Into the Barrow

[Feraway Hawkbriar]

Hrmm..never done a roleplay with dice before...they always seem so complicated, I usually weigh the abilities of my charecter against the skill and move of the apponent then make my post from there. But I'd be willing to learn a dice version.

I vote for Delchrys.

[Renille]

Yes, that sounds much better...but what if hotwings comes up later and wants his role back?

[delchrys]

like i said, if hot-wings wants to commit to 1 post 5 or so days a week, great (it WAS his baby!). i don't see that happening, though.

i do want to set the record straight, however, in that the dice-rolling will take place only on my end. i will be fair, but this way there will be a bare minimum of trying to maximize successfulness based on one's belief about one's odds on the dice. i could describe people as 'scrawny' or 'burly', 'fresh' or 'road-weary', 'green' or 'battle-scarred', and no one will ever know what "scores" they have. i would, so i could guage relative attributes and use that to come up with randomized twists and turns of fate, but stats and dice would not factor into others' playing, only mine.

this way everyone could focus more on roleplaying rather than rollplaying...



--jason

[afro-elf]

I personally prefer diceless. Here is just something to think about


You all know James Bond. He's standing on top of a skyscraper while a terrorist helicopter is taking off. On board of the helicopter: blueprints of an atomic bomb. What is Bond, James Bond, going to do?
Of course, he leaps into the air and grabs the skids of the helicopter. This makes sense, because it fits into the genre and the character traits. What would you say if James bond slipped and fell? Fell one hundred yards and hit the skyscraper roof? What would you say if James Bond was killed by this fall?
Not really appropriate. It does not fit into the genre.

How does diceless, how does storytelling work, then?

Roleplaying means actions and reactions. In most roleplaying games, you roll dice to find out if something was successful or not. A GM usually bends or breaks the rules when a player rolls so well that it would ruin the Plot. A GM wants to tell a good story. Die rolls that spoil the story are usually ignored.
So, the essence of roleplaying is to focus on dramatic moments and weave them into a good story.

This is perfectly true for roleplaying, storytelling style. The only difference is that success and failure are determined without relying on die rolls.


Success And Failure: Importance over skill

Success and failure are by the Plot. Abilities or skills or attributes or powers mentioned in the character's background and history only determine the magnitude of failure or success. Every action that must be successful will be successful. If the plotline needs a character to be successful, he will be successful, regardless of how good he is at a given task. If a player forgets to really play out his character, every action will be close but no cigar.

Storytelling is roleplaying, not the simulation of real life. You play roleplaying games to escape from reality, I heard
The better your hero is at any given task, the more distinct will be success or failure.
When the plotline demands that a certain action is a failure, your hero's abilities will determine how bad this failure is – but it will be a failure.

One critic says, "Where is the element of chance, here? Where is the surprise?" Oh, wait a minute. First, you don't need dice to suprise your players (nor do they). Second, rolling dice is very comfortable, but it also destroys this special mood created by the moment.

Rolling dice is very comfortable, because the GM and the players can let the dice decide instead of thinking of possible results.
It's possible then, that a player says: "I attack. [rolls dice] Wow! I scored a critical hit!"
Is this atmospheric roleplaying? Compare this with the following description:
"I wait for him to throw thje next haymaker. When he does, I make a step towards him. My left fist land into his face, while I use the other hand to block his haymaker."
What a difference! This is roleplaying!

Storytelling (playing diceless) needs no dice. It forces the players to use their imagination. The more
imagination is involved, the more exciting the roleplaying
experience.

To guarantee a mood-laden, atmospheric roleplaying experience, some of the characters' actions have to be successful, while others must not be not successful. As I have mentioned above, the attributes or skills or abilities determine the range of the success or failure. This may sound complicated.

Here an example for clarification:

Imagine a seedy bar somewhere in a fantasy town. Lightwing the elf is surrounded by five thugs. Four of the henchmen hold spiked clubs in their hands, their leader is drawing a crossbow. Looks as if Lightwing has to rely on his very own reflexes.

