Out of Character (OOC)

Welcome! This thread is for table talk and out of character discussions. You can also discuss combat strategy, tactics and combos here.

Welcome aboard @Avraham, @runekyndig and @kwll.

Please introduce yourself here, if you like, and check out the quickstart rules or the YouTube video for an overview of Nimble.

I will start session zero tomorrow. =)

Hello all, and thank you for choosing me. Is there an available character sheet we can use for this game?

This is one of my characters from another game. You can adapt it however you like. =)

Hello, folks.

@htech, I am excited to be able to adventure with you again!
@runekyndig, we've crossed paths before. Looking forward to working with you. As an aside, your character drawing is exquisite!
@kwll, I don't think I've had the pleasure of campaigning with you before. I'm glad that is changing 😊.

I try to get into my character's head when I game PbP, so if I say something that is insulting or rude, please forgive me AND point it out so that I don't repeat. Also, GM, please reach out to me if you feel my actions/roleplay are not forwarding the adventure as you envision. It's in all of our best interests to ensure YOU are having fun!

@htech Ancestories and background do you have any information on those?

In D&D terms I would go with Tiefling and a criminal background to fit this Robin Hood / Figthing for the little guy theme

You can use the same names available for D&D/Forgotten Realms, since that's our setting. =)

The mechanics will be different, as we'll be using them from the Nimble rulebook. Here are a few. More will be available during session zero, depending on your interest:

Sorry, not this time. Maybe in a future game. We're already going to "break" this game using a D&D setting and the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure, so I don't want multiclassing as well. ;)

PS: But an Entertainer background is ok. =) You dont need the Songweaver special abilities to sing/dance/tell stories.

That background would translate into an Advantage for some tests. And, of course, it would give you the lore/roleplaying reasons to represent yourself as a bard anyway. ;)

Well, a rogue with bardic delusions, at least :)

Thanks!

I'm down with some food poisoning, so I'm not as active as I would like. I'll try to catch up

Get better soon!

Thanks for the update! No worries at all — focus on getting better first. We’ll keep things flexible, and you can jump back in when you’re feeling up to it.

@kwll here is another example character sheet, now with some of the rules automated:

@kwll for next steps, you can:

1. Choose 4 skill ranks
2. Submit the character for GM approval, and I’ll help you fill in the remaining fields and walk you through the available options.

If you have the rulebook, feel free to move ahead and complete the whole character. If not, no worries at all — I’m happy to help you through it step by step.

Absolutely.

Also, regarding your style for text decoration, I try to use it in all games in which I partake, as I think it helps clarify a lot, although my red/green split may be different than yours, and sometimes I'll use another color if needed. Also, what I always do, is if I am delivberatly trying to whisper, or talk sotto voce, I will use cabin font. So if you see that, please assume I'm vocalizing, but trying to be discreet.

Okay!

I just submitted Igrem, after picking 4 ranks in Arcana, Influence, Lore & Perception.

Great! For the next step, please choose a background for Igrem. You can create your own, use Nimble backgrounds, unusual or DnD lists as inspiration.

Start with the flavor and we can define the mechanics (what you will receive as a bonus/advantage) after that.

Well, I clearly aimed Igrem as being a Wizard Apprentice, so I guess the Sage D&D background applies? I don't have the Nimble rules, except the basic ones, so I don't how it translates in this game.

Indeed, Igrem being a Wizard Apprentice maps well to the Sage background in Nimble, even if the rules aren’t a 1:1 match.

To represent what you learned during your apprenticeship, you can choose one of the following benefits:

- Learn one Utility Spell, taught to you by your mentor; or
- Gain advantage on Lore checks related to one specific field of study or creature type (for example: History, Geography, Undead, Fey, Ooze, etc.).

Let me know which option you prefer, and if you choose Lore, what your area of expertise is.

I choose Lore related to Dragons.

Great! Next step is equipment.

You start with a Staff, Adventurers garb, Camping Supplies (Bedroll, rations, simple tent), a book on Chromatic Dragons, a backpack, bottle of ink, a quill, parchment and a pouch with 25 gp.

