 12+ on the prayer might do something special, but you are not (from the fiction so far) praying for better effect, Selusia might not give you full bola effect as that is not what you asked for, I am thinking a 12+ would be something about her 'feeling welcomed' and would change her attitude instead.

A 6- on the prayer would have a negative effect, but I am not sure what it would be --I don't know enough about your relationship with your god. We can discuss it before the roll, or we can have it play out over then next while if we need to. You define your relationship and what Selusia is like, so you will have a lot of say in how that negative effect plays out.

A lot of words there, I can make a table if you are interested?

What do you think?

We might combine everyone's actions into one outcome, so we can look at Norbert's Success at a Cost (8) [ref] then?

@fossball: Are you trying to do anything special with your slung stone? Is it just an attack? (Hopefully her knees are going to be alright, at least it was not another 6! :)

Thanks very much @vagueGM. That's an utterly vapid way of me saying I appreciate and learn tons from these "teaching" posts of yours and, indeed, from Airshark, fossball, and TheGenerator. I understand what you're saying about the various roll scenarios and combinations so I'm not going to hassle you about a table.

I now understand the main Dex-aided attack roll. Let me think a bit about what the Cha-assisted "Prayer" might do to the former and I'll post my opinion here OOC if that's OK.

In terms of the prayer itself, it wasn't a ritualistic prayer such as this one [ ref ] - there wasn't time in this case. His intent might've been sincere but it was more along the lines of, "My God(dess), I hope I don't do something awful to that woman." So I'm thinking a smallish modifier?

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With regards to Olden and his Goddess:

I think of Selusia as a less overt God, perhaps compared to Raynor, in terms of her manifestation. Travellers do pray to her with Olden's (and formerly Hilde's) assistance and believe strongly that their prayers are answered. The blessings, however, are more along the lines of favourable weather, wagons *not* breaking down, or them not inadvertently taking that nasty road that's rife with bandits. Olden used to be contentedly secure about his place in Selusia's service but is experiencing (but possibly starting to recover from) a bit of an imposter syndrome at this point - read semi-drunken fug after the loss of his wife. He isn't expecting any genuine miracles now but would treat a successful "blessing" (lay on hands for enhancements/enchantments on *things*) in the future as a sign of his redemption.

Exactly what it is meant for. :)
You get to define how much 'ritual' you need to have an affect. If you say that a few muttered words is enough then you can roll it and see how much it helps. This can be different at different times, try to be roughly consistent, but each time it is up to you.
There are no mechanical 'modifiers', the outcome changes the fiction. A small outcome could be to keep the 'attack' results as above, but interpret them in a softer way? This might just change how the woman responds to whatever happens. NPCs don't have HP and such, they are just 'blobs of fiction', so how 'hurt' she gets is a mainly-fictional thing.
You don't say! The god of wayfarers is less overt than the god of conquest?! :)

But, yes, hence my interpretation of her blessing being about making your target more comfortable.
We can shift the focus of this prayer to something along those lines. We can just roll for the bola attack and Olden can view the outcome (as above) as a sign, if it goes well he can say his god helped and grow closer to his god, if it does not he can feel even more unworthy and act accordingly. Or you can ignore all that and just deal with the situation at hand, you might revisit this in your mind later if you want.

Norbert is just trying to hit her. He does not care where he hits her, just if. Being startled by her being there and her lack of clothing he will be happy with any result. He will be looking at her knees once they get closer. He won't be able to meet her eyes and does not want to look at anything higher up.

Fair enough. :)

You guys get to decide if they are nice knees or not. She is older than Norbert and probably Roald, but the rest is up to you.

Did the idea of scouting in the morning get canceled? If so, I think I missed that.

Absent a reliable-posting Norbert it did not seem wise to have him go off scouting without everyone else. I have no problem splitting the party, but splitting it such that only the away-player gets to play and everyone else must wait seemed foolish. :)

This way you are all in the action and all at the camp. No one seemed interested in taking responsibility for rolling for the search, so we asked Fate... and Fate said '1'!

Damn I'm lagging behind. I'll catch up tomorrow.

Thought about it and I think I prefer the above to an extra roll for a prayer, at least in this case, so off I go to roll away.

My interpretation of Olden's rolls - not accounting for Norbert's stone and anything else - would be that:

1 - The poor woman takes some - bruising/abrasive? - injury (and)
2 - Olden feels like he's got some way to go before he can be back in Selusia's good graces

Ah, that makes sense :)

Cool... um... whoops, bad roll. :)

Make the roll to see if you can get in front of her, then I will resolve the other two and, as the closest, you may have to act again.

I added a roll. :)
*spoiler* It's a 9.

Is a roll needed for overtaking Albert? I was thinking this is an ideal display of the athletics skill :)

With Albert's old lungs? I would say no.

The Athletics Skill means you can't actually 'fail' if you rolled it, and I can't think that a extreme cost makes any sense for such an action, so we can assume both you and Albert are in a position to do something about her falling if you want to risk it.

13! I guess this guy is one hell of an athlete!

Indeed. Shall we assume your gallant moves serve as a successful 'charm' roll? Or do you want something else for you 12+ bonus?

That is fine by me.

You are welcome to give any of these people names as you get to speak them. Else I will roll on some random table or the other.
Hmm... you have basically told her that you are her 'enemy', and that you are here to free their sacrifice. This right after you attacked her. This is the time you need to make your previously mentioned Charm roll, I think

The only reason you even have this chance is because you were nice to her, but your odds are not good.

On a 6- She reacts badly and you have to take steps to stop her from causing problems and possible alerting the camp.
On a 7-9 She is willing to speak to you, but is not your friend and you can't trust her words.
On a 10+ She is willing to speak to you, and will try to not lie to you if she can avoid betraying her friends, and you will have the chance to talk her round to your point of view.
On a 12+ She already has doubts and about what is happening and and will be willing to help you.

Does that sound appropriate?

I thought she wuld be easy to influence since she just arrived (scars on her feet). I guess I misjudged that, but so be it.
Kinda hoping people are not 'ok' with the sacrifice but go along and follow the leader. That will need a 12+ then! ?

Or just recently took her shoes off a few hours ago.
Convincing them all --or enough of them-- of that will be one possible peaceful solution.
Indeed. An unlikely 12+ would make her one of the ones who is already leaning that way.

