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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jun 17, 2018 11:56:30 GMT 1
Hello m300! I had a similar background (a previous game like this was my first play by post!). Don't be afraid to get involved in storylines, I found the more I put in to the games the more I got out of it. Setting up out of character ideas with others and getting involved in scenes is a great way to make yourself part of the story - I took a bit of time to come out of my shell in my first few games, didn't want to push myself forward but that actually drives a lot of the fun.
@laena - I'm delighted to have a Great Bastard as part of the cast, as having characters at different ranks of status gets us closer to the source material. Confident you'll do a great job and delighted to make Roland a useful tool in any schemes. Roland will hopefully be decent in intrigues v NPCs and other PC warriors, but I don't mind losing a few intrigues to PC schemers. Makes for a better story if I owe some favours/get manipulated/have favourable opinions of other PCs "forced" on me etc.
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 17, 2018 13:32:08 GMT 1
Just thought I should pop in and say hello. I am for the most part new to playing a RPG (except for some computer games) and have not played on a play by post. I have been looking into the ASOIAF RPG for quite awhile and when I saw this post on the greenronin website I thought I'd give it a try. I'll try not to slow anything down or look too silly. I am creating a character for Starkwood which should help with the current lack of muscle. Thanks to everybody in advance for your patience for the plethora of questions I'll be asking! Welcome! A few points: 1) Somewhat repeating the words of others, but there is no such thing as a stupid question. Okay, that's a lie, 'Why don't more people realise the Earth is flat?' is a stupid question. But pretty much any question relating to the system, setting, or characters isn't - the system takes a bit of getting used to, the culture isn't 'modern-day morality with knights', etc. Chances are any question you come up with is a question that either one or more of us has had before, or one that other newbies will also need answered. 2) Tying in with the first point, I recommend, once you've got a first draft character, and are part of our house's forum, drop a message letting us know, and one of us (probably Ashara ) will walk you through a mock combat, since that's your character's focus, and it's one of these things that I find don't 'click' until you've been through at least one. 3) A request: PbP isn't for everyone. This isn't a slight towards them or the format, it's just a question of taste. If you find you don't want to continue, a quick post (probably in the AFK thread) saying such would save a lot of hassle. You don't need to say why, or apologise or anything, just a quick one-line note to say that you can't/don't want to continue would be a big help. Very true! Forgot to consider that someone wouldnt like to share that! So sorry! Hey, no worries. I don't think it's a *secret* with any of them, (I only know because none of them really tried to hide it, and I put 2 and 2 together), I just feel it's one of those things that you should declare yourself, so I didn't want to speak for them. Don't be afraid to get involved in storylines, I found the more I put in to the games the more I got out of it. Setting up out of character ideas with others and getting involved in scenes is a great way to make yourself part of the story. Quoted for truth. It doesn't matter what your character is, think of your character as the protagonist of their own story, and focus on making that story interesting and engaging. Personally (and others may disagree), I think Wants and Needs is the most useful tool in creating an interesting character as simply as possible. @laena - I'm delighted to have a Great Bastard as part of the cast, as having characters at different ranks of status gets us closer to the source material. Confident you'll do a great job and delighted to make Roland a useful tool in any schemes. Roland will hopefully be decent in intrigues v NPCs and other PC warriors, but I don't mind losing a few intrigues to PC schemers. Makes for a better story if I owe some favours/get manipulated/have favourable opinions of other PCs "forced" on me etc. Heh Heh Heh. *Rubs hands gleefully*. *Cough*. I mean ... schemers? What are schemes? Never heard of them. (Also, thanks for the vote of confidence.)
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Post by Father on Jun 17, 2018 13:33:26 GMT 1
Also for anyone not having avatars, I have a curated little collection for my own uses (most pictures for the characters I've generated for this game can be found there): havelock0.deviantart.com/favourites/You could also go into pinterest and search for "RPG portraits", "noble lady", "knight", "song of ice and fire" and the like, you usually get a lot of good ones that way, the function that gives you more of the same if you select something of a style you like tends to work really well. I tend to use paint to cut out a square part of the picture that I want to use for portrait, then go to picresize.com/ to get it into 200x200 (150x150 is what avatars use iirc, but I've used 200x200 in the posts, shrunk to 100x100 in the big lineup because the images were to big for my taste).