Would you like to start with anything else you bought in Neverwinter?

Well, I don't know if light armor is allowed to mages in this game, but it could be useful while out in the wild. Aside from that, the usual rope and torches / lantern could be a good addition.

In a way, it is allowed. Mages use "cloth armor" and your adventurers garb is the best protection that you can afford right now:

With that, the Defend reaction, as explained in the free rules, will let you reduce incoming damage by 3.Ah, indeed. They say that you always need rope. So you will start with everything I have written before, plus Rope (50ft) and a Lantern & Oil. But a pouch with only 5 gp, ok? I have updated your character sheet with this.

Now you need an avatar for Igrem. Please submit something and let us know. =)

@runekyndig,@kwll, regarding answering Jacob, I'm fine going with the idea that we were all enlisted separately by Gundren/Sildar so there is no need to coordinate stories OOC. Our characters are getting to know each other as well.

Sorry, who is Jacob?

The merchant who hired the two guards and who just came over to us to offer stew and ask questions.

Your text to link here...

If I understand Nimble backgrounds properly, would this mean I can get advantage on checks relating to entertainment (storytelling, music, juggling, etc.) and that I can be privy to entertainment related knowledge? I'm extrapolating from the Artisan background. Or, do you have another set of characteristics that you would want to apply?

Yup =)

If you can bear with me, I usually have my characters drawn for me (by a human), and this might take a few days.

Sure, no problem. In that case, I think we've finished creating characters for all of you. =)

So, I will end session zero when appropriate and we will begin the published adventure =)

Great!

Just so we can manage our expectations, and because—at least in my case—Nimble is a new set of rules, but what is your method for giving XP. Do you award it on your own and inform us when we level? Is it only calculated/applied at logical "story breaks" or do you tally it per encounter? Do the characters require training/downtime or is it automatic? Thanks!

I will allow you to gain a level whenever you complete an appropriately challenging thread (or group of less challenging ones). I will let you all know.

It is automatic, and we will use this OOC thread if you have any questions. =)

@kwll How come Igrem the Hooded is hoodless? 😝

That's because the hood is at his back!

More seriously, this is the second picture drawn for this character. The first one shows a hood, but then you don't see the character's face, so I went for this one.

I hope you will forgive me and participate in this little survey, and there are no right or wrong answers

This one is a multi-select question. If you feel this is balanced, select all three

There is a bit more social interaction with NPCs in Phandalin. But you can always interact more among yourselves... I would not interrupt or complain about that.

A note on darkness: Unless explicitly noted otherwise by an Ancestry or special ability, no Hero has Darkvision in Nimble. You should use torches or lanterns.

Igrem has no bonus in Naturecraft.

And I have been sick during the weekend and yesterday. Not too hot today either. I'll see if I can catch up this evening

Get well soon, Alex says as he rifles through Nelly’s pockets for loose change.

There isn't much, really. You left the few weapons from the guards behind.

Hope you feel better already =)

I'm reflecting a bit on this game, and while I like our small active group and htech GM style, I'm less enamoured by the Nimble system. There could be several reasons for that.
1) I don't have the rules book, so I'm going by the free quick play rules and whatever I have gleaned from video tutorials.
2) The nimbleness of the system does not really shine in play by post, where you have the time to look up abilities and have time for whatever. Nimble would certainly shine on the tabletop.
3) I do like some level of system mastery, knowing the rules and exploring the game within these rules. Without the rules at hand, and this being a rules-light system, I don't feel that I'm going to satisfy this particular side of my gaming preference.

What do you guys think, now we had some time to play with the system?

Well, I'm probably colored by having purchased the core rulebooks (Core, GM, Heroes) and while I do have to call it up every now and then since I am not used to it, I am finding that it paradoxically is good in both its simplicity and flexibility. The combat is pretty quick to adjudicate and the rolls are simple. On the other hand, the deliberate vagueness as how to apply skills allows for creativity. Certain rules, like assessing requiring a different skill each round in combat is a simple way to add tactics. In particular, the cheat's distracted opponent ability, to me, is overpowered in that using coordinated attacking (and an amenable GM), the cheat can spam crits. Coming from D&D (mainly AD&D 1/2ed but a decent amount 5ed2014), it's similar enough to feel comfortable but different enough to give it a different flavor.

tl;dr, I like it. Again, that's probably because I do have the benefit of looking up the (simple) rules when I want, and because, at least for this character, I am more focused on RP/creative writing than I am hack & slash.