Sneaking up to the cage area should be fairly easy. Sneaking up to (view) the camp will have more risks. Both would require a similar roll, but the outcomes would be on different scales:

If Sneaking to the cage:
A 6- would mean you can't get there, but don't get noticed and can back away and try another approach. It will also not take very long.
A 7-9 would mean you can get there if you take your time, or get there and risk being seen once there (another roll maybe?).
A 10+ would mean you can easily get to the cage and it does not take you very long.
A 12+ would be like the 10+, but with some extra that we can define once you get there, or if you have something reasonable you want to add to the scene.

If Sneaking to the camp:
A 6- would see you spotted or captured (depends on how you describe your approach and how close you want to get).
On a 7-9 you would spot any sentry before they spot you. You can then decide if you want to back away and try another approach or risk dealing with them to get closer.
On a 10+ you can get there, dealing with or avoiding sentries as you choose.
And on a 12+ you are ideally positioned to affect change or see what is going on.

Do you see Norbert's Survival Skill being a factor here? That can soften the above 6- on the camp options (the cage 6- is already pretty soft, but you could choose to get there with a cost).

If you choose to rejoin the others, no roll needed.

Hmm... Since you changed from being nice to threatening her, that is different situation and you can roll again with different outcomes (a 6- on the previous would not have allowed that).

In this case I think:
A 6- would make her scared and angry enough to do something stupid. (Or would you prefer her to not take you seriously but remember you were mean in the future?)
On a 7-9 she will be scared enough by your threat to not cause problems, but you will have to push her harder to get useful information.
On a 10+ she will come clean and answer (some of) your questions.
On a 12+ she will actually decide to help you.

How does that sound?

Roald's intention was not to sound threatening but sad and realistic. As if he is sorry it has come to this and rather have it differently. But if she sees it as a threat I'll roll with that.

Doing something stupid (scream) might alert the camp but that's a risk we took trying to befriend her.

Telling a naked woman who has just been attacked by a group of men that they will 'take her a few days away and leave her without any clothes' is something she will interpret as a threat.

If you want to revise what you said, we can do that.
Yep. When you roll the dice you always risk the 6-s. :)

No no. What's done is done.

Should I wait for Palemantle to do something?

I thought it was a pretty good intimidation attempt :D

Up to you. What's done is done and she will react. Olden's actions/reactions may adjust her reaction a bit. A good-cop-bad-cop routine could see him rolling instead?

That's how I interpreted it too. I did not think Roald would actually do it. :)

I'm gonna give olden the time to do something if he wants to.

It was an intimidation in disguise. ?

I suck. I completely failed to read the ooc thread today before posting and my roll was as suckerifically sucky as it's been lately. Should've run stuff past everyone before posting but what's done is done. Airshark, feel free to try more of that intimidation stuff unless the woman really puts paid to anything of that sort :)

A bit harried today and tomorrow with travel. Will post in a day and change

No worries. Take your time

Oh, don't worry about it :) We'll try work with whatever happens in the RP thread.
I've done the same in the past.

Though I do think every failed roll has a consequence. I'm sure vagueGM will let you know about that.

I'm not sure the 'survival' skill will help very much. Maybe to spot traps and the like. Norbert will get as close to the camp as possible and be racefull about it, knowing there might be other women around. He does not really expect a sentry, since the women seem to think there are no others in the woods. But he wil be carefull non the less.

That happens. No worries.
Dice like doing that to us. :)

Embrace it and have fun with it. Don't think of low rolls as bad things or punishments, they are supposed to be fun and possibly unexpected ways to drive the story. Don't make a roll if you are not happy with what could happen, that is why we first chat about the possible outcomes so the player always knows roughly what they are getting into and can decide to change the direction before rolling.
She will not react favourably, but mostly this has just shifted her whole range further down towards negative. The numbers above are still the same, just with more enhanced 'bad' outcomes and smaller 'good' ones.
Cool, no worries.

@Airshark: Given that Olden's description still has him removing the belt, we can assume this happened before or around the time of your possible 'intimidation'. You can go ahead and roll that, possibly with more fiction if you want to react to new events. You know that Albert and Norbert had gone off to scout the camp, but don't know what their situation is, that might affect your bargaining position, but possibly it is still too soon since chatting scenes take less time than walking scenes.

I've got a bit of time today for posts but don't think Olden needs to do any more foot-in-the-mouth stuffing at this point so it's all Roald :D. I've caught up on both this thread and the RP one.

I've got two more days of an enforced roadtrip ahead of me and my brain's a bit fried. Feel free to move things along on Olden's part as needed. I'll check in when I can the next couple of days. Should be back to regular service by Thursday.

Noted, thanks.

SOUNDS MIGHTY GOOD TO ME!!?

Looks like you're a natural at scaring women in the woods, Airshark :P

*Naked women.

Olden's could sorely use a stint in the Roald school of "Charming or scaring nekkid women in the woods"

Trying to catch up. Olden, if he thinks he can assist the wonderful job Roald is doing at all, would be inclined to point out the guilt that'll still attach to the woman if she goes back vs any goodwill that might come her way if she assists in a rescue. That OK Airshark?

But maybe he should not say that out loud? His dead wife may be watching over him. :)

Sure

Sorry for my abscence, there was no internet around Hadrians' wall. It was beautifull and our first day without rain :)

I'm back in more civil parts around York for the nex couple of days. (the rain is back)

I don't believe that. I heard it was supposed to be so technologically impressive!(*) :)

(*) 2000 years ago...

They're still working on Hadrians' Wifi then?

The wall was impressive but the campsites we stayed on were a meadow and a steep meadow, don't let your wife chouse the campsite :)

... when you have to put stilts on one side if your tent... :)

Shall we assume these latest conversations were done after everyone got back to the group?

Yeah that sounds good.

My brain's pretty fried so could you tell me if the above sounds about right?
- Theo is in a cage without an obvious sentry but the area around the cage offers no cover
- Daryl came back early and is with the group now
- There's 11 women dancing around an improvised table
- Phil is missing as is the girl. No obvious clues about their whereabouts yet

We can say that Norbert and Albert are also back with the group now, and that we're sharing information.
I think the rest is correct.

The stone table is not 'improvised', it looks ancient, like it has 'been here longer than the forest itself' somehow.

@vagueGM, this old oak with a table underneath, is that something that either Olden or Albert might know about? If it's something religious, perhaps we've heard of it? Maybe it gives us some idea of how to delay or stop the sacrifice.