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Post by Ashara Starkwood on Jun 17, 2018 16:27:06 GMT 1
Just thought I should pop in and say hello. I am for the most part new to playing a RPG (except for some computer games) and have not played on a play by post. I have been looking into the ASOIAF RPG for quite awhile and when I saw this post on the greenronin website I thought I'd give it a try. I'll try not to slow anything down or look too silly. I am creating a character for Starkwood which should help with the current lack of muscle. Thanks to everybody in advance for your patience for the plethora of questions I'll be asking! Welcome! A few points: 1) Somewhat repeating the words of others, but there is no such thing as a stupid question. Okay, that's a lie, 'Why don't more people realise the Earth is flat?' is a stupid question. But pretty much any question relating to the system, setting, or characters isn't - the system takes a bit of getting used to, the culture isn't 'modern-day morality with knights', etc. Chances are any question you come up with is a question that either one or more of us has had before, or one that other newbies will also need answered. 2) Tying in with the first point, I recommend, once you've got a first draft character, and are part of our house's forum, drop a message letting us know, and one of us (probably Ashara ) will walk you through a mock combat, since that's your character's focus, and it's one of these things that I find don't 'click' until you've been through at least one. Laena hits the nail on the head. Just remember - it's better to slow down a little to make sure you are doing it right than it is to be quick and have to fix mistakes after they happen. Also, don't get too hard on yourself when (not if) you make a mistake. We ALL make mistakes, even those of us that have been playing in this system for years. This system is a bit of a mess, and then there are houserules, rule interpretations, and so on. It will get messy. Mistakes will be made.... and that's okay (though again better to not do so). Finally, I am absolutely willing to help you out in any way, mechanically or otherwise. Ashara is quite the deviation from my normal character type - she's the first that (unless something goes seriously wrong) will not be fighting. I've played a number of knights, an archer, a braavosi duelist, and even a wildling berserker... I won't say I've mastered the combat system, but I know it pretty darn well. Don't be afraid to get involved in storylines, I found the more I put in to the games the more I got out of it. Setting up out of character ideas with others and getting involved in scenes is a great way to make yourself part of the story. Quoted for truth. It doesn't matter what your character is, think of your character as the protagonist of their own story, and focus on making that story interesting and engaging. Personally (and others may disagree), I think Wants and Needs is the most useful tool in creating an interesting character as simply as possible. Wow... that's a really good article. I'm going to have to give that one some thought with Ashara... and now I'm really curious about what Laena needs...
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Post by Olyvar Rowman on Jun 18, 2018 0:11:13 GMT 1
Hi everyone!
I am new her and new to pbp rpgs in general. I have quite a bit of experience in pnp rpgs (including SIFRP). I am considering playing Master Olyvar (House Levalle). He is still available I believe, right?
If yes I will flesh him out in the next few days, because it is a bit frantic for me right now.
A question on character creation:
Is it ok to take a flaw in an ability that your character will not use often? Like a merchant taking a flaw in Fighting.
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 18, 2018 1:22:54 GMT 1
I am considering playing Master Olyvar (House Levalle). He is still available I believe, right? Yes. I have marked them down as 'Reserved' in my post for you now. Is it ok to take a flaw in an ability that your character will not use often? Like a merchant taking a flaw in Fighting. By the house rules as-written, yes, so long as you have at least a 3 in that Stat. However, bear in mind that you *may* be queried on it. What is in your merchant's background as to why they have Fighting 3? Now, I'm speaking personally here, but your Benefits and Flaws are one of the most powerful tools you have to *define* your character, as a *person*, rather than just a stat-block. The fact that you've picked a one-line character gives you a large amount of scope to define them as you like, so you have flexibility to come up with a reason for why your merchant has an unusual level of fighting skill for a merchant, as well as *why* you have a Flaw (e.g. did a bandit cut some tendons in your arm, limiting movement, for example). Given that Fighting 4 is typical for knights, who spend their whole life training to fight, I could see a cool 'intense training for revenge'-style plot developing in your background to justify that Fighting 3, for example. And, from that, you have a developing background, with motivations, etc. Justify your choice with *something* like that, and I think your chances of acceptance are a *lot* better than taking it for purely mechanical reasons. [And, while this is speculation, from what's been said, I suspect Father sees Drawbacks as players saying 'Hit me here, with your best shot'. If you take Flaw (Fighting), I suspect that you may find that you need the ability more than you would have done had you not taken that drawback.] *All the above is my opinion only, and may be overridden by Father, in whole or part.
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Post by Balon Blackbriar on Jun 18, 2018 6:29:16 GMT 1
Hey! There's disgusting half-breed Targaryen bastards needing shunning as well! Lets not forget you're a single mom with no tread left on the tires some mileage. I've played 4 ASOIAF campaigns over the last few years and two of my PCs have been Dornishmen. Wanted to get away from that and have been looking to play a proper Reachman for awhile now.
