OOC Thread

[JadedDM]

This thread is for out of character (OOC) discussion, so the main in character (IC) threads don't get cluttered up with unnecessary OOC chatter.

[Breila]

I would be interested to join and try my hand at a mage. That was the plan with Kim in Saltmarsh, but because I have taken over as DM there, Kim has become a NPC...

[JadedDM]

Sure. Hopefully, I'll have more information up, so you can better decide what kind of character to create.

I can tell you now, that there are two big mage academies in the islands. However, it's not necessary for your hypothetical mage to join either. A wizard can be taught by a tutor instead.

The two academies are the Magi of the Deep, which is mostly concerned with using magic that helps with deep sea exploration. Students of this academy are instrumental in finding lost artifacts of the old days and serving as liaisons for the Merfolk.

The other academy is the Storm Sorcerers. They are primarily taught how to use magic to help in sailing the seas. Spells that protect ships, control wind and water, and fight off enemy ships. That sort of thing.

There are pros and cons of joining an academy or not, of course. I'll get more up on that when I can.

[JadedDM]

I went ahead and gave posting permission for this forum to Breila (unnecessary, as she's a Global Mod, but I did it anyway), LittleLuna, and HorizonsDream, as these three people have specifically mentioned an interest in this game in the past.

Anyone else who's interested can PM me.

[HorizonsDream]

Okay, so I think I have a couple of ideas. I was thinking of maybe a pirate or maybe a cleric that is trying to bring peace and tranquility to the land.

[JadedDM]

Now, by pirate, do you mean a mariner (a warrior or rogue who sails the high seas) or do you mean like a real pirate (a criminal, outlaw) who attacks other ships for loot?

As for the cleric, I'm currently reworking the gods, so hopefully I'll have something up on that soon.

[Jenara]

Areilon Landar... Female Elven Swashbuckler, me thinks! Argghh lol.

What can I say? I like swashing the buckle??

[HorizonsDream]

I'm more thinking the mariner.

[JadedDM]

Plenty of buckles to be swashed, to be sure.

I've added Jenara to the group then (although, not that it is necessary, as she's an admin, but I like to make things official).

Maybe one of you can be a warrior and the other a rogue then? Mariners and swashbucklers can be either, so...or it doesn't matter. Be whatever you like.

[Jenara]

Rogue is fine with me, they make the best Swashbucklers anyway!

[HorizonsDream]

You know, now that you mention the criminal thing. I'm considering that too. Hmmm.

[JadedDM]

Well, without knowing the full party composition yet, it can be difficult to consider. If the rest of the group are all do-gooders, playing a criminal might be problematic.

But there are ways around it.

The party could, theoretically, be a group of pirates themselves. They could be 'good' pirates who only target other pirates, and thus are kind of heroes who also get rich in the process. Or they could be privateers, working for one city-state to pirate the others. Or they could just be regular old pirates who attack anyone they come across.

All of the players would need to be on board to make any of those ideas work.

[Breila]

Hmmm... the high seas are definitely not my home turf... I'm more of a mountaineer... need to think.

The most sensible type of mage to play would be a storm sorcerer then. But I confess I would find it hard to play someone who is part of a truly criminal group.

[JadedDM]

That's okay, they're not my turf, either. I mean, I did grow up on the coast, but...I've never even been on a boat before. Just a couple of ferries, actually.

Personally, I'd rather the party not be evil. I've had some...bad experiences with evil parties. But I won't disallow it, just strongly recommend against it.

But one need not be evil to be an outlaw. However, that's all up to the group, as I said. You could be pirates, privateers, or even sea knights who patrol the seas to fight pirates. Or...something else entirely. Explorers, maybe. Merchants (or if the party themselves aren't merchants, maybe they're bodyguards for the merchants). Missionaries. Lots of choices.

Or, heck, if you really wanted to, you could focus the group on one particular island and never step foot on a boat. Some of the islands are fairly big, you could find plenty of adventures on just one. Again, if you guys really wanted that, anyway.

[JadedDM]

So I've been working on things, as evidenced by the new posts up.

I also realized that I was going about this the wrong way. I'm used to running games in real-time still, I guess, despite having spent so much time here in Planet. So I was working really hard to have as much ready as possible, like I would have normally. But this is play-by-post. That means I can better prioritize things.

For instance, it's not necessary for me to map out every single town on every single island, and populate them all with fleshed out NPCs. I only have to do that when and if the party goes to one of those towns. And if the party does go to a town, I have plenty of time to work on things while they are in transit, because pbp is much slower than real time games.

This means if I prioritize better, I have a lot smaller workload ahead of me.

Plus, I don't want to bombard you girls with too much information right off the bat.

Anyway, I wanted to talk a bit more about your character concepts. I know we haven't actually rolled yet (I'm not ready for that just yet), but some of you have expressed ideas for what you want to play. Jenara brought up an elven swashbuckler (even had a name and everything), Breila was considering a Storm Sorcerer, and Horizon seemed divided between a cleric and mariner. Luna hasn't spoken up yet.

Can any of you elaborate on these ideas further? It's okay if you can't; some people prefer to wait until they roll before coming up with anything. That's what I did with Amon.

But I thought we could sort of brainstorm a bit anyway. It'll help me in sorting out what I might need to work on first. For instance, if Breila does decide to make a Storm Sorcerer, I should prep some info on the academy and such. If not, there's no immediate need for me to work on it. And so forth.

So, any questions that might help in brainstorming your character concepts? Let me know.