Stone tables and sacrifice are commonly linked in myth and legend. Presumably those with religious leanings have at least heard of this in stories.

You are all welcome to add bits to the legend, and to use those in your approach here. The existence of a stone table in these parts is a surprise to everyone, though.

Olden has heard some hair-raising stories from travelling jongleurs of rites involving sacrificial daises and ceremonial cups used to collect blood. He might ask about that later (and about the latter in particular) but his first instinct upon hearing about Theo's condition would be to see if something can be done for him by anyone in the group.

I'll be watching you. :D

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Hehe, no worries. It took me a minute to realize what was wrong with that name. And then another one to think of the actual name. :P

I'll be watching you. :D

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Hehe, no worries. It took me a minute to realize what was wrong with that name. And then another one to think of the actual name. :P

Oi, the poor old sod went to enough trouble to get there. He isn't going anywhere in a hurry :D

He too is watching to see what Albert says to that rabble rousing god of his ... *Olden wags his brows*

I read some of those Ahsa / Asha posts and was utterly confused. I assumed the latter was what people were expecting the name to be

Hehe. I was referencing the song "Every breath your take" by "The Police" :P Maybe I was a bit too subtle. Your prayer made me think of it.

That aside, I really like the addition of the prayer psalm :) Please keep them coming!
I'm not sure how much you read, but at some point we were in a sort of cave with many crystals. This was under the undead temple. We lost Asha at some point and found her again with some curious new talents. From that point on, vague started referring to her as "Ahsa". We thought it was a typo at first ;)

We still don't really KNOW about it IC, but there are suspicions. It might be a cool twist if Selusia or a follower there-of would be able to pick up on that.

I definitely was too dense to get the "Every breath you take" reference there. Bit of a lost cause here and, likely, need to send some messages off in a bottle.

As far as I can recall, the woman, as far as it's been played out, is bound by nothing more than threats and cajolement, mostly from Roald's side.

Thanks for the Ahsa note, @TheGenerator. I flipped through a number of the old IC posts but hadn't read that part. Curious!

So, what do we want to do? This needn't be what the characters want if you have something that you want to have happen outside of their control.

You can talk to your prisoner more, though she does not seem all the informed.
You can get Theo out of the cage and see how he is or even work on getting him revived and involved.
You can make a plan on how to deal with your prisoner while you do other things.
You can try to persuade your prisoner to come along and 'help'.
You can scout more and try to find Phil and the girl.
You can confront the dancers (while calling them 'witches' if that helps your consciences).
You can do something else completely (this list was just off the top of my head since it seems progress may have stalled.

TL;DR version:
Voting for a combination of #2 #3 and #4 above, and the horror movie cliche of, "Let's split up!"

Very likely a terrible idea that I'm not wedded to so I'm happy to see what else is proposed and to play along

I was thinking of letting one of the NPCs (Daryl or Limpy) keep an eye on 'Lady' (that's what we're calling her, right?). That way the entire PC party can go to where the action is.
We can still split up into team Theo and team Phil & Theorella (I forgot the name you gave her, vague but it was something like that :P) if that's what we want to do. But, I kinda like sticking together.

Limpy will be disappointed to not get to see ... um... nevermind. But he can stand guard over Lady.

While this is not D&D where splitting the party is contraindicated by the rules and Encounter Design, 'horror movie logic' and real-world tactics do agree that there is strength in numbers. This mainly applies when you confront the witches, though, so if you wanted to scout and free Theo at the same time that might be a good use of your time... unless you get spotted doing either of those.

Hehe. Exactly :D But that kinda thing never goes wrong.

Sticking together sounds way less ... ominous ?

I would also prefer sticking together for the same reason that I rather not lose one of the team to watch the lady.
Do we need to guard her? Are we convinced she is on our side?
That way we can just leave her be.
I vote for getting theo out first. But since this is no theocracy (hehe) , Roald will settle for a better plan if provided.

No. And no.
She looks like she will just sit there --for a while-- if you leave her. She says she does not want to go back to the 'witches'.
It does sound like we have a majority vote for getting Theo out first.

Norbert is also on board to get Theo first.

Alright. I think that is decided then. :)

Someone needs to roll something for it. If we are just doing a simple 'check we are not being watch and go get him' then maybe a WIS/Survival roll will tell us how long it takes? Or do we want to go into more detail and add the risk of being spotted while doing that?

My preference is just to roleplay saving him and see where that takes us.

That works. The rolls that happen during that will dictate what happens.

Olden's got Tinker as an ability. Does that entitle him to a free albeit RPed pass at the lock?

Not 'free', no. But it does two things. It means that he has a fictional justification for trying to open the lock (without it it might be unreasonable to even suggest trying such things (outside of 'hit lock with rock')), and the Rules Mechanics of Skills is that 'you can't fail' on their rolls, so you will be able to get the locks open, the question is only about what it costs you (time or noise or something, based on the fiction).

Given that I seldom use 'failure' and mostly tend to offer a 'success at a cost' in all games, the power of Skills in this game is a bit diminished, but you can at least be sure those rare 'complete failures' are not a thing you need to worry about when you are doing something you are Skilled at.

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(When I run something like FKR, we usually assume competence and that you succeed at what you describe your character doing, and we only roll for 'costs and complications'.)

Thanks @vagueGM. That makes perfect sense. I'm going to take a few and then post something in the RP thread.

@palemantle, note that lockpicks are one of the types of Tools (as listed in the Equipment section), Tools cost 5s Each. I am happy for you guys to say "oh, yes, my character would obviously have had < such-and-such > on them" and add reasonable things on the fly (being a Tinker means you would have all sorts of Tools), that way you don't have to worry upfront about what gear you will take, so subtract 5s from the 30s on your sheet for the lockpicks.

Great roll, palemantle! :)

@palemantle, the chances of find the exact right plant [ref] in this exact part of the forest is slim. Given enough time you could probably do it, but there is still a good chance there just is none around (6-).

If you want to put effort into looking for Alewort, describe it and roll. This sounds like a roll with INT to know where to look and what signs to look for. The more you show your knowledge of how and where the plant grows the quicker the whole process will take (succeed or fail).

On a 6- you waste time looking and can't find the plant.
On a 7-9 it takes a long time or you give up after a shorter while.
On a 10+ it takes a little while or you can give up after a very short search and try something else.
On a 12+ you find the plants you are seeking fairly quickly.

