Crusade: Recruitment/OOC

[Kai]

So! Gaeran RP, on the board, probably Philsys. Level 3 characters, or something, but not necessarily. If you've got a level 1 or 5 character that you feel a burning need to play, we can make it work. I only want to GM this in the sense that I have an idea for a plot in a very general sense. If other people have subplots or sideplots or NPCs to add, they should totally feel free to do it with the understanding that I would consider that a personal favor.

What potentially-involved people would know: There are Orcs harassing a Nekonian daimyo named Nakano. Yes. Orcs in Nekonia. There must be something going on for them to have gone all the way out of their usual territory to go bother this one guy, especially since there are rumors that a bunch of them have already been killed and they just keep coming. What are they after, anyway?

I'll be contributing a human halberdier named Joachim. Was born on Igala, but spent a good several years on Ka'thalar as a retainer to a New Nekonian noble house, until he pissed them off and got kicked out, and eventually joined a revolution that sort of spiraled out of control as revolutions will, and when it was all said and done, there was really nothing there for him to stick around for. So he's going "home" to Nekonia, and will be there for a little while trying to figure out what to do with himself. He also has a rather large riding lizard named "Paco," whom he spoils as though it were a lapdog when he's not riding it into battle and letting it eat his enemies.

Joachim:

Bodyguard: (Looking imposing, fighting dirty, self-sacrifice) 4
Mediator: (Being reasonable, convincing others to be reasonable) 2
Servant: (Doing chores, being bossed by women, knowing secrets) 3
Revolutionary: (Doing chores, maintaining siege weaponry, being bossed by women) 3

When we know who else is involved, it'll be easier to figure out how to get people in. So who's got a character that they want to contribute?

[KingOfDoma]

Kobakk's in.

[Besyanteo]

I'd like to join with Tarou, a wandering Nekonian character of mine. He doesn't actually have a sheet yet, though he's been around in one form or another for a long time. He's pretty much unknown prior to the Mallian war, in character, and has been doing mercenary work and handy-man type stuff since. If he's accepted I'll throw a sheet together for him, but I need to talk to the GM about a few things over IM.

(edited because I changed his name to something less stereotyped.)

[ChristianC]

Oh, you can bet your partisan tenderloins that Alistair would want a paw in this!

We can assume this happens after he's paid King Chuck a visit and he's gotten news about the Nekonian kingdom. Who wouldn't want to visit people that look kinda like you, except weird. They probably smell too.

[Kai]

This all looks good to me. Bes, catch me on AIM whenever. I should be around for most of the day until late afternoon, and tomorrow I'll be online until... well, until sometime Saturday. So yeah. I'm around. =P

[Taiar]

Taiar is in this to win this!

Or at least come in 2nd place!

... I'd be happy not to lose horribly though!

... Or cross the finish line at all!

[Kai]

This is seeming like a good set of people.

Does anybody need anything before we start?

[KingOfDoma]

The Kaiser's hidden stash of Nazi Gold! BWAHAHAHAH!

... But yeah, I'm good.

[Kai]

Here's a question.

Does anybody want to try experimenting with another system for this?

[Taiar]

I was somewhat looking forward to using Philsys again, and I am notoriously bad (at least in my mind) about the timely creation of new character sheets, but...

I wouldn't be against it. What did you have in mind?

[NamagomiMk0]

Hm. While I am interested, uh...I lack third-level PS characters, so...heh.

[Reiks]

A new system would be fun. I know I talked informally to you about this but I'm nearly done with Fifi's Sheet and I hope to have her wiki page up and running by today. She'd be level 1, by the by but that seems pretty standard... *rubs chin*

But in retrospect....I might just toss Sirvix in since she fits the level request AND I never have a problem playing her, limited only by own creative ebbs and flows.

If you have a preference let me know.

[Besyanteo]

I'm up for another system. DnD? Spirit of the Century? GURPS, Palladium, White Wolf, Window... Though I'm not sure how well some of those would fit, mostly Palladium and White Wolf.