Edit And I must take this opportunity to express my appreciation for @htech as a GM. This is the second game of his in which I am participating, and I am in awe of his imagination and creativity, and really appreciate the detail he puts into responding to and dealing with each of the PCs in each party.

I like the game so much that I participated to the latest KS (thus acquiring the rules). It is indeed simple yet flexible, and close enough to 5e to be able to re-use a lot of material with little adaptation. And I intend to do just that!

Kudos to the GM as well for his smooth mastering.

From my side, I went into this looking for a fantasy system that I could easily adapt material into from D&D/Pathfinder, since I don’t really have the time these days to build adventures from scratch. I tried a few options (Daggerheart, Draw Steel, and Nimble), and so far Nimble has been the one that’s worked best for me.

Just to clarify one point: the quickstart actually covers most of the content we’re using right now. What it really lacks compared to the full books is images, organization and more in-depth explanations for equipment, magic items and monsters. A lot of that extra detail is more relevant for GMs or higher-level play, so at our current level you’re not really missing core mechanics or the edge case rules — there are none. But I totally get that having the full context helps things click better, especially if you enjoy system mastery.

What I personally like about Nimble, so far, is how fast and smooth it is. Character creation is super quick, classes feel well balanced against each other, and I really enjoy the smaller, more focused spell list — it reminds me a bit of Dragonbane in that sense. Instead of hundreds of niche options, you get a tighter set of tools that are broadly useful and fun.

I also find it more tactical than it might look at first glance — things like positioning, cover, terrain, and teamwork do matter, just without a lot of mechanical overhead. And the three-action system is a big win for me: everything lives in the same framework, so we avoid the whole "action vs bonus action vs reaction vs free action" complexity spiral.

For PbP specifically, I actually feel like that simplicity still helps. Even if we can look things up and the dice roller can do the math for us, having fewer moving parts keeps turns flowing and reduces back-and-forth on edge cases.

Also worth mentioning: in pretty much every room and encounter I’ve been designing, there are opportunities for talking, subterfuge, or gaining tactical advantages in combat. They’re not always front-and-center, but they’re there. The main thing is that the party needs a bit of consensus to try those approaches instead of going straight into a standard fight.

So from my perspective, I’m still really enjoying Nimble and think it fits what I’m trying to run — but I also completely understand the preference for a system like PF2 with more depth to dig into. Happy to keep hearing thoughts as we go and adjust if needed.

Curious to hear what @kwll think too!

We cross posted, kwll. Thanks for your opinions. =)

I bought the rules first, then participated in the KS, so I'll get all the new content :)

I think I will open another spot in our party, to play as the female goblin or as someone that was captured by Klarg.

What do you guys think? 🤔

Oh yes about adding to our party. However, I have reservations about turning the female goblin into a PC. Goblins are almost always evil and are always viewed as such. In actuality, it's in line with CE or NE for the goblin lass to turn on the bugbear. And she will turn on us for a copper as well. Unless she really is closer to CN/N. In which case, we the party need to roleplay our getting over our fears and will have to be prepared to defend here EVERYWHERE. Not to mention it should impose a significant influence penalty to run around with a creature known for killing humanoids at the drop of a hat. I would prefer a captive, which would fit much better with what I perceive to be our party makeup. Of course, for all I know, Igrem is actually a vampire and Nelly a denizen of the nine hells 😝😝😝

Okay! =)

I am going to be unavailable from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday night/Sunday and then from the following Tuesday afternoon until Friday. Htech, if needed to move forward, I trust you to run my character.

Hectic days at work, sorry for the delay. I'll post tomorrow.

Im at a RPG/Board games convention this weekend. Im not sure how reliable my posting is going to be. Ill catch up Monday.