Got it chief. Posted something and, to be clear, the associated roll is an attempt to get help locating the Alewort leaves

Olden hasn't tried treating Theo's wound yet and won't without Theo's friends' say so

@palemantle: I am not sure what you were doing with that roll. Be aware that 'nothing never happens' so you got a 6- and now 'a bad thing has to happen', but I don't know what that would be since I don't know what you are actually doing.

Rolling always has an effect on the story.

We now have two misses (6-) on looking for this herb, as mentioned above, a 6- could mean you don't find anything that helps and run out of time. That still feels like the appropriate outcome, yeah?

That roll was an attempt to see if he could find the herb or help others locate the same. In hindsight, the double 6- was a disaster so maybe time's run out thanks to Olden.

That likely makes the rest of that RP post irrelevant or troublesome so treat that as appropriate please

OK. I thought it might be, but there was no mention in the included fiction of Olden actually doing any looking. Knowing the intent, we can assume it happened and I can include it in my description of what comes next.
Nah, it's not a problem. We can cope with it.

I'm thinking of getting closer trying to stay out of sight for as long as possible. Attempting to spot the leader. Then 'arrest' her. (Sword to throat)

OK. That is feasible. But it will require a few rolls from those involved: at least some rolls to get close without being noticed; then maybe some to pick out the leader; then definitely something to deal with how you get close enough to put a sword to her throat, and how you deal with all the people in the way.

Describe where you go to get a look.

Remember that there is little time left after you went for Theo first. It sounds like the ceremony has started.

We can always crash the party if we see there is no time left. Let's say of they start tying up the girl

Indeed. That may depend on how the initial rolls go.

Should I already go ahead with Albert's actions? I was waiting to see what the others will do, but maybe that's not needed.

Go ahead.

Waiting is definitely not needed if Albert is separating from the party. If someone else decides they are staying with Albert, then we can work them in as it becomes relevant.

Raynor has really been pulling his weight the past few weeks :D

No kidding.

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A 10 is not a 12, else I would for sure bring Lady into the fold after witnessing the miracle.

On a 10, I will offer you a choice. You can either bring Theo up full strong (though not 'empowered' like Daryl was) and have him able to help as much as any NPC could; or you can stabilise him and make him comfortable and 'safe' from further degradation and impress Lady enough --as she feels the real power that is available-- to bring her fully onto your side.

Theo has been in a cage, away from the camp, so he does not really know anything that can directly help you, while Lady has been in the camp and knows people in there, but is not all that bright.

What do you want to do?

I think it would be more fun, narratively, to have Lady join us and get to know more about her. I like Theo, but his dynamic would be very similar to what Daryl is already.
So my vote goes to that.

Lady was not with us. But maybe she followed?

Not sure what you mean, Airshark. Lady stayed with Albert and Theo.

Albert is not with the group either.

We will resolve Lady's answer to Albert's question once the others have acted and we see what is happening at the camp.

Hmm ok. In my mind something different happened ?

Is the fighting party still there to hear Lady's answers?
Could be interesting both ways.

No, Albert waited till everyone else headed off before doing his thing.

Albert can bring you guys the answer, but we first need to see what you are doing and what you discover at the camp.

How is 'the fighting party' approaching the camp?

I was waiting to post until I knew the timing of the events.

That happens. :)

Everyone waiting for everyone else. :)

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Albert's whole process did not seem fast or rushed 'Ignoring the woman's words for now, he tries to tend to Theo's needs first.', for instance, so the party will have had time to get to and view the camp before he gets his answers (they will depend on what is happening and what is relevant so we don't both learn the same thing), then it will take a similar time for Albert to get to the party... unless the action has started and he can run right there.

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I have assumed you are able to make it close enough to the camp to get an overview of what is going on. If you want to know more than just what you would see, you will need to roll to decipher the details.

Knives are not out, but you don't currently know if she will just be draped over the altar and killed in moments or if they will first do a ceremony.

There may be weapons --they did stab Theo-- but they are still just women, right?

We know better than to underestimate women ?.

I'll give Palemantle some time to react.

Well, good. I am glad my hint was not ignored. :)
They have not been on in over 5 days, maybe don't wait too long for them?

Norbert (and the dog) are with you too. You also have Daryl and Limpy as NPC help if you want to engage with them.

Norbert is ready but waiting for a move from roald.

Given that your target is in the center of a circle of women who are looking --mostly-- inwards, you will definitely need a distraction.
Possibly, but it will heavily depend on the situation after the others make the distraction.

If you want the NPCs to take care of the distraction let me know, you will have less control --hidden Die of Fate-- but that frees up both PCs present to directly engage.

That's correct. Albert will make sure Theo is doing well enough and then join the others. Hopefully with some extra info from Lady.
Works for me :)

Hopefully I made it clear enough with Theo being able to drink on his own that he is doing well enough to be left for a while.

Yes, you did that well :D
Albert is confident that he'll be alright now.

I'm not sure whether to take Lady with me or not, though. That would leave Theo alone, right? I don't think that's a good idea.

Lady is currently all fired up with Raynor's vim and vigour, she may object to being made to babysit. She wants to go and right a wrong and take on the witches.
That would leave him alone, yes.

It is hard to know what the 'witches' will do if they find the cage empty, or if they stumble upon him out in the open.

You could try to hide him? Or say the place you settled was already a bit hidden?

That may be the best way indeed. I'm not sure what time of day it is (I never am) But if it is dark or twilight, that would help.
If there is a large bonfire of something alike that would make it harder for them to see the edge of the clearing.

I can do that. Just give me the word.
Midday.

I means, seriously, what self-respecting cult does a sacrifice at midday!? :)
Afraid not. I can try have them all look in the opposite direction. That is probably the best we can do.

Word!

(Did you hear about that certain word? It's about one of the avian species)

So I heard. :)

I'm pretty sure everybody has heard. ;)

Herd mentality?

More like a flock I suppose.

Going to wait and see what the others are doing and then resolve all the simultaneous actions together.

Albert can arrive after these events are done.

I'm happy to wait a few rounds. I assume the prayer and talking to Theo took a while.

Indeed. You did not seem to be rushing.

Roll needed?

Indeed. Seems like CHA, or maybe STR to threaten? It might not make a difference in terms of your numbers, but it will affect the outcomes.

Olden's sharpness-blood will help in narrative terms.

---

@fossball: Where is Norber right now?

@TheGenerator: Albert and Lady can arrive soon after we have gotten her response.