I'm a big fan of 3.5 right now, if it matters. I know a lot of people don't, though. Are you looking for suggestions, or debating making some of your own? I know we've both been frustrated with how difficult it is to balance spells in PS that aren't variations on "Spend X resource stat, do Y damage to target(s) Z."

[Kai]

I hear y'all on this, and Brian and I were talking about risus. All the material is free, too, which matters. I don't want to expect people to spend a hundred dollars on D&D books to be able to play, or spend a lot of time learning PS.

What's the consensus on risus? I like it because it's free, it's less gear-dependent than any edition of D&D I've seen, and the system itself is very tongue-in-cheek, which seems to me to be a good fit for Gaeran RP. It means we can have serious plots and characters, but we don't have to take them seriously if we don't want (hence the system technically allowing you to make things like William Shatner checks in addition to assassin or gadgeteer checks).

Seems fun and rules-light without being as bland as things like Window (which has sheets that, in my mind, nobody should ever bother reading, let alone building).

For examples on the kinds of cliches you can have levels/ranks in:

Computer Geek (Hacking, programming, fumbling over introductions)
Con Artist (Convincing other people to give you money, evading cops)
Martial Artist (Fancy hand-to-hand combat, out-of-synch speech)
Thief (Sneakin' around gaining access and objects they shouldn't have)
Vampire (Charming people, sucking blood, turning into mist or bats)
Other Kind of Vampire (Self-pity, erotic blood poetry, wearing black)

Also. From the rules:

"As stated above, the GM determines what sort of Clichés are appropriate for any given combat. An INAPPROPRIATE Cliché is anything that's left... In a physical fight, Hairdresser is inappropriate. In a Wizard's duel, Barbarian is inappropriate. Inappropriate Clichés may be used to make attacks, PROVIDED THE PLAYER ROLEPLAYS OR DESCRIBES IT IN A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY ENTERTAINING MANNER. Furthermore, the ``attack'' must be plausible within the context of the combat, and the genre and tone that the GM has set for the game."

Which is how we've always run things around here anyway.

[Kai]

Also, a friend of mine from meatspace has expressed interest in this game, so if you see an intruder, don't panic! I let him in. =P

[ChristianC]

If we do run with a non-PS game, and if we need stats, can we at least run something where we put out points how we like them? I've never liked the "rolling up" system, especially not when we've already got more or less finished characters.

[Besyanteo]

Read over the system, shared my thoughts on it with Ashley already... I like it, really. I'd be cool with running with this. It's a very short rule book, learning the system takes minutes.

To give people an idea, my sheet in Risus for Tarou:

Tarou Hamada:
Ranger(Hunting, Wilderness survival, aiding halflings and other clueless humanoids in need...) 3
Fighter(Using pointy things, using thigns that shoot pointy things, making other people cry...) 3
Lookin' Good(Being sexy without trying, attracting women, attracting men, attracting creepy things...) 2
White Mage(Healing injuries, buffing stats, making undead cry...) 2

This is not a serious sheet, mind. Lookin' Good is there because I ran out of ideas for the moment, for example. Also bear in mind that the cliches need to be reviewed by Ashley before any sheet is finished. I think we could have a lot of fun with this. What do other people think?

Semi-edit: Risus is a point system. Those numbers at the end of Tarou's theroretical cliches are the number of d6s I would roll when he did something related to those 'skills'.

[Archmage]

This is not a serious sheet, mind.

But then, you repeat yourself, having stated that it's a Risus character.

[Besyanteo]

Brian makes a good point. I may leave that on there if we play under this system.

[KingOfDoma]

Quuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuestion!

If we have pre-existing PS characters, can the XP we earn here be reflected on THEIR sheets? Seems crappy that a char would go through all these RP hoops, start an RP in a PS RP, and all that they did here doesn't count cuz it was another system...

[Kai]

Yes. I've allowed experience to translate from my Gaeran D&D stuff (most notably From the Ashes) to Philsys sheets. Character advancement works differently in different systems, but since to me XP is an indication of how much play and development a character has had and not how much they've had in that particular system, I don't think it's unreasonable at all to say that a character who's been played in Philsys (or D&D) for years may not be fairly considered a "starting" character.

