2013 plot team

[Thax]

It's a new year and a new opportunity to bring Trader's Crossing to a new level of gaming and story telling! This year I'd like to invite you to become a co-designer of the overarching plot of game for the year! Please volunteer and lets have a conversation about where we'd like the game to go this year!

[Thax]

This year I think we really need to establish an overarching plot to tie things into and a conclusion by the end of the year. one-shots are good, but they need to exist within a larger idea and not inside a bubble. I haven't started any conversations with Chris yet so we're starting out totally fresh here.
There were a lot of loose ends last year that just sort of dropped. I don't know if we want to end those plots or just move on. I'm partial to moving on unless ending a stale plot is convenient for creating a fresh one, you know? What do you think is important?
I heard from Joe that Lorelei wants to go full on evil and be removed from leadership. I don't know if that's true or who would take over that sort of power vacuum. Someone in that role (or any noble, really) has a part to play in plot, and not doing so makes them far less useful to stories. I think we'd need someone who's willing to put in as much as Lor did, and that was significant.
What I'd really like to do (given lots more players) is have two "towns" on opposite ends of the park, so we could have real reasons for tension and strife. But that would require a lot of effective recruiting and we really haven't figured out how to do that.

[wendy]

I'm okay with dropping loose ends unless you think somebody will notice.

[wendy]

What do you think if I came in as Arcthiss's brother/sister in full Sturthis costume and assumed rulership of the town?

[Thax]

Please disregard anything Joe might have told me about his and Lorelei's character plans. She told me they hadn't decided what they are doing and requested we not make assumptions about their characters. Also being called Lor ticks her off, which is my bad. However, since they are not working within the plot team or telling us what they're working out, their plans can't really be worked into developing overarching plots. I don't understand the reluctance, but there it is.

[wendy]

Great meeting, y'all. Should we start another thread for the overarching plot?

[Thax]

Chris, are you able to lock down this thread so only the plot team can see or post to it? I love using it, but I don't want to reveal the surprises to just anyone. Otoh, only the plot team is on this forum just now...

[Admin]

I will try and let you know.

[flavio]

I asked Lycus if would be interested in playing an npc a couple of times this year. He agreed.

[Admin]

First off, I can lock the thread, but not make it so that only certain folks can see it.

Also, this is a great site for some story/character/item ideas:
www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=storygen

[Thax]

"This is a tale about impotency. The story is about an unwise arch-druid. It takes place in a prison. The crux of the story involves a chest being opened."

Uh... yeah. We could do that.

[Thax]

I wanted to lay out what happened this week so we don't forget something. We were kept out of the main building due to the local Greek community's yearly gathering. I think that derailed us a bit.
The unnatural fog was described, and used to escape unpleasant company. However I certainly noticed Joe totally cheating the effect and following me from 30+ feet away because he could "hear my footsteps."
Sithel (sp?) came to town and told his story but got little response because none of the characters were "residence" or knew what it was about except Magister Aldus who is trying to appear disinterested.
Lorelei missed game so 1) she didn't receive the letter from her father translating the magister scroll, 2) it was intercepted by Aldus who can't read it, and 3) she is unaware of the members of the Alfar court who have arrived.
The forest was further searched for clues to current events but nothing was found. A couple ghouls were met and dispatched easily. I think we need to revisit their writeup because they are far more powerful than we're playing them.
Last, the Alfar court has arrived and are commanding characters left and right to do their bidding. They've also bought a number of glamours that will need GM oversight because no one knows how to react to them and will need guidance.

The whole game needs more ref guidance after becoming aware of a number of cheating points. Dead/mortally wounded people can not be pickpocketed. People outside of 20ft can not be followed w/out tracking, period. Ghouls are fearsome and have a lot of fear effects. Glamour is strange and will be ignored unless instruction is given.

[Thax]

I apologize. Joe wasn't actually "totally cheating." He was, in fact, doing something I hadn't expected, and we didn't clarify that that wasn't ok.

[Admin]

We did say that folks could hear again, so long as people are making noise they can be found. The same thing happens when Jeff's alfar goes invisible. People can still hear him. I think if we had the later people when we started it may have been a bit different, but info was handed out to a point.
also, maybe Sythyl should not have sold off the letter, but it is sythyl and he is easily bribable. Maybe the letter got 'dropped' or some such in an upcoming game and can be found again. Maybe we need to do something else.

Ghouls are less scary when outnumbered, iirc, and in each case where they were encountered that was the case. I also didn't give them any sort of natural resistance due to the introduction of newbies.

[Thax]

I don't really believe Joe was following what he heard so much as telling himself, "because I can hear foorotsteps I don't need to act like I can't see you." Unless you have tracking I think that's just abuse. Further I think from a storytelling angle it is an advantage to allow people who are "hiding" to have some leeway to have conversations that everyone can hear. Is this a tactical wargame or a storytelling game?