Hmmm. I would have gotten with dex. Because of the speed and difficult manoeuvering.
Hard one...

I thought about that one too, but did not mention it because my 'list' is just suggestions. DEX works, you can go with that, it is more than just for you getting there, but also the fact of how you got there so fast that intimidates her.

You say 'Restraining'? What are you trying to do? Threaten/convince or physically stop/restrain her? Both are viable, and will change the meaning of the result.

Restraining is indeed a bad choice of words, since moving would cause her more pain.
Threaten is the way to go. I will edit the post

Alright :) I'll be sure to do so.

Norbert is looking at the only woman with clothes on. Trying to determine if she is good enough to get her out of there a quick as possible.

Yes, her knowing your name may be a big surprise to Norbert. You did not miss anything. :)

@Norbert: We'll see what happens with the rest, maybe Norbert will be able to just walk away? ... then again... :)

@TheGenerator: Come in any time. Roald should probably get to do something else before you get to him, but you can arrive on the scene a little ways away. It is possible Lady is still leading the charge unless you have taken steps to curtail her impulses?

We will need a roll from Roald to cow the women into letting the men take over [ref], if it works then Norbert can get away with the girl, else he may have to exert himself and run (or something else).

If anyone else it doing anything to help with the 'intimidation' we can add that to the effect as well.

What is Lady doing at this point?

Being an NPC and relying on the PCs to drive the story? :)

Albert seemed to arrive twice, here and here again, so I was not sure what to do with that.

I might just use her to kick things along a bit since we seem to have stalled.

Ah :)
I was waiting to see what happens when she reaches the other women. I didn't want to assume that one thing or the other happens.
In my head, Albert was still quite far away from the others. First he saw them in the clearing, then he started walking closer. But he was kinda waiting to see how the group reacts to Lady and the other way around before acting himself.
I'll post a reply later today. :)

Sure. You can take a route that brings you past the altar.

What did you have in mind?

Problem: no Trace of Phil. The woman was referring to Daryl when she said he got away.

Seems that way. That revelation is the consequence on the 7-9.

My idea is to touch the altar and say a prayer. Just to see if anything happens. Maybe be able to 'cleanse' it. If I can conjure some kind of bright light or have it be set aflame as a sign of Raynor, that would be kinda cool.
The main goal would be to impress the women so they back off.

It doesn't have to do anything if it's not plausible.

We might need Norbert's dog to find him.

Never mind. I just read what happened in the RP thread :D I guess it's not needed anymore.

Not to impress the women, no, but you could still try setting the stone table aflame if you really want. :)

I might try it still if it fits within what's going on at the time :)

Ouch. And here was poor Phil thinking he had the strongest bond with Norbert!

Norbert will drop everything and everyone if he remembers. And he will probably die from shame. But even if it is only four day ago, the events at the other barons house seem a lifetime ago.

Maybe we can slowly start to think about the number of barons again.

So true. :)

Er...? I thought the dog was with Theo? Theo is not Phil. I am not sure if a mistake was made here?

I thought the cages were still close enough for the dog to hear the whistle. Norbert believes the witch has caught all his allies and caged them up. Maybe Phil escaped, he reasons.
He also feels Theo is safe enough to recall the dog and he is sure he will need the dog in search of Phil. Norbert is really upset and starts to wonder why no one talked about Phil.

Sure. Dogs have good hearing and whistles travel.

Not that close that you guys can still know that Theo is safe without the dog, though, but less than a minute for you to get to him if you want.

Norbert is not really aware who is still with Theo. The situation was (is) rather stressful and confusing.

[anchor]

How do we wish to proceed. The characters seem a bit directionless, so we can decide as players what we want next.

At one extreme I can wrap this whole thing up and get everyone together and you can 'go home'.

Or I can introduce one of a few twists that were unexplored.

It is up to the players if there is more to be done here, and if we want to play out 'the search for Phil'.

I think Albert would want to find Phil too, but that doesn't mean we have to play it out.

For the story's sake, I'd like to skip that part and get home to wrap things up and maybe move on to something new.

Yeah, I didn't figure the characters would just leave the poor boy lost. So this was more about how much we want to play this out.
Noted. Though don't make decision 'for the story's sake', the story is a slave to the players.

Something new might be called for, I am not sure the current events are gripping the players.

Even though, I don't mind just going with whatever is thrown at us :) (I just RP what I can in the moment). Albert does have a mission to get back to and it feels like he's straying further away from it.

I'm not sure if it's feasible to drag the story back to the initial temple, or if that's even something the other players and you would want.

Remind us what he thinks that mission is?
Very feasible. Though that need not entail going back to the temple, you may need to go in search of answers to what is going on there and what needs to be done.

I can see two easy ways to drag us back. Either directly there (to deal with the Asha/Ahsa issue) or 'to far off lands' to find out how to deal with the evil that is rising there.

Initially, I think we were only exploring (doing something for the captain?) when we stumbled into that old temple. Albert got a sort of mission from Raynor to cleanse this temple from the undead presence inside it.
On top of that, Albert had visions of his aunt, whom he had lost contact with. She may be trapped there.
So all of those combined, I'd say.
You're right, I think that idea is what brought us to the mayor in the first place.

---

Note to self: I need to update the "recent events" thread again.

Yes. Though she wants to get back to her caravan and will be leaving you once she is strong enough.
Yes. Does Albert have any idea about how to do that? If not, you can learn of somewhere where you might be able find out about how it could be done. If you have ideas we can go right back there and try again.
Yes, indeed. We could link your aunt with the answers to cleansing the temple, or to the crystals below, depending on what the player wants to pursue first or if they want to go straight back.
I can do that, they are clearly connected. But you don't know how yet, so maybe a quest for knowledge is the logical next step?
I think you were mainly looking for somewhere close to lay up and lick your wounds. Nothing here seems all that closely related to the temple. We can link them if you guys want, but this can also just a 'staging area' where you can rest before going back in.

As far as I'm concerned, yes! :) That sounds like the way to go for Albert.
But, I don't know how the others feel about it.

I would like some closure with the barons storyline.
Finish this part and maybe than we can go back on the templequest?

For me is a little closure fine. Norbert will stay in the valley. He feels the adventuring life doesn't really suit him.
I, fossball, feel that this way of playing is not meant for me. I enjoyed the story and I am truly impressed by Vague.

So thank you very much, but I will write Norbert slowly out of the story.