It's a case-by-case thing, generally, but here I'm considering giving each character two extra dice to create their character with for each Philsys level they've earned. A level one PS character has 10 dice, level two has 12, etc. This allows people to advance their characters, but shouldn't create huge imbalances in capability between the newer characters and the established ones.

Make sense?

[KingOfDoma]

Hai. I think that'll do just fine.

[Taiar]

Looks blissfully simple.

I'm all in!

[la_chibi]

Hallo! I would like to play! She'd be level 1 in PhilSys, so everything's a-OK!

Jezebel Copperhead

Circus Performer (juggling, tumbling, knife tossing, contorting her body in strange and bizarre positions) - 3
Gambler (betting, cheating, winning, running away very fast!) - 2
Thief (sneaking around, gaining access to things she shouldn't, look of injured pride going 'ME?!') - 2
Werepanther (meowing, hissing, transforming into bizarre and angry predator, attracting unwanted attention)- 3

Description: A freckle-faced circus performer on the outs with her troupe after having become a werepanther, which she finds bizarre yet fascinating. (It has been suspected the reason for the curse is due to one of her brother's jilted lovers, who mistook Jezebel's hair for Dominy's, as they share a lovely red hue). Fortunately for those around her, she still retains her sanity while in said form, and isn't likely to bite her friends and family. However, she has decided to take a detour in the Land of Kitties Nekonia, where she figures being furry and meowing occasionally won't be too conspicuous.

[Kai]

So far the following people have expressed interest:

Charles
Christian
Amanda
Tai
Bes
Lys
Me (obviously)

People I am not sure about:

Nama
Zane-whom-I-know-from-school

Am I accurate on this? Do I need to make any revisions to this list? Because so far this is looking like a lot of people, and if we've got more than five people who want some RP action, it might make more sense to have some kind of other board RP happening so that people aren't so crammed in and can have more breathing room.

[Taiar]

That does seem like quite a lot of people! I wouldn't mind sitting this one out or waiting/appearing in another board rp; I am involved on another forum altogether so my writing and creativity desires are being nicely handled as of now. *Thumbs up!*

[la_chibi]

If need be, I don't mind sitting out either. While I enjoy RPing here, I have another RP going on and on a different site, so it's no big deal.

[Kai]

I don't want to force people to sit out of RP since we have so many people interested. I just think only so many people can be contained in one thread, and that another thread should go up for the people who clearly want to do something.

I think right now I'm going to ask Amanda, Bes, Charles, and Christian to be in this thread, and that the long list of people who want a board RP should probably get one together for themselves rather than just sitting this one out.

[Taiar]

In my mind, it's not just the "wanting to do something" that made me interested; it sounds as if Lys and I, perhaps Nama and your friend Zane as well, can get our RP kicks doing something in other places, which is cool. But the interest came from going through a directed adventure under a practiced hand, in this case yours, with the old bunch. And it's not as if we could get the same experience in a different thread, soooo... Yup. We'll be sitting "this one" out in terms of "this Crusade" although maybe not "this time of our lives."

I'll be watching with interest! *Salutes*

[la_chibi]

Indeed!

[Kai]

Okay, so. Those of you who are on the short list for this thread, please give me a heads up that you have risus sheets for your characters. I just want to make sure everybody has one, and then we can get started.

[Besyanteo]

If people are still having trouble downloading/finding/whatever Risus: http://besyanteo.rpgww.org/Risus15.pdf

I had one of those links fail on me earlier, so... whee. Sheets guys?

[KingOfDoma]

My original post's link now has my Risus sheet at the bottom.

[Reiks]

Canal (pronounced: CAN uhl) Turnriver

Description: MPD Priest of Fideleo. Has an alter ego call Chaos that is sociopathic and homocidal. Canal likes gardening, not killing people, and Princess Kitiwai. Uses religion to atone for the sins of Chaos and to keep Chaos in check. Lives in isolation mostly...

Healing(4), Murdering Indiscriminately(3), Talking to himself (2), Controlling catgirl fetish (1)