[OOC] [Mage: the Awakening 2E] The Supernal Suburbia

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

Yeah, I'll try to find time to do that. Let's see if the others show up first.

[Beans]

Said this in PM but figured I'd say it here too; I'm grateful for the thought, but in the intervening years I've just lost my capacity for forum-based play. Discord PBP is about all that works for me. However, given the fact that the ability to access this site at work was a factor that impacted the game's original hiatus, I'm not coming in expecting that Discord PBP would be a convenient method for our ST. So most likely I'll be bowing out, but I hope the rest of you can enjoy!

[rwknoll]

Beans - Totally understand, and I appreciate the prompt answer. I’m not able to do Discord very easily. I can access it on my phone during the work day but I would have to do almost all the typing on my phone, unless I routinely email it to myself and then copy/paste, which feels convoluted. However, I’m really curious how a PBP game looks on Discord. How do you save messages for easy reference? Can you have persisting links to old posts? I thought the chat was just a running list of messages. That doesn’t strike me as super easy for PBP games but I’m really curious what that could look like. Also, does Discord have a built in dice roller? That would be convenient but I wasn’t sure if it is a feature.

Everyone else: I’m still here and interested. Not sure who else might be but let me know. If we could at least get 3 players, preferably 4, that would be ideal.

[Beans]

I thought I sent this earlier but the forum may have eaten it.

TL;DR Discord has a feature allowing you to pin messages, and its search feature is pretty robust. It definitely helps to make use of multiple IC channels if you're going to have people split off into different groups or by themselves. You can incorporate dicebots into a server (which generally are best confined to a single dice-rolling channel, with perhaps a second hidden one for secret ST rolls if you want) and one, Dicecord-CoD, is made specifically for Chronicles of Darkness rolling.

I've been in a long-running Exalted 3e PBP game via Discord and it works really well for us. Having OOC, IC, and rolling all in the same server (with personal, hidden channels for discussion between the ST and each individual player in turn) is pretty convenient.

Now, none of that fixes the issue of your capacity to access and post on Discord during your work hours, but I didn't want to leave you hanging any more than I already did. I will say, it might benefit y'all to have a discord just for OOC, as it helps with coordinating and that probably isn't as restricted by only being phone-accessible to you during work hours since you're not having to do big IC posts there.

Best of luck in any case!

[rwknoll]

I thought I sent this earlier but the forum may have eaten it.

TL;DR Discord has a feature allowing you to pin messages, and its search feature is pretty robust. It definitely helps to make use of multiple IC channels if you're going to have people split off into different groups or by themselves. You can incorporate dicebots into a server (which generally are best confined to a single dice-rolling channel, with perhaps a second hidden one for secret ST rolls if you want) and one, Dicecord-CoD, is made specifically for Chronicles of Darkness rolling.

I've been in a long-running Exalted 3e PBP game via Discord and it works really well for us. Having OOC, IC, and rolling all in the same server (with personal, hidden channels for discussion between the ST and each individual player in turn) is pretty convenient.

Now, none of that fixes the issue of your capacity to access and post on Discord during your work hours, but I didn't want to leave you hanging any more than I already did. I will say, it might benefit y'all to have a discord just for OOC, as it helps with coordinating and that probably isn't as restricted by only being phone-accessible to you during work hours since you're not having to do big IC posts there.

Best of luck in any case!

Thanks so much for sharing the ideas and the input. I never realized that some of these features existed, and others I realized were there but never considered how they could be utilized. Thanks for sharing! On a related subject, is it possible to direct link to a specific post, or is searching the best? Just trying to figure out if there's an easy way to create a "table of contents" post within Discord.

Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon - Unfortunately, it looks like no one else from the original crew is available right now. A few have logged on but never replied to my PM or posted here, so I'm going to assume at this point that they aren't interested for now. The others just haven't logged on in the past few months; they might come back, but no idea if/when that might happen.

I have a few ideas on what we could do if you are still personally interested in playing:

(1) I could run the game solo for you as Lynx, and if/when other players decide to rejoin, they could do so. I have some IC ideas on reasons for their absence. I would introduce new NPCs for you to hang out with, or have you spend more time with Raven and The Shields of Dawn on screen.
(2) I could run the game solo for you as another character, if Lynx is no longer interesting to you and you'd like to try something different. If/when other players decide to rejoin, you could keep playing as the new character or switch back to Lynx if you like.
(3) I could NPC some/all of the other players, and let them take over if/when they decide to rejoin. I don't love this because it's messier if others show up later.
(4) We could recruit additional characters, and you could continue as Lynx with a new cabal. Trickier to deal with if more of the original crew come back, but it would get the game moving again.
(5) We could keep this game on hiatus, and I could start a new PbP game in a new setting, and invite you as a player. I would recruit more players and start from scratch. If enough players from this game show back up in the future, we could run this game separately at that time.
(6) We could do nothing for now and leave this game on hiatus. If/when others show up in the future (ideally at least 3 players), we could restart it.

Let me know if you like any of these options, and what you would like to try!

[Beans]

You can in fact get direct links to posts, which I just realized, which is good! You could definitely make a table of contents with that, I think. The links can cross channel and category bounds as well, so you can provide links to posts in different channels.

[Second Chances]

FWIW Beans, I PMed rwknoll a little while back about potentially filling a vacancy. I've been meaning to post, but unfortunately life is insanely busy right now. If you transition to another game, I'd love to jump in, especially if it's Mage.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

rwknoll I think I'd prefer something like a soft reboot. I still want to play Lynx, though my perception of him has changed over the years (does that even make sense). I also think recruiting new players would be better than waiting, if this is going to ever kick off. I'd probably respec Lynx anyway. So I guess a mix of 4 and 5? Honestly, the character would probably be completely different at this point anyway, same name but different character.