The barons' issues run deep, over multiple generations, so you need to tell me how much closure you want.

Fixing all of these issue in this valley could be many quests, but I can do a hokey 'you have opened their eyes and they will set it right by themselves' deal if you really need, else you could 'plan to come back and guide them more', or you could leave it up to Norbert.

If you want to take the time there is one more follow-on quest from this sacrifice business that could leave things in a better place. I would like to say it could be quick, but, knowing you guys, it might not be. :) If there is demand for it, I could set it on a soft-railroad.

Let me know.

Quite understandable. I welcome feedback as to what parts did or did not work for you, or even if there are changes that could make you want to stay (or help us find you another game that fits you better). But don't feel pressured to provide any feedback or to stay if it is not working for you.
That makes a lot of sense for the character. You can react to some upcoming revelations and maybe have extra reasons to stay at home.
Cool. If the party decides to 'go on one more quest' to 'finish this' do you want to keep playing for that, or would you like a reason for Norbert to leave the quest up to them and write him out sooner?

Sad to hear it, fossball. Was fun playing this game with you :)

I am afraid I don't have much feedback. I loved the story, the twists and the tension. The room we have as player to add was a bit new and took some getting used to. But the way you used it and weaved it into the story was great.

And that is my overall feel: Great!

The medium for playing on the other hand is not mine. Going online after work just feels like work too often. I you ever feel like sitting around the table with us, I am all in. the other two don't live that far from me :)

So thank you and I look forward to the last few scenes for Norbert.

That is understandable. PbP is definitely not for everyone.
That would be great, I would like that... were it possible.
Good, we will try to make it rewarding.

@gen and @Vague.

Since I am a bit busy lately, is it possible to pause this game after Fossball's departure untill we have a new fresh faced player?

Yes. That might be a good idea.

No problem for me :)

I don't know how 'apart' you have taken this conversation, or who was involved, but we seem to have included Limpy, and are now engaging with Lady, so it is worth asking:

Is it just an oversight or is there a reason you have not asked any of the people around here, including Theo or his sister, about Phil? If you want to maintain the mystery and think your characters would not think to ask --assuming they know what better-- then we can mount a search, else...

I am not sure if you are confusing Berta and young Berta with Lady? They are not the same person, though Lady's mum is also around here somewhere if you want her. :)

I thought we already asked Theo. And of course the leader.
But we are not intentionally not asking the rest of the gang.

Yeah same here, I figured there was no point in asking more people.
My idea was to use the dog to search for Phil, but when we decided to work our way to a conclusion, that seemed like a less optimal way to go.

Apologies for missing that. We seem have consensus that we would ask them, so I will go ahead and have them answer and resolve that.
Not at all. And it is not your job... unless you want it to be.

Sorry for the confusion. I will try to clear that up in the RP post.
No, I don't 'lead'. At most this was meant to be a talking point, but we are not talking to people, so I will move it along. :)

Hehe, all good :) thanks for clearing that up!

I did not see that one coming. Nice plot twist!!

Thanks.

I hope that, going back and looking at things again, it will be adequately foreshadowed. There were constant hints and suggestions... which were never pursued. :)

That could work.
:) Knowing this group, taking them home could lead to distractions which could take some time. If you want to do that first we could say it happens in a montage and bring you right back here for the ritual?

However, Phil (and Theo and Daryl) might want to be part of that cleansing, so you would need to persuade rather hard to get them to stay behind.

---

I am not sure if having the women see the cleansing would show them that there is a bigger power, or, instead, show them that there actually was something real behind what they were tricked into doing and cause them to go looking for it again later? It may be best to get rid of them --and a bunch of naked women might be a distraction?

Limpy and Lady might want to stay with you, but could be convinced that the heroic thing to do is to get the women to safety? That way you can go right into the cleansing ritual without delay?

No. The 'kids' went missing while you were out in the dark forest with Olaf (meeting Nixon by the other strange oak-tree-clearing). Then you got back to his place and found they had 'gone to town'. Then you went to town and found they were not there, and that is when you first heard about the mayor's daughter's abduction. You decided not to investigate (actively avoided the mayor), which may have been the right call --he thinks she went missing the night she ran away with you, and may blame you-- but that does mean you kept avoiding chances to learn things. :)

We can do a 'big reveal' afterwards if you want. Or you can take the time to look into this. Given that the party did not spend much time trying to find answers, it may be best to leave some mystery, no?

Tell me what you want and we can make it happen.
The valley is split (roughly) in half, with one baron (Chlodomer) 'ruling' one side and the other baron (Childebert) 'ruling' the other. You are not sure either of them have a strong claim, and there was speculation that they are related to each other.
Or... start actually being part of 'village affairs'? Part of the problem in this valley that no one is 'in charge' and therefore everyone is neglecting responsibilities for making sure things happen. Harvests are not being done, crops are not being sold (or even planted) and everyone is focused on immediate and selfish gains.

Maybe new leadership is called for?

i mostly meant the kids ? the women can just be dropped off somewhere, i guess

Yeah, we can ignore the women, just say they are sent off and done with.

The 'kids' (the are about the same age as Norbert) were part of your adventuring party, and will definitely want to see this through to the end. They also have a desire to deal with the evil here, since they were directly affected. If you really don't want them to be involved, then we can see to it, though. It is up to you guys.

Oh right. I keep thinking we need to get the innocent girl home, but it's Phil. She actually wanted to be here. :)
Maybe Albert doesn't see it that way though.

Yeah. :)

Do you want to have that conversation in character?

Probably, it makes sense.

@TheGenerator: Go ahead and describe anything interesting you find with the altar [ref]. I can fill in any gaps or supply more details that you leave out or ask about.

@Airshark: Since you saw the axe before I don't see any difficulty getting it.

Is it strange that there is an axe out here in the wild forest that has not been cut by timber-workers in like... ever? Is there anything strange about the axe?

If it is not strange, then one of the women probably brought it? Are there any thoughts about why?

Feel free to describe the camp as you check it out [ref].

I will fill in any details that are left out, or answer questions.

In my imagination this is a multi -day event. So I thought they would make a fire to cook... or sacrifice stuff ?.
Hence the axe. For me it can just be a regular axe. If someone else has a nice story for it. I can roll with that .

That works. It does not seem to me that they did much planning. But someone obviously thought to bring an axe, and probably some cooking utensils and food.

And of course incense oil and torches. Right?