Have fun!

Hello and thank you for the invite.

So are there still pre gens so I can get right into it?

welcome

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard! You are free to use the pregens from the Quickstart/Free rules, starting at Level 2.

A Hunter would be great. =)

PS: I am unable to post today, will catch up tomorrow

I have submitted Redhawk human hunter for approval.

Do we use 5E backgrounds and bonuses for race?

Welcome, @mathias0077!

I am ready to be rescued. Hahaha

Nope. Nimble 2e have their own backgrounds and stats ;)

I didin't see backgrounds in the hero book.

I found them and picked survivalist. It says I get +1 max hit die. Is that every level or just the start?

Just once. So you start with 3 of 3 hit dice. Please note that this doesn't change your current or max HP.

This is a heads-up, as no decision has been made yet.
But I am considering leaving this game. It's not due to my fellow players or GM! Not at all!

But I am fed up with the classic fantasy setting with nights, castles, dragons and the like. I play in 9 games, and 6 of them are in this kind of setting, and to be honest, I'm getting bored with it.
I'm going to drop out of half of these games or turn down my activity to a minimum.

Thank you for the heads up!

Unfortunately, the classic fantasy setting is pretty central to this game and the published adventure, so it’s not something we can really change here. I do play and GM in other settings, though.

If you’re no longer having fun, please feel free to step away at any time—no need to wait. That said, if you’d prefer a more natural stopping point, wrapping up the goblin cave with Sildar and Redhawk or shortly after arriving in Phandalin would work well.

Either way, no hard feelings at all. You’re always welcome to apply to any of my games in the future 🙂

Then I'll step away after the conclution of the goblin cave

We will certainly miss you, @runekyndig. Our free time is precious, and of course you should spend it on what gives you the most enjoyment! Thanks for the heads up and allowing us a reasonable off ramp.

@htech Maybe we should advertise for a replacement for runekyndig sooner rather than later so they can join us post-cave?

Yup. I have already invited Gremlin. =)

Hello, everyone! Thank you for having me. I'll have my character submitted today and start posting by tomorrow at the latest.

Cool another newbie to the game. I just joined the other day. Welcome

Welcome aboard! I presume you’ve read through all the game threads to get a feel for our characters. There will be a quiz on Monday 😈😈😈😈

Welcome to all new players. Sad to see you go, runekyndig, and I can understand the feeling. Even though this campaign is good in its own way, it is not at all aiming to be original (quite the contrary).

You should try Runequest! ;)

Oh, I forgot to ask, how are we going to be introduced?

Your character is currently tied up in Yeemik's cave. My character is trying to slice your bonds with neither sound nor the slicing of your wrists in the process. Our other two redoubtable characters have just stolen Yeemik's attention, given that runekyndig's character just plopped Klarg's mace right down in front of Yeenik's green pot belly!

Aha! Now I'm all caught up. Thanks. :)

Enjoy your game, this is where I step out.
Thank you for introducing me to Nimble

sounds good

No worries; this is PbP after all :)

@Avraham dice rolls are now sorted ;)

Cool!

The dice rules look really fun. My question in the General thread was regarding can we create something like (Max(1d6, 1d4)). Only reason is that when dual-weilding different weapons in nimble, you roll both and take the higher. Advantage is simply that fact with identical dice. Not worth the complication; I can just roll them separately and hide the lower. Or I can use your sorted method and let you figure it our, oh exalted GM :P

I don't think the current version supports it. =(

That could be a feature request for a future Gamersplane version though. ;)

As close as the worse possible outcome as can be, I think.

Scratch that. The roll order matters in Nimble, cause we need to know what was the leftmost die.

I have disabled the sorting.
It wasn't the leftmost die, so, it was not a miss =) The critical also let you ignore armor.

I certainly am confused. The die result I saw yesterday when posting showed 1 as the leftmost die. Or did I confuse my left and my right?

Perhaps if we need to roll xdy for attacks where x > 1, we should roll them separately and only allow RA on the first one, considering it primary?

My fault. See message above, but I had previously enabled sorting, as suggested by Avraham. This changed the dice order.