[rwknoll]

rwknoll I think I'd prefer something like a soft reboot. I still want to play Lynx, though my perception of him has changed over the years (does that even make sense). I also think recruiting new players would be better than waiting, if this is going to ever kick off. I'd probably respec Lynx anyway. So I guess a mix of 4 and 5? Honestly, the character would probably be completely different at this point anyway, same name but different character.

Ok! I can totally work with that. I really have enjoyed this setting and I've put a lot of thought into creating the NPCs and some of the Mysteries involved.

It makes a lot of sense that over the past few years you would've thought about Lynx and reflected on whether or not he matches the type of character you would enjoy playing, or the concept you've created for him. My own interest in which Path/Order I would like to play if I was ever a Mage player has changed, so I can imagine that your own vision of Lynx could change as well.

A few questions:
- Do you still think you would want to play Lynx as a Thyrsus, or has that changed?
- Do you think it would be more fun to play a recently Awakened mage and still RP through the Order initiation process, or do you think it would be more fun/easier to assume that you're already in an Order and that the cabal has already formed?

Personally, I think it might be simpler to fast forward through the Order initiation and do a more standard character creation.

crapcarp and MagicSwordsman - I know you've been on the forums recently but I haven't heard back. Totally understand if you don't want to play in any campaign related to this one or in a game I'm running, but if you are, you're welcome to join us. Please let me know before Monday; if I haven't heard from you by then, I'll assume you aren't available.

Second Chances - I would be glad to have you aboard. I'd love to hear your pitch of what kind of character you would like to play, even if you just have general inklings for now.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

I'll have to give it a bit of consideration, but it'd probably still be Thyrsus with the animist angle, yeah.

I also agree it's probably easier to just go with the assumption that we're already initiated and have formed (or start with the forming of) the cabal, though I'm happy to let you or the others decide on that.

[Second Chances]

My initial thought had been a Moros who sees ghosts, goetia, spirits as being manifestations of a larger occult world and is actively seeking to overcome the fact Spirit is their Inferior Arcana, but its a very rough idea, so I could go with an entirely different concept if that doesn't fit so much.

Also, agreed with just jumping to the point the Cabal is already formed.

[rwknoll]

My initial thought had been a Moros who sees ghosts, goetia, spirits as being manifestations of a larger occult world and is actively seeking to overcome the fact Spirit is their Inferior Arcana, but its a very rough idea, so I could go with an entirely different concept if that doesn't fit so much.

Also, agreed with just jumping to the point the Cabal is already formed.

That’s a neat idea. Probably lends itself to Obsessions about interacting with a variety of ephemeral entities, which makes it easier for me to introduce some for plot hooks.

I think what we can do is have the story pick up around the time as this one went on hiatus, maybe just after the Consilium meeting. The NPCs I have introduced will still be in the game, but depending on the new PC cabal composition, the Shields of Dawn may or may not be the de facto mentors for your characters.

I’m giving the rest of the original players until Monday to join and then I’ll open up for recruitment again. Gives me a few days to start brainstorming some plot ideas and larger Mysteries.

[Kvitebjørn Kong Valemon]

My initial thought had been a Moros who sees ghosts, goetia, spirits as being manifestations of a larger occult world and is actively seeking to overcome the fact Spirit is their Inferior Arcana, but its a very rough idea, so I could go with an entirely different concept if that doesn't fit so much.

Also, agreed with just jumping to the point the Cabal is already formed.

Would be a good link with Lynx, who sees spirits in everything. He'd definitely have motivation to help you understand the spiritual aspect of the world.

[rwknoll]

For you two who are already committed to the "soft reboot" we are planning, here are some additional details regarding character concepts and creation.

We will continue to use the existing OOC and IC threads for the game. It's easier than starting from scratch in a new thread, I think.

Follow normal character creation rules, with the following exceptions: Begin with Gnosis 2 instead of Gnosis 1. However, you cannot spend extra merits to begin with Gnosis 3. This essentially gives you 5 extra merit dots (if I recall correctly), but you can start with a little better control over magic without sacrificing merits to flesh out your character background. Use the merits from character creation to better flesh out and reflect your character concept. This will hopefully give you more flexibility with making your character's background match the concept you want to create, but without forcing you to start with Gnosis 1.

Feel free to suggest alternative Virtues/Vices than what are listed in the book. If you do, please list a few examples of situations that you think would qualify for satisfying the Virtue/Vice so I can make sure that I know how to reward you for following these in-game.

My ideal player group size is 4-6 characters, including the two of you. If we move to recruitment, I will not automatically add the first few people to reply; instead, I'm looking for players who appear to be thoughtful, mature, and friendly. I think these qualities are necessary to make the gaming experience better for everyone, and although I've had very few concerns about the caliber of people posting on these forums, there have been some who have given me concern or may not be a good fit for my game in my opinion.

If you have any questions/concerns, feel free to post here. I have some extra time today to help out, as I telework from home on Thursdays and it's easier for me to post during the day from my personal computer.

[crapcarp]

While I do appreciate the welcoming back, I'm unfortunately going to have to decline. I've simply moved on and playing live games. PBP was a means of playing when I couldn't play that way. Now that I am, I've found I don't really like PBP that much. Nothing in particular about this game, I just don't like PBP in general. That said, I wish y'all luck in this chronicle. Thanks for the fun times while they lasted.