:) Nice try, but no. You will have to make your own incense and torches. Possibly the oil was originally for cooking?

I guess some smouldering herbs will do

Isn't that the definition of 'incense'? :)

If they brought cooking oil and food they may have some dried herbs, else you can probably find something ("this looks like sage") growing nearby.

Is that good enough? I was thinking of the altar maybe having some kind of symbol on it? But not sure if that would be something Albert will recognize or not.
Feel free to add what you think works.

Absolutely.
To me it feels more like it is unadorned, but you are welcome to add a symbol if you want.
Do you want to roll for mechanical effect or was this just flavor?

It was only an idea, but I was thinking it could be tied in with the temple.

But I'll leave it up to you to decide if that's useful at all. Maybe it just makes things more complicated without a real benefit.
Yes! Would that be a fate roll in this case?

Ha! I actually almost wrote "... add a symbol if you want so long as it is not the horned-wolf." But decided to leave that clause out and go with it if you brought that back here.It would be based on your character's actions, so it would be a normal roll with one of your stats, presumably WIS?

On a 10+ you learn something about the history of the altar and how it was being used here.
On a 7-9 you learn some very general ideas.
On a 6- you will learn something like on the 10+, but you won't like what you learn.

Haha! Good thing I checked :)
Rolled a 9 :)

Should I wait for the others to start the ritual or can I assume we get all the needed materials?

We can assume you find what you need, or can make do with what you find.

We will need a roll from everyone who is participating in the ritual.

Albert's sounds like he is entreating Raynor to help, so that would probably be +CHA?

We will aggregate all the results to get a final outcome.

We can assume the NPCs do their bit about as well as the PCs' rolls.

---

Are we assuming we sent the other people away? Maybe Lady and Limpy took them to the best place to find some clothes and get home?

Do we want anything special done with them? If so, we can deal with that after you are done here, or whenever it comes up.

I actually kinda want the others to see. Raynor likes to conquer more followers ?
I let Albert ignore them since we started talking about the ritual in the hopes they'll be curious to see.

But it's not that important to be honest.

Rolled another 9.

Sorry ?

Maybe everyone should join in with praying

You need to do better, you have let us all down. :)

What is the outcome of the die of fate?
(Don't say 4)

Well, it was '4', same as yours. :)

I always struggle with the middle of the road outcomes. It is not enough to counter your 6-, but still a positive outcome.

I don't want to draw this out, and the main 'priest' leading this did get a 'success', but I agree that we need a little more.
Yes, possibly. Something to boost Phil in the 'right' direction of 'conquest' rather than 'revenge', maybe?

Maybe something happens to Lady?
I'm not sure what to do with this outcome either.

Seems good to have Norbert take action here.

Norbert took it in his own hands and hopes Raynor will understand him.

Should I roll for it?

Yep. That was my thought if Fate rolled low. :)
Yes. Based on what Norbert says/prays I think this may be about his Wisdom, so +WIS (sure it does not matter from a stats perspective (it is not STR:), but the stat chosen does change the flavor and the outcomes), that ties in stronger with his nature/Wild leaning tendencies?

Roald and I both forgot about the oil.

11 > 4 :)

Nice!! ?

Indeed nice. :)

Taking this whole endeavor in aggregate it is a Partial Success, 'you succeed at your goal but it is not complete'. I think the 'not complete' part is that you have not dealt with whatever is behind this, but it is not an immediate problem for you or the valley.

We can say the stone table breaks, and the fire comes and cleanses things. I would think the fire is more likely to be from Raynor than from the —symbolic— 'flint and steel' blow, but you can describe it however you like. Go ahead and tell us what happens, and what you do next.

Each of you: fill in the bits you want and I can fill in the rest.

Here or in the rp thread?

RP, if you can.

I can probably do it later today, if someone else has time earlier, go for it ?

I've still left more things to be added. If someone has a cool idea for a more detail description, that would be great

I wrote 'everyone', but feel free to exclude yourself or any npc 's

Just pictured it as a mesmerizing show.

Yes, by all means, exclude yourself from those that step back to avoid getting burned. :)

Hehe

To clarify. I meant burning like in sunburn ?.
And thought Maybe others would not want to stay and watch.

Hehe, yeah. :)

How badly do we want to find our backpacks [ref]? Is there anything in them that is not easily replaceable (is there anything in Roald's at all:)?

Based on lack of looking for anyone's stuff (mainly women's clothes) the Hard Move: Take Away their Stuff was sorta enacted, and there is no stuff left around here, wherever the women's clothes vanished to is the same place your packs, Daryl's armour, and Phil's 'adventuring clothes for boys' (probably stolen form a servant?) went.

If we want to track down answers to what happened to the stuff we can, but, aside from Daryl's armour, everything can be replaced with better stuff.

In roald's there is just Standard adventure gear. A blanket (he gave his cloak away), a pot, some rations. Nothing special.

So he doesn't need it back. But will be needing to buy a new cloak and camping stuff. So we either have to find the backpack or some cash.

Albert's pack contained some original Deer's Antlers wooden mugs. He'll be sad to lose those, but not worth tracking down the woman for.

I think you can narrate us back into town at this point, vague. If you would be so kind :)

We can go on a quest to recover them, no problem there if you guys want. Else, if you want we can have them turn up later ... in an unexpected place.
Will do, later.

I'm a few days away from the computer and might be even slower than at other times.

With this in mind, and it looking like the drive behind the game has somewhat dwindled it seems. We're already in the pause perhaps?
I was thinking maybe it would be nice to just have a narration of what happened to Norbert, Roald and Albert over the next few weeks.
My idea on this is that vagueGM narrates what happens with the mayor, his kids, and the barons (maybe Ahsa and Bimi too?). I think you know our characters well enough to take some liberties :) . That'll finish the 'quest'. Then we can each add what our characters do next.

That'll round out the story for now until we want to get back into it.

What do you think, vague?

---

I've had a great time in this game, btw. From the very beginning until now :) Thanks again for bringing us the story, vague!

Yes, it feels like a nice spot to pause. We all had some kind of closure.
When I started this game I would never have thought I would last for 1.5 years? Something like that? It has been a great adventure with enough excitement and humor to keep it interesting for so long. Thank you very much Vague, Gen and fossball.
If someone new comes along I will be happy to pick it back up.
If you'd still have me of course ?.