This is the situation presented to the players. Now, let's take four different looks at the situation. The first two examples describe what could happen if Lightwing was very good at shooting, while the last two examples describe what could happen if Lightwing was a bad gunner.

Example #1: SUCCESS, Lightwing is very good at throwing knives
The guy is coming closer, but you are faster. Your knife zips through his right hand, and he drops the club. In his face, you can see the pain."

Example #2: FAILURE, Lightwing is very good at throwing knives
You see him coming closer, but you are faster. At the same moment, you feel a strong pain in your back. Two of his henchmen have hit you with their clubs."

Example #3: SUCCESS, Lightwing has no skill in throwing knives
Gee. You try to step back from your opponent's vicious attack, but to no avail. While you try to keep balanced, your opponent swing his club at you. You stumble over a chair, and the thug impales himself onto your knife. With a very surprised look in his face he drops to the floor.

Example #4: FAILURE, Lightwing has no skill in throwing knives
These thugs are surely a pain in the butt, and you surely don't know what to do here. You try to aim at on of the guys. But before you throw this damn knife, you notice a burning sensation in your left shoulder. Seconds later, you can see blood – your blood – pouring down your chest.

Some critics say that when playing storytelling (diceless) games, the players are at the GM's mercy. But let me tell you, arbitrariness can also be found in diceful games. Many GMs roll their dice behind those infamous GM screens (thus giving them the opportunity to ignore die rolls that don't fit into the Plot). Arbitrariness can be found in every kind of roleplaying game, but you should try to avoid it.

But what about those actions that are not important to the Plot?
This is easy. Compare the description of the action and his personal history to the difficulty of the situation. Think about the success chances. Then, derive the results.

There are five different levels of Difficulty:
·
Easy: this is something you can do anytime. You have to be under severe stress to blow this.
·
Normal: this is something you can most likely do, given enough time and equipment.
·
Difficult: this is a task you could fail, even given enough time and equipment.
·
Extraordinary: you most likely fail this task.

Impossible: there's hardly a chance for you to be successful here.

[delchrys]

when i say i would use dice, i mean only that dice would be used on my end to determine the outcome of actions taken between two characters where the success of one character over another would alter events within the group--like nariel being noticed or not. the only other instance in which i could see "needing" nice would be situations where an action along the lines of afro-elf's "impossible" difficulty level was attempted. i wouldn't want to just say "no" in every case, so i would enable the character to have a chance at success (albeit a very small one).

combat and such would be resolved in a "fair" way--depending on the nature of the combat and the combatants.

[delchrys]

i believe i am going to have to retract my offer to GM on this board. the reason is this--after putting some thought into the content of the story, i realized that i come up with (i think) kickass ideas for plots, characters, setting, etc., but i don't have a deep enough knowledge of MIDDLE EARTH to either do it justice or give it the flavor of being true to the books. i have an idea of what i think wights are like, but i'm 100% certain that they would not adequately represent the tolkein feel.

i still want to play, but i honestly think that if i GMed i would be shortchanging the folks playing who are looking for a good MIDDLE EARTH environment in which to enjoy the game.

sorry, guys and gals,

jason

[Feraway Hawkbriar]

oookaaaaay...Well we gotta have a GM...I dont think we can move the story along smoothly without one ...any takers?

[Renille]

I think afro-elf and delchrys should do it together. I mean, come on guys, you're practically RPG gods, and with your combined Middle Earth and RP knowledge, I'm sure you could pull it off. (I certainly COULDN'T.) Pleeeaaase? For the RPG?????

[delchrys]

i think it would be great fun if afro-elf took the helm here--extensive role-playing knowledge as well as middle earth lore would come in really handy.

[afro-elf]

Thanks for the vote of confidence; however, I'm more of a player than a GM.

Delchrys you have GM experience and I have some Tolkien experience. If you take the sceptre, I'll be your chief counsel.