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Post by Father on Jun 18, 2018 11:43:17 GMT 1
Merchant is an interesting choice, going to be challenging and probably demand creativity and loads of effort on your part, but one of the most memorable characters of dragonsdance was a gigolo, so the bar for what is possible to do great is pretty low if you're willing to do what it takes to make it so. Knights and ladies are just so much easier to integrate into the story.
Drawbacks should bite you in the ass somehow, flaw(fighting) usually does that on it's own for a knight, for a merchant I might have to go out of my way to help it do so.
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damon
New Member
Posts: 1
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Post by damon on Jun 18, 2018 21:29:11 GMT 1
Hello everyone!
I'm interested in joining the game. I've always been most interested in the seedy underbelly of this world, so it looks like House Levalle would be the right fit. I'm thinking a character who met Lord Levalle during his time in King's Landing, proved himself useful for the handling of discrete matters, and returned with him to the Reach to continue his discreet services. Somewhat similar to "The Mauler" in his position in the house as an externally acquired asset, but employed when subtlety is required. I imagine the two men are friendly rivals. Looking for some suggestions for a minor Crownlands house which could provide his origins.
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Post by Laena Pyre on Jun 18, 2018 21:38:50 GMT 1
I wish to point out that with that, House Levalle has 5 players currently assigned. House Starling has only 2, while Starkwood and Blackbriar have 3.
This is merely a suggestion, but any new players (welcome!): if your concept would fit in a house that's not Levalle (and ideally is Starling), then I would suggest you go there instead. While there are balancing mechanisms, the game works best when all houses have roughly equal numbers of players.
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Post by Balon Blackbriar on Jun 18, 2018 21:39:01 GMT 1
Wanted to give Balon Blackbriar a nickname and came up with Black Horn. Had a Bulwer image photoshopped. What does everyone think? Attachments:
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Post by Ser Donnel Blackbriar on Jun 18, 2018 22:01:40 GMT 1
I think that if you would wear that in battle I'll give you a jolly good slap!
But seriously, looks awesome! Nice work!
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Post by Roland Cordwayner on Jun 18, 2018 22:45:12 GMT 1
Hello everyone! I'm interested in joining the game. I've always been most interested in the seedy underbelly of this world, so it looks like House Levalle would be the right fit. I'm thinking a character who met Lord Levalle during his time in King's Landing, proved himself useful for the handling of discrete matters, and returned with him to the Reach to continue his discreet services. Somewhat similar to "The Mauler" in his position in the house as an externally acquired asset, but employed when subtlety is required. I imagine the two men are friendly rivals. Looking for some suggestions for a minor Crownlands house which could provide his origins. Welcome abroad, glad you found a house that appeals! House Hayford is a noted Loyalist (King Daeron II) Crownlands house during the period in canon, can dig for a Blackfure supporting house too if needed.
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Post by Ashara Starkwood on Jun 19, 2018 0:27:35 GMT 1
Hello everyone! I'm interested in joining the game. I've always been most interested in the seedy underbelly of this world, so it looks like House Levalle would be the right fit. I'm thinking a character who met Lord Levalle during his time in King's Landing, proved himself useful for the handling of discrete matters, and returned with him to the Reach to continue his discreet services. Somewhat similar to "The Mauler" in his position in the house as an externally acquired asset, but employed when subtlety is required. I imagine the two men are friendly rivals. Looking for some suggestions for a minor Crownlands house which could provide his origins. Welcome abroad, glad you found a house that appeals! House Hayford is a noted Loyalist (King Daeron II) Crownlands house during the period in canon, can dig for a Blackfure supporting house too if needed. Not a lot of info on Crownlands houses in this period. You could likely pick any one you like. I'd pick one with a known sigil that you like. Here's a listing with sigils shown. If you want a lesser known house, then Rambton or Gaunt might be good. Thorne and Hollard are lesser houses that have notable characters in the books, but not much is known of the houses themselves.
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Post by Olyvar Rowman on Jun 19, 2018 0:45:53 GMT 1
Merchant is an interesting choice, going to be challenging and probably demand creativity and loads of effort on your part, but one of the most memorable characters of dragonsdance was a gigolo, so the bar for what is possible to do great is pretty low if you're willing to do what it takes to make it so. Knights and ladies are just so much easier to integrate into the story. Drawbacks should bite you in the ass somehow, flaw(fighting) usually does that on it's own for a knight, for a merchant I might have to go out of my way to help it do so. Thanks for the information, I think I will not take a flaw. I have a couple of questions. I where do I write the public information about my character and where do I write the narrator-only information? Where should the character sheet be? Is it public?
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