I was thinking the same thing. Thank you both for what you brought to the story, it was only a small part from my efforts and creation, and was mostly carried by the players who directed most of the story, I just reacted. :)

Thank you as well @fossball, I know PbP did not really fit your style, but I still really enjoyed what you brought to the story and the positive energy that you brought to the group. I would love to play with any (or ideally all) of you guys in real life as well.

---

My time is short at the moment, so I have closed this game for applications, but will open it again when time permits. I do appreciate having you guys along to fill out a party when new players arrive, it has been awkward —in the cyberpunk one— to have to discourage those new players with them being alone.

---

I was also surprised at how long this went on, I don't think WoDu did us any favours and there was talk about transferring Albert and Roald to another, more robust, system. I do like that the system got out of our way, but a little more structure (for moves and character options) can help keep things interesting over time (that or a little less structure FKR-style:).

---

I will give it a bit more thought, but I was thinking I actually like leaving things the way they are, without knowing how Theo and Phil get along with their arrival back home —so no hints as to how their plans will go :)—, and if we are 'planning' on picking this up again I almost don't want to say what happens 'next' to your PCs, and use that as the springboard into the next quest; that way we can tailor it to the new players we have.

However, I worry that it could be disappointing to not get a conclusion, especially since we did not 'end on a cliffhanger' or anything (Ahsa/Asha anyone?:). If we want I can easily summarise what happens, maybe with the celebration that was paid for (or did Barky abscond with your 1000 Silver?:), or possibly with what the Captain has worked out about the temple and the horned-wolf business (quest starter for the next big one?).

I don't think we want to hang around here for more adventure, so there is little downside to summarising how your actions have improved the valley, with a denouement of Norbert covering the next few months or weeks.

No matter what, we can assume that you are able to replace your lost gear, with money to buy, or with with better stuff (donated).

Do we want a 'conclusion'?
- What do we want to leave open?
- What do we want to nail down and conclude?

Since it's unsure when or if this game will continue, I think a conclusion would be nice. Perhaps the next part might take place x weeks/months from the last events.

But I'm also happy to leave it open if that seems more fitting. This game was all about the journey and the RP for me. And it already delivered on that! ?

The system was maybe a bit too basic, but also didn't matter to me. I'd rather have a good story that's easy to follow instead of complex rules and ooc number crunching. So no complaints on my end.

I was also imagining a description of the party that was paid for. Not every loose end needs to be fixed of course.

Happy to hear you enjoyed it too, vague! I agree. We'd be a kick ass team at a real table!

I really enjoyed the story but I'm ready to say goodbye to Norbert.

I'm not really sure if you guys need anything more from me.

Thank you very much!

That is a good point. I might be resisting setting a conclusion because I fear it will make it less likely that we continue, but I did also worry that, in the event of this being the end, it is not very satisfying.

It does seem best wrap it up and deal with continuing if/when it happens.
Agreed.

The shallowness of the rules can result in a bit more OOC than a more defined system. In a full-fledged PbtA system the players at least know the sorts of moves they can engage in and the sorts of outcomes they can expect, whereas here we need to first discuss these things each time we need to roll. This is less of an issue with the low frequency of rolls that I generally call for in my games, though.
I was planning on leaving that mostly up to the players, with my usual filling in of any details that are still needed.

Understood. It was really good playing with you.

Do you want to know how things turn out for Norbert? In what level of detail and for how long into his future? Do you want to tell us what happens or do you want me to lay some groundwork and structure for that?

Thank you for joining us.

Ah, I see. I'm fine with that, but it's a bit difficult cause I'd have questions like "Would Asha and the captain be able to attend?" "Is there enough food and drink for everyone?" "Is anyone oddly not present?"
If we're allowed to fill that in any way we want, then I'll be happy to. ?

Seems like I missed the part where we got a shitload of money (other than that we used for leveling up)
But it doesn't matter. Roald would probably give it away too.

We didn't. I just hadn't leveled up Albert yet. So he still had that money ;)
I'm hoping this will count as "spending money not on yourself" to have him level.
You spent your money on the party if I'm not mistaken.

I would say that Albert's spending the money on bettering the valley rather than himself counts in the same way that Roald's spending the money on the celebration did.

Both of you get to level up. Level 2 is not very interesting, but does make you tougher. Note it down on your sheets.
Roald and Albert both have CON 0, so things are simple, you now roll 2d6 and keep 2d6 for your HP.

@TheGenerator: Do you want to continue any of the interactions you alluded to in your post? We should maybe leave the captain's information about the horned-wolf for when we pick this up again —though I can exposition-dump it now if you guys want— the others, we can assume, go as you planned: Olaf (with Limpy and Lady, and possible Barky) set up your shrine/temple/bar to Raynor, and that has significant positive impact on the valley going forward; Your scathing words to the mayor start people thinking the he is not so powerful and sparks the revolution needed to oust him.

We can pick up on the Ahsa issue when we resume? Unless you guys really want answers now?

Yay! :D
No, The information that you gave in your post here is exactly what I was looking for. Just a narration of what happened next.
Albert will probably already be gone before that shrine is finished.
I'd like to move towards being able to research the horned wolf and the temple. I think you're right when you say Ahsa's story will distract us from that.

If we do want to first focus on the part with Ahsa, I'm hoping that it will at least also inform us about the horned wolf in a different way.

---

How are you feeling about the game right now, vague? Still enjoying the GM role? Anything we as players can do to help out?
Are you still thinking of switching to a different system?

---

My games here have quieted down now. I'm only in 2 active games compared to the 4 I was in before. And that 1 other game is a pretty slow going one. So I can give more time to the Fresh Faced Adventurers again. :)
I'm not planning on picking up new games again (unless there's a one-shot that really feel right up my alley)

I figure that would be 'next'.
OK, let's make it so it will 'motivate' you to do the horned-wolf and temple quests. Your characters may be distracted, but we can make it such that it forces them to deal with the other issues to 'fix' this one.

That sounds good to me :)

Should we recruit new fresh faced players?

So we aren't taking a break? [ref]

Also: See the current discussion in the General Chat thread.

From gens last posted I figured he wanted to play on...

I'm fine with whatever you come up. I think it's early for a marriage, but hey, these kids today go fast.

Thanks again for a great story.

We can leave it undefined and brimming with potential, you can imagine whatever you fancy as possible outcomes.
Thank you for your part in it. You were great.

I am able to play on, but if you want to take a break, we can still do that. That's fine by me. I'll be here to get started again when we're ready :)