With Tolkien it is just using his world as a basis. Example there are no half Hobbits in Tolkien world, yet Feraway's is one that could fit. There are no chocolate colored Elves, however, Tolkien left a door open for them with the Avari.

I guess the biggest thing is that Tolkien is not TYPICAL FRPG.

You don't go to the local magic store. Adventurers are uncommon.
People in his world are scared of dangers that they might face. Not like DnD where we just go kill the dragon. With no thought of being killed because we are party of 10th level ass kickers.


I guess that it is someways a REALISTIC fantasy world. Where magic does not solve stuff everything.

Heroes have doubt and short comings.


As for the wights there is not THAT much know save that they were spirits sent by the Witch King to inhabit the mounds, i believe possesseing the bodies that were there.

That gives you pretty free reign as long as lighting aint shooting outta their asses.

If you are the captain, I'll be the Number one.

Or if you are the writer I'll be the editor n chief

Deal?

[Littledude87]

Hi, i would like to join, but dont see where to register. I am sorry for being a retard, I understand why everyone got mad, and i am quite ashamed of myself. I was new and didn't know what to do.

[afro-elf]

Welcome aboard

[Feraway Hawkbriar]

halleluja, he has found the light!...er...yeah.... To register for the 'Into the Barrows' game you just post your charcter's stats in this thread. Simple as that.

[delchrys]

okay, so that's that, then. i will GM.
beldaryn is now an NPC, to be filled with helpful hints (and useless red herrings).

littledude, just post your basic appearance, background, etc. you are welcomed to play.



i am asking that everyone try to post at least 3 different days a week, preferably a little more than that.

anyone who wishes to do something without it being there for the whole group to know, email me at delchrys@home.com

if anyone would be willing, i'd love to get an email with the names of each player/character (in that order) and a 2 or so line description of their race, profession, and some background. i know it's on the thread here, but i have limited time actually sitting at my pc and more time away where i could read a printed out email (like at work, where i'm supposed to be working).

i will try to keep the tolkein flavor as much as possible. if i stray off, please let me know, again, preferably by private email. i will not, however, reverse things; i will simply change things for the future (from the point at which i am made aware of my non-tolkein-like things). i will also not be swayed to allow overpowered characters or such nonsense, so don't even bother.

be aware--beldaryn may not know he's a wizard, but he sure is. i will run him as i will run any NPC in the sense that he can be wrong, make errors, and is not even close to omniscient. if he says something or does something, it is not necessarily a hint to follow. you have been warned.

let's get some game on!...

[Feraway Hawkbriar]

*sigh* hey yall, I'm gonna have to drop out of this game. I've got a million and half things to deal with right now, besides, I dont think my charecter is really necessary for this game anyway. Just go on and play as if my charecter was not invloved to begin with. I hope this dosnt cause any problems.

sincerely yours,
Feraway

[Legolas]

A pity that you can't continue.
Good luck with that million and a half things to do

[Nariel Starfire]

hey for the sake of fun, I want to propose something about the game... Okay, if someone has not read the Goldberry??? thread in the Books forum, I suggest you do it now so you see where I'm coming from before you read on.

Anyway, since all the characters are going to see Bombadil, I suggest they go there and find the Goldberry is not with him, for she has perished by the stopping of the river Withywindle. Someone evil plugged up the spring and she's ceased to exist.

Now if this conflicts with later mentionings in the stories, or something, please let me know. After all, it's just a suggestion and I'll easily forget the whole conversation if there's anything wrong with my reckoning...

so what's the verdict?

BTW, I think we should have Feraway's character leave or die or drop out of the journey instead of ignoring her altogether

[afro-elf]

I hate to see her character go. I thought that she would have been a cool edition.

We might be able to faze her out this way. My character mentioned that he was concerned because of her age. So perhaps her character may decided to drop out because she may feel that she is not prepared for such a journey.


Nariel could you post a link to the goldberry thread?

Thanks.

[Nariel Starfire]

The Goldberry thread should be this link...

http://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/show...?threadid=3410

[afro-elf]

delchrys

can no long run the game