When I disabled, it returned to the correct one. Consider this new roll, please.

I'm sorry for causing trouble, htech; 'twas unintended.

No problem! That was a great suggestion. The devil was in the details...

Sorry for the late notice; I’m going offline until Saturday night/Sunday. Htech, feel free to run Alex if you need to move things along. Thank you.

Work got bonkers. Sorry. I’ll try to post tomorrow too.

Boggart is going to have to make choices one day. One day...

but today is not that day 😈

If the DM would allow it, can Boggart take his safe rests outdoors? Perhaps as a kind of spiritual restriction of his faith, but also because he's spent most of his life in the woods. He could even suffer a penalty of some kind if he spends his nights too far from a forest.

Just when he's in a safe area - I don't want to mess with the resting economy when out on an adventure.

Sure! Maybe you can find a sacred grove in the outskirts of Phandalin. As long as we don't change the rest economy, feel free to flavor it anyway you want.

Looking forward to your post.

Testing some rolling. Rapiers are 2d4 but only the leftmost counts for explosions.

OK, it will have to be different rows, unless we get an answer here.

Split the party!
It’s not something I recommend, but I’m not against it, nor would I intentionally punish you all for splitting the party. Play-by-Post is one of the few formats where this can work—and work well. I have the time and willingness to handle two threads, if you’d like.

I'm sorry for your loss. Please don't worry about the game, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

Yes, sorry for your loss and take your time.

The darts, armor and healing potions are pretty sweet.

• I am usually not in favor of splitting the party, either because of old D&D habits and because I find it is less fun. But I won't actively fight against it if it is the consensus.
• I join my comrades in praising the way this latest combat was conducted, very entertaining. This can be extended to the game as a whole, which is of a rare quality.
• Avraham, you have all my sympathy. These are always difficult times.

Thanks. It was a friend of the family :(

Over the next two weeks I have a bunch of business travel; I'll do my best to keep up and post, but I may need to take a back seat. @htech, feel free to run Alex as you think he would act if it is necessary to move the adventure forward.

Thank you for letting us know. Safe travels, and feel free to chime in and post whenever you have the chance. We'll be looking forward to having you back in full once your travels are over.

I will be out of town for the next few weeks, with limited ways to post, and should be back in action early September.

We might want to think about hauling ass here.

Alex is hauling nothing. He is unconscious and bleeding out. Again. 😝😔

Igrem can still interpose and use his frost shield...

Naw, man. We just need to crit a bunch and they have to miss a bunch. Totally doable.

I admire your optimisim!

That cup is 3/4 full!! Hahahaha

@kwll, I have kept the game going, by posting 1/day for Igrem, but, please, feel free to chime in and take over whenever you can.

Get thee behind us, Beshaba 😭

Bear with me as I am catching up. I will try to post something later today.

Sorry folks, I hallucinated that I responded apparently. I'll have a reply out today.

Sorry folks, having some hectic days here. Will post this week, as soon as possible.

No worries. For that matter, I am going to be intermittent between now and October 5. I'll probably be at 25%–50%. As per usual, @htech, I trust you to run Alex if needed.

The timeline of this is so great. I post to roll for initiative, then go to edit. By the time I'm done narrating my plea for peace, I see that Redhawk has responded and chosen violence. Such a great beat 🤣

Sorry, you rolled and they were advancing so I guess I jumped the gun.

No apologies necessary. I got a great laugh out of it.

When in doubt shoot arrows. That is Redhawk in a nutshell. Hahahaha

I'm sorry, I've been completely creatively paralyzed lately. I think I need to step back for now, but feel free to pilot Boggart as needed. I had fun, and hopefully I'll be able to rejoin in the future, if you'll have me.

Sorry to see you leave.

So what are we doing with the olwbear skin? Are we sellling it to upgrade armor?

I guess so. At least, that’s what I gathered from the previous messages.

Right now, it’s with Igrem and Boggart at the inn. It's by far the most valuable item...

Who is most likely to buy the owlbear skin in town?

Linene Graywind, the master of the Lionshield Coster trading post